Luke calls Arimathea “a city of the Jews”

by Damien F. Mackey “[Joseph] (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God”. Luke 23:51 Introduction Following the magnificent research of Harry Whitakker, I was impelled to embrace an identification of the rich young man of the Gospels, a ruler, with the Cypriot Levite, Joseph Barnabas: Was Apostle Barnabas the Gospels’ ‘rich young man’? (7) Was Apostle Barnabas the Gospels' 'rich young man'? A next step saw me taking this identification further, to include: Joseph of Arimathea a perfect match for Apostle Barnabas as the Gospels’ ‘rich young man’ (7) Joseph of Arimathea a perfect match for Apostle Barnabas as the Gospels' 'rich young man' followed, somewhat more tentatively, by: Can Joseph Barnabas be extended to incorporate Joseph Barsabbas? (8) Can Joseph Barnabas be extended to incorporate Joseph Barsabbas? For me, now, the God-fearing rich young man of the Gospels, a man of some status, had become Joseph Barnabas (and possibly also Joseph Barsabbas), the wealthy Levite from Cyprus, a good man, who was also, as Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member (ruler) of the Sanhedrin. While most of all of this seemed to tie up very well indeed, a geographical challenge did arise inasmuch as our man, Joseph, a Cypriot (from Cyprus), hailed from a town, Arimathea, generally thought to have been somewhere in Judah or Israel. Though its true location is very uncertain: Bible Map: Arimathea “Its identity is the subject of much conjecture. The Onomasticon of Eusebius and Jerome identifies it with Ramathaim-Zophim in the hill-country of Ephraim (1 Samuel 11), which is Ramah the birthplace and burial-place of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:19; 1 Samuel 25:1), and places it near Timnah on the borders of Judah and Dan. G. A. Smith thinks it may be the modern Beit Rima, a village on an eminence 2 miles North of Timnah. Others incline to Ramallah, 8 miles North of Jerusalem and 3 miles from Bethel (Matthew 27:57 Mark 15:43 Luke 23:51 John 19:38)”. My proposed solution to this difficulty, given that there is so much uncertainty about the location of Arimathea (“Its identity is the subject of much conjecture”), was to suggest for Joseph’s Arimathea the highly important Cypriot town, the like-named, Amathus (Amathea). “A City of the Jews” While I was initially happy with this identification, I later read that Luke the Evangelist had, in his reference to Arimathea, called it “a city of the Jews” (Luke 23:51): (… Ἁριμαθαίας πόλεως τῶν Ἰουδαίων …). My immediate reaction to this was to think that Arimathea must, therefore, have been located somewhere in Judah. But, then, why would Saint Luke make the obvious qualification that a city in Judah was “a city of the Jews”? As far as I am aware, Luke does not qualify any other cities or towns in this way. May be, Saint Luke was referring to an Arimathea in a foreign land, say Cyprus, which had a large Jewish population, or perhaps was even dominated by Jews. Was Amathus in Cyprus just such a city? Jews were prominent in Cyprus. Joseph Barnabas, a Levite, hailed from Cyprus. And: “There is evidence of Jewish settlers at Amathus” (2024 article below): A View of Cyprus: A History of the Jewish Community in Cyprus A History of the Jewish Community in Cyprus Jewish presence in Cyprus begins in the ancient times. There is evidence of Jewish settlers at Amathus. In the 2nd BCE there were a considerable number of Jewish people recorded on the island. They had a close relationship with the locals and the Roman rulers at that time, liked them. When St Paul and Barnabas arrived on the island, to convert people to Christianity, they caused problems, by attempting to convert the Jewish to Christianity. According to the history books of the time, the Jews supported the war against the Romans and sacked Salamis and annihilated the Greek population. Apparently, they massacred 240,000 Greek Cypriots. This led to the Jews being punished. …. Summing it up: Saint Joseph of Arimathea, as Barnabas, may thus have hailed from Amathus (Amathea), a city of the Jews in Cyprus.