father of Barnabas

A reference to the grandfather or other close relative of John Mark.

Col 4:10 mentions the father of John Mark in passing. The verse states that Barnabas was John Mark's cousin (or nephew, in some translations). By extension then, John Mark's unnamed father was the uncle of Barnabas. No other details are provided about this man. As Barnabas was a Levite from Cyprus (Act 4:36), his uncle may have also been a Levite and lived on Cyprus, but this is not specified in Scripture. John Mark became an important early church leader who accompanied Paul and Barnabas on missionary journeys (Act.12.25, 13:5, Act 15:37-39) and later aided Peter as well (1Pe 5:13).