COELE-SYRIA - The meaning and origin of the first part of the name are obscure. The traditional interpretation is that it means 'Hollow Syria' and applies properly to the great hollow running N. and S. between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges (1 Es.4.48; Strabo, xvi. 2). It then would correspond to the Biq'ath hal-Lebhanon of Jos.11.17 etc. The first element of the latter name persists in the modern name of the valley S. of Baalbek, el-Beqa'. The Orontes drains the valley northward, and the Litani southward, both rivers rising near Baalbek. The soil is rich, producing large crops of wheat, etc., while some of the finest vineyards in Syria clothe the adjoining slopes. But 'Coele-Syria' came to have a wider significance, covering indeed, with Phoenicia, all the Seleucid territory S. of the River Eleutherus (2 Mac.3.5, etc.; Strabo, xvi. 753). In 1 Es.2.17 etc., Coele-Syria and Phoenicia denote the whole Persian province, stretching from the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. Josephus reckons the country E. of Jordan to Coele-Syria (Ant. i. xi. 5 [206], xiii. xiii. 2 f [355 ff], etc.), including in it Scythopolis, the only member of the Decapolis W. of the river. [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963. - W.E. - E.G.K.]