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Jephthah's Vow
[Bible]Jephthah's vow was the promise the judge Jephthah made before his battle with the Ammonites: if he returned victorious, he would offer as a burnt offering whoever came out to meet him. The vow led to the offering of his only daughter (Judges 11).
Seventy Weeks
[Bible]The seventy weeks are a period named in the prophecy that the angel Gabriel delivered to Daniel in Daniel 9:24-27. They are commonly understood as "seventy sevens," that is, 490 years. Interpreters differ widely over whether the passage should be read as a messianic prophecy, an eschatological prophecy, or a prediction of specific historical events.
Chebar River
[Bible]The Chebar River was a waterway in "the land of the Chaldeans" where the prophet Ezekiel, living among the Judean exiles during the Babylonian exile, saw visions of God. Many scholars identify it as a canal in Babylonia.
Elim
[Bible]Elim was an oasis where the Israelites encamped after leaving Marah during the Exodus. Scripture records that it had twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and it served as a stopping point on the wilderness journey.
Clement of Alexandria
[People]Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–c. 215) was an early church father and theologian active in Alexandria. He is regarded as a leading figure of the Alexandrian school, which sought to connect Greek philosophy with the Christian faith.
Polycarp
[People]Polycarp (c. 69–c. 155) was a second-century bishop of the church at Smyrna in Asia Minor and a martyr. He was an Apostolic Father, traditionally regarded as a disciple of the apostle John.
Adultery
[Bible]Adultery is sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse. The Bible forbids it in the Ten Commandments, and the prophets also used the term as a metaphor for forsaking God to serve idols.
Bitumen
[Bible]Bitumen is a black, sticky, naturally occurring asphalt substance found in the earth. In the Bible it served as a waterproofing agent and adhesive for Noah's ark, the Tower of Babel, and the ark of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was placed.
Salt Sea
[Bible]The Salt Sea is the biblical name for the lake into which the Jordan River flows, known today as the Dead Sea. In the Old Testament it appears as a place name marking the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan.
Taanach
[Bible]Taanach was a Canaanite city on the southern edge of the Jezreel Valley, near Megiddo. In Joshua and Judges it appears as a city of the tribe of Manasseh and as a battlefield in the Song of Deborah.
Sheep Gate
[Bible]The Sheep Gate was a gate in the wall of Jerusalem mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Nehemiah and the New Testament Gospel of John. It is thought to have stood near the north side of the Temple, and in the Gospel of John it serves as a reference point for locating the Pool of Bethesda.
Puteoli
[Bible]Puteoli is a port city in southern Italy mentioned in Acts 28, where Paul, on his way to Rome as a prisoner, disembarked and stayed seven days with the believers there. It is the modern Pozzuoli, near Naples.
Lebanon
[Bible]Lebanon is a mountain range extending north to south, north of Israel. In the Bible it appears as the home of the cedar and as the source of the timber used to build Solomon's temple. It also frequently serves as a symbol of loftiness and glory.
Wilderness
[Bible]The wilderness is arid land on which people find it difficult to settle and farm. In the Bible it is the place where Israel spent forty years after the Exodus, and it is portrayed as a setting of testing, of God's provision, and of new beginnings.
Ziggurat
[History]A ziggurat is a massive, tower-like structure of ancient Mesopotamia, built of brick in stepped tiers to raise a temple to a lofty height. It is frequently cited as the background to the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis.
John Climacus
[People]John Climacus was a sixth- and seventh-century monk of Mount Sinai and abbot of its monastery. He wrote the spiritual classic The Ladder of Divine Ascent, which describes the path of faith as a ladder of thirty steps.
Mount Seir
[Bible]Mount Seir is a mountainous region south of the Dead Sea. In the Old Testament it designates the land settled by Esau and his descendants, the Edomites. Also called "the land of Seir" or simply "Seir," it is often used as a synonym for Edom.
Cyprus
[Bible]Cyprus is an island in the eastern Mediterranean, still known today by the same name. In the Book of Acts it appears as the home of Barnabas and as the first place where the gospel was preached on Paul's first missionary journey.
Mammon
[Bible]Mammon is a word of Aramaic origin that Jesus used to refer to wealth. In Matthew 6 and Luke 16, it is portrayed as a master that opposes God and holds people in servitude.
Covetousness
[Doctrine & Theology]Covetousness is an excessive desire to possess what belongs to another or what one has not been granted. The last of the Ten Commandments forbids it, and the New Testament regards covetousness as a sin equivalent to idolatry.