Greek word · G774
Ἀσιανός
asianos
Asian
A person from Asia. In the 1st century this meant the Roman province of Asia (western Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Miletus and their regions), created in 133 BC.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A person from Asia. In the 1st century this meant the Roman province of Asia (western Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Miletus and their regions), created in 133 BC.
- Against the English
KJV 'of Asia' and YLT 'of Asiatics' leave a modern reader picturing the continent. BSB and NIV add 'province of Asia', which is correct.
- How it drifted
'Asia' later grew in common use to mean the whole continent eastward to China. In Acts it is always the Roman province, as in 'the seven churches in Asia' in Revelation 1:4.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Acts uses 'Asia' consistently for the province (2:9; 16:6; 19:10, 22, 26–27). Inscriptions and Strabo use Asianos for its people. Acts 21:29 makes the meaning certain by calling Trophimus 'the Ephesian'.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
-
Acts 20:4 Ἀσιανοὶ [the] Asians
Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
Here: People from the Roman province of Asia in western Asia Minor, whose capital was Ephesus. It does not mean the continent of Asia. Acts 21:29 calls Trophimus an Ephesian.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.