Salamis

Biblical Text

Salamis appears only once in the Bible, in Acts 13:5. When the church at Antioch in Syria set apart Barnabas and Saul (Paul) and sent them out, the two went down to the port of Seleucia and sailed to the island of Cyprus. The first place they reached on the island was Salamis (Acts 13:4-5). There they preached the word of God "in the synagogues of the Jews," and John (Mark) accompanied them as their attendant. The party then traveled across the island to Paphos at its western end (Acts 13:6). The text does not record the results of their preaching in Salamis.

Background

Salamis was a Greek city on the eastern coast of Cyprus. It was one of the largest cities on the island and a trading port close to Syria. In the New Testament period the Roman proconsul resided at Paphos in the west, but Salamis also flourished as a commercial center. Because the text mentions several synagogues, the city is understood to have had a Jewish community large enough to support multiple synagogues. The city's ruins can still be seen today north of Famagusta.

In later centuries Salamis is said to have suffered severe earthquake damage and to have been rebuilt under the name Constantia. The fourth-century church father Epiphanius served as bishop of the city. The island of Salamis off the coast of mainland Greece shares the name but is an entirely different place.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Salamis was the first city in which the gospel was preached on Paul's first missionary journey. Cyprus was the homeland of Barnabas (Acts 4:36). Among the believers scattered after the martyrdom of Stephen, men of Cyprus preached the gospel to the Greeks at Antioch (Acts 11:19-20). Cyprus was thus connected with the early Christian mission from the very beginning.

That the party went first to the Jewish synagogues in Salamis reflects the missionary pattern Paul follows throughout Acts. On arriving in a new city, Paul first proclaimed the word to the Jews in the synagogue and then turned to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46 and elsewhere).

Interpretation and Tradition

As to why Cyprus was the first destination of the journey, many commentators point both to Barnabas's personal ties to his homeland and to the community of believers already present there. The only reason the text itself gives, however, is that they were sent forth by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:4).

Barnabas later took Mark and sailed to Cyprus again (Acts 15:39). The Bible does not record his activities after that point. The account that Barnabas was martyred at Salamis and buried nearby derives from later tradition and apocryphal literature and is not found in the biblical text. On the basis of this tradition, the Orthodox Church of Cyprus honors Barnabas as its founder.