Pontus

Pontus was a region in Asia Minor along the Black Sea coast, home to Jewish inhabitants and early Christian converts.

Pontus was an ancient region located in the northeastern part of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), bordering the Black Sea. It is mentioned in the New Testament as a place where Jewish inhabitants were present (Act.2.9; 18:2) and where early Christian communities were established (1Pet. 1:1). On the day of Pentecost, Jews from Pontus were among those who heard the apostles speaking in their own languages (Act.2.9). Aquila, a Jew from Pontus, and his wife Priscilla, were tentmakers who had been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius and met Paul in Corinth (Act.18.2). They became close friends and co-workers of Paul, hosting a church in their home (1Cor. 16:19). The apostle Peter addressed his first epistle to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus and other regions of Asia Minor (1Pet. 1:1), indicating the presence of Christian believers in the area. The mention of Pontus in the New Testament reveals the spread of the gospel and the establishment of Christian communities in various parts of the Roman Empire.

A province of Asia Minor, stretching along the southern coast of the Euxine Sea, corresponding nearly to the modern province of Trebizond. In the time of the apostles it was a Roman province. Strangers from this province were at Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and to “strangers scattered throughout Pontus,” among others, Peter addresses his first epistle (1 Pet. 1:1). It was evidently the resort of many Jews of the Dispersion. Aquila was a native of Pontus (Acts 18:2).