Greek word · G5019

Ταρσός

tarsos

Tarsus

Proper name: Tarsus, on the Cydnus river in the plain of Cilicia, the region's capital under Rome.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 09, 2026

What it means

Ταρσός, -oῦ

Tarsus, a city of Cilicia: Acts 9:30 11:25 22:3.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Proper name: Tarsus, on the Cydnus river in the plain of Cilicia, the region's capital under Rome.
Against the English: No difference. The name is transliterated in every version.
Used elsewhere in the period: Strabo (Geography 14.5.13) praises Tarsus for its schools and for how eager its people were to learn, even comparing it favourably with Athens and Alexandria. Paul calls it 'no ordinary city' (Acts 21:39) and names it as his birthplace (21:39; 22:3). Acts 9:11 and 9:30 tie Saul to it.

Range of meaning: Tarsus, the chief city of Cilicia, near the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
Against the English: All versions keep the name. NLT adds 'his hometown', which is correct and helps the reader, but it isn't in the Greek.
Used elsewhere in the period: Paul calls himself 'a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city' (Acts 21:39; also 9:11; 22:3). Ancient writers such as Strabo (Geography 14.5.13) describe Tarsus as a major center of learning. Paul's own summary of this period: 'Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia' (Gal 1:21).

Acts · 3

Acts 9:30 Ταρσόν.¶ Tarsus.

When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

Here: Saul's home city in Cilicia, in southeastern Asia Minor (9:11; 21:39; 22:3). He is being sent home, where he has family and citizenship, far from the people who want him dead.
Acts 11:25 Ταρσὸν Tarsus

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

Here: Saul's home city, the chief city of Cilicia in what is now southern Turkey. The Jerusalem believers had sent him there years earlier to get him away from people trying to kill him (9:30).
Acts 22:3 Ταρσῷ Tarsus

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

Here: A large, prosperous Greek-speaking city in southeastern Asia Minor, famous for its schools. To the commander in Greek he had boasted of it (21:39). Here, to a Jerusalem crowd, he names it and then moves on.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.