Difference between revisions of "Berea"

<p> A city of Macedon, whither Paul withdrew, with Silas and Timothy, at his first visit to Europe, from [[Jewish]] persecution at Thessalonica, whence also, when the persecutors followed him from Thessalonica, he retired seawards to proceed to [[Athens]] (&nbsp;Acts 17:10-15). The Berean Jews were "more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word (preached) with all readiness of mind (not in a cavilling, critical spirit), and (yet not in a credulous spirit, for they) searched the [[Scriptures]] daily whether those things were so." (See &nbsp;Isaiah 8:20; &nbsp;John 5:39; &nbsp;Galatians 1:8-9.) The result was necessarily, "many believed; also of honorable women, which were Greeks, and of men not a few." </p> <p> Sopater, or Sosipater, one of them, became Paul's missionary companion (&nbsp;Acts 20:4; &nbsp;Romans 16:21) in returning to Asia from his second visit to Europe, where he had been with him at Corinth. Now Verria, or Kara-verria, commanding a wide view of the plain of the Axius and Haliacmon; one of the most pleasant towns of Roumelia, with 20,000 inhabitants. One of the two roads from [[Thessalonica]] to [[Berea]] passed by Pella. A road led from Berea to Dium, whence probably Paul sailed to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy behind. </p>

<p> '''Berea''' (be-rç'ah). A city of Macedonia, &nbsp;Acts 17:10-13 (Berœa in R. V.), on the eastern side of the Olympian mountains; now Verria, with a population of about 6000. </p>

<p> '''''be''''' -'''''rē´a''''' . See Bercea </p> <p> Bereave; Bereaver; Bereft </p> <p> '''''bē̇''''' -'''''rēv''''' ´, '''''bē̇''''' -'''''rēv´ẽr''''' , '''''bē̇''''' -'''''reft''''' ´: [[Bereave]] is frequently used in the Old Testament in the (now almost obsolete) meaning of "to deprive," "to take away," especially with reference to loss of children. The [[Hebrew]] word used here is שכל , <i> '''''shākhōl''''' </i> , "to be childless," or in the Piel "to make childless" (compare &nbsp;Genesis 42:36 et al.). In the King James Version &nbsp; Ecclesiastes 4:8 (from the Hebrew חסר , <i> '''''ḥāṣēr''''' </i> , "to lack") we read "and bereave my soul of good" (the Revised Version (British and American) "deprive"), and in &nbsp;Ezekiel 36:14 (from Hebrew כּשׁל , <i> '''''kāshal''''' </i> , "to stumble"), "neither bereave thy nations any more" (the Revised Version, margin "cause to stumble"). </p> <p> Bereaver , otherwise very rare, is found the Revised Version (British and American) &nbsp;Ezekiel 36:13 (from Hebrew שׁכל , <i> '''''shākhōl''''' </i> "to be childless"), "a bereaver of thy nation" (the King James Version "hast bereaved"). </p> <p> Bereft is found in &nbsp; 1 Timothy 6:5 (from the Greek <i> '''''aposteréō''''' </i> , "to rob") "bereft of the truth" (the King James Version "destitute"). The expression <i> bereavement </i> (the Revised Version (British and American) &nbsp; Isaiah 49:20 ) in the phrase "the children of thy bereft" means "the children born to thee in the time when God had afflicted thee." </p>

<p> (Βερέα ), a place in [[Judea]] apparently not very far from Jerusalem, where Bacchides, the general of Demetrius, encamped shortly before the engagement in which [[Judas]] Maccabaeus was slain (&nbsp;1 [[Maccabees]] 9:4). Other copies, however, read Berzath (Βεηρζάθ, Βεηρθάζ, Βηρζήθ, etc., see Grimm, in loc.), from in which Reland conjectures (Palaest. p. 624) that it may be the BEZETH (q.v.) of &nbsp;1 Maccabees 7:19, especially as Josephus, in his parallel account (Ant. 12, 11, 4), calls the place in question Bethzetho (Βηθζηθώ, Ant. 12, II, 1; compo. 10, 2). (See [[Beroea]]). </p> <p> (&nbsp;1 Maccabees 9:4). Lieut. Conder (Tent Work, ii, 335) proposes to identify this place with Bireh, which, however, has long since been settled as the site of Beeroth. </p>