PHILADELPHIA was a city in Lydia, c 30 miles from Sardis (q.v.), in the valley of the Cogamus, a tributary of the Hermus, and conveniently located for handling the trade between the great central plateau of Asia Minor and Smyrna (q.v.). The district known as Katakekaumene (Burnt Region), because of its volcanic character, rises immediately to the NE. of the city; this was a great vine-growing district.
Philadelphia was founded and named by Attalus II. Philadelphus of Pergamum (159-138 BC). It was liable to severe earthquakes (for some time after AD 17 it lay in ruins), but nevertheless remained an important centre of the Roman province of Asia, receiving the name of Neo-Caesarea from Tiberius, and later on, the honour of the Neocorate (i.e. the wardenship of the temple for emperor worship). There is no record of the beginning of the church at Philadelphia, but in the Apocalypse it is one of the seven churches to which, as heads of districts, special messages were sent. In its message (Rev.3.8-13) it is said to have 'but little power' (which perhaps refers to its recent origin), and to have before it 'an open door' (which seems to refer to the opportunity to spread the gospel in the centre of Asia Minor. In 3.9 'the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not' may perhaps mean that the Jews of Philadelphia had been lax, and had conceded too much to Gentile ways; on the other hand, as in 2.9 (Smyrna) they were persecutors of the Christians, and their non-Judaism was perhaps not so much laxity as affiliation with the persecuting authorities (see W. Bousset, commentary). The passage contains no reproach against the Christians, though they are bidden to hold fast what they have, and the promise to him who conquers is that 'I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God [not the heathen imperial shrine] ... and I will write on him the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem ... and my own new name.' Perhaps there is a reference here, as in the message to Pergamum, to the new name taken at baptism and apparently sometimes kept secret.
A marble stele from the 1st cent. BC sets forth the rules of a private mystery cult (Dittenberger, Sylloge 985; translation in F. C. Grant, Hellenistic Religions, pp. 28 ff). It is one of the most impressive examples of real piety and of ethical idealism from the ancient pagan world.
Philadelphia was the seat of a bishop but was not a metropolis until about AD 1300 when the importance of Sardis had declined. In the 14th cent., when the Greek empire retained nothing on the mainland of Asia except a strip of territory opposite Constantinople, Philadelphia still continued to resist the Ottoman army, though far from the sea and almost forgotten by the emperors. The date of its final capture is uncertain?probably AD 1391. Its modern name is Alashehir, and a considerable portion of the population is Christian.
There was also a city named Philadelphia in Palestine, a member of the Decapolis (q.v.). [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963 - A.E.H. - F.C.G.]