Syria · In the Old Testament chiefly the Aramean kingdoms centered on Damascus (modern Syria and surroundings); in the New Testament the Roman province of Syria, whose capital Antioch was at modern Antakya (Antioch) in southern Turkey.
In the Old Testament called Aram, with Damascus as its capital, the setting of the stories of Naaman and of Rezin king of Aram; in the New Testament it was the Roman province of Syria, whose capital Antioch was where the disciples were first called Christians and where Paul's three missionary journeys began and ended. The decree of the Jerusalem council was addressed to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.
First mentioned in the Bible
Naʹa·man, the army chief of the king of Syria, was a great man and highly respected by his master, because Jehovah had given victory to Syria through him; but this mighty warrior had leprosy.— 2 Kings 5:1
Background
The name Syria corresponds in the Old Testament to the Aramean states, the mightiest of which was Aram-Damascus with its capital Damascus; in New Testament times it denotes the Roman province of Syria, whose capital was Antioch of Syria. 1) Aram in the Old Testament. Naaman, the army chief of the king of Aram, was a great and highly respected warrior but had leprosy; acting on the word of a young Israelite girl he went to Samaria to seek the prophet Elisha, but he was angry that the prophet told him to wash in the Jordan rather than in 'the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus,' until he yielded and bathed seven times and was cleansed (2Ki 5:1, 12). The prophet Isaiah declared that the head of Aram was Damascus and the head of Damascus was Rezin, and warned that within sixty-five years Ephraim would be shattered and cease to be a nation (Isa 7:8). 2) The province of Syria in the New Testament. Antioch of Syria was the center of early Gentile Christianity, and it was there that the disciples were first called Christians. After the Jerusalem council the apostles and elders wrote to greet the Gentile brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia (Ac 15:23), and Paul then 'went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the congregations' (Ac 15:41). At the close of his second journey, after having his hair cut short at Cenchreae because he was under a vow, Paul sailed away for Syria with Priscilla and Aquila and returned to Antioch (Ac 18:18). During the third journey he spent three months in Greece; when a Jewish plot was laid against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided instead to go back through Macedonia (Ac 20:3). Syria thus served as the home base and transit hub for Paul's mission to the Gentile world.
Related Scriptures (New World Translation)
Naʹa·man, the army chief of the king of Syria, was a great man and highly respected by his master, because Jehovah had given victory to Syria through him; but this mighty warrior had leprosy.— 2 Kings 5:1
Are not the A·baʹnah and the Pharʹpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Can I not bathe in them and be clean?” With that he turned and went away in a rage.— 2 Kings 5:12
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Reʹzin; and within sixty-five years Eʹphra·im will be shattered so that it will not be a nation.— Isaiah 7:8