Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 1:23

"And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias." — Acts 1:23 (ASV)

They appointed.—It is uncertain whether this was the act of the Apostles, presenting the two men to the choice of the whole body of disciples, or of the community choosing them for ultimate decision by lot.

Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus.—Some manuscripts give the variant reading of “Joses,” which was, perhaps, only another form of the same name. Nothing further is known of him. The conditions of the case make it certain that he must have been a disciple almost from the beginning of our Lord’s ministry and must have become more or less prominent. It is therefore probable, as stated by Eusebius (Hist. i. 12), that he was one of the Seventy.

The name Barsabas (meaning son of the oath, or of wisdom) may have been a patronymic, like Barjona, or may have been given, like Barnabas, to denote character. It appears again in Judas Barsabas of Acts 15:22, and on the former assumption, the two disciples may have been brothers. The epithet Justus, the just one, is significant, as possibly indicating, as in the case of James the Just, a particularly high standard of ascetic holiness. Another person with the same surname—Jesus surnamed Justus—appears with St. Paul at Rome as one of the circumcision (Colossians 4:11), and another (or possibly the same person) is found at Corinth (Acts 18:7). In both cases, the use of the Latin instead of the Greek word is noticeable, as it indicates some point of contact with the Romans in Judea or elsewhere.

Matthias.—Here, too, probably, the same conditions were fulfilled. The name, like Matthew (see Note on Matthew 9:9), signified “given by Jehovah,” and had become, in various forms, popular, from the fame of Mattathias, the great head of the Maccabean family.