Libya
“From Lubim, the name of the region's inhabitants”
Summary
The region west of Egypt along the Mediterranean coast, from which Jews came to Jerusalem at Pentecost.
☩Geography and Identity
Libya was a large tract of land lying along the Mediterranean Sea to the west of Egypt. In its largest sense, the Greeks used the name to denote the whole of Africa, but Libya Proper—the Libya of the New Testament—was the region also called the Cyrenaica, named after its capital city Cyrene. The Romans called it Pentapolitana Regio from its five cities: Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais, Apollonia, and Cyrene. In the Old Testament, the name appears as 'Put' or 'Phut' (Genesis 10:6; Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 30:5; 38:5).
☩Biblical References
Libya's earliest inhabitants, the Lubim or Lehabim (Genesis 10:13), consisted of wandering tribes who were sometimes allied with Egypt and sometimes with Ethiopia. They assisted both Shishak king of Egypt and Zerah the Ethiopian in their campaigns against Judah (2 Chronicles 12:3; 14:9; 16:8). In the New Testament, 'the dwellers in the parts of Libya about Cyrene' are mentioned among the Jews who came to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:10). This phrase—similar to expressions used by Josephus and Dio Cassius—refers specifically to the Cyrenaica region. The presence of Libyan Jews at Pentecost shows the wide dispersion of the Jewish community in North Africa.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Libya," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. V (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Libya," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 3.James Orr (ed.), "Libya; Libyans," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).