Bible Dictionary
Barbarian
In the New Testament, barbarian means a person of another nation or language, especially one who did not speak Greek. It does not carry the modern sense of a savage or uncivilized person.
Definition
In the New Testament, barbarian means a person of another nation or language, especially one who did not speak Greek. It does not carry the modern meaning of a savage or uncivilized person.
Biblical Usage
The word describes people of other nations, those speaking a different language, and the inhabitants of Malta. In one passage it designates non-Greek-speaking peoples within the Roman Empire.
Historical Background
Among Greeks, “barbarian” commonly meant anyone who was not Greek. Malta, identified in the supplied material as originally a Carthaginian colony, is one biblical example of people so designated.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A Greek word used in the New Testament (Rom. 1:14) to denote one of another nation. In Col. 3:11, the word more definitely designates those nations of the Roman empire that did not speak Greek. In 1 Cor. 14:11, it simply refers to one speaking a different language. The inhabitants of Malta are so called (Acts 28:1, 2, 4). They were originally a Carthaginian colony. This word nowhere in Scripture bears the meaning it does in modern times.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
“every one not a Greek is a barbarian” is the common Greek definition, and in this strict sense the word is sued in (Romans 1:14) It often retains this primitive meaning, as in (1 Corinthians 14:11; Acts 28:24)