Search the encyclopedia
1000 articles found for “The speaker”
Sanhedrin
[Bible]The Sanhedrin was the supreme council in Jerusalem during the New Testament period. Presided over by the high priest, it dealt with the religious and judicial affairs of the Jewish people.
Feast of Dedication
[Bible]The Feast of Dedication, also known as Hanukkah, is a Jewish festival commemorating the Jews' recovery and rededication of the Jerusalem Temple after its defilement by the Seleucid dynasty in the second century BC. The Bible mentions it once, in John 10:22.
Showbread
[Bible]The showbread consisted of twelve loaves set continually before God on the golden table in the Holy Place of the tabernacle and the temple. The loaves were replaced with fresh ones every Sabbath, and the priests ate the bread that had been removed.
Urim and Thummim
[Bible]The Urim and Thummim were objects in the Old Testament that the high priest carried in the breastplate of judgment and used when seeking God's will. Scripture does not describe their appearance or explain how they were used.
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.
Birthright
[Bible]The birthright is the firstborn son's right of precedence in inheritance and in representing the family, received from his father. It is best known from Genesis, where Esau sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a bowl of stew.
Golden Rule
[Bible]The Golden Rule is the traditional name for the teaching of Jesus "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31).
Twelve Tribes of Israel
[Bible]The Twelve Tribes of Israel are the twelve divisions of the people of Israel descended from the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel). In the Old Testament they were the units by which the land was allotted and the people organized; in the New Testament they serve as a symbol of the whole people of God.
Sadducees
[Bible]The Sadducees were a Jewish sect of the New Testament era centered on the high-priestly families and the aristocracy of the Jerusalem temple. Because they rejected the resurrection, angels, and spirits, they came into conflict with Jesus and the apostles.
Kinsman-Redeemer
[Bible]The kinsman-redeemer (Hebrew goel) is an Old Testament institution in which a close relative paid the price to recover land or freedom that a family member had lost through poverty or similar circumstances. Boaz in the Book of Ruth is the best-known example.
Beatitudes
[Bible]The Beatitudes are the eight blessings that Jesus Christ proclaimed at the opening of the Sermon on the Mount. They are recorded in Matthew 5:3-10, and similar sayings appear in Luke 6:20-23.
Great Commission
[Bible]The Great Commission is the command in which the risen Jesus instructed his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them. Its principal text is Matthew 28:18-20.
Logos
[Bible]Logos (λόγος) is a Greek word meaning "word" or "reason." In the prologue of the Gospel of John, it serves as a title for Jesus Christ, who existed before creation and became flesh. The Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) renders it as "Word."
Lamb of God
[Bible]The Lamb of God is the title John the Baptist applied to Jesus, recorded in John 1. Conveying the idea of a sacrifice offered for sin, it became one of the principal expressions for the death and atoning work of Jesus.
Names of God
[Bible]The names of God are the proper name and the various titles by which God is called in the Bible. In Scripture a name is regarded not merely as a form of address but as a revelation of the character and authority of the one who bears it.
Synoptic Problem
[Bible]The Synoptic Problem is a question in biblical studies concerning why the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke resemble one another in content, order, and even wording while also differing from one another; in other words, it asks how the three books are related in their composition.
Satan
[Bible]Satan is the name the Bible gives to an evil spiritual being who opposes and accuses God and His people. The Hebrew word means "adversary," and the New Testament uses it interchangeably with "the devil."
Septuagint
[Bible]The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into ancient Greek, produced in Alexandria, Egypt, beginning around the third century BC. New Testament writers frequently followed it when quoting the Old Testament, and the early church received and used it as its Old Testament.
Prophetic Books
[Bible]The Prophetic Books are the books of the Old Testament that bear the names of prophets. In Protestant usage the term refers to the seventeen books from Isaiah through Malachi, which are divided by length into five Major Prophets and twelve Minor Prophets.
Remnant
[Bible]The remnant is a biblical concept referring to a small group that survives God's judgment and tribulation and thereby carries on the line of the covenant people. It is prominent in the Old Testament prophetic books and is taken up in the New Testament by Paul.