An island in the AEgean Sea, which Paul passed on his voyage from Assos to Miletus (Acts 20:15 ), on his third missionary journey. It is about 27 miles long and 20 broad, and lies about 42 miles south-west of Smyrna.

a Greek island off that part of Asia Minor where Ionia touches Caria. Samos comes before our notice in the detailed account of St. Paul's return from his third missionary journey. (Acts 20:15 )

(Σάμος) Samos is one of the fairest and most fertile islands of the aegean, 27 miles long from E. to W. and 14 miles at its greatest breadth, separated from the mainland by the strait of Mycale (the Little Boghaz), seven stadia in width, in which the Greek fleet gained a great victory over the Persians in 479 b.c. The island attained its highest prosperity in the days of Polycrates, and held for a time the naval supremacy of the aegean. It was the birthplace of Pythagoras, and a Samian mariner, ‘not without divine direction’ (Herod. iv. 152), was the first to sail beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Its chief city, also called Samos, was a libera civitas in St. Paul’s time. Situated in the S.E. of the island, it had the largest temple Herodotus ever saw (iii. 60), and disputed with Smyrna and Ephesus the title ‘first city of Ionia.’ There were many Jews in the island (1 Maccabees 15:23), which was visited by Herod in a.d. 14 (Jos. Ant. XVI. ii. 2). In a voyage down the aegean the ship in which St. Paul was sailing left Chios on a Wednesday morning, ‘struck across to Samos’-here probably the island is meant-and rounded either the west or the east extremity. The Revised Version rendering, ‘touched at Samos,’ conveys the idea of a stoppage, which is not implied in the Greek (παρεβάλομεν εἰς Σάμον, Acts 20:15). Probably the attempt was made to get as far as Miletus the same day, but when Trogyllium, a promontory 5 miles E. of the city of Samos, was reached, the aegean N. wind apparently died away, as it generally does in the late afternoon throughout the summer months, and the passage had to be completed next day with the aid of the fresh breeze that springs up in the early morning. The clause in the Bezan text regarding Trogyllium, which is found in the Authorized Version but relegated to the margin of the Revised Version , was in all probability omitted by the scribes of the great uncials under the mistaken notion that a night had been spent at the city of Samos, and that a second anchorage only 5 miles farther east was out of the question. Literature.-Strabo, XIV. i. 12-18; H. P. Tozer, The Islands of the aegean, 1890; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, 1895, p. 293 f. James Strahan.

(ssay' mahss) Place name meaning, “height.” Small island (only 27 miles long) located in the Aegean Sea about a mile off the coast of Asia Minor near the peninsula of Trogyllium. In the strait between Samos and the mainland, the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet about 479 B.C. and turned the tide of power in the Ancient Near East. Traveling from Jerusalem to Rome, Paul's ship either put in at Samos or anchored just offshore (Acts 20:15 ).

Here the apostle Paul in his voyage landed; (see Acts 20:15) It was an island of the Archipelago.

("a height".) (especially by the sea shore.) An island off the boundary line between Ionia and Caria, three or four miles from the mainland. Mentioned in Paul's return from his third missionary journey (Acts 20:15), on his way from Chios to Miletus. He spent the night at the anchorage of Trogyllium in the strait between Samos and the extremity of the ridge of Mycale on the mainland. The Greeks conquered the Persians in the sea fight of Mycale, B.C. 479.

An island in the AEgean Sea, a few miles south-west of Ephesus, only incidently mentioned in the return of Paul's third missionary journey. Acts 20:15 . It is still called Samos.

Full of gravel

Samos (sâ'mos), a height. An island in the Ægean Sea, a few miles from the main land, and 42 miles southwest of Smyrna. The island is 27 miles long, ten miles wide, and has an area of 165 square miles. It was the seat of Juno-worship, the birthplace of Pythagoras, and noted for its valuable pottery. Paul visited the island on his third missionary journey. Acts 20:15. Samos was then the capital of the island.

An island of the Archipelago, on the coast of Asia Minor, opposite Lydia, from which it is separated by a narrow strait. The island was devoted to the worship of Juno, who had there a magnificent temple, fragments of which still exist. It was also celebrated for its valuable potteries, and as the birthplace of Pythagoras. The Romans wrote to the governor in favor of the Jews in the time of Simon Maccabaeus. Paul landed here when going to Jerusalem, A. D. 58, Acts 20:15 . It now contains about fifty thousand inhabitants; and though ill-cultivated, is fruitful in oranges, grapes, and olives, and exports corn and wine.