Place · Region
Arabia
Named in 6 verses across 5 books, first in 2 Chronicles 9:14.
In the Bible
All 6 verses, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
2 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles 9:14
not including the revenue from the merchants and traders. And all the Arabian kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
Isaiah
- Isaiah 21:13
This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
Jeremiah
- Jeremiah 25:24
all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert;
Ezekiel
- Ezekiel 27:21
Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers, trading in lambs, rams, and goats.
Galatians
- Galatians 1:17
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
- Galatians 4:25
Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
Arabia Petraea, i.e., the Rocky Arabia, so called from its rocky mountains and stony plains. It comprehended all the north-west portion of the country, and is much better known to travellers than any other portion. This country is, however, divided by modern geographers into (1) Arabia Proper, or the Arabian Peninsula; (2) Northern Arabia, or the Arabian Desert; and (3) Western Arabia, which includes the peninsula of Sinai and the Desert of Petra, originally inhabited by the Horites (Gen. 14:6, etc.), but in later times by the descendants of Esau, and known as the Land of Edom or Idumea, also as the Desert of Seir or Mount Seir.
The whole land appears ([Gen. 10](/gen#Gen.10)) to have been inhabited by a variety of tribes of different lineage, Ishmaelites, Arabians, Idumeans, Horites, and Edomites; but at length becoming amalgamated, they came to be known by the general designation of Arabs. The modern nation of Arabs is predominantly Ishmaelite. Their language is the most developed and the richest of all the Semitic languages, and is of great value to the student of Hebrew.
The Israelites wandered for forty years in Arabia. In the days of Solomon, and subsequently, commercial intercourse was to a considerable extent kept up with this country (1 Kings 10:15; 2 Chr. 9:14; 17:11). Arabians were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:11). Paul retired for a season into Arabia after his conversion (Gal. 1:17). This country is frequently referred to by the prophets (Isa. 21:11; 42:11; Jer. 25:24, etc.)