Rels Midterm
prophets
a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God.
Chronicles
the final books of the Hebrew Bible in the order followed by modern Judaism; in that generally followed in Christianity, they follow the two Books of Kings and precede Ezra-Nehemiah, thus concluding the history-oriented books of the Old Testament.
psalms
the first book of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third section of the Hebrew Bible. The English title is from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί psalmoi, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music." There are 150 psalms in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition (more in the Eastern Christian churches), many of them linked to the name of King David, but his authorship is not accepted by most modern Bible scholars.
Michal
was a daughter of Saul, king of Israel, who loved and became the first wife of David, (1 Samuel 18:20-27) who later became king of Judah, and later still of the united Kingdom of Israel.
Gilgamesh
was a king of Uruk, Mesopotamia, who lived sometime between 2800 and 2500 BC. He is the main character in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Mesopotamian poem that is considered the first great work of literature. In the epic, Gilgamesh is a demigod of superhuman strength who built the city walls of Uruk to defend his people and travelled to meet the sage Utnapishtim, who survived the Great Deluge. According to the Sumerian King List, Gilgamesh ruled his city for 126 years. In the Tummal Inscription, Gilgamesh and his son Urlugal rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of Nippur.
Judah
was a state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age, after the split of the United Monarchy. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel.
Gideon
which means "Destroyer," "Mighty warrior," or "Feller (of trees)" was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a judge of the Israelites. His story is recorded in chapters 6 to 8 of the Book of Judges. He is also named in chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews as an example of a man of faith.
Purim
Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire where a plot had been formed to destroy them. The story is recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther
diaspora
Jews living outside of Israel
Jamnia
The Old Testament Canon: The council of Jamnia: 90 AD. Introduction: In 90 AD, the council of Jamnia was unimportant in determining the Jewish Canon. It was not a major council like Nicea, but a small collection of rabbinic Jewish leaders.
Court History
one of the two hypothetical main source documents of the Books of Samuel (the other being the Accession History). The text is believed to cover most of 2 Samuel except for the first few chapters and a few more minor parts. The Court History includes several stories with a distinctly negative attitude toward David
Cannonization
or canonisation is the act by which the Catholic Church or Eastern Orthodox Church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints.
Abraham
originally Abram, is the first of the three biblical patriarchs. His story, told in chapters 11 to 25 of the Book of Genesis, plays a prominent role in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
canon criticism
Canon criticism is the name for a discipline that does not necessarily accept the present New Testament canon of Scripture. It believes that the issue of the canon was settled in the wrong way and still needs to be discussed.
Chemosh
Chemosh was the national deity of the Moabites whose name most likely meant "destroyer," "subduer," or "fish god." While he is most readily associated with the Moabites, according to Judges 11:24 he seems to have been the national deity of the Ammonites as well
lex talionis
"an eye for an eye"
zoroastrianism
a monotheistic pre-Islamic religion of ancient Persia founded by Zoroaster in the 6th century BC.
Hyksos
a people of mixed Semitic and Asian descent who invaded Egypt and settled in the Nile delta circa 1640 BC. They formed the 15th and 16th dynasties of Egypt and ruled a large part of the country until driven out circa 1532 BC.
Jezebel
a princess, identified in the Hebrew Book of Kings as the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre (Phoenicia) and the wife of Ahab, king of northern Israel. Jezebel incited her husband King Ahab to abandon the worship of Yahweh and encourage worship of the deities Baal and Asherah instead. Jezebel is said to have persecuted the prophets of Yahweh, and to have fabricated false evidence of blasphemy against an innocent landowner who refused to sell his property to King Ahab, causing the landowner to be put to death. For these transgressions against the God and people of Israel, the Bible relates, Jezebel met a gruesome death - thrown out of a window by members of her own court retinue, and the flesh of her corpse eaten by stray dogs.
theocracy
a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god. the commonwealth of Israel from the time of Moses until the election of Saul as King.
Kavod
a triliteral Semitic root with the common meaning of to "be heavy", or less literally, "be important".[1] The basic noun formed from the root means "liver", "interior", "soul" in most Semitic languages.
Rehab
according to the Book of Joshua, a prostitute who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city. She became a figure of fascination to the writers of the New Testament, where she is reckoned among the ancestors of Jesus, and is lauded as an example of living by faith, while being justified by her works.
Hezekiah
according to the Hebrew Bible, the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah. Hezekiah witnessed the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel by Sargon's Assyrians in c. 720 BC and was king of Judah during the invasion and siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 BC.[3] Hezekiah enacted sweeping religious reforms, including a strict mandate for the sole worship of Yahweh and a prohibition on venerating other deities within the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah and Micah prophesied during his reign.
Tobit
also called the Book of Tobias from the Hebrew טוביה Tovya "God is good") is a book of scripture that is part of the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon, pronounced canonical by the Council of Carthage of 397 and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the Council of Trent (1546).
epicureanism
an ancient school of philosophy founded in Athens by Epicurus. The school rejected determinism and advocated hedonism (pleasure as the highest good), but of a restrained kind: mental pleasure was regarded more highly than physical, and the ultimate pleasure was held to be freedom from anxiety and mental pain, especially that arising from needless fear of death and of the gods.
golden calf
an image of gold in the shape of a calf, made by Aaron in response to the Israelites' plea for a god while they awaited Moses' return from Mount Sinai, where he was receiving the Ten Commandments (Exod. 32).
priests
an ordained minister of the Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican Church having the authority to perform certain rites and administer certain sacraments.
Samuel
literally meaning "Name of God" in Hebrew, is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet and is mentioned in the second chapter of the Qur'an, although not by name. He was the last of the Hebrew Judges and the first of the major prophets who began to prophesy inside the Land of Israel. He was thus at the cusp between two eras. According to the text of the Books of Samuel, he also anointed the first two kings of the Kingdom of Israel: Saul and David.
Assyria
major Mesopotamian East Semitic kingdom, and often a war of mercedez, of the Ancient Near East, existing as an independent state for a period of approximately nineteen centuries from c. 2500 BC to 605 BC, spanning the Early Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age.
Ecclesiasticus
more properly known as The Wisdom of Sirach, is one of those books. Though it was well-known and widely read in New Testament times, it was not always viewed on a par with other Old Testament books. Ecclesiasticus was apparently written by Jesus, grandson of Sirach, sometime between 190 and 170 BC.
Jonah
name given in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC. He is the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation. The Biblical story of Jonah is repeated, with a few notable differences, in the Qur'an.
creation of the Septuagint
oldest Greek version of the Old Testament.The translation was made from the Hebrew Bible by Hellenistic Jews during the period 275 - 100 BC at Alexandria.
sages
person of profound wisdom
Marduk
the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century BCE), started to slowly rise to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acquired by the second half of the second millennium BCE. In the city of Babylon, he resided in the temple Esagila.
D
the Deuteronomist (D) : hypothetically written c. 600 BCE in Jerusalem during a period of religious reform.
E
the Elohist source (E) : hypothetically written c. 850 BCE in the northern Kingdom of Israel.
P
the Priestly source (P) : hypothetically written c. 500 BCE by Kohanim (Jewish priests) in exile in Babylon.
J
the Yahwist source (J) : hypothetically written c. 950 BCE in the southern Kingdom of Judah.
syncretism
the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
source criticism
the analysis and study of the sources used by biblical authors.
anthropomorphism
the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object
wisdom literature
the biblical books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus collectively.
synagogue
the building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction.
Tanakh
the canon of the Hebrew Bible. It is also known as the Masoretic Text or Miqra. Tanakh is an acronym of the first Hebrew letter of each of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings")—hence TaNaKh. The name "Miqra" (מקרא), meaning "that which is read", is another Hebrew word for the Tanakh. The books of the Tanakh were passed on by each generation, and according to rabbinic tradition were accompanied by an oral tradition, called the Oral Torah.
dualism
the division of something conceptually into two opposed or contrasted aspects, or the state of being so divided.
monotheism
the doctrine or belief that there is only one God.
Jacob
the eponymous ancestor of the Israelites. According to the Book of Genesis, Jacob was the third biblical patriarch with whom God made a covenant.
Hellenism
character or culture of Greece, especially Ancient Greece
second Isaiah
work of an anonymous 6th-century author writing during the Exile
Jericho
Jericho is described in the Hebrew Bible as the "City of Palm Trees". Copious springs in and around the city attracted human habitation for thousands of years.
Fall of Jerusalem
586 BC
Ezra
According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem. According to First Esdras, a non-canonical Greek translation of the Book of Ezra, he was also a high priest. led a group of Judean exiles living in Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem (Ezra 8.2-14) where he is said to have enforced observance of the Torah and to have cleansed the community of mixed marriages.
Bathsheba
According to the Hebrew Bible, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. She is most known for the Bible story in which King David took her to sleep with him.
Akhenaten
Akhenaten, known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV, was a pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a King of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, member of the Argead dynasty.
Babylon
Babylon was originally a Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of the Akkadian Empire c. 2300 BC.
Babylonian captivity
Babylonian Exile, also called Babylonian Captivity, the forced detention of Jews in Babylonia following the latter's conquest of the kingdom of Judah in 598/7 and 587/6 bc. The exile formally ended in 538 bc, when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return to Palestine.
Book of Jasher
Book of the Just Man is an unknown book mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The translation "Book of the Just Man" is the traditional Greek and Latin translation, while the transliterated form "Jasher" is found in the King James Bible, 1611
David
David was the eighth and youngest son of Jesse from the kingly tribe of Judah. He was also a direct descendent of Ruth the Moabite. David began his life as a shepherd in Bethlehem. One day, the prophet Samuel called him out of the field and anointed him without the knowledge of the current king, Saul.
Assyrians (period of their threat to judaism)
During the period from 850 to 700 BC, the Assyrian empire reached its zenith. During part of this time, the kings of Assyria, ruling in Nineveh on the Tigris, also exercised dominion over ancient Babylon on the Euphrates about 200 miles to the south; they were quite pleased to refer to themselves as "kings of Babylon"
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes is one of 24 books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, where it is classified as one of the Ketuvim. It is among the canonical Wisdom Books in the Old Testament of most denominations of Christianity.
feminist criticism
Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theory, or by the politics of feminism more broadly. It can be understood as using feminist principles and ideological discourses to critique the language of literature, its structure and being.
First Temple
First Temple was built in 957 BCE[1] by King Solomon (reigned c. 970-c. 930 BCE). According to Deuteronomy, as the sole place of Jewish sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12), the Temple replaced the portable sanctuary (aka The Tabernacle) constructed in the Sinai Desert under the auspices of Moses, as well as local sanctuaries, and altars in the hills. This temple was however sacked a few decades later by Sheshonk I, Pharaoh of Egypt. However, according to 1 Kings 12, after the northern secession from Judah ca. 930 BCE to establish the independent kingdom of Israel, King Jeroboam built new temples at Bethel (on Israel's southern border) and at Dan (on the northern border). At each of these shrines, he set up a golden bull calf, calling them Elohim.
genre criticism
Genre criticism is a method within rhetorical criticism for analyzing speeches and writing according to the symbolic artifacts they contain. In rhetoric, the theory of genre provides a means to classify and compare artifacts of communication and to assess their effectiveness and/or contribution to a community
sheol
Hebrew term for the place of the dead, the common grave of humans, or underworld of the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures. It is a place of darkness to which all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of the moral choices made in life, a place of stillness and darkness cut off from life and from God.
Jeroboam
Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy. Jeroboam reigned for 22 years
Ezekiel
In Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet. In Judaism and Christianity, he is also viewed as the author of the Book of Ezekiel that reveals prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, the restoration to the land of Israel and the Millennial Temple visions, or the Third Temple.
Tamar
In the Book of Genesis, Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah (twice), as well as the mother of two of his children: the twins Perez and Zerah.
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, Aaron was the older brother of Moses, (Exodus 6:16-20, 7:7; Qur'an 28:34 ), a prophet of God.
Jonathan
Jonathan is a heroic figure in 1 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He was the eldest son of King Saul and close friend of King David. Like his father, he was a man of great strength and swiftness and excelled in archery and slinging. The relationship between David and Jonathan is one of the most notable biblical relationships.
1 Maccabees
book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, about the latter part of the 2nd century BC.
reign of Josiah
Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after the assassination of his father, King Amon, and reigned for thirty-one years, from 641/640 to 610/609 BC.
Ramses II
Ramses II was the third king of the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt, and is often cited as the most powerful of the Pharaohs, or simply "Ramses the Great". Named for his grandfather, Ramses I, he was appointed as successor to the throne when he was only 14, and took his first wife almost immediately. Even before assuming full power he was regarded as co-ruler with his father, Pharaoh Seti I.
redaction criticism
Redaction criticism, also called Redaktionsgeschichte, Kompositionsgeschichte or Redaktionstheologie, is a critical method for the study of biblical texts. Redaction criticism regards the author of the text as editor (redactor) of his or her source materials.
Naomi
Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth.
Samson
Samson, meaning "man of the sun"), Shamshoun, or Sampson (Greek: Σαμψών), is one of the last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Judges chapters 13 to 16).
Sargon I
Sargon I or Sharru-ken reigned as king of the old-Assyrian Kingdom from ca. 1920 BC to 1881 BC. The name 'Sargon' means 'the king is legitimate' in Akkadian. He is known for his work refortifying Assur.
destruction of the first temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the Holy Temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount (also known as Mount Zion), before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE.
festival of booths
Sukkot, a Hebrew word meaning "booths" or "huts," refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest. It also commemorates the 40 years of Jewish wandering in the desert after the giving of the Torah atop Mt. Sinai
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in the Book of Exodus as containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed
Covenants
The Bible speaks of seven different covenants, four of which (Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic, Davidic) God made with the nation of Israel. Of those four, three are unconditional in nature; that is, regardless of Israel's obedience or disobedience, God still will fulfill these covenants with Israel.
Baruch
The Book of Baruch, occasionally referred to as 1 Baruch, is called a deuterocanonical book of the Bible. Although not in the Hebrew Bible, it is found in the Septuagint and in the Vulgate Bible, Eritrean/Ethiopian Orthodox bible and also in Theodotion's version.
Exodus
The Book of Exodus or, simply, Exodus, is the second book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the five books of the Torah. The book tells how the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, the God who has chosen Israel as his people.
Job
The Book of Job (/ˈdʒoʊb/; Hebrew: אִיוֹב Iyov) is one of the Writings (Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible, and the first poetical book in the Christian Old Testament.
Merneptah Stele
The Merneptah Stele—also known as the Israel Stele or Victory Stele of Merneptah—is an inscription by the Ancient Egyptian king Merneptah (reign: 1213 to 1203 BC) discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1896 at Thebes, and now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Deuteronomistic History
The Deuteronomistic History is the second major division of the OT, following the Pentateuch. Like the term "Pentateuch," "Deuteronomistic History" is a scholars' term, not found in the biblical text itself.
war scroll
The War Scroll (1QM), popularly known as "The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness," is one of the seven original Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947.
Alexander the Great (beginning of Greco-Roman period)
The history of Greek and Roman Egypt spans from 332 BC to 642 AD, and is generally divided into the following sub-periods: Ptolemaic Kingdom (332-30 BC) Egypt (Roman province) (30 BC - 380 AD) Diocese of Egypt (Late Antiquity) (380-642 AD)
Boaz
The husband of Ruth, a wealthy Bethlehemite. By the "levirate law" the duty devolved on him of marrying Ruth the Moabitess ( Ruth 4:1-13 ). He was a kinsman of Mahlon, her first husband.
Utnapishtim
Utnapishtim was the only man to escape death, since, having preserved human and animal life in the great boat he built, he and his wife were deified by the god Enlil. Utnapishtim directed Gilgamesh to a plant that would renew his youth, but the hero failed to return with it to his home city.
2 Maccabees
a deuterocanonical book which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work. Unlike 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees was written in Koine Greek, probably in Alexandria, Egypt, c 124 BC. It presents a revised version of the historical events recounted in the first seven chapters of 1 Maccabees, adding material from the Pharisaic tradition, including prayer for the dead and a resurrection on Judgment Day.
Joshua
a figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses' assistant. He is the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. According to the books Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses
Moses
a former Egyptian prince later turned prophet, religious leader and lawgiver, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed.
Josiah
a king of Judah (641-609 BC), according to the Hebrew Bible, who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Hebrew Scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule. Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after the assassination of his father, King Amon, and reigned for thirty-one years, from 641/640 to 610/609 BC
Mannaseh
a king of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the only son of Hezekiah with Hephzi-bah. He became king at an age of 12 and reigned for 55 years.
form criticism
analysis of the Bible by tracing the history of its content of parables, psalms, and other literary forms.
Nineveh
ancient Mesopotamian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It was the largest city in the world for some fifty years until, after a bitter period of civil war in Assyria itself, it was sacked by an unusual coalition of former subject peoples, the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Chaldeans, Scythians and Cimmerians in 612 BC. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq.
Sumerian
ancient civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Although the earliest forms of writing in the region do not go back much further than c. 3500 BCE, modern historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 and 4000 BCE by a non-Semitic people who spoke the Sumerian language
ninth of av
annual fast day in Judaism which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the Land of Israel. The day also commemorates other tragedies which occurred on the same day, including the Roman massacre of over 500,000 Jews at Betar in 135 CE. Instituted by the rabbis of 2nd-century present-day Israel, Tisha B'Av is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and a day which is destined for tragedy.
Baal
any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples; the Hebrews considered Baal a false god
Jepthah
appears in the Biblical Book of Judges as a judge over Israel for a period of six years (Judges 12:7). He lived in Gilead and was a member of the tribe of Manasseh. His father's name is also given as Gilead and, as his mother is described as a prostitute, this may mean that his father may have been any of the men of that area.[1] Jephthah led the Israelites in battle against Ammon and, after defeating the Ammonites, fulfilled a rash vow of his, by sacrificing his daughter.
second temple period
between 516 BCE and 70 CE.
apocrypha
biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of Scripture.
song of songs
book of the Bible accepted as holy scripture by Jews and Christians. Since the earliest recorded sources, it has been considered a book of the Old Testament by Christians, and since the 8th century AD it has been considered one of the megillot (scrolls) of the Ketuvim (the "Writings", the last section of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible). it celebrates sexual love.
Torah
central concept in the religious Judaic tradition. It has a range of meanings: it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty four books of the Tanakh; it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries in it; the term Torah means instruction and offers a way of life for those who follow it; it can mean the continued narrative from Genesis to the end of the Tanakh; it can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture and practice. Common to all these meanings, Torah consists of the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their call into being by God, their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which involves following a way of life embodied in a set of religious obligations and civil laws
Nehemiah
central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work rebuilding Jerusalem and purifying the Jewish community. He was the son of Hachaliah, (Neh. 1:1) and probably of the Tribe of Judah, and his career took place probably in the second half of the 5th century BC.
third Isaiah
composed after the return from exile.
resurrection
concept of a living being coming back to life after death. It is a religious concept, where it is used in two distinct respects: a belief in the resurrection of individual souls that is current and ongoing (Christian idealism, realized eschatology), or else a belief in a singular resurrection of the dead at the end of the world.
Second Temple
construction of the Second Temple was authorized by Cyrus the Great and began in 538 BCE, after the fall of the Babylonian Empire the year before. It was completed 23 years later, on the third day of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the Great (12 March 515 BCE),[6] dedicated by the Jewish governor Zerubbabel. Despite the fact that the new temple was not as extravagant or imposing as its predecessor, it still dominated the Jerusalem skyline and remained an important structure throughout the time of Persian suzerainty. The temple narrowly avoided being destroyed again in 332 BCE when the Jews refused to acknowledge the deification of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Alexander was allegedly "turned from his anger" at the last minute by astute diplomacy and flattery. After the death of Alexander on 13 June 323 BCE, and the dismembering of his empire, the Ptolemies came to rule over Judea and the Temple.
El
deity
apocalyptic
describing or prophesying the complete destruction of the world.
Judith
deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded from Jewish texts and assigned by Protestants to the Apocrypha. The book contains numerous historical anachronisms, which is why many scholars now accept it as non-historical; it has been considered a parable or perhaps the first historical novel.
Pseudepigrapha
falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is represented by a separate author, or a work "whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past." The word "pseudepigrapha" (from the Greek: ψευδής, pseudes, "false" and ἐπιγραφή, epigraphē, "name" or "inscription" or "ascription"; thus when taken together it means "false superscription or title"
Cyrus the Great
founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia and the Caucasus.
literary criticism
he study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals. Though the two activities are closely related, literary critics are not always, and have not always been, theorists.
Reign of King David
his reign over Judah c. 1010-1002 BC
Ur
important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in south Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate. Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now well inland, south of the Euphrates on its right bank, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Nasiriyah.
passover
important biblically derived Jewish festival. The Jewish people celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation over 3,300 years ago by God from slavery in ancient Egypt that was ruled by the Pharaohs, and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses. It commemorates the story of the Exodus as described in the Hebrew Bible especially in the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.
Solomon
ing of Israel and the son of David. The conventional dates of Solomon's reign are circa 970 to 931 BC. He is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and its final king before the rupture into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. Following the split, his patrilineal descendants ruled over Judah alone. Solomon is one of the 48 prophets. The Hebrew Bible credits Solomon as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem and portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power, but ultimately as a king whose sins, including idolatry and turning away from Yahweh, led to the kingdom's being torn in two during the reign of his son Rehoboam.
hesed
is a Hebrew word commonly translated as "loving-kindness," "kindness" or "love." Chesed is central to Jewish ethics and Jewish theology. Many Jewish thinkers view chesed as the primary virtue. Chesed is valued by religious Jews of all denominations. It is considered a virtue on its own, and also for its contribution to tikkun olam (repairing the world). It's also the foundation of many religious commandments practiced by traditional Jews, especially interpersonal commandments. Chesed is the basis for a wide variety of Jewish communal institutions.
Israel
is a biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The Jewish religious belief that the area is a God-given inheritance of the Jewish people is based on the Torah, particularly in the books of Genesis and Exodus, as well as in the later Prophets.[1] According to the Book of Genesis, the land was first promised by God to the descendants of Abram
Satan
is a term, as well as the name of a figure appearing in the texts of the Abrahamic religions who brings evil and temptation, and is known as the deceiver that leads humanity astray. Some religious groups teach that he originated as an angel who fell out of favor with God, seducing humanity into the ways of sin, and who now rules over the fallen world. In the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, Satan is primarily an accuser and adversary, a decidedly malevolent entity (a.k.a. the devil) who possesses demonic qualities.
Jael
is a woman mentioned in the Book of Judges in the Bible, as the heroine who killed Sisera to deliver Israel from the troops of king Jabin. She was the wife of Heber the Kenite.
Book of Enoch
is an ancient Jewish religious work, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, although modern scholars estimate the older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) to date from about 300 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to the end of the first century BC.
Esther
is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther. According to the Bible, she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus is traditionally identified with Xerxes I during the time of the Achaemenid empire. Her story is the basis for the celebration of Purim in Jewish tradition.
Writings (Ketuvim)
is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi'im (prophets). In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually entitled "Writings" or "Hagiographa". psalms proverbs and job
Persia
period of Persian rule in the Levant extends from Cyrus's defeat of the city of Babylon (539 BCE) to Alexander's conquest of the Persian empire (333-331 BCE). The Persian territory at its zenith extended from Iran through Mesopotamia and Syro-Palestine to Egypt, westward to Asia Minor, and eastward to the Indus River.
Nathan the Prophet
person in the Hebrew Bible. His actions are described in the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. According to 2 Samuel, he was a court prophet who lived in the time of King David.
Lot
person mentioned in the biblical Book of Genesis chapters 11-14 and 19. Notable episodes in his life include his travels with his uncle Abram (Abraham), his flight from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, during which Lot's wife became a pillar of salt, and the seduction by his daughters so that they could bear children.
poetry (hebrew)
poetry written in the Hebrew language. It encompasses such things as: Biblical poetry, the poetry found in the poetic books of the Hebrew Bible. Piyyut, religious Jewish liturgical poetry in Hebrew or Aramaic.
documentary hypothesis
proposes that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) was derived from originally independent, parallel and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of redactors (editors).
Ruth
protagonist of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible.
proverbs
second book of the third section (called Writings) of the Hebrew Bible. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) it became "Παροιμίαι=Paroimiae" ("Proverbs"); in the Latin Vulgate the title was "proverbia", from which the English name is derived. a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life which lasted for more than a millennium.[2] It is an example of the Biblical wisdom tradition, and raises questions of values, moral behaviour, the meaning of human life, and right conduct.[3] The repeated theme is that "the fear of God (meaning submission to the will of God) is the beginning of wisdom" .
Miriam
sister of Moses and Aaron, and the daughter of Amram and Yocheved. She appears first in the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible.
martyr
somebody who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, and/or refusing to advocate a belief or cause, usually a religious one. Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming a symbol of good leadership and heroism.
Saul
the first king of a united Kingdom of Israel and Judah. He would have lived circa 1082 BC-1010 BC, was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah. He fell on his sword to avoid capture in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed. The succession to his throne was contested by Ish-bosheth, his only surviving son, and his son-in-law David, who eventually prevailed.
Hosea
son of Beeri, a prophet in Israel in the 8th century BC and author of the book of prophecies bearing his name. He is one of the Twelve Prophets of the Jewish Hebrew Bible, also known as the Minor Prophets of the Christian Old Testament. Hosea is often seen as a "prophet of doom", but underneath his message of destruction is a promise of restoration. The Talmud (Pesachim 87a) claims that he was the greatest prophet of his generation. The period of Hosea's ministry extended to some sixty years and he was the only prophet of Israel who left any written prophecy
Isaiah of Jerusalem (first Isaiah)
the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in English Bibles. The oldest surviving manuscripts of Isaiah are two scrolls found among the Dead Sea Scrolls; dating from about a century before the time of Jesus, they are substantially identical with the Masoretic version which forms the basis of most modern English-language versions of the book. first Isaiah: words of Isaiah
Jerusalem
the holiest city, focus and spiritual center of the Jews.[1] Jerusalem has long been embedded into Jewish religious consciousness and Jews have always studied and personalized the struggle by King David to capture Jerusalem and his desire to build the Holy Temple there, as described in the Book of Samuel and the Book of Psalms. Jews believe that in the future the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem will become the center of worship and instruction for all mankind and consequently Jerusalem will become the spiritual center of the world
Joab
the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew Bible.
Jehu
the tenth king of Israel since Jeroboam I, noted for exterminating the house of Ahab at the instruction of Yahweh.[1] He was the son of Jehoshaphat,[2] and grandson of Nimshi.
Division of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms
the united Davidic Kingdom under Solomon split in 930 B.C. when Solomon died.
theodicy
the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.
monolatry
the worship of one god without denial of the existence of other gods.
sabbath
used primarily to denote the seventh day of the week, though it may occasionally refer to the Sabbath week ( Lev 23:15-16 ) at the end of every seven Sabbaths or fifty days, or the Sabbath year ( Lev 25:1-7 ) in which the land was to be at complete rest.
Ai
was a Canaanite royal city. According to the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible, it was conquered by the Israelites on their second attempt.
Elijah
was a prophet and a wonder-worker in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab (9th century BC), according to the biblical Books of Kings. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh over that of the Canaanite god Baal (which was considered as idol worship); he raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and was taken up "by a whirlwind."
Jeremiah
was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Jeremiah is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Jeremiah, 1 Kings, 2 Kings and the Book of Lamentations, with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple.