(6) that, whatever her errand to Rome might be, the independent manner of her going there seems to imply (especially when we consider the secluded habits of Greek women) not only that she was a widow or a woman of mature age, but that she was acting officially ;
(7) that she had already been of great service to Paul and others (Trpoardric noXXwv, Kai tp,oi) avroii), either by her wealth or her energy, or both ; a statement which closely corresponds with the description of the qualifi- cations of the enrolled widows in 1 Tim. v, 10 ; (8) that the duty which we here see Phoebe discharging implies a personal character worthy of confidence and respect" (Smith). See Deaconess.
Phoebus (<l>o7/3or, bright), a title, and subsequent- ly a name, of Apollo. It had reference both to the youthful beauty of the god, and to the radiance of the sun, when, latterly, Apollo became identified with He- lios, the sun-god.
Phoebus, William, a Methodist Episcopal min- ister, was born in Somerset County, Md., August, 1754. In 1783 he was admitted to the Conference, and preach- ed in various places until 1798, when he located in the city of New York, entering upon the practice of medi- cine. In 1806 he was readmitted into the New York
PHCENIl i:
14-
PIKEXICIA
Conference, laboring effectively till 1821, after which time lie was cither supernumerary or superannuated. II.- died in New JTork Nor. 9, 1831. He was a Bound preacher and an excellent man. -Minute* of Confer- ences, ii, 162 ; Sprague, A tax. of tin . I m r. Pulpit, vii. 87.
Phoeni'ce (some Phe'nice'], ><r, rather, Phcenls (*oii'i5, a palm-tree [q. v.], which Theophrastus Bays was indigenous there), a town and harbor in the island of Crete, which the vessel in which the apostle Paul Bailed was attempting to reach when driven away by the euroclydon and wrecked (Acts xxvii, 12). The harbor or "haven" {Xiurjv) is described by Luke as /3\eirovTa Kara \«j8« *<" Kara \wpov, which the A. V. renders "lieth towards the Bouth-wesl and north-west." Bui Mr. Smith contends that Kara in connection with winds means "in the same direction as." Thus 8\i- ■kovtci Kara \ifia would not mean, a* is generally sup- posed, that the haven looked to the point from which the libs blows, but to the point towards which it blows. Consequent^ the haven Looked towards th north-east andthi south-east (Smith, Voyagt and Shipwreck of St. Paul, p. 86 sq., 2d ed.). In this rendering Mr. Smith is sustained by ancient authorities, and also l>\ some of the best modern critics (Alford, ad loc; Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, ii. 334, note; see, however, for the contrary opinion, Hacket <>n Acts, ad loc). It i~ certain that one meaning of Kara with the accusative is "opposite," or "over against," as it is correctly trans- lated in ver. 7 of this very chapter. Schweigh.iuser. in his Lexicon Herodoteum, has pointed out some very in- structive instances of this in Herod, ix. 31, where Kara is used indiscriminately with ovt'iov and avria. In this sense, (3\iirovra Kara Ai'/3a, etc., would be equiv- alent to (3\iirovra irpbc.Ai(3a, etc; a phrase as to the meaning of which there could be no doubt (Xenophon, M> in. iii, 8, 9). Kara with an accusative also often signifies "down." But the objection to translating it so in thi- passage is that it would thus, with extreme awkwardness, inferentially mean the exact contrary of what it directly means in its other acknowledged sense, as marking the local relation between two objects.
Both Ptolemy and Strabo mention a town >\>oiii; ; while Ptolemy alone mentions a haven, of a similar name, which he calls in the accusative tooiviKovvra. Strabo locates it on the southern coast, at the narrowest part of the island x, I. p. 17.">i. Hierocles identifies it with Anvli mi. and seems to place it opposite the island ot Clauda | Vet. Hum. Itin. ed. Weasel, p. 650, 651); and Stephen of Byzantium identifies Aradena and Acropolis
(a. v.). On the south coast of Crete, at the narrowest part of the island, and opposite the island of Clauda. is the harbor of Lutro. It i- open to the east; but, as a little island lies almost in trout of it, it has two en- trances, one looking to the north-east, and the other to the south-east. It is thus described by captain Sprat! : •■Having iu 1853 examined generally the south coast of Crete. I was fully convinced that Lutro was the I'he- nice of St. Paul, tor it is the only bay to the westward of Fair Havens in which a vessel of any size could find any shelter during the winter months. By hauling in- side the island, and securing to the south .-bore of the bay, a vessel is nearly land-locked. South-east and east wind- only could endanger her; but with the for- mer, where the fetch is greatest, the wind would not blow home against such a mountain as the White Mountains, so immediately over the bay, and rising to an elevation of 9000 feet" (Smith, p. 89). Mr. Brown, who since visited it, adds: "It is the only secure har- bor, in all winds, on the south coast of Crete" {Id. p. 256). This identification is confirmed by the researches of Mr. Pashley {Travels in Crete, ii. 257), who discov- ered, a short distance above Lutro, a village called Acropolis i" upper city" i. and .another near it called Aradhena. Captain Speke also I Researches in tut', ii. 249) asserts that the name Phineka is still currently ap- plied to Lutro. and that a Latin inscription found there. dating from the emperor Nerva, shows that ships from Alexandria resorted to this harbor. Lechler, on the other band {Die Apostelgesch. 1869, p. 400), maintain- ing the usual interpretation of Kara here {towards), suggests that Luke is only reporting a popular opinion as to the situation of Phoenix, which Paul's company did not reach; ami that hence we are not to look for the usual accuracv of the writer. See Sniru in i K 1 1 >i Paul).