Search the encyclopedia

Search the Bible

1000 articles found for “the Jews”

• The Holocaust

  [History]

  The systematic murder of approximately six million European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the World War II era. After the war, it prompted the churches to reexamine antisemitism and replacement theology.

• Diaspora

  [Bible]

  Diaspora is a Greek word meaning "scattering." It refers to the Jews who lived in various regions outside Palestine and to their communities. In the New Testament the term was also applied to Christians living scattered throughout the world.

• Massacre of the Innocents

  [Bible]

  The Massacre of the Innocents was the killing, ordered by King Herod, of all male children two years old and under in Bethlehem and its surrounding region in an attempt to eliminate the newborn "King of the Jews." It is recorded only in Matthew 2.

• INRI

  [Doctrine & Theology]

  INRI is the abbreviation of the Latin inscription "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum" (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews), which was placed on the cross above Jesus as the notice of the charge against him.

• Feast of Dedication

  [Bible]

  The Feast of Dedication is a Jewish festival commemorating the Jews' recovery and rededication of the Jerusalem Temple after it had been defiled by the Seleucid dynasty in the second century BC. It is also known as Hanukkah and is mentioned once in the Bible, in John 10:22.

• Nicodemus

  [People]

  Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews who appears only in the Gospel of John. He came to Jesus by night and spoke with him about being born again, and after Jesus' death he joined Joseph of Arimathea in burying him.

• John 10:30

  [Bible Verses]

  A saying of Jesus to the Jews at the Feast of Dedication: "I and my Father are one." Because it speaks directly of the relationship between the Father and the Son, the verse is frequently cited both to explain and to refute the doctrine of the Trinity, and its interpretation has long been debated.

• John 8:34–36

  [Bible Verses]

  In this passage Jesus tells the Jews who had believed on him that "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" and that "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." It is a key text on bondage to sin and the freedom Christ gives, and it is frequently cited in discussions of the human will and sanctification.

• John 7:24

  [Bible Verses]

  Spoken by Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles to Jews who objected to his healing on the Sabbath, this verse calls on its hearers not to judge by outward appearance but by a righteous standard. It is frequently cited alongside the command "Judge not" in discussions of judgment and discernment.

• Sanballat

  [People]

  Sanballat was a Horonite in the Book of Nehemiah who repeatedly obstructed the Jews who had returned from the Babylonian exile as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.

• Kislev

  [Bible]

  Kislev is the ninth month of the calendar used by the Jews after the Babylonian exile, corresponding roughly to November–December. Scripture names it in Nehemiah 1:1 and Zechariah 7:1.

• Alexander (Jew of Ephesus)

  [People]

  Alexander was a Jew whom the Jews put forward before the crowd during the riot at Ephesus described in Acts 19. He motioned with his hand to make a defense, but when the crowd recognized him as a Jew, they cried out to Artemis for about two hours, and he was unable to speak.

• Gentile

  [Bible]

  In the Bible, "Gentile" refers to a people or nation other than Israel (the Jews), or to a person belonging to such a people. In the New Testament, the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God through faith is a major theme.

• Star of Bethlehem

  [Bible]

  The Star of Bethlehem is the star in Matthew 2 that the wise men from the east saw and that led them to seek the child born King of the Jews. Scripture calls it "his star."

• Gabbatha

  [Bible]

  Gabbatha is the name of a place in Jerusalem mentioned in John 19:13. It refers to the "Pavement" where Pontius Pilate sat on the judgment seat and presented Jesus before the Jews.

• Titulus Crucis

  [Bible]

  The titulus crucis (Korean joepae, "placard of the charge") was the placard stating the charge against Jesus Christ, fastened above him on the cross at his crucifixion. All four Gospels record that it bore the words "the King of the Jews."

• Haman

  [People]

  Haman was a high official of the Persian king Ahasuerus in the Old Testament book of Esther. Driven by a grudge against Mordecai, he sought to destroy all the Jews in the empire, but his plot was exposed and he was executed.

• Sect of the Nazarenes

  [Bible]

  The "sect of the Nazarenes" is the expression the advocate Tertullus used in Acts 24 for the followers of Jesus when he brought charges against Paul. The Greek word behind it is closer in meaning to "sect" or "faction" than to "heresy" in the modern doctrinal sense.

• Tatnai

  [People]

  Tatnai was the Persian governor of the region west of the Euphrates River during the reign of King Darius. He investigated the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem by the Jews who had returned from exile and reported on it to the king. He appears in Ezra 5–6.

• Mordecai

  [People]

  Mordecai was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin who appears in the Old Testament Book of Esther. He raised his cousin Esther, thwarted Haman's plot to massacre the Jews, and rose to become second only to the king in the Persian Empire.