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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

IntroIndex©

BEREA

1. Place north of Jerusalem where the Syrian army camped before launching an attack that killed Judas Maccabeus in 161 BC (1 Macc 9:4).

2. Ancient city of Macedonia (a region now divided among Greece, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria), probably founded in the fifth century BC. The city was approximately 25 miles (40.2 kilometers) inland from the Aegean Sea on a scenic and fertile plain 600 feet (182.8 kilometers) high in the foothills north of the Olympian range. Conquered by Rome in 168 BC, Berea (alternately spelled Beroea in older English translations) was one of the most populous Macedonian cities in the time of Christ. Today the city is known as Verria.

Berea was visited by the apostle Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 17:10-15) and was the home of Sopater, Paul’s companion (Acts 20:4). Paul and Silas left Thessalonica when violent religious and political opposition arose and went to Berea, 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southwest. There both Jews and Greeks eagerly received the gospel, but Paul had to leave the city when angry Jews arrived from Thessalonica to stir up trouble.