Alexandria, a significant port city in Egypt, played a role in Paul's journey to Rome.
Also known as Alexandrian
Alexandria, a prominent city in Egypt, is mentioned in the book of Acts in connection with Paul's journey to Rome. In Act.27.6, Paul and his companions boarded a ship from Alexandria sailing to Italy. Later, in Act.28.11, they departed from the island of Malta on another Alexandrian ship. Alexandria was known for its strategic location, serving as a major port and center of trade in the Mediterranean world. In Act.6.9, the Synagogue of the Freedmen, which included Jews from Alexandria, is mentioned as being among those who disputed with Stephen. Alexandria had a significant Jewish population and was a center of Hellenistic culture and learning.
Approximate location: 31.228, 29.957 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Part of: Paul's Circle
Acts says Apollos was a native of Alexandria, a learned man mighty in the Scriptures, which has made him a popular candidate for the background of Alexandrian-style interpretation in the NT.
Sources: Scripture
The ancient metropolis of Lower Egypt, so called from its founder, Alexander the Great (about B.C. 333). It was for a long period the greatest of existing cities, for both Nineveh and Babylon had been destroyed, and Rome had not yet risen to greatness. It was the residence of the kings of Egypt for 200 years. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and only incidentally in the New. Apollos, eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures, was a native of this city (Acts 18:24). Many Jews from Alexandria were in Jerusalem, where they had a synagogue (Acts 6:9), at the time of Stephen’s martyrdom. At one time it is said that as many as 10,000 Jews resided in this city. It possessed a famous library of 700,000 volumes, which was burned by the Saracens (A.D. 642). It was here that the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek. This is called the Septuagint version, from the tradition that seventy learned men were engaged in executing it. It was, however, not all translated at one time. It was begun B.C. 280, and finished about B.C. 200 or 150. (See VERSION.)
(from Alexander), 3 Ma 3:1; (Acts 18:24; 6:9) the Hellenic, Roman and Christian capital of Egypt. Situation .— (Alexandria was situated on the Mediterranean Sea directly opposite the island of Pharos, 12 miles west of the Canopic branch of the Nile and 120 miles from the present city of Cairo.) It was founded by Alexander the Great, B.C. 332, who himself traced the ground plan of the city. The work thus begun was continued after the death of Alexander by the Ptolemies. Description .— Under the despotism of the later Ptolemies the trade of Alexandria declined, but its population and wealth were enormous. Its importance as one of the chief corn-ports of Rome secured for it the general favor of the first emperors. Its population was mixed from the first. According to Josephus Alexander himself assigned to the Jews a place in his new city. Philo estimated the number of the Alexandrine Jews in his time at a little less than 1,000,000 and adds that two of the five districts of Alexandria were called “Jewish districts,” and that many Jews lived scattered in the remaining three. “For a long period Alexandria was the greatest of known cities.” After Rome became the chief city of the world, Alexandria ranked second to Rome in wealth and importance, and second to Athens only in literature and science. Its collection of books grew to be the greatest library of ancient times, and contained at one time 700,000 rolls or volumes. Here was made the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament into Greek, begun about B.C. 285, especially in grain, was very great. According to the common legend, St. Mark first “preached the gospel in Egypt, and founded the first church in Alexandria.” At the beginning of the second century the number of Christians at Alexandria must have been very large…
ALEXAN'DRIA,the Grecian capital of Egypt, founded by and named after Alexander the Great, b.c. 332. Situation. — It was a noted seaport of Lower Egypt, and was situated on a low, narrow tract of land which divides Lake Mareotis from the Mediterranean, and near the western mouth of the Nile, about 120 miles from the present city of Cairo. History. — Soon after its foundation by Alexander it became the capital of the Ptolemies and the Grecian kings reigning in Egypt, and one of the most populous and prosperous cities of the East. Its harbor could accommodate vast navies, fitting it to become the commercial metropolis of the entire Eastern world. In front of the city, on the island of Pharos, stood a famous light-house, named after the island and noted as one of the Seven wonders of the world. Alexandria numbered, in the days of its ancient prosperity, 600,000 inhabitants (half of them slaves), and ranked next to Athens in literature. It had the greatest library of ancient times, which contained upward of 700,000 rolls or volumes. The portion in the museum, consisting of 400,000 volumes, was burnt in b.c. 47. The additional or "new library" in the Serapeum, afterward increased to about 500,000 volumes, including the original 300,000 volumes, was destroyed by the fanatical vandalism of the Saracens in a.d. 640. At Alexandria the O. T. was translated into the Greek by seventy learned Jews (hence called the "Septuagint"), in the third century before the Christian era. The Alexandrian Greek dialect, known as Hellenistic Greek, was the language used by the early Christian fathers, and is still the study of the biblical scholar in the pages of the N. T. Alexandria was the birthplace of Apollos, Acts 18:24, and in the apostle Paul's time, it carried on an extensive commerce with…
ALEXAN'DRIA,the Grecian capital of Egypt, founded by and named after Alexander the Great, b.c. 332. Situation. — It was a noted seaport of Lower Egypt, and was situated on a low, narrow tract of land which divides Lake Mareotis from the Mediterranean, and near the western mouth of the Nile, about 120 miles from the present city of Cairo. History. — Soon after its foundation by Alexander it became the capital of the Ptolemies and the Grecian kings reigning in Egypt, and one of the most populous and prosperous cities of the East. Its harbor could accommodate vast navies, fitting it to become the commercial metropolis of the entire Eastern world. In front of the city, on the island of Pharos, stood a famous light-house, named after the island and noted as one of the Seven wonders of the world. Alexandria numbered, in the days of its ancient prosperity, 600,000 inhabitants (half of them slaves), and ranked next to Athens in literature. It had the greatest library of ancient times, which contained upward of 700,000 rolls or volumes. The portion in the museum, consisting of 400,000 volumes, was burnt in b.c. 47. The additional or "new library" in the Serapeum, afterward increased to about 500,000 volumes, including the original 300,000 volumes, was destroyed by the fanatical vandalism of the Saracens in a.d. 640. At Alexandria the O. T. was translated into the Greek by seventy learned Jews (hence called the "Septuagint"), in the third century before the Christian era. The Alexandrian Greek dialect, known as Hellenistic Greek, was the language used by the early Christian fathers, and is still the study of the biblical scholar in the pages of the N. T. Alexandria was the birthplace of Apollos, Acts 18:24, and in the apostle Paul's time, it carried on an extensive commerce with…
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
4 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G0222
But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. They disputed with Stephen,
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures.
There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.
After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered in the island. It had the Twin Brothers as a figurehead.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.