Greek word · G688

Ἀραβία

arabia

Arabia

In Greco-Roman usage a broad, loosely bounded region: the deserts and steppes south and east of Judea and east of Egypt. In the first century it mostly meant the Nabatean kingdom (capital Petra). That kingdom reached across the Negev, the Sinai peninsula, southern Transjordan and the northern Hejaz.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

Arabia , (Herdotus Historicus), poetry Ἀρραβία, (Theocritus Poeta Bucolicus) (ML)

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

In depth

From the study of Galatians 4:25

Range of meaning

In Greco-Roman usage a broad, loosely bounded region: the deserts and steppes south and east of Judea and east of Egypt. In the first century it mostly meant the Nabatean kingdom (capital Petra). That kingdom reached across the Negev, the Sinai peninsula, southern Transjordan and the northern Hejaz. After 106 CE the Romans organised much of this as the province Arabia Petraea.

Against the English

English readers tend to hear 'Arabia' as the Arabian Peninsula or the modern state of Saudi Arabia. Paul's 'Arabia' was a different and in places wider map. It plainly included territory west of the Gulf of Aqaba.

How it drifted

Modern political borders and the name 'Saudi Arabia' (1932) have narrowed what 'Arabia' brings to mind.

Used elsewhere in the period

Herodotus already treats the land between Egypt and Palestine as 'Arabian'. Josephus regularly calls the Nabateans 'Arabs' and their realm 'Arabia'. Paul himself went 'into Arabia' after his call (Gal 1:17), and 2 Cor 11:32 shows the Nabatean king Aretas controlling Damascus affairs.

Where it appears

Galatians · 2

  1. Galatians 1:17 Ἀραβίαν Arabia

    nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

  2. Galatians 4:25 Ἀραβίᾳ, Arabia,

    Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

    Here: The lands south and east of Judea. In Paul's day these were largely the Nabatean kingdom, a region that included the Sinai peninsula, the Negev, southern Transjordan and northwest Arabia. It was known as the country of Ishmael's descendants, which ties Sinai to Hagar's family. It also places Sinai outside the land of promise.

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