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Contest on Mount Carmel
[Bible]The contest on Mount Carmel was an event during the reign of King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel in which the prophet Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and demonstrated that the God who answers by fire is the true God. It is recorded in 1 Kings 18.
Wedding at Cana
[Bible]The Wedding at Cana is an event recorded in John 2:1-11 in which Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. The Gospel of John calls it Jesus' "first sign."
Council of Jerusalem
[Bible]The Council of Jerusalem is an event recorded in Acts 15. The apostles and elders of the Jerusalem church met to consider whether Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, and they reached a decision on the matter.
Day of Atonement
[Bible]The Day of Atonement was an annual holy day of Old Testament Israel, observed on the tenth day of the seventh month, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the sins of the people and for the sanctuary. Its procedure is described in Leviticus 16.
Cursing of the Fig Tree
[Bible]The cursing of the fig tree is an event in which Jesus, after entering Jerusalem, cursed a fig tree that was full of leaves but bore no fruit, after which the tree withered. It is recorded in Mark 11 and Matthew 21.
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.
King James Version
[Bible]The King James Version (KJV) is an English translation of the Bible produced at the command of King James I of England and published in 1611. For centuries it served as the standard Bible of English-speaking Protestantism.
Day of the Lord
[Bible]The Day of the Lord is an expression used by the Old Testament prophets for the time when God intervenes directly in history to bring about judgment and salvation. The New Testament takes it up as "the day of the Lord" and "the day of Christ," connecting it with the Second Coming and the Last Judgment.
Leprosy
[Bible]Leprosy is the biblical term for an "unclean" disease of the skin and for blemishes on garments and houses. Leviticus sets out the regulations for its diagnosis and for purification, and leprosy also figures in the accounts of Miriam, Naaman, and Uzziah and in the healing narratives of Jesus.
Book of Enoch
[Bible]The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic work transmitted under the name of Enoch, the figure in Genesis. One of its passages is quoted in Jude 1:14-15, but neither Protestants nor Catholics regard it as canonical.
Marriage Supper of the Lamb
[Bible]The marriage supper of the Lamb is an expression found in Revelation 19. It refers to the feast celebrating the complete union of Christ, the Lamb, with his bride at the end of the age.
Breaking of Bread
[Bible]The breaking of bread is an expression derived from the Jewish mealtime custom of breaking bread by hand and sharing it. In the New Testament it refers to the meals of Jesus and to the communal meals and the Lord's Supper of the early church.
Gospel of Thomas
[History]The Gospel of Thomas is an ancient document containing a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus. Its complete Coptic text was discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. It is not included in the biblical canon.
Year of Release
[Bible]The year of release is an institution prescribed in Deuteronomy 15 under which, every seventh year, Israelites were to release debts owed to them by fellow Israelites.
Feast of Firstfruits
[Bible]The Feast of Firstfruits was an Old Testament rite, prescribed in Leviticus 23:9-14, in which the first sheaf of the spring barley harvest was waved before the LORD. It served as the starting point for counting the date of the Feast of Weeks and is often read in connection with the New Testament description of Christ's resurrection as the "firstfruits."
Feast of Trumpets
[Bible]The Feast of Trumpets was an Old Testament festival observed on the first day of the seventh month of Israel's religious calendar. It was marked by the blowing of trumpets and a holy convocation, as prescribed in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29.
Devoted Thing
[Bible]A "devoted thing" (Hebrew herem) is an object or person wholly dedicated to God, which therefore can no longer be put to private use or redeemed. The term is best known from the account of Achan in Joshua 7.
Tribe of Ephraim
[Bible]The tribe of Ephraim was an Israelite tribe made up of the descendants of Ephraim, the second son of Joseph. It settled in the central hill country of Canaan, and after the division of the kingdom its name came to stand for the northern kingdom of Israel.
Corban
[Bible]Corban is a Hebrew word meaning "an offering given to God." In the New Testament it appears in Mark 7:11, in a passage where Jesus criticizes the practice of using a vow to avoid supporting one's parents.
Battle of Ai
[Bible]The Battle of Ai is an event recorded in Joshua 7–8. After the fall of Jericho, Israel attacked the small city of Ai and was defeated once because of Achan's sin. Once the sin had been dealt with, Israel captured the city by means of an ambush.