Search the encyclopedia
220 articles found for “Twelve sons”
Paul
[People]Paul was an apostle of the early church. A Jewish Pharisee who had persecuted the church, he was converted and devoted himself to mission among the Gentiles. Thirteen letters bearing his name are included in the New Testament.
John 14:6
[Bible Verses]John 14:6 is the verse in which Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." It is a principal text for the exclusivity of Christian salvation and the verse most often cited in debates over the relationship between salvation and other religions.
1 Corinthians 15:10
[Bible Verses]In this verse the apostle Paul confesses that his becoming an apostle, and his having labored more than anyone else, are entirely owing to the grace of God. It is frequently cited and discussed as a text that shows how divine grace relates to human labor.
Jeroboam
[People]Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, made king by the ten northern tribes when the kingdom divided after Solomon's death. Because he set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan, the Books of Kings use him as the standard for evaluating the later kings of northern Israel.
Ethiopian Eunuch
[People]The Ethiopian eunuch is the treasury official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who appears in Acts 8. After Philip the evangelist explained a passage from Isaiah to him and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus, he was baptized.
Hebron
[Bible]Hebron is an ancient city in the hill country of Judah. Abraham lived there, and it is the site of the cave of Machpelah, where the patriarchs were buried. It is also where David first became king.
Luke 6:27–36
[Bible Verses]In this passage from the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus teaches his hearers to love their enemies, to do good to those who hate them, and to be merciful as God the Father is merciful. It is a principal text on love of enemies and on the "Golden Rule." How literally its teaching on nonviolence and nonresistance should be followed has long been debated.
Ephesus
[Bible]Ephesus was a Roman-era port city on the western coast of Asia Minor. Paul stayed there for about three years preaching the gospel, and the city was the destination of the Epistle to the Ephesians and the home of the first of the seven churches of Revelation.
Mark 8:34–35
[Bible Verses]A passage in which Jesus tells the crowd and his disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. It is frequently cited as a key text on discipleship, the life of following Jesus. Interpreters differ on the meaning of self-denial and on its relationship to salvation.
Mark 11:22–25
[Bible Verses]In this passage Jesus, standing before the withered fig tree, teaches his disciples about faith in God, prayer without doubting, and the forgiveness required of those who pray. The words "believe that ye receive them" are often cited in discussions of confidence in prayer, and views differ over how the passage should be interpreted with respect to the "word of faith."
Forty Years in the Wilderness
[Bible]The forty years in the wilderness were the period the Israelites spent in the wilderness after the Exodus and before entering Canaan. The Bible portrays this period both as judgment for unbelief and as a time in which God fed and taught his people.
Ephod
[Bible]The ephod was a vest-like outer garment worn by the high priest in the Old Testament. Priests also wore a linen ephod, and the ephod served as a means of inquiring of God's will.
Amen
[Bible]Amen is a Hebrew word meaning "truly, it is so" or "so be it." In the Bible it serves as a response of assent to prayer, praise, and proclamation, and the church today continues to use it widely as a response in prayer and worship.
Gilgal
[Bible]Gilgal was the first place where Israel encamped after crossing the Jordan River, and it lay east of Jericho. It was the site of the memorial stones, the circumcision, and the Passover, and during the period of the judges and the early monarchy it served as a center of sacrifice and assembly.
Pseudepigrapha
[Bible]"Pseudepigrapha" is the term Protestants use for Jewish and early Christian writings, composed for the most part around the intertestamental period, that were attributed to ancient figures such as Enoch and Moses. Most churches do not accept these books as canonical.
Gospel of Thomas
[History]The Gospel of Thomas is an ancient document containing a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus. Its complete Coptic text was discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. It is not included in the biblical canon.
Jephunneh
[People]Jephunneh is an Old Testament figure, the father of Caleb, the spy who gave a report of faith after the spying out of Canaan. Scripture mentions him almost exclusively in the phrase "Caleb the son of Jephunneh."
Valley of Siddim
[Bible]The Valley of Siddim is the valley in Genesis 14 where a coalition of four kings fought a coalition of five kings, including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. Scripture identifies it as "the salt sea."
Fig Tree
[Bible]The fig tree, together with the grapevine and the olive tree, is one of the fruit trees most characteristic of the land of Israel. In the Bible it symbolizes peace and abundance, and it frequently serves as a figure for the people of Israel.
Jabesh-gilead
[Bible]Jabesh-gilead was an Israelite town in the region of Gilead, east of the Jordan River. It appears in the account of a punishment at the close of the period of the judges, in the siege by the Ammonite king Nahash and Saul's rescue of the town, and in the account of Saul's burial.