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Merit
[Doctrine & Theology]Merit is a theological term for an act that serves as the ground for receiving a reward or salvation from God, or for the value of such an act. Because it bears directly on the place of human works in salvation, it is one of the principal issues that divided Catholicism and Protestantism.
Book of Jasher
[Bible]The Book of Jasher is an ancient Israelite record cited in the Old Testament. It is named in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18, and the original has not survived.
Tribe of Manasseh
[Bible]The tribe of Manasseh was an Israelite tribe descended from Manasseh, the firstborn son of Joseph. Because it received land both east and west of the Jordan River, the expression "the half tribe of Manasseh" came into use.
Covenant of Salt
[Bible]The covenant of salt is an Old Testament expression that uses salt as an image of the eternal, unchanging nature of a covenant made with God. It appears in Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5, and Leviticus 2:13 contains the related phrase "the salt of the covenant."
Wilderness of Judah
[Bible]The Wilderness of Judah is an arid region stretching from the eastern slopes of the Judean hill country down to the Dead Sea. Scripture presents it as the place where David hid from Saul and where John the Baptist proclaimed repentance.
Edward Mote
[People]Edward Mote (1797–1874) was an English Baptist minister and hymn writer, best known as the author of the hymn "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less," which is also sung in Korean translation in Korean churches.
Prohibition of Interest
[Bible]The prohibition of interest is an Old Testament legal provision that forbade charging interest when lending money or food to a poor neighbor. It appears in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy and reflects the law's concern for protecting the vulnerable.
William Carey
[People]William Carey (1761–1834) was an English Baptist minister and missionary to India. Through his writings arguing for the duty of foreign missions and his role in founding a missionary society, he is known as the "father of modern missions."
Letter of Aristeas
[History]The Letter of Aristeas is an ancient Jewish writing that, presented as the work of a courtier of the Egyptian king, recounts how the Pentateuch was translated into Greek at Alexandria by seventy-two Jewish elders. It contains the story from which the name Septuagint derives.
Bride of the Lamb
[Bible]The Bride of the Lamb is an expression in the Book of Revelation for the bride who is married to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. It is commonly read as a symbol of God's redeemed people, that is, the church.
Stem of Jesse
[Bible]The "stem of Jesse" is an image from Isaiah 11:1 in which a shoot springs from the stump of Jesse, the father of David. The expression prophesies an ideal king who will arise from the house of David. Christians generally read it as a messianic prophecy concerning Jesus Christ.
William Miller
[People]William Miller (1782–1849) was an American Baptist lay preacher who, on the basis of calculations from the prophecies of Daniel, proclaimed that Christ would return in 1843–1844. He was the central figure of the nineteenth-century Advent movement and of the Great Disappointment.
Middle Wall of Partition
[Bible]The "middle wall of partition" is an expression from Ephesians 2:14 for the barrier between Jews and Gentiles that Christ broke down through the cross. In Korean churches the phrase is frequently cited in connection with reconciliation and unity.
Epic of Gilgamesh
[History]The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem recounting the quest of Gilgamesh, a king of ancient Mesopotamia, for eternal life. Because its flood story resembles the account of Noah's flood in Genesis, it is frequently discussed in biblical studies.
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
[History]The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is an early Christian apocryphal work that collects miracle stories from the childhood of Jesus between the ages of five and twelve. It is thought to have been written around the second century. Despite the similar name, it is a different book from the Gospel of Thomas found at Nag Hammadi.
Phrygia
[Bible]Phrygia is the name of an inland region of west-central Asia Minor (modern Türkiye). It is mentioned three times in the Acts of the Apostles, and Paul passed through it on two occasions.
LORD of Hosts
[Bible]The LORD of Hosts is an Old Testament title for God that renders the Hebrew Yahweh Tseba'ot. Meaning "LORD of armies (hosts)," it expresses God's sovereignty over Israel and over all the hosts of heaven.
Captain of Fifty
[Bible]A captain of fifty is an Old Testament title for a person who governed or commanded a unit of fifty people. The title appears in passages such as Exodus 18 and 2 Kings 1.
Epistle of Barnabas
[History]The Epistle of Barnabas is an early Christian writing composed in Greek between the late first and early second centuries. It interprets the laws and institutions of the Old Testament as symbols pointing to Christ. It was not included in the New Testament canon.
Wise Woman of Tekoa
[People]The wise woman of Tekoa is an unnamed woman who appears in 2 Samuel 14. At Joab's request, she told King David a fabricated story to persuade him, helping to bring the exiled Absalom back to Jerusalem.