Libya
LIBYA
A country in the north of Africa, stretching along on the Mediterranean between Egypt and Carthage, and running back somewhat into the interior. The part adjoining Egypt was sometimes called Libya Marmarica; and that around Cyrene, Cyrenaica, from its chief city; or Pentapolitana, from its chief city; or Pentapolitana, from its five cities, Cyrene, Apollonia, Berenice, Arsinoe, and Ptolemais. In these cities great numbers of Jews dwelt in the time of Christ; and they, with their Libyan proselytes, resorted to Jerusalem to worship, Mal 2:10 . Libya received its name from the Lehabim of Lubim, Gen 10:13 ; a warlike people, who assisted Shishak king of Egypt, and Zerah the Ethiopian, in their wars against Judea, 2Ch 12:3 14:9 16:8 Da 11:43. They were also allies of ancient Thebes, Jon 3:9 . Compare Jer 46:9 Eze 30:5 . Libya fell at length under the power of Carthage; and subsequently, of the Greeks, Romans, Saracens, and Turks.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Libya
(, the country of the or Lubim)
Libya was the name given by the Greeks to the great undefined region lying to the west of Egypt. It was for a long time equivalent to Africa, a Roman term which did not embrace Egypt till the days of Ptolemy (2nd cent. a.d.). Libya was made known to Greece in the 7th cent. b.c. by the Dorian colonists who founded Cyrene. The beautiful and fertile country occupied and developed by them remained independent till it was annexed by the Macedonian conquerors of Egypt in 330 b.c. It finally (in 90 b.c.) came under the power of the Romans, who combined it with Crete to form a single province, Creta-Cyrene. Its original name was revived by Vespasian, who divided Cyrene into Libya Superior and Libya Inferior. This country attracted the Jews at an early period. Philo bears testimony to their diffusion in his time from the Katabathmos of Libya ( ) to the borders of Ethiopia (in Flaccum, 6). Jews from the parts of Libya about Cyrene ( ) were in Jerusalem at the time of the first Christian Pentecost (Act 2:10). St. Lukes designation of Cyrenaca closely resembles that of Josephus, (Ant. xvi. vi. 1), and that of Dio Cassius, (liii. 12). The possession of this fertile region was the bone of contention between the Turks and Italians in 1912.
James Strahan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Libya
Military dictatorship on the northern coast of Africa, between Tunis and Egypt, comprising Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The name was applied in ancient geography to the continent of Africa. Libyans from Cyrene were present at Pentecost (Acts 2).
Vicariates and Prefectures Apostolic include:
Benghazi
Derna
Misurata
Tripoli
See also:
World Fact Book
Catholic-Hierarchy.Org
New Catholic Dictionary
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Libya
( or ), a name which, in its largest acceptation, was used by the Greeks to denote the whole of Africa (Strabo, 2:131); but Libya Proper, which is the Libya of the New Testament (Act 2:10), and the country of the Lubim in the Old, was a large tract lying along the Mediterranean, to the west of Egypt (Strabo, 17:824). It is called Pentapolittana Regio by Pliny (Hist. Nat. 5:5), from its five cities, Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais, Apollonia, and Cyrene; and Libya Cyrenaica by Ptolemy (Geog. 4:5), from Cyrene, its capital. See Smith’s Dict. of Class. Geogr. s.v. The name of Libya occurs in Act 2:10, where ” the dwellers in the parts of Libya about Cyrene” are mentioned among the stranger Jews who came up to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost. This obviously means the Cyrenaica. Similar expressions are used by Dion Cassius ( , 53:12) and Josephus ( , Ant. 16:6, 1). SEE CYRENE. In the Old Test. it is the rendering sometimes adopted of (Jer 46:9; Eze 30:5; Eze 38:5), elsewhere rendered PHUT (Gen 10:6, Eze 27:10).
Libya is supposed to have been first peopled by, and to have derived its name from, the Lehabim or Lubin (Gen 10:13; Nah 3:9; see Gesenius, Montum. Phan. page 211; comp. Michaelis, Spicil. 1:262 sq.; Vater, Comment. 1:132). These its earliest inhabitants, appear, in the time of the Old Testament, to have consisted of wandering tribes, who were sometimes in alliance with Egypt (compare Herod. 4:159), and at others with the Ethiopians, as they are said to have assisted both Shishak, king of Egypt, and Zerah the Ethiopian in their expeditions against Judea (2Ch 12:4; 2Ch 14:8; 2Ch 16:9). In the time of Cambyses they appear to have formed part of the Persian empire (Herod. 3:13), and Libyans formed part of the immense army of Xerxes (Herod. 7:71, 86). They are mentioned by Daniel (Dan 11:43) in connection with the Ethiopians and Cushites. ” They were eventually subdued by the Carthaginians; and it was the policy of that people to bring the nomad tribes of Northern Africa which they mastered into the condition of cultivators, that by the produce of their industry they might be able to raise and maintain the numerous armies with which they made their foreign conquests. But Herodotus assures us that none of the Libyans beyond the Carthaginian territory were tillers of the ground (Herod. 4:186,187; compare Polybius, 1:161,167, 168,177. ed. Schweighaeuser). Since the time of the Carthaginian supremacy, the country, with the rest of the East, has successively passed into the hands of the Greeks, Romans, Saracens, and Turks.” SEE AFRICA.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Libya
the country of the Ludim (Gen. 10:13), Northern Africa, a large tract lying along the Mediterranean, to the west of Egypt (Acts 2:10). Cyrene was one of its five cities.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Libya
Act 2:10, “the parts of Libya about Cyrene;” not here the whole of Africa, but the province W. of Egypt, opposite Crete, including Cyrene, the Cyrenaica pentepolitana, containing the five cities Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais, Apollonia, and Cyrene.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Libya
A province in Egypt: (see Act 2:10) so called from Libin, the heart of the sea.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Libya
Libya. This name, in its largest acceptation, was used by the Greeks to denote the whole of Africa. But Libya Proper, which is the Libya of the New Testament and the country of the Lubim in the Old, was a large tract, lying along the Mediterranean, to the west of Egypt.
Libya is supposed to have been first peopled by, and to have derived its name from, the Lehabim or Lubim [NATIONS, DISPERSION OF]. These, its earliest inhabitants, appear, in the time of the Old Testament, to have consisted of wandering tribes, who were sometimes in alliance with Egypt, and at others with the Ethiopians, as they are said to have assisted both Shishak, king of Egypt, and Zerah the Ethiopian in their expeditions against Judea (2Ch 12:4; 2Ch 14:8; 2Ch 16:9). They were eventually subdued by the Carthaginians; and it was the policy of that people to bring the nomad tribes of Northern Africa which they mastered into the condition of cultivators, that by the produce of their industry they might be able to raise and maintain the numerous armies with which they made their foreign conquests. But Herodotus assures us that none of the Libyans beyond the Carthaginian territory were tillers of the ground. Since the time of the Carthaginian supremacy the country, with the rest of the East, has successively passed into the hands of the Greeks, Romans, Saracens, and Turks. The name of Libya occurs in Act 2:10, where ‘the dwellers in the parts of Libya about Cyrene’ are mentioned among the stranger Jews who came up to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Libya
Region north of Egypt
Eze 30:5; Eze 38:5; Act 2:10
Called Lubim and Phut
Lubim; Phut
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Libya
Libya (lb’y-ah), occurring only in Eze 30:5 A. V. (R. V. “Put,”), and Act 2:10, and Lybia is the classic name of northern Africa, west of Egypt. It was inhabited by a Hamitic race, spoken of in the Old Testament under the name of Lehabim or Lubim.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Libya
Lib’ya. This name occurs only in Act 2:10. It is applied by the Greek and Roman writers to the African continent, generally, however, excluding Egypt.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
LIBYA
a country west of Egypt
Jer 46:9; Eze 30:5; Dan 11:43; Act 2:10
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Libya
The name, in its largest sense, was used by the Greeks to denote the whole of Africa. But Libya Proper, or the Libya of the New Testament, the country of the Lubims of the Old, was a large country lying along the Mediterranean, on the west of Egypt. It was called Pentapolitana Regio by Pliny, from its five chief cities, Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais, Apollonia, and Cyrene; and Lybia Cyrenaica by Ptolemy, from Cyrene its capital. Libya is supposed to have been first peopled by, and to have derived its name from, the Lehabim, or Lubim. These, its earlier inhabitants, appear in the times of the Old Testament, to have consisted of wandering tribes, who were sometimes in alliance with Egypt, and at others with the Ethiopians of Arabia; as their are said to have assisted both Shishak and Zerah in their expeditions into Judea, 2 Chronicles 12, 14, 16. They were for a time sufficiently powerful to maintain a war with the Carthaginians, by whom they were in the end entirely overcome. Since that period, Libya, in common with the rest of the east, has successively passed into the hands of the Greeks, Romans, Saracens, and Turks. The city Cyrene, built by a Grecian colony, was the capital of this country, in which, and other parts, dwelt many Jews, who came up to Jerusalem at the feast of pentecost, together with those dispersed among other nations, and are called by St. Luke dwellers in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, Act 2:10.