Spain

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Σπανία)

Spain was St. Paul’s objective during the later years of his missionary activity. It was characteristic of him that he was always thinking of ‘the parts beyond’ (τὰ ὑπερέκεινα,  2 Corinthians 10:16). Sensitively regardful of ‘the province (κανών) which God apportioned’ him, and determined not to intrude ‘in another’s province’ ( 2 Corinthians 10:13;  2 Corinthians 10:15-16), he felt drawn to the fresh fields of the distant West. It is in his letter to the Romans ( Romans 15:24;  Romans 15:28) that he first broaches the idea of evangelizing Spain. Eager as he was to ‘see Rome’ and to preach the gospel in it, he did not purpose to remain there long. The metropolis was not in his κανών, for others had already laboured there, and he intimates that in his visit to the Roman Christians he would be en route (διαπορευόμενος) for his proper sphere. He would ‘go on by’ them (ἀπελεύσομαι διʼ ὑμῶν) as he journeyed westward. The Imperial width of his horizon and boldness of his policy were worthy of his Roman citizenship, and the fact that Spain was the most completely Romanized of all the provinces no doubt made it seem a very attractive and promising mission field. It is true that half a century after St. Paul’s time Juvenal could still write, ‘Horrida vitanda est Hispania’ (Sat. viii. 116), but he was doubtless thinking of the barbarous tribes of the northern mountains. In the beginning of our era Strabo (III. ii. 15) says that the southern Spaniards, ‘especially those who dwell about the Baetis (Guadalquiver), have been so entirely converted to the Roman mode of life as even to have forgotten their own language.’ Carrying over the permanent benefits of an earlier Phcenician and Carthaginian civilization, Spain had become a Roman province at the end of the Second Punic War (201 b.c.), and by the days of Cicero and Caesar the southern districts were almost wholly Italian. ‘If preparation was anywhere made by the republic for the great all-significant work of the imperial period-the Romanising of the West-it was in Spain.… In all Spain under Augustus there were numbered fifty communities with full citizenship; nearly fifty others had up to this time received Latin rights, and stood as to inward organisation on a par with the burgess-communities.… Like the Roman dress, the Roman language was largely diffused even among those Spaniards who had not Italian burgess-rights, and the government favoured the de facto Romanising of the land’ (T. Mommsen, The Provinces of the Roman Empire, 1910, i. 67-70). Many of the writers of Rome’s silver age, notably Lucan, the two Senecas, Martial, and Quintilian, were Spaniards, The Emperors Trajan and Hadrian were born in Spain.

If St. Paul ever reached this goal, he must have made Latin for a time his missionary language, for even when half the population of Rome was speaking Greek, Spain was never in any degree Hellenized. But the question whether the Apostle succeeded in carrying out his purpose cannot be confidently answered. There are only two authorities for a Spanish journey-the Muratorian Fragment on the Canon, and Clement of Rome. The writer of the former (about a.d. 200) may have had independent knowledge, but it is more likely that when he mentions the ‘profectionem Pauli ab urbe ad Spaniam proficiscentis,’ he is merely drawing an inference that the purpose expressed in  Romans 15:24;  Romans 15:28 was fulfilled. The words of Clement (ad Cor. v.) are well known: ‘Paul … having taught the whole world righteousness, and having come to the bound of the West (ἐπὶ τὸ τέρμα τῆς δύσεως ἐλθών), and having borne witness (μαρτυρήσας) before the rulers, so was released from the world and went to the Holy Place, having become the greatest example of patience.’ Lightfoot interpreted ‘the bound of the West’ as Spain, but, since the next clauses certainly refer to St. Paul’s testimony and martyrdom in Rome, it seems natural to take ἐλθών and μαρτυρήσας together, and difficult to interpolate a journey between them. Sanday-Headlam (‘Romans’5 [International Critical Commentary, 1902], 414) ask: ‘Is it quite certain that a Jew, as Clement probably was, speaking of St. Paul, another Jew, would not look upon Rome relatively to Jerusalem as the τέρμα τῆς δύσεως, “the western limit”?’ It is significant that the Pastoral Epistles contain no suggestion of a campaign, possible or actual, in the West.

Literature.-J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, 1891, Biblical Essays, 1893, p. 423 f.; A. C. McGiffert, A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, 1897, p. 415 f.; C. von Weizsäcker, Apostolic Age, ii. [1895] 137 f.

James Strahan.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Spain . The extent of country to which in NT times the name Spain, or more strictly ‘the Spains,’ was given, was practically identical with modern Spain. In the earliest times of which we have any knowledge it was inhabited, at least in part, by a race supposed to be a mixture of the aboriginal Iberian population with immigrant Celts. In b.c. 236, Hamilcar, father of the great Hannibal, invaded the country from Carthage, and after nine years of conquest was succeeded by his son-in-law Hasdrubal, who in turn was succeeded by Hannibal, under whom about b.c. 219 the conquest of the country was practically completed. Hannibal used it as his base in the Second Punic War against Rome. The Romans first invaded Spain in 218, and after various successes and reverses constituted two provinces there in 197, known for centuries afterwards as Hispania Citerior (Tarraconensis) and Hispania Ulterior (Bætica), separated from one another by the Ebro. The mountainous districts in the NW. were not actually subdued till the time of the Emperor Augustus (b.c. 20). The country was valued for its agricultural products, as well as its precious metals. It became the most thoroughly Romanized of all the Roman provinces, and in nothing is St. Paul’s Roman attitude more evident than in his determination to proceed from Rome to Spain, rather than to Africa or to Gaul (  Romans 15:24 ). It is not known whether he carried out his plan. Spain claims more honoured names in Roman literature than any other country in the 1st cent. a.d., having been the birthplace of the two Senecas, Columella, Mela, Lucan, Martial, and Quintilian.

A. Souter.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Spain.  1 Maccabees 8:3;  Romans 15:24;  Romans 15:28. The local designation, Tarshish, representing the Tartessus of the Greeks, probably prevailed, until the fame of the Roman wars in that country reached the East, when it was superseded by its classical name. The mere intention of St. Paul to visit Spain, (whether he really did visit it is a disputed question. - Editor), implies two interesting facts, namely, the establishment of a Christian community in that country, and that this was done by Hellenistic Jews resident there. The early introduction of Christianity into that country is attested by Irenaeus and Tertullian.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Solomon's fleet visited Spain, then named Τarshish (The Greek "Tartessus") . In classic times the name "Spain" came into use, traceable to the Βasque Εzpana , i.e. on the edge of Europe. The Iberian language (From Whence The Country Derived One Of Its Names And Its River Iberus Or Ebro Was Designated) was the original of the Basque.  Romans 15:24;  Romans 15:28, Paul's intention to visit Spain may imply that a Christian church was already founded there. As to the early introduction of Christianity, compare Irenaeus 1:3 and Tertullian, Adv. Judg., 7.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Comprehended, in ancient usage, the modern kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, that is, the whole Spanish peninsula. In the time of Paul, it was subject to the Romans, and was frequented by many Jews. For the supposed origin of its name, see  Romans 15:24,28 , Paul expresses his intention of visiting Spain; and many conjecture that he did so between his first and second imprisonments at Rome, about A. D. 64-66.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The well-known country in Europe. It is mentioned in the N.T. only in relation to Paul's purpose to visit it; but it is not known whether he went there between his first and second imprisonments or not.  Romans 15:24,28 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Romans 15:24 15:28Tarshish

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Romans 15:24,28Tarshish

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A kingdom of South-West Europe, which with Portugal (less than one-fifth the size of Spain) occupies the entire Iberian Peninsula, and is divided from France on the N. by the Pyrenees Mountains, and on the E. and S. is washed by the Mediterranean; the NW. corner fronts the Bay of Biscay (N.) and the Atlantic (W.), while Portugal completes the western boundary; its area, three and one-third times the size of England and Wales, is, along with the Canaries and the Balearic Isles, divided into 49 provinces, although the more familiar names of the 14 old kingdoms, states, and provinces (New and Old Castile, Galicia, Aragon, etc.) are still in use; forms a compact square, with a regular, in parts precipitous, coast-line, which is short compared with its area; is in the main a highland country, a vast plateau (2000 to 3000 ft. high) occupying the centre, buttressed and crossed by ranges (Sierra Nevada in the S., Sierra de Guadarrama, Sierra Morena, etc.), and diversified by the long valleys of the Ebro, Douro, Tagus, Guadalquivir, and other lesser rivers, all of which are rapid, and only a few navigable; climate varies considerably according as one proceeds to the central plains, where extremes of heat and cold are experienced, but over all is the driest in Europe; agriculture, although less than a half of the land is under cultivation, is by far the most important industry, and Valencia and Catalonia the provinces where it is most successfully carried out, wheat and other cereals, the olive and the vine, being the chief products; other important industries are mining, the Peninsula being extremely rich in the useful minerals; Merino sheep farming, anchovy and sardine fisheries, wine-making, and the manufacture of cotton, silk, leather, and paper; chief exports are wine, fruits, mineral ores, oil and cork; Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, and Malaga are the chief towns; the widest variety of character exists among the natives of the various provinces, from the hard-working, thrifty Catalan to the lazy, improvident Murcian, but all possess the southern love "of song, dance, and colour," and have an inherent grace and dignity of manner; Roman Catholicism is the national religion; and although systems of elementary and secondary schools are in vogue, education over all is in a deplorably backward condition; the Government is a hereditary and constitutional monarchy; the Cortes consists of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies; universal suffrage and trial by jury are recent innovations. The outstanding fact in the history of Spain, after the downfall of the Roman Empire, of which she had long formed a part, is the national struggle with the Moors, who overran the peninsula in the 8th century, firmly established themselves, and were not finally overthrown till Granada, their last possession, was taken in 1492; sixteen years later the country became a united kingdom, and for a brief period, with its vast American colonies and wide European possessions, became in the 16th century the dominant power of Europe; since then she has lagged more and more in the race of nations, and her once vast colonial empire has gradually crumbled away till now, since the unsuccessful war with America in 1898, only an island or two remains to her.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

The mere intention, however, implies two interesting facts, viz. the establishment, of a Christian community in that country, and this by means of Hellenistic Jews resident there. We have no direct testimony to either of these facts; but as the Jews had spread along the shores of the Mediterranean as far as Cyrene in Africa and Rome in Europe ( Acts 2:10), there would be no difficulty in assuming that they were also found in the commercial cities of the eastern coast of Spain. The early introduction of Christianity into that country is attested by Irenaeus (1, 3) and Tertullian (Adv.  Judges 1:7). An inscription, purporting to record a persecution of the Spanish Christians in the reign of Nero is probably a forgery (Gieseler, Church Hist. 1, 82, note 5).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Spain . This name was anciently applied to the whole Peninsula which now comprises Spain and Portugal. In the time of Paul Spain was a Roman province, and many Jews appear to have settled there. It seems clear from; , that Paul formed the design of proceeding to preach the Gospel in Spain: that he ever executed this intention is necessarily denied by those who hold that the apostle sustained but one imprisonment at Rome, namely, that in which the Acts of the Apostles leave him; and even those who hold that he was released from this imprisonment can only conjecture that, in the interval between it and the second, he fulfilled his intention. There is, in fact, during the three first centuries, no evidence on the subject, beyond a vague intimation by Clement, which is open to different explanations [PAUL]; and later traditions are of small value.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

spān ( Σπανία , Spanı́a ): The country in the Southwest of Europe which still bears this name. It was Paul's purpose, as stated in   Romans 15:24 ,  Romans 15:28 , to visit Spain. If, as is probable, he ultimately carried out this intention, it must have been after a release from his first imprisonment. Clement of Rome speaks of the apostle as having reached "the extreme limit of the West" ( Epistle of Clement , v). See Paul , The Apostle; Tarshish .