Encyclopedia entry
Galatia
Has been called the “Gallia” of the East, Roman writers calling its inhabitants Galli. They were an intermixture of Gauls and Greeks, and hence were called Gallo-Graeci, and the country Gallo-Graecia. The Galatians were in their origin a part of that great Celtic migration which invaded Macedonia about B.C. 280. They were invited by the king of Bithynia to cross over into Asia Minor to assist him in his wars. There they ultimately settled, and being strengthened by fresh accessions of the same clan from Europe, they overran Bithynia, and supported themselves by plundering neighbouring countries. They were great warriors, and hired themselves out as mercenary soldiers, sometimes fighting on both sides in the great battles of the times. They were at length brought under the power of Rome in B.C. 189, and Galatia became a Roman province B.C. 25.
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This province of Galatia, within the limits of which these Celtic tribes were confined, was the central region of Asia Minor.
During his second missionary journey Paul, accompanied by Silas and Timothy (Acts 16:6), visited the “region of Galatia,” where he was detained by sickness (Gal. 4:13), and had thus the longer opportunity of preaching to them the gospel. On his third journey he went over “all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order” (Acts 18:23). Crescens was sent thither by Paul toward the close of his life (2 Tim. 4:10).
Also from Smith's (1884) +−
(land of the Galli, Gauls). The Roman province of Galatia may be roughly described as the central region of the peninsula of Asia Minor, bounded on the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia; on the east by Pontus; on the south by Cappadocia and Lycaonia; on the west by Phrygia.—Encyc. Brit. It derived its name from the Gallic or Celtic tribes who, about 280 B.C., made an irruption into Macedonia and Thrace. It finally became a Roman province. The Galatia of the New Testament has really the “Gaul” of the East. The people have always been described as “susceptible of quick impressions and sudden changes, with a fickleness equal to their courage and enthusiasm, and a constant liability to that disunion which is the fruit of excessive vanity.—The Galatian churches were founded by Paul at his first visit, when he was detained among, them by sickness, (Galatians 4:13) during his second missionary journey, about A.D 51. He visited them again on his third missionary tour.
In the Bible
6
Verses where Galatia is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Corinthians 16:1
Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia:
- 1 Peter 1:1
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen
- 2 Timothy 4:10
because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
- Acts 16:6
After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.
- Acts 18:23
After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
- Galatians 1:2
and all the brothers with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Scripture on Galatia
7
See all 7 +−
Galatia references
17
Voices on Galatia
24
Surfaced by name match — accuracy varies by title clarity.
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.