Berea #82

Berea was a city in the Roman province of Macedonia, in northern Greece, about fifty miles from Thessalonica. It appears in the New Testament only in Luke’s account of Paul’s second missionary journey, in Acts 17:10-15, and in a passing mention of one of Paul’s companions in Acts 20:4. Despite its brief appearance, the Bereans are among the best-known believers in the book of Acts because of how they responded to what they heard.

Biblical Significance

When opposition forced Paul and Silas to leave Thessalonica, the believers sent them away by night to Berea (Acts 17:10). As usual, Paul began in the Jewish synagogue. Luke says the Jews there were “more noble” than those in Thessalonica, because they received the message with all eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see whether what Paul said was so (Acts 17:11). The Scriptures in question were the Old Testament, and the Bereans tested Paul’s claims that the Messiah must suffer and rise again against the prophets. Luke reports that many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men (Acts 17:12).

The peace did not last. When Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching in Berea, they came and stirred up the crowds there as well (Acts 17:13). The believers acted quickly, sending Paul off toward the coast while Silas and Timothy stayed behind to continue the work (Acts 17:14). Some of those escorting Paul brought him as far as Athens and returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him soon (Acts 17:15). The church in Berea is later represented among Paul’s travelling companions by Sopater, who accompanied him on his final journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4).

The lasting example of Berea is a habit rather than an event: welcoming a teacher’s message with real openness while checking it against Scripture. Christians of many traditions have long cited the Bereans as a model for personal Bible study and for discernment about what is taught.

Today

Berea is identified with the modern city of Veria, in the Imathia region of northern Greece, on the eastern slopes of the Vermio mountains. The city has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. A monument with a mosaic in the city marks the place where, according to local tradition, Paul addressed the people, and Veria has a number of Byzantine churches. Because the city has always been occupied, extensive excavation of its first-century layers has not been possible, but its identification with the biblical Berea is not disputed.