Search the encyclopedia
306 articles found for “Abram”
Sojourner
[Bible]A sojourner, or resident alien, is a biblical term for a foreigner who has left his homeland and lives among another people. The Old Testament law commands that such people be protected, and the New Testament applies the term to Christian identity.
Nisroch
[Bible]In the Old Testament, Nisroch is the name of the god worshiped by the Assyrian king Sennacherib. According to the biblical account, Sennacherib was killed by two of his sons while worshiping in the temple of Nisroch.
Esarhaddon
[People]Esarhaddon was a king of Assyria who succeeded Sennacherib after Sennacherib was murdered by his sons. He is mentioned briefly by name in 2 Kings, Isaiah, and Ezra.
Paleo-Hebrew Script
[Bible]The Paleo-Hebrew script is the consonantal alphabet that the people of Israel and Judah used to write Hebrew before the Babylonian exile. It predates the square script now used in the Hebrew Bible and is also called the Old Hebrew script.
Kiriath-arba
[Bible]Kiriath-arba is the ancient name of Hebron, a town in the hill country of Judah in southern Canaan. The Old Testament explains that the name came from Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.
Altar
[Bible]An altar is a structure built of earth, stone, or similar materials for offering sacrifices to God and for worship. The altars of the patriarchs lead to the altar of burnt offering in the tabernacle and the temple, and the New Testament reads the altar in connection with the sacrifice of Christ.
Dedan
[Bible]Dedan is the name of a people and a place in northwestern Arabia mentioned in the Old Testament. It first appears as a personal name in the genealogies of Genesis, and in the prophetic books it appears as a place known for its caravan trade.
Battle of Qarqar
[History]The Battle of Qarqar was fought in 853 BC at Qarqar, near the Orontes River in Syria, between the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III and a coalition of twelve kings that included Damascus, Hamath, and Israel. Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, is recorded as a participant.
Paran
[Bible]Paran is a wilderness region generally thought to have lain in the northeastern Sinai Peninsula. Ishmael grew up there, and after the Exodus Israel encamped there and sent out the twelve spies from it.
People of the Land
[Bible]"People of the land" translates the Hebrew phrase *'am ha'aretz*. In the Old Testament, its meaning varies with period and context: it may refer to the inhabitants of a land, the ordinary free citizens of Judah, or people outside the community of returned exiles. In later rabbinic literature, it came to denote a person ignorant of the Law.
Kohath
[People]Kohath was the second son of Levi, the son of Jacob, and the grandfather of Moses and Aaron. His descendants, the Kohathites, were responsible for carrying the most holy furnishings of the tabernacle, including the ark of the covenant, during the wilderness journey.
Shechem (Son of Hamor)
[People]Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite and chief of the city of Shechem, appears in Genesis 34. After violating Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, he asked to take her as his wife and was killed by Simeon and Levi.
Horites
[Bible]The Horites were a people who lived in the region of Mount Seir before the descendants of Esau arrived. They appear in Genesis and Deuteronomy, which record that they were later displaced by, or absorbed into, the Edomites.
Rehoboth
[Bible]Rehoboth is the name of a well that Isaac dug without strife after leaving the Valley of Gerar, as recorded in Genesis 26. The Hebrew name means "broad place," and Isaac gave it this name as a confession that God had made room for them.
Exegesis
[Doctrine & Theology]Exegesis is the work of determining what a biblical text meant when it was first written by examining its original language, grammar, historical background, and context. It is regarded as a foundational step in preaching and Bible study.
Genesis 28
[Bible]Genesis 28 recounts how Jacob, fleeing his brother Esau on his way to his uncle Laban, dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven and receives God's promise, then names the place Bethel and makes a vow.
1 Kings 22
[Bible]1 Kings 22 recounts how King Ahab disregarded the warning of the prophet Micaiah, went to battle at Ramoth-gilead with King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and was killed. The chapter then summarizes the reign of Jehoshaphat and the accession of Ahaziah.
1 Kings 21
[Bible]Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and his queen Jezebel have Naboth the Jezreelite put to death on false charges and seize his vineyard. Elijah pronounces judgment on the house of Ahab, and when Ahab humbles himself, the calamity is deferred to his son's days.
Biblical Geography
[Bible]Biblical geography is the field that examines the locations and natural environments of the lands, cities, mountains, rivers, and seas mentioned in the Bible, and how they relate to the events of Scripture. It is commonly studied alongside Bible maps.
Daniel 7
[Bible]The first chapter of the visions in the second half of the Book of Daniel. It records the vision of four beasts rising from the sea, the little horn, the judgment of the Ancient of Days, and one like the Son of Man receiving an everlasting kingdom, together with the vision's interpretation.