Phoenicia
Phoenicia is a region mentioned in the New Testament, located in the region of Phoenicia in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tyre. It appears across 4 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Phoenicia, the narrow coastal strip along the eastern Mediterranean corresponding to modern Lebanon, appears in both Testaments as a significant neighbor of Israel. Though the Old Testament references Phoenicia primarily through its major cities of Tyre and Sidon, the New Testament names the region directly. In Acts 11:19, believers scattered by the persecution following Stephen's martyrdom traveled as far as Phoenicia, initially preaching only to Jews. Later, Acts 15:3 records that Paul and Barnabas, sent to the Jerusalem Council, passed through Phoenicia describing the conversion of the Gentiles, bringing great joy to the believers there. In Acts 21:2-3, Paul sailed along the Phoenician coast and landed at Tyre during his final journey to Jerusalem. Jesus Himself visited the region of Tyre and Sidon during His ministry, where He healed the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman, demonstrating that God's mercy extended beyond Israel's borders (Mark 7:24-30; Matthew 15:21-28). Phoenicia thus witnessed the progressive expansion of God's kingdom from Israel to the nations.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Phoenicia occupied the coastal region of modern Lebanon and parts of southern Syria, centered on the great port cities of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, and Berytus (Beirut). The Phoenicians were renowned as master sailors, traders, and artisans who developed the alphabet adopted by Greeks and eventually the Western world. Archaeological excavations at Tyre have revealed Roman-era colonnaded streets and a hippodrome, while Sidon has produced remarkable sarcophagi and temple remains. Byblos, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, has yielded important Bronze Age temples and the earliest Phoenician inscriptions. Underwater archaeology has explored submerged portions of these ancient harbors, revealing the engineering sophistication of Phoenician port construction.
Verse Appearances (4)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]