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Ananias and Sapphira
[People]Ananias and Sapphira were a married couple in the early church at Jerusalem whose story is told in Acts 5. After selling a piece of land, they kept back part of the price while pretending to have given all of it. Rebuked by Peter, they died one after the other.
Hebrews
[Bible]In the Old Testament, "Hebrew" is a name for the people of Israel or their ancestors. It was used chiefly when foreigners referred to Israel or when Israelites identified themselves to foreigners. In the New Testament, it refers to Jews who spoke the Hebrew language and kept the ancestral traditions.
Calebites
[Bible]The Calebites were the descendants of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, or the group belonging to his house. The term is used in 1 Samuel 25 to introduce Nabal, and the Calebites are portrayed as living in the region of Hebron in southern Judah.
Onan
[People]Onan was the second son of Judah, the son of Jacob. He refused the duty of raising up offspring for his deceased elder brother Er through his brother's widow, Tamar, and was slain by the LORD (Genesis 38).
1 Samuel 26
[Bible]The chapter in which David, pursued by Saul, enters Saul's camp at night and has the opportunity to kill him, yet takes only the spear and the water jug and lets him live.
Divorce and Remarriage
[Controversies]Divorce and remarriage is the question of whether Scripture permits divorce and remarriage, and if so, under what circumstances. It also bears on whether ministers should officiate at the remarriage of church members and whether divorced ministers may serve.
Paddan-aram
[Bible]Paddan-aram is a place in northern Mesopotamia that appears in Genesis as the homeland of Rebekah and Laban and as the place where Jacob lived in the household of his uncle Laban. It is commonly understood to refer to the region around Haran.
Elimelech
[People]Elimelech is a man of Bethlehem in Judah who appears in the Book of Ruth. The husband of Naomi, he moved with his family to Moab to escape a famine and died there.
Abimelech
[People]Abimelech is the name of several figures in the Old Testament. It most often refers to the king of Gerar who made covenants with Abraham and Isaac, and to the son of Gideon who made himself king during the period of the judges.
Mesopotamia
[Bible]Mesopotamia is a biblical place name for the region between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and the homeland of Abraham's family. In the Old Testament it refers mainly to the northern Aramean territory around Haran.
Gad
[People]Gad was the son born to Jacob by Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, and the ancestor of the tribe of Gad, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. He and Asher were full brothers, born of the same mother.
Genesis 20
[Bible]Genesis 20 recounts how Abraham, while sojourning in Gerar, presented his wife Sarah as his sister. Abimelech, king of Gerar, took her, but after God warned him in a dream, he returned her.
Genesis 25
[Bible]Genesis 25 records the death of Abraham and the descendants of Keturah and Ishmael. It then recounts the birth of the twins Esau and Jacob to Isaac and Rebekah and tells how Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of pottage.
Esther 6
[Bible]Esther 6 recounts how King Ahasuerus, unable to sleep, has the court records read to him and learns of Mordecai's service, and how Haman, who had intended to have Mordecai put to death, is instead assigned to honor him in a dramatic reversal.
Ezekiel 25
[Bible]Ezekiel 25 is the first chapter of the oracles against the foreign nations (chapters 25–32). It pronounces judgment on Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia for rejoicing over Judah's downfall or for taking vengeance on Judah.
Hosea 3
[Bible]Hosea 3 is the chapter in which God commands Hosea to love an adulterous woman once more. Hosea buys the woman back at a price, and this act leads into a prophecy that Israel will live for many days without king or sacrifice but will at last return to the LORD.
Zechariah and Elizabeth
[People]Zechariah and Elizabeth were a priestly couple in Luke 1 who remained childless into old age. As the angel Gabriel had foretold, they became the parents of John the Baptist.
Othniel
[People]Othniel is the first judge in the Old Testament Book of Judges. The son of Kenaz and a member of Caleb's family, he delivered Israel from Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia.
Jeremiah 3:23
[Bible Verses]Jeremiah 3:23 is a verse in which the people confess that pagan worship on the hills is in vain and that the salvation of Israel is in the LORD alone. It is cited both as the confession of a repentant people and as a confession of faith expressing reliance on God alone.
Noah's Ark
[Bible]Noah's ark is the large vessel that God commanded Noah to build in Genesis 6–9. Noah's family of eight and the animals survived the Flood aboard it. The New Testament takes up the ark as an image of faith, salvation, and baptism.