Phoenicians in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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Who are the Phoenicians?
PHOENIC'IANS
At the very dawn of history the Phoenicians appear to occupy one of the most prominent places among the nations of the earth. They were closely related to, if not identical with, the Canaanites, Gen 10:15, and of the whole group of Semitic languages their language was nearest allied to the Hebrew; indeed, the few remnants of the Phoenician tongue - names of persons and places, inscriptions on coins and monuments, etc. - which are still extant can be interpreted only by means of Hebrew. The nation, though cultured in literature and art, was debased by its religion. The worship of Baal was made corrupt and revolting in the extreme. While the burning of children to this god may have originated in the idea that sin required some blood-expiation, the form of the sacrifice was so cruel, and many features of the worship were so shameless, that they tended to destroy all virtue in the people, and the nation died of immoral rottenness. Passion and licentiousness were deified in connection with the worship of Astarte, the Phoenician Venus. 2 Kgs 23:7; Deut 23:17-18; 1 Kgs 14:24; 1 Kgs 15:12; 1 Kgs 22:46; Hos 4:14. Their religion was a kind of Nature-worship, centering in the idea of generation, and most of their gods, such as Baal, Ashtaroth, etc., seem to have had a double signification - one allegorical and lofty, and another literal and sensuous. Their occupation was commerce. They maintained commercial stations on the shores of the Red Sea and all along the coasts of the Mediterranean. They worked the silver-mines of Spain and the lead-mines of Cornwall, and their sailors brought amber from the Baltic and tin from Britain. Through their commerce they became the bearers of civilization, and from them both the Greeks and the Romans learnt the use of letters and of coins, of the compass and of astronomy in navigation, of glass, purple, etc. Between the Jews and the Phoenicians friendly relations seem to have been established very early. Palestine was the granary of the Phoenician cities, and, indeed, all its surplus products - wheat, honey, oil, balm, etc. - were exported from Tyre and Sidon, Eze 27:17, as the Jews had no ports themselves. Under King David these friendly relations grew into an alliance, and the conquest of Edom and the establishment by the Jews of a harbor at Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea, did not cause any disturbance. Phoenician mechanics worked at the erection of the temple in Jerusalem beside Jewish, and Phoenician vessels sailed together with Jewish from the port of Ezion-geber for Ophir and other places. 1 Kgs 10:11, 1 Kgs 10:22; 1 Kgs 9:26-28; 1 Chr 14:1; 2 Chr 8:18; 2 Chr 9:10. After the secession of the ten tribes the Phoenicians sided with the kingdom of Israel and broke the old covenant with Judah, Joel 3:4-8; Am 1:9-10; Isa 23; Eze 28; they even went so far as to sell the Jews to the Edomites as slaves. The influence, however, of the Phoenician idolatry on the Israelites was very baneful, though it would seem that the Phoenicians themselves were not so very anxious to make proselytes; at least, they did not interfere when Elijah slew four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal at the brook of Kishon. 1 Kgs 18:40.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'phoenicians' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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