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Nile River
[Bible]The Nile is a river in northeastern Africa that flows northward through Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. In the Bible it is the setting of Pharaoh's dream, which Joseph interpreted, of the birth of Moses, and of the ten plagues.
Bride of Christ
[Doctrine & Theology]The Bride of Christ is a biblical expression that likens the church to a bride joined to Jesus Christ in a marriage covenant. It expresses at once the love between Christ and the church, the church's purity, and the eschatological consummation of their relationship.
Via Dolorosa
[History]The Via Dolorosa (Latin for "Way of Sorrow") is a route in the Old City of Jerusalem that, according to tradition, Jesus walked while carrying the cross from the place of his sentencing to Golgotha. Pilgrims traditionally walk it while meditating on his sufferings.
Twenty-Four Elders
[Bible]The twenty-four elders are heavenly elders in the Book of Revelation who sit on twenty-four thrones surrounding the throne of God and, together with the four living creatures, worship God and the Lamb.
Immaculate Conception
[Doctrine & Theology]The Immaculate Conception is the Catholic doctrine that the Virgin Mary was preserved free from original sin from the first moment of her conception. It is distinct from the Virgin Birth, the teaching that Mary bore Jesus as a virgin.
Apostolic Fathers
[History]The Apostolic Fathers are the church leaders who were active close to the time of the apostles, from the late first century to the mid-second century, as well as the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament that they left behind.
Winepress
[Bible]A winepress is an installation in which grapes are trodden by foot to extract their juice. In the Bible it can signify the blessing of harvest, and it also serves as a symbol of God's judgment.
Priestly Garments
[Bible]The priestly garments were the holy garments made, according to Exodus 28, for Aaron and his sons to wear when they ministered in the tabernacle. The garments of the high priest are distinguished from those of the ordinary priests.
Great Disappointment
[History]The Great Disappointment was the collective disappointment experienced by members of the Millerite movement in the United States, who believed that Jesus Christ would return on October 22, 1844, when that day passed without the Second Coming.
Philistine Pentapolis
[Bible]The Philistine Pentapolis is the collective name for the five cities that the Philistines established on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Canaan: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. During the period of the judges and the early monarchy, these cities were the centers of the Philistine power that opposed Israel.
Beautiful Gate
[Bible]The Beautiful Gate was one of the gates of the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Acts 3, it was the place where Peter and John healed a man who had been lame from birth.
Western Wall
[History]The Western Wall is the exposed above-ground portion of the ancient retaining wall that supports the western side of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. A remnant of Herod's Temple, it has become the most important place of prayer in Judaism.
Restoration of Peter
[Bible]The restoration of Peter is the event in which the risen Jesus, on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias in Galilee, asked Peter three times, "Lovest thou me?" and entrusted him with the charge "Feed my sheep." It is recorded in John 21.
Song of Miriam
[Bible]The Song of Miriam is a short hymn of praise sung by the prophetess Miriam as she led the women with timbrels and dancing after Israel crossed the Red Sea. It is recorded in Exodus 15:20-21.
Table of Nations
[Bible]The Table of Nations is the genealogy of the descendants of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, recorded in Genesis 10. It traces how humanity divided and spread into many peoples and nations after the Flood. It is also called the List of Nations.
Empty Tomb
[Bible]The empty tomb refers to the event in which women went to Jesus' tomb early on the first day of the week, the third day after his crucifixion and burial, and found the stone moved away and his body gone. All four Gospels record it.
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
[History]The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a large body of papyrus documents excavated from the late nineteenth century onward from the rubbish mounds of the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus. They include New Testament manuscripts and Greek fragments of the Gospel of Thomas, among other texts.
Burning Bush
[Bible]The burning bush is the thornbush in Exodus 3 that burned with fire yet was not consumed when Moses first encountered God at Mount Horeb. The scene is read as a sign of God's presence and of Moses' call.
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.
Oral Law
[Bible]The Oral Law is the body of Jewish interpretations and regulations believed to have been transmitted by word of mouth alongside the written law of the Pentateuch. In the New Testament it appears under the expression "the tradition of the elders."