Map of the World of the New Testament
This map reveals the "Nations" within the ancient world during the first century A.D., the time of the New Testament. The map includes the areas of Israel, Asia, Greece, and Italy. (View Clickable Map)
Matthew 28:18-20 - "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world."
Luke 24:46-49 "And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
During the life of Jesus his ministry took place primarily in the land of Israel. Later the church which was led by his apostles eventually moved outside of Jerusalem and later the actual boundaries of the land of Israel. Paul purposed in his heart to go further with the gospel, to the lands of Europe and even the heart of the Roman Empire, the city of Rome herself. Therefore the New Testament World is designated as the area from the Land of Israel on the east to Italy on the west.
The Seas (6 Great Seas)
There were six important seas in the New Testament World, some are mentioned in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.
1. The Mediterranean Sea which bordered the land of Israel on the east as far as Italy on the east.
2. The Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias, mainly associated with the life of Jesus.
3. The Dead Sea, Although it was not mentioned in the New Testament it was in southern Israel.
4. The Black Sea, it was just north of Asia Minor.
5. The Aegean Sea, located between Asia Minor and Greece.
6. The Adriatic Sea, located between Greece and Italy.
The Islands (5 Islands in NT History)
There were five islands important in the New Testament.
1. Cyprus was located in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea.
2. Crete was located south of the Aegean Sea, between Asia Minor and Greece.
3. Patmos was located in the Aegean Sea, not far from the city of Ephesus.
4. Sicily located southwest of Italy.
5. Malta or Melita in NT times, located south of Sicily.
Roman Provinces in Europe (5 Provinces)
1. Thrace was the land bordering the southwest corner of the Black Sea.
2. Macedonia was the land at the northeast corner of the Aegean Sea, in-between Thrace, Illyricum, and Greece.
3. Greece or Achaea was the land southwest of Macedonia, bordering 3 seas.
4. Illyricum was the land north of Greece, northwest of Macedonia, and the eastern portion of the Adriatic Sea.
5. Italy was the country across the Adriatic Sea from Greece and Illyricum. Rome was the capital of Italy.
Roman Provinces in Africa (3 Provinces)
1. Africa was the land bordering the Mediterranean in the southern middle.
2. Libya was the land west of Egypt.
3. Egypt was the land at the southeast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Roman Provinces in Asia and the East (5 Provinces)
1. Asia was the land in the western region of Anatolia (Ancient Turkey).
2. Pontus and Bithynia was the land in northern region of Anatolia. It was a senatorial province governed by a proconsul.
2. Galatia was situated in the region of central Anatolia.
3. Cappadocia was the land south of Galatia in central Anatolia.
4. Cilicia was the land below Cappadocia below the Taurus Mountains bordering the Mediterranean Sea.
5. Syria was the land north of Israel bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Syria was a joint province with Cilicia, and the governor had authority over Galilee and Judea including any client kings, tetrarchs, or procurators.
Judaea was under the authority of Herod the Great and later was under the authority of the governor of Syria.
Important Cities (12 Cities)
1. Alexandria, the commercial metropolis of Egypt.
2. Jerusalem, the religious capital of the Jewish world.
3. Caesarea, the Roman capital of Judea.
4. Damascus, in the southern part of Syria.
5. Antioch, the capital of Syria, in the north.
6. Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul, in Cilicia.
7. Ephesus, the metropolis of Asia Minor, in the province of Asia.
8. Philippi, in Thrace, where the gospel was first preached in Europe.
9. Thessalonica, the principal city in Macedonia.
10. Athens, the literary center of Greece.
11. Corinth, the political capital of Greece.
12. Rome, the imperial city.
REVIEW.
Where is the New Testament World located?
What is its extent?
State the location of each of these seas.
Name five islands in the New Testament world.
Give the location of each island.
Name in order the provinces in Europe in the New Testament world.
Name the provinces in Africa.
Name the provinces in Asia, exclusive of Asia Minor.
Name the provinces of Asia Minor bordering on the Black Sea.
Name the provinces on the Aegean Sea.
Name the provinces on the Mediterranean Sea.
Name and locate each of the interior provinces.
What city of the New Testament world was in Africa?
What cities were in Judea and Syria?
What cities were in Asia Minor?
What cities were in Europe?
Israel in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
1. Its position. --Its position on the map of the world--as the world was when the holy land first made its appearance in history--is a remarkable one. (a) It was on the very outpost-- an the extremist western edge of the East. On the shore of the Mediterranean it stands, as if it had advanced as far as possible toward the west, separated there from by that which, when the time arrived proved to be no barrier, but the readiest medium of communication-the wide waters of the "great sea." Thus it was open to all the gradual influences of the rising communities of the West, while it was saved from the retrogression and decrepitude which have ultimately been the doom of all purely eastern states whose connections were limited to the East only. (b) There was, however, one channel, and but one, by which it could reach and be reached by the great Oriental empires. The rivals road by which the two great rivals of the ancient world could approach one another --by which alone Egypt could get to Assyria and Assyria to lay along the broad hat strip of coast which formed the maritime portion of the holy land, and thence by the plain of the Lebanon to the Euphrates. (c) After this the holy land became (like the Netherlands in Europe) the convenient arena on which in successive ages the hostile powers who contended for the empire of the East fought their battles.
Greece in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
The histories of Greece and Palestine are little connected with each other. In Ge 10:2-5 Moses mentions the descendants of Javan as peopling the isles of the Gentiles; and when the Hebrews came into contact with the Ionians of Asia Minor, and recognized them as the long-lost islanders of the western migration, it was natural that they should mark the similarity of sound between Javan and Iones. Accordingly the Old Testament word which is Grecia, in Authorized Versions Greece, Greeks, etc., is in Javan Da 8:21; Joe 3:6 the Hebrew, however, is sometimes regained. Isa 66:19; Eze 27;13 The Greeks and Hebrews met for the first time in the slave-market. The medium of communication seems to have been the Tyrian slave-merchants. About B.C. 800 Joel speaks of the Tyrians as, selling the children of Judah tot he Grecians, Joe 3:6 and in Ezek 27:13. the Greeks are mentioned as bartering their brazen vessels for slaves. Prophetical notice of Greece occurs in Da 8:21 etc., where the history of Alexander and his successors is rapidly sketched. Zechariah, Zec 9:13 foretells the triumphs of the Maccabees against the Greco-Syrian empire, while Isaiah looks forward to the conversion of the Greeks, amongst other Gentiles, through the instrumentality of Jewish missionaries. Isa 66:19 The name of the country, Greece occurs once in the New Testament, Ac 20:2 as opposed to Macedonia.
Asia in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
(orient). The passages in the New Testament where this word occurs are the following; Ac 2:9; 6:9; 16:6; 19:10,22,26,27; 20:4,16,18; 21:27; 27:2; Ro 16:5; 1Co 16:19; 2Co 1:8; 2Ti 1:15; 1Pe 1:1; Re 1:4,11 In all these it may be confidently stated that the word is used for a Roman province which embraced the western part of the peninsula of Asia Minor and of which Ephesus was the capital.
Italy in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
1. This word is used in the New Testament, Ac 18:2; 27:1; Heb 13:24 in the usual sense of the period, i.e. in its true geographical sense, as denoting the whole natural peninsula between the Alps and the Straits of Messina.
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