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Tyre
[Bible]Tyre was a Phoenician port city on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. In the Old Testament it appears as a neighboring kingdom that dealt with David and Solomon and as a target of the prophets' oracles of judgment. In the New Testament it is a Gentile region visited by Jesus and Paul.
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.
Cornerstone
[Bible]A cornerstone is an important stone set at the corner of a building to align its walls and stabilize its structure. It appears in Psalm 118 and Isaiah 28, and the New Testament takes up the image as a reference to Jesus Christ.
Type (Biblical Typology)
[Doctrine & Theology]A type is a concept in biblical interpretation holding that Old Testament persons, events, and institutions prefigure Jesus Christ, who was to come, and his work of salvation.
Herod's Temple
[Bible]Herod's Temple is the Second Temple in Jerusalem as extensively renovated and expanded by Herod the Great beginning in the late first century BC. It is the "temple" of the New Testament, frequented by Jesus and the early church, and it was destroyed by the Roman army in AD 70.
Lawyer (New Testament)
[Bible]In the New Testament, especially the Gospel of Luke, a lawyer was an expert who studied and interpreted the Law of Moses. The best-known example is the lawyer who asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life, which prompted the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Court of the Gentiles
[Bible]The Court of the Gentiles was the large outermost court of the Jerusalem temple as enlarged by Herod, a space that non-Jews were also permitted to enter. It is commonly understood to be the site where Jesus cleansed the temple.
Maundy Thursday
[Feasts & Seasons]Maundy Thursday is the Thursday immediately before Easter. A Holy Week observance, it commemorates the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, at which he instituted the Lord's Supper and washed the disciples' feet.
Arphaxad
[People]Arphaxad was the son of Shem, the son of Noah. In the genealogies of Genesis he is one link in the line running from Shem to Abraham, and his name also appears in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.
Cyrene
[Bible]Cyrene was a Greek city on the northeastern coast of present-day Libya in North Africa. In the New Testament it appears as the hometown of Simon, who carried the cross for Jesus, and as the place of origin of early Christian evangelists who preached the gospel to Gentiles in Antioch.
Rufus
[People]Rufus appears in the Gospel of Mark as a son of Simon of Cyrene, the man compelled to carry the cross of Jesus. Scholars differ on whether he is the same Rufus whom Paul greets in Romans 16.
Veronica
[People]Veronica is a woman known only from church tradition; her name does not appear in the Bible. Tradition holds that she wiped the face of Jesus with a cloth as he carried the cross, and it identifies her with the woman with the issue of blood in the Gospels.
Rabbi
[Bible]Rabbi is a Hebrew and Aramaic title of respect meaning "my teacher." In the New Testament Gospels, disciples and others use it to address Jesus and John the Baptist.
Solomon's Porch
[Bible]Solomon's Porch was a roofed colonnade along the outer court of the Jerusalem Temple in New Testament times. Scripture presents it as the place where Jesus walked during the Feast of Dedication and where the believers of the early church gathered.
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.
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.
Drusilla
[People]Drusilla was a Jewish woman mentioned in Acts 24 and the wife of the Roman governor Felix. Together with her husband, she heard Paul speak about faith in Christ Jesus while he was held in custody at Caesarea.
Caesar Augustus
[People]Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Luke 2:1 records his decree that all the world should be taxed, which forms the background to the birth of Jesus.
Quirinius
[People]Quirinius (Cyrenius in the KJV) was the Roman official whom Luke 2:2 records as governor of Syria when the Roman emperor issued his decree of enrollment. He is frequently discussed in efforts to date the birth of Jesus.
Crispus
[People]Crispus was the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth who, together with his entire household, believed in Jesus during the apostle Paul's ministry there. He is recorded as one of the few people whom Paul personally baptized.