Βιθυνία
Bithynía
G978 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A geographic term denoting the region known as Bithynia in northwest Asia Minor. In the context of Hellenistic and Roman usage, it refers specifically to the territory along the southern shore of the Black Sea, bordered by Mysia, Phrygia, and Paphlagonia. The term is used in a locative or ethno-geographic sense.
Semantic Range
Bithynia (region in northwest Asia Minor), territory of the Bithynians, Roman province of Bithynia; geographic or locational designation
Root / Etymology
The etymology is uncertain. The name is likely of pre-Greek (possibly Thracian) origin, reflecting the settlement of the Bithynians, a people said to have migrated from the Balkans into northwestern Anatolia before the Greco-Macedonian and Hellenistic periods. There is no clear Greek derivation of the term.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In classical and Hellenistic sources, Βιθυνία refers to an identifiable region in northwestern Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), noted for its population of Bithynians, a people of Thracian origin. By the time of the New Testament, Bithynia was a formal Roman province, often administratively paired with Pontus as 'Bithynia and Pontus.' The region held strategic and commercial importance and appears in Acts (16:7) and 1 Peter (1:1) as a marker of geographic outreach. In the Septuagint and Christian Greek writings, references to Bithynia are always in the context of geography and regional identity rather than any religious or ethnic connotation. The standard English translation 'Bithynia' is accurate, though it sometimes obscures the indigenous and non-Greek origins of the name.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
of uncertain derivation; Bithynia, a region of Asia:--Bithynia.
Root Family
Βιθυνία (Bithynía) — territory, region, land
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G978-01 |
Βιθυνίαν | bithunian | N ACC F SG |
Bithynia | Bithynia (region) | Bithynia | 1 |
G978-02 |
Βιθυνίας | bithunias | N GEN F SG |
of Bithynia | of Bithynia | of Bithynia | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G978-01 |
Acts 16:7 | Βιθυνίαν | bithunian | N ACC F SG |
Bithynia | Bithynia (region) | Bithynia |
G978-02 |
1 Peter 1:1 | Βιθυνίας | bithunias | N GEN F SG |
of Bithynia | of Bithynia | of Bithynia |