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Media in the Bible.

Media is a region in the Bible, its middle about 1,304 km (811 miles) east of Jerusalem. The King James Version names it in 11 verses, from Ezra 6:2 to Daniel 8:20.

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About Media.

Heb. Madai, which is rendered in the Authorized Version (1) “Madai,” Gen. 10:2; (2) “Medes,” 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; (3) “Media,” Esther 1:3; 10:2; Isa. 21:2; Dan. 8:20; (4) “Mede,” only in Dan. 11:1.

We first hear of this people in the Assyrian cuneiform records, under the name of Amada, about B.C. 840. They appear to have been a branch of the Aryans, who came from the east bank of the Indus, and were probably the predominant race for a while in the Mesopotamian valley. They consisted for three or four centuries of a number of tribes, each ruled by its own chief, who at length were brought under the Assyrian yoke (2 Kings 17:6). From this subjection they achieved deliverance, and formed themselves into an empire under Cyaxares (B.C. 633). This monarch entered into an alliance with the king of Babylon, and invaded Assyria, capturing and destroying the city of Nineveh (B.C. 625), thus putting an end to the Assyrian monarchy (Nah. 1:8; 2:5, 6; 3:13, 14).

Media now rose to a place of great power, vastly extending its boundaries. But it did not long exist as an independent kingdom. It rose with Cyaxares, its first king, and it passed away with him; for during the reign of his son and successor Astyages, the Persians waged war against the Medes and conquered them, the two nations being united under one monarch, Cyrus the Persian (B.C. 558).

The “cities of the Medes” are first mentioned in connection with the deportation of the Israelites on the destruction of Samaria (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11). Soon afterwards Isaiah (13:17; 21:2) speaks of the part taken by the Medes in the destruction of Babylon (comp. Jer. 51:11, 28). Daniel gives an account of the reign of Darius the Mede, who was made viceroy by Cyrus (Dan. 6:1-28). The decree of Cyrus, Ezra informs us (6:2-5), was found in “the palace that is in the province of the Medes,” Achmetha or Ecbatana of the Greeks, which is the only Median city mentioned in Scripture.

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).

People named with Media.

Admatha 1Ahasuerus 1Carshena 1Marsena 1Memucan 1Meres 1Mordecai 1Shethar 1

All 11 verses that name Media.

Ezra 1

  • Ezra 6:2And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:

Esther 5

  • Esther 1:3In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
  • Esther 1:14And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)
  • Esther 1:18Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king’s princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.
  • Esther 1:19If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
  • Esther 10:2And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

Isaiah 1

  • Isaiah 21:2A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.

Jeremiah 3

  • Jeremiah 25:25And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
  • Jeremiah 51:11Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
  • Jeremiah 51:28Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

Daniel 1

  • Daniel 8:20The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

Questions about Media.

Where is Media in the Bible?

Media is a region its middle about 1,304 km (811 miles) east of Jerusalem. BibleLectio shows it on a painted map of the Bible’s world, with every verse that names it.

How many times is Media named in the Bible?

The King James Version names Media in 11 verses, in 5 books, from Ezra 6:2 to Daniel 8:20.

Which people are named with Media in the Bible?

The verses that name Media also name Admatha, Ahasuerus, Carshena, Marsena, Memucan and Meres, among others.

Every place in the Bible, on one map.

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