• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1204 0

the Old French bible which is in turn based on the Latin biblia and Greek biblia for “books.” It is used to refer to the sacred scriptures of the Christian church and also for the canon of Jewish scriptures. The authoritative text in the Jewish community is the *Masoretic text, a collection of thirty-nine books (traditionally twenty-four books, but several have been divided into two parts to produce the larger number), mostly written in Hebrew, and also called the Tanakh. The Hebrew Bible is the equivalent of the *Old Testament in Christian Bibles, although the Roman Catholic tradition embraces a number of other books.

The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the *New Testament, which was composed in Greek by early Christians during the first century and early second century CE.

Canaanites: A collective term for the pre-Israelite inhabitants of *Palestine, roughly equivalent to modern-day Israel and Lebanon.

canon: From the Phoenician word for “reed” and Greek for “rule,” these are the books regarded as sacred by the Jews, first established with the *Torah around 200 BCE and eventually closed by 70-90 CE. A number of books and parts of books originally thought to be written in Greek were not included by the Jewish *rabbis who established the *Hebrew canon. Similarly, the *New Testament canon reflects those twenty-seven books accepted by the church leaders as divinely inspired.

Cherubim: Not to be confused with cute little winged-baby *angels of Renaissance art. These were great winged creatures similar to the carved stone karibu, mythical creatures that guarded Babylonian temples and palaces. They had wings of eagles, human faces, and bodies of a bull or lion. In Solomon’s Temple, they formed a frame for the *Ark of the Covenant.

Christ: From Greek christos, for “anointed one” or *Messiah.

Diaspora: A collective term for the “dispersion” of Jews living outside the land of Israel beginning with the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the deportation (*Exile) of Jews to Babylon.

disciples: From Latin for “pupil,” for the students, traditionally the Twelve, called by Jesus. Judas, a disciple, is replaced in Acts by Matthias as an *apostle.

Easter: The Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, this word does not appear in the Bible. It comes from “Eostre,” a Saxon goddess celebrated at the spring equinox.

Evangelist: One who tells the “good news” of the coming of *Christ. In a more restricted sense, it means the four authors of the *Gospels.

Exile: The period of the Captivity of the Jews in Babylon by the Chaldeans.

Gentile: Anyone not Jewish.

Gospel: Literally “good news” from the Anglo-Saxon “god spell.”

Hasidim: Originally “the Pious,” a group of nationalistic, orthodox Jews in the Seleucid era. Now more commonly, followers of a devout from of Judaism with a strong mystical element.

Hebrew: The language of the Israelites and of most of the original Jewish scriptures or *Old Testament. Displaced as a commonly spoken language by *Aramaic and by Greek. Today it is the official language of the modern state of Israel.

Hellenism: The widespread adoption of Greek language, culture, and customs in the period following the conquests of Alexander the Great—c. 300 BCE until the Roman era.

Masoretic: The text of the Hebrew Bible as preserved by “masorete” scribes and now accepted as the standard for spelling and pronouncing the Hebrew Bible.

Messiah: (Greek christos) From the Hebrew for “anointed one.” In Jewish and Christian theology, the Messiah is the savior figure who is sent by God to deliver his people from suffering and usher in an age of justice and peace. Christian theology believes that Jesus is the Messiah, who is therefore known as *Christ.

Mishnah: The code of Jewish Law, edited and revised by the early *rabbis. Divided into six major units—agriculture, holy days in the Temple, women and family, damages or political questions, holy things, and purity codes—these rules from the basis of legal discussion and commentaries found in the *Talmud.

Mosaic: