AD 47

Paul's first missionary journey

Possible 47 dating of Paul and Barnabas's departure from Antioch

The man remembered as Paul is still called Saul when he boards the ship. Acts changes the name later, at Paphos.

47 is one date inside a range

A traditional reference chronology puts this journey at 47–49, which is what supports 47 as a departure year. Another scholarly reference describes the same expedition as widely dated approximately 46–49, and an earlier competing reconstruction gives roughly 43–45.

Acts itself dates neither the commissioning nor the departure.

Barnabas first, Saul second

Acts introduces the pair in that order: prophets and teachers at Antioch were worshipping and fasting when Barnabas and Saul were set apart for the work, and the community released them after further fasting, prayer and a laying-on of hands.

The narrative only begins calling Saul "Paul" once the party has crossed Cyprus to Paphos. Treating him as the unquestioned leader from the first moment reads later prominence backward.

Nor is this where his preaching starts: the sources place him working in Arabia, Damascus, Syria and Cilicia before this expedition.

The assistant who turned back

John Mark sailed with them to Salamis on Cyprus as their assistant, and the party's first recorded activity there was proclaiming their message in Jewish synagogues.

He did not finish the trip. After they reached Perga he returned to Jerusalem — a decision that later became serious enough to break up the Barnabas–Paul partnership.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources not yet audited Date disputed

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Date disputed. Sources disagree; the research places it at ~0047.

What the sources leave uncertain

Acts does not date the commissioning or departure.
The 47 date belongs to one reconstructed chronology; other schemes begin the journey as early as approximately 43–45 or place it broadly in 46–49.
Paul’s own letters do not recount a formally commissioned “first journey,” although they confirm extensive early missionary activity.
Modern scholarship disputes how closely Acts’ three-journey presentation corresponds to Paul’s actual movements.