road to Damascus.—Acts 9:1-9; 26:12-14; see VISION; TRANSFIGURATION.

APPHIA

(Apʹphi·a) [a Phrygian name, common in W Asia].

A Christian woman mentioned along with Philemon and Archippus in Paul’s letter directed to these three and the congregation in Philemon’s house. (Philem. 2) It is possible she was the wife of Philemon.

APPIUS, MARKET PLACE OF

(Apʹpi·us).

Also called “Appii Forum.” A marketplace forty-three Roman miles (39.6 statute miles or 63.6 kilometers) SE of Rome. It was a well-known station on the famous Roman highway Via Appia, running from Rome to the Bay of Naples where the seaport of Puteoli lay. Both the road and the marketplace draw their name from the founder, Appius Claudius Caecus, of the fourth century B.C.E.

As the usual point at which travelers halted at the close of the first day’s journey out of Rome, this post station became a busy trading center. Adding to its importance was its location at the northern terminus of a canal that ran alongside the road, traversing the Pontine marshes. Travelers reportedly were conveyed over this canal by night in barges pulled by mules. The poet Horace describes the discomforts of the journey, complaining of the frogs and gnats and depicting the marketplace of Appius as crammed with “boatmen and extortionate innkeepers.”

It was at this busy junction that the apostle Paul, traveling from Puteoli to Rome as a prisoner, first met the delegation of Christian brothers who, on hearing the news of his coming, had journeyed from Rome to meet him. The ruins of the town have been identified at Treponti, where the old forty-third milestone is still found.—Acts 28:15.

APPLE

[Heb., tap·puʹahh].

There is much conjecture as to the identification of the tree and fruit denoted by the Hebrew word tap·puʹahh. The word itself indicates that which is distinguished by its fragrance or scent. Several fruits have been suggested in place of the apple, including the orange, the citron, the quince and the apricot, the main objection raised to the apple being that the hot, dry climate of most of Palestine is unfavorable to apple culture. However, the related Arabic word tuffakh primarily means “apple,” and it is notable that the Hebrew place-names Tappuah and Beth-tappuah (probably so named due to prevalence of this fruit in their vicinity) have been preserved in their Arabic equivalents by the use of this word. (Josh. 12:17; 15:34, 53; 16:8; 17:8) These places were not in the lowlands but in the hill country, where the climate is generally somewhat moderated. Additionally, the possibility of some climatic variations in the past cannot be completely ruled out, as is pointed out by Denis Baly in his book The Geography of the Bible (pp. 72, 74). Apple trees do grow in Palestine today and thus seem to fit the Bible description satisfactorily. Dr. Thomson, who spent forty-five years in Syria and Palestine in the past century, even reported finding apple orchards in the area of Ashkelon on the plains of Philistia.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II, chap. XXXVI, pp. 328, 329.

The apple tree is considered mainly in the Song of Solomon, where the expressions of love by the Shulammite’s shepherd companion are likened to the pleasant shade of the apple tree and the sweetness of its fruit. (Song of Sol. 2:3, 5) In turn, he compares her breath to the fragrance of apples. (7:8; see also 8:5.) In the Proverbs (25:11) appropriate, opportune speech is likened to “apples of gold in silver carvings.” The only other reference to the apple is at Joel 1:12. The common tradition as to the apple’s being the forbidden fruit of Eden is without any Scriptural basis whatsoever. Similarly, the expression “apple of the eye” is found in the Authorized Version (Ps. 17:8; Prov. 7:2; and others) but is not a Hebrew expression, the literal translation being “the pupil of [one’s] eyeball.”

APPOINTED TIMES OF THE NATIONS

After discussing the destruction due to come upon the city of Jerusalem, Jesus then made the statement: “And Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations [“times of the Gentiles,” AV, RS] are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24) The period indicated by the expression “times of the nations [Gr., kai·roiʹ e·thnonʹ]” has occasioned considerable discussion as to its meaning and implication.

MEANING OF “TIMES”

The word “times” here comes from the Greek word kai·rosʹ (plural, kai·roiʹ), which, according to An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (by W. E. Vine, 1962, Vol. IV, p. 138), “signified a fixed or definite period, a season, sometimes an opportune or seasonable time.” The Greek-English Lexicon of Liddell and Scott (9th ed., p. 859) gives the further definition of “exact or critical time.” Thus, kai·rosʹ is used with reference to the “harvest season,” “the season of the fruits,” and the “season of figs” (Matt. 13:30; 21:34; Mark 11:13); the “proper time” for dispensing food (Matt. 24:45; Luke 12:42); the due time for Jesus’ ministry to begin and the period of opportunity it brought (Mark 1:15; Matt. 16:3; Luke 12:56; 19:44); and the appointed time of his death. (Matt. 26:18) The demons, about to be cast out of certain men, screamed at Jesus: “Did you come here to torment us before the appointed time?”—Matt. 8:29.

Kai·rosʹ is also used with reference to future times or occasions within God’s arrangement or ‘timetable,’ particularly in relation to Christ’s second presence and his kingdom. (Acts 1:7; 3:19; 1 Thess. 5:1) Thus, the apostle Paul speaks of the “sacred secret” revealed by God “for an administration at the full limit of the appointed times [kai·ronʹ], namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.” (Eph. 1:9, 10) In view of the meaning of the word “times” (kai·roiʹ) as used in the Bible text it can properly be expected that the expression “the appointed times of the nations” refers, not to something vague or indefinite, but, rather, to a “fixed or definite period,” an “exact or critical time,” one having a definite beginning and a definite end.

THE “NATIONS” AND “JERUSALEM”

The significance of Jesus’ statement is necessarily bound up in his reference to the ‘trampling on Jerusalem,’ which he stated would continue until the fulfillment of the “appointed times of the nations.” The term “nations” or “Gentiles” translates the Greek word eʹthne, which means “peoples” or “nations” and was used by the Bible writers to refer specifically to the non-Jewish nations. On this basis some have considered the prophecy to apply to the period of time during which the geographical site of the ancient city of Jerusalem would be under Gentilic domination and control.

While the literal city of Jerusalem is obviously referred to in Jesus’ description of the destruction that was to come and did come upon that city in the year 70 C.E. when the Romans demolished Jerusalem, yet the statement concerning “the appointed times of the nations” carries the prophecy far beyond that point, as many commentators have noted. Thus, the well-known commentary by F. C. Cook says of this part of the text: “. . . it serves to separate the strictly eschatological portion [that is, the portion relating to the last days] of the great prophecy, from the part belonging properly to the destruction of Jerusalem.” So, it becomes essential to determine what significance the inspired Scriptures attach to “Jerusalem” in order to ascertain whether the “appointed times of the nations” relate only to