G4947 G4947
Syria; the Roman province north of Palestine, encompassing Antioch and Damascus, a major hub of early Christianity.
A proper geographical name designating the large Roman province stretching north of Palestine, with Antioch as its capital. In the Gospels, Syria marks the farthest reach of Jesus' early fame (Matt 4:24), while in Acts it becomes the cradle of Gentile Christianity, the base from which Paul launched his missionary journeys. Luke carefully notes that Quirinius governed Syria when Jesus was born (Luke 2:2), anchoring the narrative in Roman imperial history. The multilingual glosses uniformly transliterate the name—Spanish 'Siria,' French 'Syrie,' German 'Syrien'—reflecting its status as a universally recognized ancient toponym.
Senses
1. Syria (proper noun, geographic region) — The Roman province of Syria, the broad territory north of Palestine whose capital Antioch became the first major center of Gentile Christianity. Jesus' fame spread throughout Syria early in his ministry (Matt 4:24), and the Jerusalem council addressed its letter to believers in Antioch and Syria (Acts 15:23). Luke's reference to the Syrian governor Quirinius (Luke 2:2) anchors the nativity in datable Roman administration. All eight occurrences point to the same geographic-political entity. 8×
AR["سوريّا", "سورِيَةَ", "سُورِيَةَ", "سُورِيَّا", "سُورِيَّةَ"]·ben["সিরিয়া", "সিরিয়ার,", "সুরিয়া", "সুরিয়ায়।", "সুরিয়ার"]·DE["Syrien"]·EN["Suria", "Syria"]·FR["Syrie"]·heb["וְ-", "סוּרְיָה", "סוּרִיָּה"]·HI["सीरिया", "सीरिया-में", "सुरिय,", "सुरिया"]·ID["Siria", "Siria.", "itu"]·IT["Siria", "surian", "surias"]·jav["Siria", "Siria,", "Siria."]·KO["수리아", "수리아-를", "수리아로", "수리아와", "시리아,"]·PT["Síria", "Síria,"]·RU["Сирией", "Сирии", "Сирию", "Сирию,"]·ES["Siria", "Syr ́ía", "Syría"]·SW["Shamu", "Siria", "Suría"]·TR["Suriye", "Suriye'de", "Suriye'nin", "Suriye'ye", "Suriye'yi"]·urd["شام"]
Related Senses
H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H6258 1. and now (421×)G2250 1. day (388×)H5750 1. again, more, further (288×)H5769 1. forever, to eternity (280×)H6256 1. time, period (264×)H2320 1. month, calendar period (260×)H0310a 2. after (temporal) (258×)H3915 1. night, period of darkness (234×)H1242 1. morning (214×)H5750 2. still, yet (continuative) (166×)G5119 1. then (160×)G3568 1. now (147×)G2193 1. until (143×)G3825 1. (141×)G3752 1. (123×)H6153 1. evening, time of day (123×)H0227a 1. then (122×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
(i.e. γῆ); Syria , Refs 5th c.BC, etc.: Σ. ἡ Παλαιστίνη Palestine , Refs 5th c.BC: Κοίλη Σ. the district between Libanus and Anti-libanus, Refs 1st c.BC (Middle Liddel)