Medes, Media
Medes, Media
MEDES, MEDIA.A people and country called by the same word, Madaiin Hebrew and Assyrian. The Medes were the first of the Iranian immigrants to form a settled government on the borders of the old Semitic realm. As early as the 9th cent. b.c. they began to occupy the mountainous country south and south-east of the Caspian Sea, and by the middle of the 7th cent. their territory extended southward to the borders of Elam. Their chief city was Ecbatana, the Achmetha of Ezr 6:2 and the modern Hamadn. The Assyrians opposed them, and finally subdued them under Tiglath-pileser iii. and Sargon, and the latter deported (b.c. 721) some of them as captives to Samaria (2Ki 17:6; 2Ki 18:11). In the later years of the Assyrian empire they regained their independence, and under their king, Cyaxares, who had formed an alliance with the rising Chaldan power, they destroyed the city of Nineveh (b.c. 607), and therewith the Assyrian dominion itself. By agreement with the Chaldans, who restricted themselves to the lowlands, they speedily occupied the northern highlands as far as Cappadocia. Meanwhile the southern immigration from eastern Iran had settled to the east of the Persian Gulf and founded the Persian community. The southern portion of Elam soon fell to them, but they became vassals of their Median kindred. Under Cyrus the Great, Astyages, king of the Medes, yielded his throne to the Persians (b.c. 550), who henceforth held the hegemony of the Iranian race.
Among the Semitic peoples, however, the name of the Medes continued long to be more familiar than that of the Persians, partly by reason of their greater antiquity, and partly because the Medes formed the principal portion of the Iranian population. Hence the word is more frequent than Persia, except in the later books of the OT. Madai is mentioned in Gen 10:2 among the sons of Japheth, with no allusion to the Persians. So the Medes and not the Persians are mentioned in prophecy as the prospective destroyers of Babylon (Isa 13:17; Isa 21:2, Jer 25:25; Jer 51:11; cf. Elam, p. 211b). in Act 2:9 the Medes are vaguely mentioned, where the reference is to Jews or proselytes living in Media and using the language of the country. Media was of great importance in the history of religion, since it was there, probably in the early years of the 7th cent. b.c., that Zoroaster lived and taught.
J. F. MCurdy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Medes, Media
[Me’dia]
The Hebrew is the same for the two words. This powerful race is traced back to Madai the son of Japheth. Gen 10:2. They occupied a large district, having the Caspian Sea on the north-east; Armenia on the north-west; Parthia on the east; Persia on the south; and Assyria on the west. The boundaries no doubt varied at different times owing to the conflicts of the Medes with their neighbours.
The first mention of them is when Shalmaneser took Samaria and carried away the Israelites, placing some of them ‘in the cities of the Medes.’ 2Ki 17:6; 2Ki 18:11. Under Cyaxares (about B.C. 634) a Median empire was founded. He is called Ahasuerus in Dan 9:1. He pushed his conquests westward, and was able to overthrow the Assyrian empire. Astyages succeeded Cyaxares, but Cyrus the Persian was rising in power and subdued Astyages, but allowed him to reign as king, and he was probably Darius the Mede of Daniel. The kingdom was called at first that of the ‘Medes and Persians,’ as in Dan 5:28; Dan 6:8; Dan 6:12; Dan 6:15; but, at a later period, the Persians had the pre-eminence (cf. Dan 8:3), and are mentioned first. Est 1:3; Est 1:14; Est 1:18. They conquered Babylon and Asia Minor. On the death of Astyages, Cyrus reigned alone. It became the second great empire of the Gentiles. See DANIEL. There were some bearing the name of Medes present at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The Medes and Persians are considered to have been branches of the Aryan race and were one in origin, language, religion, etc. Est 10:2; Isa 13:17; Isa 21:2; Jer 25:25; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:28; Dan 8:20; Act 2:9. Darius in Dan 5:31 is called the MEDIAN.