Barnabas excelled in encouraging others. Joseph means "may God increase"; Joses, "He that pardons"; and Barnabas, "son of encouragement." All three names contain wonderful attributes of God. Barnabas: Son of Encouragement and Consolation. Barnabas is first mentioned as a landowner who sold some land and generously donated all the proceeds to the apostles in Jerusalem. A few years later, God appointed him as an apostle with Paul to the Gentiles (Acts 13:2-3; 14:14). He spent many years preaching the gospel in lands far distant from both Jerusalem and Cyprus