B

B

BAAL (בעל, owner or lord) 1. The fourth 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 loca-

        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 & 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-&-River. Baal overcomes him 

        & disperses him so that the waters are a good servant, not a bad master.  

        Baal is acclaimed king of an everlasting kingdom. There are biblical passa-

        ges (Psalms 29 & 93) where Yahweh is depicted with Baal's attributes. 

        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 Canaa- 

        nite influence seems to have been strong, with Israel appropriating, though

        adapting Canaanite thought, forms, and imagery.

                   Baal was one of the Semitic deities whose cult penetrated to Egypt 

        in the Eighteenth & Nineteenth 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 ying 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 & 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 marking

        the northern limits of Joshua's conquest. It was in a valley, with Mount Her-

        mon on the east, & 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.  The site is unknown, 

        and it may well be a place in poetic imagination.

B-1

BAAL-HANAN (בעל־חנן, Baal is gracious) 1. A king in Edom before the Israelite

        monarchy; son of Achbor. He succeeded Shaul and was succeeded by Ha-

        dad.     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.  Absalom invited the 

        sons of David there, and had Amnon killed there.  It may have been the 

        site of an ancient Canaanite-Hebrew sanctuary.

BAAL-HERMON  (חרמון בעל, lord of Hermon) A city of the Hivites on the border

        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 nor-

        thern 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 writing 

        shows it in Israelite possession around 772 B. C.

BAAL-PEOR (בעל פעור) The God of Mount Peor. While Israel was encamped 

        at Shittim, they “yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor,” and indulged 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 Jerusa-

       lem, 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 She-

        chem, 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 whether 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 allotment 

        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, & a 3rd, round temple. The emperors Antoninus Pius (138-

        161 A.D.) & Caracalla (211-217 A.D.), the latter of whom generously com-

        pleted 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.

B-2

BAALETH-BEER (בעלת באר, lady of the well)  A city of Simeon, apparently 

        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 in nature.

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.

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.

BABEL (בבל, confusion)  The Hebrew form of the name Babylon.  In Gene-

        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 two rebuilding periods.

B-3

BABYLON (Old Testament; בבל) An ancient capital city of Mesopotamia.  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 kingdom's 

   southern part was lost to the Sea Land kings. The end of the dynasty 

   came shortly after 1600 B.C., with a Hittite raid on Babylon.

              It was captured and partially destroyed by the Assyrian ruler Tukulti 

   Ninurta (1235-1198 B.C.), but it recovered.  When the Assyrians' Tiglath-

   pileser III (746-727) and Sargon II (722-705) subdued southern Mesopota-

   mia, Babylon became a center of resistance, so much so that Sennacherib 

   (705-681) felt forced to destroy the city; his son Esarhaddon 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 capital of the Neo-

   Babylonian Empire. Under Nabopolassar & Nebuchadrezzar II (605-562), 

   a vast program of public building and fortification was carried out. 

              When this empire fell to the Persians, Babylon open its gates to Cy-

   rus in 539 B.C. without opposition.  When the Persian Empire fell to Alexan

   der 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.”  Two 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 & 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 & 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 & 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.

B-4

              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 & south walls & 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 & 

   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 & 

   the harsh treatment of the Jews by Babylonian rulers.  Neither would en-

   dear the city to biblical writers.    

BABYLON (New Testament)  (Babulwn)   1.  The eastern city & kingdom into

        which the people of Israel and Judah had been taken captive.  Memory of  

        this captivity kept 2 themes alive for early Christians.  First, the captivity 

        was God's punishment for the people's sins of idolatry & disobedience; & 

        second, 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.

                    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 & 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 kingdom 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 reduced to one 

   earthly place. 

BABYLONIA  See Assyria and Babylonia. 

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.

B-5

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.

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 certain 

        worshipers required that kitchen facilities be provided for in the precincts 

        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 & 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.

B-6 

                    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. Three other attempts from different vantage points produced re-

   sults similar to the first. The four Balaam poems have resulted from the 

   inclusion of materials originally preserved in separate versions. Movement

   of Balaam 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 & 2 servants of the Jahwist version. In this version Balaam'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 & 

        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.

              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 in-

   frequently in the Old Testament and not at all in the New Testament.

              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 & the hair's ceremonial 

   burning at the termination of the Nazirite vow was practiced.  The priests 

   forbid it & 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, &

   the priest allude to it only in order to point out impending doom & enslave-

   ment, 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 &  

        throw you like a ball into a wide land (i.e exile in Assyria).”   (Isaiah 22). 

B-7

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 (Baltasar) In late tradition an Arabian king & 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 & 

        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.

                   First, 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.

                   Second, it has to do with the expelling of impenitent Christian sin-

        ners from the church. Deliberate offenders were banned from the church 

        by virtue of the apostles' power of binding & 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. Anything

        with which a person is bound, as a shackle. Metaphorically, it is the oppres-

        sion of an enemy, which acts as a restraint.      2. Anything which encom-

        passes another thing or person; flat strip or border.     3. Group of persons 

        brought together by common purpose or character apart from tribal 

        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.

B-8

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 & involved confiscation & loss of citizenship, to the 

        milder relegatio where a person was excluded from residence in a certain 

        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, & traders.  There were no professional 

        bankers before the Greek culture came to the Middle East.  The exchange 

        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, & they would be set on a hill and accompanied 

        with the sounding of a trumpet. 

                   Standards for army troops were common among the Egyptians, 

        Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, Persians, & 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, & boar were all early standards. Under the empe-

        rors, standards became cultic symbols bearing the image of the emperor, 

        and were therefore detested by the Jews.

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, & 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.”    

B-9

  

                   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 & 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 & Isaiah 42 & 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 Pale-

        stine, so the later “baptism” on Calvary launched a wider ministry, unfet-

        tered 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 & 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, & 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 & 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.  

                   John clearly links sonship with baptism, but he holds the Spirit’s 

        activity to be of equal importance. The sacramental character of Johannine

        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 & 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 & 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. 

B-10

          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,

   because they may be later additions to the texts. Even if the passage in
   Matthew 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 belie-

   ving that rite rested 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 

   & in the Christian rite, a baptism with water is linked with the Holy Spirit's

   descent, with divine sonship, & with repentance.  Some Christians found 

   it hard to understand how Jesus could submit to a “baptism of repentance 

   for the forgiveness of sins.”  This is resolved as we see Jesus corporately 

   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 & 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 

        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.) & 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.

BAR-JESUS (BarihsouV (bar yay sous)  A Jewish magician and false pro-

        phet at Paphos on Cyprus who became blind when Paul denounced him.

BAR-JONA (BariwnaV (bar yoh nas) The family name of Simon Peter and 

        one of the patriarchs of his family.

B-11

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 & Barabbas. Urged on by Jewish leaders, the populace clamored 

        for Barabbas to be freed & 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 Canaanite 

        oppression by raising some 10,000 men from Naphtali & Zebulun, & 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 bar-

        barian 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,” & neither mean anything more than that the other 

        spoke differently, that they were a “foreigner,” without any sense of aver-

        sion or hostility.  One may generalize and say that all dominant peoples 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 & un-

        trained, crude, brutal, & unpolished. Orientals possessed intelligence with-

        out courage & 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 Josephus’; what is different is his statement that in Christ “there can't be 

        Greek and Jew, circumcised & 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.

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. Ani-

        mals 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 exchange; 

        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.

B-12

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 symbol 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 and Northeastern 

         Asia Minor. Originally named Joseph, he probably acquired the name Bar-

        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 to the church 

        the proceeds from a land sale.  He was also a Levite, a Cyprus native and 

        someone who embraced Greek culture. Barnabas was part of the group of 

        Jews who embraced Greek culture & then moved back to Jerusalem.  Ac-

        cording to Acts, there was a large company of such Jews in the city at Pen-

        tecost.  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 & brought back Saul to help at Antioch.  He 

        was a “working” apostle, choosing to work for a living, as did Paul.  Barna-

        bas seemed to start out as the head of a missionary journey, but in Cyprus 

        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.

                   The separation of Barnabas from Paul began in Antioch after the 

        Jerusalem conference.  Barnabas & 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 

        embraced 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 & 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 & 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 twelve 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-13

BARTIMAEUS  (BartimaioV, possibly son of Timai, or son of the unclean.)  

        A blind beggar of Jericho healed by Jesus, the account of which is in the 

        Gospels of Matthew, Mark, & Luke.  Mark's details seem to come from an 

        eyewitness. Bartimaeus', faith & thankfulness, & Jesus' sympathetic re-

        sponse 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 Jeho-

        iakim in angry contempt.  Baruch was then commanded by Jeremiah to re-

        cord the oracle again. Parts of the Book of Jeremiah contain this oracle 

        (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. Jeremi-

        ah 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 & the Apocalypse of Baruch, (See the entries 

        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 & equipment for David during Absalom's rebel-

        lion.  When it was over he provided an honor guard to escort the monarch 

        beyond the Jordan ford.  He declined David’s invitation to become a royal 

        court member; instead he proposed that his son Chimham be accepted 

        instead. Later, David commended to Solomon the sons of Barzillai as mem-

        bers 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 descendents 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.

BASHAN  (בשן, fruitful, stoneless plain)  The northernmost of the parts into 

        which the region east of the Jordan was divided.  Bashan was bounded by 

        Mount Hermon on the north, Jebel Druze on the east, & 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 & cattle-raising, and was famous for its 

        oak trees.  These natural features appear often in the poetry of the Bible. 

        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 

        basins used in the sacrificial system (Actually, bowls of all sizes & varie-

        ties 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 collected 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.) kofinoV (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.

                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.

B-14

BASTARD (ממזר (mam zare), mongrel people)  Bastards were not permitted to 

        enter Lord's assembly.  Ammon and Moab were hated as bastard peoples 

        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.

BATH  (בת; batoV)  A liquid measure equal to the dry measure ephah.  From 

        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 & 

        mother of his sons Er, Onan, & Shelah.      2.  Alternate form of Bathsheba. 

BATHING (רחץ (raw khats); apolouw (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 He-

        brew 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 & 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 eating 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 Hit-

        tite, then of David.  Bathsheba later became the mother of Solomon.  She 

        and Nathan persuaded David to proclaim Solomon king.

BATTALION  (speira (spay rah)) The word used to translate the Latin cohors,

        a tenth part of a legion or 600.  A group of soldiers this size from the 2nd

        Italian Cohort was gathered together before Jesus, after Pilate handed 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 & 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.

B-15

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.

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 mea-

        ning 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 buil-

        ding)  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 symbo-

        lized Jerusalem's siege. The dried bean was winnowed like wheat; the 

        green 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 & 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 & 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, & provision for restitution of injury to them if found in 

                    Leviticus.

                   4.  The beasts of John's Revelation— The first 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, leo-

        pard, and a fourth 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 second 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 and the imperial cult were the 2 beasts. Together with the  

        Dragon, these 2 beasts form a sort of unholy trinity.

B-16

BEATEN GOLD  (שחוט זהב (zaw hawb  sa khut))  Thin sheets of gold, pro-

        duced by hammering and used for overlaying objects of baser meals.  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.

BEATEN SILVER  (סף מרקעﬤ (kes af  mer kaw))  Thin plates or leaves of ham-

        mered 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” & 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, aw sha ree), after which they referred to a type of individual worthy 

        of praise.  They appear almost exclusively in the writings of the psalmists 

        and the sages, and concerned themselves with the earthly rewards a righ-

        teous man has to look forward to.  Even the chastened individual might be 

        called blessed, for suffering was a means of learning God's law.  In actual 

        fact, however, the beatitudes' purpose was not to emphasize these good 

        fortunes as having value in themselves, but to act as signs of God's near-

        ness to the righteous.

                   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 & Luke, 7 times in the book of Revelation, 3 times in Romans, &

        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 recognition of 

        this looking forward to Judgment Day rather than looking at the immediate 

        rewards.  It is the coming of God's kingdom and not social and moral im-

        provement 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 & suffering 

        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. & thus makes the beatitudes an appropriate in-

        troduction 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.  Most 

        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 Tamar, 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, & Jonathon.

B-17 

                     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 & prophets.  Then too, Jesus'  

        descriptive capacity in the parables reveals a beauty of diction never sur-

        passed.  And the passages dealing with Judgment Day abound in refe-

        rences to what is beautiful.  The final word must be accorded to the beau-

        tiful thing the woman did when she anointed Jesus in preparation for his

        burial.

BECHER  (בכר, young camel)    1.  The 2nd son of Benjamin.  The genealogi-

        cal 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, & is found in Song of Solo- 

        mon 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.  The name was changed to Eliada after they stop using the

        term “Baal.”

B-18

BEELZEBUL (Beelzeboul)  A designation applied by Jesus and his oppo-

        nents to the chief of the devil.  The source of this name & 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 & nobles of the 

        people dug a well, somewhere north of the Arnon River.     2.  A place to 

        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.

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 reassu-

        ring 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 outstan-

        ding 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), & “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 & 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 & 

        later assimilated into Yahweh; his name came to mean the Everlasting 

        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 eleventh 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 one 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 cap-

        tains of Ishbosheth who killed him in the 17th year of his reign. They hoped 

        to curry favor with David; he had them executed.

B-19

BEEROTH BENE-JAAKANבארת בני יעקן) , wells of the sons of Jaakan)  A 

        place where Israel camped, near the border of Edom, & near to where 

         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 & 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's state-god, 

        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.”

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, dissolute 

        or uncouth persons.)  There was a clear tradition that the word was a pro-

        per 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 de-

        feated 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.

BELL  (1. פעמון (pa ah moan), clapper, striker; 2. מצלה (mets il law) “tinkler”)

        1.  An object attached to the High priest’s vestment & 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 decora-

        tive ornament for horses.

BELLOWS (מפח, (map poo akh) Mechanical device used to blow air on fires,
      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 

        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   

        attached to iron or reed pipes.

BELOVED (דוד (dode); ידיד (yeh deed); אהב (‘aw hab); agaphtoV (ag ap     

        ay  tos))

                   In the Old Testament, dode is used frequently in the Song of Solo-

        mon; yedeed is applied to Benjamin; aw hab is used several places. In the 

        New Testament, agapaytos is used in reference to Jesus, the Son & Ser- 

        vant of the Father, in reference to the church, successor to Israel and the 

        body of Christ; & 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 first way of identifying this disciple argues that so favored a 

        disciple must have been one of the 12, & a prominent one.  He cannot 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 & the beloved disciple do in John.  This implies 

        that John is the beloved disciple.

B-20

                   The 2^nd method uses the internal evidence of the gospel to see whe-

        ther it indicates the identity of the beloved disciple.  Three 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.

BEN-ABINADAB (ﬢבבן-אבינ, father is noble) A man in charge of the provisio-

        ning of the coastal district of Naphathdor (between Philistia and Phoenicia) 

        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  (בן־גבר, 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 Baasha 

        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 & invade Baasha's Israel. Ben-hadad protected the cara-

        van 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 & Ben-hadad was cap-    

        tured.  In 853 B.C., Shalmaneser III faced a Syrian coalition led by Ben-

        hadad I at Qarqar; it ended in a draw as did two later Assyrian assaults. 

        Kings Ahab & Jehoshaphat of Judah, tried to take Ramoth-gilead from 

        Ben-hadad but failed & 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 annointed by Elisha as king of Damascus, mur-

        dered Ben-hadad and took the throne. Some scholars split all the above 

        events between two separate reigns by two 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, & then additional territory.  When the Aramean state of 

        Hamath began to expand, Ben-hadad II organized a Syrian coalition to 

        curb his Zakir of Hamath; Zakir withstood his enemies. Ben-hadad died 

        most likely in 773 B.C. 

B-21

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. 

                   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, identified 

        with one of the northwestern suburbs of Tel Aviv. 

BENE-JAAKAN (בני יעקן) A place where Israel camped near the border of 

        Edom.

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 & Manas-

        seh. It is scarcely conceivable that this small fragment could have attained

        rights equal to the greater tribes among the twelve.  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.

B-22

        

                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 & 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 & reputation as slingers & 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. 

                  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) & 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 gates, Benjamin 

        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.  A great-grandson of Jacob, through Benjamin, Jediael, & 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 & 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 genealo-

        gies 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.

 B-23

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 fourth son of Asher & ancestral 

        head of the family of the Beriites.     2. The fourth son of Elpaal, who put 

        to flight the inhabitants of Gath.     3. The fourth son of Shimei the Gersho-

        mite, of the tribe of Levi.      4. Son of Ephraim; the name here is uncertain.

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 & herself. She married King Polemo to dis-

        pel 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 

        populace set fire to the palaces of Bernice and Agrippa.  She and Agrippa

        took an oath of allegiance to the Roman Vespasian, and then Bernice be-

        came 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 & 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 Testaments, 

        the reference is to olives. 

BERYL (a.) תרשיש (tar sheesh); b.) שהם (sho ham); c.) BhrulloV,  ber il

        los) silicate of beryllium & aluminum.  The crystals are hexagonal prisms, 

        usually green or bluish-green, & sometimes yellow, pink,or white.

                   a.) Perhaps a yellowish stone in the breast-piece of judgment (Exo-

        dus 28 & 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. 

B-24

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's northern border & Benjamin's southern boundary, perhaps located

        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. 

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.     2.  A term which condemns Bethel as a place of 

        idolatry. 

BETH-BAAL-MEON  (מעון בעל בית, house of the lord of habitation)  A town in 

        Moab assigned to the tribe of Reuben, known better as Baal-meon.

BETH-BARAH  (ברה בית, house of the fugitive)  A town in or near the Jordan 

        Valley, perhaps west of the Jordan and northeast of Shechem.  It was 

        seized by Ephraimites under Gideon in the attack on the Midianites. 

BETH-BIRI  (בﬧאי בית, house of my making)  A city of Simeon in the south of 

        Judah. 

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 Shephe-

        lah district of Lachish in Judah.     2.  A border point in Asher.  It's probably

        located near Mount Carmel. 

BETH-DIBLATHAIM (דבלתים בית, house of two fig cakes)  A city of Moab men-

        tioned 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 Eu-

        phrates and the Balikh River. 

BETH-EGLAIM  (עגלים בית, house (place) of the two calves)  A city 6.4 south-

        west of Gaza which covered a huge area and went through periods of oc-

        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, &

        built 3 major palaces between the mid-1500s and the beginning of the 

        1200s. By the time of the Conquest by the tribes & the Monarchy of Israel, 

        this city had greatly declined in importance; nearby Gaza gained in impor-

        tance.  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 to

        Samaria, perhaps 4.8 km north of Jenin.  Jehu slew the kinsmen of King 

        Ahaziah of Judah there. 

B-25

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 & 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. 

                   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 & religious center. Debo-

        rah's judgeship, with its center “between Ramah & 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, & 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, &

        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 & Solo-

        mon, 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 & 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, & 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, & the 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. 

B-26 

BETH-EMEK (העמק בית, house of the valley) A border town in Asher, perhaps 

        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 table-

        land, 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 location is

        unknown, though it is identified with 2 different Gilgals, one near Jericho,  

        and one mentioned in Joshua 15. 

BETH-HACCHEREM (הכרם בית, house of the vineyard) A village of Judah, 

        about 3.5 km south of Jerusalem, mentioned in Jeremiah 6 as a fire signal 

        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, located 

        south of Beth-nimrah in the plains of Moab.  It was strengthened by the 

        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.  It was mentioned in Numbers 32. 

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 Gibe-

        beon and 530 m above sea level) and Lower Beth-horon (3.2 km further  

        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 

        five 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

        Moab, about 20 km south-east of Jericho.  It was the southern limit of Isra-

        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 pro-

        phet Micah may be alluding to Ophrah or Bethel.

BETH-LEBAOTH (לבאות בית, place of lions)  A city of Simeon in the southern

        part of Judah.  It is the same as the Beth-beri in I Chronicles.  The exact 

        site is unknown, but it is near Sharuhen.

B-27

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 tableland, 

        more commonly called Baal-Meon and mentioned in Jeremiah 48. 

BETH-MILLO (מלוא בית, house of fullness)  A quarter in the city of Shechem.

BETH-NIMRAH (נמרה בית, place of the leopard)  A city in the Plains of Moab 

        along the Jordan Valley, fortified by the Gadites.  Its location is most likely 

        at Tell Bleibel on the north side of the Wadi Sha'ib.  It is mentioned in 

        Joshua 13 & 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 near Beer-

        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, allotted to 

        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.

BETH-RAPHA (רפא בית, house of a giant)  Either a clan or a place name in

        Judah is suggested; it is mentioned in I Chronicles 4.12, neither can be 

        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 northeast 

        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  & was buried there. Bethsaida-Julias has 

        been identified with 2 sites. The remains of el-'Araj on the lakeshore mark

        the fisher's settlement of Beth-saida.  3.2 km away & 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 

        & fishes. The blind man in Mark 8 is in Beth-saida.  Beth-saida is called the 

        city of origin for the apostles Philip, Andrew, & his brother Peter.  Despite 

        that, Jesus' ministry seems to have failed there, & 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 & the Jordan River.  It lies well in the trough of the Jordan Valley, 

        more than 160 meters below sea level, on the south bank of the perennial 

        Jalud River.  Beside it passed the easiest route by which the traveler from

        Egypt turning inland might join the Jordan valley or desert routes from Da-

        mascus & 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 be-

        fore 3000 B.C.; little is known of this society, except that it was never defen-

        ded with a wall. The population must have accepted without resistance the 

        waves of nomadic intruders from the east, and practiced agriculture, wea-

        ving, basketry, and pottery without much ambition. 

B-28

 

                   "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 & 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, &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 two ancient shrines dedicated to a god & 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 & someone resembling Ashtaroth are also in human 

        form. 

                   The Israelite tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out Beth-shan's & its

        villages' inhabitants, for the Canaanites had chariots of iron.  It isn't rela-

        ted how soon the Israelites were able to avenge the death of Saul & 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.

 

BETH-SHEMESH (שמש בית, house (shrine) of the sun (god))    1.  A city on 

        the northern border of Judah between Chesalon and Timnah, 24 km north 

        of Tell ed-Duweir (Lachish), & about 38 km west of Jerusalem. It was first 

        settled in the 2300s or 2200s B.C., & 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 & 

        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, also known as Heliopo-

        lis, about 8 km northeast of Cairo.

B-29

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 in the hill 

        country district of Hebron, a little over 7 km west of Hebron; it is men- 

        tioned in Joshua 15.

BETH-TOGARMAH (תוגרמה בית, house of Togarmah) Same as Togarmah, 

        mentioned in Ezekiel 27 & 38.

BETH-ZATHA (Beqzaqa, house of olives)  A pool in Jerusalem which had 

        5 porticoes mentioned in John 5. Tradition held that its waters were cura- 

        tive, & 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 five 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 four 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, originally occupied by the

        Calebites, a little over 7 km north of Hebron, just off the north-south road 

        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 & 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.). 

BETHABARA  (Beqabara, ford, crossing)  A place of uncertain location be- 

        yond the Jordan where John was baptizing in John 1.

BETHANY (Beqania, house of the poor/afflicted, or of Ananiah)  1.  A small 

        village about 2.6 km east of Jerusalem & lying on Mount of Olives' eastern 

        slope.  Jesus & his disciples lodged in suburban Bethany when attending 

        temple ceremonies at Passover.  One approach to Jerusalem from the 

        east was through Bethany & 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 disci-

        ples as well as Bethphage, which is nearby.  Muslims and Christians 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 Je-

        sus' 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.

B-30

BETHEL (DEITY) A west Semitic deity, originally a deification of the temple of 

        El. The name's 1st appearance to our knowledge was in the 600s B.C. 

        treaty between Esarhaddon of Assyria & Ba'al of Tyre. Some scholars be- 

        lieve it is of Phoenician origin from 1000-2000 B.C., & some scholars be- 

        lieve 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-

        hem district about 10 km south-west of Jerusalem.  Examination of the site 

        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 Bhqesda, found in John 

        5.  It is probable that Bhqzaqa (Beth-zatha) is the more accurate and 

        original form.

BETHLEHEM  (להם בית, house or place of: bread; food; fighting; (the god) 

        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 & many Bethlehemites returned 

        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 & 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; Bethfagh) A village near Jerusa-

        lem and Bethany, & probably east of the latter, but the exact location is un-

        certain. The name refers to a variety of late-season figs which never ap-

        pear ripe. Beth-phage is only mentioned in the story of the triumphal entry; 

        it is where Jesus sent two 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 & Milcah; Ab-

        raham's nephew and father of Laban & Rebekah.  He was the “Armean 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.

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 (the other name is Hephzibah).  It is used in Isaiah to 

        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.

B-31

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 (הירדן עבר (ay ber  ha yor dan))  An expression indi-

        cating the territory either east or west of the Jordan, depending on the 

        writer's viewpoint.  Of the approximately 30 times it occurs, only five refer 

        definitely 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.  The Persians used the term to refer to the western 

        side, which included Palestine-Syria.

BEZAI  (בצי, See Bezalel)  The head of a family that returned to Palestine after 

        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) & 14 of the Apocrypha.

        It has become the general custom to publish Bibles of 66 books which ex- 

        cluded the Apocrypha. The Latin Bible contains 72 books: 45 of the OT, in- 

        cluding 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 & 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-32

BIBLICAL CRITICISM (HISTORY OF)

                   List of Topics—Introduction;     Pioneers of Modern 

        Criticism;     The 1700s;     Later Developments, Principles, 

        and Processes.

                    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 Scrip-

        tures.  In the 1100s, Hugo of St. Victor's had the insight that the Wisdom of 

        Solomon 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 translation.  He concluded that Hebrews was not by Paul or any 

        other disciple.  James was not apostolic, because it contradicts Paul and 

        neglects the passion, resurrection & spirit of Christ. For Luther, Jude was 

        a copy of II Peter.  And Revelation was too confused, commends itself too 

        much, & 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 

        Hebrews 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 

        Joshua 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.

                   Pioneers of Modern Criticism—In 1538, Elias discovered that the 

        small marks made under the Hebrew letters to indicate vowels were added 

        sometime after the 500s A. D.  Starting in the mid-1500s, humanists were 

        boldly investigating various ancient documents' composition & authorship,

        making inevitable the application of similar criticism to the Bible.  From the 

        late 1500s to the mid-1700s, four non-theologians anticipated its develop-

        ment & 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 criticism 

        and also why the church regarded these nonprofessional critics as imperti-

        nent, 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:

                    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,  . . . & 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.

B-33

                   For Hobbes, the five books of Moses were written after the time of 

        Moses. Indeed all the books from Joshua and Judges to Kings & 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 & the upright.  Proverbs were by Solomon among others. The body of 

        Ecclesiastes & 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, & Habbakkuk record prophecies really made by these prophets, it is 

        unknowable whether the recorders & 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, & concludes that the authority of 

        the canon, as law, rests upon the sovereign. 

                   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 reli-

        gion or the welfare of the state, but can't be taken away without also taking 

        way the welfare of the state and religion itself.”  The light of nature & 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, & 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 & after long hesitation, a work which began 

        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, & that later copyists com-

        bined them.  His work found a very interested audience in Germany.

                   The 1700s—It was not until the 1700s that biblical criticism first 

        made its appearance within theological study.  The first professional theo-

        logian we will look at is Richard Simon (1638-1712). He was the forerunner

        of the modern “Introductions” to the books of the Bible & one of the first to 

        use biblical criticism in the introduction.  As important as the Bible is to Pro-

        testants as their highest authority, one would expect him to be a Protestant.

        Simon was a Roman scholar and a priest of the Oratory, & since his high-

        est authority was tradition, he was freer in his criticism of Scripture.

                   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 & a final revision that took place much later.  

        His recognition of this long process is still an important part of modern 

        biblical criticism. Simon's observations were the same as the non-theologi-

        cal pioneers, but were new to theology.  His work was passed by the 

        Church censor, but enemies in the Church caused the edition to be confis-

        cated and destroyed. 

                   Simon was forgotten until, nearly a century later, a Protestant theo-

        logian at Halle revived his work by a translation into German.  J. G. Eich-

        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. 

B-34

 

                   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 published ten 

        years after the author's death, with the rest published over a 20 year peri-

        od. This work was one which came out strongly against supernaturalism, 

        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 passion predic-

        tions, and assuming they were historical?     Were there creative addi-

        tions in the oral tradition? These were some of the questions raised by 

        this work. 

                   J. S. Semler (1725-91) was a theological professor at Halle; he 

        wrote a particularly devastating criticism of Reimarus' work.  But Semler's 

        book on the canon & hermaneutics were a link in the development of NT 

        criticism.  He never wrote an Introduction to the NT, but he had an increa- 

        sing influence on biblical criticism from 1777 on. From then on, German 

        Introductions 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 primi-

        tive 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, & 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.

                   Later Developments, Principles, and Processes—In the OT stu-

        dies of the 1800s, no real break-through had come in the analysis of the 

        first six books of the OT.  The 3 prevailing theories were: the documentary 

        Eichhorn (which was an expansion of Astruc's hypothesis); the fragment 

        theory of A. Geddes; & Heinrich Ewald's supplementary theory. With these 

        theories in mind, scholars and especially Julius Wellhausen moved the wri-

        ting of the OT as we have today further and further from the actual events 

        being written about.  Some of the writing took place after Israel returned 

        from the Exile. 

                   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, & 

        archaeological discoveries provided a flood of antique documents, which 

        made possible a more scientific understanding of the history & 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 & used the cultural situation to help under-

        stand the literary forms and vice versa. 

B-35

                    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 & record authentic traditions. Gunkel's form criticism on the 

        Psalms has indicated their great liturgical importance, & 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 acknowledge 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 & interpreter. 

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY  (For the principles and processes of biblical criti-

        cism, See Introduction at beginning of Dictionary)

                    List of Topics—Introduction;     3 Approaches to New  

        Testament Theology;     Descriptive Theology;      Herme-

        neutic Question 

                    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 theology” 

        of 1900, the Old Testament (OT) is a witness to the evolution of a gradu-

        ally 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 his-

        torically.  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 bibli-

        cal 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.

                  The results of 20th century studies in biblical theology have brought 

        a clear distinction between biblical times and modern times.  The distance 

        & strangeness of biblical thought was seen as a creative asset rather than 

        as a destructive, burdensome liability.  The theologically minded student 

        found a new & deeper relevance in the pre-Westernized meaning of say-

        ings 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 & 

        significance of such an event to its contemporaries. A balance was struck

        between those looking at the Bible from a strictly historical perspective, 

        with no regard for relevance in the modern world, and those who sought 

        an eternal truth unconditioned & 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 & thought, or as means for a 

        nostalgic visit to the first era of Christian history? If they have a meaning in 

        the present tense & sense, on what ground do they have this meaning?

                 3 Approaches to New Testament Theology—3 theologians repre-

        sent 3 approaches to NT theology. 1st, Barth argues for a concentration

        on the subject matter, which bridges the gap between the centuries, be-

        cause the subject matter (God, Jesus, grace, etc.) is the same now as it 

        was then. He agrees with Calvin: one must rethink & wrestle with the mate-

        rial 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 & enthusiasm for keeping alive the tension 

        between what the text meant & 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. 

B-36

                   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. 

                   Descriptive Theology—There are those who express serious 

        doubts about the possibility of the descriptive task. Every historian is sub-

        jective in the selection of material, & 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 advantage of automatic empathy with the belie-

        vers in the text, but must guard against modernizing the material. The ag-

        ostic 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.  First, 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.

                   Secondly, 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 & found the significance of the OT in the evolution of ethical 

        monotheism. 

                  The source of both of these reasons is the question of meaning be-

        ing pursued beyond the material & 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 was 

        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 & Davidic roots, became part of the thrust forward 

        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 consciousness.  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 tradi-

        tion of a people, it yields a theology 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.

B-37

                   The significance of the OT for the NT is thus shown to be inescapa-

        ble, 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 inter-

        pretation 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 descrip-

        tive 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 lives through its history as a 

        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 & 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.

                   Hermeneutic Question—The ideal of empathetic understanding

        of the 1st century without borrowing categories from later times has never

        been an ideal before. There has never been an objective attempt to de-

       scribe OT or NT faith and practice strictly from within its original presup-

        positions. The focal point for preservation of the historical in the biblical 

        material was found quite naturally in the insistence on the incarnation in 

        Jesus Christ. But incarnation was developed 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.

                   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 & 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, 

        & there is only plain history left.  In a semi-historical translation, sacred 

        history is only remembered in the church, not continued. 

                   An alternative to this is a systematic theology where the bridge be-

        tween 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 & theology under the 

        Holy Spirit's guidance is part of an ongoing sacred  history.  The chasm be

        tween the centuries is theologically & historically bridged by history itself.

B-38

 

                   For such an approach, the literature written between the two Tes-

        taments 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 external 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),” & not simply a 4^th 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 writ-

        ten traditions to the NT books was of a more historical nature, in order to 

        protect the original from increasingly undependable elaborations and dis-

        tortions.  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.

                   What significance 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 adoption, 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.

                   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.  

B-39

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 & 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 of the distanced

        us from the historical Jesus in the eyes of liberal theology, the need for 

        “translation” 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 individual 

        authors, the original form, and the setting of scripture; and historical criti-

        cism, which looks into the factors out of which biblical events and views 

        developed.

                   Biblical Theologians: G. E. Lessing developed a historical & 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 & submitted to God.  

        But its service lacked motive until the idea of resurrection, and the expecta-

        tion 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 & universal truths. 

                   Likewise, in the New Testament (NT) he found 2 similar levels: 

        Jesus’ teachings, & 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 & humans, 

        and sin and how to eliminate it as themes of “saving history.”

                   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 anti-

        thesis was the Jewish adherence to the law, & the synthesis was the com-

        promise that was issued in the Old Catholic church. In pietistic biblical 

        scholarship, one turned to the Bible to substantiate the orthodox theologi-

        cal position, & 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 & complete system of truth, which required 

        unified interpretation.  J. C. K. von Hofmann held that the Bible documen-

        ted the process of “saving history,” which aims at the redemption of hu-

        mankind. 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. 

B-40

                  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 & finds its fulfillment in him. Robinson sees the difficulties 

        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, theo-

        logical 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 theolo-

        gy 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 

        & actions of biblical persons from that source has made clearer the unique-

        ness of their witness as well as its historical conditions. OT scholarship's 

        task today is to describe  Israel's covenant & the prophets' message 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 & what it means to them personally.

                   If anyone wants to make it intelligible & 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 & activity from a biblical standpoint.  The 

        ideal biblical theology in the Christian church must treat the witness and

        views of both OT & 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.

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 

        Abner, 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)  One of two 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 three friends of Job.  As a 

        "Shuhite," his Aramean tribe would have roamed the area southeast of 

        Palestine.  

B-41

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 renewal

         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 two tribes of northern 

        Palestine.      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” 

        & 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.

BIRD (a.) כל בעל כנף (kal  ba 'al  ka nawf), all owner(s) of wings; b.) עוף (ofe),

        flier; c.) צפור (tsip poe wer), chirper d.) orneon (or nee on); peteinon

        (pe tay in on), flier)  A class of warm-blooded vertebrates, distinguished

        from other animals by their bodies being more or less completely covered

        with feathers. In the 1800s, there were at least 322 species of birds, and 

        perhaps 30 more.  Of this number, 260 appeared in European bird lists. 

        What was most notable was the “number and variety 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, orneeon 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.

B-42

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 rebelling 

        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 & 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 & facilitating the birth process.  One who is of an un-

        timely birth may lay down & sleep, avoiding the agony of life.  A birth was 

        the occasion for rejoicing & 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 & name. Through him 

        the family line was continued.  Jacob's appropriation of Esau's birthright 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 wri-

        ting 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.

                   The letters of Ignatius, martyr-bishop of Antioch provide the earliest 

        and most complete picture of a bishop's position & 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 assistants in 

        worship & visitations. He was spokesman & chief correspondent with other 

        churches, & was responsible for all preaching & teaching, 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.”

B-43

                  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 

        meeting 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 & 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, & 

        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, & the bit is the metal mouthpiece by which the 

        bridle works to control or restrain the horse.  Early metal bits were a bar 

        with a loop at end for the reins.  A jointed bit is also known around 1000 

        B. C.  The words translated “bit” and “bridle” sometimes refer metaphori-

        cally 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. 

BITTER, BITTERNESS  (מרר (meh rar) the root word from which all ten 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 & 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.

B-44

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 Euphra-

        tes; 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 chamberlain 

        and whom he sent for Queen Vashti.

BLACK  (שחר, (sha khore); קדר, (ka dar); gelaV, (ge las)) A word describing 

        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 & Sidon's people wanted to re-

        gain Herod's favor, and they persuaded Blastus to help them do so.

BLEACH  (leukainw, (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.) makarioV, (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.)  The Hebrew word asher is used only of humans, never of God. 

        & when “blessed” is used of people, the meaning is very different: humans 

        are “fortunate,  happy,” because they are assured of the blessing of God. 

        It is the pious & 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.

B-45

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: first, those whose magical power rests with the 

        person blessing or cursing; & second, 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 understanding of blessings and cursings.                       All Hebrew words begin with a root-word which is a verb.  The 

        verbs barak & asher in its active form designate a person acting to pro-

        nounce a blessing upon the community or an individual. In its passive     

        form it has a somewhat ambiguous meaning in certain passages. Most 

        often, it designates the action of praise and gratitude for blessing re-

        ceived 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 

        historical 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 Yah-

        weh'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. The benedictions found in the introductory and 

        concluding portions of the Pauline letters as well as material from the

        book of Revelation contain the major additional material bearing on 

        blessings and cursing in the NT. Curses appear only seldom. The curse      

        of sin & death is seen to have been abrogated, once for all, in the death 

        & 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. 

B-46

                  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 & 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, & the man who was blind from birth, whose healing led Jesus to de-       clare 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 execution of criminals are explicitly exempted. Where there's in-

        nocent blood, there is always bloodguilt for:  intentional killing; uninten-

        tional 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 sacrificial 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.  & God may exact retribution from the descendants of 

        the bloodguilty 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, & “purple” in Ezekiel 23. 

        Tyre long enjoyed a monopoly in the “blue” & “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” & “jacinth” do. 

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 & 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.

B-47

BOAZ  (בעז, cheerful promptness)  A wealthy and virtuous Bethlehemite who, 

        as a relation to the family of Elimelech, redeemed that family's inheri-

        tance 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, & 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 de-

        ceased 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, & 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 & 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 almost 

        the same form is preserved also in the Synoptic gospels. In both accounts, 

        there is a possible ambiguity.  Soma may designate a body with all its ele-

        ments, including blood. Yet tradition refers to drinking the blood separately. 

        And when Jesus died, the blood flowed out of his body.  In the gospel 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 making fre-

        quent 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.”

                    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) 

B-48

BODYGUARD  (משמעת (mish mah ‘ath); טבחים (tab bak eem), guard, cook)  A 

        person armed to protect another person, usually a sovereign, and respon-

        sible directly to him.  David was captain of Saul's bodyguard, as well as 

        personal bodyguard to Achish, king of Gath.  Benaiah ben Jehoiada 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 boun- 

        dary 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, smallpox 

        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.) & (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 & figuratively to 

        mean “obligation,” “dependence,” or “restraint.”  The meaning is literal in   

        I  Kings 14, & 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. 

                   The source books mentioned are:

                       The book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21) This was

            probably a collection of old war poems on the fights between Israel 

            and the original inhabitants of Canaan.

                        The "Book of Jashar" (Joshua 10 & II Samuel 1) A collec-

            tion of both war poems and such authentic literary masterpieces as 

            David's lament over Saul and Jonathan. 

                         The "book of the acts of Solomon" (I Kings 11) This was 

            probably 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 & 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 divided; 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 Kings of the 

            Southern 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. 

                

B-49

                   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 & 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

        Israelite soldier.

BOOTH  (סכה (sook kaw); שך (soak))  A temporary shelter for cattle, men &  

        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 fi-

        gures 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 15^th day of Tishri (late September).  The 

        1^st day of this month was a special holy day, and the Day of Atonement 

        fell on the 10^th.  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 8^th & 9^th 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). 

                   Three common rites were performed on each of the 7 days of the 

        feast proper.  The water libation ceremony was the first 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 (Ho-

        shono) Rabbah."  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.

B-50

                    The 2^nd 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 third rite, each day at dawn, the priests proceeded to the 

        east gate of the temple.  At sunrise, they turned west to face the temple & 

        recited: “Our fathers when they were in this place turned with faces to the

        east, & they worshiped the sun; but as for us, our eyes are turned toward 

        the Lord.”  

                   The eighth 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 ninth 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 con-

        nection made between the feast and Israel's communal history.  In Leviti-

        cus 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.” 

                   Two 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 

        primarily as a nature feast of Canaanite origin, believe that it took on cul-

        tural & 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 

        thesis 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 & arrow was the normal weapon used by the nomad, the 

        hunter, the raider, & the warrior.  In the Assyrian army bowmen, along with 

        lancers were used effectively to protect those who scaled the walls of a 

        besieged city. 

                   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, & were often 

        used symbolically to represent violence.

BOWELS (מעים (may eem); splagcna (splangk nah)) In the Revised Stan-

        dard Version, it is used only in the literal sense.  In the King James Ver-

        sion, it is used for lower abdomen organs, and for strong emotions.

B-51

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 in the Shephelah dis-

        trict of Lachish whose location is unknown.  Jedidah, Josiah's mother (640-

        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 & run-

        ners 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.  

                   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 alloy 

        (e.g. copper-tin or copper-zinc).  The Revised Standard Version uses 

        brass when it is a metaphor for hardness or obstinacy in sin.

B-52

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 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 & 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, re-

        move the ashes, place a flat piece of dough on the heated stone, & 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 

        poverty or distress. In Genesis 14, bread is mentioned as a gift to stran-

        ger. 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 & 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,” & 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))  

        Twelve loaves set before God, made with two tenths 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 sanctuary each sabbath and the old loaves were then eaten by the 

        priests in the holy place.  Arrangements were made for the continual exhi-

        bition of the holy bread in Solomon's temple where there were probably 10 

        tables for the Bread of the Presence.  Presumably the bread was unlea-

        vened and baked before the sabbath.  They were brought into the Temple 

        the morning of the sabbath and heaped in two rows of six.

B-53

                        The earliest mention of the bread of the Presence is probably I 

        Samuel 2.  After David's entrance in Nob, he requested the priest Ahime-

        lech 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 

        Bible'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 innova-

        tion reflecting Babylonian influences. 

                   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 & 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 & 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 nar-

        row, 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.

B-54

BRICKKILN (מלבן (mal bane) Probably a mold of rectangular shape; the word 

        came to be used to describe any rectangle. Since bricks were seldom kiln-

        fired in Palestine,& 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.

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 figura-

        tively 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 section 

        of the rampart of Jerusalem restored by Nehemiah (chapters 3 and 12). 

        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 & 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.    

B-55

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.”

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; adelfoV, (ah del foes))  Scripture 

        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 bro-

        thers.  Brethren should be friends, yet the Old Testament (OT) candidly de-

        picts disruption,  war, and death caused by greed, cruelty, spoiled self-cen-

        teredness, injustice, & other sins between brothers.  It depicts strife be-

        tween: Cain and Abel, Esau & Jacob, Joseph & 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 “bre-

        thren” 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, & 

        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 

        common 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. 

BROTHERS OF THE LORD (adelfoi tou kurion (ah del foy  too  koo 

        ree on)) The men commonly thought of as younger brothers of Jesus. 

        Mark lists them as James, Joses, Judas, & Simon; Matthew names James,

        Joseph, Simon, & Judas. These brothers didn't approve of Jesus' ministry.  

        This is clear in Matthew’s, Mark’s & 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.

B-56

                   It is clear, however, that James saw the risen Lord.  The brothers 

        thus became members of the Jerusalem church from its earliest begin-

        nings.  James became the recognized leader of the church at Jerusalem, 

        according 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 apostolic age.

                   This NT view was challenged by the middle of the 100s A.D.  By 

        the 300s, three positions each had a vigorous advocate.  The three views 

        were:  Helvidius; Epiphanian; Hieronymian (Jerome).  According to Je-

        rome's hostile 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 & 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 & 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 & 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”) & 

        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.

BUCKET  (דלי (del ee, dol ee))  A leather bucket was used for drawing water 

        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.   

B-57

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 people 

        of Israel and their disputes as “burdens” in Numbers 11 & Deuteronomy 1, 

        respectively) In Isaiah, “burden” is used for the guilt pronounced by God 

`       upon a nation. 

B-58

BURIAL  (קבורה (keb oo raw))  The proper interment of the dead was a matter 

        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 “bur-

        ying 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, & 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); & 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 & 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, & 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.  The Hebrew 

        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 & 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.

BUTLER (משקה (mash keh)) An officer of high rank, close to the person of the 

        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-59

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 manuscript 

        has ra' ah; several others have da'ah or kite.

BYBLOS (bubloV (bib los))  The Greek name of the ancient Phoenician 

        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 or an Israelite (See also 

        Proverbs).

B-60