Glossary vuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuv

This glossary provides brief defi nitions of the “Important Terms” printed in boldface in the text and listed at the end of each chapter. In the glossary itself, cross-references are also in bold. For information about other people, places, events, institutions, realities, and concepts in the Bible, students should consult the Index, as well as a concordance and one of the dictionaries or encyclopedias listed in the Bibliography on pages 428–30.

acrostic: A text in which the opening letters of succes- : The religious symbol of the pre- sive lines form a word, phrase, or pattern. The acrostics monarchic confederation of the twelve tribes of Israel, in the Bible are poems in which the fi rst letters of suc- later installed in the Temple in Jerusalem by Solomon cessive lines or stanzas are the letters of the Hebrew al- in the tenth century bce. It formed the footstool for the phabet in order. cherubim throne on which Yahweh was thought to be Ammonites: Israel’s neighbors east of the Jordan River. invisibly seated. The Ammonites are the “sons of Ammon,” who ac- avenger of blood: In Hebrew the goel, the closest male cording to Genesis 19 was the son of Lot by one of his relative who is legally responsible for his kin, usually in daughters. Their name is preserved in the modern city of matters relating to death or property. The word is often Amman, Jordan. translated “redeemer.” angel: A word of Greek origin originally meaning mes- Baal: The Canaanite storm-god, who in Ugaritic myth senger. In the Bible, these are supernatural beings sent defeats Sea and Death. In the Bible, worship of Baal is by God to humans. condemned. anthropomorphic (anthropomorphism): The attribu- ban (Hebr. herem): Something dedicated to a deity and tion of human characteristics to a nonhuman being, restricted for the deity’s use, such as the spoils of war, such as a deity. including captured people. apocalyptic: A genre of literature in which details con- Canaan: The name of the Promised Land before the cerning the end-time are revealed by a heavenly mes- Israelite conquest. In second-millennium bce Egyptian senger or angel. sources, Canaan refers to the entire southern Levant. Apocrypha: Jewish religious writings of the Hellenistic According to Genesis 9, the Canaanites, the inhabit- and Roman periods that are not considered part of the ants of the land of Canaan, were descendants of Noah’s Bible by Jews and Protestants, but are part of the canons grandson Canaan. of Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, who also canon: A list of the books considered scripture by a re- call them the deuterocanonical books. ligious group. apodictic law: A type of law characterized by absolute or casuistic law: Case law, often in the form of a con- general commands or prohibitions, as in Com- ditional sentence, in which specifi c situations are ad- mandments. It is often contrasted with casuistic law. dressed. It is often contrasted with apodictic law. Aramaic: A language originating in ancient Syria that cherubim: Composite supernatural beings who func- in the second half of the fi rst millennium bce became tion as guardians of the entrance to the garden of Eden used widely throughout the Near East. Parts of the books in Genesis 3.24 and whose outstretched wings over the of Daniel and Ezra are written in Aramaic. ark of the covenant supported the throne of Yahweh.

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Chronicler: In modern scholarship, the term used for Day of Atonement: A fall ritual of purifi cation, de- the author(s) of the books of Chronicles and, according scribed in Leviticus 16, later known as Yom Kippur. See to some scholars, of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. also scapegoat. circumcision: The ceremonial removal of the foreskin day of the LORD: A phrase used by the prophets, to de- of the penis. According to Genesis 17.9–14, it is the sign scribe Yahweh’s fi ghting against his enemies. In apoc- of the covenant between God and Abraham and is to be alyptic literature it is used of the fi nal battle between performed on all of Abraham’s male descendants on the good and evil. eighth day after birth. Dead Sea: A large body of water in the Rift Valley into cities of refuge: In the Bible, six cities set aside as which the Jordan River fl ows. Due to evaporation, it has places where someone accused of murder could fi nd asy- a high mineral content and no life is found in it, hence lum until the case was decided. its name. city of David: Another name for Jerusalem, especially Dead Sea Scrolls: Ancient manuscripts found in caves the ancient pre-Israelite city that King David captured on the western side of the Dead Sea beginning in 1948. and made his capital in the early tenth century bce. Some are the oldest surviving manuscripts of books of In later tradition, it is also used of Bethlehem, David’s the Bible, dating as early as the third century bce. birthplace. Decalogue: A word of Greek origin that means “ten Code of Hammurapi: An ancient collection of laws is- words”; another name for the . sued by the Babylonian king Hammurapi (also spelled deuterocanonical books: See Apocrypha. Hammurabi) in the mid-eighteenth century bce. : According to modern scholars, confessions of Jeremiah: In modern scholarship, those the core of the in chapters 12–26, parts of the book of Jeremiah in which he laments to a collection of ancient laws that differ in many details God the diffi culties he experienced as a prophet. The from those found in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. confessions are in Jeremiah 11.18–12.6, 15.10–21, Deuteronomistic History: According to modern schol- 17.14–18, 18.18–23, and 20.7–18. ars, the books of , Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 cosmology: An account of the origins of the world; in and 2 Kings, which form a narrative history of Israel in the ancient Near East, cosmologies are usually creation the Promised Land. It was produced in several editions myths. from the late eighth to the sixth centuries bce by the covenant (Hebr. berît): A term originally meaning Deuteronomistic Historians, who were informed by the “contract,” used in the Bible of marriage, slavery, and principles of the book of Deuteronomy. international treaties and used metaphorically to char- Diaspora: Literally, scattering or dispersion, used to re- acterize the relationship between God and the Israelites fer to exiles from Judah to Babylonia in the early sixth and between God and individuals such as Abraham, century bce, and subsequently for any Jews living out- Aaron, and David. side of Israel. : In modern scholarship, the collection divination: The practice of interpreting ordinary phe- of laws found in Exodus 20.22–23.19, identifi ed as “the nomena, such as the fl ight of birds and the inner organs book of the covenant” (Ex 24.7). It is one of the oldest of animals, as divine revelation. collections of laws in the Bible. divine council: The assembly of gods, over which the covenant lawsuit: A genre used by the prophets in high god presides. In the Bible, Yahweh is described as which Israel is put on trial by Yahweh for having vio- the head of the divine council, and prophets claim to lated its covenant with him. have witnessed or participated in its meetings. D: The Deuteronomic source according to the Docu- : The theory classically for- mentary Hypothesis, which is found almost exclusively mulated by Julius Wellhausen in 1878, which explains in the book of Deuteronomy. the repetitions and inconsistencies in the fi rst fi ve books Davidic covenant: The covenant between Yahweh and of the Bible, the Pentateuch, as the result of originally David, which guaranteed the divine protection of the independent sources or documents having been com- dynasty that David founded and of Jerusalem, its capital bined over several centuries. The principal hypothetical city. sources are J, E, D, and P.

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E: The source according to the Documentary golden calf: The statue of a calf that the Israelites wor- Hypothesis, found in the books of Genesis through shiped at according to Exodus 32, and also Numbers. similar statues at the shrines of Bethel and Dan in the El: The name of the creator deity in Ugaritic texts, northern kingdom of Israel. who presides over the divine council. It is also used of Gunkel, Hermann (1862–1932): The German scholar Yahweh. whose commentaries on Genesis and Psalms applied elohim: The Hebrew word for god or gods, which, al- form criticism to the Bible. though plural in form, is often used as a title for Yahweh Hanukkah: The festival commemorating the rededi- and is translated “God.” cation of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 bce, which endogamy: The custom of marrying within one’s ethnic had been profaned by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV or religious group. Epiphanes. Enkidu: In the epic of Gilgamesh, the wild man created Hebrew: The language of ancient and modern Israel. by the gods to distract Gilgamesh from his antisocial ac- In the Bible, the term is usually used of individuals or tivities. Gilgamesh and Enkidu became friends, and En- groups living outside their homeland. kidu’s death motivated Gilgamesh to seek immortality. Hebrew Bible: The Tanakh. Its contents are the same Enuma Elish: Also called the “Babylonian Creation as in Old Testament in the Protestant canon, but the Epic,” this is a work on seven tablets in praise of the pa- order of the books differs. tron god of Babylon, Marduk. It describes how Marduk Hezekiah’s Tunnel: A 1700-ft (500-m) long tunnel un- defeated the primeval sea-goddess Tiamat and then cre- der the city of David, constructed during the reign of ated the world and humans. Its title is its opening words, King Hezekiah of Judah in the late eighth century bce. which mean “when above.” Its function was to divert the waters fl owing from the etiology: A narrative that explains the origin of a Gihon Spring to a location within the city wall. custom, ritual, geographical feature, name, or other : In modern scholarship, chapters 17– phenomenon. 26 of the , an originally independent Fertile Crescent: The arable area of land from southern source whose principal theme is the holiness of Yahweh Mesopotamia northward and then westward and south- and of his people. ward through the Levant. Horeb: The name used in E and D for Mount Sinai. First Isaiah: In modern scholarship, the parts of Isaiah Immanuel: The child whose birth and early life were 1–39 that are associated with the eighth-century bce signs from God to Ahaz, king of Judah, during the Syro- prophet Isaiah. Ephraimite War (Isa 7.14). He was probably the child of First Zechariah: In modern scholarship, chapters 1–8 the prophet Isaiah and his wife, who was also a prophet. of the book of Zechariah, dated in substance to the late Isaiah: See First Isaiah; Second Isaiah; Third Isaiah. sixth century bce. Isaiah Apocalypse: In modern scholarship, chapters form criticism: The study of relatively short literary 24–27 of the book of Isaiah, an early example of apoca- units in literature and in folklore with regard to their lyptic literature perhaps dating to the fi fth century bce. forms or genres, their original settings (German Sitz im Israel: This name is used in several senses. First, it is Leben), and their social, religious, and political func- the new name given to the patriarch Jacob in Genesis tions. It was developed by Herman Gunkel. 32.28; Jacob’s twelve sons then become the ancestors Former Prophets: In Jewish tradition, the fi rst division of the tribes of Israel. Second, it designates the people of the Prophets, comprising the books of Joshua, Judges, and later the geopolitical entity formed from the twelve 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. tribes. Third, it is used as the name of the northern genealogy: A family history in the form of a list of kingdom of Israel, as opposed to the southern kingdom descendants. of Judah. Gilgamesh/Gilgamesh: The hero of the Mesopotamian J: The Yahwist (or ) source according to the epic named for him, who with Enkidu travels widely and Documentary Hypothesis, found in the books of Gen- ultimately meets Utnapishtim. esis through Numbers.

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Judah: The name of one of Jacob’s sons, the ancestor of Midian: A region in northwestern Arabia where Mount the tribe of Judah. This tribe dominated southern Israel Sinai may be located. and became the southern kingdom of Judah. Later the Minor Prophets: In modern scholarship, the twelve same region was called Judea. shorter prophetic books, from Hosea through Malachi. judge: A ruler or a military leader, as well as someone Moabites: Israel’s neighbors east of the Dead Sea. The who presided over legal hearings. Moabites are the “sons of Moab,” who according to Gen- Kirta: The hero of the Ugaritic epic that is named for esis 19 was the son of Lot by one of his daughters. him; the epic has many connections with biblical litera- myth: A traditional narrative concerning the remote ture. Also called “Keret.” past in which gods and goddess are often principal Latter Prophets: In Jewish tradition, the second part characters. of the Prophets, comprising the books of Isaiah, Jere- northern kingdom of Israel: The territory that split miah, and Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve (Minor from Judah after the death of Solomon in the late tenth Prophets). century bce and was an independent kingdom with its Levant: A term used for the western part of the Near capital in Samaria until the Assyrians conquered it in East, comprising the modern countries of Syria, Leba- 722 bce. non, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. Old Testament: In Christian tradition, the name for Levites: The priestly tribe, named for Jacob’s son Levi, the fi rst part of the Bible, which comprises the Jewish whose primary responsibilities were ritual. scriptures. Major Prophets: In modern scholarship, the books of oracle against the nations: A genre used by the proph- Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, so called because of their ets and in apocalyptic literature to describe Yahweh’s relative length compared to the shorter books of the Mi- judgment on foreign nations. nor Prophets. In Christian tradition, the books of Lam- P: The according to the Documentary entations and Daniel have often been included under Hypothesis, found in the books of Genesis through this heading. Numbers and at the end of the book of Deuteronomy. manna: The divinely given “bread from heaven” (Ex parallelism: A feature of biblical and other ancient 16.4) that fed the Israelites in the wilderness after their Near Eastern poetry, in which one phrase or line is fol- escape from Egypt. lowed by another that is synonymous, contrasting, or Marduk: The chief god of Babylon, the storm-god who climactic. defeated Tiamat, as recounted in Enuma Elish. : The spring festival commemorating the Exo- Masoretic Text: The traditional medieval text of the dus from Egypt. Hebrew Bible. Pentateuch: A word of Greek origin, meaning “fi ve Megiddo: A major city in northern Israel that because books,” used by modern scholars to refer to the fi rst fi ve of its strategic location was the site of many battles. In books of the Bible. See also Torah. apocalyptic literature, it can be called Armageddon and Philistines: One group of the Sea Peoples. In the late is the site of the fi nal battle between the forces of good second millennium bce, having failed to conquer the and evil. Egyptians, they settled on the southeast coast of the Mesha Stela: An inscribed monument erected by the Mediterranean where they vied with Israel for the con- Moabite king Mesha in the mid-ninth century bce cel- trol of Canaan. The term “Palestine” is derived from ebrating his victory over the Israelites. their name. Mesopotamia: A word of Greek origin meaning “(the Promised Land: The land promised by God to Abra- land) in the middle of the rivers.” It refers to the fertile ham and his descendants. Its boundaries vary in the fl oodplain between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers Bible, but it corresponds roughly to the territory com- and comprises much of modern Iraq and northern Syria. prising modern Israel and Palestine. messiah: Derived from the Hebrew word mashiah, prophet: A word of Greek origin meaning “spokesper- meaning “anointed one,” this term is used in the He- son.” The prophets were believed to be recipients of di- brew Bible to refer to past and present kings and priests rect communications from God. Sayings of and stories who had been anointed. In later Jewish and in Christian about many of the prophets are found in the part of the traditions, it is used of a future leader to be sent by God. Bible known as the Prophets.

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prophetic gesture: The use or interpretation by a Second Temple: The Temple completed in 515 bce to prophet of an ordinary phenomenon as having symbolic replace the Temple of Solomon, which had been de- meaning. stroyed by the Babylonians in 586. Prophets: In Jewish tradition, the second of the three Second Zechariah: In modern scholarship, chapters parts of the Hebrew Bible, comprising the books of 9–14 of the book of Zechariah, probably dated to the Joshua to 2 Kings and Isaiah to Malachi. See also Former fi fth century bce. Also called Deutero-Zechariah. Prophets; Latter Prophets; Major Prophets; Minor Septuagint: The ancient Greek translation of the He- Prophets; Torah; Writings. brew scriptures, made beginning in the third century proverb: A short pithy saying, often in poetry. bce. redaction criticism: In modern scholarship, the study servant songs: In Second Isaiah, a group of four poems of the processes of redacting or editing, by which such that speak of a servant of Yahweh. They are Isaiah 42.1– larger works as the Pentateuch and the book of Isaiah 4, 49.1–6, 50.4–11, and 52.13–53.12. were given their fi nal forms. Sheol: The Hebrew term for the underworld, where Reed Sea: The body of water that the Israelites crossed persons go at death. in their Exodus from Egypt. Although later identifi ed as Shema: In Jewish tradition, three excerpts from the the Red Sea, it is more likely one of several smaller bod- books of Deuteronomy and Numbers that are recited ies of water or wetlands east of the Nile Delta. daily and, written on small scrolls, attached to the body Ritual Decalogue: In modern scholarship, the replace- during prayer and to the door of a house. The term ment copy of the Ten Commandments that re- means “Hear,” from the opening word of Deuteronomy 6.4. ceived from God after he had broken the fi rst set because of his anger at the golden calf incident. Found in Exo- Siloam Tunnel: See Hezekiah’s Tunnel. dus 34.10–26, it is exclusively concerned with worship, Sinai: The mountain on which God revealed himself to hence its name. Moses and made the covenant with Israel. Its location royal ideology: In modern scholarship, the term for the is disputed. complex of ideas associated with the Davidic monarchy, son of man: A phrase that in the Hebrew Bible means including the Davidic covenant. human being. In Daniel 7.13, it is used of someone who sabbath: The day of rest, the seventh day of the week. is given universal rule; the identity of this person is The term can also be used for longer periods of time, as disputed. in a “sabbatical year.” southern kingdom of Judah: The kingdom that after sacrifi ce: The ritual offering of food or incense to a the death of Solomon in the late tenth century bce con- deity. tinued to be ruled by the Davidic dynasty with its capital in Jerusalem, until it was captured by the Babylonians in Samaria: The capital of the northern kingdom of Is- 586 bce. See also Judah. rael from the early ninth century to 722 bce, when it fell Succession Narrative: In modern scholarship, the orig- to the Assyrians. Subsequently, Samaria was used as the inally independent source incorporated into the Deuter- name of the region in which the city was located. onomistic History that relates how Solomon eventually scapegoat: A goat “for Azazel” (Lev 16.10), who was succeeded David on the throne. It is found in 2 Samuel probably originally a desert demon, to which the sins of 9–20 and 1 Kings 1–2. Also called the “Court History the community are symbolically transferred on the Day of David.” of Atonement. suzerainty treaty: In modern scholarship, a binding Sea Peoples: A coalition of peoples who in the late sec- agreement between a king or suzerain and a lesser king, ond millennium bce moved from their homeland in the the suzerain’s vassal. Elements of suzerainty treaties are Aegean Sea through the eastern Mediterranean. One used by the biblical writers in their presentation of the group of the Sea Peoples was the Philistines. covenant between God and Israel. Second Isaiah: In modern scholarship, chapters 40–55 synagogue: A word of Greek origin meaning “gathering of the book of Isaiah, dated to the mid-sixth century together,” used of religious assemblies of Jews and the bce. Also called Deutero-Isaiah. buildings in which such assemblies took place.

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Syro-Ephraimite War: The attack on Judah and Jeru- tradition history: In modern scholarship, the study of salem by the northern kingdom of Israel and Aram in the stages in the development of a genre, theme, or con- 734 bce, in an attempt to force the king of Judah, Ahaz, cept prior to its incorporation into the biblical text. to join an anti-Assyrian alliance. tree of life: The tree in the garden of Eden whose fruit tabernacle: The movable shrine that served as the Is- provided immortality. raelites’ place of worship after from Egypt, tree of the knowledge of good and evil: The tree in the described in detail in Exodus 26. Also called the “tent garden of Eden whose fruit was forbidden. of meeting.” Ugaritic: A Semitic language closely related to Hebrew Tanakh: An acronym used for the three parts of the used in second-millennium bce texts from the site of Hebrew Bible in Jewish tradition, formed from the fi rst Ugarit on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. The Uga- letter of each of its three parts: the Torah, the Neviim ritic texts include a number of myths and epics that shed (the Prophets), and the Ketuvim (the Writings). light on Canaanite religion. tell: An artifi cial mound formed from the stratifi ed ac- United Monarchy: During the tenth century bce, the cumulated debris of successive human occupations. ten northern tribes of Israel and the southern tribe of Temple of Solomon: The Temple in Jerusalem built by Judah were united under the rule of David and his son King Solomon in the mid-tenth century and destroyed Solomon, both of whom are called “king of Israel.” by the Babylonians in 586 bce. It is also known as the When Solomon died in 928 bce, the united kingdom of First Temple. Israel was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and Ten Commandments: The text of the contract or cov- the southern kingdom of Judah. enant between God and Israel made on Mount Sinai. Utnapishtim: In the Gilgamesh epic, the hero of the See also Decalogue. story of the Flood. Tetragrammaton: A word of Greek origin meaning Wellhausen, Julius (1844–1918): A German scholar “four letters,” referring to the four Hebrew consonants who wrote A History of Israel (1878), which is the classic (YHWH) of the name of the God of Israel, Yahweh. formulation of the Documentary Hypothesis. theodicy: A word of Greek origin meaning “divine jus- wisdom literature: A type of writing whose focus is hu- tice,” used with reference to literature that deals with man existence and often its relationship to the divine. It the problem of human suffering, especially the suffering employs a variety of forms, such as proverbs, dialogues, of the innocent. and fables. Wisdom literature was used widely in the an- theophany: A word of Greek origin meaning the ap- cient Near East and is found throughout the Bible, espe- pearance of a god, used by modern scholars to refer to cially in the books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and the appearance of a deity to humans, usually with ap- Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon in the Apocrypha. propriate manifestations of divine power. Woman Wisdom: The depiction of the concept of wis- Third Isaiah: In modern scholarship, chapters 56–66 of dom as a goddess who is the companion of Yahweh. the book of Isaiah, dating to the late sixth or early fi fth Writings: In Jewish tradition, the third of three parts century bce. Also called Trito-Isaiah. of the Hebrew Bible, comprising the books of Psalms, Tiamat: The goddess of the primeval salt water who in Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Enuma Elish is defeated by the storm-god Marduk. Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. See also Prophets; Torah. tithe: A religious offering of one-tenth of the value of produce, livestock, or other commodities. Yahweh: The personal name of the God of Israel. Torah/torah: In Jewish tradition, the Torah is the fi rst Zion: A name of Jerusalem, used especially in poetic of three parts of the Hebrew Bible, comprising the fi ve texts. books of Moses from Genesis to Deuteronomy. The word torah literally means “teaching” or “instruction” and is often translated “law.” See also Prophets; Writings.

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