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| A widow from Moab who married Baz of Bethlehem and became an ancestor of King David. |
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| The heroine of the canonical book bearing her name, cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai, queen of Persia under Xerxes, Esther became a national heroine by delivering her people from a mass slaughter planned by Haman. The Book of Esther commemorates the Feast of Purim. |
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| A beautiful and firtuous young wife who rejects the lustful advances of two Jewish elders and is accused by them of adultry, but is later freed from the charge by young Daniel. |
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| A beautiful and pious widow who covertly enters the camp of the attacking Assyrian army and cuts the head off of Holofernes, their commander, which causes the Assyrians to withdraw. |
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| From the Greek, meaning "hidden" books. Apocrypha refers to noncanonical or deuterocanonical literature, especially the fourteen books included in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate Bibles but not in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. |
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| A personification of the divine attribute of creative intelligence, pictured in the form of a gracious woman (YHWH's daughter) who mediates between God and humanity. |
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| A sacred song or poem used in praise or worship of the Deity, particularly those in the Book of Psalms. |
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| The name apparently dates from the second millennium BCE and may mean "one who comes back to God," a penitent. It may derive from the Hebrew ayab, "to be hostile," denoting one whom God makes his enemy. The central character of the wisdom book bearing his name, Job is linked with Noah and Danel as a person of exemplary righteouness. All three of Ezekiel's heroes were non-Israelites; Job was probably an Edomite. |
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| The only example of erotic poetry in the Hebrew Bible that celebrates both the exaltation and the anguish of sexual longing and fulfillment. |
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| A post-exilic book that combines Hebrew and Greek philosophic ideas to create a personification of the woman Wisdom and her role in life and history. |
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| A collection of wise sayings, moral essays, hymns to divine Wisdom, practical advice to the young and inexperience, private meditations, thoughtful reflections on the human condtition, and detailed instructions on proper social behavior that make the longest wisdom book in either the Tanak or the Apocrypha. |
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| A pessimistic and almost nihilistic Hebrew wisdom book that condemns human existence as useless and focuses on the cycles of life God has created for humans to function in without purpose. |
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| The historical narrative books, consisting of the books Joshua through 2nd Kings. |
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| Four books of prophetic narrative and proclamation: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve. |
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| The twelve books of the Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; originally compiled on a single scroll. |
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| Literally, "YHWH is my God"; a fiercely Yahwist prophet from the northern kingdom whose anti-Baalism and attacks on Ahab's dynasty had a termendous impact on Israel's political course during the ninth century BCE and who shaped his nation's prophetic traditions for centuries thereafter. Reportedly carried to heaven in a fiery chariot, he was expected to reappear shortly before the Day of YHWH arrived. |
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| A ninth-century BCE prophet in the northern kingdom, successor to Elijah. Like his predecessor, Elisha was a clairvoyant who worked numerous miracles, including the resuscitation of a dead child. So great was his prestige that he not only brought an end to the Omri-Ahab-Jezebel dynasty in Israel by having the upstart Jehu anointed king but also made Hazael king of Syria. |
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| First Isaiah (Isaiah of Jerusalem) |
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| An eighth-century BCE prophet and counselor of Judean kings, Isaiah of Jerusalem was active during the reigns of Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. |
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| Lived during the Babylonian exile, who comforted his fellow exiles in Isaiah 40-55. |
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One of Israel's greatest prophets, Jeremiah warned Jerusalem and its kings of their misdeeds and of impending doom from the Babylonians for approximately 40 years. Beginning in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign, he also prophesied during the reigns of Jehoiakim, jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, continuing after Jerusalem's fall and during a forced exile in Egypt.
Although persecuted by both government officials and his copatriots for his unpopular (and seemingly treasonous) meesage that YHWH had forsaken Judah and determined its annihilation, Jeremiah persisted in attacking official policy and denouncing those who trusted in the Temple. After Jerusalem's fall, he was treated well by the Babylonians, but his fellow survivors forcibly transported him to Egypt. His message is known for its promise of a new covenant and a restoration of Judah. |
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| According to the Hebrew Bible, the subterreanean region to which the "shades" of all the dead descended, a place of intense gloom, hopelessness, and virtual unconsciousness for its inhabitants. The term was translated Hades in the Greek Septuagint and in later Hellenistic time was regarded as an abode of the dead awaiting resurrection. |
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| Sinaitic or Mosaic Covenant |
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| An agreement between God and the nation of Israel that was mediated by Moses. According to the terms of this pact, Israel swore to keep all of the laws enumerated in the Torah. Failure to do so would result in suffering all the curses contained in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. |
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| (1) A Hebrew Bible phrase used to denote a human being, including a plural usage. The phrase is characteristic of the Book of Ezekiel, where it is commonly used to indicate the prophet himself. (2) In Daniel "one like a son of man" refers to Israel itself or to a divinely appointed future ruler of Israel, although this figure is not fiven specific messianic significance. (3) In some pseudepigraphal writings, particularly the Similitudes of the Book of Enoch, he who serves as YHWH's agent in the coming Day of Judgement is variously called the "Elect One," the "Anointed One," and the "Son of Man." |
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| The blending of different religions, a term biblical scholars typically apply to the mingling of Canaanite rites and customs (Baalism) with Israelites' Mosaic faith. Although a practice repeatedly denounced by the prophets, Judaism borrowed many of its characteristic forms, psalms, concepts, and religious rituals from earlier Canaanite models. |
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| (1) The imposing structure built by King Solomon (using Phoenician architects and craftsmen) on Mount Zion in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant in its innermost room (the Holy of Holies). Later recognized as the only authorized center for acrifice and worship of YHWH, it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's troops in 587 BCE. (2) The Second Temple, rebuilt by Jews returned from the Babylonian exile under Governor Zerubbabel, was dedicated circa 515 BCE. (3) Herod's splendid Temple that replaced the inferior edifice of Zerubbabel's time, that took nearly a half-century to complete was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. |
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| From a Greek term combining "god" and "justice," theodicy denotes a rational attempt to understand how an all-good, all-powerful God can permit the existence of Evil and underdeserved suffering. Job, Habakkuk, and 2 Esdras contain notable theodicies. |
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| From the Greek, meaning an appearance of a god to a person, as when El wrestled with Jacob and YHWH appeared to Moses and the elders of Israel. |
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| A Hebrew term usually translated "law," "instruction," or "teaching," it refers primarily to the Pentateuch, the first five books fo the Hebrew Bible, and in a general sense to all the canonoical writings, which are traditionally regarded as a direct oracle or revelation from YHWH. |
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| The quality of God expressing the Deity's inherent limitlessness and transcending of all physical and cosmic boundaries. |
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| The empress of Persia (unknown to history) who refused to exhibit herself to the male friends of her husband, Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), and whom Esther replaced as queen. |
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| Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible (late fourth century CE), which became the official version of Roman Catholicism. |
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| An eighth-century prophet active in the northern kingdom from before the death of Jeroboam II until shortly before its fall to Assyria in 721 BCE; the source of the Book of Hosea, first in the printed list of Minor Prophets. |
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| A major prphet of the sixth century BCE, exiled to Babylon, who was distinguished by his strange visions and priestly concerns. The name means "God strengthens." |
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| A character in the Hebrew Bible, who, in the book with his name, first gains prestige in a foreign city by interpreting dreams, then has his own apocalyptic visions interpreted to him. |
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| In the Hebrew Bible, the "Satan" appears as a prosecutor in the heavenly court among the "sons of God" and only later as a tempter. Although the Hebrew Bible says virtually nothing about Satan's origin, the pseudepigraphal writings contain much legendary material about his fall from heaven and the establishment of a herarchy of demons and devils. |
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| A roll of papyrus, leather, or parchment such as those on which the Hebrew Bible and New Testament were written. The rolls were made of sheets about 9-11 inches high and 5-6 inches wide, sewed together to make a strip up to 25-30 feet long, which was wound around a stck and unrolled when read. |
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| According to Genesis, peoples descended from Noah's son Shem, whose progeny icluded Elam, Asshur, Arpacshad (Hebrews and Arabs), Lud (Lydians), and Aram (Syrians). In modern usage, the term applies to linguistic rather than to ethnic groups, such as those who emply one of a common family of inflectional languages, including Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic. |
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| The son of Sargon II and king of Assyria. In 701 BCE, Sennacherib devastated Tyre and besieged Jerusalem, after which he levied heavy tribute upon King Hezekiah of Judah. A clay prism recording Sennacherib's version of the Judean campaign tallies well with 2 Kings but strikingly diverges from the story of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers slain by YHWH's angel in a single night. |
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| Four poems in Second Isaiah emphasizing the role of YHWH's chosen servant. Israel was identified as this servant. The most controversial poem is that describing an unnamed "Suffering Servant." |
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| Judaism's supreme declaration of covenant faith, expressed in the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 beginning "Listen [Hebrew shema, "hear"], Israel, YHWH our God is the one YHWH." |
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| According to 1 Kings, a Phoenician town near Sidon where Elijah befreinded a widow during a famine and resuscitated her son. |
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| (1) Son of Maaseiah and second-ranking priest under King Zedekiah who acted as go-between for the king in his consultations with Jeremiah. After Jerusalem's fall, he was executed by the Babylonians. (2) A seventh-century BCE Judean prophet whose pronouncements of judgement are collected in the book bearing his name. Virtually nothing is known of his life. |
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| This phrase is a recurrent eschatological motif in classical prphecy from the eigth through sixth centuries BCE. It signifies a time of global catastrophe and divine judgement upon all of the nations of hte earth (including Israel). Amos appears to be the earliest prohet to employ this phrase, but it is Zephaniah who gives us the fullest depiction fo this "day" as a time of universal suffering and devastation, when the sins of all peoples will finally be exposed and punished. |
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| The name, probably meaning "citadel," for a hill in old Jerusalem, it was originally a Jebusite acropolis that David captrued and on which he built his palace and housed the Ark of the Covenant. David purchased a threshing floor in Zion on which Solomon later built the Temple. In time, the term referred either to the hill on which the Temple stood or the surrounding city of Jerusalem. |
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| A structural feature typical of Hebrew poetry, consisting of the repetition of similar or antithetical thoughts in similar phrasing: "The wicked will not stand firm when Judgement comes nor sinners when the virtuous assemble" (Ps. 1:5). |
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| (1) An agreement or compact between individuals, such as Abraham and Abimelech or David and Jonathan. (2) A promis YHWH makes to certain people, such as Noah, and Abraham. (3) A legal bond YHWH forms with a chosen group, such as Israel, and the demands he makes in return. The Mosaic or Sinatic Covenant is that from which the Old "Testament" (a synonym for "covenant" or "contract") takes its name. |
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| An ancient Semitic operation in which the foreskin of eight-day-old males is removed as a ceremony of initiation into the religion and community of Israel. Circumcision is represented as beginning with Abraham or Moses. |
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| (1) A large territory centered along the upper Tigris River in Mesopotamia, including the major cities of Assur, Calah, and Nineveh. (2) The empire that dominated the Near East from the eleventh to the seventh centuries BCE and whose leaders destroyed Israel in 721 BCE and besieged Jerusalem in 701 BCE. It was destroyed by a coalition of Babylonians and Medes in 612 BCE. |
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| An ancient city on the middle Euphrates that was capital of both the Old and Neo-Babylonian empires. Under Nebuchadnezzar II who joined forces with the Medes to defeat Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish and create the second Babylonian empire, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple in 587 BCE. Babylon fell to the Persians in 539 BCE. Alexander the Great's plans to rebuild the old sanctuaries enede with his death in 323 BCE, and the city never regained its former glory. As the archetypal enemy of God's people, Babylon became the symbol of Satan's worldly power. |
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| The period between 587 and 538 BCE during which Judah's upper classes were held captive in Babylon. An earlier deporation of Jewish leaders in 597 BCE included the prophet Ezekiel. After Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BCE, Jews who whished to do so were encouraged to return to their Palestininan homeland. |
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| Deuteronomistic History (DH) |
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| The books of the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) as compiled and revised rom older sources by an anonymous author or editorial school deeply influenced by the historical philosophy of the Book of Deuteronomy. The first edition was produced late in Josiah's reign (c. 610 BCE), and a second edition followed Jerusalem's destruction in 587 BCE. It was further edited after the Babylonian exile. |
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| From the Greek apokalypsis, meaning to "uncover" or "reveal," the term refers to a special kind of prophetic literature that purports to foretell the future in terms of symbols and mystical visions and deal primarily with eschatological events. |
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| The name given to the body of laws and regulations set forth in Leviticus 17-26 derives from the cod's emphasis on holiness (seperateness, religious purity) of behavior, which was to distinguish Israel and set its people apart from the rest of the world. |
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| (1) A divine message or utterance. (2) The inner sanctum of the Jerusalem Temple. (3) The supposedly inspired words of a priest or priestess at such shrines as Delphi in ancient Greece and Cumae in Italy. |
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| A prophetic message conveyed by non-verbal activity or performance. |
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| A Canaanite-Phoenician term meaning "lord" or "master," the name applied to Canaan's most popular fertility god. Worshiped as the power that caused germination and growth of farm crops, Baal was a serious rival to YHWH after the Israelites settled in Palestine and became dependent on agriculture. His is pictured as a god of storm and rainfall in a contest with the Yahwist Elijah on Mount Carmel. |
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| The Hebrew name for the Canaanite goddess Asherat, "Lady of the Sea," a consort of El, Canaan's chief diety, whome the apostate Israelites worshiped at various times. |
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| Although commonly translated "God Almighty," this term probably means "God of the Mountain," referring to teh Mesopotamian cosmic "mountain" inhabited by divine beings. One of the patriarchal names for the Mesopotamian tribal god, it is identified with YHWH in the Mosaic revelation. Except for a few occurrences in Job, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, it appears chiefly in the Pentateuch. Shaddai alone appears in Ruth and Job. |
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| A sentence of total destruction executed against any people whom God has designated as deserving tatal annihilation. This sentence of death extends to all of their possessions, and even their livestock, and it represents the most extreme form of divine punishment directed against Israel's enemies. |
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| Steadfast love, loyalty, constancy, fidelity |
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| The Hebrew term for YHWH's "glory" that was believed to be invisibly present in the Jerusalem Temple. |
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| The Hebrew term for "proverb" or "parable," it refers to a short, pithy observation that is most often expressed throught the use of poetic parallelism. |
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| A Hebrew term meaning "anointed one," designating a king or priest of ancient Israel who had been consecrated by having his head rubbed with holy oil, makring him as set apart for a special role. King David is the model of YHWH's anointed ruler; all his descendants who ruled over Judah wre YHWH's messiahs. After the end of the Davidic monarchy, various Hebrew prophets applied the promises made to the Davidic dynasty to a future heir who would eventually restore the kingdom of David. |
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| The Hebrew word for "prophet," a spokesperson for YHWH who delivered God's judgement on contemporary society and expressed his intentions toward the world. |
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| In biblical Hebrew, the term for "living being" or "animate creature" that applies to both humans and animals. A physical body infused with God's ruach ("breath" or "spirit"), the first human is created a nephesh, a mortal unity of clay and spirit. In Greek transaltions of the Hebrew Bible, nephesh was commonly rendered as psyche, the Greek term for "soul" that had connotations of immortality absent in the Hebrew text. |
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| A Jewish title (meaning "master" or "teacher") given to scholars learned in the Torah. |
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| In biblical Hebrew, a word meaning "wind," "breath," or "spirit." It can be interpreted as the mysterious power or presence of God operating in nature and human society, implementing hte divine will and inspiring individuals or communities to carry ou the divine purpose. |
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| English letters transliterating the four Hebrew cconsonants (the Tetragrammaton) denoting the sacred personal name of Israel's God, Yahweh. |
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| The author of Ecclesiastes, a designation meaning "gatherer" but traditionally translated as "teacher" or "preacher" |
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