BARNABAS, JOHN MARK, AND THEIR MINISTRY ON CYPRUS 311 Cyprus CHAPTER 25 BARNABAS, JOHN MARK, AND THEIR MINISTRY ON CYPRUS Acts 13:4-13; 15:36-39 Mark Fairchild KEY POINTS • The beginnings and the growth of the church in C rus are not well known. yp gave him the name Barnabas-son of tions also claim that later in life Mark • A large Jewish presence on Cyprus during the first century AD is evident encouragement (Acts 4:36). Clement followed Peter to Rome and wrote the fromancient sources. of Alexandria and Eusebius assert that second Gospel fromwhat he remembered Barnabaswas one of the seventy disciples of Peter's preaching. Originally, Mark • Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus,converted to Christianityin spite sent out by Jesus to proclaim the coming lived in Jerusalem(Acts 12:12; 13:13) and of oppositionfrom a Jewish magician, Elymas (Bar-Jesus). kingdom.' He was in Jerusalem shortly in his letter to the Colossians Paul alluded afterthe outpouringof the Holy Spirit on to Mark as Barnabas' cousin (Col 4:10). • Barnabas,a nativeC ypriot, and his cousin John Mark accompanied Paul on an early mission to Cyprus,but only Barnabasand John Mark returnedfor Pentecost and sold a piece of land, contrib­ Since Barnabaswas a nativeC ypriot and a second mission. utingthe proceeds of the sale forthe needs he sold what land he owned in Jerusalem of the early Jerusalem Christiancommu­ (Acts 4:37), it is likely he lived with Mark • The apocryphal Acts of Barnabasprovides us with an account of Barnabas nity. Following Paul's conversion when while he was in Jerusalem.• and Mark's second mission to Cyprus, but the document is late and histor­ nobody trustedthe sincerity of his new Following the dispersion of Christians ically suspect. faith, Barnabasbefriended Paul and intro­ fromJerusalem and Judea afterthe death duced him to the Jerusalemchurch (9:27). of Stephen, many Jewish Christianscame John Mark is mentionedonly in Acts, to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch (Acts where he is described as having a Jewish 11:19) sharing the gospel with fellow Jews INTRODUCTION the historical gaps, but their credibil­ name Oohn) and a Roman name (Mark). in those areas. It is possible that Barnabas Christianity spread to Cyprus, the east­ ity is questionable.This essay attempts However, this John Mark is probably the made his way to Cyprus at this time in ernmost islandin the Mediterranean Sea, to assess these traditions and to survey same as the Mark mentioned in Paul's order to share the gospel with family and early in the firstcentury . This was due the history, culture, and geography of letters (Col 4:10, Phlm 24) and 1 Peter friends on the island. Located only about in large part to the effortsof Barnabas the island to see if we might findclues 5:13. The early church traditionssupport sixty miles ( 96.5 km) offthe Syrian coast, and John Mark. The details of their min­ that will augment our understanding of this identification. Early church tradi- Cyprushad a large Jewish population. istry on the island are largely lost and Christianity on Cyprus. the brief descriptionsin Acts provide us Acts introduced Barnabas as a dias­ with a mere glimpse of those early years. pora Jew fromC yprus who was a Levite. 1. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 2:20; Eusebius Ecclesiastical History1.12. Several late traditions purport to fillin His name was Joseph, but the apostles 2. It was common forextended familymembers to reside in thehomes of relatives. 310 312 LEXHAM GEOGRAPHIC COMMENTARY ON ACTS THROUGH REVELATION BARNABAS, JOHN MARK, AND THEIR MINISTRY ON CYPRUS 313 Turning his attention more specifi­ Throughout this mission, including cally to Antioch, Luke noted that some the journeyinto Galatia, Barnabasand men fromCyprus and Cyrene came to Paul prioritized ministry to the Jews. Antioch and began ministering to the In city after city, the apostles first pro­ Greeks as well as the Jews (11:20). Even claimed the gospel in the synagogues. though Cypriots are mentioned in this This was the routine at Salamis (13:5), verse, it is not likely that Barnabas Pisidian Antioch(13:14, 44), lconium (14:1), was among this firstgroup that came probably Lystra (14:19) and at the other to Antioch. Later when the Jerusalem locations as well. This followed Paul's church heard of the large number of con­ belief that God's message firstand fore­ verts in Antioch, they sent Barnabas to most had to be procliµmedto the Jewish Antiochto strengthen the church (11:22). people: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, Barnabas may have been redirected from forit is the power of God forsalvation Cyprusto Antioch. to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Rom 1:16, Esv). THE EARLY MISSION TO CYPRUS Cyprus was close to Palestine and Salamis Gymnasium In time, both Paul and John Mark joined it should not be surprising to findthat Barnabasin Antioch. The three of them Jews settledon the island early.3 Funerary departed forCyprus with Barnabasas the inscriptionsindicate that a Jewish settle­ of those, Bar-Jesus (Elymas), at Paphos century BC. The plural "synagogues" sug­ leader of the mission (Acts 13:3-5). Luke's ment existed on Cyprus as early as the (Acts 13:6-12) and the Roman procurator gests that a number of Jews lived in the narrativeis clear that the Holy Spirit sent Achaemenid period in the fourth cen­ of Judea, Felix, utilized a Cypriot magi­ city. The factthat Salamis was crushed the group on the mission, but it is prob­ tury BC.4 By the firstcentury AD liter­ cian named Atomus a few years later during the Jewish revolt during Trajan's able that the choice of the mission's itin­ ary sources indicate that Cyprus had a (Josephus, Ant. 20.142-144).7 Additionally, reign is evidence that Salamis was largely erary was Barnabas' decision. Barnabas large Jewish population. Philo, around several inscriptionsfound at Cyprusare Jewish. The patrondeity of Salamis was was familiar with the land, the roads, and AD 40, made note of Jewish colonies on evidence of a significantJewish presence Zeus Olympios and a large temple of his the people. As a native Cypriot, he also Cyprus(Philo, Lega tio ad Gaium 282). Dio on the island. 8 was located on the periphery of the city's had relatives on the island that needed Cassius described a large Jewish upris­ large agora. The temple was originally 5 SALAMIS to hear the gospel. Additionally,if he was ing on Cyprus at the time of Trajan. In built during the late Hellenistic period involved in ministry in Cyprus prior to his discussion of magic, Pliny the Elder Barnabas, Paul, and John Mark departed and was reconstructedduring the Roman being called to Antioch,Barnabas wanted recounted a large sect of Jewish magi­ fromSeleucia Pieria, the Mediterranean Imperial period. to continuehis earlier work in Cyprus. cians on Cyprus.6 The apostles met one port of Antioch and sailed to the east­ From Salamis the apostles traveled ernport of Cyprus, Salamis. There, they west to Paphos. The western interior began ministryin the synagogues of the of Cyprus contains the island's highest 3. According to Zdzislaw J. Kapera, "We can suppose that practically in each of the eigh­ city (Acts 13:5). Salamis was a large city teen known cities there were some Jewish colonies and synagogues" {Kapera, "The Jewish mountain range, the Trogodos range. The Presence in Cyprusbefore AD 70," Scripta]udaica Cracoviensia 7 [2009]: 37). and was the capital of the island before mountains compel most travelers from 4. Michael Heltzer, "Epigraphic Evidence Concerninga Jewish Settlement in Kition being supplanted by Paphos in the second the east to take the southerncoastal road {Larnaca,Cyprus) in the AchaemenidPeriod {IV cent. B.C.E.),"AulaOrientalis7 (1989): 189-206. 5. IfDio Cassius' figures are anything closeto accurate, the Jewish populationon Cyprus must have been very large. Dio Cassius wrotethat the Jews of Cyprus led by Jµtemionrose of magic practicedin Cyprus" {Pliny the Elder, Natural History 30.2). Mitford believes the up against the Romans during Trajan's reign around AD117 and slaughtered two hundred collection of curse tablets fromCyprus {#127-142) "were doubtless draftedby a Jewish sor­ fortythousand Greeks and Romans. After MartiusTurbo put down the rebellion, a decree cerer" {T. B. Mitford, TheInscriptions ofKourion [Philadelphia:American Phil osophical Society, was issued banning all Jews fromthe island {Dio Cassius, History 68.322). Dio's figureshave 1971], 134, 246-83). been called into question, but nonetheless Dio's account reflectsa huge Jewish population 7. Elsewhere Josephus mentionedthe prosperous Jewish communitiesin Egypt and in the first century. Cyprus during the Hellenisticperiod (Ant. 13.284). 6. "There is another sect adept in the magic arts who come fromMoses, Jannes, and 8. T. B. Mitford,"New Inscriptionsfrom Early ChristianCyprus," Byzantion 20 (1950): Lotapea, and the Jews, thousands of years afterZoroaster, but more recent is their branch 110-16. 314 LEXHAM GEOGRAPHIC COMMENTARY ON ACTS THROUGH REVELATION BARNABAS, JOHN MARK, AND THEIR MINISTRY ON CYPRUS 315 to the capital. A milestone dating to the that establish a Jewish presence at the and the cult at Amathous was one of the west of the city where worship was con­ time of Augustus informs us that this site in the fourthcentury BC. Josephus 0 earliest. Aphrodite Amathusia, the local ducted as early as the eighth century BC. route was refurbishedprior to the time explained that the word "Kittim"referred expression of Aphrodite, was famous Excavations at the site indicate that the of the apostle's journey.9 The route would to the islands and maritime countries. throughout the Hellenisticand Roman city flourishedduring the Hellenisticand have taken the group from Salamis to But, more specifically,Josephus identi­ periods.