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Easton's Bible Dictionary
An inland province of Asia Minor, on the west of Cappadocia
and the south of Galatia. It was a Roman province, and its chief towns were Iconium,
Lystra, and Derbe. The "speech of Lycaonia" ( Acts
14:11 ) was probably the ancient Assyrian language, or perhaps, as others
think, a corrupt Greek intermingled with Syriac words. Paul preached in this region,
and revisited it ( Acts
16:1 - 6
; 18:23
; 19:1
).
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
she-wolf
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(land of Lycanon, or wolf land), A district of Asia Minor.
From what is said in ( Acts
14:11 ) of "the speech of Lycaonia," it is evident that the inhabitants of
the district, in St. Pauls day, spoke something very different from ordinary Greek.
Whether the language was some Syrian dialect or a corrupt form of Greek has been
much debated. The fact that the Lycaonians were similar with the Greek mythology
is consistent with either supposition. Lycaonia is for the most part a dreary
plain, bare of trees, destitute of fresh water, and with several salt lakes. (It
was about 20 miles long from east to west, and 13 miles wide. "Cappadocia is on
the east, Galatia on the north, Phrygia on the west and Cilicia on the south "Among
its chief cities are Derbe, Lystra and Iconium. --ED.) After the provincial system
of Rome had embraced the whole of Asia Minor, the boundaries of the provinces
were variable; and Lycaonia was, politically, sometimes in Cappadocia, sometimes
in Galatia. Paul visited it three times in his missionary tours.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
lik-a-o'-ni-a, li-ka-o'-ni-a (Lukaonia (Acts
14:6), Lukaonisti, (Acts
14:11, "in the speech of Lycaonia"); Lycaonia is meant, according to the South
Galatian view, by the expression ten Galatiken choran, in Acts
18:23, and the incidents in Acts
16:1 - 4
belong to Lycaonia):
Was a country in the central and southern part of Asia Minor whose boundaries
and extent varied at different periods. In the time of Paul, it was bounded on
the North by Galatia proper (but lay in the Roman province Galatia), on the East
by Cappadocia, on the South by Cilicia Tracheia, and on the West by Pisidia and
Phrygia. The boundary of Phrygia and Lycaonia passed between Iconium and Lystra
(see ICONIUM).
Lycaonia consists of a level plain, waterless and treeless, rising at its southern
fringe for some distance into the foothills of Taurus, and broken on its eastern
side by the volcanic mass of Kara-Dagh and by many smaller hills. Strabo informs
us that King Amyntas of Galatia fed many flocks of sheep on the Lycaonian plain.
Much of the northern portion of Lycaonia has been proved by recent discovery to
have belonged to the Roman emperors, who inherited the crown lands of Amyntas.
In Acts
14:6 Lycaonia is summed up as consisting of the cities of Lystra and Derbe
and the district (including many villages) lying around them. This description
refers to a particular division of Lycaonia, which alone is mentioned in the Bible.
In the time of Paul, Lycaonia consisted of two parts, a western and an eastern.
The western part was a "region" or subdivision of the Roman province Galatia;
the eastern was called Lycaonia Antiochiana, after Antiochus of Commagene under
whom it had been placed in 37 AD. This non-Roman portion was traversed by Paul;
but nothing is recorded of his journey through it (see DERBE). It included the
important city of Laranda; and when Lycaonia is described as consisting of the
cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding district, the writer is clearly
thinking only of the western portion of Lycaonia, which lay in, and formed a "region"
of, the province Galatia. This is the tract of country which is meant in Acts
18:23, where it is called the "region" of Galatia, and placed side by side
with Phrygia, another region of Galatia. The province Galatia was divided into
districts technically known as "regions," and Roman Lycaonia is called the "region
of Galatia" in implied contrast with Antiochian Lycaonia, which lay outside the
Roman province. Of the language of Lycaonia. (see LYSTRA)
nothing survives except some personal and place names, which are discussed in
Kretschmar's Einleitung in die Gesch. der griech. Sprache.
LITERATURE.
Ramsay, Historical Commentary on Galatians (Introduction); Sterrett, Wolfe Expedition
(inscriptions).
W. M. Calder
Tags:
apostle paul visited three times, bible commentary,
bible history, bible reference, bible study, define, district (country) of asia
minor, lukaonia, lukaonisti, lycaonia, roman province, speech of lycaonia
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