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Joab
[People]Joab was the son of Zeruiah, King David's sister, and served as commander of the army during David's reign. Though an outstanding military leader, he committed murders for personal ends and was executed when Solomon came to the throne.
2 Thessalonians 3:7–9
[Bible Verses]A passage in which Paul and his companions, though entitled to support from the Thessalonian church, worked night and day to provide for themselves and presented this as an example for the believers to follow. It is frequently cited in discussions of self-supporting ministry, bivocational pastors, and pastoral compensation.
1 Timothy 4:12
[Bible Verses]A verse in which Paul urges his young coworker Timothy not to let anyone look down on him because of his youth, but to be an example to the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. It is frequently cited in discussions of the faith of young people and the qualifications of leaders.
Psalm 27:14
[Bible Verses]The final verse of Psalm 27 places the exhortation to be strong and courageous between two calls to "wait on the LORD." It is often cited as a verse about faith during seasons of waiting for an answer from God.
Psalm 103:11-12
[Bible Verses]Psalm 103:11-12 is a passage from a psalm traditionally attributed to David. It compares God's lovingkindness to the height of the heavens above the earth and His removal of sin to the distance between east and west. Regarded as an expression of the completeness of divine forgiveness, it is frequently cited in preaching and as a word of comfort.
Junia
[People]Junia was a member of the early church whom Paul greeted together with Andronicus in Romans 16:7. Interpreters disagree over whether the name is feminine and whether Junia was called an "apostle."
Mount Ararat
[Bible]Mount Ararat is the name of the mountainous region where Noah's ark came to rest after the Flood, as recorded in Genesis 8:4. The biblical "Ararat" originally referred to an ancient region in what is today eastern Turkey and Armenia.
Sodom and Gomorrah
[Bible]Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of the plain of the Jordan described in Genesis. Because of their wickedness, they were destroyed by brimstone and fire from heaven, and throughout the Bible they are repeatedly cited as an example of God's judgment.
Matthew 18:18–19
[Bible Verses]After describing how to deal with a brother who has sinned within the community, Jesus gives the disciples the authority to "bind and loose" and promises an answer to prayer in which two agree. The passage is frequently cited as a basis for church discipline, for united prayer, and for "binding" prayer, and its interpretation varies among denominations.
1 Corinthians 7:10–15
[Bible Verses]In this passage Paul answers the Corinthian church's questions about marriage, conveying the Lord's command against divorce and giving his own guidance on marriage to an unbelieving spouse. It is frequently cited in debates over the permissible scope of divorce and remarriage and over infant baptism.
Numbers 13:33
[Bible Verses]In this verse, ten of the spies returning from Canaan call the inhabitants of the land descendants of the Nephilim and report, "we were in our own sight as grasshoppers." Frequently cited in preaching as an illustration of the outlook of unbelief, the passage also figures in discussions of the identity of the Nephilim.
Golden Calf Incident
[Bible]The golden calf incident is the episode in which the Israelites, while Moses was receiving the law on Mount Sinai, had Aaron make an image of a calf out of gold and then offered sacrifices and held a feast before it. Recorded in Exodus 32, it is regarded as one of the foremost examples of idolatry in the Old Testament.
Hebrews 11:17–19
[Bible Verses]A passage in the roll of the faithful in Hebrews 11 that treats Abraham's offering of Isaac. It is regarded as an example of faith in the resurrection amid the tension between God's promise and his command, and it is frequently cited as a basis for reading the offering of Isaac as a foreshadowing of the death and resurrection of Christ.
Bronze Serpent
[Bible]The bronze serpent was a serpent of bronze that Moses made at God's command and set on a pole so that Israelites bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness might live. The account appears in Numbers 21, and in John 3 it becomes an image pointing to the cross of Jesus.
Romans 8:32
[Bible Verses]A verse in which Paul argues that, because God gave up his own Son, he will also graciously give believers all things. It is frequently quoted as an assurance of God's love, and interpreters differ over the extent of the atonement and the meaning of "all things."
Job 9:32–33
[Bible Verses]A passage in which Job laments that there is no "daysman," or arbiter, to decide between God and himself. Christian tradition often reads it as an expression of longing for Christ the Mediator, and the passage also raises questions of translation and textual tradition.
Psalm 51:16–17
[Bible Verses]A passage from Psalm 51, traditionally known as David's psalm of repentance, in which the psalmist confesses that the sacrifice God desires is not an animal offering but "a broken and a contrite heart." It is frequently cited in discussions of worship and repentance that place the heart before outward form.
Parable of the Tares
[Bible]The Parable of the Tares is a parable of Jesus about the kingdom of God and the final judgment. In it, an enemy sows tares in a wheat field, and the owner lets them grow alongside the wheat until the harvest. It appears only in the Gospel of Matthew.
Levites
[Bible]The Levites were members of the Israelite tribe descended from Levi, the son of Jacob. Rather than receiving land as an inheritance, they were set apart for the work of the tabernacle and the temple. Among them, the descendants of Aaron became priests.
Midian
[Bible]Midian was a people said to descend from Midian, the son of Abraham and Keturah. In the Bible they appear both as the family into which Moses married and, during the period of the judges, as an enemy that oppressed Israel.