rhodes Summary and Overview

a rose, an island to the south of the western extremity of Asia Minor, between Coos and Patara, about 46 miles long and 18 miles broad. Here the apostle probably landed on his way from Greece to Syria (Acts 21:1), on returning from his third missionary journey.

(rosy), a celebrated island in the Mediterranean Sea. (It is triangular in form, 60 miles long from north to south, and about 18 wide. It is noted now, as in ancient times, for its delightful climate and the fertility of its soil. The city of Rhodes, its capital, was famous for its huge brazen statue of Apollo called the Colossus of Rhodes. It stood at the entrance of the harbor, and was so large that ships in full sail could pass between its legs. ED.) Rhodes is immediately opposite the high Carian and Lycian headlands at the southwest extremity of the peninsula of Asia Minor. Its position had much to do with its history. Its real eminence began about 400 B.C. with the founding of the city of Rhodes, at the northeast extremity of the island, which still continues to be the capital. After Alexander's death it entered on a glorious period, its material prosperity being largely developed, and its institutions deserving and obtaining general esteem. We have notice of the Jewish residents in Rhodes in 1 Macc. 15:23. The Romans, after the defeat of Antiochus, assigned, during some time, to Rhodes certain districts on the mainland. Its Byzantine, history is again eminent. Under Constantine If was the metropolis of the "Province of the Islands," It was the last place where the Christians of the East held out against the advancing Seracens; and subsequently it was once more famous as the home and fortress of the Knights of St. John. (It is now reduced to abject poverty. There are two cities --Rhodes the capital and Lindus --and forty or fifty villages. The population, according to Turner is 20,000, of whom 6000 are Turks and the rest Greeks, together with a few Jews.)

RHODES (a rose), a noted island in the Mediterranean, 13 miles from the coast of Asia Minor. It is 46 miles long, 18 miles wide, and has an area of about 420 square miles. The island is fertile, and carries on an extensive commerce. The city of Rhodes, at the western end of the island, was celebrated in the classic age. It was founded about b.c. 400 by the Dorians, and was very prosperous in the reign of Alexander. Jews were among its inhabitants during the maccabaean period. Paul visited it on his return from his third missionary journey. Acts 21:1. He might have there seen fragments of the greatest of the Seven Wonders of the world - the famous Colossus of Rhodes. This was made of brass, and was 105 feet high. It stood at the right of the port as vessels entered, and not astride the channel, as so generally represented in pictures. It was erected b.c. 290, and overthrown by an earthquake b.c. 224. The city had also a beautiful temple of Apollo, built by Herod the Great. In the Middle Ages the city was held by the Knights of St. John; it was captured by the Turks in 1522, and is now under their rule. The modern city is a place of considerable trade, and the island has a population of about 30,000, of which 21,000 are Turks.

A large island of the Aegean sea, mentioned in Paul's third missionary journey to Jerusalem; he passed it apparently without landing (Acts 21:1). The day before he was at Cos, an island on the N.W. From Rhodes he went eastward to Patara in Lycia. The wind was probably, as often in the Levant, blowing from N.W. S.W. of Asia Minor, having Caria to the N. and Lycia to the E. The people were honorable, upright, and prudent; famed for mercantile pursuits. Its temple to the sun, and the colossus, a statue of Apollo, 105 ft. high, executed by Chares of Lindos, a native artist, 288 B.C. were famous. The coins bear on the obverse the head of Apollo as the sun (the proverb said the sun shone every day on Rhodes), on the reverse the rose from which Rhodes takes its name. The capital is at the N.E. of the island. It was the last spot where the Christians of the East held out against the advancing Saracens, and was subsequently noted as the home and fortress of the knights of John.