Lydia

VIEW:28 DATA:01-04-2020
a standing pool
(same as Lydda)
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


LYDIA was the name for the central part of the coast-land on the west of Asia Minor in ancient times, having been so called from the race which inhabited it, the Lydians. At the earliest time of which we have any knowledge it was a prosperous kingdom, and the name of the last king, Crœsus, has become proverbial for wealth. The Persians seized the kingdom from him about b.c. 546 (‘Lydia’ in Eze_30:5 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] is corrected to ‘Lud’ in RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). Alexander the Great conquered it in b.c. 334. The possession of it was disputed by the Pergamenians and Seleucids till b.c. 190, in which year it became definitely Pergamenian (cf. 1Ma_8:8). In b.c. 133 it passed by will with the rest of the Pergamenian kingdom into the Roman Empire, and the whole kingdom was henceforth known as the province Asia, by which name alone it is indicated in the NT (see Asia). After the formation of this province, the term ‘Lydia’ had only an ethnological significance. The chief interest of Lydia for us is that it contained several very ancient and important great cities (of the Ionian branch), Smyrna, Ephesus, Sardis, Colophon, etc., some of which were among the ‘churches of Asia.’ The evangelization of the country is connected with St. Paul’s long residence in Ephesus (Act_19:1 ff.).
A. Souter.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


Act_16:13-15. Paul's first European convert. A Jewish proselyte ("which worshipped God".) In attending the means of grace at Philippi, Lydia received the blessing. Many women, and among them Lydia, resorted to the place by the river Gangites or Gaggitas "where prayer was wont to be made"; possibly a proseuchee was there, "the meeting place of Jewish congregations in Greek cities" (Winer), or "a place of prayer as opposed to a synagogue or house of prayer" (Conybeare and Howson, Life of Paul). For quietness and freedom from interruption it was "outside of the gate" (so the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Alexandrinus manuscripts read instead of "out of the city"), and "by the river side" for the sake of the ablutions connected with the worship. The seashore was esteemed by the Jews a place most pure, and therefore suited for prayer; at their great fast they used to leave their synagogues and pray on every shore in Tertullian's (de Jejun. 16) time; see also Josephus Ant. 14:10, section 23.
Luke describes here with the vividness of an eye witness, Women, as in many of our own congregations, formed the greater part of the worshippers; their employment as dyers brought them together in that vicinity. Lydia belonged to Thyatira in Asia Minor, where inscriptions relating to a "guild of dyers" there confirm Luke's accuracy. Paul arrived early in the week, for "certain days" elapsed before the sabbath. Paul, Silas, and Luke "sat down" (the usual attitude of teachers) to speak to the assembled women. Lydia was one of the listeners (eekouen), and "the Lord opened her heart (compare Luk_24:45; Psa_119:18; Psa_119:130) that she attended unto the things spoken of Paul" (Luke modestly omits notice of his own preaching). The Greek (elaloumen) implies conversational speaking rather than set preaching. Her modesty and simplicity beautifully come out in the narrative. She heartily yields to her convictions and is forthwith baptized, the waters of Europe then first being sacramentally used to seal her faith and God's forgiveness in Christ.
She leads her "household" to believe in, and be baptized as disciples of, the same Saviour. This is the first example of that family religion to which Paul often refers in his epistles (1Co_1:11; 1Co_1:16; 1Co_16:15; Rom_16:5; Phm_1:2). First came her faith, then her leading all around her to Christ, then her and their baptismal confession, then her love evidenced in pressing hospitality (Heb_13:2; 1Pe_4:9; 1Ti_5:10), finally her receiving into her house Paul and Silas after their discharge from prison; she was not "ashamed of the Lord's prisoners, but was partaker of the afflictions of the gospel." Through Lydia also the gospel probably came into Thyatira, where Paul had been forbidden to preach it at the earlier time, for God has His times for everything (Act_16:6; Rev_2:18). Thyatira being a Macedonian colony had much contact with Philippi, the parent city. Lydia may have been also one of "those women who laboured with Paul in the gospel" at Philippi (Php_4:3).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Lyd'ia. (land of Lydus).
1. A maritime province, in the west of Asia Minor, bounded by Mysia on the north, Phrygia on the east, and Caria on the south. It is enumerated among the districts which the Romans took away from Antiochos the Great after the battle of Magnesia in B.C. 190, and transferred to Eumenus II, king of Pergamus. Lydia is included in the "Asia" of the New Testament.
2. The first European convert of St. Paul, and afterward, his hostess during his first stay at Philippi. Act_18:14-15, also Act_18:40. (A.D. 47). She was a Jewish proselyte at the time of the apostle's coming; and it was at the Jewish Sabbath-worship by the side of a stream, Act_18:13, that the preaching of the gospel reached her heart.
Her native place was Thyatira, in the province of Asia. Act_18:14; Rev_2:18. Thyatira was famous for its dyeing works; and Lydia was connected with this trade, as a seller either of dye or of dyed goods. We infer that she was a person of considerable wealth.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


a woman of Thyatira, a seller of purple, who dwelt in the city of Philippi, in Macedonia. She was converted to the faith by St. Paul, and both she and her family were baptized. She offered her house to the Apostle, and pressed him to abide there so earnestly, that he yielded to her entreaties. She was not a Jewess by birth, but a proselyte, Act_16:14-15; Act_16:40.
2. LYDIA, an ancient celebrated kingdom of Asia Minor, which, in the time of the Apostles, was reduced to a Roman province. Sardis was the capital.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


Lyd?ia, a province in the west of Asia Minor, supposed to have derived its name from Lud, the fourth son of Shem (Gen_10:22; see Nations, Dispersion of). It was bounded on the east by Greater Phrygia, on the north by Aeolis or Mysia, on the west by Ionia and the Aegean Sea, and on the south it was separated from Caria by the Maeander. The country is for the most part level. Among the mountains, that of Tmolus was celebrated for its saffron and red wine. In the palmy days of Lydia its kings ruled from the shores of the Aegean to the river Halys; and Croesus, who was its king in the time of Solon and of Cyrus, was reputed the richest monarch in the world. He was able to bring into the field an army of 420,000 foot and 60,000 horse against Cyrus, by whom, however, he was defeated, and his kingdom annexed to the Persian Empire (Herod. i. 6). Lydia afterwards formed part of the kingdom of the Seleucidae; and it is related in 1Ma_8:3, that Antiochus the Great was compelled by the Romans to cede Lydia to King Enmenes. In the time of the travels of the Apostles it was a province of the Roman Empire. Its chief towns were Sardis (the capital), Thyatira, and Philadelphia, all of which are mentioned in the New Testament, although the name of the province itself does not occur. The manners of the Lydians were corrupt even to a proverb.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Lydia
(Λυδία), the name of a country, and also of a woman in the New Testament.
1. The Hebrew LUD ("Lydia" in Eze_30:5; SEE LUDIM ), a province in the west of Asia Minor, supposed to have derived its name from Lud, the fourth son of Shem (Gen_10:22). Thus Josephus states "those who are now called Lydians (Λυδοί), but anciently Ludimn (Λούδοι), sprung from Lud" (Λούδα, Ant. 1:6, 4; compare Bochart, Opera, 1:83, and the authorities cited there). SEE ETHNOLOGY.
Lydia was bounded on the east by Greater Phrygia, on the north by AEolis or Mysia, on the west by Ionia and the AEgaean Sea, and or the south it was separated from Caria by the Meander (see Smith's Dict. of Class. Geogr. s.v.). The country is for the most part level (Schubert, Reisen, 1:369 sq.). Among the mountains, that of Tmolus was celebrated for its saffron and red wine (Xenoph. Cyrop. 6:2, 21). Lydia, however, lay on the west coast of Asia Minor, and thus was far removed from the other possessions of the Shemitic nations. Greek writers inform us that Lydia was originally peopled by a Pelasgic race called hicseonians (Homer, Iliad, 2:866; 10:431), who received their name from Maeon, an ancient king (Bochart, 1.c.). They also state that the name Lydians was derived from a king who ruled them at a later period (Herod. 1:7) About eight centuries B.C. a tribe of another race migrated from the east, and subdued the Maeonians. These were the Lydians. For some time after this conquest both nations are mentioned promiscuously, but the Lydians gradually obtained power, and gave their name to the country (Kalisch, On Genesis 10; Dionysius, 1:30; Pliny, 5:30; comp. Strabo, 12:572; 14:679). The best and most recent critics regard these Lydians as a Shemitic tribe, and consequently the descendants of Lud (Movers, Die Phonicier, 1:475). This view is strengthened by the description of the character and habits of the Lydians. They were warlike (Herod. 1:79), skilled in horsemanship (ib.), and accustomed to serve as mercenaries under foreign princes (7:71). Now, in Isa_66:19, a warlike people called Lud is mentioned in connection with Tarshish and Pul; and again in Eze_27:10, the prophet says of Tyre, "They of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, were in thine army, thy men of war." There can scarcely be a doubt that this is the Shemitic nation mentioned in Genesis, and which migrated to Western Asia, and gave the province of Lydia its name.
The identity has recently been called in question by professor and Sir Henry Rawlinson, but their arguments do not seem sufficient to set aside the great mass of circumstantial evidence in its favor (Rawlinson's Herodotus, 1:160, 659, 667; comp. Kalisch, ad loc. Gen.; Prichard, Physical History of Mankind, 4:562 sq.; Niebuhr, Lectures on Ancient History, 1:87; Gesenius, Thesaurus, page 745). In the palmy days of Lydia its kings ruled from the shores of the AEgean to the river Halys; and Craesus, who was its king in the time of Solon and of Cyrus, was reputed the richest monarch in the world (Strabo, 15:735). He was able to bring into the field an army of 420,000 foot and 60,000 horse against Cyrus, by whom, however, he was defeated, and his kingdom annexed to the Persian empire (Herod. 1:6). Lydia afterwards formed part of the kingdom of the Seleucidae; and it is related in 1Ma_8:8, that Antiochus the Great was compelled by the Romans to cede Lydia to king Eumenes (comp. Apian. Syr. 38). Some difficulty arises in the passage referred to from the names "India and Media" found in connection with it; but if we regard these as incorrectly given by the writer or by a copyist for "Ionia and Mysia," the agreement with Livy's account of the same transaction (37:56) will be sufficiently established, the notice of the maritime provinces alone in the book of Maccabees being explicable on the ground of their being best known to the inhabitants of Palestine. In the time of the travels of the apostles it was a province of the Roman empire (Ptolemy, 5:2, 16; Pliny, 5:30). Its chief towns were Sardis (the capital), Thyatira, and Philadelphia, all of which are mentioned in the New Testament, although the name of the province itself does not occur. Its connection with Judaea, under the Seleucidne, is referred to by Josephus (Ant. 12:3, 4). The manners of the Lydians were corrupt even to a proverb (Herod. 1:93). See Th. Menke, Lydiaea (Berlin, 1844); Cramer, Asia Minor, 1:413; Forbiger, Handb. der Alten Geogrs. 2:167; Clinton, Fasti Hellen. Appendix, page 361; Niebuhr, Lectures on Anc. Hist. 1:82; Cellarius, Notitiae, 1:108 sq.; Mannert, Geogr. VI, 3:345 sq.; Allgem. Welhistor. 4:623 sq.; Beck, Weltg. 1:308 sq.; Heeren, Ideen, I, 1:154 sq.
2. A woman of Thyatira, "a seller of purple," who dwelt in the city of Philippi, in Macedonia (Act_16:14-15). A.D. 47. The commentators are not agreed whether "Lydia" should be regarded as an appellative, or a derivative from the country to which the woman belonged, Thyatira, her native place, being in Lydia. There are examples of this latter sense; but the preceding word ὀνόματι seems here to support the former, and the name was a common one. (See Biel and I. Hase in the Bibl. Brem. 2:411; 3:275; 5:670; 6:1041; Symb. Brem. II, 2:124; compare Ugolini Thesaur. 13:29.) Lydia was not by birth a Jewess, but a proselyte, as the phrase "who worshipped God" imports. It was at the Jewish Sabbath-worship by the side of a stream (Act_16:13) that the preaching of the Gospel by Paul reached her heart. She was converted, being the first person in Europe who embraced Christianity there, and after she and her household had been baptized she pressed the use of her house so earnestly upon the apostle and his associates that they were constrained to accept the invitation. As her native place was in the province of Asia (Act_16:14; Rev_2:18), it is interesting to notice that through her, indirectly, the Gospel may have come into that very district where Paul himself had recently been forbidden directly to preach it (Act_16:6). We infer that she was a person of considerable wealth partly from the fact that she gave a home to Paul and his companions, partly from the mention of the conversion of her "household," under which term, whether children are included or not, slaves are no doubt comprehended. Of Lydia's character we are led to form a high estimate from her candid reception of the Gospel, her urgent hospitality, and her continued friendship to Paul and Silas when they were persecuted. Whether she was one of "those women who labored with Paul in the Gospel" at Philippi, as mentioned afterwards in the epistle to that place (Php_4:3), it is impossible to say. The Lydians were famous for the art of dyeing purple vests (Pliny, 7:57; Max. Tyr. 40:2; Valer. Flacc. 4:368; Claud. Rapt. Proserp. 1:275; AElian, Anim. 4:46), and Lydia, as "a seller of purple," is supposed to have been a dealer in vests so dyed rather than in the dye itself (see Kuinol on Act_14:14).

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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