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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.
Shealtiel
[People]Shealtiel is a biblical figure recorded as the son of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), the king of Judah who was carried captive to Babylon, and as the father of Zerubbabel, who led the rebuilding of the temple. His name also appears in the genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Tyre and Sidon
[Bible]Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician port cities on the eastern Mediterranean coast, in present-day Lebanon. In the Old Testament they appear as trading partners of Israel and as objects of the prophets' pronouncements of judgment; in the New Testament they appear as Gentile regions reached by the ministry of Jesus.
Tribe of Judah
[Bible]The tribe of Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, made up of the descendants of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. It was the central tribe of the Davidic royal house and of the southern kingdom of Judah, and the New Testament presents Jesus as a descendant of this tribe.
Reu
[People]Reu is a figure in the genealogy of Shem in Genesis 11. He was the son of Peleg, the father of Serug, and the great-great-grandfather of Abraham. In the New Testament, his name appears in Luke's genealogy of Jesus.
Spices
[Bible]In the Bible, "spices" is a general term for aromatic plant substances. Scripture associates them with the holy anointing oil and incense of the tabernacle, with royal treasuries and gifts, and with burial. They also appear in the accounts of Jesus' burial and the morning of his resurrection.
Julius Africanus
[People]Julius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240) was a Christian scholar of the early church in the third century. He wrote a chronicle that arranged world history according to biblical chronology, and he is known for explaining the differences between the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke by appeal to levirate marriage.
Psalm 118
[Bible]Psalm 118 is a song of thanksgiving in which one who has been delivered from distress enters the gates of the temple and gives thanks for the LORD's everlasting mercy. "The stone which the builders refused" (verse 22) and "he that cometh in the name of the LORD" (verse 26) are quoted in the New Testament and applied to Jesus.
Oath
[Bible]An oath is an act in which God, or a being greater than oneself, is invoked as a witness to guarantee that one's words are true or that one will keep a promise. The Old Testament forbids swearing falsely, and in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught, "Swear not at all."
Herod Antipas
[People]Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great, was the tetrarch who ruled Galilee and Perea. He executed John the Baptist and, according to the Gospel of Luke, took part in the trial of Jesus.
2 Samuel 7:12–16
[Bible Verses]The passage in which God, speaking through the prophet Nathan, promises David that He will establish the throne and kingdom of his offspring forever. It is the central text of the Davidic covenant, and the New Testament frequently cites it as a basis for confessing Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of David.
Revelation 22
[Bible]Revelation 22 is the final chapter of the Book of Revelation and of the entire Bible. It opens with a vision of the river of the water of life and the tree of life in the New Jerusalem, and it closes the book with the promise "Surely I come quickly" and the response "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
Divorce and Remarriage
[Controversies]Divorce and remarriage is the question of whether Scripture permits divorce and remarriage, and if so, under what circumstances. It also bears on whether ministers should officiate at the remarriage of church members and whether divorced ministers may serve.
John 3:16
[Bible Verses]John 3:16 declares that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should have everlasting life. Widely regarded as a summary of the gospel, it is the best-known verse in the Bible. Calvinism and Arminianism interpret the scope of "the world" and "whosoever believeth" differently.
Matthew 5:3
[Bible Verses]Matthew 5:3 is the first of the Beatitudes, which open the Sermon on the Mount. It declares that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. Interpreters differ over what "poverty of spirit" means and how it relates to "the poor" in Luke's Gospel.
Acts 2:1–4
[Bible Verses]This passage recounts how the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples gathered on the day of Pentecost with a sound like a rushing wind and with tongues as of fire, and how they began to speak in other languages. The event is commemorated as the beginning of the church. What these tongues were, and whether the same experience continues today, are major points of disagreement among denominations.
Matthew 15
[Bible]Matthew 15 recounts the dispute over handwashing and the tradition of the elders, the faith of a Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon, healings beside the Sea of Galilee, and the feeding of the four thousand.
Luke 16
[Bible]Luke 16 centers on the Parable of the Unjust Steward and the account of the rich man and Lazarus, addressing the proper attitude toward wealth, the enduring validity of the law, divorce, and destiny after death.
Rabbinic Judaism
[History]Rabbinic Judaism is the form of Judaism that was reconstituted after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70, centered on the study of the Law, prayer, and the synagogue in place of sacrifice. Most of contemporary Judaism derives from this tradition.
Luke 15:20
[Bible Verses]Luke 15:20 is the verse in the Parable of the Prodigal Son in which the father sees his returning younger son from a distance, runs to him, embraces him, and kisses him. Because the father reaches his son before the son confesses his wrongdoing, the verse is widely cited as an illustration of God's grace and forgiveness.