Ephesus in Fausset's Bible Dictionary
Chief city of the Ionian confederacy and capital of the
Roman province "Asia" (Mysia, Lydia, Caria), on the S. side
of the plain of Cayster, and partly on the heights of Prion
and Coressus, opposite the island of Samos. A leading scene
of Paul's ministry (Acts 18; 19; 20); also one of the seven
churches addressed in the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:11;
Revelation 2:1), and the center from from whence John
superintended the adjoining churches (Eusebius, 3:23).
Ephesus, though she was commended for patient labors for
Christ's name's sake, is reproved for having "left her first
love." The port was called Panormus. Commodious roads
connected this great emporium of Asia with the interior
("the upper coasts," i.e. the Phrygian table lands, Acts
19:1); also one on the N. to Smyrna, another on the S. to
Miletus, whereby the Ephesian elders traveled when summoned
by Paul to the latter city.
On a N.E. hill stands the church Ayasaluk, corrupted
from hagios theologos, "the holy divine," John, Timothy, and
the Virgin Mary who was committed by the Lord to John (John
19:26), were said to have been buried there. It was the port
where Paul sailed from Corinth, on his way to Syria (Acts
18:19-22). Thence too he probably sailed on a short visit to
Corinth; also thence to Macedonia (Acts 19:21-27; Acts 20:1;
compare 1 Timothy 1:3; 2 Timothy 4:12; 2 Timothy 4:20).
frontCORINTHIANS.) Originally colonized by the hardy
Atticans under Androclus, son of Codrus, it subsequently
fell through the enervation of its people under Lydian and
Persian domination successively; then under Alexander the
Great, and finally under the Romans when these formed their
province of Asia (129 B.C.).
A proconsul or "deputy" ruled Asia. In Acts 19:38
the plural is for the singular. He was on circuit, holding
the assizes then in Ephesus; as is implied, "the law is
open," margin "the court days are (now being) kept." Besides
a senate there was a popular assembly such as met in the
theater, the largest perhaps in the world, traceable still
on mount Prion (Acts 19:29). The "town clerk" had charge of
the public records, opened state letters, and took notes of
the proceedings in the assembly. His appeal, quieting the
people, notices that Paul was "not a blasphemer of the
Ephesian goddess," a testimony to Paul's tact and wisdom in
preaching Christ. The friendly warning of the Asiarchs to
Paul, not to venture into the theater, implies how great an
influence the apostle had gained at Ephesus. (See ASIARCHS.)
Besides being famed as the birthplace of the two
painters Apelles and Parrhasius, and the philosopher
Heraclitus, Ephesus was notorious for its magical arts and
amulets of parchment with inscribed incantations...
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