And when they were come to Salamina, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also in the ministry.
και γενομενοι εν σαλαμινι κατηγγελλον τον λογον του θεου εν ταις συναγωγαις των ιουδαιων ειχον δε και ιωαννην υπηρετην
6 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Do you see how they strive in every way to proclaim the word first to the Jews, so as not to provoke their indignation? As those men preached to no one "except the Jews" (Acts 11:19), so these entered the synagogues. But let us examine what was said above. "And being in Salamis," says the writer, "they preached the word of God" in the chief city of Cyprus.
Accompanied by Mark, Paul and Barnabas first set out for the island of Cyprus, the homeland of Barnabas. They crossed the island from east to west, from Salamis to Paphos. In their preaching, they turned first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. By their calling and by the promises given to them, the Jews had the first right to this. They had fixed places for religious assemblies, the synagogues, where proselytes also gathered. Through the proselytes, the most convenient passage was opened to the Gentiles themselves. In Paphos they found, in the proconsul Sergius Paulus, one of those men who were satisfied neither with popular faith nor with philosophy. Such men eagerly seized on everything that seemed new to them.
Therefore he greatly desired to hear what new teaching Barnabas and Paul were preaching. Yet, drawn by religious needs that he himself did not clearly understand, he was caught in the nets of a deceiver, the Jewish magician Bar-Jesus. In the following period, these magicians were the strongest enemies of Christianity. Christianity threatened to destroy their power over the pagans. Therefore Bar-Jesus also used every effort to hinder the spread of the Gospel and to turn the proconsul against it. But Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, pronounced the judgment that he deserved as a hater of the light. At the apostle's word, he lost his sight. This proof of the power of the new teaching against its enemies acted decisively upon the proconsul, and he believed in the Gospel.
Accompanied by the prayers and blessings of the Church, the apostles Barnabas and Saul set out only when a revelation of the Spirit of God came to them. It commanded them to begin their preaching journey, and perhaps directly indicated the place to which they should go. Having received the revelation from the Holy Spirit, they went to Seleucia, a small trading city at the mouth of the Orontes River. From there they sailed to Cyprus, the homeland of Barnabas (Acts 4:36). Arriving at the island of Cyprus, they landed in Salamis, on the eastern shore of the island, and there began to preach the word of God. According to the plan of God's divine economy, the people of the covenant and the promises had to be called into Christ's Church before the other nations (Acts 13:46).
Therefore, when preaching the Gospel in Gentile lands, the apostle always kept the rule of first proclaiming Christ to the Jews. So in the present case, when Barnabas and Saul arrived in Salamis, they opened their evangelical preaching in the Jewish synagogues. During this preaching they had John Mark with them (Acts 12:25) for service, that is, to carry out various commissions.
Cyprus had a very mixed population, and among it there were not a few Jews. Thus there were synagogues in the chief cities. Although the apostles had as their chief appointment the preaching to the Gentiles, they nevertheless never missed an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to the Jews as well. This not only accorded with the commandment of their divine Teacher. At the same time, it was precisely through the Jews, namely through Hellenists and proselytes, that they could best reach the Gentiles. The chief subject of the preaching was the word of God and the proof from it that Jesus Christ, crucified by the Jews, was the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
"Being in Salamis." Salamis was a maritime Cypriot city on the eastern shore of the island. There, probably, the travelers landed. "They preached in the Jewish synagogues." Since Barnabas was by origin from the Jews of Cyprus, it was most natural for him and Saul, upon arriving in Cyprus, to turn with the preaching of Christ to the Jews there. Moreover, Paul later, and certainly now, kept the rule of preaching first to the Jews and only then to the Gentiles (verse 46). "They also had John Mark with them for service." Only Barnabas and Saul had been set apart and sent. Yet they were free to take with them whomever they considered fitting. They took with them John Mark, the same man whom they had taken from Jerusalem to Antioch (Acts 12:25). They took him for service, to carry out their commissions and the like. Perhaps, among other things, this was for the performance of baptism upon those converted (Acts 10:48 and note; 1 Cor 1:14).
Saul's first journey with Barnabas and John Mark for preaching, after leaving Antioch, went through Seleucia to Cyprus, the homeland of Barnabas. There, of course, he had many acquaintances and, in general, there were many Jews.
They first addressed their word to these Jews in the city of Salamis. They probably landed there on the eastern shore of the island of Cyprus, sailing from Seleucia, also called Pieria.
This was almost directly from the mouth of the Orontes River, higher up on which Antioch was situated. Preaching first to the Jews, and then to other peoples, was Paul's custom later as well.
It was done as though in fulfillment of Christ's commandment, when He commanded the apostles to go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (see Mt 10:6).
Moreover, a special love for their own people also moved them to this, and especially Barnabas, as a native of the island of Cyprus. Clearly there were many Jews in Salamis, because they had more than one synagogue there.
In these synagogues the apostles preached, probably in turn. Yet John Mark did not have equal participation, for it is noted that he was only there for service. This was considered no small honor.
Perhaps he was also there to perform baptisms for those converted (cf. Acts 10:48; 1 Cor 1:14). According to Artobolevsky, "The preaching of Barnabas and Saul was the first necessary shoot of the life of the Apostolic Church, rich in inner content.
It was a shoot that developed into a luxuriant tree and covered with its branches a large part of the Greco-Roman world of that time. Setting out for the work to which the Holy Spirit had called them, Barnabas and Saul preserved the most living and close connection with the Church (see Acts 14:27).
In the present case this connection was expressed in the blessing of the whole Church, of which the writer of Acts has just spoken."
As for the places mentioned here, Seleucia, Cyprus, and Salamis, Artobolevsky devotes many pages to their historical description, especially in the religious respect. We refer those interested in these places to those pages.
Among other things, he says here: "The route of the journey was undoubtedly formed first of all under the influence of the whole Church of Antioch and of the special relations that existed between that Church and Cyprus.
It is known that among the founders of the Church of Antioch themselves were Cypriots. When they came to Antioch, they spoke to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus (Acts 11:20).
Among these Cypriots there may very well have been that Mnason of Cyprus who is called an early disciple (see Acts 21:16). In addition, Cyprus was the homeland of Barnabas (see Acts 4:36), who had labored so much for the further establishment of Christianity in Antioch.
Having given material help to the Church of Jerusalem, and now preparing to share its spiritual wealth with others, the Church of Antioch, by the feeling of natural gratitude alone, had first to direct its spiritual help there.
It had to turn to the place from which it had partly borrowed this wealth, the island of Cyprus. At that time, most of its population was still plunged into the darkness of the deepest paganism.
Barnabas, with his tenderness of heart, could not fail to suffer in soul for his fellow countrymen who sat in darkness. After taking leave of the brethren, Barnabas and Saul came to the neighboring city of Seleucia.
It was 120 stadia from Antioch and 40 from the mouth of the Orontes, a distance of two hours. The apostles reached Seleucia on foot.
Seleucia, like neighboring Antioch, was sunk in crude service to pagan deities and in the moral corruption corresponding to it. Around 160 years before the Nativity of Christ, Jews flowed into this place.
According to talmudic laws, in every place where up to ten householders live, there must be a synagogue. Where there was no synagogue, there was a house of prayer (see Acts 16:13), or an open-air gathering place.
Such a place was usually by a river (see Acts 16:13; Ps 136:3-6). These places were well known to pagans and were often visited by them.
The brotherly love that animated all members of the community filled the soul of the pagan with reverence and instilled in it an involuntary disposition toward Judaism. Thus there arose a class of sympathizers with the Jews, about whom Tacitus complains and whom Juvenal mocks."
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 19 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS