Abilene
H1 on the Map
Region. The territory of Abilene was a Roman district that extended over the slope of the anti-Lebanon, which was north of Mount Hermon. It was given the name after its capital city, Abila, which is situated in a gorge by the river Abanah (modern Barada), to the northwest of Damascus.
Augustus assigned Abilene to Herod the Great, and after his death in four B.C. it was added to the province of Syria. By the time of the Emperor Tiberias (A.D. 14-37) it was in the Tetrarchy of
Lysanias.
Lk 3:1
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Abilene: (land of meadows), Lu 3:1 a city situated on the eastern slope of Antilibanus, in a district fertilized by the river Barada (Abana). The city was 18 miles from Damascus, and stood in a remarkable gorge called Suk Wady Barada.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (Abilene)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - ABILENE
ABILENE
a-bi-le'-ne (Abeilene, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus; Abilene, Codex
Sinaiticus): Mentioned in
The territory of Abilene was part of the Iturean Kingdom, which was broken up
when its king, Lysanias, was put to death by M. Antonius, circa 35 BC. The
circumstances in which Abilene became distinct tetrarchy are altogether obscure,
and nothing further is known of the tetrarch Lysanias (Ant., XIX, v, 1; XX, ii,
1). In 37 AD the tetrarchy, along with other territories, was granted to Agrippa
I, after whose death in 44 AD it was administered by procurators until 53 AD,
when Claudius conferred it again, along with neighboring territories, upon
Agrippa II. On Agrippa's death, toward the close of the 1st century, his kingdom
was incorporated in the province of Syria. See LYSANIAS.
C. H. Thomson
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - ABILENE