Arvad

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("wandering".) "The Arvadite" was a descendant of Canaan like Zidon, Hamath, etc. ( Genesis 10:18;  1 Chronicles 1:16.) In  Ezekiel 27:8;  Ezekiel 27:11, "the men of Arvad" are among the mariners of the ship, namely, Tyre. Arvad is the isle Ruad, off Tortosa, two or three miles from the Phoenician coast, at the N. end of the bay above Tripoli. It is elevated and rocky, but hardly a mile round. Strabo mentions Arvad's likeness to Tyre, and the superior seamanship of its people. The inhabitants still, to the number of a thousand, are employed as pilots, shipbuilders, sponge divers, and sailors. There are remains of the sea walls, some of the stones 12 feet long by 10 high, not beveled, but indented with deep grooves on the upper surface, one groove square, three semicircular.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ARVAD (modern ( Ruwâd ) was the most important of the northerly cities of PhÅ“nicia. It was built on an island 70 miles north of Beyrout a sort of second Tyre, with another town on the mainland opposite. In   Ezekiel 27:8;   Ezekiel 27:11 it is named as furnishing oarsmen for the galleys of Tyre and warriors for its defence. In the ethnological list of   Genesis 10:18 (  1 Chronicles 1:16 ) it is mentioned among the chief settlements of the Canaanites or PhÅ“nicians. Throughout antiquity it was a place of renown for trade and general enterprise, ranking next to Tyre and Sidon. It is the Aradus of 1Ma 12:53 .

J. F. McCurdy.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Arvad ( Ăr'Văd ), Wandering. A small island, two or three miles off the coast of Phœnicia, related closely to Tyre,  Ezekiel 27:8;  Ezekiel 27:11. See also  Genesis 10:18;  1 Chronicles 1:16. Ruins of a huge wall are still found, and Greek inscriptions graven on black basaltic columns. The stones are so large that the best engineers are puzzled to know how they were moved. The place is now called Ruad, and has about 3000 population. It is probably the same as Arpad and Arphad.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ar'vad. (Wandering).  Ezekiel 27:8;  Ezekiel 27:11. The island of Ruad, which lies off Tortosa (Tartus), two or three miles from the Phoenician coast. In agreement with this is the mention of "the Arvadite", in  Genesis 10:18 and  1 Chronicles 1:16, as a son of Canaan, with Zidon, Hamath and other northern localities.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A Phoenician city, on a small rocky island at the mouth of the river Eleutherus, twenty-two miles north of Tripolis. It is now called Ruad, and is but a ruin. The Arvadites also occupied the adjacent coast. They were descendants of Canaan,  Genesis 10:18;  1 Chronicles 1:16; and were noted mariners,  Ezekiel 27:8,11 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 27:8 27:11 Genesis 10:18

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Island on the Phoenician coast: now called Ruad, about 34 50' N.  Ezekiel 27:8,11 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 27:8

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Arvad', אִרְוָד , Wandering; Sept. Ἀράδιοι , but properly ῎Αραδος , 1 Mace. 15:23, or, as it might be spelt, ARUD, אֲרוּד ; whence the present name Ruad), a small island and city on the coast of Syria, called by the Greeks Aradus (q.v.), by which name it is mentioned in the above passage of the Apocrypha. It is a rocky islet, opposite the mouth of the river Eleutherus (Mel. ii, 7), 50 miles to the north of Tripoli (Itin. Anton.), about one mile in circumference (Curt. 4:1, 6), and two miles (Pliny, v, 17) from the shore (Rosenmiuller, Handb. der Bibl. Ant. II, i, 7; Mannert, VI, i, 398; Pococke, E'lst, ii, 292 sq.; Hamesveld, iii, 44 sq.). Strabo (xvi, p. 753) describes it as a rock rising in the midst of the waves; and modern travellers state that it is steep on every side. (See Volney, ii, 131; Niebuhr, Reisen, iii, 92; Buckingham, ii, 435; Chesney, Euphrat. Exped. i, 451; Shaw, p. 232.) Strabo also describes the houses as exceedingly lofty, and they were doubtless so built on account of the scantiness of the site; hence, for its size, it was exceedingly populous (Pomp. Mela, ii, 7, 6). Those of the Arvadites whom the island could not accommodate found room in the town and district of Antaradus (q.v.), on the opposite coast, which also belonged to them (Targ. Hieros. in  Genesis 10:18). Arvad is usually regarded as the same with Arpad (q.v.) or Arphad (but see Michaelis, Oriental. Bibl. 8: 45). It is mentioned in  Ezekiel 27:8;  Ezekiel 27:11, as furnishing mariners and soldiers for Tyre, was situated on the shore not far away. In agreement with this is the mention of "the Arvadite" (q.v.) in  Genesis 10:18, and  1 Chronicles 1:16, as a son of Canaan, with Zidon, Hamath, and other northern localities. It was founded, according to Strabo (xvi, 2, § 13), by fugitives from Sidon (comp. Josephus, A nt. i, 6, 2); hence probably the etymology of the name as above. Tarsus was settled by a colony from it (Dion Chrys. Orat. Tarsen. ii, 20, ed. Reiske).

Although originally independent (Arrian, Alex. ii, 90), and, indeed, the metropolis of the strip of land adjoining it, it eventually fell under the power of Persia, but assisted the Macedonians in the siege of Tyre (Arrian, Anab. i, 13, 20). It thence passed into the hands of the Ptolemies (B.C. 320); but, regaining its liberty under Seleucus Callinicus (B.C. 242), it attained such importance as to form an alliance with Antiochus the Great (Eckhel, Doctr. num. i, 393). Antiochus Epiphanes, however, took forcible mastery over it (Jerome in Dan. xi), and after becoming involved in the broils of his successors, it finally came under the power of Tigranes, and with his fall became subject to Rome, into whose triumviral wars its history enters (Appian, Bell. Civ. 4:69; v, 1). Under the Emperor Constans, Muawiyeh, the lieutenant of the Caliph Omar, destroyed the city and expelled its inhabitants (Cedren. Hist. p. 355; Theophan. p. 227). It was not rebuilt in mediaeval times (Mignot, Mem. de l'A cad. des Inscript. 34:229). The curious submarine springs from which the ancient city was supplied with water (Strabo, ed. Groskund, p. 754 n.) have been partially discovered (Walpole, Ansayrii, iii, 391). The site is now covered, except a small space on the east side, with heavy castles, within which resides a maritime population of about 2000 souls. On the very margin of the sea there are the remains of double Phoenician walls, of huge bevelled stones, which mark it as being anciently a very strong place (Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, p. 251). The nautical pursuits of the inhabitants, attested also by Strabo (ut sup.), remain in full force (see Allen's Dead Sea, ii, 183, at the end of which vol. may be found a plan of the island, from the Admiralty Charts, 2050, " Island of Ruad"). (See Cuneiform Inscriptions).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ar´vad, or, as it might be spelt, Aruad, whence the present name Ruad, a small island and city on the coast of Syria, called by the Greeks Aradus, by which name it is mentioned in  1 Maccabees 15:23. It is a small rocky island, opposite the mouth of the river Eleutherus, to the north of Tripolis, about one mile in circumference and two miles from the shore. Strabo describes it as a rock rising in the midst of the waves, and modern travelers state that it is steep on every side. Strabo also describes the houses as exceedingly lofty, and were doubtless so built, on account of the scantiness of the site: hence, for its size, it was exceedingly populous.