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Bible Encyclopedias
Nicopolis

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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(Νικόπολις, city of victory), a city mentioned in Titus 3:12 as the place where, at the time of writing that epistle, Paul was intending to pass the coming winter, and where he wished Titus to meet him. Titus was at this time in Crete (Titus 1:5). The subscription to the epistle assumes that the apostle was at.Nicopolis when he wrote; but we cannot conclude this from the form of expression. We should rather infer that he was elsewhere, possibly at Ephesus or Corinth. He urges that no time should be lost (σπούδασον ἐλθεῖν ); hence we conclude that winter was near.

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Nothing is to be found in the epistle itself to determine which Nicopolis is here intended. There were cities of this name in Asia, Africa, and Europe, and many of them have been advocated in this connection. The question, however, is in reality confined to three of these places at most. One Nicopolis was in Thrace, near the borders of Macedonia. The subscription (which, however, is of no authority) fixes on this place, calling it the Macedonian Nicopolis: and such is the view of Chrysostom and Theodoret. De Wette's objection to this opinion (Pastoral Briefe, p. 21), that the place did not exist till Trajan's reign, appears to be a mistake. Another Nicopolis was in Cilicia; and Schrader (Der Apostel Paulus, 1:115-119) pronounces for this; but this opinion is connected with a peculiar theory regarding the apostle's journeys. We have little doubt that Jerome's view is correct, and that the Pauline Nicopolis was the celebrated city of Epirus (" scribit Apostolus de Nicopoli, quee in Actiaco littore sita," Jerome, Procmm. 9:195). For arrangements of Paul's journeys, which will harmonize with this, and with the other facts of the Pastoral Epistles, see Birks, Hores Apostolicae, p. 296-304; and Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul (2d ed.), 2:564-573. It is very possible, as is observed there, that Paul was arrested at Nicopolis, and taken thence to Rome for his final trial. It is a curious and interesting circumstance, when we look at the matter from a Biblical point of view, that many of the handsomest parts of the town were built by Herod the Great (Josephus, Ant. 16:5,3). It is likely enough that many Jews lived there. Moreover, it was conveniently situated for apostolic journeys in the eastern parts of Achaia and Macedonia, and also to the northward, where churches perhaps were founded. St. Paul had long before preached the Gospel at least on the confines of Illyricum (Romans 15:19), and soon after the very period under consideration Titus himself was sent on a mission to Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10).

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Bibliography Information
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Nicopolis'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tce/​n/nicopolis.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
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