Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical times, the term "barbarian" was used to describe people who were considered non-Greek or non-Roman, often perceived as uncivilized or foreign. The word originates from the Greek "barbaros," which was an onomatopoeic term used by the Greeks to mimic the unintelligible speech of foreigners, sounding like "bar-bar" to their ears. This term was not necessarily derogatory but was used to distinguish between those who spoke Greek and those who did not.
Biblical References:1.
Romans 1:14 · The Apostle Paul uses the term "barbarian" in his epistle to the Romans, indicating his obligation to preach the Gospel to all people, regardless of their cultural or linguistic background. He writes, "I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish" . Here, "non-Greeks" is often understood to include "barbarians," highlighting the universal scope of the Gospel message.
2.
1 Corinthians 14:11 · In discussing the use of spiritual gifts, particularly the gift of tongues, Paul states, "If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker a foreigner to me" . The term "foreigner" is translated from the Greek "barbaros," emphasizing the importance of clear communication within the church.
3.
Colossians 3:11 · Paul emphasizes the unity of believers in Christ, transcending cultural and social distinctions: "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all" . In this context, "barbarian" represents those outside the traditional Jewish and Greek cultural spheres, yet fully included in the body of Christ.
4.
Acts 28:2, 4 · The term is also used in the account of Paul's shipwreck on the island of Malta. The islanders are described as "barbarians" in some translations, though the BSB uses "islanders": "The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness" . This narrative demonstrates that those labeled as "barbarians" could exhibit virtues such as hospitality and kindness.
Cultural and Theological Significance:In the New Testament, the use of "barbarian" reflects the early Christian mission's expansive reach, breaking down cultural barriers and emphasizing the inclusivity of the Gospel. The term underscores the transformative power of the Gospel to unite diverse peoples under the lordship of Christ. Theologically, it serves as a reminder that the message of salvation is not confined to any single ethnic or cultural group but is intended for all humanity.
The Apostle Paul's writings reveal a vision of the church as a diverse yet unified body, where distinctions such as "barbarian" are rendered insignificant in light of the believers' shared identity in Christ. This perspective challenges believers to transcend cultural prejudices and embrace the global and inclusive nature of the Christian faith.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A Greek word used in the New Testament (
Romans 1:14) to denote one of another nation. In
Colossians 3:11, the word more definitely designates those nations of the Roman empire that did not speak Greek. In
1 Corinthians 14:11, it simply refers to one speaking a different language. The inhabitants of Malta are so called (
Acts 28:1, 2, 4). They were originally a Carthaginian colony. This word nowhere in Scripture bears the meaning it does in modern times.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A foreigner.
2. (n.) A man in a rule, savage, or uncivilized state.
3. (n.) A person destitute of culture.
4. (n.) A cruel, savage, brutal man; one destitute of pity or humanity.
5. (a.) Of, or pertaining to, or resembling, barbarians; rude; uncivilized; barbarous; as, barbarian governments or nations.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BARBARIAN; BARBAROUSbar-ba'-ri-an, bar'-ba-rus (barbaros): A word probably formed by imitation of the unintelligible sounds of foreign speech, and hence, in the mouth of a Greek it meant anything that was not Greek, language, people or customs. With the spread of Greek language and culture, it came to be used generally for all that was non-Greek. Philo and Josephus sometimes called their own nation "barbarians," and so did Roman writers up to the Augustan age, when they adopted Greek culture, and reckoned themselves with the Greeks as the only cultured people in the world. Therefore Greek and barbarian meant the whole human race (Romans 1:14).
InColossians 3:11, "barbarian, Scythian" is not a classification or antithesis but a "climax" (Abbott) = "barbarians, even Scythians, the lowest type of barbarians." In Christ, all racial distinctions, even the most pronounced, disappear.
In1 Corinthians 14:11 Paul uses the term in its more primitive sense of one speaking a foreign, and therefore, an unintelligible language: "If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me." The speaking with tongues would not be a means of communication. The excited inarticulate ejaculations of the Corinthian revivalists were worse than useless unless someone had the gift of articulating in intelligible language the force of feeling that produced them (dunamis tes phones, literally, "the power of the sound").
InActs 28:2, 4 (in the King James Version ofActs 28:2 "barbarous people" = barbarians) the writer, perhaps from the Greek-Roman standpoint, calls the inhabitants of Melita barbarians, as being descendants of the old Phoenician settlers, or possibly in the more general sense of "strangers." For the later sense of "brutal," "cruel," "savage," see 2 Maccabees 2:21; 4:25; 15:02.
T. Rees
Greek
915. barbaros -- barbarous,barbarian... barbarous,
barbarian. Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: barbaros Phonetic
Spelling: (bar'-bar-os) Short Definition: a foreigner who speaks neither
...Library
TheBarbarian Desolation
... SAINT AUGUSTIN III THEBARBARIAN DESOLATION.... As for Arianism, which had seemed
extinguished in the West, here it was given a new life by theBarbarian invasion....
Enterprise of Gainas, the GothicBarbarian. Evils which He...
... Book VIII. Chapter IV."Enterprise of Ga??nas, the GothicBarbarian. Evils
which he perpetrated. Abarbarian, named Ga??nas, [1588...
Letter Xlvi. (AD 398. )
... Now a doubt has arisen in my mind whether the landowner who thus employs abarbarian,
of whose fidelity he is persuaded in consequence of such an oath, does...
Gainas the Goth Attempts to Usurp the Sovereign Power; after...
... Ga??nas was abarbarian by extraction but after becoming a Roman subject, and having
engaged in military service, and risen by degrees from one rank to another...
None of Your Party, O Manes, Will You Make a Galatian...
... You are a vessel of Antichrist; and no vessel of honour, in sooth, but a mean and
base one, used by him as anybarbarian or tyrant may do, who, in attempting...
Reasons for Veiling the Truth in Symbols.
... For the sake, then, of memory and brevity, and of attracting to the truth,
such are the Scriptures of theBarbarian philosophy....
All Sects of Philosophy Contain a Germ of Truth.
... truth is one (for falsehood has ten thousand by-paths); just as the Bacchantes tore
asunder the limbs of Pentheus, so the sects both ofbarbarian and Hellenic...
Introductory.
... As Scripture has called the Greeks pilferers of theBarbarian [2154] philosophy,
it will next have to be considered how this may be briefly demonstrated....
A Roman Lady who Manifested a Deed of Modesty.
... [1634] I shall recount a pious action performed by abarbarian, and record the
bravery of a Roman lady for the preservation of her chastity....
That the Inventors of Other Arts were Mostly Barbarians.
... he who was held in admiration by the Greeks, who said, "My covering is a cloak;
my supper, milk and cheese." You see that thebarbarian philosophy professes...
Thesaurus
Barbarian (2 Occurrences)... 5. (a.) Of, or pertaining to, or resembling, barbarians; rude; uncivilized; barbarous;
as,
barbarian governments or nations. Int.
...BARBARIAN; BARBAROUS.
...Barbarous (1 Occurrence)
... 1. (a.) Being in the state of abarbarian; uncivilized; rude; peopled with barbarians;
as, a barbarous people; a barbarous country....BARBARIAN; BARBAROUS....
Speaketh (367 Occurrences)
... 1 Corinthians 14:11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be
unto him that speaketh abarbarian, and he that speaketh shall be abarbarian...
Graecia
... that even "Hellene" stood not so much for a distinction in race, as for preeminence
of culture, in contrast to the despised "Barbarian." Hence, there was much...
Wormwood (10 Occurrences)
... Older expositors, applying the earlier trumpets to the downfall of the Roman empire,
saw in the star a symbol of thebarbarian invasions of Attila or Genseric....
Freeman (9 Occurrences)
... Colossians 3:11 where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all....
Renewal (6 Occurrences)
... Colossians 3:11 where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all....
Distinction (14 Occurrences)
... Colossians 3:11 where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all....
Bondservant (34 Occurrences)
... Colossians 3:11 where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all....
Barbarians (3 Occurrences)
Resources
What does the Bible mean when it refers to the Diaspora? | GotQuestions.orgWhat does the Bible say about ethnocentrism? | GotQuestions.orgWhy did Paul say the gospel brings salvation to the Jew first and then the Gentile? | GotQuestions.orgBarbarian: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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