# Barnabas and Saul go to Cyprus

Early Church · Draft · BSB

Content revision: 2515ad3296d70271 · No editorial review date recorded

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Date: c. AD 46–48

Sailing from Seleucia, they preach in the synagogues of Salamis and cross Cyprus to Paphos. There the sorcerer Elymas opposes them and is struck blind, and the proconsul Sergius Paulus believes. From here on, Saul is called Paul.

## Primary Scripture

[Acts 13:4–12 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2013%3A4%E2%80%9312&version=BSB)

13:4 So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

13:5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper.

13:6 They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

13:7 an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

13:9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas

13:10 and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

13:11 Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and for a time you will be blind and unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

13:12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

## Location evidence

Event map marker: Identified site; \[longitude, latitude\] = \[32.40016, 34.75411\]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.

Cyprus: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[33.20769, 35.01831\]. Classification source: rule.

[Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire](http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/707498)

Paphos: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[32.40016, 34.75411\]. Classification source: rule.

[Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire](http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/22716)

Salamis: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[33.90755, 35.17725\]. Classification source: rule.

[Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire](http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/21562)

Seleucia: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.92681, 36.11102\]. Classification source: rule.

[Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire](http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/21501)

[Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire](http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/22716)

## Interpretation and reuse

Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.

Record source: theographic (339)

Record source: editorial

Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.

Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm

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