Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Brotherly love, a city of Lydia in Asia Minor, about 25 miles south-east of Sardis. It was the seat of one of the “seven churches” (Rev. 3:7-12). D. 1392. It has several times been nearly destroyed by earthquakes.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
C. 138. It was situated on the lower slopes of Tmolus, and is still represented by a town called Allah-shehr (city of God). Its elevation is 952 feet above the sea. The original population of Philadelphia. Seems to have been Macedonian; but there was, as appears from (Leviticus 3:9) a synagogue of Hellenizing Jews there, as well as a Christian church. ”) The locality was subject to constant earthquakes, which in the time of Strabo rendered even the town walls of Philadelphia unsafe. The expense of reparation was constant, and hence perhaps the poverty of the members of the church.
) (Revelation 3:7-13) Even Gibbon bears the following well-known testimony to the truth of the prophecy, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee in the hour of temptation”: “At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the (Greek) emperor encompassed, all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion and freedom above fourscore years. ” “The modern town (Allah-shehr, city of God), although spacious, containing 3000 houses and 10,000 inhabitants, is badly built; the dwellings are mean and the streets filthy.
The inhabitants are mostly Turks. A few ruins are found, including remains of a wall and about twenty-five churches. In one place are four strong marble pillars, which once supported the dome of a church.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
PHILADEL'PHIA (brotherly love), a city on the borders of Lydia and Phrygia, about 25 miles south-east of Sardis. c. 138. d. d. 1392. T. as the seat of one of the seven churches. Rev 1:11; Rev 3:7-13. The church at this place was highly commended, and it is noticeable that the city has survived all the vicissitudes of earthquakes and wars until the present day.
Its bishops were at the councils of Nicaea, Laodicaea, and Constantinople; and when Tamerlane destroyed the seats of the other Christian churches and massacred the Christians, Philadelphia escaped, and was an asylum for some of the Christians of Sardis. Even the sceptical Gibbon speaks of its preservation as remarkable. A solitary pillar is still one of the most conspicuous features of the town, and the modern name is Allah Shehr, or "city of God," seeming to illustrate the promise in Rev 3:12.
The modern city, situated upon four or five flat summits at the foot of Mount Tmolus, contains about 3000 houses and 10,000 inhabitants, mostly Turks. The dwellings are mean and badly built, and the streets filthy. The ruins include a wall and about 25 churches. In one place there are four large marble pillars which may have once supported the dome of a church. Tradition points out an old mosque in which the primitive Christians addressed in the Apocalypse are said to have worshipped. Earthquakes have frequently overthrown the city and rendered even its walls unsafe.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
love of a brother