Word of the Week
March 29, 2025
Paroxusmos: Anatomy of a Blowup
Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
Acts 15:39 NASB2020
You were having a perfectly normal conversation when you were suddenly hit by a coughing fit that left you gasping for breath.
Or your day was interrupted by the sudden impact of a heartbeat that unexpectedly speeded out of control.
We have a word for those crises that seem to come out of the blue: paroxysm.
You can have a physical paroxysm of pain or weakness. Or you can have an emotional paroxysm like an outburst of rage or terror.
Our English word paroxysm comes from a Greek root that is worth closer examination, because it will help us understand an important moment in the life of the early Christian church.
The Greek word is paroxusmos [pah-racks-us-MAHSS] which occurs only twice in the New Testament.
I first noticed paroxusmos in the story of a blowup between two of the most respected figures in the early church. Paul and Barnabas had been partners for years. When Paul first arrived in Jerusalem after his life-changing encounter with Jesus, it was Barnabas who believed in his sincerity. Barnabas was the one who reassured the skeptical followers of Jesus who suspected that his new-found faith was just a ruse designed to find them and fill the jails with them. When the first Gentile church in Antioch needed more leadership, it was Barnabas who recruited Paul to join the leadership team. Paul and Barnabas were the ones picked to carry a gift to the Jerusalem church.
More than that, they were the ones chosen by the Holy Spirit to make the first missionary trip to carry the gospel to new territory. Together they preached in synagogues, got kicked out of towns, quieted a crowd who thought they were deities, and left behind a chain of young churches. When a doctrinal controversy developed, Paul and Barnabas were the ones who went to Jerusalem as delegates to the council that dealt with the matter.
Now after all of that joint history, Paul proposed a new project: “Let’s go back and check on the churches we started.” What a great idea!
Barnabas said, “Yes, let’s do it. And we can take John Mark along with us again as a helper.”
And at that moment, it all blew up.
John Mark had dropped out, heading home early in the first journey, and Paul was not going to take a helper who would desert them mid-stream. Barnabas, however, insisted on bringing John Mark.
The result? “It turned into such a sharp disagreement (paroxusmos) that they separated from one another” (Acts 15:39).
This was not just a calm discussion of strategy. It was a disagreement that escalated into passionate debate. Charles Swindoll points out that Greek medical writers used the term for a sudden, violent spasm, such as a body-racking cough or an epileptic seizure. In Acts 15, “The air grew thick with passion as each man convulsed with fiery emotion in response to the other.” [Charles Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary: Acts, p. 311]
Paul was no stranger to combat. He devoted the books of Galatians and Colossians to quash the false teachers who were invading those churches. And he filled the closing chapters of 2 Corinthians with a hot debate against those who questioned his authority.
But this was different. Barnabas was no heretic, and he wasn’t trying to undercut Paul’s ministry. They simply couldn’t agree on a personnel issue.
Who was right? Well, Paul was thinking about the rugged ministry ahead. It was important to have a team that could keep going despite opposition. It was a legitimate concern. For Barnabas, on the other hand, the priority was helping a young man develop into a useful servant of God. Both men were pursuing laudable goals.
In the end, they decided to send out two teams instead of one. Barnabas and John Mark would revisit the believers in Cyprus. Paul and his new assistant Silas would stop to encourage the believers in cities like Lystra and Derbe, then look for new territory where they could spread the Good News.
Both teams were successful. Paul and Silas planted the first churches in Europe: Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Corinth. The book of Acts doesn’t record the work of Barnabas, but we do know that he succeeded in grooming John Mark. By the end of the story, even Paul asked for Mark’s services as a profitable aide (2 Timothy 4:11).
There is the first appearance of paroxusmos, an unexpected explosion of strife between two old friends. But there is a second passage where the word occurs – this time with a very different meaning.
The book of Hebrews is a plea to Jewish believers who are so discouraged by opposition that they are contemplating a return to Judaism. The first ten chapters argue that Christ is better than anything that Judaism has to offer; it would be folly to go back.
The remainder of Hebrews tells us how to live in the light of that great set of privileges. One of the first instructions is, “Let us consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).
Behind the English word “encourage” lies the Greek word paraxusmos. A literal rendering might be “Let us keep considering one another toward a paroxusmos of love and good works.”
No longer an outburst of anger but an explosion of love, this passage asks us to look constantly for ways to promote unexpected, intense displays of love and good works. God often works quietly behind the scenes to produce gradual growth in godliness, but He occasionally give us the privilege of being surprised by someone who allows the character of Christ to bubble over in ways that we would never have predicted.
Let’s choose our paroxysms carefully!
Study Hint:
You can supplement this study by looking at a matching Greek verb: paroxunomai [pah-rahx-OO-naw-mye]. It means “to be upset, to be irritated,” and it appears in two New Testament passages:
- 1 Corinthians 13:5 – [Love{ is not provoked.
- Acts 17:16 – In Athens, Paul was provoked as he observed that the city was full of idols.
Coming Up
The result of the conflict between Paul and Barnabas was separation, as often happens when Christians disagree. In our next study, we will look more closely at the Greek word for “separate.”
Ezra Project 2025
2 Responses
The Sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas served to promote the establishment and continued growth of the church. God already knew what the result would produce. In the end the men were reunited for the common cause of church unity in the early biblical days.
This was outstanding. You did not rush through this significant word to give us a meaning, but you described in detail the usage of the word the Holy Spirit had chosen. I sincerely appreciate the work that you present each week, and, in the past, I never scrolled past the end of your article to find a comment section.
I attended seminary after I had come to know the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ in college in 1973, what some refer to as the “Jesus Movement.” Whatever name God’s work may be give during those years, I was hungry to understand the Word. As an English major, I included the mention of Jesus Christ in numerous papers, and, to my surprise, my professors were intrigued, inviting me to their offices to learn more. I could not answer all of their questions, but now I find that the 2 years I studied was not enough. I wish I had studied 1 more year. So thank you for this refreshing instruction. I consider this supplemental to my personal study in the Greek New Testament along with Greek Lexicon. I tell others there are many riches waiting to be discovered just underneath the English translations. You are revealing some of those riches. Gratefully,