Going from Antioch directly eastward to the sea, they came to Seleucia,
the nearest port, only twelve miles from Antioch, and there embarked
for the island of Cyprus, the eastern end of which is not more than
eighty miles from the coast of Syria. The circumstance that more
particularly directed them first to this island, was probably that
it was the native home of Barnabas, and with this region therefore he
would feel so much acquainted as to know its peculiar wants, and the
facilities which it afforded for the advancement of the Christian cause;
and he would also know where he might look for the most favorable
reception. Landing at Salamis, on the south-eastern part of the island,
they first preached in the synagogues of the Jews, who were very
numerous in Cyprus, and constituted so large a part of the population
of the island, that some years afterwards they attempted to get
complete possession of it, and were put down only by the massacre of
many thousands. Directing their efforts first to these wandering sheep
of the house of Israel, the apostles everywhere preached the gospel in
the synagogues, never forsaking the Jews for the Gentiles, until they
had been driven away by insult and injury, that thus the ruin of their
nation might lie, not upon the apostles, but upon them only, for their
rejection of the repeated offers of salvation. Here, it would seem,
they were joined by John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas, who was probably
staying upon the island at that time, and who now accompanied them
as an assistant in their apostolic ministry. Traversing the whole
island from east to west, they came to Paphos, a splendid city near the
western end, famed for the magnificent temple and lascivious worship
of the Paphian Venus, a deity to whom all Cyprus was consecrated; and
from it she derived one of her numerous appellatives, _Cypris_ being a
name under which she was frequently worshipped; and the females of the
island generally, were so completely devoted to her service, not merely
in temple-worship, but in life and manners, that throughout the world,
the name _Cyprian woman_, even to this day, is but a polite expression
for one abandoned to wantonness and pleasure. The worship of this
lascivious goddess, the apostles now came to exterminate, and to plant
in its stead the dominion of a faith, whose essence is purity of heart
and action. At this place, preaching the gospel with openness, they
soon attracted such general notice, that the report of their remarkable
character soon reached the ears of the proconsul of Cyprus, then
resident in Paphos. This great Roman governor, by name Sergius Paulus,
was a man of intelligence and probity, and hearing of the apostles,
soon summoned them to his presence, that he might have the satisfaction
of hearing from them, in his own hall, a full exposition of the
doctrine which they called the word of God. This they did with such
energy and efficiency, that they won his attention and regard; and he
was about to profess his faith in Jesus, when a new obstacle to the
success of the gospel was presented in the conduct of one of those
present at the discourse. This was an impostor, called Elymas,――a name
which seems to be a Greek form of the Oriental “_Alim_” meaning “a
magician,”――who had, by his tricks, gained a great renown throughout
that region, and was received into high favor by the proconsul himself,
with whom he was then staying. The rogue, apprehending the nature of
the doctrines taught by the apostles to be no way agreeable to the
schemes of self-advancement which he was so successfully pursuing, was
not a little alarmed when he saw that they were taking hold of the mind
of the proconsul, and therefore undertook to resist the preaching of
the apostles; and attempted to argue the noble convert into a contempt
of these new teachers. At this, Saul, (now first called Paul,) fixing
his eyes on the miserable impostor, in a burst of inspired indignation,
denounced on him an awful punishment for his resistance of the truth.
“O, full of all guile and all tricks! son of the devil! enemy of all
honesty! wilt thou not stop perverting the ways of the Lord? And now,
lo! the hand of the Lord is on thee, and thou shalt be blind, not
seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately there fell on him a mist
and a darkness; and turning around, he sought some persons to lead him
by the hand. At the sight of this manifest and appalling miracle, thus
following the denunciation of the apostle, the proconsul was so struck,
that he no longer delayed for a moment his profession of faith in the
religion whose power was thus attested, but believed in the doctrine of
Jesus, as communicated by his apostles.
“_Seleucia_ was a little north-west of Antioch, upon the
Mediterranean sea, named from its founder, Seleucus.――_Cyprus_,
so called from the flower of the Cypress-trees growing
there.――Pliny, lib. xii. cap. 24.――Eustathius. In Dionysius p.
110. It was an island, having on the east the Syrian, on the
west the Pamphylian, on the south the Phoenician, on the north
the Cilician sea. It was celebrated among the heathens for its
fertility as being sufficiently provided with all things within
itself. Strabo, lib. xiv. 468, 469. It was very infamous for
the worship of Venus, who had thence her name Κύπρις. It was
memorable among the Jews as being an island in which they so
much abounded; and among Christians for being the place where
Joses, called Barnabas, had the land he sold, Acts iv. 36; and
where Mnason, an old disciple, lived; Acts xxi. 16.――(Whitby’s
Table.) Salamis was once a famous city of Cyprus, opposite to
Seleucia, on the Syrian coast.――(Wells.) It was in the eastern
part of Cyprus. It was famous among the Greek writers for the
story of the Dragon killed by Chycreas, their king; and for the
death of Anaxarchus, whom Nicocreon, the tyrant of that island,
pounded to death with iron pestles.”――(Bochart, Canaan, lib. i.
c. 2――Laert, lib. ix. p. 579.) Williams’s Pearson.
_Proconsul._――The Greek title Ανθυπατος, was applied only
to those governors of provinces who were invested with
_proconsular_ dignity. ‘And on the supposition that Cyprus was
not a province of this description, it has been inferred that
the title given to Sergius Paulus in this place, was a title
that did not properly belong to him. A passage has indeed been
quoted from Dion Cassius, (History of Rome, lib. liv. p. 523,
edited by Hanoviae, 1690,) who, speaking of the governors of
Cyprus and some other Roman provinces, applies to them the same
title which is applied to Sergius Paulus. But, as Dion Cassius
is speaking of several Roman provinces at the same time, one
of which was certainly governed by a proconsul, it has been
supposed, that for the sake of brevity, he used one term for all
of them, whether it applied to all of them or not. That Cyprus,
however, ought to be excluded, and that the title which he
employed, as well as St. Luke, really _did_ belong to the Roman
governors of Cyprus, appears from the inscription on a coin
belonging to Cyprus itself. It belonged to the people of that
island as appears from the word ΚΥΠΡΙΩΝ on the reverse: and,
though not struck while Sergius Paulus himself was governor,
it was struck, as appears from the inscription on the reverse,
in the time of Proclus, who was next to Sergius Paulus in the
government of Cyprus. And, on this coin the same title ΑΝΘΥΠΑΤΟΣ,
is given to Proclus, which St. Luke gives Sergius Paulus.’
(Bishop Marsh’s Lecture part v. pp. 85, 86.) That Cyprus was a
proconsulate, is also evident ♦from an ancient inscription of
Caligula’s reign, in which Aquius Scaura is called the proconsul
of Cyprus. (Gruteri Corpus Inscriptionem, tom. i. part ii. p,
cccix. No. 3, edited by Graevii Amsterdam, 1707.) Horne’s Introd.
♦ “lrom” replaced with “from”