Patmos

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mortia
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


PATMOS.—An island W, of Caria, now called Patino, with an area of 16 sq. miles and a population of about 4000. In the Middle Ages its palms gained for it the title of Palmosa, but it is no longer fertile. Its Cyclopean remains show that it was very early inhabited. It is the traditional place to which St. John was banished by Domitian, and in which he wrote the Apocalypse (Rev_1:3). The ‘Cave of the Apocalypse’ is still shown in which the Apostle is said to have seen the visions. The chief remaining interest of the island is the monastery of St. John, founded in the 11th century. It once contained a valuable library, from which was purchased in 1814 the 9th cent. Plato now in the Bodleian.
A. E. Hillard.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

Rev_1:9. One of the Sporades. A small rugged island of the Icarian Sea, part of the Aegean; 20 miles S. of Samos, 24 W. of Asia Minor, 25 in circumference. The scene of John's banishment (by Domitian), where he "was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." The rocky solitude suited the sublime nature of the Revelation. On a hill in the southern half of the island is the monastery of John the divine, and the traditional grotto of his receiving the Apocalypse. In the middle ages called Palmosa from its palms; now there is but one, and the island has resumed its old name Patmo or Patino. It is unvisited by Turks, without any mosque, and saddled with moderate tribute, free from piracy, slavery, and any police but their own.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Pat'mos. Rev_1:9. A rugged and bare island in the Aegean Sea, 20 miles south of Samos, and 24 miles west of Asia Minor. It was the scene of the banishment of St. John, in the reign of Domitian, A.D. 95. Patmos is divided into two nearly equal parts, a northern and a southern, by a very narrow isthmus where, on the east side, are the harbor and the town.
On the hill, to the south, crowning a commanding height, is the celebrated monastery, which bears the name of, "John the Divine." Halfway up the descent is the cave, or grotto, where tradition says that St. John received the Revelation.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

a small rocky island in the AEgean Sea, about eighteen miles in circumference; which, on account of its dreary and desolate character, was used by the Roman emperors as a place of confinement for criminals. To this island St. John was banished by the Emperor Domitian; and here he had his revelation, recorded in the Apocalypse.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

pat?mos (Πάτμος, Pátomos; Italian: San Giovanni di Patino): A Turkish island of the group Sporades, Southwest of Samos, mentioned once in the Bible, Rev_1:9, ?I, John ... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus? (διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καί τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ, diá tón lógon toú theoú kaı́ tḗn marturian Iēsoú). The island is 10 miles long, and about 6 broad along the northern coast. It is for the most part rocky. The highest part is Mount Elias, which rises to a height of over 800 ft. As in Greece, and in the adjacent mainland of Asia Minor, the land is treeless. Near the city of Patmos there is a good harbor. A famous monastery, Christodulos, was founded on the island in 1088. Near this is a thriving school, attended by students from all parts of the Archipelago. The population of the island numbers 3,000, almost entirely Greek. The ancient capital was on an isthmus between the inlets of La Scala and Merika. Many ruins can still be seen. The huge walls of Cyclopean masonry, similar to those at Tiryns, attest their great age. In Roman times Patmos was one of the many places to which Rome banished her exiles. In 95 AD, according to a tradition preserved by Irenaeus, Eusebius, Jerome and others, John was exiled here - in the 14th year of the reign of Domitian - whence he returned to Ephesus under Nerva (96 AD). The cave in which he is said to have seen his visions is still pointed out to the traveler. Only a small part of the once valuable library in the monastery of Christodulos is left. Just 100 years ago (1814) Mr. E.D. Clark purchased here the manuscript of Plato which is now in the Bodleian Library, the celebrated Clarkianus, a parchment written in the year 895, and admittedly the best of all for the 1st of the 2 volumes into which the works of Plato were divided for convenience. Patmos is mentioned by Thucydides (iii. 33), by Pliny (NH, iv. 23), and by Strabo (x.5). See also JOHN, THE APOSTLE; REVELATION OF JOHN.

Literature.
Tozer, The Islands of the Aegean (1890), 178-95; Walpole, Turkey (London, 1820), II, 43; E.D. Clark, Travels (London, 1818), VI, 2; Ross, Reisen (Stuttgart, 1840), II; Guerin, Description de l'Ile de Patmos (Paris, 1856).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Pat?mos, a rocky and bare island of the ?gean Sea, about fifteen miles in circumference, and reckoned as one of the Sporades. On account of its stern and desolate character, the island was used, under the Roman Empire, as a place of banishment, which accounts for the exile of John thither 'for the testimony of Jesus' (Rev_1:9) [JOHN THE EVANGELIST]. He was here favored with those visions which are contained in the Apocalypse, and to which the place owes its Scriptural interest.
On approaching the island the coast is found to be high, and to consist of a succession of capes, which form so many ports, some of which are excellent. The only one in use is, however, a deep bay, sheltered by high mountains on every side but one, where it is protected by a projecting cape. The town attached to this port is situated upon a high rocky mountain, rising immediately from the sea; and this, with the Scala below upon the shore, consisting of some shops and houses, forms the only inhabited site of the island.
Patmos is deficient of trees, but abounds in flowering plants and shrubs, Walnuts and other fruit trees are grown in the orchards; and the wine of Patmos is the strongest and best flavored of any in the Greek islands. Maize and barley are cultivated, but not in a quantity sufficient for the use of the inhabitants, and for the supply of their own vessels and others which often put in at the great harbor for provisions. The island now bears the names of Patino and Palmosa, and the inhabitants do not exceed 4000 or 5000, many of whom are emigrants from the neighboring continent.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Patmos
(Πάτμος, etymology unknown), a rocky and bare island in that part of the AEgean called the Icarian Sea, about twenty miles south of Samos, and about twenty-four west of the coast of Asia Minor, near Miletus, reckoned as one of the Sporades (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 4:23; Strabo, 10:480). On account of its isolation the island was used, under- the Roman empire, as a place of banishment, which accounts for the exile of the apostle John thither “for the testimony of Jesus” (Rev_1:9). SEE JOHN. He was here favored with those visions which are contained in the Apocalypse, and to which the place owes its scriptural interest. We may add that Patmos must have been conspicuous on the right when St. Paul was sailing (Act_20:15; Act_21:1) from Samos to Cos.
The island is about twenty-five miles in circumference, has a deeply indented sea-line, and possesses one of the best harbors in the archipelago; lat. 37° 17' N., long. 26° 35' E. On the north-eastern side of the island was a town of the same name with the harbor, and the southernmost point formed the promontory Amazoniun. It is deficient in trees, but abounds in flowering plants and shrubs. Walnuts and other fruit-trees are grown in the orchards; and the wine of Patmos is the strongest and best flavored of any in the Greek islands. Maize and barley are cultivated, but not in a quantity sufficient: for. the use of the. inhabitants, and for the supply of their own vessels and others which often put in at the great harbor for provisions. On the ridge of a hill overlooking the harbor of La Scala stand the ruins of the ancient acropolis, and round its base lies the town, which contains more than half the population of the island. Its inhabitants are about six hundred in number, and between three and four hundred are scattered about the island besides. They subsist by fishing and the poor harvest their fields afford them. They wander away in the autumn months to richer soils, and work as agricultural laborers; or carry on a small commerce, leaving their homes to the care of the women; but this migration has diminished of late years. The educational state of the island is anomalous; the inhabitants are, as they ever have been, ignorant and superstitious, although quiet and peaceable; but the monastery in which Sonnini found eighty monks, only three of whom could read, has now a staff of teachers, who afford their pupils a course of instruction comprising classic Greek, Italian, general literature, and logic. They have a considerable class from the neighboring islands, and even a few from the mainland. Patnpos has been in one respect singularly favored. The Turks have never visited it, none dwell on the island; and the moderate tribute which they exact has been punctually paid, and sent by the islanders themselves to Smyrna. No mosque has ever been erected on the spot rendered sacred by the vision of the Apocalypse. Slavery has been unknown, piracy has never been practiced, and the orderly life of the inhabitants has rendered unnecessary the interference of any other police than that which they supply themselves: their poverty has stood them in good stead. The air of Patmos is pure and wholesome; and the plague, so fatal in the islands round about, has never been known there.
The aspect of the island is peculiarly rugged and bare. Such a scene of banishment for St. John in the reign of Domitian is quite in harmony with what we read of the custom of the period. It was the common practice to send exiles to the most rocky and desolate islands (“in asperrimas insularum”). See Sueton. Titus 8; Juven. Sat. 1:73. Such a scene, too, was suitable (if we may presume to say so) to the sublime and awful revelation which the apostle received there. It is possible indeed that there was more greenness in Patmos formerly than now. Its name in the Middle Ages was Palmosa. But this has now almost entirely given place to the old classical name in the form Patmo; and there is just one palm tree in the island, in a valley which is called “the Saint's Garden” (ὁ κῆπος τοῦ ῾Οσίου). Here and there are a few poor olives, about a score of cypresses, and other trees in the same scanty proportion.
Patmos is divided into two nearly equal parts, a northern and a southern, by a very narrow isthmus, where, on the east side, are the harbor and the town, On the hill to the south, crowning a commanding height, is the celebrated monastery which bears the name of “John the Divine.” It was built by Alexius Comnenus, and in the library are a great many printed books. There were in it formerly also 600 MSS.; there are now 240. Two ought to be mentioned here, which profess to furnish, under the title of αἱ περίοδοι τοῦ θεολόγου, an account of St. John after the ascension of our Lord. One of them is attributed to Prochorus, an alleged disciple of St. John; the other is an abridgment of the same by Nicetas, archbishop of Thessalonica. Various places in the island are incorporated in the legend, and this is one of its chief points of interest. There is a published Latin translation in the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum (1677, tom. 2), but with curious modifications, one great object of which is to disengage St. John's martyrdom from Ephesus (where the legend places it), and to fix it in Rome. Half-way up the ascent of the mountain on which the monastery stands is the cave or grotto where tradition says that St. John received the revelation, and which is still called τὸ σπήλαιον τῆς Α᾿ποκαλύψεως. A view of it (said to be not very accurate) will be found in Choiseul-Gouffier (1, pl. 57). In and around it is a small church, connected with which is a school or college, where the ancient Greek literature is said to be well taught and understood. Among the older travelers who have visited Patmos we may especially mention Tournefort and Pococke, and later Dr. Clarke and Prof. Carlisle. See also Turner, Journal of a Tour, 3:98-101; Schubert, Reise ins Morgenland, 1:424-434; Walpole, Turkey, 2:43; and Stanley, Sermons in the East, p. 225. Ross visited it in 1841, and describes it at length (Reisen auf den griechischen Inseln des agaischen Meeres, 2:123-139). Guerin, some years later, spent a month there, and enters into more detail, especially as regards ecclesiastical antiquities and traditions (Description de I'le de Patmos et de l' Ile de Samos [Paris, 1856], p, 1-120).

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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