Acts 13:4

Luke carefully noted that the person ultimately responsible for the venture that followed was the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:1-2). This was another of God’s initiatives in building His church. Barnabas and Saul departed from the port of Antioch, Seleucia, located about 15 miles to the west near where the Orontes River flowed into the Mediterranean Sea. The island of Cyprus (Kittim, Genesis 10:4; et al.) was Barnabas’ homeland (Acts 4:36). [Note: See Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, "On the Road and on the Sea with St. Paul," Bible Review 1:2 (Summer 1985):38-47, for some very interesting insights into travel conditions over land and water in the first century Roman world.]

"Cyprus was an island of great importance from very early times, being situated on the shipping lanes between Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece. In 57 B.C. it was annexed by Rome from Egypt and in 55 B.C. incorporated into the province of Cilicia. In 27 B.C. it became a separate province governed on behalf of the emperor Augustus by an imperial legate. In 22 B.C. Augustus relinquished its control to the senate, and, like other senatorial provinces, it was administered by a proconsul." [Note: Longenecker, p. 419.]