Bible Dictionary
TYRE
TYRE
“rock”.
Phoenician city whose origin is lost in the most remote antiquity (Is. 23:5-18; Ant. 8:3, 1). According to biblical data, the founding of Tire is later than that of Sidon, although it surpassed it in importance. A text by Herodotus allows us to place the founding of Tire around the year 2750 BC. (Herodotus 2:44).
Ancient historians and geographers claim that the ancient city was located on the continent. To protect itself against invaders, it was moved to a rocky island separated from the ancient city by an arm of the sea. That’s where the name Tire comes from: rock.
Ancient authors frequently allude to their position in the midst of the waters (Ex. 26:17; 27:32). The continental city was then named Palaetyrus: ancient Tyre. The sacred texts that mention Tire and Sidon simultaneously place Tire before its rival; Israel was closer to Tire than to Sidon, and Tire continued to become more and more important.
It was already a strong city in the time of Joshua (Joshua 19:29), located on the border with Asher. It was not assigned to any tribe of Israel. Hiram, also called Huram, king of Tyre, maintained friendly relations with David and Solomon.
He supplied materials for the construction of David’s palace (2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1; 1 Chron. 14:1); also for the construction of Solomon’s Temple and other buildings (1 Kings 9:10-14; 2 Chron. 2:3-16). A very skilled foundry craftsman, also named Hiram, the son of an Israelite mother and a Tyrian father, carried out the artwork of the Temple (1 Kings 7:13, 14, 40, 45).
The Tyrians, a peaceful nation, manufactured purple dyes, metal and glass objects, and became rich from maritime trade with the most remote peoples (cf. 1 Kings 9:28). Tyrian merchants were comparable to princes (Isa. 23:8). In the 9th century BC, a colony of Tyrians founded Carthage, which for a long time rivaled Rome.
Despite its peaceful spirit, Tire suffered the rigors of war. Around the year 724 BC, Shalmansar V, king of Assyria, received the submission of the continental city and besieged the maritime one. He died in the year 722 without having been able to take possession of it (Ant. 9:14, 2).
His successor, Sargon, managed to take it. At this time there were no longer friendly relations between Tire and Israel. The wicked Jezebel, wife of Et-baal, king of Tyre, had married Ahab, king of Israel. She did everything in her power to introduce into Israel the corrupt paganism of her homeland (1 Kings 16:31-33; 18:4, 19, see BAAL, PAGAN DIVINITIES), and was killed by order of Jehu, who He also had all his descendants exterminated (2 Kings 9:30-37, 14-26; 10:1-14 ff.).
On the other hand, the prophets accuse Tire of having handed over Israelites to the Edomites (Am. 1:9), having stolen their property, and sold Israelites as slaves to the Greeks (Jel. 3:5, 6). Esarhaddon besieged Tyre, and made it tributary. In the year 664 B.C. he submitted to Assurbanipal. A century later, prosperous Tyrian merchants were trading with every region of the known world (Ex. 27).
Jeremiah prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, would take over Tire (Jer. 27:1-11). The prophet Ezekiel launched a famous prophecy against Tire (Ez. 26:1-28:19; 29:18-20). These predictions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel have especially to do with the siege of Tire by Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years, from 585 to 573 BC. (Against Apion 1:21). It is unknown whether Nebuchadnezzar actually took over the two cities.
He possibly did manage to seize the sea (cf. Is. 26), but only after the Tyrians had safe their wealth by sea (cf. Ez. 29: 18-20). In 332 BC, after a seven-month siege, the island city fell into the power of Alexander the Great, who built a dam joining the city to land. The continental city completely disappeared, since all its ruins were used for the construction of this dam. The island city was recovered after this conquest, and is later mentioned as a “free city” in various works from later times.
The Lord Jesus once went to the territories of Tire and Sidon (Mt. 15: 21-28; Mark 7: 24-31), whose inhabitants sought to benefit several times from his ministry (Mark 3: 8; Luke . 6:17). Jesus claimed that the pagan cities were less guilty than the Galilean localities, which had had so many opportunities to hear his preaching and see his miracles (Mt. 11:21, 22; Luke 10:13, 14).
A Christian community emerged in Tire, which was visited by Paul (Acts 21:3-6). The famous Origen, who died around 254 AD, was buried in the Christian basilica of Tyre. In 323, Eusebius, church historian and bishop of Caesarea, delivered the sermon at the consecration of the new great basilica erected by Bishop Paulinus.
The Muslims took control of Tire in 638; the Crusaders, in 1124. Emperor Barbarossa was buried there. When the Crusaders lost the city, there was hardly anything left except loose stones, which were used for the constructions of Beirut, Acre and Jafa.
Tire had two ports: one to the northeast of the island, called Sidonian because it looked towards Sidon; the other, to the south, was called the Egyptian port. The breakwater built by Alexander continues to exist. It measures around 800 m. Most of the ruins, including those of the cathedral, date from the time of the Crusades.
An aqueduct brought water from the mainland to the island of Tyre, coming from the sources of Ras-el-Aîn. The prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel about Tire were fulfilled. The site of the ancient city is uninhabited.
The Alexander breakwater and the accumulation of sand have transformed the primitive island into a peninsula. There is a small town that bears the Arabic name of Sour, which stands at the junction of the island with the isthmus. Palaetyrus, the mainland city, has almost entirely disappeared. There are hardly any hypogeums left. The monument that bears the name of Hiram, although very ancient, is surely not the tomb of the sovereign contemporary of Solomon.
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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BETHEL