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CABBON (כבון, wrap around, surround)  A village of Judah in the Shephelah, 

        east of Lachish, identified with either Hebra or Machbenah.

CABIN (חגות (khaw nooth), prison) The King James Version's translation of 

        the Hebrew word (See Dungeon).          

CABUL  (כבול, district)  1.  A border town in the territory of Asher, most 

        likely located 14.4 km east-southeast of Acre, overlooking one of the 

        routes which descend from the Galilean hills to the maritime plain.

                   2.  A district in Galilee, twenty towns that were most likely given by

        Solomon to Hiram.  The village of Cabul mentioned above was most likely

        the administrative center of this district.  The location of this district is 

        uncertain, but it has been plausibly suggested that the towns are in the hill 

        country east of Acre.

CAESAR ((kay sar)) The family name of Julius Caesar, taken by 

        his adopted son Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and in turn by each of 

        his successors so that it became a title. 

                   The name Caesar Augustus appears in Luke 2.  Tiberius Caesar is 

        specified in Luke 3 as reigning when Jesus began his ministry, and is the 

        Caesar mentioned other gospels. In the book of Acts, Claudius is men-

        tioned in chapters 11 and 18, and is the Caesar of chapter 17.  The later 

        references to Caesar in Acts 25-28 is probably Nero.  In Phillipians, it 

        could be either Claudius or Nero, depending on the date of the letter.

CAESAR, JULIUS (See the entry in the Old Testament Apocrypha / Influen-

        ces Outside the Bible section of the Appendix.).

CAESAREA  (kaisareia (kay sah ree ah))  A city on the coast of Pale-

        stine about 37 km south of Mount Carmel.  It first appears as a Phoenician 

        city or fortification called Straton or Stratos Tower.  (See also entry in the 

        Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences Outside the OT section of the 

        Appendix.)

                   Under the procurators Caesarea became their official seat and the 

        capital of Palestine.  This predominantly pagan city had a substantial 

        Jewish minority.  Riots between Jews and Gentiles in 66 A.D. marked the

        beginning of the Jewish War against Rome.  In the later Roman Empire, 

        Caesarea continued to be important as a seat of bishop and a center of 

        learning under Origen, Pamphilius, and Eusebius (185-340).

                   Since there was no natural harbor, Herod constructed a mole 66 m. 

        wide. The huge stones can still be seen extending 145 m. from the shore. 

        Partial excavations have revealed a synagogue dating from the 4th or 5th

        century A.D.  In the New Testament Caesarea first appears as a place 

        where Philip preached.  Peter converted the centurion who was stationed 

        there.  Herod Agrippa I had his residence there.  Paul passed through the 

        city on his way to Tarsus and when he returned from his missionary jour-

        neys.  After his arrest, Paul was taken to Caesarea where he was held

        prisoner.  Paul sailed from Caesarea for Rome.

CAESAREA  PHILIPPI  (kaisareia h filippou (kay sah ree  ah  fil ip 

        poo))  A city on the southwest lower slope of Mount Hermon.   It was 

        here that Jesus questioned his disciples about his messiahship and here 

        that Peter replied that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. 

                   Its setting is one of the most beautiful and luxuriant in Palestine,

        on a terrace 370 meters above sea level, overlooking the fertile north end

        of the Jordan Valley.  The terrace is well-watered by one of the sources 

        of the Jordan, which springs from a cave. This location has both strate-

        gic and spiritual importance.  There is a shrine in the cave, which was 

        probably dedicated to various Semitic deities & was possibly the location

        of Baal-gad or Baal-hermon of the Old Testament.  When the Greeks 

        arrived, they dedicated it “to Pan and the Nymphs.”  In Old Testament 

        times the name of the cave & its fountain was Paneion; the city or district

        was called Paneas.

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                   Paneas appears as the scene of an important battle around 200 

        B.C., when Antiochus the Great defeated Egypt. In the 100s B.C. it 

        formed part of Zenodorus’ territory, but on his death in 20 B.C., it was

        given by Augustus to Herod the Great, who erected a white marble 

        temple dedicated to Augustus.  After Herod's death in 4 B.C., it was 

        included in the tetrarchy of his son Philip, who ruled until 34 A.D.  

        Philip enlarged and beautified the city, naming it Caesarea Philippi in 

        honor of Tiberius Caesar and himself.  In New Testament times it was 

        an important city & a center of Greco-Roman civilization; the people 

        were largely pagan. The city continued to be important in the Roman 

        and Byzantine periods and during the Crusades.

CAESAR'S HOUSEHOLD (kaisaroV oikia (kay sah ros  oy key ah))  

        A collective term referring primarily to the imperial servants in Rome,

        the rest of Italy, & the provinces.  Paul mentions “Caesar's household”

        in Phillipians 4, because some of the Christians sending greetings with  

        him belong to it.  The use of this phrase doesn't prove that Phillipians 

        was written from Rome itself.

CAGE  (סוגר (soo gar))  An enclosure, usually barred for confining birds 

        and other animals.  In Ezekiel 19, a young lion that clearly symbolizes 

        King Jehoiachin is taken and put in a cage, and brought to the King of 

        Babylon.  This kind of barbarous treatment of prisoners was common 

        practice in the ancient world.     

CAIAPHAS  (kaiafaV (kay eh fas))  The high priest in the Trial of Jesus.

        The historian Josephus mentions him twice: first to mention his appoint-

        ment as high priest, and second to say that he was removed from office 

        by the Procurator Vitellius. 

                   The gospels bring Annas and Caiaphas into relation with Jesus in

        a way which is hard to reconcile with historical facts.  Mark does not 

        name him.  Matthew names the high priest as Caiaphas.  Luke omits the 

        name of the high priest in the trial, but suggests in Luke 3 that both 

        Annas and Caiaphas were the high priest at the same time.  John refers 

        to Caiaphas as high priest, but states that Annas is the father-in-law of 

        Caiaphas, and elsewhere implies that Annas is high priest.  Acts speaks

        of a gathering of Jewish leaders “with Annas the high priest & Caiaphas 

        and John and Alexander.”

                   Some of the key questions posed by these passages are:  Did 

        Annas precede Caiaphas?  When did Annas cease to be high priest and 

        when did Caiaphas begin?  Does the suggestion in Luke 3 that both were

        high priest at the same time conform to what is known about Jewish 

        practice?  Considerable ingenuity has been expended in solving the 

        problem, but a solution which covers all facets of the problem isn't avail-

        able.  Having Annas and Caiaphas as dual high priests is quite against 

        Jewish practice. And the interpretation that Annas remained influential in

        high-priestly matters long after his deposition is not supported by any 

        evidence; it is a conclusion meant to escape, rather than confront the 

        inherent problems in interpretation.

                   In the usual growth of tradition, a character who is nameless at an

        early stage acquires a name at a later stage.  What we encounter in the 

        present problem is that the initial naming of the man proved to be erro-

        neous, so that a corrective name was added.  Once there were the two 

        names, they needed to be brought into the same time frame. It is unlikely

        that the evangelists spent much time worrying about the high priest's 

        name, or that they thought that almost 2,000 years later scholars would 

        be debating such minor details.

CAIN  (קין, lance, spear, blacksmith)  Eldest son of Adam and Eve.  Cain & 

        Abel brought to Yahweh an offering of their produce; but for Cain and 

        his offering Yahweh had no regard. Cain became angry and murdered 

        his brother.  Cain's punishment alienated him from his land, his family, 

        & his God. When Cain protested that he would die from such a sentence,

        Yahweh graciously softened it by placing his mark on Cain.  The reasons

        why Yahweh preferred Abel's sacrifice and how God showed God's 

        preference are not mentioned in Genesis.  Cain became the prototype of 

        wicked men.  Christians are exhorted not to be like Cain, but to be like 

        faithful Abel. 

CAINAN (kainam (kay nam)) In Luke 3, quoting from Genesis 10 and 11 

        in Greek, the son of Arphaxad.

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CALAH (כלח, destruction)  One of the Assyrian capital cities.  The site, now 

        called Nimrud, is in the northwest angle of the confluence of the Tigris 

        and the upper Zab rivers.

CALAMUS (קנה (kaw neh))  A product of trade made from an aromatic reed 

         probably imported from India.

CALCOL  (כלכל, sustenance)  One of the sons of Zerah, whom Tamar bore to 

        her father-in-law, Judah.  Calcol was celebrated for his wisdom, which 

        was only surpassed by Solomon's.

CALDRON  An English translation representing several varieties of Hebrew

        cooking pots, both ceramic and metalware.  (See also Pottery).

CALEB  (כלב, dog)   One of the spies sent by Moses to reconnoiter the land 

        of Canaan.  Caleb represented the tribe of Judah.  Caleb championed the

        view that an immediate assault should be made.  This distinctly minority

        view was supported by Joshua but was rejected by the people.  Because 

        this timidity was seen as rebellion against Yahweh, the adult generation 

        was excluded from entering the Promised Land.  Caleb was lauded as 

        Yahweh's servant.

                   Caleb is also associated with the region around Hebron, which 

        was given to him as a divinely bestowed inheritance, but one from 

        which he had to eject its former inhabitants, the Anakim (giants).  The 

        conquest of nearby Debir is also connected with Caleb, although it was 

        Othniel who actually took the town, winning Caleb's daughter Achsah 

        as wife in the process.

                   It is evident the figure of Caleb represents the incorporation of a 

        foreign strain into the house of Judah.  Newer sources of the Bible trace

        his ancestry back to Judah, while older sources know him as the son of 

        Jephunneh the Kenizzite, which is an Edomite clan of southern Pale-

        stine.  The list of his descendents imply varying degrees of penetration 

        by Calebite tribes into Judah.  The troublesome reference to Caleb as the

        son of Hezron is probably the Chronicler's strategy for affirming Caleb's

        lineal descent from Judah.  So, possessing alien ties that were never com-

        pletely concealed, Caleb nevertheless became the exponent of a fearless 

        faith in the God who had promised Israel land.

CALENDAR   The Hebrews and early Christians didn't have a calendar that 

        was either published or widely accepted as are those in general use today.

        There was instead a widely accepted pattern of reckoning time that was 

        in a constant process of change and experimentation. The present Jewish

        calendar is a product of the first published Jewish calendar, which ap-

        peared in the 300s A.D.  This first calendar was the result of centuries of

        calculation and controversy, which continued long after it was published.

        Even when far away from Palestine, Jews and Christians continued to 

        employ the official calendar of Jewish orthodoxy for observing religious

        festivals. 

                   During the biblical period, three different systems were followed.

        First, there was a series of Canaanite names used during part of the pre-

        exilic period, only four of which are mentioned in the Old Testament: 

        Abib (1st month, March-April; mentioned in Exodus 13, 23, 34); Ziv 

        (2nd month, April-May); Ethanim (7th month, Sept.-Oct.); & Bul (8th 

        month, Oct.-Nov.).  The last three months are mentioned in I Kings 6 &

        8, in reference to the dedication of Solomon's temple.  These Canaanite 

        names fell into disuse, probably in the early monarchical period

                   As commerce and the crafts grew in the monarchical period, the 

        Hebrews came to prefer a system of naming the months by number (i.e.

        “first,” “second,” “third,” etc.) and continued to do so well into the post-

        exilic period.  By far the largest number of biblical references to the 

        various months are according to this method. The months are as 

        follows:

1^st.  'Ekaud  (אחד; March-April)             7^th.  Shebeyee  (שבעי; Sept.-Oct.)

2^nd.  Shayney  (שני; April-May)            8^th.  Shemeaney  (שמיני; Oct.-Nov.)

3^rd.   Sheleashey (שלישי; May-June)  9^th.  Tishaw  (תשעה; Nov.-Dec)

4^th.  Rebeyee  (רבעי; June-July)         10^th.  'Asearey  (עשירי; Dec.-Jan.)

5^th.  Khamishey (חמשי; July-Aug.)    11^th. 'Ashtay asar (עשתי עשר; Jan.-

                                                                        Feb.)

6^th. Shishshee (ששי; Aug.-Sept.)      12^th. Sheenayim asar (שנים עשר; Feb-

                                                                        Mar)

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                   The third system of names did not arise until after the Exile, and 

        did not find complete acceptance until rabbinical times.  The Hebrews

        took  these Babylonian names over using Hebrew letters to represent

        Babylonian pronunciation, & did so without a full understanding of the

        mythology behind the names.  The Hebrew names for the months as 

        adopted from the Babylonian calendar are as follows:

            1. Nisan (ניסן; Mar.-April)             7. Tishri (תשרי; Sept.-Oct.)

            2. Iyyar (איר; April-May)               8. Marcheshvan (מרחשון; Oct.-Nov.)

            3. Sivan (סיון; May-June)             9. Chislev ( חסלו; Nov.-Dec.)

            4. Tammuz (תמוז; June-July)      10. Tebeth (טבת; Dec.-Jan.)

            5. Ab (אב; July-Aug.)                  11. Shebat (שבט; Jan.-Feb.)

            6. Elul (אלול; Aug.-Sept.)            12. Adar (אדר; Feb.-Mar.)

        Of these months, Iyyar, Tammuz, Ab, Tishri, and Marcheshvan are not 

        mentioned in the Bible. 

                   The primitive Hebrew word for month (yerah) was related to the

        word for “moon.”   It was replaced by the word hodesh (new).  These 

        Hebrew words are associated with the moon and particularly the “new 

        moon,” which was an occasion requiring solemn religious observances 

        even in early periods.  The early Israelites most likely followed a Canaa-

        nite calendar, which may have once been a solar one.  Elsewhere, 

        calendars combining both solar and lunar reckoning were widely used 

        throughout the ancient Near East.

                   But while we are fairly certain of the calendar's main features, 

        the further we go back in Hebrew history, the greater our uncertainty 

        becomes.  The need for a uniform schedule of time-reckoning grew 

        along with the increasing complexities of their political and economic 

        intercourse, as they emerged from a tribal to a monarchical organization.

        While the motivations for calendar-making were there, the means to 

        accurately determine a calendar were not. 

                   Thus, the agricultural year fluctuated according to the weather 

        and the region, and the months and their names were closely associated

        with the seasons.  It was difficult to determine the annual course of the 

        sun and the stars, because methods of observing them were inadequate.

        Also, the solar year (365 1/4 days) did not tally with 12 lunar cycles of 

        29 1/2 days (354 1/2 days).  Because lunar years are 11 days shorter 

        than solar years, an extra month had to be added occasionally.          

                   A lunar-solar calendar was adopted by the first Babylonian 

        dynasty around 1830-1550 B.C.   The Babylonians gave Semitic names

        to the months, and reckoned the year from one vernal (spring) equinox 

        to the next.  The months were counted from new moon to new moon 

        & were most often 30 days long.  They were shortened to 29 if the new

        moon was on the next day, which became the first day of a new month.

        The Babylonians inserted their extra month every two or three years.  

        This was also the method the Hebrews eventually used.  At first, an 

        extra month was inserted after Nisan, but eventually it was Adar, the 

        twelfth month that was duplicated.

                   The one Hebrews used was most likely a lunar-solar calendar.  It

        is fairly certain that the Israelites determined their year by observing 

        the annual circuit of the stars and the sun, rather than by fluctuating 

        agricultural and pastoral cycles.  At different times in their history 

        Hebrews observed either the spring or the autumnal equinox as the start

        of the new year.  At times both new year dates would be used at the 

        same time, the spring date in one part of Israel, and the autumn date in 

        another.   It is still not clear when each of these was used or how they 

        related to one another. 

                   There is a hint of a primitive spring new year among Hebrews in

        Exodus.  The Passover month is solemnly established as the beginning 

        of the year, and as the month to remember.  It is striking that wherever 

        the Hebrew months are mentioned by number, they are always counted 

        from a first month in spring, perhaps because in patriarchal times, the 

        Hebrews observed a spring new year. 

                   At any rate, there is abundant indication that both civil and reli-

        gious years were begun at the fall equinox during the monarchical 

        period.  The fall new year may have been used for a long while before 

        then.  The sabbatical year & the year of Jubilee were agricultural years

        beginning in the fall and progressing through the cycle of sowing, 

        pruning, reaping, and vintage.  Further evidence that a fall new year 

        persisted at least until the time of Josiah & perhaps even after the Exile

        may be found in: I Kings 6; II Kings  22;  and Nehemiah 1. It is likely,

        however, that a spring new year continued to be used in certain areas 

        and for special purposes (e.g. It was used in the Northern half of 

        the Divided Kingdom for counting reigns). 

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                   Shortly before the Exile the Babylonian spring new year began to

        be used in the Judean (southern) half of the Divided Kingdom.  Referen-

        ces to time in Jeremiah (25 & 46) depend upon a reckoning of the reigns

        of Judean as well as Babylonian kings from a new year in the spring.   

        Ezekiel also uses a spring new year.  The books of Kings generally main-

        tain the fall reckoning, and long after the Exile we find Nehemiah recko-

        ning the reign of his Persian monarch using a fall new year, even though

        for other Hebrews the spring new year became more prominent.  The 

        exact methods of observation developed by the Babylonians, together 

        with their system of mathematical prediction, enabled the Hebrews to 

        define more exactly a schedule of compensating for the differences be-

        tween the lunar and solar years. 

                   It must be noted that the entire Hebrew calendar was constructed 

        upon the pattern of religious feasts, which after the Exile came to 

        assume a fairly rigid form; the year began in the middle of our March.  

        After the Exile, the important feasts were:  (a) Passover and Mazzoth 

        (Unleavened Bread) festivals on 14-21 Nisan (1st month); (b) the Feast 

        of Weeks or First-Fruits in Sivan (3rd month); (c) the Feast of Trumpets 

        or the ancient New's Years Day on the first of Tishri (7th month); (d) the 

        Day of Atonement on the 10th of Tishri; and (e) the Feast of Booths on 

        15-22 of Tishri.  It was very important to the pious leaders of the Jews to

        maintain these festivals on a regular and accurate basis throughout the 

        successive years. This was their primary motive for seeking more and 

        more accurate calculations of each year.

CALF  (עגל (‘ay ghel); moscoV (mos khos))  A calf is referred to in:  

        I Sam. 6, 14, & 28; Pss. 29, 68;  & Jer. 31 to name a few.  Its peaceful co-

        existence with other tame and wild animals in the future age is mentioned 

        in Is. 11. A replica of a calf's head decorated the back of Solomon's throne. 

        Calves, sometimes fattened in the stall, supplied veal for special occasions

        The calf is much less frequently referred to as a sacrificial animal than a 

        bull. In a covenant-making rite the Israelites passed between the parts of a 

        slaughtered calf.

                   In the New Testament, there is the fattened calf in Luke's Prodigal

        son story (15), and in Revelation 4, the second of four living creatures 

        who surround the heavenly throne is said to be like a calf.

CALF, GOLDEN  (עגל מסכה (ay ghel  mas say kaw))  A representation of a 

        young bull, perhaps made of wood and overlaid with gold.  Living bulls 

        had a prominent place in the cultic practices of various regions of ancient

        Egypt.  In the Old Testament, the golden calf appears primarily in connec-

        tion with the calf made by Aaron in the wilderness period.

                  This account presents complex literary and historical problems.  

        The people, having waited for days for Moses to return, summon Aaron 

        to make a god who will go before them.  As soon as the bull has been 

        fashioned, the people worship the gods represented by the bull.  When 

        Moses returns, he breaks the stone tablets, destroys the bull, and causes 

        the people to submit to an ordeal, after which Yahweh sends a plague.

                  The connection of the bull with Yahweh is unmistakable: “These 

        are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”  

        Aaron also proclaims a feast to Yahweh.  The difficulty is solved if 

        Exodus 32 is brought into relationship with I Kings 12.  Jeroboam  I 

        (King of Israel (Northern Kingdom) from 922-901 B.C.) made two 

        golden calves; one was placed in Bethel, the other in Dan. 

                   The entire undertaking of Jeroboam appears to have been moti-

        vated by the desire to restore certain ancient and traditional features of 

        Israelite life which had been suppressed under Solomon and Rehoboam

        (Southern Kingdom, Judah).  Among these were: tribal integrity; con-

        cern for the poor and the oppressed; and perhaps the reform of Israelite 

        worship.  Jeroboam's efforts could hardly have succeeded if the bulls at 

        Bethel and Dan had been understood to be images of Yahweh, or even 

        some foreign god.

                   If, however, the bulls of Bethel and Dan represented pedestals or 

        thrones upon which the invisible Yahweh was believed to be enthroned,

        then these bulls had virtually the same meaning as did the Ark of the 

        Covenant.  The young bull may have been a portable throne-seat for the

        invisible Yahweh to represent his power & presence, especially in time 

        of battle.  This tradition may have rivaled the ark tradition, & may have

        originally been associated with particular tribes or tribal groups.

                   But the bull was entirely too apt a symbol of fertility for it to 

        remain unrelated to Canaanite cult practices & religious understandings.

        It was almost inevitable, therefore, that the Bethel and Dan bulls should

        quickly have become marks of Israel’s apostasy to foreign gods.  And 

        eventually, popular religious understanding would have taken the bull 

        as the image of Yahweh, rather than just the seat for Yahweh's presence.

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                   The “golden calf” story relates simultaneously in two scenes that

        Israel is bent upon breaking the covenantal stipulations at the very time 

        in which they were being dictated to Moses by Yahweh.  The Levites 

        appear as zealous defenders of the faith, & Moses as one who intercedes

        for a sinful people.  Thus around a detested religious symbol, originally

        perhaps quite harmless, the community of Israel has gathered traditions

        of fundamental theological significance.  Yahweh is the sovereign Lord,

        who tolerates no representations of himself or of other gods.  Yahweh 

        only is the ordainer & upholder of the cult; only Yahweh decrees where

        and how and why Yahweh is to be worshiped. 

CALIGULA  A nickname given the young Gais Julius Ceasar Germanicus,

        Germanicus’ son and great-grandson of Augustus; he was emperor at the

        age of 24 and reigned from 37-41 A.D.  The name means “little boot” &

        refers to his upbringing in army camps.  During his reign, he suffered 

        first from a nearly fatal illness, and a year later from his favorite sister 

        and heir Drusilla’s death.  During the next year, he discovered the extent

        of the intrigue against Tiberius.  His investigations led to executions and

        his own downfall.  He prepared for a British invasion, which was preven-

        ted by a change in plans or by troop mutiny.

                   By the summer of 40 he became convinced of his own divinity, 

        & gave orders that a statue of himself be erected in the temple at Jerusa-

        lem.  At Rome, he ordered a temple built for his own divinity & required

        that oaths be taken by his Genius.  During the winter of 40-41 a conspi-

        racy was undertaken against him, and he was murdered on January 24th.

        It remains a question whether he was not quite sane or whether he merely

        cultivated certain unpleasant traits in his character.  Many of his contem-

        poraries prefer the former view.

CALLING  (קרא (kaw raw); kalew (kal eh oh), call; klhsiV 

        (klay sis), calling) A summons issued by one in authority, especially God; 

        the religious concept has become almost synonymous with election.

   

CALNEH (כלנה)  A Babylonia city classed with Erech and Accad in Genesis 

        10, and located in the south.  So far the site has not been identified.  In 

        Amos 6, the sequence “Calneh, Hamath, Gath,” suggests that Calneh lies

        to the north.  It may be that Amos' was a colony city named after the city

        in the south.

CALVARY   Luke's translation of Golgotha.

CAMEL  (גמל (gaw maul), kameloV (kam el os))  Most biblical refe-

        rences are to the one-humped camel.  Of these, there is the slow, burden-

        bearing camel and the swift dromedary.  The two-humped Bactrian camel 

        of Central Asia is doubtless referred to in Isaiah 21.  The Bactrian camel 

        has the longer hair.  The flat foot of the camel fits it to walk on sand 

        without sinking, and is how Mosaic law defines it as an unclean animal. 

        The camel is chiefly used in desert or semi-desert areas, because of its 

        ability to eat desert plants and to go for several days (as long as twenty 

        days in the winter) without water.     

                   The evidence from outside the Bible for domestication of camels 

        is mostly much later than 2000 B.C.  The first reference to domestic 

        camels in Assyrian records is from around 1100 B.C.  The earliest known

        undisputed representation of a rider on a camel is from Mesopotamia in 

        the 900s B.C.  Large scale camel nomadism, as carried on by Midianites

        did not appear very much before 1000 B.C.  

                   According to Genesis, the Hebrew patriarchs shortly after 2000 

        B.C. had camels.  Abraham is said to have had camels in Egypt, and in 

        Genesis 24, he sent his servant to Paddan-aram with 10 camels & pre-

        sents for the family of Issac's bride; the servant returned with Rebekah.  

        Also in this chapter are details about the care and feeding of camels. 

                   Jacob had camels in Paddan-aram and returned to Canaan with his

        family on them.  The camel's saddle in which Rachel hid the idols wor-

        shiped by her family probably had 2 bags on either side of it.  The Mosaic

        law forbade the eating of camel meat. The Midianites in the time of 

        Judges, and the Amalekites in the time of Saul and David used camels in 

        their raids on Israel.  Israelites from different parts of Palestine brought 

        gifts by camel to David in Hebron.   The Queen of Sheba brought her gifts

        to Solomon by camel.  Ben-hadad, of Syria, sent 40 camels to Elisha (II 

        Kings 8).  The Judeans of the Southern kingdom used camels to carry their

        gifts to Egypt to secure her support.  Sennacherib records that he took 

        many camels from the cities of Judah, and a loaded camel is pictured 

        among the spoils from Lachish.

                   The gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus' intentional 

        exaggeration:  “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 

        than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  In another exaggera-

        tion, Jesus condemns the Pharisees for “straining out a gnat & swallowing

        a camel.” 

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CAMEL'S HAIR  (triceV kamelou (tree kes  kam eh lou))  The 

        material of the outer garment of John the Baptist.  Such a garment was sui-

        ted to the austere life and message of John.  A “hairy mantle” was a sign of 

        the prophetic office.  Elijah wore a mantle “of haircloth” which was possibly 

        camel's hair.

CAMEL'S THORN  (aspalaqoV (as pa la thos))  A low thorny shrub 

        which yields a kind of manna; its manna was used for making a fragrant 

        ointment.

CAMP (מחנה (makh eh neh)) A temporary protective enclosure for a tribe or 

        army.  The Hebrew root word from which makheneh comes suggests that

        Hebrew camps were circular, with tents erected around the cattle, a 

        custom probably deriving from Israel's semi-nomadic days.

                 Israel is portrayed as a “camp” during its pre-Canaanite days though

        a clear picture of its organization does not emerge.  Levites according to 

        their families were to encamp in an inner circle about the tabernacle. 

                   The word “camp” usually denotes a military camp.  A camp pitched

        to await battle was fortified against attack, but it is doubtful that Palesti-

        nian camps were ever as elaborate as the Assyrian camps, with their 

        earthen walls, towers, and moats.

CANA (Kana, from the Hebrew קנה (place of reeds)) A Galilean village of 

        uncertain location; mentioned in the Bible only in the gospels.  There is 

        little to identify the site except for studying the origins of the word and 

        tradition.  The more widely accepted site is Khirbet Qana, about 14.4 km 

        north of Nazareth. 

                   Various pilgrims, beginning with the 1100s A.D., reported that they

        visited this site as the Cana of the gospels.   Since it overlooks a plain 

        where reeds are still plentiful, it fits the name “place of reeds.”  The ruins 

        are on the top of a hill and have not been excavated, but there are cisterns 

        and the remains of buildings.  Cana was the home of Nathanael, one of the

        12.  It was also the setting of two gospel incidents.  Jesus turned the water 

        to wine in Cana, and an official from Capernaum asked Jesus there to heal 

        his son.

CANAAN  (כנען, low, merchant)  The study of the word's origins doesn't show

        "Canaan" to be a Semitic word. The name has been considered a Hurrian 

        or Horite word form.  The meaning of the root word of Canaan cannot be

        decided with certainty.  It may have to do with “reeds,” or with “red purple”

        both of which are products of the region.  If, in the 1400s B.C. and earlier,

        the Hurrian root word was a term denoting Hurrian merchants, it may have

        developed into an ethnic term denoting the inhabitants of the Phoenician

        coast, because the most important part of the population of that region was

        the class of merchants.

                   The genealogies of the name of Canaan are interesting, but they 

        must not be taken too literally, as evidenced by the fact that Genesis has 

        contradictory passages which have Canaan as both the youngest son of 

        Noah, and the grandson of Noah through his second son, Ham.  When it is 

        said that Ham is the father of Canaan, it is perhaps meant in the sense of 

        political domination.   The sons of Canaan are: Sidon & Heth, & Canaan's

        descendants were:  Jebusites, Amorites (one of the most important Semi- 

        tic groups), Girgasites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Semarites, &  

        the Hamathites.  This list of various subdivisions of the Canaanites seems

         to reflect a certain geographical order from the south to the north. Canaan 

        being the father of Heth may imply the same kind of political domination 

        as Ham's domination of Canaan, and may reflect traditions of migrations of

        the Hittites. 

                   The word “Canaan” is also used for the country occupied by the 

        Canaanites in pre-Israelite times, consisting of Palestine West of the 

        Jordan & part of Syria, particularly the region along the Mediterranean.  In  

        the Old Testament, “Canaan” is used as a designation of the whole of the 

        territory West of Jordan. In other passages in the Old Testament, the  

        Canaan was a limited area at the coast and in the plain.

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CANAANITES (כנענים (ken ah an eem)) The people occupying Palestine 

        West of the Jordan at the time of the Israelite invasion, & their descendants

        and successors. 

                   The conditions at Ras Shamra at the 1500s B.C. give good illustra-

        tion of the population’s mixed character in Canaan during this period.  The

        Hittites—traditionally from Heth—appeared shortly after 2000 B.C.  500 

        years later they lived in the Judean hills, perhaps because they had been 

        pressed back by later migrations.  While there is evidence of non-Semitic 

        tongues in the region, it is clear that by the 1500s the Semites were the 

        main part of the population, & that they grew even more dominant as time 

        went on.  Canaanites may thus be regarded as a Semitic people, even if 

        they were never of pure Semitic blood.
              The countries of Syria & Palestine were inhabited since Paleolithic 

        times (Stone Age).  Examples of early inhabitants in the region include: 

        Stone Age dwellers in the Negeb north of Damascus; Natufians of Mount 

        Carmel in the Mesolithic period (8000-6000 B.C.); & the people of Byblos

        in the Chalcolithic period (4000-3200 B.C.). The cultural development and

        linguistic types of these early people will never be known.  It was as early 

        as 3000 B.C. that a Semitic speaking population most likely lived there.  

        One of the most ancient towns is Jericho; others were Beth-shean and 

        Megiddo; at the coast in southern Canaan, Byblos; and in the north, Ugarit.

                   The period of Canaanite history which is best known is the Bronze 

        Age.  During the period of the Old Kingdom, (2600-2200), the Egyptians 

        exercised political dominance in Palestine and Syria, and during the 5th 

        and 6th Dynasties they undertook military invasions into the territory.  

        During the 12th Dynasty (1990-1790 B.C.) the Egyptians dominated Pale-

        stine & part of Syria.  After the decline of the Egyptian power at the begin-

        ning of the 1700s B.C., the Canaanites got free from Egyptian domination.

                   Beginning around 2000 B.C., the Amorites from the region of Mari 

        invaded Mesopotamia and created local kingdoms.  They among others 

        continued down into Palestine. The Hyksos invaded Egypt, & the Hurrians

        & Hittites entered into the domain of the Canaanites. The Canaanites tried 

        to develop a homogenous, independent culture, but the influence of outside

        groups lent a rather mixed character to the region.  And since the area was 

        divided into small kingdoms, each with their own traditions, such a unified

        culture could never be created.     

                   The coastal region, which is usually called Phoenicia had a more 

        unmixed structure.  Here was probably the Canaanite civilization’s real 

        center.  In the eastern parts of Syria, the Mesopotamian influence was 

        stronger; & the Amorites adopted many cultural elements from Babylonia.

        Even in the area around Damascus a strong Babylonian influence pre-

        vailed during the Old Babylonian period with regard to cylinder seals.

                 After the expulsion of the Hyksos in the 1500s B.C., the Egyptians 

        dominated politically. Later the power of the Egyptians declined.  The king

        of Byblos was almost the last ruler who cooperated with the Egyptians.  

        He asked for the help of the Pharaoh, but the Pharaoh could not help him.  

        During this period a number of local kingdoms existed in Palestine and 

        Syria, fighting against one another.  Shortly thereafter, the Canaanites 

        merged with the Israelites, who became the political and cultural heirs of 

        the Canaanites.

                   The social structure was mainly of the same type as that prevailing 

        in the other, Near Eastern countries.  3 social groups existed:  freeman,

        clients, & slaves.  A large number of slaves were war captives and foreign

        slaves, but most were natives—e.g. defaulting debtors and unemployed 

        men & women, who sold themselves into slavery to obtain their livelihood;

        there were state slaves, temple slaves, farming slaves, and slaves in the 

        field of crafts.  Children were often sold into slavery or exposed.

                   Canaanite society and economy were based on agriculture. The 

        farmers were apparently a class of industrious people, and their work was 

        the real basis of the economy & the prosperity of the nation.  Generally the

        property of the farmer was not very large, & his household was, as a rule,

        the main help in his work.  The top of the agricultural organization was the

        king, who possessed a large property.  The royal lands were divided up 

        among his subordinate supervisors, who in their turn leased pieces of land 

        to free tenant farmers.  Likewise, the temples possessed large properties.

                  For long periods, ancient Near Eastern society was organized accor-

        ding to the principles of the feudal system.  As the owner of the largest 

        properties, the military organization's head, & the religious organization's 

        leader, the king was the society's head.  Under him there were guilds that 

        took care of special duties.  

                   For example, the professional warrior class, called maryannu, pos-

        sessed a high position in society.  Their rank was hereditary, and could 

        only be granted by the king.  The maryannu had superior military equip-

        ment, particularly their horse-drawn chariots. Maryannu had a special   

        obligation to the king, & for services rendered they received areas of

        land, which provided the means of obtaining and maintaining their war 

        equipment. For government expenses, taxes were imposed on the citi-

        zens, and the king made the people subject to labor for his construction  

        projects, anything from roads, to temples, to fortresses. 

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                   The Canaanite language belongs to the Northwest group of the 

        Semitic languages.  There were many local varieties and dialects, and 

        significant linguistic differences between various branches of the Canaa-

        nite language.  Nonetheless, the Canaanite language is rather homoge-

        nous.  Before 2000 B.C., a Canaanite script was in use containing about 

        80 characters. It shows the use of mostly three-consonants in forming 

        root words, but a number of 2-consonant and 4-consonant root words 

        exist.  As is the case in other Semitic tongues, including Hebrew, the 

        consonants are responsible for the basic meaning of the root, & through 

        the vowels, the meaning is modified.  Canaanite and Hebrew both used 

        ha as a prefix to words that was equivalent to the English “the”; this 

        came relatively late in the development of Canaanite language.   
              Through the excavations at Ras Shamra, a great part of the ancient

        Canaanite literature has been found. The texts are written on clay tablets,

        with a script invented by the Canaanites on the basis of the Cuneiform 

        system of writing.  The chief of the Ugaritic organization of gods is 'Il, a

        sky god.  He is father of the other gods & ruler over the assembly of the 

        gods on Mount Cassius.  Baal & Anat are 2 other important gods. They 

        are husband & wife & may be roughly compared with 2 Mesopotamian

        deities, Tammuz, & Ishtar.  Baal & Anat are vegetation deities.  Undoub-

        tedly, Baal is a dying and reviving deity, and through the cult which is

        performed for him, life and prosperity are granted to his worshipers  

        through the king, who represents Baal in the cult performances.

CANALS (יארים (yeh or eem), streams, canals) A word referring to the 

        Nile's Delta arms and the network of waterways in the Delta of Egypt.

CANANAEAN  (kananaioV (ka na nay ee os), zealot).  A descriptive 

        term in Matthew 10 and Mark 3 for a certain Simon, a disciple of Jesus, to 

        distinguish him from Simon Peter.  In Luke 6 & Acts 1, the same disciple

        has the name Simon the Zealot.

CANDACE (Kandakh (kan da keh), queen) In Acts 8, a queen of 

        Ethiopia. “Candace” was a title, not a personal name.  It was used by a 

        number of queens of the Ethiopian kingdom of Meroe on the Nile.  The 

        Candace of Acts cannot be identified with any queen mentioned outside 

        the Bible. The title apparently applied to the reigning queen mother, and 

        was used by queens in Augustus’ (25 A.D.) and Nero’s (61 A.D.) times. 

CANDLE. The King James Version translation of ניר (neer), and lucnoV  

        (luk nos).  Candles were not used in biblical times. “Lamp” or “light” is 

        a better translation.

CANE (קנה (kay neh)) An aromatic reed, apparently from India, from which 

        a sweet-smelling oil was extracted.

CANKER. King James Version translation of gaggraina (gag gra hee

        na). Revised Standard Version translates it as "gangrene."  

CANKERWORM. King James Version translation of yelek.  Revised Standard 

        Version translates it as either “hopping locust” or “hopper.”

CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.  (See Introduction)

CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. (See Introduction)

CANOPY (סכה (sook kaw), booth, tent, thicket)  An overhead cover of 

        some sort.  There is a canopy over a vestibule at Solomon's House (I 

        King 7) and Ezekiel's temple (Ezekiel 41). The term is used figuratively

        as the protective canopy over the restored Jerusalem & darkness as the 

        canopy for the presence of Yahweh.  The “royal canopy” is the symbol 

        of royal power which Nebuchadnezzar will establish over Egypt.

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CAP (מגבעה (mig bah ‘ah))  A conical-shaped object of finely woven white 

        linen tied on the head of the priest, as a sign of his investiture.

CAPERNAUM (Kafarnaoum (kaph ar nah oom); כפרנחום (kah far 

        nakh oom), village of Nahum (comforted))  Although Capernaum was 

        named for some person called Nahum, there is no proof of any relation

        to the Old Testament prophet of that name.  It is now certain that 

        Capernaum is Tell Hum on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. 

        It is along the coast on a narrow plain.  Its importance is indicated by 

        the fact that it is regularly called a “city,” in the gospels and that its 

        ruins cover a mile-long strip.  Its prosperity was promoted because it 

        was close to the East-West trade route which crossed the Jordan to the 

        North of Capernaum. 

                   Among the ruins is an octagonal-shaped building known as 

        Peter's house; it is more likely the remains of a church, perhaps from 

        the 400s A.D.  The most striking ruins are those of one of the best 

        preserved synagogues in Palestine.  The ruins are mostly likely from 

        the 200s A.D., but they may well be on the site of the synagogue 

        mentioned in Luke 7.  The synagogue is 20 meters long, two stories 

        high, and made of white limestone instead of the local black basalt.  

        The remains reveal a surprising variety of animal, mythological, and

        geometric figures.  There is a unique likeness of what looks like a 

        small temple on wheels, but it is probably a picture of a carriage 

        and not of the ark.

                   Capernaum is one of the most important cities in the gospels, 

        especially in Jesus' Galilean ministry.  Capernaum is named specifi-

        cally as the setting of many incidents and is implied in others.  The 

        synagogue is the place where Jesus healed a man with an unclean 

        spirit (Mk. 1; Lk. 4), and it is the synagogue built by the centurion 

        whose servant Jesus healed (Mt. 8).  In Capernaum, Jesus healed the

        paralytic (Mk. 2), held discussions on true greatness (Mk. 9), and on

        paying the half-shekel tax. Although it was Jesus' home, it was 

        condemned along with those cities which had seen his mighty works    

        and had not repented (Mt. 11; Lk. 10).

CAPH (כ)  The 11th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, as placed in the King

        James Version at the head of the 11th section of the acrostic Psalm 119,

        where each verse of this section begins with this letter.

CAPHTOR (כפתר, round knob)  The place of origin of the Philistines.  On 

        the basis of geographical, historical, and literary considerations, it is 

        clear that the island of Crete, with which Egypt had commercial rela-

        tions after around 2200 B.C., is meant by this term.  Although biblical 

        tradition has this as the Philistine's origins, there is no evidence for a 

        Philistine occupation of Crete, nor do the facts about the Philistines 

        show any relationship between them and Crete.  It is quite possible that

        the Philistines adopted the traditions of a colony of Cretan mercenaries.

        More likely is the use of the term “Caphtor” in a broad sense for the 

        Aegean region.

CAPITAL (כתרת (koh teh reth), crown)  An ornamental carving on top of a 

        pillar.  There were capitals on top of the pillars of the tabernacle.

CAPPADOCIA (kappadokia)  In New Testament times, a large Roman 

        province in eastern Asia Minor.  The limits of Cappadocia varied greatly

        throughout history; in general it included the territory south of Pontus 

        and upper Halys River, East of Galatia and Lycaonia, north of Cilicia, 

        and west of Armenia.

                   Cappadocia was ruled by satraps under the Persians, who conti-

        nued under the Greeks after Alexander, & also after the Roman conquest.

        The last king to rule Cappodocia was Archelaus, who was accused of 

        treason and summoned to Rome, where he died after several years there 

        in 17 A.D.  At his death, Cappadocia was made an imperial province and

        placed under the direct rule of a procurator.  Cappadocia was a wild, 

        mountainous country with few large cities and known for its horses.  Its 

        position was strategic because of the roads which crossed it, such as the 

        one from the Cilician Gates across to Pontus.  Cappadocia possessed a 

        significant Jewish community as early as the 100s B.C.  The new Chris-

        tian religion seems to have flourished there, for by the 300s A.D. Cappo-

        docia was producing great leaders of the church.

CAPTAIN  (שר (sar), head; נשיא (naw see), exalted one; רב (rab), abun-

        dant (rank), master; ciliarcoV (kil ee ar kos))  The word “captain”

        is used by English version to render various Hebrew and Greek words 

        mainly because little is known of army ranks in biblical times.

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CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE  (o otrathgoV tou ierou (oh  ot ra teh gos

        tau eye rou))  The New Revised Standard Version translates it as “offi-

        cers of the temple”)  The officer second in authority only to the high 

        priest in the temple.  He was also a priest, having supervision over the 

        cult and the officiating priesthood, as the high priest's adjutant, as well 

        as over the group of Levites, themselves organized under “captains” 

        into corps of guards functioning as police.  The lesser “captains” would

        be in direct charge of the watchmen, the sentries, & the treasure guards.

        It isn't clear in Luke 22, which captain is being referred to in the scenes

        where Judas plots to betray Jesus and the actual betrayal.

CARAVAN (ארחה (oh rekh ah), company of travelers)  A group of people, 

        often merchants with pack animals, traveling together, especially through

        dangerous territory.  Local caravans in Israel transported goods from 

        one district to another, using mostly the ass; the camel, which came into

        use around 1100 B.C. was less common. The mostly Arab camel cara-

        vans mentioned in the Old Testament were engaged primarily in the 

        lucrative spice and incense trade.  It takes about 65 days to come by 

        camel to Gaza from southern Arabia.

CARBUNCLE  A red stone such as ruby or garnet.

CARCHEMISH  (כרכמיש, fortress of Carmosh (possibly idol))   An impor-

        tant Syro-Hittite capital on the Upper Euphrates.  Isaiah 10 speaks of the

        capture of it by the Assyrians, & it was here that Nebuchadrezzar defeated

        Pharaoh Neco II in 605 B.C.  The importance of Carchemish during and 

        just after the Amarna Age is becoming clarified by the royal Hittite ar-

       chives found at Ugarit.  Vassal kingdoms such as Ugarit were subject to 

        Carchemish within the Hittite imperial system.

CARE, CAREFULNESS (חרדה (khar ah dah) trembling;בטח (beh takh), 

        (without) care; דאגה (deh ah gah), anxiety; melo (me low), concern)  In 

        the Hebrew and Greek Bible the noun “care” translates at least 10 words,

        and the verb “care” translates at least 13 words with some variety of 

        meanings. The whole Hebrew-Christian tradition opens up the channels 

        of human awareness to the call of God and the claims of his law, to the 

        risks of disobedience, and to the presence and needs of others.  Over all

        are the care of God for God's people and God's attentiveness to their 

        condition.

CARKAS  (כרכס , vulture, eagle)  One of the 7 eunuchs who served Ahasuerus

        as chamberlains and whom he sent for Queen Vashti.

CARMEL (CITY)  (כרמל, vineyard, garden)  A village in the Maon district of

        Judah about 10 km south-southeast of Hebron.  Carmel was where Saul 

        erected a monument after defeating the Amalekites, & where an incident 

        took place between David and Nabal, after which David took Nabal's 

        widow for a wife.

CARMEL (MOUNT) (הכרמל (ha car mel), the garden or orchard)  A promi-

        nent mountain on the coast of Palestine, stretching some 21 km in a south-

        easterly direction.  It is 144 meters high at the headlands along the coast, 

        and 536 meters high at its peak.  It was famous for a luxuriant growth of 

        plants in ancient times, which still covers its slopes today.  Mount Carmel

        splits the Palestinian coastal plain into 2 parts, the Plain of Acco stret-

        ching to the north, and the plains of Sharon and Philistia to the south.  

        Between the head-land and the sea is a narrow beach road, but it was 

        most often not used.      

                   During the Stone Age, caves in its western slopes were inhabited 

        by early man.  The first mentions of the mountain in written history are 

        in the lists of Thut-moses III, Ramses II, and Ramses III, where it was 

        probably called Rosh Qidshu (holy cape); this suggests that the mountain

        was an early holy place or sanctuary.  In I Kings 18, it is the scene of the 

        contest between the prophets of Baal and Elijah.  In II Kings, it seems to 

        have served as Elisha's spiritual retreat.

CARMI (כרמי, vine-dresser)  1.  A son of Reuben, listed as the last of four 

        sons, who lends his name as ancestor to the “family of the Carmites.”

                  2.  A Judahite, the father of Achan who violated the ban on taking 

        spoils from Jericho.

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CARNAL (שכבת זרע, (shek o beth  zeh rah) to lie down and scatter seed; 

        sarkikoV (sar ki kos))  “Carnal” is either the same as the English word 

        “material” or describes human nature when under the domination of its 

        lower, sinful impulses.  Without sexual connotations, the adverb is used 

        in the King James Version; the phrase is translated as “to set the mind on

        the flesh” in the Revised Standard Version.

CARNELIAN (אדם (‘a dam), to be red; sardion (sar dee on) A variety of 

        quartz of a clear deep-red, light flesh, or reddish-white color. It is one of

        the few stones noted in the Bible which are found in any quantity in 

        Palestine archaeological sites.  It is a stone in the covering of the king of

        Tyre (Ezekiel 28), and it is the sixth jewel in the wall of New Jerusalem 

        (Revelation 4).

CARPENTER (חרש (khaw rawsh), tektwn (tek ton))  A craftsman who built

        yokes, plows, threshing boards, benches, beds, boxes, coffins, boats, and

        houses, and worked on temple and synagogue.  The Greek word tekton 

        is used only for Joseph and Jesus.

                   The carpenter built the upper story on stone houses and made 

        repairs.  Both dowels and nails, as well as mortised, dovetail, & mitered 

        joints, were used to join wood together. David & Solomon both imported

        Tyrian carpenters to work on the palace and temple.  In the latest Old 

        Testament times there were carpenter guilds.  In Christian symbolism, 

        the carpenter's square is used for Jude and Thomas, and a saw is the 

        symbol of James the Less.

CARPET (גנז (gen az), treasury; מדין (mid yawn), contentious, judgment.  

        The meaning of both these terms is in doubt.) “Carpet” is derived from 

        the context in which the word is used in Ezekiel 27 and Esther 3 and 4. 

        In Judges 5 it refers to something on which people sit.  Professional 

        storytellers or bards might well have had such informal soapboxes.   

CARPUS (karpoV)  A resident of Troas with whom Paul had left a cloak.  

        In II Timothy 4, Paul asked Timothy to bring him a cloak which he had 

        left with Carpus.

CARRIAGE (כלי (kel ee); כבודה (keb ou dah), episkeuasamenoi (eh pis 

        ke oo as ah meh noy))  In each instance the reference in the King James 

        Version is to the object being carried, not to a means of carrying it.  The

        Revised Standard Version translates these words as “burden.”

CARSHENA (כרשנא)  One of the 7 princes & wise men of King Ahasuerus.

CART (עגלה (‘ag ah law), wheel)  Hebrew does not separate words for the 

        lighter, two-wheeled “cart” and the heavier four-wheeled vehicle.  Such

        distinctions must be drawn from the context of their biblical use.

CARVING  (חרשת (khar oh sheth); פסיל (pes eel))  Something cut, especially

        in an artistic manner.  Although carving is mentioned in Exodus 31 and 

        35, II Samuel 5 & I Kings 5 support the view that such craftsmen were 

        trained in Israel only under the monarchy, as both David and Solomon 

        had to use carpenters and masons from Tyre and Phoenicia.  References

        to carved figures are either satiric allusions to idols & their manufacture

        or are references to wood, stone, and metal objects in either the tent of 

        meeting or the Jerusalem temple.  While the text does not use “carve” 

        with reference to the inner sanctuary cherubim, it is obvious that these 

        creatures of olivewood, each 4.6 m high, represent a good deal of joinery

        and carving (I Kings 6).

CASIPHIA (כספא, place of silver)  A “place” from which Ezra obtained 

        Levites for temple service in Jerusalem (Ezra 8).  It assumed to have 

        been in Babylonia, perhaps close to the route of Ezra's trip to Judah. 

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CASLUHIM  (כסלחים, perhaps from the Hebrew root meaning “foolish”)  A 

        term of unknown origin that occurs in the lists of Genesis 10 and I Chro-

        nicles 1 as the name of an offspring of Mizraim (Egypt) and the source 

        of the Philistines.

CASSIA (קדה (keed dah))  Aromatic bark of an oriental tree.  It refers to an

        ingredient of the holy anointing oil, & it is an article of trade with Tyre.

        In Psalm 45, it is mentioned along with myrrh and aloes in describing 

        the fragrance of the royal robes.

     

CASTLE  (ארמון (ar mone); מצודה (met soo dah); טירה (tee  rah),     

        parembolh (par em bo lay))   Archaeological examples of a “castle” 

        are the little fortress of Saul, rude but strong for its time & place, excavated 

        at Gibeah, and the Herodian “castle of Antonia.” 

CATARACT (צנור (tsin noor))   Possibly an allusion to the waterfalls at et-

        Tannur on the most westerly source of the Jordan, or Nahr Banias, the 

        most easterly source of the Jordan, which bursts noisily forth from a cave

        at the foot of Mount Hermon.  It could also refer to the waters of the 

        underworld.

CATERPILLAR (חסיל (khaw seel))  The wormlike larva of a butterfly, moth,  

        and sometimes other insects, it is use to identify destructive insects in 

        Joel 1 and 2.

CATHOLIC LETTERS  Traditional designation of the group of documents in

        the New Testament which are: James; I and II Peter; I, II, and III John; 

        and Jude.

                   “Catholic” in English is derived from the Greek word kaqolikos 

        (ka tho li kos, general).  Cyril of Jerusalem says: “The church is called 

        Catholic because it extends over all the world . . . and because it teaches 

        universally and completely one and all the doctrines which ought to come 

        to men's knowledge. The idea that Catholic means “universal” was gene-

        rally accepted throughout the East during the first 4 centuries.  Our letters 

        are intended for general circulation, as opposed to Paul's letters, which 

        have a specific address.

                   In the 300s Eusebius applied “catholic” to the group of 7 non-

        Pauline letters in the New Testament, noting that most of them were dis-

        puted.  The Roman Muratorian Canon of around 200 includes only Jude,

        I and II John of the seven.  Origen lists among the universally accepted 

        writings I Peter and I John, although he himself regards the other five as 

        canonical.  The Syrian Peshitta Version of around 425 A.D. lists James, I 

        Peter, & I John.  The location of the Catholic letters in the New Testament

        has been in different places over the years, because of their limited accep-

        tance by the Christian community.

CATTLE (בהמה (beh hay mah); מקנה (mik neh); צאן (tseh ‘own), flock)  

        Domesticated bovine animals; in biblical usage often including sheep and 

        goats and sometimes other animals. 

                   “Cattle” may designate both wild and domesticated animals.  All 

        of them are subject to the law of firstlings; like all the other animals, cattle

        are divided into clean & unclean.  The possession of much livestock is the

        mark of position and wealth.  Cattle are liable to taxation or even confisca-

        tion by a foreign overlord, and may become part of the booty of war.

CAUDA  (Kauda)  A small island south of Crete; the modern Gaudos.  It was

        skirted by Paul's ship en route to Rome.  He was driven south of Crete, and

        along with his companions had to jettison their cargo and prepare the ship 

        for the tempest.

CAUL (יתרת (yo theh reth); סגור (seg ore))  In Exodus 29, the King James 

        Version translation of yothereth, or the fatty mass which surrounds the 

        liver.  In Hosea 13, the King James Version translation of segore, that is 

        the pericardium or covering of the heart.

CAULKERS (מחציקי בדק (meh kha tsay kay  bah da kake), those who 

        make strong your (Tyre's) leaks)

                   Those who drive some suitable substance (such as oakum) into the

        seams of a ship's planking to render them watertight.  Before the Greek 

        age, the material generally used for caulking ships appears to have been 

        bitumen, which was usually mixed with other substances to form a sticky 

        mixture. 

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CAVALRY  (ippikoV (ip pih kos))  A term occurring only in Revelation 9,    

        where it refers to troops riding demonic, lion-headed horses.  They ap-

        peared when the 4 angels bound at the Euphrates River were released; 

        they were part of an apocalyptic vision of destruction.

CAVE  (מערה (meh aw raw); sphlaion, (spay lah yon))  Natural & artificial

        caves are numerous in the limestone & sandstone hills of Palestine & the

        eastern Jordan area & are frequently mentioned as places of residence, 

        refuge, and burial.

                   Caves are mentioned most frequently in the Old Testament in 

        connection with the early settlement of the land of Canaan.  Mach-pelah,

        identified with the grotto beneath the mosque at Hebron, was purchased 

        by Abraham for use as a sepulcher for Sarah; tradition identifies the 

        same cave as Abraham's, Issac's, Rebekah's, and Leah's tomb.

                   The Israelites were forced to use caves as places of refuge during 

        times of oppression by the Midianites.  David escaped Saul by fleeing to

        the cave of Adullam.  Elijah fled to a cave in Mount Horeb when his life 

        was threatened by Jezebel.  Thousands of caves have been discovered as 

        a result of archaeological exploration.  The excavation of large caves, 

        such as those located between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea, & on Mount

        Carmel, has demonstrated that they were occupied sometimes from the 

        Stone Age to the present. Natural and artificial caves used as tombs have

        been found in Gezer, Beth-shemesh, Jerusalem, Megiddo, etc. (See also 

        the entry in the Old Testament Apocrypha/Influences Outside the Bible 

        section of the Appendix.). 

                   Because robbers often used caves in the mountains as their head-

        quarters, the figure of speech “den of robbers” (Jeremiah 7; Matthew 21;

        Mark 11; Luke 19) implies a cave where evil deeds are planned. Chris- 

        tian & Muslim shrines have been erected over ancient caves in such 

        places as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, & Nazareth.  Their actual iden-

        tification with biblical sites remains uncertain because of the absence

        of archaeological data. 

CEDAR  (ארז ('e rez))  The mountains of Lebanon provided the major source

        of cedar.  In addition to pillars, cedar was used for roofing, supporting 

        beams, ceilings, paneling, and even for carved work.  Cedar was used as

        a symbol for strength.  Cedar wood together with Hyssop and “scarlet 

        stuff,” was used in the leprosy purification rite.

CEILING (ספן (sip poon))  Used only in the description of Solomon's temple

        (1 Kings 6).

CELESTIAL BODIES (swmata epourania (so ma tah  ep oo pa nee ah)  

        Paul uses this term to refer to the sun, moon, and stars, which he under-

       stands as beings clothed in bodies of light which are substantially diffe-

        rent from earthly bodies.

CELIBACY Voluntary abstention from marriage.  This concept is unknown in the

        Bible unless alluded to in Matthew 19 or I Corinthians 7 (See also Marriage

        and Essenes).

CELLAR (אוצר (‘oh tsaw); krupth (krup teh))  The Hebrew word is generally

        translated treasury. Only once in I Chronicles 27 is it translated “cellar”.  

        Having a room below ground level is not common in Palestine.

CENCHREAE (Kegcreai (keg kray eye))  A seaport about 11 km east of 

        Corinth.  Paul stopped there on his way to Syria with Priscilla and Aquila 

        (Acts 18); Phoebe is a deacon from the church there (Romans 16).

CENSER (מחתה (makh taw))  A portable ladle or shovel-like device for car-

        rying live coals, etc., and for burning incense.  The implements used for 

        this double function in the tabernacle and temple included shallow, open-

        topped pans of bronze.  The right to use the censer in the temple was a 

        zealously guarded prerogative of the Aaronic priesthood.  It is part of the 

        purification ritual of the Day of Atonement.

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CENSUS (פקדים (pek ood deem), census officer; מספר (mis pawr), num-

        bering, counting; apografh (ah po gra  pha)  The numbering or enroll-

        ment of a people, among Hebrews according to tribe, family, and lineage.  

        It was also used for taxation, determining manpower for war, & allotting 

        Levitic work in cultic service. 

                   The first census was effected at Mount Sinai in the second month 

        during the second year after the exodus from Egypt (Numbers 1).  Of 

        males 20 years old and over, able to bear arms, there were 603,550.  The

        Levites one month old and over numbered 22,000.  The Levites were 

        then to be the Lord's in place of all the first-born males of Israel, who 

        numbered slightly over 22,000.  The males from 30 to 50 years old who 

        could serve in the tent of meeting, from the sons of Korab, Gershom, and

        Merari, numbered 8,580.  At Shittim in Moab, another census was taken 

        at the close of the 40 years of wandering (Numbers 26).  The men 20 and

        over numbered 601,730. The Levite males numbered 23,000.

                   Near the end of his reign, David commanded Joab and the military

        commanders to number Israel from Dan to Beersheba in both II Samuel 

        24 and I Chronicles 21 (in the Samuel passage, the Lord commanded 

        David to do so; in Chronicles, the devil enticed David to count heads).  

        Joab reported 800,000 men available for the military from Israel, and 

        500,000 from Judah in the Samuel passage.  The same census in I Chroni-

        cles was reported as 1,100,000 in Israel, and 470,000 in Judah.  In both 

        accounts Joab vainly tries to dissuade David from his intention, and the 

        Lord sends a pestilence upon Israel as punishment for the sin of counting 

        heads. It has been suggested that the figures given in Numbers actually 

        reflect the Davidic census.

                  In the New Testament the enrollment under Augustus during the 

        governorship of Quirinius is noted in Luke 2 as taking place near the time

        of Jesus' birth.

CENTURION  (kenturiwn)  The commanding officer of a “century,” nomi-

        nally 100 foot soldiers, in the Roman Army.  There were 10 centurions in

        a cohort & 60 in a legion, regardless of whether there were actually more

        or less than the 6,000 that a legion should have.

                   The centurions were the actual working officers, the backbone of 

        the army.  The discipline and efficiency of the legion as fighting unit 

        depended on them.  Centurions were required not to be bold & adventu-

        rous so much as good leaders, steady and& prudent, and able when over-

        whelmed to stand fast and die at their post.  Career men, the centurions 

        were often the most experienced and best-informed men in the army. 

                   The office was the highest to which the ordinary soldier might 

        aspire.  The centurion might be promoted, slowly or rapidly, as the case 

        might be, in an ascending scale of responsibility, from cohort to cohort, 

        even from legion to legion, until he became the senior centurion, the 

        primus pilus, of the first of the ten cohorts of his legion.  Even in the case

        of legions recruited locally, the centurions would most often be Roman.  

        This promotion system by transfer provided varied experience and wide 

        knowledge of the Empire.

                   His duties included: discipline (scourging and the execution of 

        capital penalties); drills, inspection of arms, quartermaster duties, and 

        command in camp and field.  He might be detailed for command of the 

        auxiliaries, which would seem to have separated them temporarily from 

        their legions.  In addition to the prestige associated with the office, the 

        high pay and generous bonus granted on discharge made the prospect of 

        becoming primus pilus very attractive to the ambitious soldier.  Often such

        officers remained in the army much longer than the required twenty years.

                   Centurions figure frequently in the New Testament, more than any 

        other army officer.  In Matthew 8 and Luke 7, the 1^st Gentile to confront 

        Jesus is a centurion.  He is wealthy, he “loves” the Jewish “nation,” he 

        built the synagogue, and although he has abjectly obedient soldiers under 

        him, yet he humbles himself before Jesus.  The centurion in charge of the 

        Crucifixion is the first Gentile to make the Christian witness that Jesus is 

        the son of God.  The centurion Cornelius' conversion in Acts is important 

        enough to be called the Gentile Pentecost.  & finally, Paul is “delivered . . .

        to a centurion” for safe conduct to Rome.

CEREMONIAL LAW  Law concerned primarily with the festivals and cultic 

        practices of Israel.  (See also Law (OT), Worship (OT), Feasts and Fasts).

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CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE (כריתות ספר (sef ar  keh ree thooth); 

        biblion apostasiou (bib lee on  ah   pos ee as ee oo))  

        A document which a man under Jewish law was obligated to give his wife if 

        he divorced her.  A woman was not permitted under any circumstances di-

        vorce her husband.  

                   Jesus said that Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to 

        sin, and stated that what God had joined in marriage the husband was not 

        to put asunder.

CHAFF (מץ (motes); acuron (ak up on))  The fine dry material blown away

        by the wind in the process of winnowing.  All biblical references to chaff

        are figures of speech denoting evil about to be destroyed.

CHALDEA  A region in southern Babylonia.  “Chaldeans” refers to people 

        of this region and also to the last dynasty of Babylon.

                   From the 800s B.C. onward we read about the country of Kaldu, a 

        region of swamps, canebrakes, and lakes. The region was divided into 

        tribal areas, called “houses,” of more or less definable geographical distri-

        bution, under leadership of tribal chieftains.  In their isolation, these 

        people kept to themselves and developed a tradition of independence.

                   Chaldeans apparently spoke the Akkadian dialects of the city 

        people, but they shifted to Aramaic earlier and more easily than them.  

        What separated the Chaldeans from the city-dwellers is not a difference 

        in cultural tradition, but a difference in the social setup.  The Chaldeans 

        lived in loosely organized tribal groups, shifting allegiances according to  

        the momentary distribution of wealth & power.  They refused to pay taxes,

        to render services, or to recognize any loyalty beyond the clan, and they 

        were ready to plunder the riches of the city and waylay its caravans.  In 

        short, they were the natural enemies of all urbanized society.

                When the Assyrians moved into the region, the Chaldeans became 

        the leaders & carriers of the anti-Assyrian movement, & the city-dwellers 

        became mostly pro-Assyrian.  Babylon's city was a power unto itself, a 

        symbol of political aspiration & cultural power, so the fight for supremacy

    `   in the land of Chaldea was between the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and 

        the Chaldeans.

                   Chaldean rulers were perfectly prepared for the type of warfare 

        brought about by such a situation.  Intertribal intrigues, guerrilla warfare,

        sudden attacks and flights, and complete disregard for treaties made these

        tenacious and crafty chieftains a dangerous enemy.  After nearly two centu-

        ries of victories & defeats they became the undisputed rulers of a Babylo-

        nian empire that stretched as far as Egypt and Cilicia.

                   The period’s political situation was such that Chaldean rulers made

        use of Elam to the east, far-off Assyrian vassals, and anti-Assyrian parties 

        in the cities.  Elam was often ready to send expeditionary forces in support

        of the Chaldeans, & to grant asylum to a rebellion’s leaders.  Vassals such 

        as Hezekiah were often involved with intrigues requiring Assyrian attention

        and resources.  During the 700s and 600s, the Chaldeans were alternately 

        vassals and rebels, as the ebb and surge of Assyrian power dictated.

                   With the death of Ashurbanipal in 629, the Chaldean Dynasty begins

        with Nabopolassar.  Together with the Medes he conquered Assyria's Nine-

        veh in 614.  His son Nebuchadrezzar II ruled from 605-562, & was power-

        ful enough to throw the Egyptians out of Syria & Palestine.  Nebuchadrez-

        zar's son & son-in-law ruled for only a short time after him.  In the final

        phase of the Chaldeans, many Babylonians became known as Chaldeans

        and went into the world as magicians, astrologers, & diviners of all sorts.    

CHALKSTONES  (גר אבני, ‘eben ay  gheer)  The Senonian chalk out-

        cropping which is mostly to the east and is found to a lesser extent west 

        and north of the Judean hills, is soft, easily eroded, and nearly infertile.

CHAMBER  (a.) חדר (kheh der), the word translated as “chamber” most often 

        in the Bible.  b.) לשכה (lish kaw), various rooms associated with the 

        sanctuary. c.) עליה ('al ee yaw), upper chamber, used for the Lord's

         heavenly abode. d.) תא (taw), King James Version “little chamber,” Re-

        vised Standard Version uses “guard-room,” to mean recessed chambers in 

        the gateway. e.) uperwon (oop er oh on) Private or secret chamber.

CHAMBERLAIN (סרים (saw reece); koitwn (koy tone))  One of the officers in

        charge of the private quarters of a king or noble.  Like the cupbearer, he 

        was able to be close to his sovereign by winning his confidence.  Since 

        they sometimes dealt with women's bedrooms, they were often eunuchs.

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CHAMBERS OF THE SOUTH (תימן חדרי (kher de ray  tay mawn))  A 

        group of stars mentioned in Job 9 beside the Great Bear.  Identification 

        of this phrase is uncertain; it could refer, not to stars, but to the vacant 

        stretches of the southern sky.

CHAMELEON  (כח (ko akh))  A small, lizard-like animal inhabiting trees, 

        notable for the way in which it changes the color its skin.

CHAMOIS  (זמר (zeh mer))  The chamois is a small, goat-like antelope, 

        strongly built & very surefooted, but not elegant in appearance, about 

        60 cm high at the withers.  It is found mostly in mountainous forest 

        regions.

CHAMPAIGN  Word used in the King James Version to translate two dif-

        ferent Hebrew words, in Ezekiel 37.2 & Deuteronomy 11.30.  The word

         is from Middle English champayne, “open, unenclosed land, plain.”

CHAMPION  (הבנים איש (‘eesh  ha ben nay yeem), the man of the space 

        between; גבור (ghib bore), mighty one, warrior)  A term applied to 

        Goliath.  He stood for his army in no man's land between the camps of

        the Israelites and the Philistines.

CHANCELLOR (בעל־טעם (bal teh ‘aim), lord of favor)  King James 

        Version translation of the Hebrew phrase used for an officer in the 

        Persian court in Ezra 4.  The Revised Standard Version uses “com-

        mander,” the New Revised Standard Version uses “royal deputy.”

CHANGE OF RAIMENT (GARMENTS)  (שמלת חלפות (khe lef ote  sim 

        ah lote)) King James Version translation of phrase in Genesis 45.  The 

        Revised Standard Version uses “festal garment."

CHANNELS OF THE SEA  (אפקי ים (aw feek yam), stream bed of the sea)

        The channels which control & direct the flow of the sea that surrounds

        the earth and overlies the underworld.

CHAOS  (אפל (‘aw fail); תהו (toe hoo))  Properly, a trackless waste.  

        “Chaos” needs to be understood in the original Greek sense of “void, 

        empty space,” rather than as a synonym for “confusion.”

CHARACTERS, COMMON (אנוש חרט (kheh ret  ‘en oshe), common 

        writing style)  “Common characters” is used for letters that are shared 

        in common by a majority of literate people.  The phrase is used in 

        Isaiah 8.1.

CHARCOAL  (פחם (peh kham); anqrakia (an thra kee ah))  Fuel made 

        from charred wood was the common fuel in the Bible; mineral coal 

        was unknown in biblical times.

CHARGER (קערה (keh aw rah))  The King James Version translation of 

        the Hebrew word meaning a large flat serving dish.

CHARGERS  (פרשים (par esh eem))  Spirited horses used in battle to 

        attack enemy forces or positions.

CHARIOT  (רכב (reh keb); מרכב (mer kah bah); arma (ar ma))  Wheeled 

        vehicles drawn by asses are attested in Mesopatamia shortly before 

        3000 B.C.  A model from this period shows a single rider on a chariot 

        made of two disk-wheels, on which was mounted a heavy pole and a 

        simple board.  The earliest spoked wheels were in the time of Hammu- 

        rabi (1792-1750 B.C.); either four or six spokes were used, mostly the 

        latter.  Eight-spoked wheels appeared under Ashurnasirpal II.

                   The body of the chariot was probably four-cornered made of light

        wickerwork, open at the back, with a very high dashboard, to which 

        was attached a case for spears, battle-ax and whip.  The axle was usually

        under the rear of the chariot.  The chariot usually ran low to ground, 

        although there were exceptions to this.  The chariot was manned by two

        men in the Egyptian and early Assyrian forms.  The Hittite chariot was 

        manned by a third (a shield bearer) as well, and this form was adopted 

        in Assyria shortly before 1000 B.C. 

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                   It was the increasing use of the horse that revolutionized ancient 

        warfare. The importance of the chariot for warfare is demonstrated in 

        numerous inscriptions.  The Hyksos were able to conquer most of Syria 

        and Egypt from around 1800 to 1600 B.C.; they were the ones who intro-

        duced chariots into Canaan.  When the Israelites invaded Canaan, they 

        found the Canaanite iron chariots too formidable to permit conquest of 

        the plains.  Because chariots were of no use in the hill country, the Israe-  

        lites were gradually able to conquer it.

                   David's victories over the Philistines were doubtlessly due to his 

        use of chariots against the Philistine chariots.  Chariots were also used in 

        the dynastic struggles of Absalom & Adonijah.  Solomon later developed

        a chariot army in order to put his army on a par with, or on a higher level

        than, those of his neighbors.  After the division of the kingdom into Israel

        (North) & Judah (South), the chariot was prominent in Israel's army.  In 

        Judah, chariots were less developed, and used less, doubtlessly in large 

        part because of the hilly terrain.

                   The chariot was not only used for warfare, but in ordinary life for 

        the pomp & pleasure of kings & their principal officers as well.  Chariots 

        are often mentioned as symbolic of royal dignity.  Also, the notion of 

        chariots and charioteers of the deity was a widespread one in the Near 

        East.  The “chariot of fire and horses of fire” which transported Elijah to 

        heaven probably reflect an ancient solar legend.  In Zechariah's last night

        vision (Zechariah 6), 4 heavenly chariots are sent out in 4 directions as 

        messengers of God to the Dispersion.  In the New Testament, the chariot 

        of the Ethiopian eunuch was most likely for personal transport, and not 

        for war.

CHARIOTEER  (רכב (rak kab))  The driver of a chariot; the word is used in 

        I Kings 22 and II Chronicles 18.

CHARISMATA  (Carismata)  Basically, favors, endowments, graces, 

        offices, all bestowed by God's grace without claim of merit whatsoever 

        on man's part.

CHARITY.  (agaph (ah gop ay))  The King James Version translation of 

        agape.  The Revised Standard Version translates it as (unconditional) 

        love.

CHARMER (הבר (ho bar))  A charmer who uses spells or charms to achieve 

        magic effects. 

CHASM (Casma)  A cleft or pit which separates 2 places.  The word occurs    

        in the New Testament only in Luke 16, where after death a valley separates

        the rich man in Hades from Lazarus in Abraham's bosom.

CHEBAR (כבר, abundance)  The exiles among whom Ezekiel lived were lo-

        cated at the village Tel-abib on the River Chebar; it was here that Ezekiel 

        received the prophetic vision.

CHECKER WORK (1.  שבכה (seb ah kaw); תשבץ כתנת (keth oh neth  

        tash bates), checkered coat)    1.  Part of the temple pillars' ornamentation, 

        probably a criss-crossed design.      2.  A kind of weaving used in making 

        the high priest's tunic, mostly likely in a checkered design.

CHEDORLAOMER  (כדרלעמר, handful of sheaves)  King of Elam who led 

        a punitive campaign against 5 kings in southern Palestine and routed them

        in the Valley of Siddim; he was eventually defeated by Abram and his asso-

        ciates.  The name could also mean “servant of (the god) Lagamar.”

CHEESE (שפה (shah fah); גבנה (gheb ee naw))  Cheese appears twice in 

        a list of provisions: those brought by David to his brothers; and those re-

        ceived by David at Nahanaim.  In Job it is used symbolically by Job to de-

        scribe God's treatment of him.  In biblical times cheese was prepared by 

        salting the strained curds, shaping them into small disks, and drying them 

        in the open air.

 CHELAL(ﬤלל, perfection)  One of Pahath-moab's sons who were forced 

        by Ezra to give up their foreign wives.

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CHELUB  (כלוב, basket or cage)    1.  A descendent of Judah; possibly it is a 

        misspelling of “Caleb.”      2.  The father of Ezri, one of David's officials.

CHELUHI (כלהי)  One of those whom Ezra forced to give up their foreign 

        wives.

CHEMOSH (כמוש, subduer (possibly))  The name or title of the god of the 

        Moabites, sometimes connected with Ashtar.  Solomon built a sanctuary of

        Chemosh on the mountain east of Jerusalem; it was abolished by Josiah.

CHENAANAH (כנענה, low)    1.  The father of Zedekiah the false prophet.      

        2. Listed as part of the tribe of Benjamin (probably incorrectly as the list in

        question is more likely that of one of the tribes of Zebulun.)

CHENANI  (כנני, protector)  A postexilic Levite who was present at Ezra's 

        public reading of the law.

CHENANIAH  (כנניהו, Yahweh strengthens)    1.  A leader of the Levites in 

        “lifting up” either the ark or their voices in song (the object of the Hebrew

        word is unclear).      2.  An Isharite appointed for official duties outside the

        temple.

CHEPHAR-AMMONI  (העמוני כפר , Ammonite village) A town in Benjamin, 

        apparently so called because it was settled by Ammonites.  The site is 

        unknown.

CHEPHIRAH  (כפירה)  A Hivvite city which followed the lead of Gibeon in 

        making terms with the Israelites.  It was resettled after the Babylonian

        exile.  Its site is southwest of Gibeon.

CHERAN  (כרן, harp)  The fourth son of clan chief Dishon; ancestor of a native

        Horite subclan in Edom.

CHERETHITES AND PELETHITES (פלתי כרתי)  Groups which constituted 

        a section of David's personal army.  They joined him after he defeated the 

        Philistines and were part of his bodyguard after he was established in 

        Jerusalem; Benaiah, son of Jehoiada was their leader.  Their loyalty to 

        David was absolute and was proved by their remaining loyal to him on his 

        flight from Jerusalem because of Absalom, & by their support of Solomon

        as king.

                   The name Cherethite most probably meant Cretans and alluded to 

        the Aegean origin of part of the Sea Peoples who settled along the 

        southern coast of Palestine with the Philistines, or to a band of Cretan   

        mercenaries. The Pelethites were most likely recruited from the ranks of 

        the Philistines with whom David had come in close contact.

CHERITH, BROOK (נחל כרית (nakh al  ker eeth), nakhal=stream; 

        cherith=a cutting)  A stream where Elijah was told to hide; he remained 

        there until the stream dried up because of the drought.  It must have been 

        one of the wadies in Gilead where there were many caves in the hills. 

CHERUB (ANGEL)  (כרוב)  A winged bull, or similar mythological beast, 

        adopted by the Israelites from earlier Mesopotamian and Canaanite 

        mythology.

CHERUB (TOWN)  A Babylonian place; still unidentified, from which Jewish

        exiles, who couldn't prove their ancestry with genealogical records,

        returned to Palestine.

CHESALON  (כסלון, hope)  A city along the northern section of Judah's boun-

        dary, bordering on Dan, about 14 km west of Jerusalem, in a region once 

        noted for its oak forests.

CHESED (כשד)  The fourth son of Nahor & Milcah, and probably the Aramean

        ancestor of the Chaldeans.

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CHESIL (כסיל, fool) A city of Judah in the Negeb district of Hormah; its present

        location is unknown.

CHESNUT (ערמון (‘ar moan), plane tree)  The King James Version translation 

        of the Hebrew word.  The Revised Standard Version translates it as “plane  

        tree.”        

 CHEST (ארון (‘ah rone)) A box, probably of considerable size, which was 

        placed beside the altar of the Jerusalem temple or outside the temple gate

        to receive the offerings toward the repair of the temple under Joash.

CHESULLOTH (כסולות, hopes) A border town in Issachar, the same as Chis-

        loth-Tabor about 5 km southeast of Nazareth.

CHETH (ח)  The eighth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet as placed in the King 

        James Version at the head of the eighth section of the acrostic Psalm 119,

        where each verse of this section of the psalm begins with this letter.

CHEZIB (כזיב, from the root “to lie, falsehood”) A place, perhaps the same as 

        Achzib.

CHIDON (כידן, spear)  In I Chronicles 13, the name of the threshing floor, and

        or its owner, where Uzzah was struck dead for touching the ark.

CHIEF (שר(sar); נשא (nah see); ראש (roshe); מנצח (meh nats tsakh); 

        arciereuV (ar khee er yuce); ciliarcoV (khil ee ar khos))  A term 

        preferred by the Revised Standard Version, which designates the leader of 

        a family, clan, tribe, or group of workers in the temple.

CHIEF PRIEST (הראש הכהן, ha ko hane  ha roshe)  In addition to the 

        actual use of the term, certain references to Aaron veil a reference to the 

        chief priest.

CHILD  (ילד (yeh led); נער (nah ‘ar); paidion (pa hee dee on))  The 

        importance of children in the Bible is attested by the numerous allusions 

        to them. The child in relation to the family was the recipient of love and 

        care.  Only by bearing children could a woman achieve her true purpose 

        in life.  The day of weaning was a time of celebration; after weaning chil-

        dren were taught bit by bit, line upon line.

                   Children were named to express some aspect of God's relation to

        the father or to the entire family group at times. Children were the recipi-

        ents of gifts; fathers know how to give good gifts to their children.  The 

        covenant community will have an abundance of children.  “Child” appears

        as a term of address by a teacher to his pupil or pupils in the wisdom 

        writing of the Bible.  The term “children” appears in “children of Israel,” 

        “children of the elect lady (church),” “children of Abraham,” as an indica-

        tion of the covenant community.  It also appears in “rebellious children,” 

        “children of transgression,” “children of the devil vs. children of God.”  

        Jerusalem is personified as a mother and her inhabitants as children.

CHILDREN OF GOD (See also Sons of God)  There is little to be gained by 

        pressing a distinction between “children” and “sons” of God; both mean a 

        moral or spiritual relationship to God.  The phrase is not applied to human-

        kind as such, as though they were actually God's children, even if they are 

        such potentially.  Rather, it is in and through Christ that men are adopted or

        reborn into this relationship.  Thus, & not by any mere automatic evolution,

        will come the “glorious liberty of the children of God.” 

                   In the Old Testament, “son” is the regular word used, rather than 

        “children.”  The Greek translation of the Old Testament (OT) uses several 

        different words to translate the Hebrew word.  The OT makes it clear that 

        Hebrew thought had little or no use for the pagan idea of God as, in some 

        physical sense, the father and begetter of his children.  Only a few verses 

        claim God as physical father.  In Hosea 1, it is only in the future, when the 

        punishment for apostasy & unfaithfulness is over and done with, that Israel

        will be called “sons of the living God.”  This is the hoped-for future reversal

        of the doom contained in the phrase “not my people.”

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                   In the New Testament (NT) the moral content of the term becomes 

        even more firmly established.  It’s limitations to Israel in the narrower sense

        is abandoned, and the merely nationalistic claim is sharply repudiated.  In 

        certain passages, it is natural to see the reflection of the controversies, 

        subsequent to the death and resurrection of Christ, over the admission of 

        Gentiles into the Christian church.  But finally, it became church doctrine

        that the impartially good, those who are deeply concerned for their fellow

        humans, are by character, allied with God himself, or “sons of the Most 

        High,” as the gospel of Luke puts it. Jesus' saying “whoever does the will

        of my Father in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother,” is a pre-resurrec-

        tion form of this belief.

                   The NT doesn't seem to present a doctrine of all people as such 

        being children of God, any more than the OT sees anyone besides the  

        chosen people in this status.  Thus, while all men are potentially the chil-

        dren of God, only those who have been adopted or begotten or born anew 

        are normally described as actually such. The most characteristic aspect of 

        the NT concept of the sons of God is: the status of son belongs to Christ,

        and is mediated by him to all and only in Christ can belong to all.        

                   Putting the same thing in another way, Paul uses the analogy of 

        adoption, & says that to be able to utter the same cry of filial obedience 

        which Jesus himself uttered is a gift of the “spirit of sonship.”  “Baptis-

        mal regeneration” is the sacramental expression of this relationship; and

        the association of water and Spirit with the theme of rebirth in John 3 

        makes it natural to see there an allusion to it.  It should be added that in 

        I John 3 some commentators see a reference to some distinction between

        “adoption” and a more essential relationship.

                   While Christians are already sons of God, there is yet to come 

        some fuller manifestation of the meaning of this condition.  The phrase 

        “glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:21),” in its context 

        appears to mean the liberation of all creation.  Christ, the absolutely 

        obedient and perfect Son of God, having pioneered the way, it remains 

        for the rest to be brought to the full realization of God's plan for them 

        through Christ.  The coming age of humankind will be when “we all 

        attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to

        mature adulthood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

        (Ephesian 4:13).”

CHILEAB (כלאב)  The second son of David; born at Hebron, of Abigail the 

        widow of Nabal.

CHILIASM (ciliasmoV (kil ee as mos))  An early Christian concept, which

        came into disrepute, of a millennium characterized by materialistic and 

        senuous enjoyments.

CHILION (כליון, a pining)  One of the two sons of Elimelech & Naomi, who

        migrated to Moab.  He married the Moabitess Orpah.

CHILMAD (כלמד)  A place name listed next to Asshur; located near modern 

        Baghdad.

CHIMHAM (כמהם, longing) Son of Barzillai the Gileadite.  He returned with

        David in lieu of his father.  Chimham appears to have received a royal 

        pension and a land grant near Bethlehem in appreciation for the generous

        aid that Barzillai provided King David.

CHIMNEY (ארבה (‘ah roo bah), window) The King James Version translation

        of the Hebrew word in Hos. 13:3.

CHINNEROTH  (כנרות, harp)    1.  Early name of the Sea of Galilee (See 

        Biblical Entry).      2.  A district in Naphtali taken by Ben-hadad during     

        during Baasha's reign  in the early 800's B.C.      3.  A fortified city in 

        Naphtali, located on a hill dominating the fertile spring-fed plain along 

        the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee.  Minor excavation there has 

        shown occupation of the mound from 2000-900 B.C.                     

CHIOS (h CioV)  A rocky and mountainous island in the east central region 

        of the Aegean Sea.  It measures about 51 km from north to south, and 

        varies from 13 to 29 km from east to west.  A small strait 8 km or more 

        wide separates it from the Asia Minor mainland; it was famous for wines,

        figs, and gum mastic.  In Paul's day Chios was a free city in the Roman 

        province of Asia.  Paul, on his final journey to Jerusalem, sailed south 

        from Mitylene, and anchored “opposite Chios” near the mainland, before

        sailing to Samos the next day.

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CHISLEV (כסלו)  The 9th month in the Hebrew Calendar from late November

        to late December.

CHISLON (כסלון (slow)) Elidad's father, who was selected from Benjamin to

        help superintend the distribution of West Jordanian Canaan among the 10

        tribes to occupy that territory.

CHISLOTH-TABOR (כסלת תבר, confidence of Tabor)  A town in lower 

        Galilee on the border between the territories of Zebulun and Issachar, about 

        5 km southeast of Nazareth and 6 km west of Mount Tabor at the northern 

        edge of the Valley of Jezreel.

CHITLISH  (כתליש, wall of man)  A city of Judah in the Shephelah district of

        Lachish. 

CHLOE (Cloh)  A woman whose slaves or household informed Paul in 

        Ephesus that there were partisan divisions among the Corinthian Chris-

        tians.  She was well-known to Paul, though not necessarily a Christian.

CHORAZIN  (Corazin)  A city of Galilee reproached by Jesus.  It was most

        likely located about 3 km north of Capernaum on the basalt hills above it.

                   The extensive ruins indicate that it was a city of some importance.  

        There are the remains of a synagogue built out of the black volcanic rock

        around the 300s A.D.  Both Chorazin and Bethsaida were reproved by 

        Jesus for their unbelief; both are near Capernaum, which was the center 

        of his Galilean ministry.

CHRIST, CHRISTOLOGY (CristoV, the Anointed One, the Messiah. (See 

        also the entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha /Influences Outside 

        the Bible section of Appendix for Christ & the Biblical entry for Messiah

        (Jewish)) A title applied to the coming king of the Jews; in the New 

        Testament (NT) it is  the most common title of Jesus.  It started as a title,

        but soon became practically Jesus' name or surname.  Christology is the

        body of doctrines relating to Jesus’ personal attributes and mission. 

                   Section Headings—Introduction;     OT Background;       Gospel Development of Christology;     Paul’s Develop-

       ment of Christology;     Later  NT books;   Gospel of John

                   Introduction—One can't trace with complete certainty the develop-

        ment of Jewish messianism into Christology.  The parables display Jesus 

        as a prophet announcing the kingdom of God, and to be a prophet was the

        highest category in which Jews could place any human being.  He spoke 

        on his own authority, & without any consciousness of personal sin or alie-

        nation from God. 

                   Jesus made his final trip to Jerusalem to arouse what can only be 

        called a religious revolution, and he went fully conscious of the danger 

        to himself and his disciples. His entry into Jerusalem suggested that he 

        had come as a peaceful messianic king.  The Romans crucified him on 

        the charge that he was or claimed to be the “king of the Jews.”  During 

        his ministry he had received unusual allegiance from his disciples, and 

        after experiencing the risen Christ, they no doubt concluded that God 

        had made him both Lord and Messiah. 

                    The growing faith was heightened and enriched by the experience

        of the Spirit at baptism, and the sense of Christ's presence at the Lord's 

        Supper.  The word “Messiah” now meant the prophet, the new lawgiver, 

        God’s Son, and the Son of man for the disciples. It meant everything that

        they knew and believed about Jesus.

                   OT Background—Christology developed on the basis of the OT 

        and Jewish hopes of the coming king and the future time of salvation.  

        The later parts of the OT expect an ideal ruler, descended from David, 

        who will establish a perfect and permanent reign on earth.  Perhaps the 

        earliest Davidic prophecy is Psalm 18.  Ezekiel includes in his picture of

        the future the permanent rule of a Davidic prince as a true shepherd of 

        the people.  Amos 9 also contains a post-exilic oracle.

                  The highest point in the Davidic concept is the oracles in Isaiah 

        9-11. There will be a “Prince of Peace,” whose government on the throne

        of David will be established in justice and righteousness and will have no

        end.  A shoot will spring from Jesse’s stump.  In Isaiah’s 2^nd part, written

        long after the first, the Davidic king retires into the background.  God 

        will make an everlasting covenant, but there is no explicit promise of the

        monarchy’s reestablishment.  The Lord’s servant, who suffers, bears the 

        sins of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors, is often 

        described as an individual, but appears to be a symbol of Israel itself. 

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                   Messianic expectation remained vivid until the end of the Second 

        Jewish Revolt in 135 A.D., and in the first two centuries there were 

        messianic speculations in Pharisaic circles.  The Messiah isn't particular-

        ly prominent in the rabbinic writings. The Messiah would come at a time

        known only to God and would remain hidden until he revealed himself.  

        Calculating the time of his coming was discouraged by the rabbis.  The 

        idea that a Messiah should die & have a temporary kingdom was present

        in first-century Judaism.

                   It cannot be proved that the concept of the Logos or Word of God

        held by the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo influenced NT Christo-

        logy, but Philo illustrates a current trend of thought.  The Logos is called

        the arch (ark eh) or world’s beginning.  God created Logos & the ideas,

        which in turn are the archetypes of all things modeled after them.  Philo 

        regarded the high priest as symbolizing the Logos, & there is also a close

        relationship between Logos and Moses.  Moses was not only a lawgiver,

        but also the prophet who saw with the soul's eye the immaterial forms of

        the objects about to be made for the tabernacle.   

                   Gospel Development of Christology—In the earliest gospels, 

        Christology has already developed considerably.  Mark most often uses 

        the title “Son of God.”  Jesus is also the suffering, dying, rising, and 

        returning “Son of Man,” and the Messiah.  Other titles used are “God's 

        beloved” and “Son of David,” although Jesus rejects the last as not 

        applicable to the one who is David's Lord.  For Mark, Jesus is actually 

        greater than any of the titles applied to him.  

                   He is herald of God’s Kingdom of & the inaugurator of a new 

        age.  He is a prophet & an apocalyptic teacher with supernatural know-

        ledge and with absolute authority.  He refuses to explain his authority to 

        his enemies, but the demons, being spirits, recognize him immediately 

        and address him as the: “Holy one of God,” “Son of God,” & “Son of 

        the Most High God.”  At the Cross even a Roman centurion can say:  

        “Truly this man was a (not “the”) son of God!”  In Mark, Jesus is human 

        as well as divine.  Behind the baptism story there may be the thought 

        that on this occasion Jesus was adopted as Son of God.

                   The non-Markan passages of Matthew and Luke, usually known 

        by the symbol Q, exhibit some variations in their interpretation of Jesus' 

        mission and purpose.  In Q, his role as prophetic bringer of the kingdom 

        is much more prominent.  In many passages which add to the body of 

        doctrines about Jesus, there is no direct teaching about Jesus' humanity or

        divinity.  A whole group of passages contrasts the new age, begun by 

        Jesus' work, with the old.  The Q passage which teaches that those who 

        receive the ones sent receives Jesus, & those who receive Jesus receives

        the one who sent him, shows Jesus to be God’s emissary, & to be decisive

        for humankind’s salvation.  Certain passages dealing with the new age 

        also identify Jesus as the Son of man.

                   A new element is introduced in those passages where Jesus is 

        addressed as Son of God, such as the temptation story.  Here, the Son of 

        God has superhuman powers.  For him to possess the kingdoms of the 

        world is a real possibility.  Elsewhere, the idea of hidden wisdom, & that

        only the Son knows the Father is foreign to Judaism, and so the whole 

        passage in Matthew 11 introduces a new element into messiahship. 

                   Matthew added little to the ideas of his sources in Mark and in Q.

        His principal contribution to the interpretation of Jesus as Son of God 

        was the virgin birth story.  His contribution to interpreting Jesus as 

        lawgiver was his special materials in the Sermon on the Mount, which 

        are remarkable for the formula in which Jesus' teaching is contrasted 

        with that of the ancients:  “. . . it was said to the men of old . . . but I say

        to you.”

                   In contrast, Luke appears to have access to traditions dominated 

        by the idea of the Messiah as son of David. The language used in chap-

        ters 1 and 2 is from Jewish messianism, except that Jesus is also called 

        Son of God.  As Son of God, the boy Jesus thinks it only natural to be in

        his Father's house, and yet he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor 

        with God & man.  Luke's special material reflects an early interpretation 

        of Jesus as “a prophet, mighty in deed & word before God & all people.”

        Other passages contain a larger miraculous element, from the miraculous

        catch of fish, to promising Paradise to the penitent thief next to him. 

                   Luke differs from other synoptists in referring to Jesus as “the 

        Lord,” apparently in an absolute sense as Lord of all his people.  Acts 

        echoes this in the primitive idea that God raised Jesus up and made him 

        both Lord and Messiah.  In Acts, Jesus is called “savior,” a term not very

        frequently used in the NT.  Other terms used in acts include: “servant (or

        child)”; “prince”; “author, (pioneer or founder) of life”; “Holy and

        Righteous One”; and “one who was to come.”

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                   Paul’s Development of Christology—The letters of Paul show 

        that within a few years after the Crucifixion a very high Christology had 

        developed.  What Paul has to say about the nature of Christ is secondary 

        to his teaching about the work of Christ.  In all of his correspondence 

        “Christ” is used as a name, either as a surname for “Jesus” or prefixed to 

        it, or as a substitute for it.  “Christ” also in a wider sense refers to the 

        relationships of the risen Jesus.  To be “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus” 

        means to be a Christian, with all that this implies.  

                   Paul uses a number of metaphors to express what has happened 

        to the followers of Jesus, such as: the indenture which held him in

        slavery has now been canceled (Colossian 2); though once an enemy

        of God, the followers of Jesus are now reconciled to God (II Corinthian

        5.18); and they have been adopted as God's son, etc.  All this depends on

        the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and is made available by one's

        faith in Christ and identification with him.         

                   The Thessalonian letters, which are apparently the earliest, are 

        concerned with the Second Coming of Christ.  The “Son of man,” slaying

        the antichrist (“a man of lawlessness”) with the breath of his mouth that 

        Paul uses can be derived from Jewish apocalyptic writings.  In I Corinthi-

        ans, Paul overturns the ordinary definition of messiahship; he is crucified,

        but nevertheless he is God's power and wisdom.  

                   The Christian Messiah was active in the saving events of the OT as 

        the rock from whom the Israelites derived water & perhaps as the manna.  

        The Messiah is the heavenly man who is first to rise from the dead, and he 

        will reign until he vanquishes all enemies.  But his rule ends when he 

        hands the kingdom to God the Father.  For Paul, Christ is in some sense 

        subordinate to God. God is the head of Christ (I Corinthians 11:3).

                   In II Corinthians adds 3 principal points: The Lord Jesus Christ, 

        who had been rich, became poor so that his followers might become rich;

        his is the new covenant, as contrasted with the Mosaic covenant of con-

        demnation with its short-lived glory; Christ is the image of God & there-

        fore related as closely as possible to God, & so closely related to the Spirit

        that the distinction is not clear.  He emphasizes Jesus' humanity by saying

        that he was crucified in weakness.

                   Galatians and Romans express the creatureliness of Jesus and his 

        subordination to God in another way.  God sent God's Son, made of a 

        woman, made under the law in flesh like sinful flesh.  With respect to his 

        flesh, Christ descended from David; with respect to the Spirit of holiness,

        he was declared Son of God in power by the resurrection from the dead. 

                Philippians and Colossians, like the other letters, still teach the future

        coming of Christ.  In Phillipians, Christ was originally in the form of God,

        but “emptied” himself & took the form of a man. As he had been obedient

        to death, God exalted him. Paul believed in the humanity of Christ, and it 

        is likewise clear that Paul believed in Christ's divine nature.  Everything 

        was created through him & for him; he is prior to all, & all holds together 

        in him.  Thus he is pre-eminent in creation, providence, and redemption.

                   It seems clear, then, that in Paul's thought the various approaches to

        the understanding of Jesus' nature—his human activity as teacher & loving

        friend of his disciples, & his divine roles as Messiah, heavenly man, Lord,

        founder of the new covenant, and wisdom of God—all were combined in a

        harmonious & intelligible synthesis.  Paul says nothing of any miraculous 

        activity in Jesus' ministry.

                   Later NT books—Other literature was modeled on Paul's letters.  

        Ephesians adds very little to Colossians' Christology, except to suggest the

        descent of Christ into Hades.  In Hebrews, written as it was when persecu-

        tion was near, the writer seeks to strengthen Christian faith by pointing to 

        the unique importance of Christ's person and work.  More than most books

        in the NT, Hebrews emphasizes the humanity of Jesus.  In the days of his 

        flesh he uttered cries and prayers to God and learned obedience through 

        what he suffered, as well as compassion for human weakness.  He was 

        also the Son of God as the agent of creation, God's unique apostle and   

        priest. His high priesthood represents a new law and a new covenant.

                   The prophecy of Revelation stands apart from the main Christologi-

        cal development in that its view of Messiah is almost entirely that of late 

        Jewish apocalyptic, combining as it does the thousand-year messianic age,

        the saints' resurrection, the last onslaught of Satan, the general resurrec-

        tion and judgment, & the age to come.  Judaic & Davidic images are com-

        bined with the new image of the Messiah, not as a bull, but as the slain  

        lamb who has loved his people & freed them from sin by his blood.  Other 

        Christian images used include the Son of God, and the Word of God. 

                   I Peter emphasizes the gentleness & lack of revenge on the part of

        the lamb. In II Peter the Transfiguration is regarded as a foreshadowing of 

        the Second Coming.  The letters to Timothy & Titus use “Savior” as a title 

        for Jesus most of the time.  His humanity and his role in salvation are both

        emphasized; he is the “one mediator between God and humans, the man 

        Christ Jesus.”

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                    Gospel of John—This gospel marks the highest point of NT 

        Christology.  Both “Christos” and “Messias” are used to describe Jesus.  

        He is also Son of God, coming out from God and not of human origin. 

        Christ assumed full humanity, but that humanity is only a vehicle of the 

        divine.  Christ is the Logos, the Son of Man, the Lamb of God. He is the 

        bread of life, water of life, life &and truth, the way & the pioneer of the

        way. 

                   The gospel begins with a hymnic prologue on the Christ as Logos.

        The Prologue carries on the idea of Colossians and Hebrews that Christ 

        was agent of creation.  John goes beyond Paul in identifying the Logos as

        God, though he is “with” God. The idea of the messianic secret is worked

        out elaborately in this gospel; only a few disciples believe, imperfectly at

        best, and Jesus’ enemies are baffled and misunderstand him even when 

        he speaks clearly.  There are no parables, but only allegories; no specific 

        teachings about the law, but only the sovereignty of Christ over the law 

        and the new law of love.  The fourth Gospel is a dramatic-theological 

        representation of the meaning of Christ, a creed in gospel form.

                   Some of the ideas and words used to describe Christ like those 

        mentioned in the preceding paragraph are similar to those used in Gnosti-

        cism.  The difference between John & the Gnostics is that John does not

        separate the Creator from the revealer and the redeemer.  Another basic 

        difference is John's biblical-Christian idea of the world as God's creation.

                   The Gnostic redeemer couldn't be fully human as in John's gospel, 

        & the whole personality of each follower could not be redeemed, but only 

        the divine spark.  John differs from Paul in that what Paul attributes to 

        the risen & glorified Christ for John shines out in Jesus' earthly ministry.

        His actions & speech are those which the evangelist deemed appropriate

        to divinity, his knowledge is supernatural, and his prayers to the Father 

        are those of complete communion and mutual understanding. 

                   The Apostolic Fathers of the 100s A.D. took the older Christologi-

        cal ideas and developed them further.  The principal ones were the taught

        Trinitarian formula, the creed, and the twofold, human/divine nature of 

        Christ.  Ignatius  that the church is in union with Christ as Christ is in 

        union with the Father, that Christ is God's uttered word “proceeding from

        silence,” & that Jesus was the “will of the Father.”  For him, indeed for 

        most if not all of the church, Christ had become the representative of all

        humanity.

CHRIST, BODY OF (to swma tou cristou (toe so ma too kris too))  A 

        phrase which embraces the many-faceted relations between Jesus Christ 

        and those who belong to him, their relations to him as members.  The 

        corporate life of those who are in him is embodied in both his dying and 

        rising.  Oneness in him is inseparable from the work of the one Spirit 

        which supplies power, hope, peace and love.  As the body's head, Christ 

        rules over it, loves and nourishes it, sanctifies and dies for it, and fills it 

        with God's glory.  As members of his “spiritual body,” all share in the 

        power of the resurrection, and in the promised redemption of all things. 

        The gifts of the Spirit are apportioned in such interdependence that each 

        gift nourishes and is nourished by the whole.  Participation in this body 

        means freedom from the body of sin and death.

CHRISTIAN (cristianoV) Originally “Chrestianoi” was also used to de-

        scribe followers of Christ.  In its earliest usage, “Christianos” were 

        Christ's men or party members of a person named Christ.  The term was

        coined by three possible groups: the Roman police or other officials of 

        Antioch; the Roman populace in Rome, in the 60s A.D.; or from some 

        unknown pagan group no earlier than 79.

                 The term “Christian” occurs only 3 times in the New Testament.  

        It was avoided either because of its pagan origins, or because it was 

        originally used in jest or scorn.  It may well be that the disciples were 

        first called Christians in Antioch.  One possibility is they were named 

        after a group of youths called Augustiani, who rhythmically praised 

        Nero as an act of worship.  The Christian practice of singing hymns of 

        praise to Christ might well have reminded skeptical pagans of the other  

        group's act of worship.

CHRONICLES,  I AND II  A history from Adam to Cyrus king of Persia, 

        running parallel to Genesis-II Kings, concluded with Ezra-Nehemiah.  

        I and II Chronicles & Ezra-Nehemiah both were single volumes in the 

        Masoretic Text.  They were each divided into two scrolls in the Greek 

        Bible, because the Greek needed almost twice as much space as the 

        Hebrew, which wrote no vowels.  In the Masoretic Text, Chronicles is 

        Old Testament's last book, coming after Ezra-Nehemiah because it deals

        with events narrated elsewhere. The date of the Chronicler & his writing

        cannot be fixed by definite clues any closer than between 400 and 200 

        B.C.  It was most likely written shortly before 250 B.C.

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                   I Chronicles 1-9 deals with the period from Adam to David, mostly

        in the form of genealogies, and focusing primarily on the sons of Jacob.  

        Chapters 10-20 deals with David's reign, beginning with Saul's death.  

        The highlights are David's conquering Jerusalem and other victories, 

        David's organization of the clergy and the state government, and David's 

        final instructions to the last assembly in his reign, concerning Solomon's 

        succession and the building of the temple.

                   II Chronicles 1-9 deals with Solomon.  The highlights are the 

        building and furnishing of the temple, Solomon's rebuilding various cities,

        & his commerce, wisdom, and wealth.  II Chronicles 10-36 deals with the

        kings of Judah, the southern half of the divided kingdom.  The highlights 

        are the division of the kingdom in Rehoboam's reign, & at least a chapter 

        on each of 17 other kings, concluding with Cyrus king of Persia.

                   Religious Point of View—The author of Chronicles, around two 

        or three centuries after Cyrus, wrote a sequel to the Priestly Code in the 

        Pentateuch and Joshua, continuing the history from the death of Joshua to

        the edict of Cyrus in 538 B.C.  This author adopted the legal and priestly 

        organization of Judaism outlined in the Priestly Code.  The Code's author 

        had shown how heaven's & earth's Creator had become the Jew's sove-

        reign of the Jews, & had directed the course of events.  God made a cove-

        nant with Abraham, revealed his law to Moses on Sinai, & distributed the

        Holy Land to the children of Israel.  While the apocalypses dreamed of a 

        kingdom of God in the age to come, the Priestly Code, with more practical 

        sense, imagined that it had already been established by God in the distant 

        past, in the days of Moses and Joshua.

                   On a more modest scale, the Chronicler wrote a history of God’s 

        kingdom after its establishment in the time of Moses and Joshua.  The 

        period before Joshua was covered only by genealogies, as was the time 

        between then and David.  Judah played an insignificant role in this period

        of apostasy & war; the time of judges didn't fit well with establishment of

        God's kingdom in Canaan.  The Chronicler followed Priestly writing; he 

        regarded Moses’ tabernacle as the only sanctuary of the Israelites until 

        Solomon built the temple. 

                   Both the Priestly Writer and the Chronicler lived in times of peace 

        and had neither knowledge of or liking for battles, so what few battles 

        were included were settled in advance by the Lord, usually in victory, 

        except when their wickedness was punished.  The fantastically large 

        armies of Judah, from 400,000 to 1,160,000, are considered useless in 

        battle, but through divine help victory is won by singing a psalm rather 

        than by fighting.  Miraculous interventions of God were freely invented 

        by the Priestly Writer & the Chronicler in rewriting their sources in order

        to illustrate God's omnipotence and the requirement of blind obedience to

        God's instructions and complete trust in him.  Failures on the part of kings

        was traced back to a lack of faith.

                   The Chronicler not only teaches the proper faith in God, after the 

        manner of the Priestly Code, by such graphic, fictitious stories, but also 

        uses sermons, oracles, & prayers. The Chronicler echoes here the homilies

        and the prayers which he heard in the synagogues.  The Chronicler wasn't 

        a very original thinker, and made no contributions to the theology of the 

        Priestly Code. His God was universal & so partial to the Jews that to fight

        against them is to fight against God. 

                   Thus the kingdom of God is the kingdom of Judah, but racial purity

        is neither necessary nor sufficient for citizenship in this sacred common-

        wealth; pious pagans may be included, & native born Judeans who forsake

        God may be excluded.  The kingdom of God was the holy congregation.  

        After Jeroboam I's apostasy, the holy congregation consisted of Judah,

        some northern Israelites, and the proselytes; its sovereign is the Lord, its 

        law is the Pentateuch as revealed to Moses. The Chronicler is thus the first

        author to attribute the whole Pentateuch to Moses.

                   It is in matters concerning the clergy’s status that the Chronicler 

        differs from the Pentateuch and discloses later developments.  Early in the

        Persian period (538-333) the high priest began to have some civil authority.

        II Chronicles has the high priest driving King Uzziah out of the temple for 

        attempting to burn incense, which couldn't have happened before the exile;

         this “fact” isn't mention in the parallel passage in II Kings.  The high 

        priest also presides over a supreme court in sacred matters.  Some rules 

        practiced by the priests and Levites in the time of the Chronicler & outlined

        in Chronicles were still unknown in the Pentateuch.

                   The Chronicler was probably a Levite, & is far less concerned with 

        the priests than with the Levites (In  comparison, the Levites are mentioned

        three times in Samuel and Kings while they are mentioned 35 times in I 

        Chronicles and 64 times in II Chronicles).   The Chronicler championed the

        improvement of the Levites' situation against the “sons of Aaron,” who

        wished to retain the Levites in their subordinate position.  The Chronicler 

        goes so far as to hint that the “hewers of wood and drawers of water” in the

        temple might go on strike, & until Ezra persuaded 38 Levites & 220 temple

        servants to join the exiles, no Levite had appeared among the 1,500 men 

        going back to Jerusalem. 

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                   The Chronicler's picture of the status of the Levites is far superior to

        that fixed in the Priestly Code.  They are in charge of holy objects, and    

        eventually they became teachers and judges.  They also played a decisive

        role in the coronation of Joash and in the overthrow of Athaliah.  Singing

        in a temple choir was for the Chronicler the most important function of 

        Levites. The music in the temple services was attributed to David; in 

        II Chronicles both David and Solomon left written records about the 

        organization of temple music.

                   The Chronicler traces the ancestry of all priests to Aaron, and of 

        all priests & Levites back to Jacob’s son Levi.  The doctrine that all 

        clergy men are descended from Levi originated apparently with the Priest-

        ly Code, but has no historical basis.  There is a bewildering disregard for 

        the facts in the genealogies and other facts given in Chronicles.  The most

        probable explanation is that the Chronicler is more eager to improve Levi-

        tical status than to give true facts, either in the time of David and Jehosha-

        phat, or his own time.  For instance, it seems certain that the Levitical 

        status of the singers and gatekeepers was not recognized in his day.

                   Purpose—The main purpose of the Chronicler, who is writing 

        during a period of utter political & economic insignificance, is to glorify 

        the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea.  To raise the low morale at such a time, 

        the Chronicler exaggerated the splendor of the Jewish kingdom in the 

        past.  Both Chronicles and the book of Daniel much later, describe the 

        past and the future, not according to realities or even possibilities, but on 

        the assumption that the world's Creator of the invariably intervened 

        miraculously in behalf of the Jews.

                   To regard Chronicles as genuine history is to misunderstand the 

        work, and fail to realize its nature and significance. And unless the 

        Chronicler quotes reliable accounts from Samuel and Kings, it is useless

        to expect from him genuine historical information.  The Chronicler set 

        out to prove that the insignificant Judean community was the glorious 

        kingdom whose sovereign was the sole God; his only earthly abode was 

        the temple in Jerusalem.  Chronicles describes, not the epic struggles, 

        ending in failure of the Israelites to establish and maintain their indepen-

        dence, but God's triumphant establishment of his imperishable kingdom 

        on earth.  Faith in such supreme claims could never be supported by 

        occurrences—In fact, faith needs no proof and has no rational proof.  

        The Chronicler even transfers the institutions of his own day to the time

        of David.  

                   The Chronicler believed that the Jewish rites originated through 

        divine revelation to Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses.  The Chronicler

        also stresses the national achievements and Judah’s royal glories.  David

        not only reorganized the numerous clergy, but “the Lord brought the fear

        of him upon all nations.”  In glorifying Judaism and the Jews through the

        centuries beyond all reasonable possibilities, the Chronicler necessarily 

        rewrote the history from David to Cyrus.  Whatever facts cast discredit 

        on David and Solomon in the ancient sources are forgotten.  According 

        to the Chronicler, all pious monarchs before Josiah removed the “high 

        places,” and the people alternated between true and false worship.  And

        the utter exclusion from God's kingdom of northern Israel would not be

        conceivable before the Samaritan schism in either 432 or 332 B.C.

                   The rituals described in Chronicles are ordained in the Priestly 

        Code or later.  In his writing, he assumes the current practice of 2 basic

        religious institutions still unknown to the Priestly Code & the Penta-

        teuch:  temple choral and orchestral music, and the earthly, political 

        authority of the high priest.  The Chronicler in glorifying Judaism and 

        the Jews, of necessity despised the heathen, and the Samaritans.  He 

        never doubted that the correct worship of the Lord as revealed in the 

        Pentateuch, and was the true religion, but he did not use sarcasm in 

        referring to other religions and refrained from all polemic against them.

        The stubborn Samaritans taxed the patience of the Chronicler beyond 

        endurance.  On the whole, the Chronicler didn't express in plain words

        his full contempt for the misguided heathen the apostate Samaritans, 

        hoping for their future conversion.

                 Sources—The Chronicler drew his information from the Penta-

        teuch & Joshua, Samuel, & Kings.  In general the Chronicler modified

        our canonical sources with complete freedom to suit his ideas.  But in 

        spite of his views that differed considerably from those of the authors 

        of Samuel and Kings, the Chronicler preferred to reproduce his sources

        verbatim, although he sometimes rewrote them in order to express his 

        own views or summarized them.  Only half of I-II Chronicles is even 

        remotely inspired by biblical sources; in the other half the Chronicler 

        was able to display his vivid imagination by composing freely, without 

        any guidance. 

                   Two opposite conclusions as to the Chronicler's use of Samuel 

        and Kings have been drawn:  that all the information parallel with the 

        accounts in Samuel and Kings, as well as that not to be found there was

        derived by the Chronicler from the Midrash of the Kings without ever 

        using Samuel and Kings; and that he used Samuel & Kings exclusively,

        with the material not derived from those books being freely composed 

        by the Chronicler.  The evidence slightly favors the second opinion.

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                   After the manner of Kings, the Chronicler refers the reader to other

        writings, which include:  the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel; the  

        Book of the Kings of Israel & Judah; the Royal Book of Judah & Israel; 

        the Acts of the Kings of Israel; and the Midrash of the Book of Kings.  

        These books are actually a single work mentioned under different names.

                   Aramaic was for the Chronicler the spoken vernacular, and his 

        Hebrew is somewhat artificial and post classical. When he writes freely 

        without quoting a source, he delights in giving details taken from life and

        using vivid comparisons.  His imagination is picturesque & colorful, but 

        in spite of its apparent realism, it lacks connection with real facts and never

        reaches the level of truly great literature.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT (OT)

                   Many generations of Bible readers have been led by computations

        of an Archbishop from the 1600s, which are printed in some editions of  

        the King James Version, to believe that the world was created around the

        year 4000 B.C., according to the genealogy from Genesis.  In Table 1 on

        the next page, a list is given of the age of each patriarch at the birth of 

        their successor, their remaining years and the total length of their lives.  

        The genealogy contains two units of ten names each, first from Adam to 

        Noah, then from Shem to Terah.

                   List of Topics---Genealogies to Solomon’s Temple; Solomon’s 

        Temple to Jehu;  Genealogy of the Early Patriarchs (Table); Years from 

        Abraham’s Birth to the Exodus (Table); Years from Exodus to Solomon’s

        Temple (Table); Non-biblical Historical Data and Discrepancies; Chrono-

        logy of the Divided Kinngdom (Table) Jehu to the Exile; Chronology of 

        Judah, 716-561 (Table);  Chronology of Post-exilic Judaism, 539-428 

        B.C. (Table)

                   Genealogies to Solomon’s Temple—There have been 3 distinct

        ways of understanding this genealogy. 1st is the Archbishops assumption

        of successive generations, father to son. The 2nd assumption is similar, 

        but assumes that there are generations missing.  The 3rd assumption is 

        that the names represent peoples or dynasties rather than individuals.  

        The second and third assumptions do not allow for calculations on the 

        estimate age of the world.

                   When the figures from the three versions are compared, there can 

        be little doubt that the Hebrew text is original.  For instance, the Samaritan

        & Greek Bible list have been adjusted so that the lives of each of Abra-

        ham's ancestors, with the exception of Terah in the Greek Bible, to end 

        before Abraham's departure for Canaan at the age of 75.  The long lives 

        of the patriarchs before the Flood finds a striking analogy in the long lives

        of the antediluvian kings in the Sumerian King List (See chart on next 

        page).

                   For the period before Abraham, there is no event in secular history

        which may be used as a check point for establishing absolute dates.  In the

        case of Abraham however, 1 of the 4 kings who invaded the Promised 

        Land, namely Amraphel, has been confidently equated with the famous 

        Hammurabi of the first Babylonian Dynasty by many scholars.  Scholars 

        once believed that Hammurabi reigned between 2123 and 2081 B.C., but

        evidence discovered later points to his reign being between 1728 & 1686 

        B.C.  In order for Abraham to have lived in the 1600s or 1700s, the 

        sojourn in Egypt would have to be a lot shorter than the traditional 430 

        years, and the Exodus would have to have been more than a century later

        than 1447 B.C. (See second chart on next page).   

                   There is some evidence to support the date of 1447 B.C. that is 

        reached by calculating with biblical figures. “Habirus” are mention by 

        Egypt as invading Canaan at this time.  In order for 1447 to be the true 

        date, there would have to be a large number of generations missing from 

        the biblical records.  There is more evidence to support a date in the mid-

        or late 1200s.  The list of genealogies support a shorter time period be-

        tween Exodus and Solomon, than the biblical 480 years.  An in any case,

        some of the judges must have served at the same time as other judges, 

        because if there was no overlap, the total number of years between Exo-

        dus and Solomon becomes 544 plus two unknown periods (See “Years 

        from Exodus to Solomon’s Temple” chart on page after next )

                   Solomon’s Temple to Jehu—For the period between Solomon's 

        temple to the Exile, students of biblical chronology are at first sight 

        delighted with the wealth of data available to them.  There is a complete 

        list of kings for both Judah and Israel and the lengths of their reigns, 

        which are related to the reign of the king reigning in the other kingdom 

        at the same time.  But various scholars have found the chronology of the 

        period almost beyond solution,  because many  details  given  seem to  

        contradict  one  another, and  many  of  the at-tempted chronologies fail 

        to agree with historical information now available from Assyrian and 

        Babylonian documents, which scholars have found to be very reliable. 

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          Genealogy of the Early Patriarchs

Masoretic Text= MT          Samaritan Bible =Sam.         Greek Bible=LXX (Septuagint)

                       Age at Son’s Birth      Remaining Years              Total Years

Patriarchs    MT    Sam.    LXX     MT     Sam.    LXX    MT    Sam.    LXX

  Adam          130    130       230     800     800      700    930     930      930    

  Seth             105    105      205     807     807      707    912     912      912     

  Enosh            90      90      190     815     815      715    905     905       905

  Kenan           70      70       170     840     840      740    910     910       910

  Mahalalel      65      65       165     830     830      730     895     895      895   

  Jared           162     62        162     800     785      800    962      847      962

  Enoch            65      65       165     300     300      200    365      365      365

  Methuselah 187      67       167     782      653      802    969      720      969

  Lamech       182      53       188     595      600      565   777       653      753

  Noah           500     500      500     450      450      450    950      950      950      Shem          100     100      100     500      500      500                600            

   Total years

     at Flood  1656   1307    2242

  Arpachshad  35    135         135       403        303        430                  438  

  Kainan                                 130                                   330                   

  Shelah          30    130          130       403        303        330                 433

  Eber             34    134          134       430        270        370                 404

  Peleg            30    130          130       209        109       209                  239  

  Reu              32     132          132       207        107       207                  239 

  Serug           30     130          130       200        100       200                 230 

  Nahor           29      79            79       119          69       129                  148

  Terah            70      70            70                                  205      145      205

Total years at    

  Abraham's birth 1946   2247      3312

    Plus the 2 years         

  of Gen.  11:10    1948   2249      3314

Years from Abraham’s Birth to the Exodus

                                         Period                                                                     Years

From Abraham’s birth to his entry into Canaan                                          75

      From entry into Canaan to the birth of Isaac                                              25

      From Isaac’s birth to the birth of Jacob                                                      60

      From Jacob’s birth to his descent into Egypt                                           130   

      From the descent into Egypt to the Exodus   

            MT                                                                                                      430

            LXX and Samar.                                                                                 215

      Total Duration

            MT                                                                                                      720

            LXX and Samar.                                                                                 505

Years from Exodus to Solomon’s Temple

                                                                              Years                 Years

                          Time Taken For:                Masoretic Text    Greek Bible         

The wilderness wandering                                      40                        40

Period of Joshua and the elders (unknown)              x                          x

Opression of Cushan-rishathaim                               8                          8

Othniel-  Masoretic Text                                          40                        50

Opression of Eglon                                                  18                        18

Ehud                                                                         80                        80

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                                                                          Years                        Years 

        Time Taken For:                               Masoretic Text                Greek Bible

        Oppression of Jabin                                     20                                   20

        Deborah-Barak                                             40                                  40

        Oppression of the Midianites                          7                                    7

        Gideon                                                          40                                  40

        Abimelech                                                       3                                    3

        Tola                                                               23                                  23

        Jair                                                                22                                  22

        Oppression of the Ammonites                      18                                   18

        Jephthah                                                         6                                    6

        Ibzan                                                               7                                    7

        Elon                                                              10                                   10

        Abdon                                                             8                                      8

        Oppression of the Philistines                        40                                    40

        Samson                                                        20                                     20

        Eli                                                                  40                                    20

        Samuel; ark in Kirjath-jearim                         20                                    20

        Saul’s reign (unknown)                                    y                                      y

        David at Hebron                                               7                                     7

        David at Jerusalem                                        33                                   33

        Solomon (to building of temple)                       4                                     4

        Solomon's remaining reign after building

              Temple                                                      36                                   36

Total Years up to temple building                     554 + x +y                 544 + x +y

Final Total                                                           590 + x +y                 580 + x +y

                Non-biblical Historical Data and Discrepancy---With the aid of 

        the fixed chronology of the Assyrian & Babylonian kings, some of their  

        contacts with biblical kings mentioned in cuneiform records can be 

        given an absolute date.  The most important of these are:   the battle of 

        Qarqar in 853 B.C.,  between Shalmanesar III and the coalition of Ahab 

        and Syrian allies; Shalmanesar III receives the tribute of Jehu in 841; 

        Tiglath-pileser III receives tribute from Azariah and Menahem between 

        743 and 738; Sargon captures Samaria in his accession year 722/21; 

        Sennacherib besieges Hezekiah in 701; Neco at the siege of Harran, 

        which lasted several months in 609; Battle of Carchemish in Nabopolas-

        sar's reign, 605; Nebuchadrezzar II captures Jerusalem, May 16, 597.

                   Those who chose to ignore the Assyrian-Babylonian data, which 

        does not agree with biblical data, explain discrepancies as best they can, 

        including having several gaps between the reigns of kings.  But, if one 

        accepts the historical accuracy of the data outside of the bible, then there

        is something wrong with the biblical data.  It is possible to fit almost all 

        the biblical data, unrevised, into a perfectly harmonious pattern that is in 

        agreement with Assyrian & Babylonian records.  In order to do this, one 

        must be aware of the biblical methods used in calculating reigns.

                   1st, Judah as the Southern kingdom counted both the last partial 

        year of a king, and the first partial year of his successor (i.e. one actual 

        year counted as two).  Israel in the north did not begin counting the years

        of a kings reign until the first full year.  Second, Judah used Tishri, a fall

        month to begin their years, while Israel used Nisan, a spring month to 

        begin their years.  The calculations were further confused by the fact that

        each kingdom calculated the reigns of the other kingdoms by their own 

        methods. 

                   Further examination shows that, from Jehu to Samaria’s fall, the 

        total years of Judah (166) and Israel (143+) don’t agree with each other 

        or with the Assyria-Babylonia calculations of 120 years.  The only way 

        in which a shorter total may be obtained is on the theory that co-regency

        existed at certain times in this period.  By taking the firm dates of the 

        end of Ahab's reign (853) & the beginning of Jehu's reign (841), we can

        arrive at 931 as the beginning year of Jeroboam's reign as the first king 

        of Judah as the Southern Kingdom.  In the next two charts, all the reigns

        and co-regencies of Israel and Judah are placed in relationship with one 

        another.

C-30

Chronology of the Divided Kingdom

          Rulers of Judah      Dates    Rulers of Israel              Dates

        (Tishri Years)               B.C.      (Nisan Years)                 B.C.  Notable Events      

REHOBOAM-King 17 years  931    JEROBOAM-King 22 yrs   931

                                              926                                               926 Shishak: invasion 

                                                                                                              of Egypt

ABIJAM-King 3 years            913 

ASA-King 41 years                911

                                                            NADAB-King 2 years      910

                                                            BAASHA-King 24 years  909

                                              896                                                896    Zerah’s invasion

                                                                                                                (Ethopian)

      War with Baasha             886        Baasha builds Ramah     886 

                                                                                         ELAH-King 2 years         886

                                                             ZIMRI-King 7 days          885

                                                             OMRI / TIBNI                  885

                                                             OMRI-Sole King 6 years, 880

                                                                   total reign 12 years

                                                             AHAB-King 22 years       874  

Jehoshaphat Asa's co-regent  873

JEHOSHAPHAT-Sole King      870

 16 years, total reign 24 years

Jehoram co-regent                  854

    w/ Jehoshaphat                                AHAZIAH-King 2 years     853  Battle of 

                                                                                                                Qarqar

                                                             JEHORAM-King 8 years   852

JEHORAM-Sole King 8 years, 848

    total reign 14 years

AHAZIAH-King less than 1 yr   841      JEHU- King 28 years,       841      pay tribute to

ATHALIAH-Queen 7 years       841                                                        Shalmaneser III

J(EH)OASH- King 40 years     835

                                                             J(EH)OAHAZ-                   814  repairs on 

                                                                    king 17 years                        temple

                                                             J(EH)OASH-King 16 yrs   798

AMAZIAH- king 29 years)       797

                                                             Jeroboam II  coregent      793  war on 

                                                                                                                Amaziah 

Amaziah captured                  792              11 years Jehoash;

AZARIAH (Uzziah)                 792

    He was king during Amaziah’s         JEROBOAM II-                 782

    25 year captivity                                  Sole King 30 years,

    27 years as sole ruler        768            total reign 41 years

                                                             ZECHARIAH- king 6 mo.  753

                                                             SHALLUM –king 1 mo.     752

                                                             MENAHEM-king 10 yr.      751

  Jotham co regent 10 years 750

                                             742         PEKAHIAH-king 2 years   742 Menahem & Aza-

                                                                                                            riah pay tribute to

                                                                                                             Tiglath-pileser III

JOTHAM-Sole king              740          PEKAH- Bible says          740

    at least 3 years,                                   20 year reign          (751-32).

AHAZ-co-regent 3 years      735

C-31

Chronology of the Divided Kingdom

    Rulers of Judah    Dates    Rulers of Israel         Dates

       (Tishri Years)      B.C.       (Nisan Years)             B.C.    Notable Events

Ahaz wars with          734-32                                       734-32  Tiglath-pileser

    Israel &Syria,                                                                            to Palestine,

    appeals to Assyria                                                                     deposes Pekah

AHAZ-king for           732      HOSHEA-king for            732      

    16 years                                9 years                      725-22      3 yr. siege of

                                                                                                        Samaria

                                                                                                 fall of Samaria

                  

                   The Shishak who invaded in 926/925 was Shoshenq I, founder of

        the 22nd Dynasty in Egypt.  Besides using co-regencies to synchronize  

        biblical and historical events, scribal errors are used to explain other 

        inconsistencies.  Differences in calculating reigns during times when the

        successor to the throne was in dispute also led to confusion, such as 

        when Omri succeeded to the throne after the 7-day reign of Zimri, and 

        the 6-year struggle against Tibni. 

                   Ahab was included among the Syrian allies who fought against 

        Shalmaneser III of Assyria at Qarqar on the Euphrates in the year 853.  

        Ahab was not killed at Qarqar, but lived long enough to turn against his

        Syrian ally Ben-hadad; Ahab died at Ramoth-gilead.  The house of Ahab

        came to a bloody end with the revolt of Jehu in 841.  Not only did Joram

        of Israel die, but Jehu killed Ahaziah of Judah as well, taking the throne 

        of Israel for himself, & leaving the southern kingdom to Queen Athaliah.

                   Jehu to the Exile—We may also be certain that the practice of 

        counting a year in which a reign ended and another began as two years 

        was being used in both kingdoms when Jehoahaz succeeded Jehu (814/

        13).  There was a war between Amaziah of Judah and Jehoash of Israel 

        in which Jehoash defeated Amaziah at Beth-shemesh, destroyed part of 

        the wall of Jerusalem, and took Amaziah captive.  It is likely that in 782

        Jeroboam released Amaziah after the death of his own father. 

                   The date of Azariah's accession is extremely important for the 

        years to follow, because no less than five kings of Israel are dated by it:

        Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah.  Pekah claims 20 

        years as his reign, even though Assyrian records show them dealing with

        Menahem for 10 of those 20 years.  A likely explanation for this is that 

        Pekah usurped the reigns of Menahem and his son Pekahiah because he

        considered their reign illegitimate, & claimed them as his own.  Hoshea,

        the last king of Israel, seized the throne in 732/31 & reigned nine years. 

        Shalmaneser V's 3-year siege of Samaria is dated in Hoshea's seventh 

        year.  Samaria actually fell in 723/22.

C-32

                Chronology of Judah, 716-561

                                                    Dates                                                        Dates

            Rulers of Judah              B.C.          Notable Events                      B.C.

  HEZEKIAH-king 29 years       716/15       Passover in 1^st year               715/14

                                                                 Sennacherib’s invasion,                701

                                                                     Jerusalem besieged  

                                                                 Manasseh coregent 11 years      697/96

                                                                 Sennacherib against                       688

                                                                      Tirhakah of Ethiopia  

  MANASSEH-king 44 years     687/86

                                                                 Esharddon king of Assyria              681

  AMON- king 2 years                643/42

  JOSIAH-31 years                       641  

                                                        First reform in 12^th  year            629/28  

                                                               Jeremiah’s call to prophecy           627

                                                               Finding of Law scroll;                623/22

                                                                     2nd reform            

  JEHOAHAZ- king 3 months    609  Josiah's death at Megiddo              609

  JEHOIAKIM- king 11 years      609      
                                                          Battle of Carchemish, 
                                                                Nebuchadrezzar's accession    605

                                                                 Nebuchadrezzar's first                604/03

                                                                         official year         

  JEHOIACHIN- king 3 months    598    Jerusalem captured, Jehoiachin     597
                                                                   deported and imprisoned          

  ZEDEKIAH- king 11 years         597

                                                                 Jerusalem beseiged                 Jan 588

                                                      Jerusalem under seige                  587

                                                Wall is breached,

                                                    city and temple are burned    July 586

                                                                  2nd deportation                       Aug. 586

                                                      Governor Gedaliah's murder  Sept. 586

                                                       Third deportation                    582/81    
                                                            Vision of new temple               Apr. 573 
                                                            Jehoiachin released from        Mar. 561

        prison

                   The campaign of Sennacherib against Hezekiah in the year 701 took place in Hezekiah's 14th year, which sets the beginning of his reign in 716/15.  Between Hezekiah's accession in 716/15 and Jehoiachin's captivity in the 8th year of Nebuchadrezzar, 597, there are recorded 7 reigns with a total of 128 years and 6 months. This is almost 11 years too long.  There are either errors or a co-regency involved.  By the use of Assyrian dates to narrow down the dates of later reigns, we can reach the conclusion that there was a co-regency of 11 years for Manasseh during much of his father Hezekiah's illness. For the chronology of Judah's last years there are three important Babylonian dates.  The first is the siege of the Babylonian garrison at Harran for several months in 609, or Nabopolassar's 17th year; Neco of Egypt took part in the siege, and it is almost certain that he killed Josiah at Megiddo shortly before the siege.  A second date is Nebuchadrezzar's victory over Neco at Carchemish; this is now known to be 605, which was also the year that Nebuchadrezzar took the throne.  A third date is that of Nebuchadrezzar's first capture of Jerusalem and the deportation of Jehoiachin.

                  The important features of the period from Josiah's death are as follows: Josiah died probably in June/July 609, and was succeeded by Jehoahaz who reigned for 3 months; Jehoiakim reigned for 11 years after him, during which time his Egyptian ally Neco was defeated and killed at Carchemish.  Jehoiakim died and was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who surrendered to Nebuchadrezzar after ruling for only 3 months.  Zedekiah then took the throne for 11 years.  Jerusalem was besieged again after he revolted; the wall was broken through and later the temple was burned.  A great deportation followed.  After Jehoiachin had been captive in Babylon for 37 years he was released. 

C-33

                Chronology of Post-exilic Judaism, 539-428 B.C.

                                                Dates                                                  Dates             Notable Events                  B.C.       Foreign Rulers                  B.C.  

                                                                      Cyrus of Babylon             539-530

  Edict for return of exiles by          538

      Cyrus                      .

  Altar set up in Jerusalem        Sept. 538     

   Work begun on temple        Mar/Apr 537

                                                                      Cambyses                       530-522

    Elephantine colony of Jews        525

 established in Egypt

                                                                 Darius                            522-486

   Work on temple resumed             520

   Temple finished                           515

   Opposition to Jews                        ?           Xerxes I                         486-465

                                                                         (Ahasuerus)          

   Opposition to Jews                        ?          Artaxerxes I                     465-424

                                                                          (Longimanus) 

   Nehemiah first governorship   445-433

   Nehemiah second                       432

        governorship             

   Ezra's return                               428

        There is still controversy surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem, the 

        exact dates of the deportations, and the date of Ezra's return to Jerusalem.

        Perhaps the best solution is to adopt the reading that Ezra's return was in

        the 37th year of Artaxerxes I, or 428.  (See Table above).

CHRONOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

                   We must be content with probabilities and approximations for two

        reasons.  1st, early Christian history was beneath the notice of the secular

        historians, the only exception being Tacitus, who remarks that the Chris-

        tians derived their name from Christ, who was executed in the reign of 

        Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate.  Of the gospel writers, only 

        Luke was interested in relating Christian history to world history.  His 

        references cannot always be translated into dates.

                   2nd, from Julius Caesar's time, the Romans used a solar calendar

        with the year beginning on January first, but they had no single system of

        regularly numbered years.  They identified years by the names of consuls

        or the year of an emperor's reign, but these years didn't coincide with the 

        calendar year.  3rd, the Jews used a lunar calendar, which with the combi-

        ning of their religious and civil calendar, led to two New  Year's days six 

        months apart.

                   Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, and nativity 

        stories imply that he was at least 2 years old when Herod died.  Herod's 

        reign was from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C.  Jesus was born at the time of a census.

        Luke says that Augustus issued a decree that there should be regular 

        enrollments of provincials.  Some scholars think that this was an error on

        Luke's part, as no such census is recorded by Roman authorities.  There 

        was a census that took place in Egypt every 14 years, most likely initiated

        by the great organizer Augustus in either 23 B.C., 9 B.C., or 6 A.D.  It is

        likely there was a similar census throughout the whole Empire.

                   The census that the Bible is concerned with could be related to a 

        census of Roman citizens taken in 8 B.C. There is a historical problem 

        with the governorship of Quirinius, who was not governor during Herod's

        reign, according to available records.  Either Luke was wrong, or the 

        records of an earlier governorship by Quirinius are missing.  In view of 

        all these difficulties, it cannot be said that the date of the birth of Jesus is 

        securely established, but taking the combined evidence of Matthew and 

        Luke, we shall not be very far astray if we assign it to the year 7 B.C., 

        with the understanding that it may be a year earlier or later.

C-34

                   Luke tells us that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he began 

        his ministry.  But if we add 30 to the date we have proposed for the 

        Nativity, we get the years 23-25 A.D., and this falls entirely outside the 

        term of Pontius Pilate's rule as procurator of Judea (26-36).  The age of 

        30 could be approximate, but we do not know how approximate.  For 

        John the Baptist, we have one precise date, the fifteenth year of Tiberius, 

        which can be interpreted using 2 Roman methods, or 1 Jewish method, 

        resulting in the years 26/27, 27/28, or 28/29.

                   The Gospel of John provides us with the information that the 

        temple was 46 years along in the building process at the time of the 

        temple's cleansing on Passover and near the beginning of Jesus' 

        ministry.  Sources outside the Bible date the beginning of rebuilding the 

        temple as 20/19 B.C.  46 years later gives us the year 28 A.D.  The 2nd 

        possibility is the Passover in the 46th year or 27 A.D.  

                   In the early church the belief sprang up that the ministry of Jesus 

        occupied only one year.  Certainly, the gospels do not provide enough 

        incidents to fill one year, let alone two or three.  But the Gospel of John 

        mentions 2 Passovers in Jesus' ministry.  Because John had a theological 

        reason for mentioning that the feeding of the 5,000 was associated with a

        Passover, we have no right to assume that he invented the association.  

        Our conclusion here is that the ministry of Jesus cannot be compressed 

        into less than 2 years, & there is no compelling reason for extending it

        to 3 years. Astronomically, there are 4 possibilities for Good  Friday:

        April 11, 27 A.D.; March 18, 29 A.D.; April 7, 30; and April 3, 33 A.D.        

                   By combining the biblical, historical and astronomical data at our

        disposal, we come up with six combinations:   a ministry beginning in 

        28/29, lasting 1 year ending in 30; a ministry beginning in 28/29, lasting 

        3 or 4 years, ending in 33; a ministry beginning in 25/26, lasting 2 or 3 

        years, ending in 29; a ministry beginning in 25/26 lasting 3 or 4 years, 

        ending in 30;  a ministry beginning in 27/28, lasting 1 year, ending in 

        29; & a ministry beginning in 27/28, lasting 2 years, ending in 30. While 

        none of the 6 combination can be ruled out, there is the most support for 

        the 6th.  The evidence we have at our disposal points to the tentative 

        conclusion that Jesus was born between 8 and 6 B.C., was baptized late 

        in 27 or early in A.D. 28, and crucified on April 7, A.D. 30.

                   The few indications of time which occur in the letters serve only 

        to date events relative to other events.  Only Acts provides any absolute 

        chronology, & then only 5 events can be assigned even an approximate 

        date from Jewish or Roman sources.  Based on the writings of the Jewish

        historian Josephus, we can place Herod Agrippa I's three years as king of

        all Judea between 41 and 44 A.D., and his death in 44 A.D.  The death of

        the apostle James took place sometime during his reign over all Judea, 

        most likely in 41 A.D.

                   The famine in Jerusalem mentioned in Acts 11 happened during 

        Tiberius Alexander's term as procurator of Judea, which was most likely 

        46-47.  Claudius’ edict expelling the Jews from Rome is mentioned a few

        times, but often with no indication of date.  Only a historian from the 

        400s, Orosius, dates the edict in 49, which fits with the date of the Gal-

        lio's pro-consulship. The best interpretation of historical evidence is that 

        Gallio was proconsul of the Greek peninsula from July 51 to June 52 and

        was based out of Corinth.

                   When Festus’ procuratorship’s began depends on when his prede-

        cessor, Felix, was recalled.  By assuming a miscalculation by an ancient 

        historian we can be reasonably sure that Festus became procurator in the 

        summer of 59.  Of all the events dated in this & the preceding paragraph,

        the date of Gallio's pro-consulship in 51 is the one we can be most confi-

        dent of, and upon which we can base the dates of other events. 

                   Paul arrived in Corinth shortly before Gallio, which leads us to 50

        A.D.  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul describes only two visits to Jeru-

        salem, either 11 or 14 years apart, depending on what exact event the 14 

        years of Galatians refers to.  In Acts, Paul visits Jerusalem five times in 

        all, the third occasion being the apostolic conference, and the fifth when 

        he was arrested.  While scholars generally agree the Jerusalem visit of 

        Acts 9 corresponds to the visit of Galatians 1, there is little agreement as 

        to whether the second, third, or fourth visit in Acts corresponds to the 

        visit in Galatians 2.  5 theories are presented in Table 1 as to the timing 

        of events from the conversion of Paul to his arrival in Corinth.  

        (See Table below)

                Paul's Conversion to Arrival in Corinth

    Event Theory                   #1             #2            #3            #4           #5 

Conversion of Paul                33             33       31 or 33        33       34 or 37

1st  visit to Jerusalem            36             36       33 or 36        36       37 or 40

Famine visit                           46             —            46            46            —

First missionary journey     47-48       47-48       47-48       47-48   37-51, 40-51

Apostolic conference             49             49            49            49            51

Paul's arrival in Corinth         51             51            51            51            41

C-35

                   Paul's Journeys from 52 A.D.- 60 A.D.

                   Event                                           Date                               

                   Paul leaves Corinth                      Autumn 51, Spring 52       

                   Paul reaches Ephesus                   Autumn 53                

                   Paul leaves Ephesus                     Summer 56               

                   Paul reaches Corinth                    End of 56                    

                   Paul at Philippi                             Passover 57

                   Paul reaches Jerusalem                 Pentecost 57

                   Paul before Festus                        Summer 59

                   Paul reaches Rome                       Spring 60

                  For the events after Gallio's proconsulship, we are dependent on 

        Acts. After he left Corinth in either the autumn of 51, or the spring of 52, 

        there follows an undefined period during which he journeyed, spent

        some time in Antioch, toured Asia, and finally arrived in Ephesus.  He

        goes to Corinth & Philippi, before hurrying to Jerusalem with the money

        he had raised from the churches he had visited.  (See Table above).  The 

        only other events in this period which we can date with any confidence is

        the death of James,  the Lord's brother in 61, the victim of mob violence.  

        Not long after this the church left Jerusalem, & was therefore not involved

        in the Jewish revolt in 66, which resulted in the destruction of the city in 

        70 A.D. by Titus.

CHRYSOLITE (תרשיש, tar sheesh)  A magnesium iron silicate, usually olive-

        green. It is used in the description of wheels in the vision of Ezekiel.  It is

        a stone in the covering of the king of Tyre.

CHRYSOPRASE (crusoprasoV, crew so pra sos)  An apple-green variety 

        of chalcedony, used as a gem in Egypt.  It was the tenth jewel in the foun-

        dation of the wall of the New Jerusalem.