📖 Biblical Definition
Cyprus is the large eastern Mediterranean island that served as the launching point of Gentile mission. It was the homeland of Barnabas the Levite (Acts 4:36), where Hellenistic Jews scattered by the Stephen persecution first preached to Greeks (Acts 11:19-20), and the first stop on Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts 13:4-12). It was on Cyprus that Saul became Paul, that the magician Bar-Jesus was struck blind, and that the proconsul Sergius Paulus believed — the first recorded conversion of a Roman official. The island thus marks the transition point where the gospel left Jewish soil and stepped onto Gentile imperial ground for the first sustained advance.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Cyprus — an island in the eastern Mediterranean; ancient Kittim.
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Cyprus was an early hub of the Christian mission, evangelized first by scattered believers from Jerusalem (Acts 11:19) and then formally by Barnabas and Saul, who confronted Elymas the sorcerer at Paphos.
📖 Key Scripture
Acts 4:36 — "Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas... a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus."
Acts 13:4 — "They departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus."
Acts 11:19 — "They... travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch."
Acts 15:39 — "Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Treated as a footnote on Paul's itinerary; Barnabas's role overshadowed.
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No major postmodern redefinition of this place. The risk is that the geographic-symbolic resonance Scripture builds with it gets lost — modern readers skim past place-names that the biblical writers used as shorthand for whole histories.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek Kypros — copper-rich island; Hebrew Kittim.
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G2954 — Kypros — Cyprus
G3781 — opheiletes — one who owes — cf. Barnabas's generosity
G3870 — parakaleo — to encourage, comfort
Usage
"Barnabas went home to Cyprus — mission begins where memory begins."
"From Cyprus the gospel sailed; to Cyprus the encourager returned."
"When Paul and Barnabas parted, Cyprus received the wounded one."