Bible Dictionary
Sparta
Sparta was a prominent Greek city whose people were believed by some Jews to share a relationship with Israel. Ancient correspondence between the two communities is mentioned in the inter-testamental record.
Definition
Sparta was a celebrated Greek city whose inhabitants were believed by some Jews to have a relationship with Israel. The name is associated with an asserted connection between the two peoples and with correspondence between them.
Biblical Usage
The supplied material mentions Sparta in the inter-testamental record, where the Jews and Spartans are said to have corresponded. It also describes the claimed relationship as an ethnological error whose origin is difficult to determine.
Historical Background
The correspondence is associated with 2 Maccabees. The reported relationship between the two nations was a belief rather than an established connection in the supplied material.
Scripture References
2Macc 5:9
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
a celebrated city of Greece, between whose inhabitants and the Jews a relationship was believed to subsist. Between the two nations a correspondence ensued.—Whitney. The act of the Jews and Spartans, 2 Macc. 5:9 is an ethnological error, which it is difficult to trace to its origin.