Search the encyclopedia
1000 articles found for “the false prophet”
Table of Nations
[Bible]The Table of Nations is the list of the descendants of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, recorded in Genesis 10. Arranged in genealogical form, the passage describes how the various peoples spread across the earth after the Flood.
Poetic Books
[Bible]The Poetic Books are the five books of the Protestant Old Testament written in poetic form: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.
Conquest of Canaan
[Bible]The conquest of Canaan was Israel's entry into the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and took possession of a number of cities. It is recorded chiefly in Joshua 1–12.
Fall of Jerusalem
[Bible]The fall of Jerusalem was the event in which Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah, fell to the army of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the temple was burned. It took place during the reign of King Zedekiah, bringing the kingdom of Judah to an end and marking the beginning of the Babylonian exile.
Prayer of Manasseh
[Bible]The prayer of repentance offered by Manasseh, king of Judah, during the affliction of his captivity. It is recorded in 2 Chronicles 33, and a short Greek prayer bearing the same name has been transmitted among the Apocrypha (writings outside the canon).
Red Heifer
[Bible]The red heifer is a purification ordinance found in Numbers 19. A red heifer without blemish was burned whole outside the camp, and its ashes were mixed with water and used to purify a person who had become unclean through contact with a dead body.
Star of Bethlehem
[Bible]The Star of Bethlehem is the star in Matthew 2 that the wise men from the east saw and that led them to seek the child born King of the Jews. Scripture calls it "his star."
Seventy Elders
[Bible]The seventy elders were a group of seventy leaders chosen from among the elders of Israel in the time of Moses. They appear in Exodus 24 and Numbers 11, and a group of seventy elders also appears in Ezekiel 8.
Sign of Jonah
[Bible]The sign of Jonah is Jesus' reply to those who demanded a sign, that no sign would be given "but the sign of the prophet Jonas." The saying appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Veil (Tabernacle and Temple)
[Bible]The veil was the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and the Jerusalem temple. The Gospels record that the veil of the temple was torn when Jesus died on the cross.
Maccabean Revolt
[History]The Maccabean Revolt was a Jewish uprising begun in 167 BC by the priest Mattathias and his sons after Antiochus IV of the Seleucid dynasty outlawed the practice of Judaism. It led to the rededication of the Jerusalem temple and the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty.
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.
Church Fathers
[History]The Church Fathers are the leaders and theologians of the early church who, from the late first century to around the eighth century, helped establish the framework of Christian doctrine, biblical interpretation, and worship.
Negev
[Bible]The Negev is a biblical place name for the arid region of southern Judah around Beersheba. The Hebrew word is also used to mean "south," so many passages render it simply as "the south."
Cave of Machpelah
[Bible]The Cave of Machpelah was the cave in a field before Mamre, near Hebron, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite in order to bury his wife Sarah. It became the burial place of the patriarchs and their wives.
Olive Tree
[Bible]The olive tree is an evergreen fruit tree of the Mediterranean world and the land of Canaan. In Scripture it serves as an image of anointing, of the flourishing of God's people, and of the relationship between Israel and the Gentiles.
Rock
[Bible]A rock is a large, solid mass of stone. In the Bible it appears as the actual rock that gave water in the wilderness, and it also serves as a figure for God's unchanging protection, for Christ, and for the foundation of the church.
Levitical Cities
[Bible]The Levitical cities were the forty-eight cities, together with their surrounding pasturelands, that the tribes of Israel set aside as dwelling places for the tribe of Levi, which received no land as an inheritance. The six cities of refuge were among them.
Riot at Ephesus
[Bible]The riot at Ephesus took place while Paul was staying in Ephesus during his third missionary journey. Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver models of the goddess Artemis, stirred up his fellow craftsmen, and the whole city rushed into the theater (Acts 19:23–41).
Temple Veil
[Bible]The temple veil was the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and the Jerusalem temple. Only the high priest could pass behind it, and only once a year. The Gospels record that the veil was torn when Jesus died.