{
  "id": "dict_004724",
  "term": "Puteoli",
  "slug": "puteoli",
  "letter": "P",
  "entry_type": "biblical_place",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "An Italian harbor city where Paul stopped on his journey to Rome and found local believers.",
  "simple_one_line": "Puteoli was a port city in Italy mentioned in Acts as a stop on Paul’s voyage to Rome.",
  "tooltip_text": "A harbor city in Italy where Paul spent seven days with believers on the way to Rome.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "Acts",
    "Paul",
    "Rome",
    "Italy",
    "Paul’s journey to Rome"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "Acts 28:13-14",
    "Rome",
    "Naples",
    "Mediterranean voyage"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "Puteoli was a major port city in southern Italy, mentioned in Acts as a stop on Paul’s journey to Rome. Luke notes that Paul found believers there and stayed with them for seven days.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "A Roman-era port city in Italy mentioned in Acts 28:13-14 as a stop on Paul’s voyage to Rome.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "Located on the coast of Italy near Naples",
    "Mentioned in Acts 28:13-14",
    "Paul found believers there and stayed seven days",
    "Significance is mainly historical and geographical"
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "Puteoli was a harbor city in southern Italy and is mentioned in Acts 28:13-14 during Paul’s voyage to Rome. After arriving there, Paul found believers and remained with them for seven days before continuing to Rome. Its significance in Scripture is primarily geographical and historical.",
  "description_academic_full": "Puteoli was a well-known harbor city in southern Italy, near modern Naples, and appears in Acts 28:13-14 during Paul’s journey to Rome as a prisoner. Luke records that Paul arrived there, found believers, and was invited to stay with them for seven days before proceeding on to Rome. The mention is important because it shows the spread of the gospel into Italy and the presence of Christian fellowship before Paul reached the imperial capital. Scripture does not assign special doctrinal meaning to Puteoli itself; its value is chiefly historical and geographical within the Acts narrative.",
  "background_biblical_context": "Acts places Puteoli near the end of Paul’s sea voyage to Rome. The detail that believers were already present there highlights the growth of the church beyond Judea and Asia Minor and shows how Christian communities had spread into major Roman centers.",
  "background_historical_context": "Puteoli was an important Roman port for trade and travel in southern Italy. Its location made it a natural stop for ships approaching Rome from the eastern Mediterranean. Luke’s reference fits the broader historical setting of Roman travel and commerce in the first century.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "No specific Jewish tradition is attached to Puteoli in Scripture. The main ancient-context value lies in understanding the city as part of the wider Greco-Roman world into which the gospel was advancing.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "Acts 28:13-14"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Acts 27–28"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "The name is a Latin place-name rendered in Greek in Acts. The biblical reference is a proper geographic name rather than a theological term.",
  "theological_significance": "Puteoli has no independent doctrine attached to it, but it does illustrate the providential spread of the gospel, the reality of Christian fellowship in distant places, and the ordinary geographic settings through which God advanced the mission of the church.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "As a place-name, Puteoli reminds readers that biblical revelation is anchored in real history and real geography. The Christian faith is presented not as mythic abstraction but as truth entering ordinary human locations and events.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not overstate the significance of Puteoli beyond the narrative detail Luke intends. The passage records a stop on Paul’s journey and the hospitality of believers; it does not assign symbolic or prophetic meaning to the city itself.",
  "major_views_note": "There is little interpretive dispute about Puteoli. The main question is historical geography, not doctrine.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "Puteoli should not be treated as a doctrinal locus. Its biblical importance is limited to its role in Acts as a real place in Paul’s travel narrative.",
  "practical_significance": "The mention of believers in Puteoli encourages Christians to practice hospitality and reminds readers that the church can flourish in many places, even on the margins of major events.",
  "meta_description": "Puteoli was a Roman port city in Italy where Paul stopped on his journey to Rome and found believers there.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/puteoli/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/puteoli.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}