B
B
BAAL (בעל, owner or lord) 1. The 4th son of Jeiel, a Gibeonite ancestor of
Saul. 2. The father of Beerah, a Reubenite chieftain who was exiled by
the Assyrians
BAAL (DEITY) (See above entry) The term signifies ownership, not in the
sense of sovereignty over a person, but rather the possession of a locality
lity or attribute; any local god may be so designated after he and his wor-
shipers had taken possession of a given locality. From the end of the
2000's probably, and certainly by the middle of the 1000's B.C., the title
was applied specifically to the Amorite god of winter rain and storm, Hadad.
Baal's activity was limited to nature, while El, the senior god of the Canaa-
nite pantheon, was supreme in the social or moral sphere.
In his conflict with the Waters, Baal champions the gods against the
insults and tyranny of the unruly waters, Sea-and-River. Baal overcomes
him and disperses him so that the waters are a good servant, not a bad
master. Baal is acclaimed king of an everlasting kingdom. There are bibli-
cal passages (Psalms 29 and 93) where Yahweh is depicted with Baal's at-
tributes. The biblical conception of the “Day of the Lord,” implying as it
does conflict and victory over the powers of Chaos, is also a development
of the old Canaanite theme of Baal's conflict and victory. In both cases, the
Canaanite influence seems to have been strong, with Israel appropriating,
through adapting Canaanite thought, forms, and imagery.
Baal was one of the Semitic deities whose cult penetrated to Egypt
in the 18th and 19 Dynasties. The Pharoah Ramses II seems himself to
have affected Syrian cults. Baal's most notable cult center in Egypt was
Baal Saphon, east of the Delta. In Baal's conflict with Mot, the power of
drought and sterility, Baal is a dying and rising god, the spirit of vegetation
which wilts and dies in the heat of summer but revives again with the winter
rains.
On the death of Baal, his sister “the virgin Anat” ranges the moun-
tains searching for him and makes the hills resound with her mourning.
Passages in Zechariah 12, Ezekiel 8, and Judges 11 use similar images.
There is also a ritual for the building of a house for Baal whose completion
coincides with the rain, thunder and lightning. This ritual may have been
the prototype for the Hebrew Feast of the Tabernacles. When Baal re-
vives, he engages Mot in a great struggle and overcomes him.
In Judges period, the Hebrews tended to assimilate the Baal cult
without adapting it and at various later times, such as during the reign of
Ahab and Jezebel, there was a resurgence of Baal-worship. The pro-
phets, especially Hosea, preach against this materialistic nature cult, and
Hezekiah and Josiah suppressed it. It is mentioned as still existing in the
early days of the exile and in the Persian period.
BAAL-BERITH (בעל ברית, lord of covenant) A god whose shrine and cult,
according to Judges 9, was at Shechem. They both became popular in
Israel together with the worship of the local Canaanite fertility god Baal
after Gideon's death, although this probably applied only to the Israelites
in the vicinity of Shechem.
Shechem was a strong city which the Israelites dealt with through
agreement, rather than force of arms. While the term “Baal” in “Baal-
berith” doesn't have to be the Canaanite fertility god, in this case we pro-
bably have to visualize him as the local form of that god, in whose temple
an agreement had been made and was regularly ratified between the Is-
raelites, who thought of this god as “covenant-lord,” and the people of
Shechem, who thought of him first as “Baal” and then as “covenant-lord.”
BAAL-GAD (בעל־גד, baal of good fortune) A town near Mount Hermon mar-
king the northern limits of Joshua's conquest. It was in a valley, with
Mount Hermon on the east, and Mount Lebanon on the west. The exact
site is unknown.
BAAL-HAMON (בעל המון, Lord of the abundance (wealth)) A place where
there was an especially fruitful vineyard of Solomon's. The site is unknown,
and it may well be a place in poetic imagination.
BAAL-HANAN (בעל־חנן, Baal is gracious) 1. A king in Edom before the Isra-
elite monarchy; son of Achbor. He succeeded Shaul and was succeeded
by Hadad. 2. A Gederite official under David; he was in charge of olive
and sycamore trees in the Shephelah.
BAAL-HAZOR (בעל חצור, Baal of Hazor) Possibly Absalom's mountain
home, probably located about 10 km northeast of Bethel
the sons of David there, and had Amnon killed there. It may have been the
site of an ancient Canaanite-Hebrew sanctuary.
B-1
BAAL-HERMON (חרמון בעל, lord of Hermon) A city of the Hivites on the bor-
der of Manasseh, which was untouched by Israelite conquest. One theory
was that it was on top of the mountain; another is that it the same as Baal-
Gad.
BAAL-MEON (בעל מעון, lord of dwelling) One of the names for a town in
northern Moab about 6.4 km south of Medeba. It was assigned to the tribe
of Reuben. Around 830 B.C. it was in Moabite possession; Samaritan wri-
ting shows it in Israelite possession around 772 B. C.
BAAL-PEOR (בעל פעור) The God of Mount Peor. While Israel was en-
camped at Shittim, they “yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor,” and in-
dulged in licentious worship rites with Moabites. In punishment, Israel
was smitten with a plague.
BAAL-PERAZIM (בעל פרצים, place of defeats) A place northwest of Jeru-
salem, near the Valley of Rephaim where David defeated the Philistines
shortly after his being anointed king of Israel.
BAAL-SHALISHAH (בעל שלשה) A city or region perhaps southwest of
Shechem, the home of the man who came to Elisha at Gilgal with 20
loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain.
BAAL-TAMAR (תמר בעל, lord of the palm) An unknown place, perhaps only
a prominent landmark, near Gibeah of Benjamin, where the Israelites as-
sembled to fight in their last and successful assault.
BAAL-ZEBUB (בעל זבוב, fly-god) A god of the Philistine city of Ekron, to
whom King Ahaziah of Israel sent an inquiry around 845 B. C. as to whe-
ther he would live after falling from an upper chamber. Since it is difficult to
see why a god of pestilence would be consulted after a fall, speculation is
still widespread as to the actual meaning of the word.
BAAL-ZEPHON (בעל צפון, place of (the god) Typhon) A city near the coast
and a station on the Exodus; the exact site is unknown. In Canaanite, the
word means Lord of the North; an Egyptian source identifies his role as a
sea- and storm-god.
BAALAH (בעלה, wife, lady) 1. An earlier name of Kiriath-jearim (Joshua 15).
2. A mountain on Judah's border (Joshua 15), probably about 8 km north-
west of Khirbet el-Muqanna (Ekron) 3. A village in the Shephelah dis-
trict of Judah; formerly a part of Simeon (Joshua 15).
BAALATH (בעלת, mistress) A town included in the original territorial allot-
ment of Dan, probably near Gezer, although the exact site is unknown.
BAALBEK The Semitic name Baalbek is probably an allusion to the deity wor-
shiped there, Baal of the Beqa'a. The Greek name was Heliopolis, “city of
the sun,” since Baal was identified with the sun-god. Its prosperous times
began during the reign of Augustus and continued for 2 or 3 centuries.
Baalbek is now famous for its temple ruins. The most ancient temple was
originally built for the West Semitic storm-god Hadad. Later it was dedica-
ted to the sun-god cult and afterward to Jupiter. There was also a temple
to Dionysus, and a 3rd, round temple. The emperors Antoninus Pius
(138-161 A.D.) and Caracalla (211-217 A.D.), the latter of whom gener-
ously completed the temples of Baalbek, probably because his mother
was a Syrian lady.
BAALE-JUDAH (בעלי יהודה, Baals (or lords) of Judah) The same city as
Kiriath-Jearim.
BAALETH-BEER (בעלת באר, lady of the well) A city of Simeon
the shrine of a Canaanite goddess. The site is unknown.
BAALI (בעלי, my lord, or my husband) In Hosea, God rejects this term in
favor of Ishi (“my husband”), thereby rejecting the idea that God is simi-
lar to the Canaanite Baal and only the power of Providence
BAALIM (בעלים, Baals or lords) Plural of Baal, possibly a plural of majesty,
but probably various local forms of Baal.
BAALIS (בעליס, son of exultation) A king of the Ammonites. He sent Ish-
mael to Gedaliah soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, hoping in the
process to take over some of devastated Judah.
B-2
BAANA (בענה, son of affliction) 1. Son of Ahilud; one of 12 commissioners
of Solomon in Northern Israel , along the northern border of Manasseh.
2. Son of Hushai; one of 12 commissioners of Solomon, in the district of
Asher and Bealoth. 3. The father of Zadok, who participated in the re-
building of the walls of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah.
BAANAH (בענה, son of affliction) 1. One of the sons of Rimmon, a Benja-
minite from Beeroth. With his brother, Rechab, he shared in the regicide
of Ishbosheth. This was done to ensure the deceased Abner's plan for a
united kingdom under David, by eliminating his most dangerous oppo-
nent. When they fled to David's Judean court with Ishbosheth's head,
David had them summarily executed.
2. A Netophathite; the father of Heled, who was part of the “30.”
3. One of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Judah, and per-
haps shared the leadership with Zerubbabel.
4. 1 of those who set their seals to the covenant made in Nehe-
miah’s time, perhaps the same as Baana 3.
BAARA (בערא) Apparently a wife of Shaharim, a Benjaminite.
BAASEIAH (בעשיה) A Levite of the family of Kohathites; ancestor of Asaph
the musician.
BAASHA (בעשא, short for “Baal hears” or “The sun is Baal”) Son of Ahijah
from the tribe of Issachar. He was king of (northern) Israel (around 900-
877 B.C.), the successor of Nadab, whom he murdered.
He reigned for 24 years at Tirzah; Tirzah continued as the capital
city until Omri became king. Baasha gained the throne because of a mi-
litary revolt against King Nadab, and because the concept of charismatic
leadership was still strong. When Baasha attempted to fortify Ramah
near Jerusalem, Asa, king of Judah, “hired” Ben-hadad of Syria to har-
ass northern Israel, thus forcing Baasha to withdraw.
sis, after the flood, humankind came together to build a city and a tower
to reach the heavens, in order to unite them and prevent them from scat-
tering. God confused their language so they had to disperse. The city
and tower were therefore called Babel.
The Tower of Babel is almost certainly the great ziggurat or state
tower of the Marduk temple. We have the evidence of the temple's mea-
surement and its ground plan through archaeology. In spite of this,
there are many open questions about the tower's appearance. The story
in Genesis would seem to have been inspired by the tower at a period
when that great monument was in ruins between 2 rebuilding periods.
Its ruins are situated on a Euphrates' branch, near the modern town of
Hilla, southwest of Baghdad. We had no reliable, overall picture of the
city until the Germans did a series of excavations from 1899 to 1918.
The high water table makes it difficult to dig very deep, so the beginnings
of the city in the early 2000s B.C. remains unknown.
The earliest mention of the city is possibly around 2500 B.C. as
“Babilim,” which means “the gate of the god.” It is mentioned again in the
3rd Ur Dynasty as a provincial capital and the governor's seat. Later it be-
came the capital of a small independent kingdom of Amorite descent un-
der Sumu-abum. Under Hammurabi, Babylon extended its sway over
most of southern Mesopotamia, but under his son Samauiluna, the king-
dom's southern part was lost to the Sea Land kings. The end of the dy-
nasty came shortly after 1600 B.C., with a Hittite raid on Babylon.
It was captured and partially destroyed by the Assyrian ruler Tu-
kulti Ninurta (1235-1198 B.C.), but it recovered. When the Assyrians' Ti-
glath-pileser III (746-727) and Sargon II (722-705) subdued southern
Mesopotamia, Babylon became a center of resistance, so much so that
Sennacherib (705-681) felt forced to destroy the city; his son Esarhad-
don rebuilt the city.
Shamashshumukin served as regent in Babylon, while his brother
ruled in Asshur. A rebellion by Shamashshumukin led to a severe siege of
Babylon, in which Shamashshumukin burned himself to death in his pa-
lace. In 608 B.C., the Assyrian Empire fell, and Babylon, which had been
a prime mover, entered upon its most glorious period as of the Neo-Baby-
lonian Empire's capital. Under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadrezzar II (605-
562), a vast program of public building and fortification was carried out.
B-3
When this empire fell to the Persians, Babylon
rus in 539 B.C. without opposition. When the Persian Empire fell to Alex-
ander the Great, Babylon again offered no resistance. Alexander's succes-
sor Seleucus I (Nicator) founded Seleucia on the Tigris nearby, which led
to a slow but steady transfer of Babylon's population, until by the Christian
era only astronomers and mathematicians still lived in the city.
Babylon formed a slightly squeezed rectangle straddling the Euphra-
tes River, covering an area of approximately 4 square km., with the long
side of the rectangle running northeast to southwest. The larger area east
of the river constituted the older part of the city, with the royal palace and
the main temples. The area west of the river was the “new city.” 2 impo-
sing walls enclosed the rectangle; the inner wall was about 6.8 meters in
width, while the outer was 3.5 meters. Outside the latter ran a water-filled
defensive ditch. There were towers at about 20 meter intervals.
Access to the city was through ramps across the ditch and gates in
the double walls. The Ishtar Gate was in the eastern part of the northern
wall. Nebuchadnezzar II constructed a new double wall further out to the
south and east in order to prevent arrows from reaching the inner wall.
There was also a system of artificial lakes and flooded areas that was esta-
blished to the north and east outside these walls. Visitors from the north
would 1st pass Nebuchadnezzar's outer fortification line and a “Summer
Palace” just inside them. Just before the Ishtar Gate, they would have
passed a second large palace to their right and a similar structure, thought
of as an “armed camp” on their left.
Approaching the Ishtar Gate, they would see an arched entry
around 4.8 meters wide and perhaps 9.7 meters high, with massive square
towers on each side. The towers and gate were faced with lapis-lazuli blue
tiles and decorated with rows of bulls and dragons in colored relief. They
then crossed a broad, 32 meter gate room to a second larger gate, again
flanked by 2 massive towers which were larger than the first pair and with-
out reliefs. Finally, they would emerge on the processional street Aibur-
shabu, which led due south through the city.
Immediately inside the city on their left was a temple for goddess
Ninmakh; to their right was the largest of the 3 palaces they would have
seen so far. This palace had three major units; the one nearest the street
contained the official reception suite of the king, with throne room, and a
broad hall on the south side of a large court. There are unusually solid and
heavy walls in part of this unit, which have been interpreted as the founda-
tions for the famous “Hanging Gardens of Babylon.”
West of this part of the palace, one entered the second unit of the
palace, which has been interpreted as the living quarters of the king. Still
farther west was the third unit of the palace, interpreted as the harem, the
part of the palace which accommodated the royal family. A section of pri-
vate homes was located a little further south on the left side of Aibur-
shabu. For the most part, they were 1-story high, with no windows facing
west and only one door facing the street.
Going south along Aibur-shabu, one reached on the right the walls
of the complex Etemenanki, with pillars as part of the wall. This complex
had the ziggurat of Babylon. Turning right at the southeast corner of Ete-
menanki, and going down toward the river, the visitors would see Eteme-
nanki on their right and the Marduk temple Esagila on their left.
Esagila's entrance was in its eastern wall. A gate at the far wes-
tern end of the forecourt opened into the main unit of the temple. The
main court had rooms on the north and south walls and a monumental gate
at its west end. There was a smaller room and then a main room entered
through a door in the middle of the long side, opposite of the dais on
which Marduk's image was placed. The room's decorations were lavish in
the extreme; roof beams were covered with gold and silver, and the walls
were covered with gold. Herodotus estimates that some 800 talents
(25,000 kg) of precious metals went into the furnishings.
The street which ran from Aibur-shabu between Esgalia and Eteme-
nanki down to the river, led to a bridge which connected the eastern and
western parts of the city. The bridge rested on six boat-shaped pillars of
baked bricks laid in bitumen. The deck of the bridge was wooden planks
which were taken up every evening so that the city inhabitants of one part
could not cross over by night and steal from those on the other side.
Written records fully confirm Babylon's reputation's as a great and
wealthy city of lavish splendor. Nothing in the records sheds light on its
reputation for moral laxity. It may be remembered that the biblical tradition
is of a necessity a hostile tradition, both because of religious conviction and
the harsh treatment of the Jews by Babylonian rulers. Neither would en-
dear the city to biblical writers.
New Testament Babylon—1. The eastern city and kingdom into
this captivity kept 2 themes alive for early Christians. 1st, the captivity
was God's punishment for the people's sins of idolatry and disobedience;
and 2nd, Babylon the haughty empire would itself be destroyed by God.
Babylon represented both the place and the time of this exile. The move-
ment of Israel from David to slavery is reversed by the movement from sla-
very to the son of David, or the Christ.
B-4
2. The ancient Babylon used as the archetypal head of all en-
trenched worldly resistance to God. Here, she is a harlot riding the beast,
ruling many kingdoms, corrupting kings, drunk with the blood of saints and
martyrs, the mother of all harlots. As such, she is the antithesis of the vir-
gin bride of Christ, the holy new Jerusalem. Her power over God's people
was granted by God, but she was subject to great desolation. The sin and
doom of Babylon is revealed from heaven, in spite of its disguise in earthly
prosperity and power.
Rome is Babylon for the prophet of Revelations. In the events of
his own day, the church was being tried and corrupted, he perceived both
the idolatries and Babylon's sure doom. In thinking of Rome in these
terms, the prophet adopted an idiom which was current among Jewish
seers. When he speaks of writing from Babylon, he assumes that his
readers will understand that the city which Romans call Rome is really a
manifestation of the age-old domain of idolatry. But the Babylon of the
prophet isn't just Rome, but is wherever idolatry is dominant; it is the king-
dom of that beast which has corrupted and enslaved mankind. Babylon is
the end-of-time symbol of satanic deception and power and is not to be re-
duced to one earthly place.
BACA, VALLEY OF (עמק הבכא (‘ay mawk ha ba ka), valley of the balsam
trees) A Palestinian valley the name of which was probably taken from a
tree species which oozed gum. No valley of such a name has yet been
identified, so this valley may be symbolic. On the other hand the valley of
Rephaim has the balsam trees in question. The valley was on a forbid-
ding route leading to Zion (Jerusalem).
BACKSLIDING (משובה, שובב (mesh oo baw, sho bawb); apostasy, back-
turning) A prophetic term, almost exclusive to Jeremiah and Hosea. It has
covenantal association. Israel as the wife of Yahweh has proved unfaith-
ful, not just with religious apostasy, but with moral apostasy—a forgetting,
or rejection, of the ordinances of the Lord. People, prophets, and priests
together were guilty.
BAG (1. ריטח (kha reet), purse 2. כיס (keece), purse 3. צרור (tser ore),
purse 4.צור tsore) 5. כלי (kel ee) 6. Phra (peh ra))
1.) Used for money bags in II Kings, and “handbags” in Isaiah.
2.) Used several places for a bag or pouch used for weights. 3.) Used
several places to describe a cloth drawn together in a bundle, to hold
money or other things. 4.) Used in II Kings as a verb “to tie up in bags.”
5.) Used several places to describe a grain bag, a food sack, a grape con-
tainer, or a shepherd's bag. 6. ) Used in 1st 3 gospels, to describe a
traveling bag, a shepherd's bag, or a beggar's bag.
BAHURIM (בחורים) A village east of Mount Scopus near Jerusalem, where
Paltiel and Michal parted. Shimei cursed David here, as David fled from
Absalom. Jonathon and Ahimaaz when they were spying for David hid in
the well of a man of Bahurim. Azmaveth, one of David's mighty men, was
probably from here.
BAJITH (הבית, the house) In King James it is a Moabite place name; In the
Revised Standard Version, the Hebrew is changed so that it is translated
as “the daughter.”
BAKBAKKAR (בקבקר, searcher, abundance of the mountains) A Levite of
the sons of Asaph in Jerusalem.
BAKBUK (בקבוק, flask) Head of a family of postexilic, lower ranked temple
servants.
BAKBUKIAH (בקבקיה, abundance of Yahu) A singer and guard of the temple
store house; possibly a son of Heman, who founded 1 of 3 classical groups
of singers.
BAKERS' STREET (חוץ האפים (khoots ha o phim)) In ancient Jerusalem, it
was natural for a group of craftsmen to develop in a specific area. Bakers'
street was presumably located toward the northwest angle of the city near
a tower called the Tower of the Ovens; probably the bakery was part of the
dwelling. Today in Jerusalem there are numerous bakeries between the
Damascus gate and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
B-5
BAKING (אפה (‘aw faw), to bake) The Hebrew root word and those coming
from it refer specifically to baking bread and cakes prepared with flour
and oil. This was a substantial portion of the daily food of the Canaanites
and the Hebrews. The abstaining from leaven in the dough was prompted
either by reason of necessity, such as baking in a hurry, or by rules of the
ritual. Travelers, however, baked flat cakes of coarse bread on pebbles
upon which a fire had been built and the embers swept away.
The feudal landlords in Canaanite Palestine used to draft maidens
as bakers; Israelites feared the same from their kings. In Egypt, the chief
baker at the royal court seems to have been a personage of great impor-
tance. Biblical references to the art of cooking are few and not explicit.
The use of bronze or iron forks for the preparing and serving of meat is
attested to by archaeology. The sacrificial meals for the priests and cer-
tain worshipers required that kitchen facilities be provided for in the pre-
cincts of the temple.
BALAAM (בלעם, wasting of the people) A seer summoned by Balak king of
Moab to curse Israel before they entered Canaan. Balaam's place in the
Old Testament is unique as a foreigner who was subject to the command
of the God of Israel, and who acknowledged that his powers came from
the Lord.
The career of this seer, who was unable “to go beyond the Lord's
word,” is an extraordinary example in the Old Testament of the spoken
word's potency. It is also notable that a story set in the days of the Con-
quest could be so free of warfare and bloodshed. Balaam was summoned
to pronounce a destructive curse upon Israel, but instead he uttered a
series of blessings. Then, too, there is the well known tale of Balaam's
ass; the only other place a talking animal was used biblically was in the
Garden of Eden.
The apparent inconsistency in first authorizing Balaam's trip to
Moab and then blockading the road before his ass is explained as the
result of combining and editing different versions of the story together. In
the Elohwist's version, God agreed to a second embassy, and Balaam
was allowed to return with the Moabite princes. In the Jahwist's version,
Yahweh's opposition to Balaam's journey was revealed to Balaam en-
route. The reason for Yahweh's opposition to Balaam's journey is no lon-
ger clear.
Once Balaam arrived in Moab, preparations were made to have
him utter the powerful curse which would greatly diminish Israel's threat
to Moab. The first attempt backfired, producing praise of Israel instead of
a curse. 3 other attempts from different vantage points produced results
similar to the first. The 4 Balaam poems have resulted from the inclusion
of materials originally preserved in separate versions. Movement of Ba-
laam from height to height seems to be a way to incorporate all 4 poems
into the saga. 2 poems are from the Elohwist version, and 2 are from the
Jahwist version.
The poems resemble the Jacob's deathbed blessings without the
tribal allusions. The imagery suggests both the return of Paradise with its
peace and bounty, an the triumph of Israel over its foes, reflecting a con-
cern to affirm both the goodness and power of God. If the poems are re-
flections of David's conquering of Moab and Edom, then the original form
of the poems would be in the 900s B.C. The poems' regal references
could be only slight modifications of ancient Semitic poetry which Israel
heard during its own monarchy.
The present form of the tradition locates Balaam's home in the Eu-
phrates Valley. Such a long journey implies the need for something more
than the ass and 2 servants of the Jahwist version. In this version Ba-
laam's homeland was perhaps located 1 or 2 days journey from Moab,
perhaps in Edom or in Ammon. Later biblical references to Balaam are
unfavorable. His journey to Moab is considered motivated by base desire
for gain, and he is blamed for Israel's defection to a Moabite baal.
BALADAN (בלאדן) The father of Merodach-baladan king of Babylon.
BALAH (בלה, old, worn out) A city of Simeon in Judean Negeb. The biblical
context suggests an area South and East of Beersheba, but the precise
location is unknown.
BALAK (בלק, the devastator) Son of Zippor; king of Moab. He asked Balaam
to curse the Israelites after becoming fearful of them. Baalam refused
and Balak was then defeated through Yahweh's saving action.
BALANCES (מאזנים (mo tse na eem ) The balance was used to measure
weights. Two pans were suspended by cords from a beam. The beam
was suspended by a cord in its center. Before the Romans, all balances
in the Near East were equal armed and the principle of leverage wasn't
used.
B-6
In the Bible, just balances are prescribed and false or deceitful ba-
lances are denounced. The Egyptians used balances in transactions, and
as symbols of passing judgment in the afterlife. There are scenes in which
the heart of the one being judged before the gods is in the balance against
the ma'at feather, the emblem of truth. In Mesopotamia, the hand balance
gave opportunity for cheating. Balances were well-known in Canaan be-
fore the Israelites' coming.
BALD LOCUST (סלעם (so lawm), swallower, consumer) An insect considered
clean and therefore edible.
BALDNESS (גבחת (gab bakh ath), baldness of the forehead; קרחה (kor
khaw) baldness (from mourning or enslavement)) Complete loss of hair
from the head was probably not common among biblical peoples; it's
mentioned infrequently in the Old Testament and not at all in the New Tes-
tament.
The term “baldness of the forehead” appears only where the law
states that such baldness is unclean only if the signs of leprosy appear.
“Baldness” was a term of derision applied to Elisha. The Hebrews were
forbidden to make themselves bald by shaving, doubtless because neigh-
boring peoples did so. The shaving of the head and the hair's ceremonial
burning at the termination of the Nazirite vow was practiced. The priests
forbid it and the prophets mention it, but probably didn't approve the rite of
baldness as a sign of mourning. It is unlikely that the rite was common,
and the priest allude to it only in order to point out impending doom and en-
slavement, where baldness is produced by carrying burdens on the head.
BALL (דור (dure)) The single biblical reference to a ball was in the deposition
of Shebna, Hezekiah's royal steward. The prophet Isaiah said to Shebna:
“The Lord will seize firm hold on you, and whirl you round and round and
throw you like a ball into a wide land (i.e exile in Assyria).” (Isaiah 22).
BALLAD SINGERS (משלים (ma she la eem) those who use metaphors (i. e.
poets)) A word that refers to makers or repeaters of proverbs used in bal-
lads or folk songs.
BALM (צרי, (tsor ee)) The true identity of this aromatic resin or gum is not
easily established; it is mentioned six times in the Bible. Sources outside
the Bible indicate areas near Jericho and the Sea of Galilee as places the
shrub which yielded the resin grew, but biblical references do not support
the idea that balm trees grew in the rugged highland areas southeast of
the Sea of Galilee.
BALSAM (בכא (ba ka)) The word appears as a place name in Psalm 84. The
true balsam trees never grew around Jerusalem, but were native to Sou-
thern Arabia. There is no agreement as to which local tree is indicated.
It could be that the Hebrew does not refer to a tree at all.
BALTHASAR (Balqasar) In late tradition an Arabian king and 1 of 3 Magi.
BAMAH (במה, high place, hillock, usually for worship) A word used for:
a) Gilboa hill and of mountains above Arnon. b) dominion of Israel
and of God in figurative phrases. c) devastation in figurative phrases.
d) contemptuous but obscure purpose in Ezekiel as an artificial word.
e) places of worship on natural heights and artificial mounds.
BAMOTH (במות, high places) A stopping place of the Israelites in Trans-jor-
dan near Nahaliel, probably short for Ramoth-Baal.
BAMOTH-BAAL (במות בעל, high places of Baal) A Moab town. Balak took
Balaam here, from which Balaam saw the nearest Israelite; it was a Baal
sanctuary and assigned to Reuben’s tribe. Beth-bamoth is probably
Bamoth-baal.
BAN (בדל (ba dal)) In the New Testament, the idea of banning refers to 2 re-
ferences.
1st, it has to do with the proscription of those who confessed
Christ from the synagogues. John’s Gospel refers 3 times to Christians
being driven out from synagogues. It was a practice which was probably
in use in John's time at the end of the 100s A.D., but which certainly does
not go back to the earlier times.
B-7
2nd, it has to do with the expelling of impenitent Christian sinners
from the church. Deliberate offenders were banned from the church by
virtue of the apostles' power of binding and loosing. A church member
who committed some offense and refused to listen to 2 or 3 brethren was
to be treated as one who is excluded from church fellowship and to whom
the gospel of salvation must be preached anew. Thus, “to ban” does not
simply mean “to condemn”; it was a measure taken in view of the final
welfare of the banned person.
BAND (1.) אסור (‘ay soor); 2.) ﬨשפ (sef eth); 3.) גדוד (ghed ood)) 1. Any-
thing with which a person is bound, as a shackle. Metaphorically, it is the
oppression of an enemy, which acts as a restraint. 2. Anything which
encompasses another thing or person; flat strip or border. 3. Group of
persons brought together by common purpose or character apart from tri-
bal relationship.
BANDAGE (1.) אפר (‘af ayr); 2.) קתול (khit tool); 3.) Keiria (key ree ah))
1. A covering placed over the eyes to conceal one's identity. 2. A wrap-
ping for a broken arm. 3. A swathing band for burial.
BANDS, MAGIC (כסתות (keh sa tote)) Objects connected with divination and
probably used as magic charms to “bind” people and ward off evil.
BANI (בני, build) 1. A man of Gad and a warrior among David's “Thirty.”
2. An ancestor of family line of Ethan, a Mararite Levite in David's time.
3. An ancestor or family line of Uthai, a Judahite in postexilic Jerusalem.
4. The founder of or the name for a family group included in the great list
of those who returned from the Exile. 5. Several married foreigners.
6. Representatives of this group probably came with Ezra from Babylonia.
7. Representatives of this group set their seal to the covenant.
8. A representative of this group is included among those who assisted
Ezra in teaching law to the people. 9. The father or family line of Uzzi
who is described as overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem. 10. The father
or family line of Rehum, a Levite who prepared a section of the Jerusalem
wall and perhaps one of those listed in 5-8 above. 11. A Levite who took
part in the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles at the time of Ezra.
BANISHMENT Condemnation to exile. Since, to an Israelite, exile from one's
land meant being cut off from Yahweh, or perhaps even being forced to
worship idols, biblical law never prescribes it as a legal penalty.
Voluntary exile was the last resort of hunted people (e.g. Jacob
flees to Haran, Moses to Midian, and David to Gath.). Taking asylum in
another country was commonly practiced by political refugees in the an-
cient Near East. The enforced stay of the accidental manslayer in the city
of refuge may be considered banishment.
Roman law knew several forms of exile, from the severe deportio,
which was perpetual and involved confiscation and loss of citizenship, to
the milder relegatio where a person was excluded from residence in a cer-
tain place, for a definite or indefinite period of time. A very common form
was relegatio in insulam, which was inflicted on the author of Revelation.
BANKING The development of international trade in antiquity made it impera-
tive that some method of banking be devised. During the historical period
covered by the Old Testament writings, all banking operations were per-
formed by landowners, merchants, and traders. There were no professio-
nal bankers before the Greek culture came to the Middle East . The ex-
change of currencies was not part of a banker's operations. There were,
however, specialized moneychangers.
BANNER (אות (‘oath), sign; דגל (deh gel), banner; משאת (mas ayth),
raised beacon; נס (nace), flag, banner) Either a standard of a tribe or
troops or a rallying or warning signal of some kind.
Nothing is known concerning the nature of tribal standards.
Joshua's javelin is represented as something necessary to safeguard the
community in the account of the conquest of Ai. A divine standard is im-
plied in the name Moses gave to an altar in Exodus. Banners were used
as signals to rally an army, and they would be set on a hill and accompa-
nied with the sounding of a trumpet.
Standards for army troops were common among the Egyptians,
Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, Persians, and Romans. The eagle was
known to be used as far back as the 2000s B.C. Army standards were
commonly animal figures such as stags, steers, wolves, unicorns, serpents
lions, horses. The Assyrians used the moon sickle mounted on a spear.
The eagle became for imperial Rome the official standard of the legion; but
the wolf, unicorn, horse, and boar were all early standards. Under the em-
perors, standards became cultic symbols bearing the image of the emperor,
and were therefore detested by the Jews.
B-8
BANQUET (משתה (mish teh), drinking) The consumption of wine and rich
foods was the chief feature of the banquet in biblical times. Banquets were
held at the arrival of a stranger; on a birthday; when a child was weaned;
after the sheep shearing; at the grape harvest; after the completion of a
building; when a treaty was ratified; and at a wedding.
BAPTISM (baptisma) A rite using water as a symbol of religious purification.
In the New Testament, it is the rite practiced by the John the Baptist, and
the Christian rite which, after Pentecost, was the regular means of initiation
into the Christian community.
Origins of Baptism—The roots of Christian baptism are to be found
within Judaism. Jews were accustomed to use water for the purpose religi-
ous purification and especially in proselyte baptism, one of the ceremonies
by which new converts were admitted to Judaism; it isn't mentioned in the
Old Testament (OT). It is probable that this baptism “wasn't an act of ritual
purification alone, but a self-dedication to the God of Israel, involving spi-
ritual and physical factors with a fundamentally sacramental character.”
It was probably an extension of proselyte baptism in “the 15th year
of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (29 A.D.), when John the Baptizer went by
the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins." (John's existence is confirmed outside of the Bible by Josephus.)
But there are striking differences between proselyte baptism and John's
baptism. John administered it to Jews and Gentiles, and for John the
ethical significance of the rite became prominent.
The most striking thing about John's baptism is that it is linked with
the coming of the kingdom of God. John's baptism is thus a rite of moral
purification. John contrasts his own water baptism with a future baptism,
“with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The Dead Sea Scrolls supports the
theory that the reference to the Holy Spirit was in the original version of
the gospel and not a later addition. John's baptism prepared those who
submitted to it to face the coming Day of the Lord.
The Synoptic Gospel writers (i. e. Matthew, Mark, and Luke) record,
and the Gospel of John implies that Jesus accepted baptism at John’s
hands. The earliest account suggests that originally the record came from
Jesus himself. A scriptural passage with its origins in the earliest stages
of Christianity reveals that Jesus' ministry was connected with John‘s
preaching and baptism.
In Jesus’ baptism, a rite with water is intimately linked with a revela-
tion of the Holy Spirit and a unique consciousness of divine sonship. The
voice Jesus heard at his baptism alludes to Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42 and at
least implies a reference to the Suffering Servant and a foreshadowing of
the Crucifixion. Just as the baptism in Jordan launched the ministry in
Palestine, so the later “baptism” on Calvary launched a wider ministry, un-
fettered by the earthly mission’s limits.
New Testament (NT) Teachings—The baptism rite with water was
practiced from Pentecost onward; it was the symbol of entry into the
Christian community. It was closely linked with repentance and the Holy
Spirit’s reception, and would seem to embody the gospel’s proclamation.
Water baptism’s continued use is remarkable because the originator of
Christian water baptism teaches that Holy Spirit baptism takes the place
of water baptism. Sometimes the baptism is spoken of as “in the name of
Jesus,” or “of Lord Jesus.”
The fullest NT expression of the meaning of baptism is found in the
letters Paul wrote. Paul teaches that baptism is the means of incorpora-
tion into the Christian community which is the Body of Christ, and explains
the connection of baptism with faith and sonship as a “putting on” of Christ.
In Romans, he answers the objection, “Are we to continue in sin that grace
may abound?,” by stressing the significance of their baptism, which Paul
sees as symbolic of dying to sin, being buried, and rising again with Christ.
Paul answers the false teaching at Colossae by asserting that Christ is all-
sufficient for salvation and by an appeal to the significance of baptism,
which he sees as the Christian counterpart of Jewish circumcision.
Other references to baptism in Paul's letters elaborate these ideas
further or guard against misunderstandings. Paul's reference to baptism
all bring out that close link between baptism and the preached message of
the gospel. Jesus was most likely responsible for the idea of baptism as
“dying and rising with Christ.” But Paul did much to set it at the forefront of
normal Christian thinking. According to Paul's teaching divine sonship,
possession of the Spirit, knowing God and doing God's will were all rea-
lized blessings connected with baptism and with the age to come.
The Christian gospel consisted of a partial realization of what were
future expectations in the OT. The Gospel of John and the First Letter of
John each contain a passage of considerable importance for the under-
standing of baptism: “I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he can't enter the kingdom of God.” Some think these words may
contain the nucleus of a genuine saying. Here again the connection is to
be observed between baptism, sonship, and the Spirit.
B-9
John clearly links sonship with baptism, but he holds the Spirit’s
activity to be of equal importance. The sacramental character of Johan-
nine theology is clearly but less directly expressed than other NT writers.
In John's time, some believed that Jesus was baptized but not crucified.
John asserts the historical reality both of his baptism in the Jordan and
his death upon the cross.
The purpose of baptism is also explained in Hebrews and the First
Letter of Peter. Regeneration is referred to in the Letter to Titus, where
Jesus “. . . saved us, . . . by the washing of regeneration and renewal in
the Holy Spirit.” Most likely this passage is an extension of the “birth from
above” concept, which is already linked in Johannine teaching with bap-
tism and with the Holy Spirit's activity.
Was Baptism Instituted by Jesus?—Both of the scripture passages
which associate baptism with a command to preach the gospel, one at the
end of Matthew and one at the end of Mark lack original authority, be-
cause they may be later additions to the texts. Even if the passage in Mat-
thew isn't original, it reflects a conviction in certain Christian circles toward
the end of the first century that baptism rested upon the authority of Jesus.
The fact that the rite of Christian initiation included baptism with water is
better understood if early Christians were justified in believing that rite res-
ted upon the authority of Jesus.
Such an authority for baptism is to be found, not in particular texts,
but in Jesus' life and ministry as a whole, with emphasis on his baptism
and death. Certain passages in Acts make it clear that in early Christian
teaching, the beginning of the mission of Jesus was traced back to the
activity of John the Baptist; he was the prelude to and the forerunner of
Jesus and his preaching and baptism.
Recent study of the events which led to Christian baptism has laid
stress on the importance of Jesus' baptism. Both in the baptism of Jesus
and in the Christian rite, a baptism with water is linked with the Holy Spi-
rit's descent, with divine sonship, and with repentance. Some Christians
found it hard to understand how Jesus could submit to a “baptism of repen-
tance for the forgiveness of sins.” This is resolved as we see Jesus corpo-
ately setting himself alongside those to whom he came to minister. He
could not separate himself from the sinners whom he would save.
Notably, in Paul's letter, the Johannine writings, Hebrews and I
Peter, baptism is also connected with Christ's death. If Christian baptism
is the proclamation of the gospel of salvation in action, then it is hardly
surprising to find that special stress is laid upon the death and resurrection
of Christ, which is the gospel's center. This linking of baptism with Christ's
death is to be sought in Jesus' words: “I have a baptism to be baptized
with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished."
Thus, the authority for Christian baptism in the ministry of Jesus is
2-fold lying in both the water baptism and Jesus' death on the cross. One
biblical scholar sees Jesus' death as what he terms a general or universal
baptism, which, lying as it does behind every individual act of Christian bap-
baptism, gives the rite its significance and potency.
Infant Baptism—There is no direct evidence in the NT for the bap-
tism of infants. However, there is indirect evidence that infant baptism was
practiced in the early church during the NT period. The analogy of prose-
lyte baptism would encourage giving a Christian baptism to the children of
new converts. In regards to children of parents already Christians, the the-
ory has been offered that as the early church diverged from Judaism, the
need was felt for some Christian counterpart to circumcision. Paul may
have been instrumental in putting forward baptism as that Christian coun-
terpart.
The words of Polycarp at his martyrdom imply his baptism as an
infant. And Tertullian, while he deplores infant baptism, he does not use
what would have been his strongest argument, namely that the practice
wasn't primitive. Those who on grounds of faith and consciences oppose
infant baptism would set against this indirect evidence the NT's silence on
the subject. Direct historical evidence of the NT is insufficient to settle the
question either for or against infant baptism; the case must be argued on
other grounds.
BAR (a.) בד (bad); b.) בריח (ber ee akh); c.) מוט (mote)) Primarily a
piece of wood or metal used as a support, fastening, or barrier.
a.) and c.) Some of the uses in the Bible are for a bar of acacia
wood used to join frames in the superstructure of the tabernacle, a bar of
wood or metal used to secure a door or gate, or gold bars.
b.) The interpretation of this word is difficult, but their function
seems to be to bond together the frames of the tabernacle's superstruc-
ture.
It is probable that gates which were barred as a defensive measure
had more than one bar. A city provided with high walls, gates, and bars
was secure, but the breaking of the bars was the sign the city had fallen.
A quiet and secure people felt no need of gates and bars.
B-10
BAR-JESUS (BarihouV (bar yay sous) A Jewish magician and false pro-
phet at Paphos on Cyprus
BAR-JONA (BaribbwnaV (bar yoh nas) The family name of Simon Peter
and one of the patriarchs of his family.
BARABBAS (BarabbaV, son of the father)) A man who according to all the
New Testament gospels was held in prison by the Roman authorities at the
time of Jesus' trial. Matthew calls him a notable prisoner, Mark and Luke
state that he had been arrested for insurrection and murder, perhaps as a
member of the Zealots. Pilate the Roman governor used to placate the
Jews at the time of a releasing one prisoners of their choice. All 4 gospels
imply that the choice of a prisoner to be set free at this feast lay between
Jesus and Barabbas. Urged on by Jewish leaders, the populace clamored
for Barabbas to be freed and for Jesus to be executed.
BARACHEL (ברכאל, God blessed) A Buzite; the father of Elihu, 1 of Job's 3
friends.
BARACHIAH (BaraciaV) The father of Zechariah.
BARAK (ברק, lightning) Son of Abinoam. Barak shared with the prophetess
Deborah in the leadership of a Northern Israelite militia in a victorious cam-
paign against Sisera. In the prose narrative Deborah summoned Barak
from Kedesh in Naphtali to the seat of her judgeship in Mount Ephraim.
An oracle said that Barak should bring about the overthrow of the Canaa-
nite oppression by raising some 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebulun,
and await an engagement with the enemy at Mount Tabor.
Sisera left his quarters at Harosheth-ha-goiim with his force of men
and 900 iron chariots to crush the rebellion, but the Israelites swept down
from Mount Tabor, completely routing the Canaanites. Sisera fled, was
granted asylum by Jael, who slew Sisera while he slept. Barak is included
among the judges who liberated Israel from her oppressors in the valedic-
torian address of Samuel.
BARBARIAN (BarbaroV ) The Greek word was originally an imitative
word—like “dingdong” of bells; “twitter” of birds, or “yack-yack of speech.”
A barbarian is a person who utters a sequence of nonsense sounds. A
Greek might speak of a Hebrew as a “barbarian,” a Hebrew might speak
of a Greek as a “barbarian,” and neither mean anything more than that the
other spoke differently, that they were a “foreigner,” without any sense of
aversion or hostility. One may generalize and say that all dominant peo-
ples in antiquity called those who spoke a different language barbarians.
But the Greek was a proud person and the Greek language and
culture was pervasive throughout the Mediterranean region; it was inevita-
ble that "barbarian, like “foreigner” among us should quickly assume an
air of contempt. The Persian Wars made clear to the Greek their culture's
superiority to that of the barbarians; the barbarian was now ignorant and
untrained, crude, brutal, and unpolished. Orientals possessed intelligence
without courage and the Northerners courage without intelligence. Yet, not
all Greeks held so hardened a position. Eratosthenes, for example says
that it would be better to make such division according to good qualities
and bad; many Greeks are bad, and many barbarians are refined.
In the book of Acts, the word simply means “foreigners.” The
Greeks find the natives' kindness unusual; this may reflect the assumption
that “barbarians are inherently coarse, if not hostile.” The way it is used
shows that the word carries ill will. In Romans, “barbarians” takes on a cul-
tural meaning, and is used in contrast with “Greeks,” which includes all
who embrace Greek culture. “Barbarians” include everyone who doesn't
embrace Greek culture.
In Colossians, “barbarian” represents non-Greeks, non-Jewish po-
pulation, but in close association with human beings of the lowest and most
degrading sort. Paul's use of “barbarian” isn’t different from Philo’s or Jo-
sephus’; what's different is his statement that in Christ “there can't be
Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,
slave, or free man, but Christ is all, and in all.”
BARBER (גלב (gal lawb)) One who shaves or trims hair or beard. Barbers are
busy in all periods of the biblical story. There is no evidence in the Bible
that the custom of shaving the head was religiously significant.
BARIAH (בריח, fugitive) Son of Shemaiah in the Zerubbabel line of Davidic
descendants.
BARKOS (ברקוס, son of Kos (a god)?) Head of a family of temple servants.
B-11
BARLEY (שערים (seh o reem)) An important grain in Bible times, barley is
also mentioned frequently in the 1300s B.C. Ugartic documents. Barley
ripened earlier than wheat; the harvesting of wheat begins about 2 weeks
later. Animals had barley in their diets as did poor humans, who baked it
into coarse loaves. It was used as cereal offering and as a medium of ex-
change; several species of barley are found in Bible lands. Spring barley
was most common, with winter barley common in the Jordan Valley and the
eastern plateau.
BARLEY HARVEST. The reaping of barley grain; it began as early as late April
or early May, about two weeks before the wheat harvest.
BARN (מגורה (meg oo raw)) A storage place for seed or grain, and a sym-
bol of prosperity when full, or famine when empty.
BARNABAS (BarnabaV, son of encouragement) An apostle of the secon-
dary group, companion of Paul on his mission to Cyprus Northeastern
nabas because of his ability as a preacher.
Barnabas first appears in Acts, in Luke's account of the communal
living in Jerusalem. He was a man of some means who gave a land sale's
proceeds to the church. He was also a Levite, a Cyprus native and some-
one who embraced Greek culture. Barnabas was part of the group of Jews
who embraced Greek culture and then moved back to Jerusalem. Accor-
ding to Acts, there was a large company of such Jews in the city at Pente-
cost. Barnabas was there to introduce Paul favorably to the Jerusalem
community. He belongs to the company of first converts, who were won by
apostolic preaching, if not by Jesus himself.
Barnabas was one of the few “Greek” Jews who did not flee Jerusa-
lem. Though not a native, Barnabas had the confidence of the apostles.
Barnabas went over to Tarsus and brought back Saul to help at Antioch.
He was a “working” apostle, choosing to work for a living, as did Paul. Bar-
nabas seemed to start out as the head of a missionary journey, but in Cy-
prus, Paul seems to take over leading the mission. At Jerusalem, Barnabas
was in better standing than Paul and took the lead in reporting the work
done among the Gentiles.
Barnabas' separation from Paul began in Antioch after the Jerusa-
lem conference. Barnabas and Paul disagreed on whether to take John
Mark on another journey. Mark had not stayed with them in the Cy prus
mission work. Barnabas was devoted to Mark as a cousin and took him
on another mission to Cyprus, without Paul. Not only that, but he had
shown a wavering, along with Peter, on associating with the Gentiles.
The Christian spectrum was formed with Apollos, who thoroughly em-
braced Greek culture on the extreme left, with Paul a little to the right of
Apollos. Barnabas was near to the center, or just right of center, along with
Peter and the Jerusalem group. On the extreme right were James and the
Judaizers. The church that remained after Barnabas' time gives Barnabas
the role of writer. But the books early Christian theologians credit him with
writing fit neither the conservative beliefs, nor the years in which Barnabas
lived.
BARRENNESS (עקר (‘aw kawr), sterile) Barrenness was believed to be a
curse from God. In the time of the end, so severe will be God's judgment
that people will call the barren woman blessed (Luke 23). God in God's
mercy gives the barren woman a home and children (Psalm 113). And the
nation is considered to be a barren woman, who will sing because of the
promise of children (Isaiah 54).
BARSABBAS (BarsabbaV, son of the Sabbath, son of Saba ) 1. One of
2 candidates for the place left vacant by the defection of Judas Iscariot.
2. Judas, sent by the Jerusalem church with Paul, Barnabas, and Silas
after the church council.
BARTHOLOMEW (BarqolomaiaV (bar thol oh mah ee as), son of Talmai).
One of the 12 apostles.
Bartholomew may not have been this apostle's full name, but we
can't be sure he was not simply known as Bartholomew. The order of the
names in the gospel lists, lead some to equate the Bartholomew of the
first three gospels with the Nathanael in the Gospel of John, as they both
appear after Phillip. Nathanael may not be a historic personage, but a
symbolic construction by which the writer depicts Judaism's incomplete-
ness without Jesus Christ. Church tradition makes Bartholomew a missio-
nary to Armenia, Phrygia, Lycanonia, Mesopotamia, Persia,and India, and
explains his death in divergent ways. In India, he is said to have left be-
hind Matthew's Gospel in Hebrew. He is also said to have evangelized
with Philip and Thomas.
B-12
BARTIMAEUS (BartimaioV, possibly son of Timai, or son of the unclean.)
A blind beggar of Jericho
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mark's details seem to come from
an eyewitness. Bartimaeus', faith and thankfulness, and Jesus' sympathe-
tic response are noteworthy.
BARUCH (ברוך, blessed) Jeremiah's secretary; a member of a prominent
Judean family. Baruch wrote the oracles of destruction for Jeremiah.
They were read publicly first, and then were read to and destroyed by King
Jehoiakim in angry contempt. Baruch was then commanded by Jeremiah
to record the oracle again. Parts of the Book of Jeremiah contain this ora-
cle (Jeremiah 19, 21, and large portions of 26, 28, 29, 34, 36-45). Baruch
also witnessed Jeremiah's purchase of an Anathoth field. He was taken by
the leaders of the Judean remnant, along with the prophet, into Egypt. Je-
remiah speaks to this noble man's agony in pronouncing the nation's doom
by counseling him to stake his life on loyalty to the Lord rather than on the
dying kingdom.
Nothing else is known of Baruch. His name was attached to the
apocryphal books of Baruch and the Apocalypse of Baruch, (See the en-
tries in the Old Testament Apocrypha/ Influences Outside the Bible section
of the Appendix.) both written long after his death.
BARZILLAI (ברזלי, heart of iron (morally strict)) 1. A Meholathite whose son
Adriel married Merab, daughter of Saul. 2. An influential Gileadite of
Rogelim who, with 2 other wealthy patricians west of the Jordan, brought
generous supplies of food and equipment for David during Absalom's re-
bellion. When it was over he provided an honor guard to escort the mo-
narch beyond the Jordan ford. He declined David’s invitation to become
a royal court member; instead he proposed that his son Chimham be ac-
cepted instead. Later, David commended to Solomon the sons of Barzillai
as members of the royal court, because of his kindness.
3. A priest who married one of Barzillai the Gileadite's daughters. In
the postexilic period his descendants were not allowed to serve as priests,
because they could not prove their priestly descent.
BASEMATH (בשמת, balsam or fragrance) 1. A daughter of Elon the Hittite,
and a wife of Esau. She was probably also a daughter of Ishmael, a sister
of Nebaioth. She bore Esau's son Reuel, who had 4 sons: Nahath, Zerah,
Shammah, and Mizzah. These 4, along with 8 other descendants of Esau,
possibly make up a 12-tribe, loose confederation of Edom. 2. Solomon's
daughter and wife of Ahimaaz, who administered for Solomon in Naphtali.
which the region east of the Jordan
Mount Hermon on the north, Jebel Druze on the east, and the hills east of
the Jordan on the west. It extended about 9 km south of the Yarmuk.
Most of it is a tableland which ranges from 1,600 to 2,300 feet in height. It
was well adapted for wheat growing and cattle-raising, and was famous for
its oak trees. These natural features appear often in the Bible's poetry.
Archaeological exploration indicates the Bashan was continually occupied
from the Early Bronze period (3,200 to 2,100 B.C.). Most of it was as-
signed to the Manasseh tribe; it was a constant battleground between the
forces of Israel and Aram.
BASIN “Basin” and “Bowl” are often interchangeable words in the Bible. Gene-
rally the largest basin were banquet bowls, mixing bowls for wine, or ba-
sins used in the sacrificial system (Actually, bowls of all sizes and varieties
were used in sacrifices). Smaller bowls were used as tableware or wash
basins, where the water was poured over the hands or feet and a bowl col-
lected the dirty water. Bowls were even used to collect coals and ashes.
The smallest bowls became cups.
BASKET ( a.) סל (sal); b.) טנא (teh neh); c.) כלוב (kel oob); d.) דוד
(doo dah); e.) תבה (tay baw); f.) kojinoV (kof in os); g.) spuriV
(spur ees))
a.) a container for foodstuffs, such as baked goods, unleavened
bread or meat.
b.) used for bearing the first fruits of the ground to priest.
c.) used for food such as summer fruit, but also may have been
a net or cage for birds.
d.) a large woven container, used for figs, for bricks, mortar, and
other heavy construction materials.
e.) probably a small chest made of bulrushes or papyrus and
waterproofed with tar so that it would float, such as the one in
which the infant Moses was placed.
B-13
f.) Specifically for the 12 baskets used to collect the leftovers of
the 5,000.
g.) The word used for the 7 baskets used to collect the leftovers
for the 4,000. This type of basket is probably much larger than
the basket for which the Greek word kofinos (f.) is used, as it
was also probably the type of basket used to lower Paul down
over the wall in Damascus.
BASTARD (ממזר (mam zare), mongrel people) Bastards were not permitted
to enter Lord's assembly. Ammon and Moab were hated as bastard peo-
ples because of their incestuous origins.
BAT (עטלף (‘at al lafe)) Any of the order of nocturnal fruit-eating and insect-
eating flying mammals. In the Old Testament, bats are included in two lists
of unclean birds.
estimates of what were probably measuring jars, it is thought that the bath
contained 21-23 liters (5 1/2 gallons).
BATH-RABBIM (רבים בת, daughter of a multitude) A gate of Heshbon with
fish pools nearby. When seen from a distance, it looked like the forehead
and cheeks framing the eyes of the beloved.
BATH-SHUA (בת־שוע, daughter of Shua) 1. The Canaanite wife of Judah
and mother of his sons Er, Onan, and Shelah. 2. Alternate form of
Bathsheba.
BATHING (רחץ (raw khats); apopoluw (ah po loo oh); baptizw
(bap ti zo)) The biblical languages don't distinguish between bathing and
washing, but between the methods used in washing clothes and washing
other objects. People were washed by pouring water or dipping them in
water. The Hebrew raw khats comes from the root meaning “to overflow.”
Palestine's dry climate discouraged bathing except where a stream
or pool was available. Good grooming, especially for lovers, demanded
washing of face, hands, or body, before anointing. During mourning or sor-
row the face and garments were left unwashed. A good host provided
water for his guest’s feet. Washing feet as Jesus did in John 13 signified
humility. Washing one's own hands, as Pilate did at the trial of Jesus, was
symbolic of innocence, and the semi-ritual washing of the hands before ea-
ting had become a requirement by New Testament times.
Lambs were washed at shearing time, and babies after birth, but
ritual cleansing with water is mentioned more often than ordinary washing.
Persons polluted with many kinds of uncleanness, and personnel involved
in handling cleansing agents, had to wash their clothes, their bodies or
both. Washing is an Old Testament metaphor for cleansing from sin.
BATHSHEBA (בתשבע, daughter of abundance) The wife first of Uriah the
Hittite, then of David. Bathsheba later became the mother of Solomon.
She and Nathan persuaded David to proclaim Solomon king.
BATTALION ( (spay rah)) The word used to translate the Latin
cohors, 1/10 part of a legion or 600. A group of soldiers this size from the
2nd Italian Cohort was gathered together before Jesus, after Pilate han-
ded him over to be crucified.
BATTERING RAM (כר (kar)) An engine of war used by besiegers of a city to
break down its walls.
Its earliest known form comes from the Assyrians. It consisted of a
heavy pole suspended at the middle from a framework which also served
to protect the rammers from stones and arrows. They are mentioned as
part of the siege weapons of Babylon in the anticipated siege of Jerusalem.
BATTLEMENT (טירה (tee raw)) A wall at a structure's top which alternated
openings to shoot through with walls to protect the defenders.
BAVVAI (בוי) Son of Hernadad, a Levite who helped rebuild Jerusalem's
walls.
BAZAAR (חוצ (khoots)) A section of a street set apart for merchants.
BAZLITH (בצלית, nakedness) The founder of a family group included
among the Nethinim in the great list of those who returned from the
Exile.
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BDELLIUM (בדלח (bed ho lakh)) It is quite uncertain what this is. It has
been defined as a gum or resin, a precious stone or a pearl.
BEADS (כומז (koo mawz)) Articles of gold jewelery. The Hebrew word's
meaning is uncertain.
BEALOTH (בעלות, mistresses) 1. A town in southern Judah, perhaps the
same as Baalath-Beer. 2. A town in Solomon's 11th administrative dis-
trict. Its location is unknown.
BEAM (מנור (maw nore), frame of a loom; גב, (gabe); כפים, (kaw fece);
and כרתת (ka raw thoth) are all words used to describe the beams used
in building) The warp-beam on the loom evidently was large.
BEANS (פול (pole)) Beans were grown from very ancient times as a nutritious
food. Beans were brought to David after he fled from Absalom. In Ezekiel,
beans were combined with other grains in a coarse bread which symbolized
pods were vegetables.
BEAR (דב (dobe)) Palestine's bear was known in the Northern regions as late
as the early 1900s. It subsisted on vegetables, fruit, and insects to a grea-
ter extent than on flesh. Bears were used as similes in many passages
(e. g. for a wicked ruler (Prov.28); for God lying in wait for prey (Lam. 3);
feeding together with a cow in the future age as a symbol of its peace
(Isa.11); a she-bear robbed of her cubs as a simile for human anger
(II Sam. 17)). A bear's attack on David's flock points to David's prowess.
Bears play a minor role in the end-times. In Daniel 7, the 2nd of the
4 beasts coming up out of the sea is a bear. In Revelation 13, the bear
contributes only feet to John's creation; bears' feet, being large may signal
the trampling down of all opposition.
BEARD (זקן (zaw kawn), beard or age; (saw fawm), lip or moustache) Full
beards were common among the Hebrews, who considered their removal
an indignity. Semites are often pictured wearing beards in ancient Near
Eastern art. The Hebrews were forbidden to mar the edges of their beard
by cutting and priests were told not to shave off the edges of their beards.
The pulling of some hair from head and beard was a sign of mourning or
anger. The shaving of the beard was synonymous with impending doom.
BEAST (חיה (khah ee); בהמה (be hay mah); zwon (zoe on); qhrion
(theh ree on))
1. Animals are divided into clean and unclean; the former may be
used as food, without the blood.
2. A wild and sometimes carnivorous animal which gets its food
from God.
3. A domesticated animal which is subject to the law of firstlings
as well as to the sabbath regulation; all sodomy is strictly for-
bidden, and provision for restitution of injury to them is found in
Leviticus.
4. The beasts of John's Revelation— The 1st is described as the
“beast that ascends from the bottomless pit,” which combines in itself the
joint characteristics of the 4 beasts of Daniel's vision: lion, bear, leopard,
and a 4th beast (“terrible, dreadful, exceedingly strong, ten horns, and out
of the sea, etc.) This beast represents the combined forces of all political
rule opposed to God as the earthly demonic messiah who imitates the true
one.
The 2nd beast represents every pagan cult which exists for the
express purpose of granting religious sanction to any world power that is
opposed to God's sovereignty over his world. In John's day, the world po-
wer arrayed against God and his kingdom was the Roman Empire ; The
might of Rome
Dragon, the 3rd beast, these 3 beasts form a sort of unholy trinity.
BEATEN GOLD (שחוט זהב (zaw hawb sa khut)) Thin sheets of gold, pro-
duced by hammering and used for overlaying objects of baser metals. The
golden shields of Solomon and the lampstands of the tabernacle were
made of hammered work of gold.
BEATEN OIL (שמן כתית (she men kaw theeth)) The highest quality of oil,
used for the lamp in the sanctuary. Beaten oil was made by crushing fully
ripe olives in a mortar. Since it was produced without pressing, it was re-
garded as the purest and the best. Oil produced any other way was con-
sidered to be lower grade oil.
B-15
BEATEN SILVER (סף מרקעﬤ (kes af mer kaw)) Thin plates or leaves of
hammered silver, used along with gold leaf to overlay the wooden core of
an image.
BEATITUDES The beatitude is a form of writing that starts with the word
“blessed” and is a declaration of praise for an individual regarded as an un-
usual example of moral rectitude and piety, who can expect a reward from
God.
The Old Testament (OT) beatitudes begin with “happy” or “blessed”
(אשרי. While they resemble certain OT beatitudes, the New Testament
(NT) ones stress the joy of participation in God’s kingdom on Judgment
Day, rather than rewards for this earthly life. Beatitudes appear mostly in
Matthew and Luke, 7 times in the book of Revelation, 3 times in Romans,
and once in John’s gospel. Important for an interpretation of the collection
of 9 beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount is a recogni-
tion of this looking forward to Judgment Day rather than looking at the im-
mediate rewards. It is the coming of God's kingdom and not social and
moral improvement that will resolve all difficulties.
Paradox is used in these beatitudes. Men who in no way appear to
be fortunate in the present, but rather appear to be unfortunate and suffe-
ring are those declared blessed. Matthew stresses the general situation in
which Jesus' followers of every age find themselves by having Jesus say
Blessed are the poor, etc. and and thus makes the beatitudes an appropri-
ate introduction to his code for Christian discipleship. Luke, on the other
hand, stresses the consequences of their behavior by having Jesus say
“Blessed are you,” in 4 beatitudes that are contrasted by 4 corresponding
woes. See Beatitude section in Sermon on the Mount entry for comparison.
The 9 beatitudes in Matthew suggest that 3 different types of beati-
tudes have been brought together. The 1st group includes those individu-
als whose lot in life is evil: the poor; the mourners; and the hungry. The
2nd group is those who show the proper attitude towards God: seekers of
righteousness, the merciful; and the pure in heart. In the 3rd group, the
ambassadors of Jesus are singled out as individuals who undertake the
specific work of preaching the gospel, regardless of the personal conse-
quences. However difficult the present situation may be for those whom
others would regard as most unfortunate, God will soon resolve the ten-
sions of their present situation and grant them the gifts of God's kingdom.
BEAUTIFUL GATE (h qura h wraia (eh thuh rah eh oh ray ee ah) The
scene of the healing of a paralytic by Peter and John in the Temple
likely it was an Eastern gate fashioned of Corinthian bronze which opened
upon the Court of the Women.
BEAUTY (Hebrew roots: יפה (yof ee); תפארה (tif eh reh); נעם (no am).
Greek word: wraioV (oh rah yos)).
The above 3 Hebrew words are the ones most used in the Old Tes-
tament (OT); the Greek word is the one most used in the New Testament
(NT). Neither the OT nor the NT has any theory of the beautiful. Instead
there is the description of many things as beautiful. Many women of much
beauty are mentioned (e.g. Sarai, Rebekah, Rachel, Abigail, Abishag, Bath-
sheba, both Tamars, Delilah's sister, Esther. The fair sex does not have
matter all its own way. The men include: Absalom, Adonijah, Benaiah's
Egyptian, Daniel, David, Joseph, Saul, and Jonathon.
Parts of the body are singled out for special mention especially in
the Song of Songs (e.g. voice, neck, lips, hair and beards). Also men-
tioned are garments, garlands, and “crowns of beauty.” The natural scene
in Palestine is described in terms of the beautiful, as a whole and in its
various parts, as is Egypt and Tyre.
The OT in general shows a keen appreciation of the glory, and thus
of the beauty, of God in nature. In God everything is beautiful in its time.
Jesus himself crowns this attitude with the words “Solomon in all his glory
. . .” The figure of beautiful or fair words is applied to flattering and false
speech.
The supreme expression of Israel's capacity for beauty is certainly
in her gift of language, whether it be narrative, the moving force of prea-
ching, or the lyrical outpourings of psalmists and prophets. Then too,
Jesus' descriptive capacity in the parables reveals a beauty of diction
never surpassed. And the passages dealing with Judgment Day abound
in references to what is beautiful. The final word must be accorded to
the beautiful thing the woman did when she anointed Jesus in preparation
for his burial.
B-16
BECHER (בכר, young camel) 1. The 2nd son of Benjamin. The genealo-
gical list ascribed to Benjamin must originally have belonged to Zebulun,
now strangely missing from I Chronicles. The Benjamite Becher must
have been added to the list after it had been detached from Zebulun.
2. An Ephraimite, enumerated in the list of the second census taken by
Moses.
BECORATH (בכורת) The father of Zeror; an ancestor of King Saul.
BED (יצוע (yaw tsoo ah), מצע (mats tsaw), what is spread out; מטה (mit
taw), place of reclining; משכב (mish kawb), lying down place; klinh
(klee nay), koith (koy tay), krabbatoV (krab bat os)).
The various terms for bed cited above appear to be used loosely
without any clear distinction in meaning. Most beds would be placed on
the floor, or sometimes on a low ledge along a wall. The beds of the well-
to-do were undoubtedly articles of furniture in keeping with their standard
of living.
Beds were used for sleeping at night, for love-making, for royal sul-
king, and for convalescence from a wound or injury. Beds were also used
in acts of private devotion. In proverbs, beds are used in reference to an
individual's death in Job 17 and Psalm 139 (“making one's bed in Sheol”)
or as a figure for an intolerable situation in Isaiah 28 (a short bed).
BED (GARDEN) (ערוגה (‘ar oo gah), raised up) A level piece of ground in a
garden; it is always used as a figure of speech, and is found in Song of So-
lomon and Ezekiel.
BEDAD (בדד) The father of the Edomite king Hadad.
BEDAN (בדן) 1. The name of a Manassite. 2. A name in I Samuel 12,
with several different interpretations.
BEDEIAH (בדיה) One of those compelled to give up their foreign wives in the
time of Ezra.
BEDSTEAD (ערש (‘er es)) Only in Deuteronomy 3 is it translated “bedstead of
iron” of Og, king of Bashan ; it is said to have been 9 cubits (4.4 m) long.
This bed's size suggests that it may have been some other object, such as
a basalt sarcophagus.
BEE (דבורה (deb o raw)) This bee was probably not domesticated until the
Greek period. However, the fact that Canaan was so often referred to as
“the land of milk and honey” suggests that bees were plentiful. Proverbs
6 extols the bee, after extolling the ant.
BEELIADA (בעלידע, Baal knows) One of the sons of David who were born
in Jerusalem
term “Baal.”
BEELZEBUL (Beelzeboul) A designation applied by Jesus and his oppo-
nents to the chief of the devil. The source of this name and its meaning are
both obscure. The following are possible interpretations:
a) In Ugaritic, zbl means “prince” and zbl B'l occurs as a desig-
nation of the god Baal. Beelzebul might represent a later ap-
plication of this heathen term.
b) In post-biblical Hebrew z-b-l means “dung.” Baal zibbul might
therefore mean “Lord of Dung,” a contemptuous and abusive
designation of the Evil One.
c) The Hebrew word zebul means “dwelling,” or “abode.” “Bee-
zebul” would have meant primarily “Lord of the abode (i. e.
shrine) and would have been used as a designation for the
rival of Yahweh.
d) The Dead Sea Scrolls and early rabbinic literature employ the
term to denote one of the seven heavens. The name Beelze-
bul might therefore denote the Evil One as lord of that region.
BEER (באר, a well) 1. Israelite station where the princes and nobles of the
people dug a well, somewhere north of the Arnon River
which Jotham fled after telling his fable, perhaps identical with Beeroth.
BEER-ELIM (באר אילים, well of chiefs) A Moabite city, perhaps the same
as Beer 1. above.
B-17
BEER-LAHAI-ROI (באר לחי ראי, “well of the living one who appeared to
me”)
A well situated between Kadesh-barnea and Bered. Its name was given
to it by Hagar after she met the Lord's angel there and received a reas-
suring promise.
BEER-SHEBA (באר שבע (see article for meaning)) The Negev's principal
city and a noted sanctuary from very early times. It was the southern out-
standing limit of Israelite population, and was used in the phrase “from Dan
to Beer-sheba” and vice versa to mean the entire nation.
The meaning of “Beer-sheba” is uncertain. In Genesis 21 it is both
“the well of the 7” (i.e. 7 lambs Abraham gave to King Abimilech to seal
their alliance), and “the well of the oath.” Genesis 26 says that Isaac gave
the city the later name after making an oath and alliance with the same
King. Beer-sheba could be a Canaanite name, it could mean “well of the
7 demons,” or it could simply mean “the well of Sheba.”
Beer-sheba lies in a gap in the hills of Judah, at the junction of
the north-south route from Hebron to Egypt, and the route that ran from the
Arabah north-westward to the coast. It was a stopping place for most of
the caravans that traversed the region in any direction. Abraham and Isaac
spent a lot of time there. After the conquest of Canaan, Beer-sheba was
assigned to Simeon. Samuel's sons Joel and Abijah were judges there.
Elijah went through Beer-sheba while fleeing Jezebel on his way to Mount
Horeb. Little is known of Beer-sheba's fate during the latter period of the
kingdom, but Judeans exiled in Babylon reoccupied it.
Beer-sheba was a religious sanctuary as early as the patriarchs'
time. Its guardian deity was El Oram, who was worshiped by Abraham
and later assimilated into Yahweh; his name came to mean the Everla-
sting God. In the Amos' time, the shrine of Beer-sheba was one of the
most famous. Amos' phrase “the way of Beer-sheba lives,” speaks either
of very sacred ritual, or of Beer-sheba's role as a place of pilgrimage.
BEERA (בארא, a well) The 11th son of Zophah in the genealogy of Asher.
BEERAH (בארה, a well) A Reubenite deported by Tiglath-pileser III in the
700s B.C.
BEERI (בארי, well) 1. A Hittite, Judith's father, and Esau's wife. 2. The
father of Hosea the prophet.
BEEROTH (בארות, wells) It was 1 of 4 cities of the Hivvites which came
to terms with the Israelites and became part of Benjamin's allotment; the
site of Beeroth is uncertain. It was located on the border between Benja-
min and Ephraim. 2 brothers from Beeroth, Rechab and Baanah were
captains of Ishbosheth who killed him in the 17th year of his reign. They
hoped to curry favor with David; he had them executed.
BEEROTH BENE-JAAKANבארת בני יעקן) , wells of the sons of Jaakan)
A place where Israel Edom
Aaron died. The site is possibly Birein, about 10 km South of el-'Auja.
BEHEMOTH (בהמות, dumb beast) In the Old Testament, a fanciful name for
the hippopotamus, or some other mammoth living in the marshes. In the
Apocrypha and the Pseudepigraphy, it denotes a mythical beast. At the
end of the present era, Behemoth, like Leviathan, will challenge, but will
suffer defeat. It was doubtless influenced by a fanciful interpretation of
Psalm 74, which speaks of God crushing the heads of Leviathan.
BEKA (בקע) A weight called “half a sanctuary shekel.” Compared to a shekel,
a beka is 5.7 grams. Standard weights marked as beka weigh over 6
grams.
BEL (בל, he who possesses, subdues, rules) The title of Babylon
Marduk; it denotes the god's supremacy in a certain locality. Marduk is
Mesopotamia's counterpart to the Canaan's Baal.
BELA (בלע, swallowing up) 1. Son of Beor and the first king of Edom; his
city was Dinhabah. 2. The first son of Benjamin and also founder of a
family group the Belaites. 3. Son of Ahaz and descendant of Joel in the
genealogy of Reuben. Apparently another name of Zoar, one of the “cities
of the valley.”
B-18
BELIAL (בליעל, compound word meaning “worthless” or “useless”) A word
used to describe a kind of person (e.g. a “man of Belial” is a reprobate, dis-
solute or uncouth persons.) There was a clear tradition that the word was
a proper name, for in 8 passages it is translated that way. In the writings
after the Old Testament, “Belial” is uniformly regarded as the proper name
of that Prince of Evil, who manipulates and enslaves men, but who will be
defeated by the Messiah, aided by God and God's heavenly legions. In the
New Testament, the Belial figure appears in II Corinthians 6, where it says
that Belial and the Messiah cannot be reconciled.
BELIEF (pistiV (pees tees)) See Faith.
“tinkler”) 1. An object attached to the High priest’s vestment and made of
gold. “Its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the
Lord.” They may have been a survival of some magical purpose. 2. A
decorative ornament for horses.
used mostly by blacksmiths. The bellows' development may be traced
in stages. 1st, human lung power was used to blow on fires. 2nd, there
was the utilization of the blow-tube to concentrate the draft. 3rd, there
was a mechanical device attached to the end of the pipe to replace the
was a mechanical device attached to the end of the pipe to replace the
human lung. Down to around 1550 B. C., the blow tube exclusively seems
to have been used in Egypt. After that time, foot-operated bellows were
used in metallurgy in the form of bags mounted on bases that were at-
tached to iron or reed pipes.
BELOVED (דוד (dode); ידיד (yeh deed); אהב (‘aw hab); ἀγαπητός (ag
ap ay tos)) In the Old Testament, dode is used frequently in the Song of
Solomon; yedeed is applied to Benjamin; aw hab is used several places. In
the New Testament, agapaytos is used in reference to Jesus, the Son and
Servant of the Father; in reference to the church, successor to Israel and
the body of Christ; and in reference to congregations and their members,
for Christ redeemed them and commanded them to love one another.
BELOVED DISCIPLE. A disciple of Jesus, referred to only in the closing chap-
ters of the Gospel of John and never named. In the Gospel of John's Last
Supper, this disciple was lying close to the breast of Jesus; he asked
Jesus who would betray the Lord. At the Cross, Jesus committed his
mother to the care of this disciple. He was told by Mary Magdalene of the
empty tomb, and outran Peter to the tomb, although Peter entered first.
The 1st way of identifying this disciple argues that so favored a
disciple must have been one of the 12, and a prominent one. He can't be
Peter, with whom he appears, and James was martyred early. This leaves
John of the 3 that were closest to Jesus. Peter and John appear together
in Luke and Acts, as Peter and the beloved disciple do in John. This im-
plies that John is the beloved disciple.
The 2nd method uses the internal evidence of the gospel to see
whether it indicates the identity of the beloved disciple. 3 views based on
this evidence are:
a.) The beloved disciple is an idealized figure, and as such should
not be identified with an particular disciple;
b.) The beloved disciple is a Jerusalem disciple of priestly family or
connection, because the gospel centers in Jerusalem, and the disciple
has access to a priest;
c.) The beloved disciple was Lazarus. He was the one man in the
gospel whom Jesus is said to have loved. He lived near Jerusalem,
and could easily have taken Jesus' mother to his home. And for a
gospel resting on this disciple's witness to have “life through Christ”
as its theme is fitting if the witness was the resurrected Lazarus.
Internal evidence thus points to Lazarus as the beloved disciple,
while external evidence points to John, the son of Zebedee. It is difficult to
reconcile the two lines of evidence and a final decision is hardly possible.
BELT ( 1. אזור (‘ay zore); 2. חליצה (khal ee tsaw); 3. מצח (may zakh);
4.מציח maw zee akh; 5. פתיל (paw theel); 6. zwnh (zo nay))
1. A piece of equipment for Assyrian soldiers. 2. A belt worn by
soldiers. 3. A girdle worn next to bare skin. 4. A term used in the
phrase “loosing the belt” (i.e. rendering a soldier impotent) 5. wrestling
belt 6. A money belt.
BELTESHAZZAR (בלטשאצר, may he protect his life) The Babylonian name
given to Daniel by the chief of Nebuchadnezzar's eunuchs.
B-19
BEN-ABINADAB (ﬢבבן-אבינ, father is noble) A man in charge of the provi
sioning of the coastal district of Naphathdor (between Philistia and Phoe-
nicia) for Solomon, and who married his daughter, Taphath.
BEN-AMMI (בן־עמי, son of my kinsman) Lot 's son by his younger daughter,
ancestor of the Ammonites.
BEN-DEKER (בן־דקר, son of a piercing) A man (or his father) in charge of
the provisioning of the second district for Solomon, which was generally
the same as southern Dan.
BEN-GEBER (־גברבן, son of a warrior) A man (or his father) in charge of the
provisioning of the sixth district for Solomon, which had its seat at Ramoth-
gilead.
BEN-HADAD (בן־הדד) 1. Ben-Hadad I; son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion.
He is first encountered as king of Damascus during the reign of King Baa-
sha of (northern) Israel, with whom he had an alliance. Baasha attacked
King Asa of Judah (southern Israel) in 879 B.C.; Asa bribed Ben-hadad I to
break the treaty and invade Baasha's Israel. Ben-hadad protected the
caravan route through Galilee from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast.
Later Omri of (northern) Israel was forced to admit merchants of Damas-
cus to the bazaars of Samaria.
When newly enthroned King Shalmanezer III of Assyria began to
menace Syria with yearly campaigns from 857-853 B.C., Ben-hadad de-
manded Israel's utter submission, to force them into an alliance against
Assyria. Twice Damascus was defeated by Ahab and Ben-hadad was
captured. In 853 B.C., Shalmaneser III faced a Syrian coalition led by
Ben-hadad I at Qarqar; it ended in a draw as did 2 later Assyrian as-
saults.
Kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat of Judah, tried to take Ramoth-gilead
from Ben-hadad but failed and Ahab was slain. He may have been the
“king of Aram,” whose leprous officer Naaman was healed by Elisha. Ben-
hadad's servant Hazael, who was anointed by Elisha as king of Damascus,
murdered Ben-hadad and took the throne. Some scholars split all the
above events between 2 kings with the same name.
2. Ben-hadad II (or III) Son and Hazael’s successor around 798
B.C. Ben-hadad II was enthroned during the reign of Jehoash of Israel.
He inherited a kingdom weakened by Assyrian assaults and couldn’t keep
all the territory that Hazael, had taken. He lost territory to Israel; the cities
taken from Israel, and then additional territory. When the Aramean state of
Hamath began to expand, Ben-hadad II organized a Syrian coalition to
curb Zakir of Hamath; Zakir withstood his enemies. Ben-hadad died, most
likely in 773 B.C.
BEN-HAIL (בן־הול, son of strength) Prince and teacher under Jehoshaphat.
BEN-HANAN (בן־חנן, son of gracious, favored one) Son of Shimon in the
genealogy of Judah.
BEN-HESED (בן־חסד, son of kindness) A man (or his father) in charge of
provisioning the third district for Solomon, which generally embraced
western Manasseh.
BEN-HUR (בן־חור, son of a hole) A man (or his father) in charge of the pro-
visioning of the first district for Solomon, which was generally the same
as Ephraim.
BEN-ONI (בן־אוני, the son of my sorrow) The name given to her son by
Rachel as she died at his birth. He was renamed Benjamin by his father.
BEN-ZOHETH (בן־צוחת) Son of Ishi in the genealogy of Judah; it could be a
description rather than a name.
BENAIAH (בניה, Yahweh has built) 1. The son of Jehoiada the priest,
whose years of loyal military service ultimately gained for him the rank of
commander of the army in the reign of Solomon. His exploits were: the
liquidation of 2 warriors of Moab, the slaying of a lion in a pit amid the
winter snow, and a victory over an Egyptian giant won at a considerable
disadvantage.
B-20
Benaiah served as captain of the foreign mercenaries who served
as the royal guard under David. Although he was named as the comman-
der of the Davidic militia of 24,000 men, the command appears to have
been honorary, since his son Ammizabad was in charge of the division.
In David's final days, Benaiah supported Solomon, the Davidic nominee.
As captain of the royal guard, Benaiah had the offensive task of destro-
ying the enemies of Solomon; he was rewarded for his loyalty with the
rank of commander.
2. A warrior from Pirathon of the hill country, who was among Da-
vid's 30, and who served as commander of the militia which served in the
11th month of each year.
3. One of the Simeonite princes who enlarged their pastoral lands
by conquest in the time of Hezekiah.
4. A Levitical musician, named among those who played harps in
the time of David.
5. One of the priests who were charged with blowing trumpets be-
fore the ark of Yahweh in I Chronicles.
6. An Asaphite whose grandson Jahaziel delivered a favorable
oracle to Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20.
7. A Levite and a subordinate overseer, who assisted in the collec-
tion of donations in Hezekiah's time.
8. The father of Pelatiah, one of the princes of the people during
the Exile.
9. The name of four Israelites who banished their foreign wives
with their children in Ezra's time.
BENE-BERAK (בני ברק, Sons of Barak (lightning)) A city of Dan
with one of the northwestern suburbs of Tel Aviv.
BENE-JAAKAN (בני יעקן) A place where Israel
BENINU (בנינו, our son) A Levitical witness to the post exilic covenant-renew-
al under Ezra.
BENJAMIN (בנימין, son of my right hand (i.e. most favored)) A son of Jacob
by Rachel and the ancestor of one of the 12 tribes. The name of the tribe
of Benjamin is to be interpreted historically as “the southerner,” possibly
splitting off from the larger Joseph group made up of Ephraim and Manas-
seh. It is scarcely conceivable that this small fragment could have attained
rights equal to the greater tribes among the 12. But the Benjaminites
crossed the Jordan as outrider of the Rachel group, which while it decima-
ted their tribe, also ensured their future as equals in the Israelite tribal go-
vernment. There may also be a historical connection between the Binu-
Jamina, a very rebellious Bedouin group, and Benjamin.
The Old Testament tribe's territory is a wedge, the small base of
which lies in the mountain to the west and which stretches eastward to the
Jordan. The Benjamite settlement eventually included Jerusalem, but be-
gan as a few villages on the mountain ridge between Jerusalem and Bethel;
perhaps it was an old tribe which ended up being stunted like Simeon and
others. In fact, Benjamin might have almost disappeared, had the men of
the tribe not been permitted to kidnap wives.
The Song of Deborah names Benjamin after Ephraim. Benjaminites
remained true to their tradition and reputation as slingers and as “ravenous
wolves,” which probably refers to attacks on caravans. Benjamin's role in
the Blessing of Moses sounds considerably more peaceful and appears to
be relatively late when it speaks of the beloved of Yahweh living in safety.
B-21
Nothing in the preceding points to the fact that it was precisely Ben-
jamin which would have been pre-destined to supply the first king. Yet
Saul was a Benjaminite. After Saul's catastrophic end, Benjamin was one
of the few tribes which recognized Ishbaal as his successor. Abner soon
succeeded in leading most of Benjamin over to David's side. In Solomon's
arrangement of districts, Benjamin appears as a separate administrative
district of the northern kingdom. After the split into Israel (north) and Judah
(south), the Judean kings succeeded in winning the territory of Benjamin
as a buffer for their capital city.
In the Priestly Code Benjamin's place is always immediately after
Ephraim and Manasseh. This combination is also popular in Chronicles,
except that Benjamin usually stands first, in order to preserve, to some ex-
tent, the connection with Judah. In naming the Jerusalem
is allotted the middle eastern gate next to Joseph. 2 of David's 30 heroes
were Benjaminites: Ittai of Gibeah; and Abiezer of Anathoth. Jeremiah was
also from Anathoth, and the apostle Paul was also a Benjaminite.
2. Great-grandson of Jacob, through Benjamin, Jediael, and Bilhan.
3. An Israelite of the time of Ezra, who pledged to dissolve his mar-
riage with a foreign woman.
4. A priest of Nehemiah's time, probably the same Benjamin who
participated in building the wall.
BENJAMIN GATE A gate of Jerusalem, mentioned in Jeremiah 37, perhaps
the Sheep or Muster Gate.
BENO (בנו, his son) Son of Jaaziah, Merarite Levite. It may be a description,
rather than a name.
BEON (בען) A town in northern Moab wanted by the tribes of Reuben and Gad;
probably the same as Baal-Meon.
BEOR (בעור) 1. The father of Bela, who was an Edomite king prior to the
Israelite monarchy.
2. The father of Balaam, the seer summoned to curse Israel.
BERA (ברע) King of Sodom, defeated after rebelling against Chedorlaomer.
BERACAH (ברכה, blessing) One of the warriors from Saul's brethren who
joined David's outlaws at Ziklag.
BERACAH, VALLEY OF (עמק ברכה (bear a cah ay mek), valley of blessing)
A valley in the wilderness of Judah, southwest of Bethlehem. Jehoshaphat
reassembled his people in the valley of Beracah after the defeat of the
coalition of Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites at the ascent of Ziz.
BERAIAH (בראיה, Yahweh has created) A member of the tribe of Benjamin
listed as one of the sons of Shimei.
BERECHIAH (ברכיה, Yahweh blesses) 1. The father of Asaph in the genea-
logies of the Levites.
2. A Levite, one of the “gatekeepers for the ark” mentioned in the
account of bringing the ark up to Zion.
3. A chief of the Ephraimites mentioned in the Chronicler's fanciful
account of the defeat of Judah's Ahaz by Pekah of (northern) Israel.
4. A son of Zerubbabel listed among David's descendants of in a
genealogy which has as its point the fact that Zerubbabel was of the Davi-
dic line.
5. Son of Iddo, and the father of the prophet Zechariah. Elsewhere
in the Bible, Iddo is Zechariah's father.
6. Meshullam's father; one of those who led, under Nehemiah, in
rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.
7. A Levite listed as one of the inhabitants of Jerusalem in post exi-
lic times in I Chronicles only.
BERED (ברד, hail) 1. A son of Ephraim, and the founding ancestor of a smal-
ler tribe. 2. A place on the road from Canaan to Egypt, beyond Beer-
lahai-roi.
BERI (ברי, well) Son of Zophah in the tribe of Asher and the name given to
a division of the Asherite clan of Zophah. There is no connection between
these Beriites and the other Beriites mentioned in the Bible.
BERIAH (בריעה, prominent, excellent) 1. The 4th son of Asher and ance-
stral head of the family of the Beriites. 2. The 4th son of Elpaal, who put
to flight the inhabitants of Gath. 3. The 4th son of Shimei the Gersho-
mite, of the tribe of Levi. 4. Son of Ephraim; the name here is uncertain.
B-22
BERNICE (Bernikh (ber nee kay)) Bernice is mentioned in Acts 25, in the
narrative of Paul's appearance before Agrippa II. She was Agrippa's daugh-
ter, probably born in 28 A.D. Her 1st husband was a certain Marcus whose
father, Alexander was a Jewish official. When Marcus died, Agrippa be-
trothed her to his own brother Herod. There were rumors of an incestuous
relationship between Agrippa II and herself. She married King Polemo to
dispel those rumors.
She returned to Jerusalem and was present in 66 when Procurator
Florus pillaged the temple and massacred many people; Bernice was al-
most killed. Agrippa addressed them, urging the people with Bernice by his
side, warning them against provoking war. Later that year, the Jewish popu-
lace set fire to the palaces of Bernice and Agrippa. She and Agrippa took an
oath of allegiance to the Roman Vespasian, and then Bernice became the
mistress of Vespasian's son Titus.
BEROEA (Beroia) Macedonian city 80 km southwest of Thessalonica, men-
tioned in Acts 17.
BEROTHAH A town Ezekiel listed as part of the northern boundary of the re-
stored inheritance of Israel's tribes.
BEROTHAI A city in the Syrian kingdom of Zobah from which David took
much bronze booty. It is probably the same as Berothah and located about
10 km south of Baalbek in the western foothills of Anti-Lebanon.
BERRIES (גרגרים (gar gar eem); elaia, (eh lay ee ah)) In both Testa-
ments, the reference is to olives.
BERYL (a.) תרשיש (tar sheesh); b.) שהם (sho ham); c.) BhrulloV,
ber il los) silicate of beryllium and aluminum. The crystals are hexagonal
prisms, usually green or bluish-green, and sometimes yellow, pink, or white.
a.) Perhaps a yellowish stone in the breast-piece of judgment (Exo-
dus 28 and 39). In Daniel 10, it is what the man who appeared to the pro-
phet resembles, most likely the brightness rather than the stone's color.
b.) It is a stone in the covering of the King of Tyre.
c.) The 8th jewel in the foundation of the walls of New Jerusalem.
BESAI (בסי) Head of a family of postexilic temple servants.
BESODEIAH (בסודיה, in the secret council of the Lord) The father of a cer-
tain Meshullam who helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the time of
Nehemiah.
BESOR, THE BROOK. A stream which David crossed on his expedition from
Ziklag in pursuit of the Amalekites who had sacked the city.
BESTIALITY. Sexual intercourse between a man or a woman and an animal;
the act carried the death penalty, and was probably associated with a
Babylonian myth and/or magical ritual.
BETAH (בטח, confidence) A town mentioned in II Samuel 8.
BETEN (בטן, abdomen) A border town in Asher. It is perhaps located about
18 km south of Acco.
BETH (ב) The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, as shown by the order
of the sections of Psalm 119.
BETH-ANATH (בית־ענת, house of Anath) A town in Naphtali. The earlier
Canaanite town is mentioned in lists of several Egyptian rulers of the New
Kingdom, located perhaps east of Acco.
BETH-ANOTH (ענות בית house (shrine) of the goddess Anath) A village of
Judah in the district of Beth-zur, about 4.8 km north of Hebron, and 17.6
km south of Bethlehem.
BETH-ARABAH (הערבה בית, house (shrine) of the Arabah) A border point
on Judah
cated southeast of Jericho
BETH-ARBEL (ארבאל בית) A town destroyed by Shalman, according to Ho-
sea 10. It is now generally identified with the Irbid in Gilead, located at an
important crossroads.
B-23
BETH-AVEN (און בית, house of wickedness) 1. A town near Ai and east of
Bethel to which Joshua sent men from Jericho; it was on the border of Ben-
jamin in the wilderness.
idolatry.
BETH-BAAL-MEON (מעון בעל בית, house of the lord of habitation) A town
in Moab
BETH-BARAH (ברה בית, house of the fugitive) A town in or near the Jordan
seized by Ephraimites under Gideon in the attack on the Midianites.
BETH-BIRI (בﬧאי בית, house of my making) A city of Simeon
BETH-CAR (כר בית, house of a lamb or of pasture) An unknown site evidently
between Mizpah and the Philistine country, mentioned in I Samuel 7.
BETH-DAGON (דגן בית, house (shrine) of Dagon) 1. A village in the She-
phelah district of Lachish in Judah
bly located near Mount Carmel.
BETH-DIBLATHAIM (דבלתים בית, house of 2 fig cakes) A city of Moab
mentioned in Jeremiah 48 as part of a three verse, 11-town list of towns to
be judged by God.
BETH-EDEN (עדן בית, house of delight) An Aramaic city-state, between the
Euphrates and the Balikh River
BETH-EGLAIM (עגלים בית, house (place) of the 2 calves) A city 6.4 south-
west of Gaza
cupation and destruction from the 2100s B.C. to the 900s B.C. This name
does not appear in the Bible. The Hyksos began occupation of the site in
the 1700s. They built a great, mile-long ditch and 2 major palaces during
their 250 year occupation. The Egyptians conquered, took over the site,
and built 3 major palaces between the mid-1500s and the beginning of the
1200s. By the time of the Conquest by the tribes and the Monarchy of
Israel, this city had greatly declined in importance; nearby Gaza gained in
importance. There is evidence of occupation of the site by Rome as late as
the 300s A. D.
BETH-EKED (עקד בית, house of shearing) A place on the road from Jezreel
Ahaziah of Judah there.
BETH-EL (אל בית, house of God) An earlier name of this city was Luz. It was
a city located on the main north-south ridge road about 16 km north of
Jerusalem, where Benjamin and Ephraim's boundaries met. It started off
being allotted to Benjamin, but that tribe lost it to the Canaanites in the
days of the judges. Ephraim re-conquered it and retained possession of it
thereafter. The Canaanite god El was one of the older major deities and
Bethel was a sanctuary city for him. In Hebrew, “el” became simply one of
several generic terms for God, and Bethel is so named by Jacob in Gene-
sis 28. Bethel is a site of major importance in the Old Testament, being
mentioned more often than any other city except Jerusalem.
The site afforded no military advantages, but the wealth of nearby
springs on this high ridge made a city here inevitable. The city itself was
founded around 2000 B.C. It is first mentioned in Genesis 12, when Abra-
ham builds an altar on the ridge east of Bethel, which was already sacred
ground. A city wall on the north, built by the Hyksos around 1750-1650
B.C. was faced with a wide clay sheath to keep battering rams away.
From 1650-1550 B.C., a garrison complex was built just inside this
wall near the gate. An earlier wall on the west had its gate replaced by a
Hyksos tower. Archaeology sheds no light on the Abraham and Jacob nar-
ratives at this point, but it is at Bethel that Jacob's name is changed to Is-
rael and the Abrahamic covenant is renewed. From that point on “Bethel”
is inseparable from the history of Israel that takes place in Israel.
B-24
The history of Bethel presents confusing evidence for the time of
Joshua's campaign. Ai, which Joshua is said to have conquered wasn't
occupied at that time. On the other hand, Bethel, which isn't mentioned as
being conquered, suffered the most terrific burning yet seen in Palestine,
which fits the description of what happened at Ai in the Joshua narrative.
It may be that Bethel and Ai were blended into a common episode. The
city which followed the burning of Bethel was of very crude construction.
Excavations have found that Bethel was destroyed several times in
the period of the judges. Bethel was apparently recaptured by the Canaa-
nites early in the period of the judges, after which it was recaptured by the
house of Joseph. The tribe of Benjamin was so depleted that the stronger
tribe of Ephraim just to the north re-conquered the city and retained pos-
session from then on. The road from Jericho to Bethel marked the boun-
dary between these tribes.
In the early phase of the judges the ark was located at Bethel. The
ark's removal to Shiloh is later in the days of the judges. If one of Bethel's
destructions took place when the ark was at Bethel, this could be seen as
an attempt to destroy Israel's tribal government and religious center. De-
borah's judgeship, with its center “between Ramah and Bethel in the
Ephraimite hill country,” seems to come after Bethel's recapture by the
Ephraimites. Her judgeship was at some time around 1125 B.C.
For the rest of the judges' period, under the Philistines, and for cen-
turies thereafter, even past the time of Jerusalem's destruction in 587, Be-
thel seems to have led a charmed life in escaping destruction. Samuel be-
came the key figure of the judges; he worked a circuit of Bethel, Gilgal, and
Mizpah. Bethel, however, soon lost power to Bibeah, Saul's new capital
just to the south in Benjamin. Under David and Solomon the city saw still
more fatal competition. Bethel isn't mentioned in the days of David and
Solomon, but the town prospered in farming and commerce under the new
dynasty.
In the split kingdom, Jeroboam I lifted Bethel to new prominence,
making it the Northern Kingdom of Israel's chief sanctuary and the rival of
Judah's Jerusalem. He instituted new sites, new clergy, new calendar, and
new cult techniques, including golden calves. Bethel was still the king's
sanctuary as late as the time of Amos. There was a prophet's school there
when Elijah and Elisha were en route to Elijah's translation. When Abijah of
Judah conquered Bethel, he didn't destroy the city, but incorporated it into
his own kingdom.
While Assyria conquered the northern kingdom, no sign of Assyrian
destruction of Bethel has been found; apparently the city was spared. Jo-
siah of Judah moved north to fill in the political and religious vacuum. He
first annihilated the Bethel sanctuary which then had distinctly Canaanite
features, and attempted to wipe out her clergy; the city was spared. Nebu-
chadnezzar also spared the city, probably because of Babylonian colonists
planted there by the Assyrians. The next major world conflict, however,
finally brought the city's tragic destruction, at the hands of Nabonidus or
the Persians.
The Greek period showed rapid and solid growth. Bacchides forti-
fied the city, andthe city continued to grow under the Maccabees. There is
also no evidence of destruction in 63 B.C. when the Romans took over Pa-
lestine, and later, the New Testament makes no reference to Bethel. The
south wall of this period enclosed within the city area the site's best spring.
It was the last city captured by Vespasian before he became emperor. The
city reached its population climax in the Byzantine Era. The best Byzantine
street and gateway in Palestine still show plainly at the northeast corner of
of the present village. The city was destroyed around the transition time
from the Byzantine period into the Arabic. It wasn't reoccupied until a cen-
tury ago.
BETH-EMEK (העמק בית, house of the valley) A border town in Asher, per-
haps 9.5 km east northeast of Acco.
BETH-EZEL (האצל בית, house of firmness) A place in southern Judah
about 3.2 km east of Debir, mentioned among the word-plays of Micah.
BETH-GADER (גדר בית, house of the wall) A village which may have been
in northern Judah and possibly the same as Geder. The actual location is
unknown.
BETH-GAMUL (גמול בית, house of recompense) A town in the Moabite ta-
bleland, probably 12.8 km east of Dibon. It is mentioned in Jeremiah 48.
BETH-GIGAL (הגלגל בית, house of the wheel) A place whose exact loca-
tion is unknown, though it is identified with 2 different Gilgals, one near
Jericho, and one mentioned in Joshua 15.
B-25
BETH-HACCHEREM (הכרם בית, house of the vineyard) A village of Judah
about 3.5 km south of Jerusalem
point, and in Nehemiah 3 as a chief city of the district.
BETH-HAGGAN (הגן בית, house of the garden) A town to which Ahaziah fled
in an attempt to escape Jehu.
BETH-HARAM (הרם בית, house of destruction) A fortified city of Gad
ted south of Beth-nimrah in the plains of Moab
Gadites to serve as a place of security for their families while they crossed
the Jordan to aid in the conquest of western Canaan.
BETH-HOGLAH (חגלה בית, house of the partridge) A town of Benjamin on
its southern border a little west of Jericho
BETH-HORON (חרון בית, house of the height) The name of 2 adjacent
towns of strategic importance, Upper Beth-horon (about 8 km northwest of
Gibebeon and 530 m above sea level) and Lower Beth-horon (3.2 km fur-
ther west towards the sea and 315 m above sea level), located on the road
from Gibeon to the Valley of Aijalon and the Shephelah. Both cities were
on the southern border of the Ephraimite territory. I Chronicles tells us that
an ancestress of Joshua built both cities.
Beth-horon was frequently the scene of battle. Joshua defeated the
5 kings of the Amorites there. In Saul's time the place was raided by a
company of Philistines. Solomon caused it to be rebuilt following an Egyp-
tian raid. This was one of the towns attacked by the Ephraimites of nor-
thern Israel, after King Amaziah of Judah dismissed them from his army.
(See also the entry in Old Testament Apocrypha / Influences Out-
side the Bible section of the Appendix.).
BETH-JESHIMOTH (הישימות בית, house of wastes) A town in the plains of
el's encampment, and was assigned to the Reubenites. The Moabites
later had possession, according to Ezekiel.
BETH-LE-APHRAH (לעפרה בית, house of dust) An unidentified city. The
prophet Micah may be alluding to Ophrah or Bethel.
BETH-LEBAOTH (לבאות בית, place of lions) A city of Simeon
thern part of Judah
exact site is unknown, but it is near Sharuhen.
BETH-MAACAH (מעכה בית, house of Maacah) A clan or territorial name
which later became part of the town named Abel-Beth-Maacah.
BETH-MARCABOTH (מרכבות בית, place of chariots) A city of Simeon
near Ziklag, and a place for the manufacture and storage of chariots.
BETH-MEON (מעון בית, house of habitation) A town in the Moabite table-
land, more commonly called Baal-Meon and mentioned in Jeremiah 48.
BETH-MILLO (מלוא בית, house of fullness) A quarter in the city of
BETH-NIMRAH (נמרה בית, place of the leopard) A city in the Plains of
Moab along the Jordan Valley
likely at Tell Bleibel on the north side of the Wadi Sha'ib. It is mentioned in
Joshua 13 and Numbers 32.
BETH-PAZZEZ (פצץ בית, place of dispersion) A border town in Issachar. It
was located in the vicinity of Mount Tabor and En-haddah and was men-
tioned in Joshua 19.
BETH-PELET (פלט בית, place of refuge) A city of southern Judah
sheba. It was one of the cities rebuilt by the Judeans after their return
from the Babylonian exile. The site's location remains unknown.
BETH-PEOR (פעור בית, temple of (the god) Peor) A city of Moab
the tribe of Reuben about 5 or 6 km northwest of Heshbon. It was here
“in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor” that Moses was bu-
ried after he had seen all the land from Mount Nebo.
B-26
BETH-RAPHA (רפא בית, house of a giant) Either a clan or a place name in
identified.
BETH-REHOB (רהוב בית, place of a square) A town marking the northern
limits of Canaan . During David's reign, it was an Aramean stronghold that
sent forces to aid Ammon. The site's location is unknown.
BETH-SAIDA (צידא בית, house of the fisher (or hunter) A city on the north-
east shore of Lake Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee) just east of the Jordan
river, and mentioned several times in the New Testament in connection
with the ministry of Jesus. The Romans classified it as a city and named it
Julias. The tetrarch Herod Philip died and was buried there. Bethsaida-Ju-
lias has been identified with 2 sites. The remains of el-'Araj on the lake-
shore mark the fisher's settlement of Beth-saida. 3.2 km away and 95 m
above sea level are the remains of the city of Julias. There is a town wall,
well-cut stones, and an ancient mosaic there with a spring nearby.
The position of Beth-Saida is inferred from Luke 9, which identifies
the town or a deserted place near as the site of the multiplication of loaves
and fishes. The blind man in Mark 8 is in Beth-saida. Beth-saida is called
the city of origin for the apostles Philip, Andrew, and his brother Peter. De-
spite that, Jesus' ministry seems to have failed there, and it is cursed. It
shouldn't be confused with the pool of Bethsada in Jerusalem.
BETH-SHAN (שן בית, house of quiet) A city at the intersection of the valleys
of Jezreel and the Jordan River . It lies well within the trough of the Jordan
Valley, more than 160 meters below sea level, on the south bank of the pe
rennial Jalud River. Beside it passed the easiest route by which the trave-
ler from Egypt turning inland might join the Jordan valley or desert routes
from Damascus and Arabia. It was strategic, but it also had good soil and
a constant supply of water. The site does not seem to have been occupied
much before 3000 B.C.; little is known of this society, except that it was
never defended with a wall. The population must have accepted without
resistance the waves of nomadic intruders from the east, and practiced ag-
riculture, weaving, basketry, and pottery without much ambition.
"Beth-shan” appears in ancient Egyptian, Akkadian, and Hebrew
texts from the 1400s B.C. onward. Beth-shan is one of the towns of Upper
Retenu which Thutmoses III took possession of after the battle of Megiddo,
around 1468 B.C. This was the beginning of 300 years of close depen-
dence on Egypt and included an Egyptian garrison, usually of mercenaries.
So long as Egypt controlled the cities of Syria, Beth-shan was a vital base
for protecting her communication with the north.
Seti I erected 2 stelae between 1313-1292, one relating the attack
and defeat of the princes of Hamath, and one relating the defeat of the “Ap-
riu” (Hebrews (?)). Ramses II erected a steele between 1292-1225. Ram-
ses III erected a seated statue between 1198-1167, most likely to comme-
morate the Pharoah's second defeat of the “Sea Peoples.”
There is only vague evidence that the city mound's summit was pro-
tected by a brick wall and a fortress tower from about the time of Amen-
hotep III. As its name implies, Beth-shan was also protected by a resident
god whom most scholars are content to leave undefined. Archaeologists
have discovered 2 sets of buildings, one by Thutmose III, and one by Ram-
ses. Both sets comprise 2 ancient shrines dedicated to a god and his con-
sort. Each temple contained an inner sanctum reached from the antecham-
ber by a flight of steps. The latest shrine remained in use until about 1,000
B.C. and could have been the temple in I Samuel 31.
Whatever their nature, the chief deities of Beth-shan were represen-
ted during the Egyptian period in human form. The chief baal Mekal is
bearded, wears a high conical hat with a tasseled streamer, and with a pair
of small horns tied on by a long ribbon. He holds an ankh in his right hand.
2 goddesses, Antit and someone resembling Ashtaroth are also in human
form.
The Israelite tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out Beth-shan's and its
villages' inhabitants, for the Canaanites had chariots of iron. It isn't related
how soon the Israelites were able to avenge the death of Saul and Jona-
than and the outrage to their bodies on the walls of Beth-shan. By the mid-
900s B.C., Beth-shan was fully integrated into Solomon's fiscal system.
Around 926 B.C. Sheshonk I plundered the city, after which it drops out of
history for several centuries. (See also entry in the Old Testament Apocry-
pha / Influences Outside the Bible section of the Appendix.
In Christian times Scythopolis (Beth-shan) was the capital of Pale-
stina Secunda and a metropolitan bishop's see. The important remains of
this period are a circular church on the summit of Tell el-Husn and a mona-
stery founded in the 500s A.D. Scythopolis-Beisan fell into the hands of
the Arabs in 636, having witnessed in 635 the Christian forces' defeat in
the Battle of Pella.
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BETH-SHEMESH (שמש בית, house (shrine) of the sun (god)) 1. A city on
the northern border of Judah
of Tell ed-Duweir (Lachish Jerusalem
settled in the 2300s or 2200s B.C., and may have been a shrine at one time.
It seems to have been captured by the Hyksos in the mid-1700s; it was re-
captured by the Egyptians, possibly by Amen-hotep I. The heavy fortifica-
tions, southern gate, and other construction, show that it flourished from
the 1400s on. It was the only fortified city in the Valley of Sorek, and an im-
portant frontier post between Judah and the Philistines.
Beth-shemesh was assigned to Dan, although the Danites did not
immediately occupy it. It was effectively controlled by the invading Danites
for a short time until the Philistines' establishment in the coastal plain. The
general cultural level during the period of the judges was much inferior to
the preceding one, but there was evidence of extensive metalworking,
chiefly bronze but some iron. While the Bible doesn't say that the Phili-
stines occupied Beth-shemesh, a strong Philistine influence is indicated by
the great quantities of their typical pottery. The city was almost certainly
under Philistine economic if not political control.
In David's time, there was a governor's residence, a warehouse
and a palace, which was built on an earth-filled platform. The chief industry
of Beth-shemesh at this period was olive oil and wine production. Its occu-
pation came to an end near 900 B.C., probably as a result of Shishak's
invasion around 918 B. C. It was reoccupied but never fully refortified and
existed as a much poorer city.
After its loss to the Philistines during Ahaz' reign, the city presum-
ably remained in their hands until Josiah's effort to restore the Israelite em-
pire; it remained crown property until early in the 500s. Nehemiah 4 implies
a subsequent loss of the region, including Beth-shemesh, to Philistine.
Beth-shemesh itself was destroyed in Nebuchadrezzar's campaign of 588-
587. Nothing more is heard about the city. In the 300s or 400s A.D., a
monastery was built on the site but was later destroyed.
2. A city in Issachar, near the Jordan River, just south of the Sea of
Galilee and east of Khirbet Shamsawi.
3. A Canaanite city assigned to Naphtali but not occupied by them.
4. The famous religious city of On in Egypt Heliopo-
BETH-SHITTAH (השטה בית, house of the acacia) A place to which the Midi-
anites fled after their defeat by Gideon and the Israelites. The location is
unknown, but it must be across the Jordan from Abel-Meholah.
BETH-TAPPUAH (תפוה בית, house of apples) A town of Judah
country district of Hebron Hebron
tioned in Joshua 15.
BETH-TOGARMAH (תוגרמה בית, house of Togarmah) Same as Togarmah,
mentioned in Ezekiel 27 & 38.
BETH-ZATHA (Bhqzaqa , house of olives) A pool in Jerusalem
porticoes mentioned in John 5. Tradition held that its waters were cura-
tive, and invalids lay about in its 5 porticoes. Jesus spoke to and healed a
man who had been ill for 38 years. The story implies that the power to
cure lies in the waters only when they are troubled, traditionally by an
angel bathing in the pool.
The Pool of Beth-zatha has not been certainly identified. The story
places it in Jerusalem and near the Sheep Gate, which was built by the
priests. The archaeologist Schick found twin pools with 5 porticoes, at
the foot of Mount Bezetha. The two pools today are on the property of the
Church of St. Anne. They lie north and south, with a rock partition 20 feet
thick; their total area may have been about 46 meters by 92 meters. Por-
ticoes would have occupied the 4 sides and the partition.
There are many rock cisterns about Jerusalem, several of which
have been proposed as the Pool of Beth-zatha; none have as good of a
claim as the twin pools at St. Anne's.
BETH-ZUR (צור בית, cliff house) A town of Judah
Calebites, a little over 7 km north of Hebron
along the top of the watershed ridge. It is on a hill about 1 km above sea-
level, making it the highest ruined town in Palestine. Beth-zur became the
capital of one of the hill-country provinces of Judah.
Apparently it was founded in the Middle Bronze period (i.e. the
1600s B.C.). Excavation has revealed massive fortifications similar in con-
struction to those of the Hyksos period at Bethel and Shechem. This pro-
sperous city was destroyed in the 1400s, perhaps by Thutmoses III. It re-
mained unoccupied until it was rebuilt in the late 1200s or early 1100s by
the Israelites; around the mid-1100s it was again burned, possibly by the
Philistines. Evidence points to no occupation of this site in the 800s and
700s. It was occupied during the 2 centuries after that, before it was de-
stroyed again, perhaps in the course of the Babylonian invasion.
(See also the entry in the Old Testament Apocrypha /Influences
Outside the Bible section of Appendix.).
B-28
BETHABARA (Bhqabara, ford, crossing) A place of uncertain location be-
yond the Jordan
village about 2.6 km east of Jerusalem and lying on Mount of Olives' ea-
stern slope. Jesus and his disciples lodged in suburban Bethany when
attending temple ceremonies at Passover. One approach to Jerusalem
from the east was through Bethany and over the Mount of Olives ridge;
this was the course followed by Jesus when he arrived for this festival and
made his “triumphal entry.” It's also the site of Jesus' final “departure” from
his disciples as well as Bethphage, which is nearby. Muslims and Chri-
stians have marked many sacred sites here, such as the traditional crypt
of Lazarus, the “spot where Mary met the Lord,” and a site for Mary's
anointing of Jesus' feet.
2. According only to John 1, the locale of the activity of John the
Baptist, where it is described as “beyond the Jordan.” Some identify the
correct place as Bethabara.
treaty between Esarhaddon of Assyria and Ba'al of Tyre. Some scholars
believe it is of Phoenician origin from 1000-2000 B.C., and some scholars
believe it is of Aramean origin. In the Old Testament, scholars are certain
that it appears as a divine name in Jeremiah 48. Some scholars also see
it as a divine name in Genesis 31, Amos 5 and elsewhere.
BETHEL (SANCTUARY) See Beth-el.
BETHER (short for בתר, house (shrine) of the mountain) A town in the Bethle-
shows almost continuous occupation from Early Iron I (1200 B.C.) to the
early Roman period. Bether is best known as Bar Cocheba's (“son of the
star of Jacob”) capital after Akiba designated him as a messiah in 132
A.D. Located atop an easily defended hill, Bether was the last Jewish
stronghold to fall in 135. Its fall was accompanied by a massacre; the re-
mainder were sold as slaves.
BETHESDA The King James Version's translation of Bhqedsa, found in John
5. It is probable that Bhqzaqa (Beth-zatha) is the more accurate and
original form.
Lahamu)
1. A town in Judah; the home of David and the birthplace of Jesus,
about 9.6 km south southwest of Jerusalem. The first historical mention of
Bethlehem is in one of the Amarna of the 1300s B.C. Bethlehem was the
home of the Levite who became Micah's and later the Danites' priest, and
was the setting for most of the book of Ruth. It prominence in the Old Tes-
tament rests largely on its associations with David, especially as the scene
of his anointing. During the late 900s the town was fortified by Rehoboam.
Its leading citizens participated in the Exile and many Bethlehemites re-
turned from the Exile.
The tradition that Jesus was born in a cave dates back to at least
the mid-100s A.D. In 325, Constantine erected a basilica over a series of
caves. Justinian I (527-565) built a new and larger church over the ruins
of the old one. The present structure is basically the one built by Justinian.
2. A town in the territory of Zebulun, about 10 km west northwest
of Nazareth. It is the home and burial of Ibzan one of the judges of Israel.
BETHPHAGE (בית־פגי, house of unripe figs; Beqfagh) A village near
tion is uncertain. The name refers to a variety of late-season figs which
never appear ripe. Beth-phage is only mentioned in the story of the trium-
phal entry; it is where Jesus sent 2 disciples ahead to procure a young ass.
By a legal fiction Bethphage marked the farthest limit of Greater Jerusalem
for ritual purposes. Only from beyond it might one make a true pilgrimage
to Jerusalem.
BETHUEL (בתואל, set apart of God) 1. The last son of Nahor and Milcah;
Abraham's nephew and father of Laban and Rebekah. He was the “Ara-
mean of Paddan-aram.”
2. A town of Simeon near Hormah and not far from Beer-sheba.
David is recorded as having given some of the Amalekites' booty to Bethel,
which is undoubtedly a mistake for Bethuel.
B-29
BETONIM (בטנים, pistachios) A city in the northern part of Gad, about 10 km
from es-Salt and marking Gad's northern border.
BEULAH (בעולה, married) 1 of 2 symbolic names denoting the future prospe-
rity of Jerusalem
symbolize Israel as the “bride” of Yahweh. It is reflected in the New Testa-
ment by the conception of the church as the bride of Christ.
BEVELED WORK (מורד מעשה (mah ah seh mo rawd), work of descent)
Wreath-like scrollwork, probably in low relief, around the bronze panels of
the stands for the lavers in Solomon's temple.
BEWITCH (Baskainw (bas kie no)) It is used figuratively in Galatians; i.e.
“to charm” with arguments to a degree that the power of reasoning is lost.
BEYOND THE JORDAN
indicating the territory either east or west of the Jordan
writer's viewpoint. Of the approximately 30 times it occurs, only 5 refer de-
finitely to the area west of the Jordan. The rest refer to the eastern side
of, or the Trans-Jordan.
BEYOND THE RIVER (הנהר עבר (ay ber ha nah how er)) On the other,
eastern side of the Euphrates ; the expression refers to the patriarchs'
homeland near Haran
side, which included Palestine-Syria.
BEZAI (בצי, See Bezalel) The head of a family that returned to Palestine
the Exile, and one who set his seal to Ezra's covenant.
BEZALEL (בצלאל, in the shadow (protection) of God.) 1. A Judahite in
charge of making the wilderness Tabernacle and its equipment. He
designed adornments of the ancient sanctuary using various media. His
versatility and craftmanship is attributed to his being filled with the Spirit of
God. 2. One of Pahath-moab's sons, who divorced their foreign wives
when Ezra incited them to do so.
BEZEK (בזק, lightning) 1. A city where the tribes of Judah and Simeon inflic-
ted a defeat upon the Canaanites and Perizzites. It is probably located
about 3.2 km southeast of Lydda.
2. The rallying point for the men of Israel and Judah by Saul; from
there they repulsed the attacking Ammonites under Nahash's leadership.
It is probably 20.8 km northeast of Shechem overlooking the Jordan.
BEZER (בצר, gold (?), fortress (?)) 1. A division of the Zophah clan of the tribe
of Asher. 2. A city of Reuben which was appointed a city of refuge and
was allotted to the Merarites. It is probably 12.8 km northeast of Medeba.
BIBLE (Biblia (bi blee ah), the books) Collection of writings which the church
authorizes as legitimate parts of Holy Scripture. The limits of this collection
have varied considerably at different periods and there are profound differ-
ences within the church over the degree of authority which is to be given to
the collection and to particular books within it. The Bible has now been
translated into more than a thousand languages.
The English Bible contains 80 books in its complete form: 39 of the
Old Testament (OT), 27 of the New Testament (NT) and 14 of the Apocry-
pha. It has become the general custom to publish Bibles of 66 books
which excluded the Apocrypha. The Latin Bible contains 72 books: 45 of
the OT, including 6 Apocrypha, and the same 27 NT as The English Bible.
The Greek Bible includes the same NT as the English and a much
more extensive OT with additional works originally in Greek and Greek ver-
versions of Hebrew works no longer available in the original Hebrew. The
Hebrew Bible contains the same 39 OT books as the English Bible. The
Christian Churches accepted the judgment of the rabbis in the finalizing of
the OT canon.
BIBLICAL CRITICISM (For the principles and processes of biblical criticism,
See Introduction to Dictionary.)
B-30
BIBLICAL CRITICISM (HISTORY OF)
List of Topics—1. Introduction; 2. Pioneers of Modern
Criticism: Elias; Grotius; Hobbes (1538-1679); 3. Pioneers
of Modern Criticism: Baruch Spinoza; Jean Astruc (1632-1766);
4. The 1700s: Simon; Eichhorn; Reimarus; 5. The 1700s:
Semler; Schleiermacher; Strauss ; 6. Later Developments,
Principles, and Processes.
1. Introduction—The scientific study of the Hebrew and Christian
scriptures did not arise until a few centuries ago. In the ancient church, a
science of biblical criticism first developed in connection with the Old
Testament's (OT) text, but only sporadically did questions arise that chal-
lenged tradition as to the Scripture's historical accuracy and authorship.
As early as 400 A.D., Theodore of Mopsuestia concluded that the Song
of Solomon is to be understood literally as an erotic poem.
Medieval scholars, with their love for mystical meanings, for the
most part did nothing to advance historical understanding of the Scriptures.
In the 1100s, Hugo of St. Victor's had the insight that the Wisdom of Solo-
mon wasn't written by Solomon and that Daniel 11 is to be understood
with the help of the Maccabees. The above criticism lay beyond the hori-
zon of the ancient and medieval church, as it presupposes the possibility
and right of free investigation, unfettered by absolute tradition or an infalli-
ble institution.
In their own way the Reformers virtually rediscovered the Bible, in-
sisting upon the simple grammatical meaning of its language, freeing it
from the domination of church authority, and handing it back to the com-
mon people. But they also didn't introduce this branch of criticism. Luther
gave his critical faculties free rein to the extent that he in principle exclu-
ded 4 books of the New Testament (NT) from his canon: Hebrews, James,
Jude, and Revelation.
These 4 books were relegated to a sort of appendix in his NT trans-
lation. He concluded that Hebrews was not by Paul or any other disciple.
James was not apostolic, because it contradicts Paul and neglects the pas-
sion, resurrection and spirit of Christ. For Luther, Jude was a copy of II
Peter. And Revelation was too confused, commends itself too much, and
does not teach Christ.
Calvin also foreshadows biblical criticism. He never wrote a com-
mentary on Revelations, and while he does not reject Jude, James and He-
brews outright, he has enough reservations about them to make special
mention as to why he includes them. In the OT, it is clear to him that Jo-
shua and Samuel didn't write the books named after them. The germ of
criticism is present in both Luther and Calvin, but the conditions to cause it
to bud and grow were not yet present. Post-Reformation divines became
absorbed in dogma and church controversies, for which they needed a
Bible whose divine authority could settle all disputes. For them, the Bible
was God's book, infallibly and verbally inspired.
2. Pioneers of Modern Criticism: Elias; Grotius; Hobbes (1538-
1679)—In 1538, Elias discovered that the small marks made under the He-
brew letters to indicate vowels were added sometime after the 500s A. D.
Starting in the mid-1500s, humanists were boldly investigating various an-
cient documents' composition and authorship, making inevitable the appli-
cation of similar criticism to the Bible.
From the late 1500s to the mid-1700s, 4 non-theologians anticipated
its development and paved the way for later professional theologians to do
the same with better tools. It is easy enough to see why the ultra-orthodox
church right after the Reformation could not have given birth to biblical cri-
ticism and also why the church regarded these nonprofessional critics as
impertinent, derogatory, and blasphemous outsiders.
Grotius (Huig de Groot, 1583-1645) was a famous judge, and his
true significance lies in his quiet assumption of a right to study, analyze
and scrutinize the scripture's books exactly as one does any other book.
He expresses no doubt that Solomon is the author of and one of the spea-
kers in the Song of Solomon. It is simply a connubial dialogue between
Solomon and a wife:
B-31
Here the secrets of marriage lie hidden under the modest wrap-
pings of words. His own annotations to the text are exclusively erotic.
Job, he decides, is not earlier than the Exile, and he has his doubts
about the historicity of Esther. The Letter to the Hebrews, which he
cannot ascribe to Paul, he finally ascribes to Luke. Grotius suffered
prison and exile for the Arminian cause and became the chief literary
light of the Remonstrant Church in its first decades.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was a philosopher who was aware of
Grotius' work. Hobbes' real interest is neither in scripture nor in theology
but in the theory of the state; he sought a source of ultimate authority for
the state in the Christian scriptures. He systematically inquired after the
authority and date of each writing in the OT. “The light therefore that must
guide us in this question must be that which is held out unto us from the
books themselves, . . . and though it show us not the writer of every book,
it gives us knowledge of the time wherein they were written.” Hobbes de-
nied that the Bible itself is God's revelation; it merely contains the record of
men who received this revelation.
For Hobbes, the 5 books of Moses were written after the time of Mo-
ses. Indeed all the books from Joshua and Judges to Kings and Chroni-
cles, were written long after the people and times they describe. The book
of Job isn't a history, but a moral tract on the paradoxical faring of the wic-
ked and the upright. Proverbs were by Solomon among others. The body
of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon originated with Solomon, but the
title and inscriptions came later.
Jonah isn't prophecy, but rather narrative with Jonah's disobedience
as its subject. He also suggests that while Amos, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Na-
hum, and Habbakkuk record prophecies really made by these prophets, it is
unknowable whether the recorders and publishers of them were the respec-
tive prophets or others. Hobbes thinks that the canon of the OT is not older
than the end of the Captivity nor younger than Ptolemy Philadelphus. He
carefully refrains from criticizing the NT, and concludes that the authority of
the canon, as law, rests upon the sovereign.
3. Pioneers of Modern Criticism: Baruch Spinoza; Jean Astruc
(1632-1766)—Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a philosopher who was
neither Jew nor Christian nor atheist. He published a work “in which it is set
forth that freedom to philosophize not only can be granted without harming
religion or the welfare of the state, but can't be taken away without also ta-
king away the welfare of the state and religion itself.” The light of nature
and the light of revelation are ultimately identical. One “must describe for
all the prophetic books, the life, character and aims of each books' author,
who they were, what occasioned his writing, when he wrote, to whom, and
in what language.”
Spinoza concludes that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses or
Joshua by Joshua. He suspects that all 12 of the books from Genesis to
II Kings were written by one man and that this man was Ezra, and that
smaller works of earlier authors are here thrown together without harmoni-
nization. The books of Chronicles he thinks, were written long after Ezra's
time. He notices chronological disorder in Jeremiah, and he thinks that Job
was perhaps written by a Gentile in a language other than Hebrew.
Like Hobbes before him, Spinoza is much less free toward the New
Testament; he contents himself with the conclusion that the apostles,
though they too were prophets, wrote mostly not as prophets but simply as
teachers. His book was banned. Spinoza had presumed too far upon
Dutch freedom, but his critical insights, both right and wrong, had already
become a sore and a stimulus to further biblical criticism.
Jean Astruc (1684-1766) was a medical professor. He was educa-
ted by his father, a Protestant clergyman of Jewish origin who shortly after
his son's birth became a Roman Catholic. When he was nearly 70 years
old he published, anonymously and after long hesitation, a work which be-
gan modern source criticism of the OT's 1st 5 books.
Astruc saw 3 things which demanded an explanation: repeated nar-
ratives of the same event; the strange distribution of Elohim and Jehovah
(Yahweh); and chronological confusion. He devotes half his book to a re-
arrangement of the Genesis text into 4 columns corresponding to the 4
groups of sources he found. He naively assumes that Moses actually
wrote Genesis in the same 4 columns which he used, and that later copy-
ists combined them. His work found an interested audience in Germany.
4. The 1700s: Simon; Eichhorn; Reimarus—It was not until the
1700s that biblical criticism first made its appearance within theological
study. The first professional theologian we will look at is Richard Simon
(1638-1712). He was the forerunner of the modern “Introductions” to the
books of the Bible and one of the first to use biblical criticism in the intro-
duction. As important as the Bible is to Protestants as their highest autho-
rity, one would expect him to be a Protestant. Simon was a Roman scho-
lar and a priest of the Oratory, and since his highest authority was tradition,
he was freer in his criticism of Scripture.
B-32
For the first time in a theologian's work, he asserts that “Moses can-
not be the author of all the books attributed to him.” Simon brings to light
the archaeological remarks, diversities of style, contradictions, and repeti-
tions found in the OT. He shows that the historical books of the OT can't
have been written in the times they describe, but are actually a gradual
gradual compiling of material and a final revision that took place much
later. His recognition of this long process is still an important part of mo-
dern biblical criticism. Simon's observations were the same as the non-
theological pioneers, but were new to theology. His work was passed by
the Church censor, but enemies in the Church caused the edition to be
confiscated and destroyed.
Simon was forgotten until, nearly a century later, a Protestant theo-
logian at Halle
horn (1752-1827) was a professor of oriental languages at Jena. He made
use of Astruc's work of separating the book of Genesis into 4 fragments,
he began the long series of modern introductions to the OT. His enduring
merit is that he, more than any other, made it a natural assumption that the
OT, like any other literature, may and must be freely scrutinized, free from
tradition.
Free investigation of the NT lagged far behind the OT. We know
now that Reimarus (1694-1768), a professor of oriental languages, wrote a
great and puzzling NT work in biblical criticism. It was so controversial
that not only was it published anonymously, the first part of it was pub-
lished 10 years after the author's death, with the rest published over a 20
year period.
This work was one which came out strongly against supernatura-
lism, miracles, and even the halo worn by the Jesus that was portrayed in
that time. Its keen observation uncovered all the central problems of
Jesus' life. Was the Judgment Day message of political or spiritual
origin? Why was there surprise at the Resurrection, given the pas-
sion predictions, and assuming they were historical? Were there
creative additions in the oral tradition? These were some of the ques-
tions raised by this work.
5. The 1700s: Semler; Schleiermacher; Strauss—J. S. Semler
(1725-91) was a theological professor at Halle
vastating criticism of Reimarus' work. But Semler's book on the canon
and interpretation methods were a link in the development of NT criticism.
He never wrote an Introduction to the NT, but he had an increasing influ-
ence on biblical criticism from 1777 on. From then on, German Introduc-
tions to the NT came thick and fast, and it became clear that much could
be gained from an open-minded criticism of the OT.
The long history of Pauline criticism was opened by Schleierma-
cher (1768-1834), who demonstrated that I Timothy wasn't written by Paul.
The many problems surrounding the letters of Paul and the book of Acts
were incisively opened up by Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792-1860) in the
mid-1800s. He explained Christianity as the Catholic synthesis of a pri-
mitive Jewish thesis provided by Jesus as a purely human teacher and
the Pauline pagan antithesis which made Jesus into the supernatural
Christ.
During this period orthodox scholars were active in rebutting ex-
treme views, but the traditional patterns were slowly crumbling. Traditional
church dogma suffered severe shocks as it tried to adjust to such revolu-
tionary views as Darwin's theory of evolution. In reconstructing a “histori-
cal” Jesus, David Friedrich Strauss had the most success and caused the
most outrage among conservatives in 1835. While he oversimplified and
reduced Jesus to nothing more than a Jewish wise man, Strauss' work be-
nefited later criticism of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in pointing out the princi-
ples by which the traditions appearing in our gospels had been preserved.
It was the fashion among critics to reject the Gospel of John as very
late, and some were overly skeptical toward the Pauline letters. The “histo-
rical” Jesus whom the 1800s produced was little more than the ideal moral
man of modern liberalism. It must be mentioned that were also conserva-
tive scholars who didn't just argue against liberalism, but who contributed
positively to this field of study by providing balance to the one-sided em-
phasis of the radicals.
6. Later Developments, Principles, and Processes—In the OT
studies of the 1800s, no real breakthrough had come in the analysis of the
first 6 books of the OT. The 3 prevailing theories were: Eichhorn's docu-
mentary theory (which was an expansion of Astruc's hypothesis);
A. Geddes' fragment theory; and Heinrich Ewald's supplementary theory.
With these theories in mind, scholars and especially Julius Wellhausen
moved the writing of the OT as we have it today further and further from
the actual events being written about. Some of the writing took place after
Israel returned from the Exile.
B-33
At issue were the cherished traditions as the Mosaic authorship of
the first 5 OT books (Pentateuch), and the entire structure of Hebrew his-
tory and religion. Believing that Hebrew religion began in a primitive form
like other religions, the Wellhausen school traced its rise to the highest
stage. Neither the patriarchs nor Moses were monotheists; Moses intro-
duced worship of Yahweh as the chief among the gods. It was the com-
bined influence of the great prophets, the Deuternomistic reform, and the
Exile which established absolute monotheism in Israel.
Reaction against Wellhausen's criticism of tradition was strong, and
archaeological discoveries provided a flood of antique documents, which
made possible a more scientific understanding of the history and religion of
the Bible people, while enriching the study of the written Hebrew language.
New methods of interpretation began to develop in the last half of
the 1800s. Herman Gunkel (1862-1932) and his associates laid stress on
3 methods of approach:
a.) determination of the oral tradition lying behind the written one;
b.) comparison of the cultic and mythological motifs of the religions
of Egypt and Mesopotamia with Hebrew motifs, with attention
paid to Israel’s reaction to outside influences;
c.) a sympathetic criticism of the literary forms in which the various
tales, laws and poems of the OT appeared.
Gunkel took all these methods and used the cultural situation to help under-
stand the literary forms and vice versa.
After a little more than half of the 20th century, most scholars recog-
nized the existence of the Pentateuch source documents as outlined by
the Wellhausen school. There is an increasing interest in the individual
narratives, stimulated by Gunkel's methods. It is now generally acknow-
ledged that the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets contain many very
old documents and record authentic traditions. Gunkel's form criticism on
the Psalms has indicated their great liturgical importance, and for some
psalms, their pre-exilic origins. The development of Israel's religion and
theology is being placed in a new light. OT critics now generally acknow-
ledge the uniqueness and grandeur of Yahwism and that the prophets of
the 700s B.C. were the heirs and perpetuators rather than monotheism's
creators.
In Albert Schweitzer's book The Quest for the Historical Jesus,
Jesus was a passionate preacher of Judgment Day who died seeking to
realize messiahhood, rather than a mild Galilean teacher of morality and
brotherhood. And John's Gospel is now often assigned a first-century date
and is credited with a considerable historical trustworthiness. Finally, the
apostle Paul is no longer looked upon as the arch-perverter of Jesus' reli-
gion, but rather as a faithful follower and interpreter.
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY (For the principles and processes of biblical criticism,
See Introduction at beginning of Dictionary)
List of Topics—1. Introduction; 2. 3 Approaches to
New Testament Theology; 3. Descriptive Theology: Past
and Present Meaning; 4. Significance of the OT for the NT;
5. Using 1st Century Categories to Interpret the 1st Century;
6. Using Church History and Canon to connect Past and
Present; 7. Interpretation: Moving between Past and
Present
1. Introduction—A wider survey of the major contributions to the
field of biblical theology makes it clear there's no one definition of this field
on which biblical scholars can all agree. In the views of the “liberal theo-
logy” of 1900, the Old Testament (OT) is a witness to the evolution of a gra-
dually more ethical monotheism; the gospels are biographies of Jesus as
the even more refined teacher of, the Golden Rule, God’s fatherhood, and
the individual’s eternal value. The more radical scholars contradicted this
by showing that such a picture of Jesus or the prophets was impossible
historically. The “peril of modernizing Jesus” was fully recognized as was
the distortion inherent in too much Westernizing of biblical thought.
Another difficulty with biblical theology lies with this fact: the Chris-
tian church has produced a theological system out of the Bible, when the
Bible does not contain a system. It comprises a diversity of witness inter-
related with history. What's clear is that a new stage has been set for bib-
lical theology, and that there is good reason to consider the nature of the
new, descriptive biblical theology. There has been increasing interest in
the New Testament (NT) theology of recent years, paralleling a rising inte-
rest in OT theology. In the mid-20th century, there has been a revival of
interest in a “theology of the Word of God,” which is associated with Karl
Barth and his school. Their belief is that the scriptures are the products
of a living faith.
B-34
The results of 20th century studies in biblical theology have
brought a clear distinction between biblical times and modern times. The
distance and strangeness of biblical thought was seen as a creative asset
rather than as a destructive, burdensome liability. The theologically min-
ded student found a new and deeper relevance in the pre-Westernized
meaning of sayings and events brought to their attention by religious
historians.
The resistance to the “religious historians” disregard for theological
meaning and relevance led to a descriptive study of biblical thought in
which fewer value judgments were made in comparing the various stages
of development in biblical thought. Less attention was paid to how histori-
cally factual a given event was. More attention was paid to the function
and significance of such an event to its contemporaries. A balance was
struck between those looking at the Bible from a strictly historical perspec-
tive, with no regard for relevance in the modern world, and those who
sought an eternal truth unconditioned and uncontaminated by historical
limitations.
The more well-known OT studies (W. F. Albright, G. E. Wright, W.
Eichrodt, G. von Rad) were all inspired by the same tension between the
mind of a Semitic past and the thought of modern man: Do these old
documents have any meaning for us—except as sources for our know-
ledge of a small segment of first century life and thought, or as means for
a nostalgic visit to the first era of Christian history? If they have a mea-
ning in the present tense and sense, on what ground do they have this
meaning?
2. 3 Approaches to New Testament Theology—3 theologians re-
present 3 approaches to NT theology. 1st, Barth argues for a concentra-
tion on the subject matter, which bridges the gap between the centuries,
because the subject matter (God, Jesus, grace, etc.) is the same now as
it was then. He agrees with Calvin: one must rethink and wrestle with the
material until, when Paul speaks in his century, the 1500s man hears in his.
Barth speaks as if it were a very simple thing to establish what Paul
actually meant in his own terms. But biblical theology along this line is in-
capable of enough patience and enthusiasm for keeping alive the tension
between what the text meant and what it means now. Within the realm of
systematic theology, it may may be better to speak of this theology as “bib-
lical” rather than philosophical.
2nd, Bultmann also finds meaning in the subject matter. But there's
only one subject matter which is valid: the self-understanding as it expres-
ses itself in the New Testament. For Bultmann, the intent of NT theological
utterances is not to state a doctrine, or give material for a concept. It is to
challenge the human’s self-understanding. “Events” are of little signifi-
cance as events; what counts is to recreate their effect on human self-
understanding. This becomes “theology” when understanding is in refe-
rence to God’s message.
3rd, Cullmann finds the key to NT theology in its understanding of
time. He urges us to recognize how the categories of time and history,
rather than essence, nature and eternal or existential truth, are the ones
within which the NT moves. His work is basically confined to the descrip-
tive task with little clarification as to why or how he consider the NT as
meaningful for the present age. On the other hand, when biblical theolo-
gians such as Barth and Bultmann become primarily concerned with the
present meaning, they lose their enthusiasm for the descriptive task.
3. Descriptive Theology: Past and Present Meaning—There are
those who express serious doubts about the possibility of the descriptive
task. Every historian is subjective in the selection of material, and not
always aware of any bias in their work. The certainty of human bias
doesn't give us any excuse to excel in bias. The descriptive task can be
carried out by the believer and agnostic alike. The believer has the ad-
vantage of automatic empathy with the believers in the text, but must
guard against modernizing the material. The agnostic has the advantage
of objectivity, but must work at empathizing with the first century believer.
The tension between present meaning and the meaning in the dis-
tant past that we find when we approach the OT is complicated for 2 rea-
sons. 1st, one passage is likely to contain many layers of meaning from
many centuries of Israelite life. Any statement of a descriptive sort about
what an OT passage meant has to be accompanied by an address: For
whom and at what stage of Israelite or Jewish history. The path which the
biblical theologian follows is thus that of the ongoing life of Israel as the
chosen people of God.
2nd, the church was born out of a dispute between the early
church and Jewish interpreters over the meaning of the OT. The Christian
claim to the OT rested on the conviction that Jesus as the risen Christ was
the Messiah to whom the OT witnessed. The Jewish focus was on the law
as the core of revelation and the token of Israel's chosen status. The Wel-
lhausen “religious history” school of the 1800s found yet another interpreta-
tion of the OT and found the significance of the OT in the evolution of ethi-
cal monotheism.
B-35
The source of both of these reasons is the question of meaning be-
ing pursued beyond the material and the period of the OT texts themselves.
There must be a distinction between what is actually in the Bible and what
analysis and up-to-date translation produces in the way of a present day
meaning, in order for the original to act creatively on the minds of believers
of our time.
In OT theology, history presents itself as the loom of the theological
fabric. In more recent times, studying Israel's cultural development has
been tried with some success. In the end, what is unique about Israel
not its ideas about God or humans but in it being conscious of being elec-
ted by God, which made its pattern of thought distinctive. Salvation is with-
in the history of Israel, and Israel's history is part of its salvation. The histo-
rical consciousness of Israel lives by the remembering of the past and the
ever new interpretation of it as a promise for the future. The cultic rituals,
with their Near Eastern and Davidic roots, became part of the thrust for-
ward into the promised future of bliss, righteousness, and peace.
In all this, the common thread is the ongoing life of a people cultiva-
ting the traditions of its history in the light of self-understanding. They are
guided by priests, prophets, and teachers of wisdom. Using the framework
that exists within the life situations found in the Bible itself, rather than bor-
rowing categories from the NT or later Jewish interpretation is the only way
to take the descriptive task seriously.
Going back far enough may lead us to patterns of thought and
blocks of tradition originally quite unrelated to Israel’s historical conscious-
ness. Once we recognize them, we can see how they were modified to fit
into Israel’s religion and how much of the original remained. When the OT
is treated as the living and growing tradition of a people, it yields a theol-
ogy which brings us up to the Jews and Christians parting ways.
The announcement by Jesus that the new age is impending comes
as a vigorous claim for fulfillment of the OT promises that is not accepted
by the majority of Jews. Jewish exegesis in the Christian era went rather
in another direction, with the emphasis shifted from the hopes for the future
to obedience in the present under the law. Who was right—the Jews or the
Christians? The answer remains what it always was, an act of faith.
History does not answer such questions; it only poses them.
4. Significance of the OT for the NT— The significance of the OT
for the NT is thus shown to be inescapable, because on the basis of the OT
and its fulfillment in Christ rests the Christian claim to be the chosen ones
of God. If a biblical theologian says what the OT meant based on a NT
perspective, he is engaging in an interpretation that goes beyond biblical
theology's descriptive task. Thus the treatment of the Bible as a unity in
this sense is beyond the task of descriptive biblical theology.
There is, however, one way in which descriptive biblical theology
does consider the Bible as a unity. Israel's election consciousness is trans-
ferred and heightened by the Christians. Jesus has promised the disciples
a place as princes in the new Israel. As Israel
chosen people, so are the Christians now gathered together as the chosen
ones. God is still the God of a people with an ongoing history, however
short it may have been. Thus there is a unity of the Bible on a historical
basis.
In terms of Bible unity, we find there are different kinds of unity. The
unity of concepts and ideas is different from the organic unity to which the
testaments themselves witness. Our description has to detect and clarify
such developments as the disciples' interpretation of what followed after
Jesus' death as a drastic step forward in God's timetable.
We couldn't answer whether the disciples were right or wrong, but
only describe what they did and why they thought they were right while
others thought they were wrong. The first and crucial descriptive task of
biblical theology thus yields the original in its own terms, limiting the inter-
pretation to what it meant in its own setting. Any question of meaning be-
yond the one suggested by the sources themselves tends to lessen the
challenge of the original to the present-day theologian.
5. Using 1st Century Categories to Interpret the 1st Century—
The ideal of empathetic understanding of the 1st century without borrowing
categories from later times has never been an ideal before. There has ne-
ver been an objective attempt to describe OT or NT faith and practice
strictly from within its original presuppositions. The focal point for preser-
vation of the historical in the biblical material was found quite naturally in
the insistence on the incarnation in Jesus Christ. But incarnation was de-
veloped more for its significance for Jesus Christ’s nature, rather than its
significance for God’s timing in the Gospel of John, i.e. that God had now
come to people in Jesus Christ.
B-36
In NT Christology, significant strands of tradition displayed the con-
cept of Jesus as being adopted by God through baptism, resurrection, or
Ascension, rather than the doctrine of pre-existence and virgin birth that
later prevailed and led to the banning of “adoptionism”. These concepts
were not in conflict until the biblical witness was forced to yield answers
about Jesus Christ's nature. The biblical witness centers around the
questions: Who is he? Is he the Messiah or isn't he? It doesn't ask what
Jesus is or how human and divine nature go together in him.
And when Acts 3.18 is looked at through the eyes of those who
lived when it was first written, it isn't the Second Coming of later theology.
There is only one coming of the Messiah, the one at the end of time. The
ideas in this passage from Acts were part of the Jewish expectations con-
concerning the age to come. Thus history’s pattern in this NT theology
sheds new light on the discussion about the messianic consciousness of
Jesus. Those who claim that Jesus knew he was the Messiah during his
earthly ministry overlook the fact that messiahship was spoken of with a
strong futuristic note. We need to remember that even in studying the
Greek gospels, we are once removed from the Aramaic vernacular of
Jesus' teaching.
The most common response to descriptive biblical theology's chal-
lenge is called the semi-historical translation of sacred history. Some-
where along the line, sacred history found in the scriptures has stopped,
and there is only plain history left. In a semi-historical translation, sacred
history is only remembered in the church, not continued.
6. Using Church History and Canon to connect Past and
Present—An alternative to this is a systematic theology where the bridge
between the centuries of biblical events and our own was found in the
actual history of the church as still ongoing sacred history of God's people.
This theology would recognize that God is still the God who acts in history
when he leads the church to new lands, cultures, and areas of concern.
Through the ongoing sacred history, which is commonly labeled
“church history,” the fruits of God's acts in covenant and in the Christ are
handed to the present time. The task of preaching and theology under the
Holy Spirit's guidance is part of an ongoing sacred history. The chasm be
tween the centuries is theologically and historically bridged by history itself.
For such an approach, the literature written between the 2 Testa-
ments is of equal or greater significance than some canonical material.
What is also important here is an understanding of the idea and limitations
of canon itself, and of the puzzling and fascinating interplays of historical
circumstances and theological concerns that took place in the canon's for-
mation. For many modern theologians such as Barth and Bultmann, the
idea of canon seems to count for very little.
For Barth, it is inspiration rather than canon that matters; canoniza-
tion is an extern al feature, which neither adds to nor subtracts from the
power of the inspired writings. Inspiration had little to do with choosing
the canon, as there were many writings recognized as equally inspired as
the final 27 books, but they lacked a historical connection to the apostles.
For Bultmann, it is the kerygma, the divine message, that forms the canon,
and not the canon that forms the kerygma.
The historical approach asks the question: Why is there a “New
Testament (NT),” and not simply a 4th part of the Old Testament (OT)?
The NT rests on the Spirit’s return. Judaism of Jesus' time lived under the
conviction that Spirit and scriptures had ceased. They recognized them-
selves as in a period when Israel depended on scriptural interpretation,
while they still cherished the hope and the promise of the Spirit’s return.
The closing of the NT canon isn't based on the idea that the Spirit
had ceased, as in Judaism. The development from diversified oral and
written traditions to the NT books was of a more historical nature, in order
to protect the original from increasingly undependable elaborations and
distortions. In the early Christian traditions, it was felt that a distinction had
to be made between ongoing and clearly inspired writings and those which
could trace their origins to Jesus and the apostles; this led to the canon.
7. Interpretation: Moving between Past and Present— What sig-
nificance do these old writings have besides being sources for the past?
The answer rests on the act of faith by which Israel and its sister by adop-
tion, the church, recognizes its history as sacred history, and finds in
these writings the epitome of God's acts. To be sure, the church “chose”
its canon. But it did so under the impact of the acts of God by which it was
created.
One could see Protestant Reformation as reaffirmation of the line
drawn around the canon. It is a radical departure from being hopelessly
submerged in tradition. A return to the “original” engenders one of the
most spectacular renewals of theology and church life that history has
seen, by breaking through many cherished presuppositions. Descriptive bi-
blical theology gives the systematic theologian a live option to attempt the
biblical material's direct translation, which is needed in the theology on the
mission field and in the young churches.
B-37
With a sharp distinction between what the texts meant in their origi-
nal setting and what they mean now, preachers must, in their studies, be-
come truly bilingual. They must be able to move through the Bible and an-
cient patterns of thought with the ease of one brought up in those tradi-
tions. They must put themselves reverently back into the life and teaching
of the Bible, and look at ancient attitudes and activity from their own stand-
point. Their familiarity with the “language” of the contemporary world
should reach a similar degree of perception and genuine understanding.
If we take the simple statement that “Jesus is risen,” and see it
through the eyes of the first believers, the Resurrection was not surprising
in the same sense that it is for us. They expected the Resurrection; what
was surprising to them was that it had happened “now” for them. Prea-
chers should let their familiarity with the biblical world guide them through
the way that the early church recognized and rejoiced in the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, and they could then make a live and relevant translation to
their present day audience.
If the task of the pulpit is the true Sitz im Leben, “life situation,”
where the meaning of the original meets but doesn't mix with the meaning
for today, then it is once more clear that we cannot pursue the study of bib-
lical theology adequately if the 2 tenses are not kept apart. The ideal bibli-
cal theology in the Christian Church must treat the witness and OT and NT
views together, because both testaments have a great influence on how
the other is viewed. For the life of the church, such a consistent descrip-
tive approach is a great and promising asset which enables the church, its
teaching and preaching ministry to be exposed to the Bible in its original
intention and intensity, as an ever new challenge faith and response.
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY, HISTORY OF
Introduction—From the very beginning of the use of the term “bibli-
cal theology” in the 1600s, there has been tension between the contempo-
rary and the biblical; between 2 centuries with drastically different modes of
thought.
By appealing to Holy Scripture, the Reformation laid the ground for
biblical theology, the basic principle of which is that scripture should inter-
pret itself. It's the Protestant view that those who determine the necessary
beliefs or dogma should present the teaching of Holy Scripture, and also
that there is no language into which the Bible couldn't be translated well
enough to communicate its message. Once church dogma distanced us
from the historical Jesus in the eyes of liberal theology, the need for “trans-
lation” became real.
In the Enlightenment, the Bible was put to the test of reason along
with the arts and sciences, history and philosophy, law and economics. 2
methods of inquiry evolved which have remained indispensable to biblical
theology: literary criticism, which seeks to distinguish the work of indivi-
dual authors, the original form, and the setting of scripture; and historical
criticism, which looks into the factors out of which biblical events and views
developed.
Biblical Theologians: G. E. Lessing developed a historical and sys-
tematic concept of biblical revelation. God was the great teacher, and the
Bible his textbook. The Old Testament (OT) was elementary teaching,
where Israel as a child, acquired the idea of one God and submitted to God.
But its service lacked motive until the idea of resurrection, and the expec-
tation of reward and punishment hereafter, emerged.
His concept revolves around humankind rather than God, and
around the 3 central ideas of the Enlightenment: God, freedom and im-
mortality. J. P. Gabler declared biblical theology to be a historical science,
and wanted those statements which were conditioned by time and place to
be the work of biblical theologians. He sought to separate biblical theology
from the work of those who determine necessary beliefs and universal
truths.
Likewise, in the New Testament (NT) he found 2 similar levels:
Jesus’ teachings, and its interpretation in the message of the apostles. W.
Vatke distinguished three periods of development in the OT: the pre-pro-
phetic, the prophetic, and the post-prophetic. Under the influence of Well-
hausen and his school, theological interest declined in favor of historical,
and biblical theology of the OT became the religious history of Israel. The
advantage of this type of analysis lay in the single line with which it moved
toward its end in presenting the development of the Israelite religion.
But, pointing out how much the faith of Israel had in common with
other ancient, oriental religions seemed to put Israel on the same primitive
plane as them, and it failed to evaluate the material theologically. Only a
few OT scholars attempted this evaluation. For example, in E. Konig's Old
Testament Theology, he underscored the epoch-making character of Isra-
el's faith and he discussed God and God's relation to the world and
humans, and sin and how to eliminate it as themes of “saving history.”
B-39
In NT theology, F. C. Bauer applied the scheme of thesis, antithesis,
and synthesis to primitive Christianity. In his view Jesus' teaching formed
the basis of the NT. It was not yet theology, but strictly religion—the imme-
diate expression of religious consciousness. Bauer's thesis was that theo-
logical reflection started over the place that the law had in one's faith, with
Paul as the first theologian declaring the gospel free from the law. The
thesis was the Jewish adherence to the law, and the synthesis was the
compromise that was issued in the Old Catholic church. In pietistic biblical
scholarship, one turned to the Bible to substantiate the orthodox theologi-
cal position, and saw in the Bible the providence of God in “saving history.”
Biblical Theologians: For J. Bohme, God and the world, spirit and
body, belong together inseparably. Both Bengel and Oetinger saw in the
Bible a living whole, a glorious and complete system of truth, which re-
quired unified interpretation. J. C. K. von Hofmann held that the Bible
documented the process of “saving history,” which aims at the redemption
of humankind. All revelation converges upon this end and every book of
the Bible has its place in this scheme of redemption.
H. Gunkel taught how from the form of biblical literature one can tell
its setting in life, its Sitz im Leben, among the people. O. Eissfeldt urged
both historical investigation of the Jewish religion and systematic presenta-
tion of the timeless truth of OT revelation. The first method resorts to rea-
son to evaluate data, while the other relies on faith to perceive revelation.
W. Eichrodt held that theological assertions in the OT must be understood
in terms of the covenant idea found there. According to Eichrodt, the peo-
ple as a unit, the world, and individual persons are the 3 partners of God.
Biblical Theologians: W. Vischer sets the OT statements in direct
relation to those of the NT. The OT shows what Christ is, the NT who
Christ is. T. C. Vriezen looks upon the OT as a book of revelation that con-
verges on Jesus and finds its fulfillment in him. Robinson sees the difficul-
ties of OT theology lying in the fact that it doesn't appear systematically in
the Bible, but is continually bound up with history. According to von Rad,
theological thinking in the OT arose with the task of gathering, arranging,
and interpreting different historical documents. They had to relate to the
whole of Israel.
For W. Wrede, primitive Christianity was a living religion whose es-
sence couldn't be discerned from the scriptures alone, but must be illumi-
nated also from the material of the surrounding world. A. Schlatter recog-
nized that Judaism provided the background of primitive Christian religion,
while R. Bultmann stresses the Greek influence in the Christian faith’s for-
mation. Both objected to a rational approach to NT theology.
Bultmann gives only scant attention to the preaching of Jesus in it-
self, partly because strict form criticism leaves little behind in the way of
genuine Jesus sayings, and partly because Jesus' message is source
rather than object of the NT. For him, as for Luther, the teaching of justifi-
cation is theology's heart, and both he and Luther place emphasis on the
gospel and on the power of the word of the Cross. The gospel awakens
in humans a new self-understanding which transforms the determining fac-
tors in one's life so that one is freed from sin and becomes fully sensitive to
God and one’s neighbor.
Conclusion: Because God's revelation occurred in the history of
the people of Israel and in the history of Jesus and his apostles, biblical the-
ology is interwoven in this history. Any consideration of the theology of this
history should follow the course of it. The light which falls upon thoughts
and actions of biblical persons from that source has made clearer the
uniqueness of their witness as well as its historical conditions. OT scho-
larship's task today is to describe Israel's covenant and the prophets' mes-
sage from the Canaanite religion's point of view.
But purely historical research seldom concerns itself with the exis-
tential truth of that which it describes, while the systematic method over-
looks the fact that the truth of the Bible is personal in character. Whoever
ill present the theology of the Bible cannot hold themselves aloof from it,
but must themselves be gripped by it and what it means to them personally.
If anyone wants to make it intelligible and believable to the people of
today, they must put themselves reverently back into the life and teaching
of the Bible, and take seriously what impelled the people of biblical times
when they look at biblical attitude and activity from a biblical standpoint.
The ideal biblical theology in the Christian church must treat the witness
and views of both OT and NT together, because how much both testaments
bear upon each other becomes increasingly clear in the latest scholarship.
BICHRI (בכרי) Either the father of Sheba, the Benjaminite insurrectionist in II
Samuel 20, or an indication that Sheba was from the clan of Becher.
BIDKAR (בדקר, son of piercing) Jehu's charioteer at the slaying of Joram.
B-40
BIER (מטה (mit tah), soroV (soros)) A litter or bed on which a body was
placed prior to burial. It is mentioned when David followed the bier of Ab-
ner, and in King Asa's funeral in the Old Testament. In the New Testa-
ment, bier is mentioned when Jesus touched the bier of the young man of
Nain.
BIGTHA (בגתא, gift of God) One of seven eunuchs who served Ahasuerus
as chamberlains and whom he sent for Queen Vashti.
BIGTHAN (בגתן, gift of God) 1 of 2 eunuchs of Ahasuerus who guarded
his threshold.
BIGVAI (בגוי, God ) A Jewish leader who returned to Palestine with Zerub-
babel after the Exile.
BILDAD (בלדד, beloved of the Lord) One of the 3 friends of Job. As a
"Shuhite," his Aramean tribe would have roamed the area southeast of
Palestine.
BILEAM (בלעם, wasting of the people) One of the Levitical cities in the terri-
tory of Manasseh.
BILGAH (בלגה, brightness) 1. A descendant of Aaron and head of one the
priestly divisions in David's time. 2. One of the chiefs of the priests lis-
ted as having returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel.
BILGAI (בלגי, cheerfulness) A postexilic who witnessed the covenant renew-
al under Ezra.
BILHAH (בלהה, simplicity) 1. The handmaid of Rachel, given by her to Jacob
to bear him children, out of jealousy for Leah's fruitfulness; the mother of
Dan and Naphtali, whose descendants became 2 tribes of northern Pale-
stine. 2. A village somewhere in southern Judah, probably the same as
Balah.
BILHAN (בלחן, feeble) 1. The first son of clan chief Ezer; ancestor of a na-
tive Horite subclan in Edom. 2. Son of Jediael, a Benjamite; it could be
that this part belongs in the genealogy of Zebulun.
BILL (ספר (sef ar), document, writing) The document a man executed when
he wished to divorce his wife. He must write it and put it in her hands be-
fore he could send her away.
BILSHAN (בלשן, eloquence) Jewish leader who returned to Palestine with
Zerubbabel after the Exile.
BIMHAL (במהל, son of circumcision) A division of the clan Japhlet in the tribe
of Asher in the Chronicler's post-exilic genealogy.
BINDING AND LOOSING (אסר ('es awr), bind; התיר (hi tire), loose; dein
(day in); luein (lu ane)) In one verse Jesus gave this power to all disci-
ples. In another Peter was given this power and the power of the keys.
In rabbinic literature, the Hebrew words mean “forbid” and “permit”
and express the verdict of a law-teacher who declares some action “bound”
(forbidden) or “loosed” (permitted). They are also used in reference to a
ban and mean “condemn” or “absolve” respectively.
Both meanings have been applied to the texts of Matthew. “To
loose” is the divine power to forgive sins and thus to admit new converts
in the church and to restore to the church repentant sinners. “To bind” is to
announce God's judgment to unbelievers and impenitent sinners. Another
interpretation holds that the opposite verbs “to loose” and “to bind” express
together the power entrusted to the apostles to do “everything.”
BINEA (בנעא) One of the descendants of the house of Saul, the son of Moza,
and the father of Rephaiah.
BINNUI (בנה, to build) 1. Head of a family returning with Zerubbabel and
Nehemiah, probably the same as the Bani of Ezra. 2. A Levite of post-
exilic times and the “son of Henadad,” who probably helped Nehemiah in
repairing Jerusalem's walls (Note: In Hebrew there is little difference be-
tween “sons of” and “Binnui”). 3. A postexilic Jew, son of Pahath-moab.
4. Head of a postexilic family.
B-41
BIRD (a.) כל בעל כנף (kal ba 'al ka nawf), all owner(s) of wings; b.) עוף
(ofe), lier; c.) צפור (tsip poe wer), chirper d.) orneon (or nee on);
e. peteinon (pe tay in on), flier) A class of warm-blooded vertebrates,
distinguished from other animals by their bodies being more or less com-
pletely covered with feathers. In the 1800s, there were at least 322 spe-
ciesof birds, and perhaps 30 more. Of this number, 260 appeared in
European bird lists. What was most notable was the “number and vari-
ety of the larger birds of prey . . . which abound in every part of the . . .
land (Tristram).”
The Old Testament specifies that the unclean ones are, generally
speaking, birds of prey. Clean ones are not described or explicitly identi-
fied, but they would seem to be all non-raptors. We do not know how im-
portant edible birds were in the household economy of the biblical period.
The numerous references to bird traps suggest that fowling was
common. The Hebrew phrase kal bahal kanaph (a.) and the word ofe (b.)
are general terms for all birds. While tsippower is also a general term, it is
more often used to indicate game birds.
In the New Testament, orneon is used in Revelation 18 to empha-
size the ruin of Babylon, “the haunt of every foul & hateful bird.” Petayi-
non is used for birds in general.
BIRDS OF PREY (עיט (ah yit), to fall upon in fury) Any bird which seizes an-
other animal for food. Eagles vultures, hawks, falcons, etc. are a part of
this group and are considered unclean to the Hebrews.
BIRSHA (ברשע, son of wickedness) King of Gomorrah, defeated after re-
belling against Chedorlaomer.
BIRTH (הולד (ho laid); מולדת, (mo leh deth)) Many births were desired be-
cause of the importance of large families. There was some understanding
of conception and pregnancy as well as birth. It was thought that only the
seed of the male was determinative in conception and gestation, the
woman providing in her womb as a receptacle for protection and growth.
The bible reveals no evidence of birth control.
Birth was agonizing and so unforgettably painful that various writers
use this experience figuratively. The words “Upon thee was I cast from my
birth” may suggest the father's act of receiving his child when it came from
the mother's womb. The use of Mandrake plants may have had the effect
of relaxing the womb and facilitating the birth process. One who is of an
untimely birth may lay down and sleep, avoiding the agony of life. A birth
was the occasion for rejoicing and ceremonial activities, especially the birth
of a son. Children were named at birth. In a spiritual sense, one may be
born a second time, of the water and the Spirit, which is figuratively, a new
birth.
BIRTHRIGHT (הבכרה (hab ba ko rah)) The first-born son had a special inheri-
tance; his was the principal inheritance of property and name. Through
him the family line was continued. Jacob's appropriation of Esau's birth-
right is important, for it shows how Jacob, rather than Esau continued the
line of Abraham. Birthrights may be taken away, as in the case of Reuben's,
which was given to the sons of Joseph. At a meal the sons were seated in
order of their ages, “the first-born according to his birthright.” Israel was
made God's first-born. Paul had the privileges of Roman citizenship as a
birthright.
BIRTHSTOOL (אבן, (‘o ben)) An object upon which a woman sat during labor,
possibly of Egyptian origin.
BIRZAITH (ברזית, well of the olive tree) A name in a postexilic list of clans of
the tribe of Asher. It was near ancient Tyre, about 5.9km north of Ramalla.
BISHLAM (בשלם, possibly son of peace) 1 of 3 men who took the lead in
writing a letter of complaint against the Jews in post-exilic Palestine to the
Persian king Artaxerxes. It is possible that the word is actually a salutation
(e.g. “O son of peace”), or that it is erroneous copying of a word meaning
“against Jerusalem.”
BISHOP (episkopoV (e pis ko pos), overseer, guardian) The title of the chief
hierarchical order of ministry in the church, since post-apostolic times.
Opinion has been divided as to whether the term has a technical sense the
way that Paul used it. Later apostolic letters (I Timothy and Titus) describe
the qualifications of the office.
B-42
The letters of Ignatius, martyr-bishop of Antioch provide the earliest
and most complete picture of a bishop's position and responsibilities in the
church. To the Christian community, he embodied the “authority of God
the Father.” No baptism, Eucharist, Agape church gathering was valid
without his presence or authorization. He was the chief pastor of his flock,
and administrator and dispenser of its charity. Elders served him as a
council of advice. The deacons were directly subordinate to him as assi-
stants in worship and visitations. He was spokesman and chief correspon-
dent with other churches, and was responsible for all preaching and tea-
ching, even though he himself might delegate this function.
The Didache, a book describing the organization of the church,
states that bishops (deacons) should be ordained, and should be “humble,
not avaricious, faithful, and well-tested.” The bishop was elected by the
whole church that he was to serve. He was ordained by prayer and the
laying on of hands. The bishops were viewed in the church as the direct
heirs of the authority of the apostles, in an unbroken continuity of office.
The writer of the Epistle of Clement said that the apostles, when they had
preached in the villages and cities, “appointed their first converts . . . as
bishops and deacons of those who were to believe.”
The Didache emphasizes the sacramental and worship-planning
duties of the bishop. It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that the bi-
shops were originally those ministers of the Christian communities or-
dained as “overseers” of the Eucharistic banquet. In Paul's letter to Phile-
mon, he thanked the “bishops and deacons” for material assistance. Paul
would naturally single out for special mention those church ministers who
received and dispensed the offerings of the people at the common mee-
ting for the breaking of bread.
It is possible that there was a bishop-overseer for each house-
church congregation. He could decide which preachers, teachers, and
prophets would be faithful to the doctrine of the apostles, and therefore he
would allow only the faithful to speak. The bishop would assume primary
pastoral responsibilities, with powers of excommunication. It was also the
responsibility of the bishop, in view of the increasing danger of persecution
by the state, to safeguard the community from detection and police menace.
The office of bishop then, developed in response to the need for au-
thoritative guardianship, but the office itself was of apostolic origin. Some
have seen in James' headship over the Jerusalem community the first
example of a monarchical bishop. Others see it derived from the ruler of
Jewish synagogue, who had similar duties.
The term episcopos is fairly common in Greek literature, papyri, and
inscriptions, both in its general meaning of oversight and as a technical
name for officials, both civil and religious. Many Syrian inscriptions note
them as overseers of buildings, provisions, coins, etc. There may even be
a Jewish origin of the title of “overseer.” The Jewish Qumran community's
Dead Sea Scrolls describe an overseer with duties similar to those of early
bishops. Whether or not there is any direct relationship between the over-
seer of this group and the office of bishop cannot be securely determined
until research is more advanced on the possible impact the Qumran com-
munity might have had on primitive Christianity.
BIT (גﬨמ (meh theg)) BRIDLE (מחסום (makh sohm)) The bridle is the head-
gear of a horse's harness, and the bit is the metal mouthpiece by which the
bridle works to control or restrain the horse. Early metal bits were a bar with
loop at end for the reins. A jointed bit is also known around 1000 B. C. The
words translated “bit” and “bridle” sometimes refer metaphorically to any
form of control.
BITHIAH (בתיה, daughter of Yahu) A daughter of Pharoah and wife of Mered
of Judah.
BITHRON (הבתרון, the ravine) The way by which Abner and his warriors re-
turned to Mahanaim after their defeat near Gibeon. It may not be a place
name, but rather the word for “forenoon” as suggested by W.R. Arnold.
The New Revised Standard Version uses Arnold's translation.
BITHYNIA (Biqunia) A region in northwestern Asia Minor. The Sangarius
River flows through Bithynia, and its lower valley forms the richest agricul-
tural area of the country. The kingdom of Bithynia was bequeathed to
Rome in 74 B.C. Pompey organized Pontus and Bithynia into a single
province in 65-63 B.C. Paul apparently had planned to go into Bithynia
from the south. Dissuaded by the Spirit of Jesus from entering Bithynia,
he traveled west to the Troad.
B-43
BITTER, BITTERNESS (מרר (meh rar) the root word from which all 10 He-
brew words for bitter and bitterness come) Unpleasant experiences
were described in the Scriptures in terms of the sense of taste; bitter
taste was associated with the gall bladder.
Experiences of bitterness may be classified for convenience under:
active and passive emotion; living conditions; food (e.g. “bitter fruit”); water
or other beverage. Figurative use was made of each of these types of
experience. Particular attention was given to illustration of ethical values.
BITTER HERBS (מררים (meh rar eem)) Herbs eaten with the paschal lamb
during the Passover. Use of the bitter herb at this time took on increasing
significance. The symbolism at first signified the haste with which the
meal was prepared and eaten, but eventually it was used as a symbol of
the bitter experience of the Egyptian bondage. Botanists cannot agree on
a specific herb. The Hebrew word and its Greek equivalent intend a gene-
ral meaning which could include many different herbs. Horseradish is
commonly used today in Europe and America today as “bitter herbs,” but
it was not known in Biblical times.
BITTER WATER See Medicine.
BITUMEN (חמר, (kho mer)) Originally, mineral pitch or asphalt. The Hebrew
word may denote a foaming up. It may also contain the idea of covering,
as in it's use to calk Moses' ark of bulrushes. The Egyptians perhaps may
have used it in their embalming. Bitumen pits were found in Assyria; it
was used as mortar in setting the burnt brick which formed the outer layers
of the ziggurat of Ur; for calking for the rafts and basket boats on the Eu
phrates; and it was used in monuments.
BIZIOTHIAH (בזיותיה, contempt of the Lord) In Joshua 15.28, a place in the
Negeb district of Judah. The present text is probably corrupt and this part
should read “Beer-sheba and her daughters” (i.e. outlying villages) as
does a similar phrase in Nehemiah 11.
BIZTHA (בזתא, prey) One of 7 eunuchs who served Ahasuerus as chamber-
lain and whom he sent for Queen Vashti.
BLACK (שחר, (sha khore); קדר, (ka dar); gelaV, (ge las)) A word descri-
bing the color of objects and also calamity, gloom, and mourning.
BLASPHEMY (נאצה, (neh ah tsaw); blasfhmia, (blas fa me ah)) Slande-
ring, reproaching, cursing, or showing contempt. In the Bible, it is the dis-
honoring and reviling of the name, being, or work of God by word or
action. Archetypal enemies of God are usually full of blasphemies. The
Jews accused Jesus of this crime, because he presumed to forgive sins.
The New Testament calls it blasphemy to revile Christ. The Greek word is
used in a weaker sense as mockery of an individual. When directed
against spiritual authorities it approximates blasphemy against God. The
“unforgiveable sin,” blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is the conscious re-
jection of God's saving work and the hardening of one's self against repen-
tance and forgiveness.
BLASTUS (BlastoV) Chamberlain of Herod Agrippa I; this name appears
in both pagan and Christian writings. Tyre and Sidon's people wanted to-
regain Herod's favor, and they persuaded Blastus to help them do so.
BLEACH (leukainV, (loo kie no)) To make white, as in the look of Jesus'
garments in the Transfiguration.
BLESSEDNESS (a.) ברוך, (baw rouk); b.) אשרי, (ah shar); c.)euloghtoV
(you lo geh tos); d.) makarios, (mah kah ree os). Note: in the Revised
Standard Version the word "blessedness" does not occur at all.)
a.) The Hebrew word from which baruch comes is most often used
in the sense, “to worship, adore, praise.” But the same word is also used
for God's “blessing” of people by manifesting God's favor and goodness
toward them. And people are said to “bless” others, by invoking the bles-
sing of God. When “blessed” is used of God, as in “Blessed be the Lord,”
the meaning is primarily: “Let God be worshipped, adored.”
B-44
b.) The Hebrew word asher is used only of humans, never of God.
and when “blessed” is used of people, the meaning is very different: hu-
mans are “fortunate, happy,” because they are assured of the blessing of
God. It is the pious and good person who is blessed but his blessedness
does not consist in his piety and goodness, but in the material well-being
with which God rewards his faithful servants.
In the New Testament, it is usually faithful Christians who are said to
be blessed. The nature of the blessedness is seldom clearly stated, but
when it is a reward for faithfulness in suffering, it is still in the future.
There seems to be a growing tendency toward a more spiritual idea of
blessedness. Where blessedness is already present, it is not clear that it
is in any way a reward for anything, but rather it is a free, undeserved gift
from God. In both Testaments therefore, the only constant connotation of
“blessed” is well-being and prosperity, which is the gift of God to humans.
BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS (ברוך (ber ah kah), blessing; ררא (a rar),
אלה (aw lah), andקללה (kel aw law), curse) Power-laden words spo-
ken on cultic or other occasions, through which the wholeness of the reli-
gious community was safeguarded or strengthened, and evil forces con-
trolled or destroyed. It is very difficult to distinguish between 2 types of
blessings and cursings: 1st, those whose magical power rests with the
person blessing or cursing; and 2nd, those religious words whose effect
lies in the power and purpose of the deity.
In the Old Testament (OT) there are clear traces of magical under-
standing of blessings and cursings. All Hebrew words begin with a root-
word which is a verb. The verbs barak and asher in its active form desig-
nate a person acting to pronounce a blessing upon the community or an
individual.
In its passive form it has a somewhat ambiguous meaning in cer-
tain passages. Most often, it designates the action of praise and grati-
tude for blessing received or as a prayer that Yahweh will be gracious
in providing blessing.
In later Hebrew usage the term arar appears as a synonym for the
passive barak. The Hebrew nouns most often used for “curse” are shown
above. The verb ''arar" is perhaps the earliest OT verb used to designate
the act of cursing. It frequently appears as the opposite of berakah. The
verb qelalaw may originally have been a weaker term for the act of cur-
sing, but it became a synonym for arar in early Israelite times.
2 major types of blessings appear in the OT: pronouncements of
blessings, where there is power in the words themselves; and petitions
for blessing in which the power of blessing has become inseparable
from the deity’s purpose. An ancient blessing formula which was probably
connected with the Covenant ceremony is found in Deuteronomy 28.3-6.
The objects of blessing are the Israelites themselves or the basic sources
upon which Israelite life depends: the children, the land, and the animals.
The expression “Blessed be Yahweh” is the most common form of Israe-
lite blessing, followed by the action for which God is to be praised.
Curses in the OT are also often connected with oaths and with a
covenant; such curses are seldom attributed directly to God. Cursing the
deity is strictly prohibited, and using the power of God's name “in vain” to
curse one's enemies is also forbidden.
Blessings & cursings had their primary place within the Israelite
cultus. A father's blessing was a rite by which all the powers which made
for peace, health, prosperity, etc. were continued or even enhanced after
his death. Such blessings, once pronounced, couldn't be revoked. Within
the confederacy of the 12 tribes of Israel prior to the monarchy's esta-
blishment, blessings & cursings were probably a regular part of the fes-
tival of covenant renewal. The basic curse which befell Israel was the
curse of sin and disobedience.
It was in the Israelite cult that the basic understanding of blessing
was developed. Yahweh was understood to be the source of all blessing.
The priest was enabled to declare blessing upon Israel, but only in Yah-
weh's name. Yahweh's blessing found primary expression in Yahweh’s histo-
rical dealing with Yahweh’s people. Similarly, cursings were drawn into the
official cultic practices. It was not a matter any longer, however, of finding
the right curse formulas to avert or destroy the old demonic powers. None
of these powers could stand before the power of Yahweh's protection and
blessing.
In Judaism, the power to pronounce the Aaronic blessing was re-
served to the priest. Other blessings, such as the 18 Benedictions, were a
regular part of the synagogue services. In the New Testament (NT), the
Beatitudes may have been intended as new blessings to go with the New
Covenant.
B-45
The benedictions found in the introductory and concluding portions
of the Pauline letters as well as material from the book of Revelation con-
tain the major additional material bearing on blessings and cursing in the
NT. Curses appear only seldom. The curse of sin and death is seen to
have been abrogated, once for all, in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The definitive blessing has been bestowed upon humankind in Jesus Christ.
BLIGHT (שדפון (shid daw fone), scorch) The destruction of standing crops
by the scorching east wind which came dry and hot from the Arabian
Desert made it one of the most destructive natural forces in Palestine.
BLINDNESS (עור (aw var)) The same word is used for physical loss of sight
and for metaphorical blindness. To the biblical writers blindness was the
consequence either of disease or of physical degeneration. Ophthalmia
is a highly contagious disease that was frequently transmitted by flies,
aggravated by the sun's glare, and irritated by dust-laden winds. Blind-
ness in infancy not infrequently resulted from an acute inflammation of
the mucous membrane covering the eye, caused by membrane's infection
by the mother.
The Mosaic enactments on the blind's behalf indicates that blind-
ness was a serious social problem. Impaired vision was included in the
disabilities-list which disqualified one from the priesthood. Blindness in
old age is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Jacob was
able to deceive Isaac, because of his blindness. Both Eli, the priest of
Shiloh, and Ahijah the prophet were blind in their old age.
In the New Testament, Jesus used blindness and eye deficiencies to
illustrate spiritual truths, and many of his healing miracles involved blind
people, the most notable being the man whose recovery of sight was gra-
dual, and the man who was blind from birth, whose healing led Jesus to
declare himself as the light of the world. Jesus related these healings to
the faith of the person concerned.
The blindness which overtook Paul outside Damascus may be ac-
counted for by the intense emotional strain of totally changing his spiri-
tual values. This could have produced amaurosis, a blindness which oc-
curred without any damage to the eye or optic nerve. Because this phe-
nomenon is invariably emotional in nature, dramatic cures can result
from suggestion and therapy.
BLOOD, FIELD OF (cwrion aimsioV (ko ree on ame see os)) A term
which appears only in Acts 1. The Greek is the author's translation of the
Semitic name for the place. Other Greek authors have translated it
differently.
BLOOD, FLOW OF (rusiV aimsioV (roo sis i me see os)) A medical term
Luke uses to indicate a hemorrhage.
BLOODGUILT (דם (dawm)) In Israel, bloodguilt was defiling, but only through
slaying a man who didn't deserve to die. Killing in self-defense and the exe-
cution of criminals are explicitly exempted. Where there's innocent blood,
there is always bloodguilt for: intentional killing; unintentional death; death
through negligence or dereliction of duty; persons in authority incurred
bloodguilt for murders their subordinates committed. Bloodguilt is even
caused by anyone who slaughters a beast at an unauthorized altar.
The law allows the avenger of blood to take action against per-
sons bloodguilty only of murder and unintentional homicide. The avenger
may slay the accidental homicide outside the asylum without incurring
bloodguilt. The community is held bloodguilty if it fails to provide the ac-
cidental manslayer with an asylum. And since the bloodguilt of homicide
lies on the entire community, they and the avenger both share the aim of
destroying the guilty party. No money penalty or ritual cleansing may be
or need be added: the murderer must die.
If there is an untraceable murder in open country, the elders and
priests of the town nearest to the corpse must perform a sacrificial purifi-
ation. Bloodguilt for which no amends is made is punished by God, the
ultimate avenger. and God may exact retribution from the descendants of
the blood-guilty person.
BLUE (תכלת (tak ay leth)) A Biblical color of uncertain hue, probably purple-
blue, obtained from Mediterranean mollusks. As a color of the clothing of
idols it is rendered by “violet” in Jeremiah 10, and “purple” in Ezekiel 23.
Tyre long enjoyed a monopoly in the “blue” and “purple” industry, although
both colors were available elsewhere. Materials dyed blue were widely
used in the tabernacle, priests' clothing, and in Solomon's temple. Blue
was also used in the palace in the book of Esther. The word “blue” does
not appear in the Revised Standard Version or the King James Version of
the New Testament. However, “sapphire” and “jacinth” do.
B-46
BOANERGES (BoanhrgeV (bo an er jez)) A name of uncertain meaning
given by Jesus to James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Boaneh ap-
pears to be a corrupt Greek form of a word meaning “sons of.” Rges has
been explained as “tumult,” “wrath,” “thunder,” and “full brothers.” Mark
translates it “sons of thunder” without indicating why the term is appropri-
ate. Were the brothers stormy in temperament, or were they zealots and
revolutionaries? There is some textual evidence the term originally may
have been for all the apostles.
BOAR (חזיר (kha zeer)) A wild pig, thought to be the ancestor of the dome-
stic swine. The only reference is the “boar from the forest” ravages the
vine Israel (Psalm 80). Such a danger to crops and orchards must have
been ever present in the biblical period. When used in the list to de-
scribe unclean animals in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, this word
probably means both the wild and domesticated pig.
BOAT (ploiarion (ploy ar eon)) A smaller craft used for fishing on the Sea
of Galilee. Sometimes ploion is also translated as “boat,” except when
describing Mediterranean Sea vessels, in which case “ship” is used.
BOAZ (בעז, cheerful promptness) A wealthy and virtuous Bethlehemite who,
as a relation to the family of Elimelech, redeemed that family's inheritance
and married the daughter-in-law of Elimelech, a Moabite woman named
Ruth. He was of the family of Hezron of the tribe of Judah, King David's
great-grand-father, and an ancestor of Jesus. When Boaz met Ruth, he
insisted that she glean only from his fields. Ruth asked him to perform the
duty of next of kin and redeem the inheritance of the deceased Elimilech.
They married and had a son named Obed, who was to be the grandfather
of David.
BOCHERU (בכרו, he is the first-born) A Benjaminite, a descendent of Saul
and Jonathan found in I Chronicles.
BOCHIM (בכים, weepers) An unknown site between Gilgal and Bethel where,
in Judges 2, the angel of the Lord rebuked the people, and which received
its name from their weeping.
BODY (בשר (baw sour); sarx (sarks); soma (so mah)) Usually an object
with physical properties of weight solidity, and substance; but the word
has also acquired social, spiritual, and metaphysical meanings.
Early Hebrew apparently had no term to designate the body as a
whole in our sense. It preferred to speak of various parts and organs indi-
vidually. The Hebrew word coming nearest to meaning body is basar or
“flesh.” It also means kinship, and is used as another way of saying hu-
mans, or for all living things. This word did not acquire any important
theological meanings. In the New Testament (NT), the word sarx is close-
ly parallel to basar, but it acquired in addition profound psychological and
theological meanings. Soma is the common word for body. It also came
to have metaphorical meanings.
The Last Supper tradition, which Paul introduces in I Corinthians 11,
is clearly something he has received from an earlier time. The saying “this
is my body,” introduces the idea that the loaf of bread which is broken in
communion ritual is the soma or “body” of the Lord. This tradition in al-
most the same form is preserved also in the Synoptic gospels. In both ac-
counts, there is a possible ambiguity. Soma may designate a body with all
its elements, including blood. Yet tradition refers to drinking the blood sepa-
rately. And when Jesus died, the blood flowed out of his body. In the gos-
pel of John 6 the word sarx is used in place of soma.
Paul also refers to the “sinful body” in Romans 6 and in chapter 7 to
“this body of death.” Paul regards body and flesh as the seat of sinful de-
sires. But the body of sin may be also at the same time the redeemed
body, although it never becomes a sinless body. Paul explains this by ma-
king frequent use of the spatial concept of being “in Christ.” It is baptism
that brings one into Christ's body.
The union with Christ is expressed by the figure of marriage, where
Christ is the husband and the Christian is the wife, both together as one
body. Paul argues that the body is “not meant for immorality, but for the
Lord, and the Lord for the body. Paul also uses the image of the body as
a temple in which the Spirit dwells. This means that “I am no longer in
Christ, but Christ is in me.”
B-47
He also said “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ who lives in me.” With daring imagination, Paul grasps for
one physical symbol after another in an effort to express his sense of the
mystery of spiritual fellowship with Christ. One of Paul's most sublime con-
cepts is that the church is the body of Christ. Paul's basic idea is that
there is only one body, that this body is the church, and that it is the body
of Christ.
One of the issues Paul had to deal with was the fact that Greek
Christians believed in a spiritual life, but had an aversion to physical
resurrection. Paul felt that as a human being is incomplete without a
body, a resurrection is required for a future life. Paul concludes that as
there are heavenly and earthly bodies, so the human body which is
buried is mortal, but that which is raised is immortal. The basis of his
conviction is the personal testimony of those who saw the Lord after
his resurrection as well as his own experience.
BODY OF CHRIST (See Christ, Body of)
BODYGUARD (משמעת (mish mah ‘ath); טבחים (tab bak eem), guard,
cook) A person armed to protect another person, usually a sovereign, and
responsible directly to him. David was captain of Saul's bodyguard, as
well as personal bodyguard to Achish, king of Gath. Benaiah ben Jeho-
iada was one of David's 30 veteran warriors and head of his bodyguard.
In Genesis 37 and 39, Potiphar was captain of Pharaoh's bodyguard.
BOHAN, STONE OF (אבן בהן (eh ben bow han), stone of the thumb) A
boundary marker between Judah and Benjamin southeast of Jericho. This
phrase was once misunderstood as mentioning one of Judah's sons.
BOIL (שחין (shekh een)) Inflamed swellings under the skin. In Job 2, small-
pox may be indicated; the Egyptian plague may be blains or skin anthrax.
The boils afflicting Hezekiah was probably from a staph' infection.
BOLDNESS (a.) tolmaw (tol mayo); b.) parrhsia (par reh see ah);
c.) parrhsiazomai (par reh see az oh my)) Word (a.) is used of ac-
tion that rises above fear. Words (b.) and (c.) from their origins suggest
free, unhindered speech, as in the old Athenian democratic tradition.
"Boldness" in the New Testament becomes almost a stock term to
describe the standing, the manner, and spirit of those who proclaim the
gospel. The new Christian approach to God is marked by confidence and
faith. Even before the dread Judge in the end-of-the-age event the man
of faith need not shrink back. This bold, new spirit does not rest in self-
confidence. Christian faith for living stands sure in the promises of God;
the presence of the Spirit brings inspiration and guidance.
BOLLED (גבעל (gib ole)) The Hebrew may refer to the flower bud or seed
pod of flax.
BOLSTER (מראשות (mer ah ash oth), at his head) While the King James
version translates this word as an object, in Hebrew it denotes a place.
BOND (עצור (es awr); מוסר, (mo ser aw); desmoV (des mos); sun-
desmoV (soon des mos)) A term used both literally and figuratively to
mean “obligation,” “dependence,” or “restraint.” The meaning is literal in
I Kings 14, and in Samson's bonds in Judges 15. The meaning is often
figurative, as in the hands of an evil woman are like “fetters” or “bonds”
(Ecclesiastes 7). There are the bonds of wickedness, affliction, and judg-
ment. In the New Testament the meanings may also be literal, as in the
bonds of imprisonment or the very sinews of the body. They may also be
figurative, meaning either the bonds of sin; or of peace and love.
BOOK (ספר (sef ar); ספרה (sif raw); bibloV (bib los); biblion (bib
lee on)) A document written on a strip of leather or papyrus and then
rolled up; it may refer to either a simple letter or a longer literary work.
BOOK OF LIFE (See Life, Book of)
BOOKS REFERRED TO (in the Bible) The various written documents to which
reference is made in the Bible are of 3 types: source books used by the
authors of our Old and New Testament books; books mentioned as com-
posed by Moses or other ancient authors; and books presented as divinely
authored.
B-48
The source books mentioned are:
The book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21) This was pro-
bably a collection of old war poems on the fights between Israel and
the original inhabitants of Canaan.
The "Book of Jashar" (Joshua 10 and II Samuel 1) A collection
poems and such authentic literary masterpieces as of both war
David's lament over Saul and Jonathan.
The "book of the acts of Solomon" (I Kings 11) This was pro-
bably a biographical document, compiled from royal annals and
emphasizing King Solomon's wisdom. It may have included exam-
ples of his justice &wisdom (e.g. judgment between the two harlots).
The "Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel"
(I Kings 14, 15, 16, 22 and II Kings 1,10, 13, 14, 15). It may have
been a continuous journal compiled from royal records of the Kings
of the Northern Kingdom of Israel after Solomon's kingdom was divi-
ded; it is mentioned 18 times.
The "Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah"
(I Kings 14, 15, 22 and II Kings 8, 12,14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 24) The
same as the book just mentioned above only for the King s of the Sou-
thern Kingdom of Judah; it is mentioned 15 times.
Of all biblical persons who are credited with the writing of books,
the one who receives the greatest acclaim is Moses. He wrote of Amalek's
fate, “the book of the covenant,” and “the book of the law of Moses.”
Joshua is said to have written two books, one for the allotment of Canaan,
and the other renewing the covenant. Samuel and Jeremiah are credited
with writing books.
The oldest book presented as divinely authored is probably the
“book of remembrance,” (Malachi 3) out of which Moses was willing to
have his name removed. It is the same as the book of truth and of life of
prophetic and apocalyptic writers and the “book of life” mentioned in the
New Testament.
BOOT (סאון (seh own)) In the period's pictures, Assyrian soldiers wear high
leather boots laced up to the knee, in contrast to the sandals of the Israe-
lite soldier.
BOOTH (סכה (sook kaw); שך (soak)) A temporary shelter for cattle, men
and especially on the battlefield. The booths used at the Feast of Booths
were to be made of branches woven together. “Booths” were also used
as figures of speech for anything flimsy.
BOOTHS, FEAST OF THE (חג הסכות (khawg ha sook koth)) One of Israel's
3 great annual festivals, celebrated with great joy in autumn, at the agri-
cultural year's completion. It was also known as tabernacles, “the feast
of ingathering,” “the feast of the Lord,” and “the feast.” Scholars are divi-
ded as to whether the Feast of the Booths was simply an agricultural fes-
tival borrowed from Canaan and celebrated in the name of Israel's God,
or whether, from the beginning, it served as a vehicle for Israel's cove-
nant faith.
Although Deuteronomy 16 prescribes that all male Israelites must
“appear before the Lord” three times a year, it seems that the Feast of
Booths ranks as the original pilgrimage festival. In I Samuel 1, Elkanah,
father of Samuel, made an annual journey to Shiloh. The booths, later
used to commemorate the wandering of Israel, are also derived from an
agricultural practice: to protect olive orchards, the owners used to guard
them by night, standing in shelters constructed of branches and vines.
Booths became an extremely popular festival in post-exilic Judaism.
Jews from Babylon and other more distant places made pilgrimage to
Jerusalem with offerings for the temple and the city.
The feast began on the 15th day of Tishri (late September). The
1st day of this month was a special holy day, and the Day of Atonement
fell on the 10th. The 3 events seem to signify a separation in what was
originally a single observance. Also, the feast seems to have come just
before rather than just after, year's end. The feast proper lasted 7 days;
later an 8th & 9th day of special observances were added.
Each of the celebrants had to perform certain duties. They had
to make themselves a booth in which they slept and ate all their meals for
7 days. Further, every pilgrim had to collect twigs of myrtle, willow, and
palm in the environs of Jerusalem, which were used originally in the con-
struction of the booths. In later celebrations, they were bound together
into a sort of festal plume, called the lulab, to which citron was added.
The lulab was carried ceremonially during the daily singing of the Hallel
(Psalms 113-118).
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3 common rites were performed on each of the 7 days of the feast
proper. The water libation ceremony was the 1st common rite for each
day of the feast. A procession of priests went down to the Pool of Siloam
to bring up a container of water, which was to suffice for the 7 days. The
priest circled the altar while the people cried, "hoshianah (Hoshono) Rab-
bah." On the 7th day, circling the altar was done 7 times. The priests took
the willow branches they carried, and instead of waving them aloft as on
other days, they beat the earth with them.
The 2nd great common rite occurred at night. 4 huge Menorahs
fitted out with wicks made from the worn out garments of the priests, illu-
mined the entire temple area. Under them the celebrants danced a torch
dance. For the 3rd rite, each day at dawn, the priests proceeded to the
east gate of the temple. At sunrise, they turned west to face the temple
and recited: “Our fathers when they were in this place turned with faces to
the east, and they worshiped the sun; but as for us, our eyes are turned to-
ward the Lord.”
The 8th day is not treated as one of the days of Booths proper,
although the Hallel was also sung in the solemn assembly held on the 8th
day. The 9th day is called Simhath Torah (שמחת תורה, “the Joy of the
Law”). Every 7th year, the year of release, the law of the covenant is to be
read in the hearing of “all Israel.”
In its early stages, it was called “the feast of ingathering (Exodus
23),” and the observance was associated with the completion of agricul-
tural work. The Feast of Ingathering appears therefore, to have been an
occasion of great rejoicing with features of carnival-like indulgence and an
early stage in the process by which Israel came to terms with Canaanite
culture.
In Deuteronomy, this feast becomes the “Feast of the Booths,” with
no special significance of the booths mentioned and no overt connection
made between the feast and Israel's communal history. In Leviticus 23, we
learn for the first time that the ritual residence in booths is to commemorate
that God made Israel “dwell in booths” when he brought them “out of the
land of Egypt.”
2 questions arise from the preceding analysis: when did the Feast
of Booths begin to function as a historical memorial for Israel; and what
were the forces that operated to give it this role? Those that see it prima-
rily as a nature feast of Canaanite origin, believe that it took on cultural
and historical significance for Israel during her exile in Babylon. Others
believe that there was a tent festival in Israel's earliest history, and that it
assimilated the autumn agricultural observances of Canaan; over the years
the use of tents gave way to the use of booths. H. J. Kraus's central the-
sis is that Israel had a cult-feast tradition rooted in its own history by means
of which it could assimilate Canaan's vintage feast and develop it into the
Feast of Booths.
BOOTY (בז (baz); מלקוח (mal ko akh); משסה (mesh ees saw)) Spoils
taken in battle. It was a general custom in antiquity for victorious raiders or
troops to despoil the conquered territory of everything of value.
BORASHAN (בור עשן, cistern or well of Ashan) Same as Ashan.
BORROW, LEND. To take on security a thing given for its safe return. The
borrower obtains use of the item from the lender. Interest was not taken
from Israelites, but was allowed from Gentiles. Usury was either taking
interest from Israelites or taking too much. Lending and repaying were
both considered charitable acts.
BOSSED, BOSSES (גב (gab)) Bosses are knobs, often ornamental, which
stand out from a flat surface. Bosses on early shields strengthened the
shield itself, which was often leather over wood.
BOTTLE (נאד (node)) Translation is difficult, but the word seems to be refer-
ring to a wineskin.
BOUGAEAN ( bougaioV ) A designation of Haman in Esther. In the primary
Greek version of the Old Testament, it replaces “Agagite,” which is other-
wise replaced with “Macedonian.” Probably, it is a corruption of “Agagite.”
BOWS AND ARROW (קשת (keh sheth); toxon (toks own), bow; חצ
(khayts), arrow) The bow and arrow was the normal weapon used by the
nomad, the hunter, the raider, and the warrior. In the Assyrian army bow-
men, along with lancers were used effectively to protect those who
scaled the walls of a besieged city.
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The arrow consisted of a shaft made of reed or light wood notched
at one end, with a narrow tongue at the other for attaching the arrowhead,
which were made of flint, bone, or bronze. Since metal was expensive,
flint tips remained in use until the Late Bronze period (about 1550 B.C.).
Arrows were sometimes used for divination in Mesopotamia, and were often
used symbolically to represent violence.
BOWELS (מעים (may eem); splangca (splangk nah)) In the Revised
Standard Version, it is used only in the literal sense. In the King James
Version, it is used for lower abdomen organs, and for strong emotions.
BOWLS In the Bible, “bowl” and “basin” are often interchangeable terms. (See
also Pottery and Vessels).
BOX (See Flask; Money Box; Perfume; Pottery; Vessels).
BOX TREE (תאשור (teh ‘ash sure)) The King James Version translation of the
Hebrew word. The box tree is not found in the Holy Land. Some scholars
identify this tree with the cypress.
BOZEZ (בצץ, shining) A rock in the mountain pass between Michmash and
Geba; the exact site is unknown.
BOZKATH (בצקת, elevated ground) A village of Judah
trict of Lachish
609 B.C.) was from Bozkath.
BOZRAH (בצרה, fortified place, sheepfold (See also the entry in the Old Tes-
ament Apocrypha / Influences Outside the Bible section of the Appendix.).
1. An important Edomite fortress city, home of King Jobah, about
32 km south-south-east of the Dead Sea, and 56 km north of Petra. Built
on a spur, surrounded by deep wadis, and protected by a fort, Bozrah was
almost impregnable. It guarded a road and the way to the Arabah copper
mines. As a symbol of Edom's strength, its destruction signified the de-
struction of all Edom.
2. A Moabite city which will share in the destruction of the land, pro-
bably the same as Bezer.
3. Located about 97 km south of Damascus, this Bozrah became
Bostra and the Roman capital of the Arabian province under the Romans
after Trajan's conquest of the Nabateans. Traditionally evangelized by one
of the 70, Bostra was long the ecclesiastical center of the Hauran region in
Northeast Palestine. Later it became a Nestorian (Christian) center. Per-
haps Muhammed learned a lot about Christianity here.
BRACELET (צמיד, (tsaw meed)) An ornamental circlet worn on the lower arm.
Bracelets were common all over Palestine, and worn by both men and
women on one or both arms. They were mostly of bronze, though there
are examples of iron, silver, and glass bracelets, and rarely of gold.
BRAIDING (emplokh (em plo keh); plegma (pleg mah)) An elaborate
dressing of the hair in knots, or entwining a wreath in the hair.
BRAMBLE (אטד (a tad); batoV (ba tos)) A shrub with sharp spines and
runners usually forming tangled masses of vegetation. The context gives
no hints for identifying a specific plant, but European boxthorn, Palestinian
blackberry, and Palestinian buckthorn are mentioned as likely candidates.
BRANCH (כנה (kaw neh); צמח (tseh makh); נצר (nay tser); kladoV
(klad os); klhma (klay ma)) The Greek and Hebrew words translated as
“branch” have many symbolic uses. The spreading branches of a tree or
vine can symbolize the fruitfulness and prosperity of a man or a nation;
burnt or cut branches are used as figures of destruction. “Branch” or
“sprout” is employed as a designation of Israel's present or future king. It
has been suggested that this usage stems from identifying the king with
the Tree of Knowledge.
The most important of these passages is from Isaiah 11.1, which is
quoted in the New Testament in connection with Jesus: “a shoot shall
come out from the stump of Jesse.” The offspring of Jesse can be consi-
dered a “shoot,” even as the branch can be called the “daughter” of the
tree. The book of Jeremiah uses the phrase “a righteous branch.” The
same phrase is used in Phoenician to indicate the throne's rightful heir.
B-51
In Chapter 23, we have a contrast between a king righteous by
name (Zedekiah) but not by nature, and a future ruler who will be every-
thing his name implies. In Zechariah 3 and 6, the allusion to “branch” may
have been suggested by the name of the Babylonian king in question
(“shoot of Babylon”). Ezekiel 8 speaks of putting the vine branch to the
nose. This probably belongs in the context of worship of the dying and
rising god, and could also be a gesture of contempt.
BRASS (נחשת (nekh o sheth)) The Hebrew word stands for any copper al-
loy (e.g. copper-tin or copper-zinc). The Revised Standard Version uses
brass when it is a metaphor for hardness or obstinacy in sin.
BRAZIER (אח (‘awkh)) Probably a portable firepan for the heating of a room
in cold weather.
BREACH (a.) פרץ (peh rets); b.) שבר (shay ber)) a.) This word is the com-
mon one for “breach,” as in the breach made in a city wall by the enemy.
b.) This word literally means “breaking into pieces”; The Revised
Standard Version translates it as “fracture.” On rare occasions, other
words are translated as “breach.” For example, badek is used in II Kings
12 to describe the state of disrepair of the temple during the reigns of
Joash and Josiah.
It is also used in Ezekiel 27 to mean caulking the seam of a ship.
“Breach” is also used in Leviticus 5, where The Hebrew words ma'al
ma'al are used for “committing a breach of faith” or “treachery” in matters
of gifts due to the sanctuary, deposits, robbery, and fraud.
BREAD (לחם (lekh em)) The baking and eating of bread are characteristic of
the agricultural life. Bread is relatively scarce in the nomadic diet, since
only a small quantity of grain can be carried. Nevertheless, bread was
one of the staples of the diet. In Israel's later history, baking of bread be-
came a profession; when he was in prison, Jeremiah was given a loaf
each day “from the bakers' street.” In the average family bread was pre-
pared in the home by the women.
Usually bread was made from either wheat flour or barley meal in
biblical times. Flour was more expensive than meal, so wheat bread was
preferred by the wealthier people, while the poorer classes had to be con-
tent with barley bread. In times of need, other cereals and even ground
beans were mixed with the flour to increase the yield of bread. Bread was
prepared by simply mixing the flour or meal with water. In the nomadic pe-
riod of Israel's history no leaven was added before kneading. After settling
in Canaan, however, it became customary to keep a small piece of the pre-
vious day's batch of dough.
The simplest way was to build a fire over a large, flat stone, remove
the ashes, place a flat piece of dough on the heated stone, and cover the
whole with the ashes. A more advanced method is to bake “flat cake” on a
griddle probably made of clay. The most common method of baking is in an
oven that probably was shaped like an inverted earthenware jar. Bread
was baked from the heat of a fire started in the oven the night before.
Bread was so important that the expression “eat bread and drink
water” could be used to signify eating & drinking as a whole. Indeed, the
word lekhem is often translated “food” in both the Revised Standard Ver-
sion and the King James Version. Lack of bread symbolized extreme po-
verty or distress. In Genesis 14, bread is mentioned as a gift to stranger.
3 loaves of bread were sufficient for the average person at each meal.
Bread was one of the most common elements of the cultic offerings of the
ancient Near East. For Hebrews, the only absolute requirements were
that the bread be unleavened and seasoned with salt.
Bread was often used in biblical images, as in the image of the
enemy as bread, something easily consumed. Falsehood is called “bread
of conceit”; its taste is sweet, but later the mouth is “full of gravel.” Since
the Eucharist's earliest form in the New Testament involved the “breaking
of bread,” worship in general came to called by the same phrase, especi-
ally in Acts 2 and 20. Elsewhere in the New Testament, bread is used meta-
phorically only in reference to the coming of kingdom of God or to Jesus
himself.
Jesus refers to himself as “the true bread from heaven” in the John
6 after the disciples had referred to manna as “bread from heaven.” When
the disciples ask for this bread, Jesus strengthens his claim; he is the
“bread of life,” and those who follow him will never hunger or thirst. In this
part of John's gospel, there are unmistakable references to the coming
Last Supper. But Jesus is also referring to his sacrificial death, particular-
ly in John 6.51. The mention of manna as an ordinary food is intended to
show the superiority of Jesus to the law. (For the expression “daily bread,"
see Lord's Prayer.)
BREAD OF THE PRESENCE (פנים (ה)לחם (lekh em (ha) paw neem))
12 loaves set before God, made with 2/10 of an ephah of fine flour in each.
The loaves were arranged in two rows or piles on the table which stood
before the Lord in the holy place. Fresh loaves were brought into the sanc-
tuary each sabbath and the old loaves were then eaten by the priests in the
holy place. Arrangements were made for the continual exhibition of the holy
bread in Solomon's temple where there were probably 10 tables for the
Bread of the Presence. Presumably the bread was unleavened and baked
before the sabbath. They were brought into the Temple
sabbath and heaped in 2 rows of 6.
The earliest mention of the bread of the Presence is probably I Sa-
muel 2. After David's entrance in Nob, he requested the priest Ahimelech
to give him the holy bread which had been removed from the table in the
holy place in order to feed his men. The fact that all references in the Bi-
ble's first 5 books to the bread of the Presence belong to the Priestly code
do not support the conclusion that the Hebrew rite was a late innovation
reflecting Babylonian influences.
B-52
There's no evidence that the bread of the Presence was ever under-
stood as a sacrifice, even in early Israel. It was originally thought of as a
meal for the deity, and later as a thank offering. The table of the bread of
the Presence which was in the 2nd temple was taken away by Antiochus
Epiphanes. A new one was brought to the temple and consecrated by
Judas Maccabeus.
BREAKFAST (aristaw (ah ris tay oh)) The noun used in John 21.12,13 to
translate the Greek word in the Revised Standard Version; the King James
Version uses “dine.”
BREASTPIECE (OF THE HIGH PRIEST) (חשן (kho shen)) Either a pouch or
a beautiful thing such as an ornament or garment. The Breastpiece was
multicolored and made of the best fabrics. When folded it made a double
square measuring 23 cm each way. It served as a receptacle for the sa-
cred lot, and it marked the high priest as representing all Israel. With it the
high priest brought Israel into Yahweh's holy presence.
BREASTPLATE (שרין (shir yon)) A breastplate of one or more pieces of
metal would be worn over a leather jerkin or tunic. There would be addi-
tional armor for the back & other areas. The breastplate also serves as a
figure of speech. “The breastplate of righteousness” is used in both the
Old and New Testament. God wears the breastplate in the Old Testament,
while the Christian puts it on in the New Testament.
BREATH (נשמה (nesh aw maw); רוח, (roo ach)) The 1st word conveys the
narrow, literal sense of breath. Ruach can also be translated as “wind” or
“spirit.”
BREECHES (מכוסים (mik nos seem)) Part of the garb of priests, which
served as a cover for the priest from the loins to the thighs. It was probably
not the sown breeches we most often imagine, which are of Persian origin,
but more like an apron.
BRIBE; BRIBERY (כפר (ko pher); שחד (shakh ad)) The giving of anything
which is intended to influence someone in the discharge of a legal duty.
Taking bribes is prohibited in the laws. Bribes were not only used to sub-
vert justice; they sometimes proved necessary in order to uphold justice.
Gift-giving to judges was common practice, so this meant the poor had
difficulty obtaining a hearing for their case, unless the injustice was so
blatant as to be impossible to ignore. Since giving gifts was viewed as a
legitimate means of getting ahead, & was even recommended to pacify
antagonists, the distinction between gifts and bribes must sometimes
have been extremely subtle.
BRICK (לבנה (leb ay naw)) In the ancient Middle East a most common buil-
ding material was sun-dried brick; in Babylonia kiln-burned brick was
widely used. Burnt bricks are mentioned in the Tower of Babel story. In
the Palestine hills though stone was abundant and easily cut, brick was
used extensively in some city walls, as in the Middle Bronze (2100 B.C.),
Late Bronze (1550 B.C.), and Greek (300 B.C.) walls at Shechem. In the
lowland cities like Jericho & Ezion-geber, sun-dried brick was used both
for city walls and for houses.
In the Nile Valley, from prehistoric times to the present day, brick-
making was an extensive occupation. The clay was thoroughly soaked,
generally mixed with straw or other vegetable matter, and poured by the
artisan into molds or shaped by hand. A few of the great monuments of
ancient Egypt were made of sun-dried brick and still are standing.
Mortar in Egypt and Palestine was of the same mud as the bricks; in Me-
sopotamia bitumen was used. Brick walls stood for several months before
any plaster was applied.
The best-known biblical story of bricks is in Exodus 5, where
Pharoah orders the Hebrews to make bricks without straw. The hardship in
this story is the added labor of having to find their own straw.
BRICKKILN (מלבן (mal bane) Probably a mold of rectangular shape; the
word came to be used to describe any rectangle. Since bricks were sel-
dom kilnfired in Palestine, and since Hebrew doesn’t use different words
for different furnaces, it is most likely that David set his captives to work
at brick molds and not brick kilns.
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BRIDE (כלה (kal law), “daughter-in-law”) A woman soon-to-be or recently mar-
ried. Other words are translated as “bride,” when they refer to a betrothed
girl or a recently married wife.
BRIDE (OF CHRIST) (numfh (noom feh), “daughter-in-law”) A metaphor for
the Church.
BRIER (שמיר (shaw meer); ברקן (bar kawn)) Thorny plant. It is used figu-
ratively used of the enemies of Israel and of that which is worthless, espe-
cially land.
BRIMSTONE (גפרית (gof reeth); qeion (thay eon)) It is said to have been a
means of divine retribution against Sodom and Gomorrah, the apostate
and wicked, the kings of Assyria, Edom, and Gog, idolaters, sinners, etc.
BROAD PLACE (רחב (rakh ab)) Given the rugged terrain of the Holy Land, to
set in a broad place may metaphorically mean to deliver from danger, an-
xiety, want or distress.
BROAD WALL, THE (החומה הרחבה (ha khoe mah ha ra kha bah)) A sec-
tion of the rampart of Jerusalem
Its place in the Bible suggests the northwest side of the city.
BRONZE (נחשת (nekh oh sheth); translated “brass” in the King James Ver-
sion) An alloy of copper and tin, the latter being present in levels between
2% and 16%. Since it is difficult to tell by looking whether an object is
made of copper or bronze, nekoshet is used to denote both. It is safe to
translate it as “bronze” when casting is involved, because bronze makes
a cleaner cast, and “copper” when an object is hammered into shape.
The origin and discovery of bronze is uncertain. The most proba-
ble locations are: Syria, Armenia, and the Caucasus. Bronzes have been
found at Ur of Sumeria dating from 2500 B.C., but the absence of metal
ores of any kind there means that it is unlikely bronze was discovered
there. Bronze first appeared in Palestine just before 2100 B. C., or the
Middle Bronze Age. Even during this age, bronze was by no means com-
mon in Palestine. Solomon is said to employed nekoshet in both senses
of the word lavishly in the adornment & furnishing of the temple. Since
Israel had no highly skilled smiths, Solomon was obliged to import an ex-
pert from Tyre to supervise the work. The casting of the bronze was done
in the Jordan Valley.
BROOCH (חח (khawkh)) An ancient ornamental piece of jewelry, shaped
somewhat like a bent bow, with a pin. They came into common use in
Palestine in the 600s B.C.
BROOD (nossion (nos see on)) A group of young birds, especially of dome-
stic fowl.
BROOK (נחל (nakh al)) A small stream & its bed, called a wadi in Arabic,
which may flow all the time when fed by springs, or completely dry most
of the time, except after large amounts of rainfall. The same Hebrew word
may also refer to a river or valley, depending on the context of the pas-
sage and the geography of the area involved. The brooks of ancient Pale-
stine and the eastern Jordan were numerous. They flowed into the coastal
plain, the Sea of Galillee, the Jordan Valley, and the Dead Sea. Brooks
were considered a pleasant feature of the land & important as sources of
water for the villages often located near them. They were also used for in-
dicating important national or tribal boundaries, or other locations.
BROOM (רתם (ro them)) A desert shrub or bush which frequently grows quite
large, and offers a bit of shade. Job 30.4 refers to this tree, but scholars
disagree as to the translation of the Hebrew word lachmam. The King
James Version translates it as “their meat”, while the Revised Standard
Version translates it as “to become warm.”
B-54
BROTH (מרק (maw rawk)) The water in which meat is boiled, and which is
often eaten along with the meat.
BROTHERHOOD (אהוה (aw vah), brother; adelfwV, (ah del
ture has no interest in brotherhood as such. To discover what the Bible
has to say about brotherhood is essential to study its message about actual
brothers. Brethren should be friends, yet the Old Testament (OT) candidly
depicts disruption, war, and death caused by greed, cruelty, spoiled self-
centeredness, injustice, and other sins between brothers. It depicts strife
between: Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his half-brothers.
Joab carried out vengeance on Abner for the death of his brother Asahel.
This is contrasted with Abraham's love of Lot, and Judah's for Benja-
min. It was concern for racial purity that sometimes made it necessary for
a man to marry his brother's widow. Thus the OT teaches that, within the
nation, a man is his brother's keeper—a truth that has bearing on matters
of social welfare, trade, and religious custom. Quite apart from blood rela-
tionship, “brother” may be used of friends, such as David and Jonathan,
and Solomon and Hiram of Tyre.
In the New Testament (NT) little is made positive of natural kinship;
rather, such kinship may conflict with, and must yield to, the claims of
God's kingdom. Jesus probed the deepest meaning of the OT command-
ment to love one's neighbor and extended it to ones enemies and “to the
poor who can't invite you back.” The men and women who responded to
Jesus with a measure of faith in his mission are his pupils or apprentices
but also his “brethren.” Christ's identification with his people and his disci-
ples is notable at baptism, in mission, and at the Judgment where “brethren”
need not be confined to disciples. Service and unity are keynotes of the
brotherhood of disciples.
Ideas of the church formulated after Pentecost gather up similar
thoughts. There is the brotherhood of the New Israel and Christ as the true
“Elder Brother.” Brotherly love, therefore should be typical of congrega-
tions as a close-knit corporation of believers. This love is commanded,
and obedience to it attests love for God.
“Brethren” was the regular and perfectly genuine mode of address
in spite of the dissension that existed. They constituted a spiritual brother-
hood, distinct from the “world” as were the Qumran covenanters, and para-
doxically exclusive because they made such high claims for themselves as
God’s elect through Jesus Christ. The wonder of the NT is how slaves and
masters and believers from every tongue and nation were called by Christ
into a religious society for which the word “brotherhood” was a fitting title.
BROTHERLY LOVE (filadelfia (fil ah del fee ah)) The Old Testament has
the same idea though not a word for “brotherly love,” for “neighbor” in Levi-
ticus 19 means “brother Israelite,” and the rule of neighborly love is exten-
ded to the resident alien. True friendship is a lasting and peculiarly close
bond of love often closer than that of blood brothers, as the story of David
and Jonathan shows.
In the New Testament, Christians are a family, a brotherhood in
Christ's service. For them, brotherly love is intense, because of their com-
mon covenant faith, and hope; but it is embodied in that perfect love, agape,
which is universal in its range. Since it's inspired by Jesus and his Spirit, it
is gentle, kind, patient, pardoning, self-effacing, and sacrificial.
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BROTHERS OF THE LORD (adelfoia tou kurion (ah del
ree on)) The men commonly thought of as younger brothers of Jesus.
Mark lists them as James, Joses, Judas, and Simon; Matthew names James,
Joseph, Simon, and Judas. These brothers didn't approve of Jesus' ministry.
This is clear in Matthew’s, Mark’s an Luke’s gospels. John's gospel agrees
that “even his brothers didn't believe in him.” Jesus' response was that a
prophet is without honor “in his own house.” They object to his ministry, at
times believing him to be “beside himself.” Because of this, none of the 4
brothers could have been numbered among the 12 apostles.
It is clear, however, that James saw the risen Lord. The brothers
thus became members of the Jerusalem church from its earliest beginnings.
James became the recognized leader of the church at Jerusalem, accor-
ding to Paul in Galatians 1. Paul may or may not have considered James
an apostle; even if he did it was not necessarily as one of the 12 Apostles.
The New Testament (NT) thus regards the brothers of the Lord as sons of
Joseph and Mary, unresponsive to his preaching during his earthly ministry,
but active and leading members of the church from the beginning of the apo-
stolic age.
This NT view was challenged by the middle of the 100s A.D. By
the 300s, 3 positions each had a vigorous advocate. The 3 views were:
Helvidius; Epiphanian; Hieronymian (Jerome). According to Jerome's ho-
stile comments, which is our only source about Helvidius, he held that the
brothers of the Lord were Joseph and Mary’s sons, younger than Jesus. In
this view, Helvidius claimed to follow Tertullian and Victorinus.
According to Epiphanius, Jesus' brothers were sons of Joseph, but
not of Mary. Some argue that the fact that his brothers tried to exercise
control over Jesus shows that they are older than Jesus and so not sons of
Mary. Holders of this view believe that Joseph had been previously mar-
ried and had 4 sons by that wife.
They believed that Joseph was 80 years old when he married Mary
& that he never had normal marital relations with Mary. The main support
for this view is found in the apocryphal gospels from the middle of the
100s. It found wide acceptance in the 200s and 300s and in all later times.
It is the view of the Greek Orthodox and other Eastern churches and many
Protestants.
Jerome argues that James the brother of the Lord, was an apo-
stle. The mother of this James & of Joses was Mary of Clopas, Jesus'
aunt. He argued that the word “brother” can, and in this case does carry
the meaning of kinsman. Later writers identify Judas (“not Iscariot”) and
Simon the Zealot as brothers of the Lord, thus placing three of the four
brothers among the 12.
The Helvidian view rests upon the natural meaning of the relevant
NT passages, namely that they show that they are younger brothers and
are sons of Joseph and Mary. Jerome argues that James must have been
one of the 12 because he is called an apostle in Galatians 1. According to
how the word “apostle” is used, he could have been one without being 1 of
the 12. Jerome's idea that the “brothers” were cousins is seemingly contra-
dicted by the fact that these brothers are always found in the company of
Mary the mother of Jesus, in a way that does not suggest that they are
only cousins.
Also, the names James, Joses, Judas, and Simon were four of the
most common Jewish names at that time; the appearance of them among
both the apostles and the brothers does not mean that they overlap. The
real concern of Jerome is rather to ward off the conclusion that Mary ever
had normal marital relations with her husband or bore other children after
the birth of Jesus.
The Epiphanian view has one distinct advantage over Jerome's: it
rests on a tradition from the mid-100s. But it has no support in the NT.
The argument that only older brothers of Jesus would assume authority
over Jesus is subjective and unconvincing; younger brothers could be criti-
cal and demanding if they agreed with others that Jesus was disgracing
his family and hometown by his zealous activity.
The argument of Epiphanius are neither substantial nor convincing,
except when supported by the conscious or unconscious assumption that
it was unbelievable that God would permit Mary, mother of the sinless
Christ, to give birth to other children who would share the sinful state of
humankind, or that Mary was, before or after the birth of Jesus, anything
other than a virgin.
Those who find these feelings justified may follow the Epiphanian
view and accept its early church tradition. Those who settle the question
by NT evidence usually favor the Helvidian view, which seems to be a view
which is justified by the Scriptures themselves. The view of Jerome is not
supported by either the Scriptures or by early Church tradition.
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BUCKET (דלי (del
from a well or cistern. Sticks in the form of a cross kept the mouth of the
bucket open.
BUCKLE (porph (por peh)) A clasp for fastening an outer cloak by pinning it
at the shoulder, sometimes used to reward valor or designate rank. Gold
clasps on purple was reserved for the king’s friends and kinsmen.
BUCKLER (מגן (maw gan)) A small, usually round, shield carried in the hand
or worn on the arm. English translators have not been too exact in making
the distinction between larger shields protecting the whole body and the
smaller bucklers. The word is used literally, especially in describing Solo-
mon's ceremonial buckler, decorated with gold; after they were looted, they
were replaced by bronze. The word is used figuratively in the King James
Version for the protection of God (II Samuel 22, Psalm 18).
BUKKI (בקי, great abundance of the Lord) 1. A chief of the tribe of Dan; one
of those who divided Canaan among the Israelites. 2. An Aaronite
priest, descendant of Eleazar and Phinehas.
BUKKIAH (בקיה, great abundance of the Lord) A Levite, son of Heman; one of
those appointed by David to prophesy with musical instruments in the
temple.
BULL, BULLOCK (אביר (‘ab beer)) Bulls were part of a gift of cattle for Esau.
Figuratively, “bulls” are used for: the aggressive vigor of Joseph; the pride
& strength of Assyria; the leaders of Babylon, etc. By far the most common
use of “bull” in the Bible is as sacrificial animal. The animal must be uncas-
trated & at least eight days old. Most of the Old Testament references to
the bull are in the priestly narratives, and are connected with the inaugura-
tion of the sacrificial system or with sacrifices on various sacred days. The
more important of these occasions are: consecration of priests (Exodus
29); the dedication of the altar of the tabernacle (Numbers 7); the purifica-
tion of the Levites (Numbers 8); the Passover and the Feast of Weeks
(Numbers 28); and the Feast of Booths (Numbers 29).
The use of bulls in Israel's rituals was part of Western Asian religi-
ous tradition. The Canaanite recognition of El, head of the Ugaritic gods,
as “father bull El” enhanced the cultic value of bulls along the Mediterra-
nean coast. It is uncertain whether this belief had any influence on the
golden bulls (“calves”) Jeroboam set up at Bethel and Dan. There were
12 bronze bulls under the bronze sea at the Jerusalem temple.
BULRUSH (גמא (go meh)) A kind of reed which grew abundantly in swampy
places and beside streams. Boats and baskets were made from them.
BULWARK (חיל (khale); מצור (maw tsour)) A barrier or wall constructed for
defense. The literal use of these words include: the bulwarks (ramparts
in RSV) of Zion (Psalm 48); the defenses of Babylon (Jeremiah 50); and
the incorrect use of “bulwarks” in the King James Version to describe the
military works thrown up by the besiegers. Other words are use figuratively
& translated as “bulwarks,” especially in Psalm 8 which describes God's
salvation. In the New Testament, in I Timothy 3, the church is said to be
the “pillar and bulwark of the truth,” although the Greek word would be bet-
ter translated “foundation.”
BUNAH (בנה) Head of a family of the clan of Jerhmeel of the tribe of Judah
BUNDLE OF THE LIVING (צרור החיים (tser ore ha khay oh eem)) A figure
of speech found in I Samuel 25, expressing the state of being preserved
among the living. Just as the owner of precious articles carries them in a
bundle or pouch close to the body, so does the Lord keep in a bundle
close to the Lord's self those persons decreed to live. It is related to the
concept of the “book of the living.”
BUNNI (בוני) 1. A postexilic Levite who attended Ezra's public reading of the
law. 2. A Levite, the father Hashabiah, and perhaps identical with the
first entry. 3. A chief of the people.
BURDEN (משא (mas saw); סבל (saw bal)) In addition to its literal usage,
this term is often used in a figurative sense (e.g. Moses describes the peo-
ple of Israel and their disputes as “burdens” in Numbers 11 and Deutero-
nomy 1, respectively). In Isaiah, “burden” is used for the guilt pronounced
by God upon a nation.
B-57
BURIAL (קבורה (keb oo raw)) The proper interment of the dead was a mat-
ter of great importance to the peoples of the ancient near East. It is not
easy to determine whether the Hebrew word refers to the act or to the
place. In Biblical use, it often indicates a tomb, and is variously rendered as
“burying place.”
The antiquity of burial customs in Palestine is shown in the tradi-
tions concerning the cave of Machpelah, where Sarah, Abraham, Isaac,
Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob were buried. The position of bones found in
Palestine suggests that as early as the Stone, Chalcolithic, and early
Bronze ages care was taken in burying the dead. For various prominent
figures of the Bible, only the name of the city or region is mentioned as a
burial place.
David and Solomon, and the kings that followed from both Israel
(the North) and Judah (the South) are said to have been buried in the
City of David. The precise location of the burial places is not described in
these passages; it is improbable that tombs were in the inhabited sec-
tions of the cities named. Excavations reveal that tombs were often
reused, and the bones from former burials were pushed to one side. Indi-
vidual burials in singles graves were not common.
Among the burial places for which a specific location is given may
be mentioned: under an oak tree at Bethel (Genesis 35); in gardens (II
Kings 21); in a house (I Samuel 25; II Kings 2; II Chronicles 33); and espe-
cially in John 19, describing the burial place of Jesus as “in the garden
there was a new tomb where no one had been laid.” Regarding the burial
in a house, which was done with Samuel, Joab, and Manasseh, this may
indicate the revival of an ancient practice, or may merely be a euphemis-
tic way of referring to a tomb.
Coffins weren't common among the Hebrews. Elaborate wooden
coffins, shaped in the likeness of human figures and ornately decorated
were often used in Egypt. Ceremonies at the time of burial doubtless va-
ried from generation to generation. Joseph's embalming was unusual
among Hebrews but common among the Egyptians whose families could
afford it. Likewise, cremation was not practiced by Jews or early Chris-
tians, as it was on occasion by Greeks and Romans.
Burial usually took place on the day of death, probably for reasons
of sanitation and fear of defilement. Relatives prepared the body for
burial and mourned the death. Lack of burial was considered a great tra-
gedy; to provide burial for another was a virtuous act. Possessions of the
deceased were often buried with the body. Canaanite and Moabite tombs
have been found to contain weapons, jewelry, lamps, scarabs; food and
wooden furniture such as trays.
Hebrew law forbids the offering of food to the dead. The full theo-
logical significance of biblical burial practices is not known, but it seems
clear that they indicate an early belief in survival after death, and the neces-
sity of providing in a material way for such an existence.
BURNING (בער (baw ‘ar); יקד (yaw kad); מוקד (mo kade); שרף (seh ray
faw)) The act of consuming combustible materials by fire is mentioned fre-
quently in the Bible. It is usually used literally in describing an actual
burning (e.g. Bush (Exodus 3); fire on the altar (Leviticus 6); mountain
(Deuteronomy 5); incense (I Kings 9); furnace (Daniel 3); and city (Reve-
lation 18), but sometimes figuratively in referring to anger (of Yahweh;
Joshua 7, Psalm 69) lust (Isaiah 57), pain (Job 30), etc.
BUSH, BURNING (סנה (sen eh), bush) The flaming bush through which Moses
became aware of the presence of Yahweh at Mount Horeb
word for “bush” is only used in this instance. It is assumed from early tra-
dition that it was a thorn bush, and it is possible that the name of the bush
is derived from a root meaning "thorny" or sharp. The species of bush has
not been identified.
The significance of the account is Moses' awareness of the pre-
sence of Yahweh. Modern attempts to rationalize or to find some natural
explanation for such an account overlook two important aspects of early
Semitic life: (a) the Semites used dramatic and picturesque language to
portray spiritual and mental experiences; and (b) miracle and the superna-
tural were accepted facts of life, not subject to rational explanation.
BUSHEL ( modioV (mow dee os)) In Matthew 5 and Mark 4, it refers to a ves-
sel which could cover a light.
king, who originally had charge of the wine for the royal table. In the
Joseph story, the butler and the baker were fellow prisoners with Joseph.
This suggests that both were household servants and that only minor
political influence belonged to them. This butler speaks a good word for
Joseph, who eventually becomes an overseer in the land.
B-58
BUTTER (מחמאת (ma kha maw ‘oth), milky (sweet) words) 1. A figure of
speech for the smoothness of a traitor’s speech. 2. The King James
Version translation of Hebrew word translated as curds in the Revised
Standard Version.
BUZ (בוז, contempt) 1. The second son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham's
brother (Genesis 22) 2. A man from the tribe of Gad. 3. A place
mentioned in Jeremiah 25.
BUZI ( See Buz) The father of Ezekiel.
BUZITE (בוזי) An inhabitant or native of Buz, probably an Arabian tribe or terri-
tory; their location is uncertain.
BUZZARD (ראה (raw ‘ah); דאה (daw ‘ah)) A medium-sized bird of prey.
There is some doubt as to this word's accuracy. Only one ancient manu-
script has ra' ah; several others have da'ah or kite.
town Gebal.
BYWORD (משל (maw shawl), proverb; שנינה (shen ee naw), sharp saying,
gibe) This word appears only in its negative sense in the Bible ( “. . .to
become an object of derision among other people”) almost always in
connection with God's wrath against Israel
Proverbs).
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