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Bible Dictionaries
Trachonitis
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or TRACHONITIS.—A Roman province of Eastern Palestine over which Herod Philip held rule when John the Baptist entered upon his public ministry (Luke 3:1). The Greek word τραχωνῖτις or τράχων signifies a ‘rough or stony place,’ and its identification with the wild and rugged volcanic region within the limits of ancient Bashan, which the Arabs designate el-Lejâ (‘the refuge’), is unquestioned. This was the heart, as well as the most notable portion, of the province, and gave to it its distinctive name. The phrase τραχωνίτιδος χώρας (‘the Trachonite region,’ Luke 3:1) implies an extent of territory beyond the limits of the Trachon, or lava-bed section. The name does not occur elsewhere in the NT, but the boundaries of the province can be approximately defined, from statements concerning it in the works of Josephus, Ptolemy, Strabo, and other writers. Josephus informs us that its N.W. limit extended to the districts of Ulatha and Paneas, at the southern base of Mount Hermon; and also that it bordered on Auranitis (en-Nukra) and Batanaea (Ant. xv. x. 3, xvii. ii. 1; BJ i. xx. 4). The line of the western border is not definitely given, but it probably extended to the eastern limit of Gaulanitis (Jaulan), which is frequently alluded to as a separate district of Herod Philip’s dominion.
Literature.—Burckhardt, Travels in Syria, 110 ff.; Wetzstein, Reisebericht über Hauran, etc., 110 ff.; de Vogüé, Syrie Centrale, 89 ff.; Schumacher, Across the Jordan; Porter, Damascus, ii. 268–272, Giant Cities of Bashan, 24–97: Graham in Jour. Royal Geog. Soc. 1858, p. 256 ff.; Ewing in PEFSt [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] , pp. 41 ff., 60 ff., 131 ff., etc.; Merrill, East of the Jordan; Stewart, Land of Israel; G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] ; Tristram, Topog. of the Holy Lund; Baedeker’s Pal. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.] 5 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] pp. 193–194; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible , articles ‘Argob’ and ‘Trachonitis.’
R. L. Stewart.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Trachonitis'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/t/trachonitis.html. 1906-1918.
