Libya

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Λιβύη, the country of the Λίβυες 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 (ἀπὸ τοῦ πρὸς Λιβύην καταβαθμοῦ) to the borders of Ethiopia’ ( in Flaccum , 6). Jews from ‘the parts of Libya about Cyrene’ (τὰ μέρη τῆς Λιβύης τῆς κατὰ Κυρήνην) were in Jerusalem at the time of the first Christian Pentecost ( Acts 2:10). St. Luke’s designation of Cyrenaïca closely resembles that of Josephus, ἡ πρὸς Κυρήνην Λιβύη ( Ant. xvi. vi. 1), and that of Dio Cassius, Λιβύη ἡ περὶ Κυρήνην (liii. 12). The possession of this fertile region was the bone of contention between the Turks and Italians in 1912.

James Strahan.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

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,"  Acts 2:10 .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

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,  Acts 2:10 . Libya received its name from the Lehabim of Lubim,  Genesis 10:13; a warlike people, who assisted Shishak king of Egypt, and Zerah the Ethiopian, in their wars against Judea,  2 Chronicles 12:3   14:9   16:8   Daniel 11:43 . They were also allies of ancient Thebes,  Nahum 3:9 . Compare  Jeremiah 46:9   Ezekiel 30:5 . Libya fell at length under the power of Carthage; and subsequently, of the Greeks, Romans, Saracens, and Turks.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 30:5 1 Chronicles 1:8 Nahum 3:9 Genesis 10:6 Ezekiel 27:10 Ezekiel 30:5 Ezekiel 38:5 Acts 2:10 1 Kings 11:40 1 Kings 14:25-28 2 Chronicles 12:1-12

Mike Mitchell

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Libya ( Lĭb'Y-Ah ), occurring only in  Ezekiel 30:5 A. V. (R. V. "Put,"), and  Acts 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.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 Acts 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.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Lib'ya. This name occurs only in  Acts 2:10. It is applied by the Greek and Roman writers to the African continent, generally, however, excluding Egypt.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A province in Egypt: (see  Acts 2:10) so called from Libin, the heart of the sea.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:13 Acts 2:10

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Λιβύα or Λιβύη ), 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 ( Acts 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  Acts 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 ( Λιβύη Ἡ Περὶ Κυρήνην , 53: 12) and Josephus ( Ἡ Πρὸς Κυρήνην Λιβύη , Ant. 16:6, 1). (See Cyrene). In the Old Test. it is the rendering sometimes adopted of פּוּט ( Jeremiah 46:9;  Ezekiel 30:5;  Ezekiel 38:5), elsewhere rendered PHUT ( Genesis 10:6,  Ezekiel 27:10).

Libya is supposed to have been first peopled by, and to have derived its name from, the Lehabim or Lubin ( Genesis 10:13;  Nahum 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 ( 2 Chronicles 12:4;  2 Chronicles 14:8;  2 Chronicles 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 ( Daniel 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).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Lib´ya. 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 (;; ). 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 , 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.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A name by the early geographers to the territory in Africa which lay between Egypt, Ethiopia, and the shores of the Atlantic.