Phoenicia in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is Phoenicia?
PHOENI'CIA
, a country north of Palestine, so named by the Greeks, either from the abundance of palm trees or from Phoenix, the brother of Cadmus. It was a narrow strip of country between the Lebanon mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. It varied in extent at different periods, sometimes extending about 30 miles from the "Ladder of Tyre" to the Nahr Auly, 2 miles north of Sidon, and sometimes about 120 miles north of the "Ladder of Tyre." Along the shore it was sandy, but behind this sand-belt was fertile land, and upon the slopes of the mountain good pasture and excellent timber. Promonotories jut out into the sea, making good harbors and sites for towns, as at Tyre, Sidon. and Beirut. The country is well watered, its principal rivers being the Leontes, Bostrenus, Lycus, or "dog river," Adonis, and Eleutherus. Its principal towns are Arvad, Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon, and Tyre. Phoenicia was included in the Land of Promise, but it was not occupied by the Israelites. Josh 13:4-6; Jud 1:31-32. David and Solomon traded with its king, receiving timber from its territory, and employing its sailors, laborers, and skilled workmen. 2 Sam 5:11; 1 Kgs 5:9, 1 Kgs 5:17-18. Ahab married a princess of this country, and there Elijah found a refuge. 1 Kgs 16:31; 1 Kgs 17:9; Luke 4:26. Jesus also visited this country - the only time he passed the borders of Palestine. Matt 15:21; Mark 7:26. Paul visited Tyre, Sidon, and Ptolemais. Acts 21:2-3, 1 Kgs 15:7; 1 Sam 27:3. The name "Phoenicia" does not occur in the O.T.; in the N.T. it appears once as "Phoenicia" and twice as "Phenice." Acts 21:2; Josh 11:19; Acts 15:3. There are numerous prophecies in the O.T., however, concerning the overthrow of cities in this country, which have been signally fulfilled. See Tyre and Sidon. Present Condition. - Phoenicia is now a land of ruins, the whole shore from the "Ladder of Tyre" northward, according to Porter, being strewn with them. "Heaps of hewn stones and quantities of marble tesserae lay in my path, while broken shafts and mounds of rubbish were seen to the right and left, here crowning a cliff, there washed by the waves. One thing I specially noticed: from the time I left Achzib till I reached the fountains [of Tyre] I did not see a human being; a mournful and solitary silence reigns along Phoenicia's coast." - Giant Cities, p. 277. Stanley writes in a similar strain: "There is one point of view in which this whole coast is specially remarkable. 'A mournful and solitary silence now prevails along the shore which once resounded with the world's debate.' This sentence, with which Gibbon solemnly closes his chapter on the Crusades, well sums up the general impression still left by the six days' ride from Beirut to Ascalon; and it is no matter of surprise that in this impression travellers have felt a response to the strains in which Isaiah and Ezekiel foretold the desolation of Tyre and Sidon. In one sense, and that the highest, this feeling is just. The Phoenician power which the prophets denounced has entirely perished." - Sinai and Palestine, p. 266.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'phoenicia' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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