crete Summary and Overview

now called Candia, one of the largest islands in the Meditterranean, about 140 miles long and 35 broad. It was at one time a very prosperous and populous island, having a "hundred cities." The character of the people is described in Paul's quotation from "one of their own poets" (Epimenides) in his epistle to Titus: "The Cretans are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies" (Titus 1:12). Jews from Crete were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). The island was visited by Paul on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27). Here Paul subsequently left Titus (1:5) "to ordain elders." Some have supposed that it was the original home of the Caphtorim (q.v.) or Philistines.

the modern Candia. This large island, which closes int he Greek Archipelago on the south, extends through a distance of 140 miles between its extreme points. Though exceedingly bold and mountainous, this island has very fruitful valleys, and in early times it was celebrated for its hundred cities. It seems likely that a very early acquaintances existed between the Cretans and the Jews. Cretans, #Ac 2:11| were among those who were at Jerusalem at the great Pentecost. In [Acts 27:7-12 we have an account of Paul's shipwreck near this island; and it is evident from #Tit 1:5| that the apostle himself was here at no long interval of time before he wrote the letter. The Cretans were proverbial liars. #Tit 1:12|

CRETE , now Candia, a large island in the Mediterranean Sea, midway between Syria and Italy. It is about 140 miles long by 35 miles wide. Its surface is mountainous, the classic Mount Ida being one of its peaks, but there are fertile valleys. It was formerly possessed by a rich and powerful people; Virgil speaks of its hundred cities. But the people were proverbially liars, Tit 1:12-a character they are said still to bear. "Homer dates all the fictions of Ulysses from Crete, as if he meant to pass a similar censure on the Cretans to that quoted by Paul-Kp^re? ael \jjev(Trai." -COWPER: Odyssey, b. xiii. Cretans were at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:11; Paul was shipwrecked near the island, and he left Titus there as the first pastor and superintendent, who was "to ordain elders in every city" of the island. Tit 1:5. It is now under the tyranny of the Turks, but thoroughly Greek in nationality and sympathy, and will probably ere long be annexed to the kingdom of Greece. It is supposed to have been first settled by the Philistines. See Gaphtorim.

Crete, now Candia. 158 miles long, from cape Salmone on the E. (Acts 27:7; Acts 27:12) to cape Criumetopen on the W. beyond Phoenice. Its breadth is small. (On its connection with the frontCHERETHIM.) It abounded with Jews in the apostolic age; hence, "Cretans" were among the witnesses of the effusion of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:11). Paul's ship was constrained by contrary winds off Cnidus to sail under the lee of Crete "over against Salmone"; having passed which with difficulty the ship reached FAIR HAVENS, near Lasea. Thence it made for Phoenice to winter there, but was driven by a sudden gale from the N.E., sweeping down from the region of mount Ida, to the island Clauda, from whence it drifted to Melita or Malta (Acts 27:13-16). Paul visited Crete between his first and second imprisonment at Rome, and left Titus to "set in order the things wanting, and to ordain elders in every city" (Titus 1:5). (See TITUS.) In Titus 1:12 he quotes Epimenides a Cretan poet. Crete was without wild beasts; the poet's sarcasm was that beastly men supplied their place: "the Cretians are always (not merely at times, as all natural men are) liars, evil beasts, slow bellies." "To Cretanize" was proverbial for to lie, as "to Corinthianize" for to be dissolute. In Crete was the fabled birthplace of Jupiter, king of the gods. They themselves are called "bellies," since it is for their bellies they live (Philemon 3:19). Christianity won its triumphs for truth and holiness even in such an unpromising soil. In the middle ages the cathedral of Megalocastron was dedicated to Titus.