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1 Chronicles
[Bible]1 Chronicles is the thirteenth book of the Old Testament. Its 29 chapters record genealogies beginning with Adam and the reign of King David, with a focus on temple worship.
Noah
[People]Noah is a figure in the Old Testament Book of Genesis who, at God's command, built an ark and survived the Great Flood with his family and the animals. After the Flood he received the covenant of the rainbow.
Josiah
[People]Josiah was a king of Judah in the Old Testament. Scripture records that, prompted by the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple, he led a religious reform that removed idols and restored the Passover.
Esther (Queen of Persia)
[People]Esther is the central figure of the Old Testament Book of Esther. She became the queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus and saved the Jews when Haman's scheme threatened them with annihilation.
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.
Samaria
[Bible]Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel in the Old Testament; in the New Testament period, the name refers to the region lying between Judea and Galilee.
Aramaic
[Bible]Aramaic was the language of the ancient Arameans and served as the common language of the Near East during the Assyrian and Persian periods. Portions of Ezra and Daniel in the Old Testament were written in it, and it is widely regarded as the language Jesus spoke in everyday life.
Chemosh
[Bible]Chemosh is a foreign deity presented in the Old Testament as the god worshiped by the Moabites. Scripture records that Solomon built a high place for Chemosh on the hill before Jerusalem and that King Josiah later defiled it.
Hittites
[Bible]The Hittites were one of the peoples of the land of Canaan mentioned in the Old Testament. Ephron, who sold Abraham the field containing the cave of Machpelah, and Uriah, one of David's mighty men, were Hittites.
Zeresh
[People]Zeresh is the wife of Haman in the Old Testament Book of Esther. She urged her husband to set up a gallows on which to hang Mordecai, but later told him that he would not prevail against Mordecai.
Shekel
[Bible]The shekel was a unit of weight used in ancient Israel and also a unit of value reckoned by that weight of silver. It later became the name of a silver coin. The shekel appears frequently in the Bible, notably in the half-shekel temple tax and the thirty pieces of silver.
Via Dolorosa
[History]The Via Dolorosa (Latin for "Way of Sorrow") is a route in the Old City of Jerusalem that, according to tradition, Jesus walked while carrying the cross from the place of his sentencing to Golgotha. Pilgrims traditionally walk it while meditating on his sufferings.
Jehoram
[People]Jehoram is the name of two kings who reigned in the same period in the Old Testament: the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the son of Ahab, king of Israel. Both are also referred to by the shorter form "Joram."
Shittim Wood
[Bible]Shittim wood is the wood used in the Old Testament to build the tabernacle and its furnishings; the name renders the Hebrew shittim. Today it is generally identified as a species of acacia growing in the wilderness.
Ahitub
[People]Ahitub is the name of several members of priestly families in the Old Testament. It most often refers to the grandson of Eli and father of Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, though other priests bore the same name.
Heave Offering
[Bible]The heave offering was, in the Old Testament sacrificial system, a portion taken from a sacrifice or gift and set apart for God. It served chiefly as the share of the priests and Levites.
Shihor
[Bible]Shihor is the name of an Egyptian watercourse mentioned four times in the Old Testament. It refers to the Nile or one of its branches and also appears in descriptions of the southern boundary of the land of Israel.
Homer
[Bible]The homer is a Hebrew unit of dry measure for grain mentioned in the Old Testament. Equal to ten ephahs, it is the largest dry measure and equals one hundred omers. The book of Ezekiel treats it as the same quantity as the cor.
Belial
[Bible]Belial is a Hebrew word in the Old Testament meaning "worthlessness" or "wickedness," used mainly in the expression "son (or man) of Belial" to describe a base or wicked person. In the New Testament it appears once, in 2 Corinthians 6:15, as a name for the power of evil opposed to Christ, that is, Satan.
Cherub
[Bible]Cherubim are winged beings in the Old Testament who guard God's holy presence and throne. They appear at the entrance to the Garden of Eden, upon the Ark of the Covenant, and in Ezekiel's visions.