the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Parthians The
Smith's Bible Dictionary
or Par'thians, The. This name occurs only in Acts 2:9, where it designates the Jews who settled in Parthia. Parthia proper was the region stretching along the southern flank of the mountains which separate the great Persian desert from the desert of Kharesm. It lay south of Hyrcania, east of Media and north of Sagartia. The ancient Parthians are called a "Scythic" race, and probably, belonged to the great Turanian family.
After being subject, in succession, to the Persians and the Seleucidae, they revolted in B.C. 256, and, under Arsaces, succeeded in establishing their independence. Parthia, in the mind of the writer of the Acts, would designate this empire, which extended from India to the Tigris, and from the Chorasmian desert to the shores of the Southern Ocean; hence, the prominent position of the name Parthians, in the list of those present at Pentecost.
Parthia was a power, almost rivalling Rome - the only existing power, which had tried its strength against Rome, and not been worsted in the encounter. The Parthian dominion lasted for nearly five centuries, commencing in the third century before, and terminating in the third century, after our era. The Parthians spoke the Persian language.
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Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Parthians The'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/sbd/p/parthians-the.html. 1901.
