its territory and employed its sailors and workmen. (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:9,17,18) The religion
of the Phoenicians, opposed to Monotheism, was a pantheistical personification of the forces of
nature and in its most philosophical shadowing forth of the supreme powers it may be said to have
represented the male and female principles of production. In its popular form it was especially a
worship of the sun, moon and five planets, or, as it might have been expressed according to ancient
notions, of the seven planets—the most beautiful and perhaps the most natural form of idolatry
ever presented to the human imagination. Their worship was a constant temptation for the Hebrews
to Polytheism and idolatry—
•Because undoubtedly the Phoenicians, as a great commercial people, were more generally
intelligent, and as we should now say civilized, than the inland agricultural population of Palestine.
When the simple-minded Jews, therefore, came in contact with a people more versatile and
apparently more enlightened than themselves, but who nevertheless, either in a philosophical or
in a popular form admitted a system of Polytheism an influence would be exerted on Jewish minds
tending to make them regard their exclusive devotion to their own one God Jehovah, however
transcendent his attributes, as unsocial and morose.
•The Phoenician religion had in other respects an injurious effect on the people of Palestine, being
in some points essentially demoralizing, For example, it mentioned the dreadful superstition of
burning children as sacrifices to a Phoenician god. Again, parts of the Phoenician religion, especially
the worship of Astarte, fended to encourage dissoluteness in the relations of the sexes, and even
to sanctify impurities of the most abominable description. The only other fact respecting the
Phoenicians that need be mentioned here is that the invention of letters was universally asserted
by the Greeks and Romans to have been communicated by the Phoenicians to the Greeks. For
further details respecting the Phoenicians see Tyre and Zidon, Or Sidon. Phoenicia is now a land
of ruins.
Phrygia
(dry, barren). Perhaps there is no geographical term in the New Testament which is less capable
of an exact definition. In fact there was no Roman province of Phrygia till considerably after the
first establishment of Christianity in the peninsula of Asia Minor. The word was rather ethnological
than political, and denoted in a vague manner the western part of the central region of that peninsula.
Accordingly, in two of the three places where it is used it is mentioned in a manner not intended
to he precise. (Acts 16:6; 18:23) By Phrygia we must understand an extensive district in Asia Minor
which contributed portions to several Roman provinces, and varying portions at different times.
(All over this district the Jews were probably numerous. The Phrygians were a very ancient people,
and were supposed to be among the aborigines of Asia Minor. Several bishops from Phrygia were
present at the Councils of Nice, A.D. 325, and of Constantinople, A.D. 381, showing the prevalence
of Christianity at that time—ED.)
Phurah
(bough), Gideon’s servant, probably his armor-bearer, comp. (1 Samuel 14:1) who accompanied
him in his midnight visit to the camp of the Midianites. (Judges 7:10,11)
Phurim
(Esther 11:1) [Purim]
Phut, Put
(a bow) the third name in the list of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6; 1 Chronicles 1:8) elsewhere
applied to an African country or people. The few mentions of Phut in the Bible clearly indicate a
frankie
(Frankie)
#1