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Ruth 4
[Bible]The final chapter of the Book of Ruth, in which Boaz acquires the right of redemption at the gate of Bethlehem and takes Ruth as his wife. Their son Obed, the grandfather of David, is born, and the chapter closes with a genealogy from Perez to David.
Beth-aven
[Bible]Beth-aven is a place name meaning "house of vanity (or wickedness)." In Joshua and 1 Samuel it refers to a site near Bethel, while in Hosea it serves as a derisive name for Bethel, where the calf idol was worshiped.
Samaritan Woman
[People]The Samaritan woman is an unnamed woman in John 4 who spoke with Jesus at Jacob's well near the Samaritan town of Sychar and then told the people of her town about him.
Micah 5
[Bible]Micah 5 foretells that, amid the humiliation of a besieged Israel, one who is to be ruler in Israel will come forth from the small town of Bethlehem Ephratah. The chapter also speaks of the future of the remnant of Jacob and of a purification that removes idols and military might.
John 4:24
[Bible Verses]John 4:24 records the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." The verse teaches that true worship depends on something other than place, and it is frequently cited in discussions of the forms of worship.
Baasha
[People]Baasha was a king of the northern kingdom of Israel who appears in the Old Testament book of 1 Kings. He killed Nadab the son of Jeroboam, seized the throne, destroyed the house of Jeroboam, and reigned for twenty-four years in Tirzah.
William Wilberforce
[People]British politician (1759–1833). Drawing on his evangelical faith, he led the parliamentary campaign to abolish the slave trade for nearly twenty years and played a major role in the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
Shunem
[Bible]Shunem was a town of the tribe of Issachar in the Jezreel Valley. It is known as the hometown of the Shunammite woman who hosted Elisha and of Abishag, who attended David.
Beersheba
[Bible]Beersheba was a town at the southern edge of the land of Judah, in the northern Negev. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dug wells and worshiped God there, and the expression "from Dan to Beersheba" marks the southern boundary of Israel.
Nob
[Bible]Nob was a town in the territory of Benjamin where priests lived during the reign of Saul. There David received the showbread and the sword of Goliath, and there the priests were massacred at Saul's command.
Shiloh
[Bible]Shiloh was a town in the central hill country of Israel. From the time of Joshua until the early days of Samuel, the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant remained there, making it the center of Israel's worship.
Gerar
[Bible]Gerar was a town in southwestern Canaan, between Gaza and Beersheba. It is the setting of the accounts involving Abraham, Isaac, and Abimelech king of Gerar, and it is especially known for the story of Isaac's wells.
Sychar
[Bible]Sychar is a town in the region of Samaria mentioned in John 4, where Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman beside Jacob's well. Scholars disagree about its exact location.
Riblah
[Bible]Riblah was a town in the land of Hamath in Syria. The kings of Egypt and Babylon used it as a military base, and the Bible records it as the place where Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, interrogated and punished Zedekiah, king of Judah.
Gibbethon
[Bible]Gibbethon was an Old Testament town in the territory of the tribe of Dan and a Levitical city, but by the period recounted in the books of Kings it belonged to the Philistines. King Nadab of Israel was assassinated while besieging it, and Omri was proclaimed king in the camp there.
Ophrah
[Bible]Ophrah is an Old Testament place name borne by two towns: the hometown of the judge Gideon and a town of the tribe of Benjamin. First Chronicles also mentions a man by this name.
Judges 19
[Bible]Judges 19 tells of a Levite who, while returning from Bethlehem with his concubine, stops in Gibeah, a town of the tribe of Benjamin. There a mob assaults the concubine, and she dies. The Levite then divides her body into twelve pieces and sends them throughout all the territory of Israel.
Capernaum
[Bible]Capernaum was a town on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus made the center of his ministry in Galilee. The Gospels call it "his own city," and many of his teachings and healings took place there.
Ai
[Bible]Ai was a town in the central hill country of Canaan, east of Bethel. It is best known from Joshua 7–8 as the place where Israel was first defeated because of Achan's sin and then captured the city in a second battle.
Beth-horon
[Bible]Beth-horon was a town on the route descending from the hill country northwest of Jerusalem to the plain to the west. It consisted of two sites, Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, and is best known as the place where Joshua defeated the allied Canaanite forces.