- PHLEGON burning, a Roman Christian to whom Paul sent salutations
(Romans 16:14). - PHOENICIA (Acts 21:2). (See PHENICIA.)
- PHRYGIA dry, an irregular and ill-defined district in Asia Minor. It was
divided into two parts, the Greater Phrygia on the south, and the Lesser
Phrygia on the west. It is the Greater Phrygia that is spoken of in the New
Testament. The towns of Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:14), Colosse,
Hierapolis, Iconium, and Laodicea were situated in it. - PHUT Phut is placed between Egypt and Canaan in Genesis 10:6, and
elsewhere we find the people of Phut described as mercenaries in the
armies of Egypt and Tyre (Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 30:5; 27:10). In a
fragment of the annuals of Nebuchadrezzar which records his invasion of
Egypt, reference is made to “Phut of the Ionians.” - PHYGELLUS fugitive, a Christian of Asia, who “turned away” from Paul
during his second imprisonment at Rome (2 Timothy 1:15). Nothing more
is known of him. - PHYLACTERIES (Gr. phulakteria; i.e., “defences” or “protections”),
called by modern Jews tephillin (i.e., “prayers”) are mentioned only in
Matthew 23:5. They consisted of strips of parchment on which were
inscribed these four texts: (1.) Exodus 13:1-10; (2.) 11-16; (3.)
Deuteronomy 6:4-9; (4.) 11:18-21, and which were enclosed in a square
leather case, on one side of which was inscribed the Hebrew letter shin, to
which the rabbis attached some significance. This case was fastened by
certain straps to the forehead just between the eyes. The “making broad
the phylacteries” refers to the enlarging of the case so as to make it
conspicuous. (See FRONTLETS.)
Another form of the phylactery consisted of two rolls of parchment, on
which the same texts were written, enclosed in a case of black calfskin.
This was worn on the left arm near the elbow, to which it was bound by a
thong. It was called the “Tephillah on the arm.”
- PHYSICIAN Asa, afflicted with some bodily malady, “sought not to the
Lord but to the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). The “physicians” were
those who “practised heathen arts of magic, disavowing recognized
methods of cure, and dissociating the healing art from dependence on the