Phenicia (Easton)

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(Acts 21:2 ) = Phenice (11:19; 15:3; RSV, Phoenicia), Gr. phoinix, 'a palm', the land of palm-trees; a strip of land of an average breadth of about 20 miles along the shores of the Mediterranean, from the river Eleutherus in the north to the promotory of Carmel in the south, about 120 miles in"> StudyL ı ght .org Plug in, Turn on and Be En light ened! Not Yet a Member? Click to Sign Up Now! --> --> Bible Study Tools Lang uage Tools Study Lib rary Hist orical Writings Pas toral Resources Per sonal Resources Site Resources Lectionary Calendar Saturday, June 6th, 2026 the Week of Proper 4 / Ordinary 9 video advertismenet advertisement advertisement advertisement Attention! StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa. Click here to join the effort! Home » Bible Dictionaries » Easton's Bible Dictionary » Letter P Bible Dictionaries Phenicia Easton's Bible Dictionary Search for… Enter query below: or A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Prev Entry Phenice Next Entry Phicol Resource Toolbox Print Article Additional Links Concordances Nave Topical Bible Syro-Phoenician Phenicia Phenice Thompson Chain Reference Phoenicia Treasury of Biblical Knowledge Phenice Dictionaries American Tract Society Phoenicia, Phenicia, or Phenice Phenicia or Phenice Phenice Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Phoenicia Easton's Bible Dictionary Phoenicia Phenicia Phenice Fausset Bible Dictionary Phoenicia Phenice Holman Bible Dictionary Phoenicia Phenice, Phenicia Hitchcock Bible Names Phenice Hastings' BibleDictionary Phoenicia, Phnicians Hastings' NT Dictionary Phoenicia Phenice Morrish Bible Dictionary Phenice, Phenicia Phenice Hawker's Poor Man's Dictionary Phenice People's Bible Dictionary Phenice Smith Bible Dictionary Syro-phoenician Phoenicia Phenice Webster Dictionary Phoenicious Phoenician Phenicious (only first 3 shown) Watson's Theological Dictionary Phenicia Syro-Phenicia Encyclopedias 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Pheidias Phenacite Phoenicia International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Phenice Phenicia Phoenicia; Phoenicians Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Phenice Phoenicia Syro-Phoenicia McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Phenice Phenicia Phoenicia (only first 3 shown) The Nuttall Encyclopedia Benicia Phoenicia The Catholic Encyclopedia Phœnicia The Jewish Encyclopedia Adonis (Baal of the Phenicians) Phenicia Lexicons ܦ݁ܽܘܢܺܝܩܺܐ ܦ݁ܽܘܢܺܟ݁ܣ Φοινίκη Φοῖνιξ ( Acts 21:2 ) = Phenice (11:19; 15:3; RSV, Phoenicia), Gr. phoinix, "a palm", the land of palm-trees; a strip of land of an average breadth of about 20 miles along the shores of the Mediterranean, from the river Eleutherus in the north to the promotory of Carmel in the south, about 120 miles in length. This name is not found in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament it is mentioned only in the passages above referred to. "In the Egyptian inscriptions Phoenicia is called Keft, the inhabitants being Kefa; and since Keft-ur, or 'Greater Phoenicia,' was the name given to the delta of the Nile from the Phoenician colonies settled upon it, the Philistines who came from Caphtor or Keft-ur must have been of Phoenician origin" (Compare Deuteronomy 2:23 ; Jeremiah 47:4 ; Amos 9:7 )., Sayce's Bible and the Monuments. Phoenicia lay in the very centre of the old world, and was the natural entrepot for commerce with foreign nations. It was the "England of antiquity." "The trade routes from all Asia converged on the Phoenician coast; the centres of commerce on the Euphrates and Tigris forwarding their goods by way of Tyre to the Nile, to Arabia, and to the west; and, on the other hand, the productions of the vast regions bordering the Mediterranean passing through the Canaanite capital to the eastern world." It was "situate at the entry of the sea, a merchant of the people for many isles" ( Ezekiel 27:3,4 ). The far-reaching commercial activity of the Phoenicians, especially with Tarshish and the western world, enriched them with vast wealth, which introduced boundless luxury and developed among them a great activity in all manner of arts and manufactures. (See TYRE .) The Phoenicians were the most enterprising merchants of the old world, establishing colonies at various places, of which Carthage was the chief. They were a Canaanite branch of the race of Ham, and are frequently called Sidonians, from their principal city of Sidon. None could "skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians" ( 1 Kings 5:6 ). King Hiram rendered important service to Solomon in connection with the planning and building of the temple, casting for him all the vessels for the temple service, and the two pillars which stood in the front of the porch, and "the molten sea" ( 1 Kings 7:21-23 ). Singular marks have been found by recent exploration on the great stones that form the substructure of the temple. These marks, both painted and engraved, have been regarded as made by the workmen in the quarries, and as probably intended to indicate the place of these stones in the building. "The Biblical account ( 1 Kings 5:17,18 ) is accurately descriptive of the massive masonry now existing at the south-eastern angle (of the temple area), and standing on the native rock 80 feet below the present surface. The Royal Engineers found, buried deeply among the rubbish of many centuries, great stones, costly and hewed stones, forming the foundation of the sanctuary wall; while Phoenician fragments of pottery and Phoenician marks painted on the massive blocks seem to proclaim that the stones were prepared in the quarry by the cunning workmen of Hiram, the king of Tyre." (See TEMPLE .) The Phoenicians have been usually regarded as the inventors of alphabetic writing. The Egyptians expressed their thoughts by certain symbols, called "hieroglyphics", i.e., sacred carvings, so styled because used almost exclusively on sacred subjects. The recent discovery, however, of inscriptions in Southern Arabia (Yemen and Hadramaut), known as Hemyaritic, in connection with various philogical considerations, has led some to the conclusion that the Phoenician alphabet was derived from the Mineans (admitting the antiquity of the kingdom of Ma'in, Judges 10:12 ; 2 Chronicles 26:7 ). Thus the Phoenician alphabet ceases to be the mother alphabet. Sayce thinks "it is more than possible that the Egyptians themselves were emigrants from Southern Arabia." (See MOABITE STONE .) "The Phoenicians were renowned in ancient times for the manufacture of glass, and some of the specimens of this work that have been preserved are still the wonder of mankind...In the matter of shipping, whether ship-building be thought of or traffic upon the sea, the Phoenicians surpassed all other nations." "The name Phoenicia is of uncertain origin, though it may be derived from Fenkhu, the name given in the Egyptian inscriptions to the natives of Palestine. Among the chief Phoenician cities were Tyre and Sidon, Gebal north of Beirut, Arvad or Arados and Zemar."

Source

• part_of source-manifest/easton — Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)