King James Bible Dictionary

1. In the Old Testament this word appears in connection with the wars between Ahab and Ben-hadad. (1 Kings 20:14,15,19) The victory of the former is gained chiefly "by the young" probably men of the princes of the provinces the chiefs: of tribes in the Gilead country.
2. More commonly the word is used of the divisions of the Chaldean kingdom. (Daniel 2:49; 3:1,30) and the Persian kingdom. (Ezra 2:1; Nehemiah 7:6; Esther 1:1,22; 2:3) etc. In the New Testament we are brought into contact with the administration of the provinces of the Roman empire. The classification of provinces supposed to need military control and therefore placed under the immediate government of the C'sar, and those still belonging theoretically to the republic and administered by the senate, and of the latter again into proconsular and pr'torian, is recognized, more or less distinctly, in the Gospels and the Acts. [PROCONSUL; PROCURATOR] The strategoi of (Acts 16:22) ("magistrates," Authorized Version), on the other hand were the duumviri or pr'tors of a Roman colony. The right of any Roman citizen to appeal from a provincial governor to the emperor meets us as asserted by St. Paul. (Acts 25:11) In the council of (Acts 25:12) we recognize the assessors who were appointed to take part in the judicial functions of the governor.

PROV'INCE, noun [Latin provincia; usually supposed to be formed from pro and vinco, to conquer. This is very doubtful, as provinco was not used by the Romans.]

1. Among the Romans, a country of considerable extent, which being reduced under their dominion, was new-modeled, subjected to the command of an annual governor sent from Rome, and to such taxes and contributions as the Romans saw fit to impose. That part of France next to the Alps, was a Roman province and still bears the name Provence.

2. Among the moderns, a country belonging to a kingdom or state, either by conquest or colonization, usually situated at a distance from the kingdom or state, but more or less dependent on it or subject to it. Thus formerly, the English colonies in North America were provinces of Great Britain, as Nova Scotia and Canada still are. The provinces of the Netherlands formerly belonged to the house of Austria and to Spain.

3. A division of a kingdom or state, of considerable extent. In England, a division of the ecclesiastical state under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, of which there are two, the province of Canterbury and that of York.

4. A region of country; in a general sense; a tract; a large extent.

Over many a tract

Of heaven they march'd, and many a province wide.

They never look abroad into the provinces of the intellectual world.

5. The proper office or business of a person. It is the province of the judge to decide causes between individuals.

The woman's province is to be careful in her economy, and chaste in her affection.