Protos

What does "Crete" mean in the Bible?

Crete now Candia, a large island in the Mediterranean Sea, midway between Syria and Italy. It is about 140 miles long by 35 miles wide. Crete appears in 5 verses across 2 books of the Bible.

Ruins of Gortys on the island of Crete
Ruins of Gortys on the island of Crete · Jebulon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

What does the Bible say about Crete?

CRETE, now Candia, a large island in the Mediterranean Sea, midway between Syria and Italy. It is about 140 miles long by 35 miles wide. Its surface is mountainous, the classic Mount Ida being one of its peaks, but there are fertile valleys. It was formerly possessed by a rich and powerful people; Virgil speaks of its hundred cities. But the people were proverbially liars, Tit 1:12-a character they are said still to bear. "Homer dates all the fictions of Ulysses from Crete, as if he meant to pass a similar censure on the Cretans to that quoted by Paul-Kp^re? ael \jjev(Trai." -COWPER: Odyssey, b. xiii. Cretans were at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:11; Paul was shipwrecked near the island, and he left Titus there as the first pastor and superintendent, who was "to ordain elders in every city" of the island. Tit 1:5. It is now under the tyranny of the Turks, but thoroughly Greek in nationality and sympathy, and will probably ere long be annexed to the kingdom of Greece. It is supposed to have been first settled by the Philistines. See Gaphtorim.

Definition text: Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible · 1898. Public domain.

Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.

What is the Greek word for Crete?

Greek · G2914

Κρήτη

Krētē

Crete

TBESG, from Abbott-Smith (1922). Public domain.

Where does Crete appear in the Bible?

Crete is referenced in 5 verses across 2 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.

What else appears in these passages?

These turn up in the same passages as Crete.

Common questions

How many times does the Bible mention Crete?

Crete appears in 5 verses across 2 books, most often in Acts, which accounts for 4 of them.

Which books of the Bible mention Crete?

Acts, Titus.

Where can I read every verse about Crete?

This page lists 5 of them. Protos carries all 5, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.

Read it in context

Read Acts with "Crete" explained on the verse.

Tap any name, place, or word you do not recognize and the background opens on the verse you are reading. No second tab, no search, no losing your place.

The Protos reader open on Genesis 1 with the How to Read Genesis background sheet raised over it

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