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Widow
[Bible]A woman whose husband has died. The Old Testament law designated widows, along with the fatherless and the stranger, as people to be protected. In the New Testament, widows appear both as recipients of the early church's relief and care and as examples of faith.
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.
Herem
[Bible]Herem is the Old Testament practice of devoting people or objects wholly to God, removing them from ordinary use and usually destroying them. The term is often rendered "utter destruction" or "devotion to destruction."
Mount Horeb
[Bible]Mount Horeb is the mountain the Old Testament calls "the mountain of God." There Moses received God's call from the flame of the burning bush, Israel received the covenant, and Elijah met God. It is generally understood to be the same mountain as Mount Sinai.
Excommunication
[Organization & Polity]Excommunication is the most severe stage of church discipline, in which the church removes an unrepentant member who has sinned from the church community and revokes that person's membership.
Hardness of Heart
[Doctrine & Theology]Hardness of heart is a biblical expression for a state in which the heart has become hardened and obstinate against the word and will of God. It appears most prominently in the account of Pharaoh in the Book of Exodus.
Brothers of Jesus
[Bible]A collective term for James, Joseph (Joses), Simon, and Judas, who are called the "brothers" of Jesus in the New Testament, together with his unnamed sisters. Christian traditions differ in their understanding of how these individuals were related to Jesus.
El Shaddai
[Bible]El Shaddai is one of the Hebrew names for God in the Old Testament, conventionally rendered "God Almighty" or "Almighty God." It appears chiefly in the covenant promises and blessings given to the patriarchs.
Amram
[People]Amram was a son of Kohath of the tribe of Levi, the husband of Jochebed, and the father of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. His name appears in genealogical passages such as Exodus 6 and Numbers 26.
Jehovah-shalom
[Bible]Jehovah-shalom is the name Gideon gave to the altar he built at Ophrah in Judges 6:24. In Hebrew it means "the LORD is peace."
Nathan's Parable
[Bible]Nathan's parable is the story of a poor man's ewe lamb, told by the prophet Nathan to convict David of his sin after David lay with Bathsheba and caused the death of her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1-4).
Ithamar
[People]Ithamar was the fourth son of Aaron and served as a priest with his brother Eleazar during the wilderness period. When the tabernacle was transported, he supervised the work of the Gershonites and the Merarites.
Merab
[People]Merab was the elder daughter of Saul, the first king of Israel. An Old Testament figure, she was promised to David as his wife but was instead given in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite. Her younger sister was Michal, who became David's wife.
Zechariah son of Jehoiada
[People]Zechariah son of Jehoiada was a member of a priestly family during the reign of King Joash of Judah. After rebuking the people for idolatry, he was stoned to death in the temple court at the king's command (2 Chronicles 24).
Plumb Line
[Bible]A plumb line is a cord with a weight attached, used to check whether a wall stands straight. Because it appears in Amos 7, in a vision of God measuring Israel for judgment, it came to signify God's standard and His judgment.
Ashpenaz
[People]Ashpenaz is the chief of the eunuchs under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in Daniel 1. He was responsible for educating and overseeing Daniel and his three friends, who had been carried off from Judah, at the royal court.
Theodicy
[Doctrine & Theology]Theodicy is the theological and philosophical discussion that seeks to vindicate the righteousness of God by answering why evil and suffering exist in the world if God is good and omnipotent.
Candace
[People]Candace is the "queen of the Ethiopians" mentioned in Acts 8. An official in charge of her treasury was baptized by Philip. A widely known view holds that the name was a title of the queens of the ancient Nubian kingdom rather than a personal name.
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
[Bible]Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin is the Aramaic inscription that the fingers of a man's hand wrote on the palace wall during the feast of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, in Daniel 5. Daniel interpreted it as God's declaration of judgment: the kingdom had come to an end and would be divided.
Discipleship
[Christian Life]Discipleship is the path of following and learning from Jesus Christ as his disciple and living according to his teaching, or the way of life that results from doing so.