The terms 'Arab/s,' 'Arabia' and 'Arabian' occur not infrequently in the Bible (10x, 8x, & 1x in the NIV; 16x, 10 & 0x in NRS; 5x 8x & 4x in NKJ, e.g.). These terms, however, should not be understood in the same way as it is used today, i.e., referring to Arabic-speaking inhabitants of the Arab peninsula and other national and ethnic groups who had adopted the label who, generally speaking, had converted to Islam and who speak the Arabic language (Egypt, e.g., identifies itself as the Arab Republic of Egypt).
Defining who and where 'Arab/s-Arabian' and 'Arabia' were in the biblical context is extremely difficult since 1) Scriptures do not define them for us, 2) it is easy to merge and confuse our vision of them then with our conception of the modern realities they represent. The Hebrew word arab (as, e.g., it appears in the noun Arabah) simply refers to the desert-plateau and the steppes. The 'arabs' may, originally, have meant diverse groups who inhabit the steppes on the fringe of then-known civilizations—much the same way we use the term Bedouin—before it became a more specific label for those who spoke the particular language we now know as 'Arabic.' The same applies to the noun 'Arabia,' a word that simply meant the waste desert wasteland east and south of the Fertile Crescent ('the arabia,' with a small a) before it became Arabia (with a capital a). How we understand when this change took place will determine what meaning/s we give to the occurrence of the word as they appear in the Bible. Whatever else we make of them, it is important for us to disassociate the Arabs and Arabia of the Bible from the fervant religiousity which is almost naturally associated with the terms today.
"All the kings Arabia" are first mentioned in the Bible as bringing gifts silver and gold to Solomon (2 Chron 9:14) and as a source of Solomon's revenues (1 Ki 10:15). All told, Arabia is mentioned another dozen times in the OT.
"Arabs" were recorded as present during the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, though these should probably be understood as Jews and Jewish converts living in Arabian cities rather than native Arabs. Paul speaks of leaving for Arabia immediately after his conversion experience in Gal 1:17. The significance of this reference remains a source of debate about scholars. So is his "figurative" comparision of the two covenants in which "Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia" (Gal 4:25).
Despite these references to Arabs and Arabia in the Bible, it would be a mistake to think of Arabia in terms of the territories as we are familiar with in modern times. The boundaries of the Arabia in ancient times were very likely fairly diffused and far more widespread, stretching possibly up all the way to northern Syria. While the Hebrew word "arab" may mean little more than "the steppes/desert," modern scholars believe that they may have been the people once described in the ancient world as the apiru. However, one of the most important Arab kingdoms to have played an indirect role in biblical history is that of Nabatea, one of whose princesses would become the mother of Herod the Great.
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