J
J. One of the
principal narrative sources of the first five books of the Old Testa-
ment. The “J” comes from the German spelling of the
personal name of
God, which is Yahweh in the English spelling. It is commonly regarded as
coming from Judah
around the 900s or 800s B.C.
JAAKAN (יעקן) Third son of clan chief Ezer; ancestor of a
native Horite sub-
clan in Edom
JAAKOBAH (יעקבה, taking by
the heel, supplanter) A prince of
the tribe of
Simeon (I Chronicles 4).
JAALA (יעלא, female ibex) The ancestor and origin of
the name of a family of
Solomon’s servants.
JAAR (יער, forest) A place appearing in
parallel with Ephrathah, perhaps the
same as Kiriath-Jearim.
JAARE-OREGIM (ארגים יערי, forest of weavers)
An obvious error in copy-
ing the text, combining “Jair” with the “oregim”
from the following line
(II Samuel 21).
JAARESHIAH (יערשיה, whom the Lord makes fat
[prosperous] ) A Benjami-
nite (I Chronicles 8).
JAASIEL
(יעשאל, may God be part of him)
1. Son of Abner; an officer and
leader of the tribe of Benjamin during the reign of David (I Chronicles 27).
2. A Mezobaite whose name appears among the 16 names
added by
the Chronicler to the catalogue of David’s 30 Mighty Men (I Chronicles 11).
JAASU
(יעשו, he [God] will make) One of those compelled by Ezra to give up
their foreign wives.
JAAZANIAH (יאזניהו, whom the Lord hears)
This name was found in an in-
scription from Lachish
1.
A Judean, son of Maacathi, who
remained under Gedaliah after
the Exile (II Kings 25). 2. A Rechabite, son of
Jeremiah (not the pro-
phet), tested by the prophet Jeremiah in Jehoiakim’s reign
(Jeremiah 35).
3.
Son of Shaphan, appearing in a
vision of Ezekiel, among the idola-
trous elders of Israel. 4. Son of Azzur, one of 25 Judean elders in Eze-
kiel’s visions (Ezekiel 11).
JAAZIAH (יעזיהו, whom God consoles)
A Levite, son of Merari (I Chronicles
15).
JAAZIEL (יעזיאל, whom God consoles) One
of the musicians accompany-
ing the ark on its removal from the house of
Obed-edom (I Chronicles 15).
JABAL
(יבל, river) The first son of Lamech and Adah; progenitor of
nomadic
shepherds (Genesis 4).
JABBOK
(יבק, effusion) One of the principal east tributaries
of the Jordan
rises in a
spring near Amman, flows north for some miles, then turns and
flows westward
through an ever-deepening canyon, ending in a fertile delta
and emptying into
the Jordan. The name Jabbok may be
derived from the
sound of the gurgling of its waters. It was when Jacob crossed the Jabbok
that he
had his nocturnal encounter with a spirit that wrestled with him all
night and
gave him a new name, Israel.
With
its steep banks, the river was a natural boundary; the north-
south stretch
formed Ammon’s western boundary; the lower courses
formed the boundary between
the kingdoms of Sihon and Og and divided
hanaim, Penuel, Succoth, and Adam.
J-1
JABESH
(יבש, dry) 1. Same as Jabesh-Gilead. 2. The father of King Shallum
of Israel (II Kings
15). Jabesh here may be a geographical rather
than a
personal name (i.e. Shallum may be a native of Jabesh. So also “Jehu
the son of Omri” in the
Assyrian records means “Jeth of Beth-omri,” the
official name of Samaria.
JABESH-GILEAD
(גלעד יבש, dry heap of testimony) A city about 3 km east
of
the Jordan and 8 km south of Pella with significant associations with the
career of Saul. The site was first
occupied around 3200 B.C.
Jabesh-Gilead was punished for not participating in the war against
Gibeah and Benjaminites (Judge 21); Israel put it to the sword, saving only
400
virgins. These were given to 400 of the
600 warriors who were the
only Benjaminites to escape the destruction of their
tribe. The site was
apparently
reoccupied soon after this incident, presumably by neighboring
Gileadites.
The
bonds between their descendants and the Benjaminites were
strengthened when Saul
rescued Jabesh-Gilead from Nahash the Ammo-
nite. The city elders sent messengers throughout Israel for help. Saul
mustered an army, made a forced march
into the valley and across the
Jordan, and defeated the Ammonites. This incident marked the effective
beginning
of the monarchy, and Saul was made king at the Gilgal
sanctuary.
Saul
and his sons were slain on Mount Gilboa and their bodies
hung on the wall of
Beth-shan. The valiant men of
Jabesh-gilead res-
cued the corpses, burned the bodies, and buried the bones in
honor.
David commended the Jabeshites
for their act and later brought from
Jabesh-gilead the bones of Saul and Jonathan
and buried them in the
family tomb at Zela.
JABEZ
(יעבץ, he gives pain (or sorrow))
A name introduced abruptly into a list
of descendants of Judah (I
Chronicles 4). He is perhaps the
ancestor and
origin of the name of the town, perhaps near Bethlehem, where
several
families of scribes lived.
JABIN
(יבין, whom he knows) 1. King
of Hazor, defeated and executed by Jo-
shua.
Although equipped with horses and chariots, the Canaanite forces
were defeated
at the Waters of Merom. Jabin’s city of
Hazor was burned.
Other cities were
occupied by the Israelites (Joshua 11).
2. King of
Canaan, reigning in Hazor whose forces under the com-
mand of Sisera were
defeated by Deborah and Barak at the River Kishon.
Jabin was most likely king of only Hazor, not
king of Canaan. Sisera
was most likely
king of Harosheth-Hagoiim and spearhead of a Canaanite
coalition.
JABNEEL (יבנאל, God causes to be built)
1. The westernmost location
point
on the northern border of Judah Mediterranean Sea and
14.4 km north-northeast of Ashdod
neel or Jabneh from the Philistines by breaching
its wall. (See also the
entry in the Old Testament Apocrypha/ Influences
Outside the Bible sec-
tion of the appendix.)
In
the New Testament period, Jabneel or Jamnia appears in the
events leading up to
the First Revolt, where it became the “center-in exile”
of the Sanhedrin. It is probably best known for the meeting of
the Synod
of Jamnia, around 100 A.D., in which the collection of Jewish sacred
wri-
tings was reviewed and conclusions were reached which decided conclu-
sively
the content of the Jewish Torah and the Old Testament.
JACHIN (יכין, he shall establish)
1. The fourth son of Simeon in Genesis 46,
but the third son of Simeon in Numbers 26. He is probably identical with
Jarib.
He is ancestral head of the Jachinites.
JACHIN
AND BOAZ (יכין and בעז, respectively “he will establish” and “liveli-
ness”) Twin pillars of cast bronze erected on each
side of the entrance to
Solomon’s temple (I Kings 7; II Kings 25; II Chronicles
3; Jeremiah 52).
The descriptions of the
pillars are not clear, and the sources differ as to
their dimensions. The function and symbolism of the pillars and the mea-
ning of their names have given rise to many hypotheses.
J-2
The pillars are said to have been hollow. On top of each pillar was a
bowl-shaped
capital. It is almost certain that
Jachin and Boaz were free-
standing in front of the temple, and that their
function was decorative, be-
cause the proportion of diameter to height are not those
of load-bearing
pillars. There is no
biblical reference to their cultic use, and it is possible
that their function
was symbolic only. Doubtless the
symbolism was mul-
tiple and developed in the course of time. It is probable that the names of
the pillars
in Solomon’s temple were derived from inscriptions found on
them. Similar pillars were found in front of
temples at Khor-sabad, Tyre,
Paphos, and elsewhere.
JACINTH (לשם (leh shem), ligure (precious
stone))
A reddish-orange stone,
a variety of zircon. It is the first stone in the third row in the
breastpiece
of judgment (Exodus 28, 39).
The New Testament jacinth is the 11th jewel
in the foundation
of the wall of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21).
JACKAL (שועל (shoo awl), fox) Any of certain carnivorous mammals,
smaller
than the true wolf, with a shorter tail. The jackal moves about mostly in
packs and
usually at night. Although its cry is a
distinctive wailing howl,
there is only a single allusion to this sound (Micah
1). Most of the other
Old Testament
passage relate to jackals prowling around ruins and desert-
like areas. In the messianic age the jackals and other
wild animals will
rejoice in the Lord’s gift of plenteous water.
JACKAL’S
WELL (התנין עין (ayin ha tan
neen), fountain of the serpent) A
well or fountain accessible from the Valley
Gate outside Jerusalem; some
identify it with En-Rogel, east of Jerusalem; a
better place is in the Valley
of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem.
JACOB (יעקב, See next entry) Son of Matthan and father of Mary’s
husband,
Joseph (Matthew 1).
JACOB
(ISRAEL
son; Esau’s younger
twin brother; Leah’s and Rachel’s husband.
Because
Jacob is also called Israel, his 12 sons are the “sons of Israel.” Genesis
gives two origins of the meaning of Jacob’s
name: the younger twin is
called Ya’aqobh because at birth he was
holding his brother’s heel. In the
second passage the younger steals the older brother’s blessing; Esau af-
firms
that Jacob had supplanted him.
Later in
the Old Testament (OT), Hosea alludes to the first mea-
ning; Jeremiah alludes to
the second. These meanings appear to be
popu-
lar explanations. Quite likely the
original name was different in form and
meaning. Most likely the name Jacob originally
contained a form of
“God.” The word is
found in other Middle Eastern languages and could
mean “May God protect.”
The written sources are the documents
identified by source criti-
cism as the Jahwist, Elohist, and Priestly Writers (See the table in the Ge-
nesis entry for a
breakdown of the sources used in chapters 25, 27-35, 37,
42, 43, 45-49). But these documents were not the earliest
sources. At the
beginning Jacob stories
were popular in the south; later they found their
way into larger cycles of
legend.
The earlier strata of Jacob legends,
which were in oral form origi-
nally, were sought by Hermann Gunkel, who removed
each layer in re-
verse chronological order.
The oldest of the strata are the narratives about
Jacob and Esau. The Jacob of this stage is the shepherd who
bests the
hunter. His name is simply a
common proper name. Next oldest are
nar-
ratives about Jacob and Laban, where the clever young shepherd outwits
the
older.
The basic feature of oral tradition is
that “each story existed by it-
self . . .” Jacob was basically the same type of
figure in both cycles. The
union was
effected by having Jacob flee from Esau in Palestine
in Mesopotamia , and
then having Jacob flee Laban back to Palestine
where Esau awaits him.
Superimposed on this combined narrative
is a third layer of stories
about contacts with God and holy places. They were incorporated into the
composite
story where Jacob was brought into contact with the sites they
concern. The Bethel story links the first Jacob-Esau
cycle and the Laban
narrative, and the Mahanaim and wrestling with an angel
passage mark
the return to the Esau cycle.
J-3
Finally, stories about Jacob’s children,
their birth and destiny, form
the top, and latest, layer. At this final stage, Jacob is no longer the
“skilled
shepherd” of the Esau and Laban narratives, nor the “fearless foeman”
of
the Peniel scene. He appears as the
aged father who is reunited in Egypt
with his favorite son. When the narratives are combined, the
resulting
story is Israel’s faithful assertion that the God who made all the
peoples on
earth has been at work in her own history in a special way, calling
the
patriarchs to a destiny he is able to fulfill even when they least deserve
it.
From beginning to end the Jacob story
comprises half of Genesis.
The first
word about Jacob is that he is an answer to prayer; Isaac entrea-
ted Yahweh, and
Rebekah gave birth to twin boys. The
first was named
Esau because he was hairy.
The second was named Jacob because he
came forth holding his brother’s
heel. Esau became a man of the
field.
Jacob was “a quiet man, dwelling
in tents.”
The birth ensured Isaac that the promise
which God made to Abra-
ham and repeated to him would be fulfilled. But at the very beginning a
note of conflict
between the two sons was sounded, and the parents took
sides. Family hostility gravely threatened the
patriarchal promise of land
and seed.
Under this tension Jacob must live.
By divine oracle, Jacob
would triumph.
When Esau, the carefree hunter, came in
from a fruitless chase, he
bargained away his birthright for a batch of unknown
stuff. An element
of fraud, not now very
clear, was involved in the transaction.
At any rate,
Jacob’s cleverness gained the right of precedence which by
birth was not
his.
Being old and fearing that he might die
suddenly, Isaac charged
Esau to prepare for him savory food that he might pass
on to his first-born
son the patriarchal blessing. While Esau was hunting, Jacob hearkened to
his mother’s advice and carried off the deceit with boldness. Torn by sus-
picion and doubt, the blind father
finally pronounced upon Jacob the
deathbed benediction. This blessing can be neither recalled nor
shared.
Only an ill fortune remains for
Esau.
En route to Haran from Beer-sheba, Jacob
lodged at Bethel. There,
in a nocturnal
vision, Yahweh appeared to him, and repeated to him the
promise of the land
and seed. Jacob acknowledged the
awesomeness of
that place, by naming it Bethel and binding himself to God by
personal
oath. The purpose of this scene
may first have been to legitimize Yahweh-
worship at this pre-Israelite cultic
center. It serves now as a manifest
guide to the interpretation of the Jacob story as a whole.
The Jacob and Laban cycle is ancient,
laid in Aram-naharaim and
features Laban’s family. It interrupts the Palestinian-oriented
Jacob-Esau
story and links the patriarchs with their Aramean kinsmen. In the first of
these narratives Jacob
marries Leah and Rachel, after being tricked into
working 14 years for
Laban. The second narratives tells of
Jacob’s chil-
dren. From Leah came Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
and Dinah; from her maid came Gad & Asher. From Rachel’s maid came
Dan and
Naphtali. Rachel herself bore Joseph. The children’s names are
most likely
shortened version of names with “God” as part of them. The
origin of Israel as a 12-member unit, consisting
of smaller groups and yet
sharing common parentage may be sought in this
tradition.
The present story of Jacob’s return to
Palestine has woven together
conflicting traditions and has become a complex
image; nonetheless it
leaves us with the conclusion that in the midst of the very
human quarrels
over family and fortune God still protects & prospers his
blessed. Laban,
by requesting a covenant
of peace with Jacob, recognized Jacob as the
carrier of divine blessing.
As Jacob approached the land of divine
promise, a band of angels
met him. At
the Jabbok he was met by “a man,” who wrestled with him
until daybreak. Jacob prevailed and won a blessing & a
change of name
to Israel. Jacob didn't
wrestle with his alter ego, a river demon, the devil,
or Esau, but with One who
was able to bless him; this is God himself.
The persistent struggle with God which brings divine blessing must be
seen as characteristic of Jacob the man, and Israel the nation.
Fearful that his brother’s hostility had
not subsided, Jacob ap-
proached the dreaded meeting with his usual careful
cleverness. To his
stratagems, however,
he added prayer to his father’s God.
Amid all the
tragic tangles in his human relations Jacob realized that
ultimately it was
God with whom he dealt.
Jacob met Esau and was received back with
magnanimity and affection.
The twins separated, to meet again only
at their father’s death.
Esau went to
Seir to become a nation. Jacob remained in Palestine to as-
sume his inheritance.
He journeyed to Succoth; then to Shechem.
He had
a meeting with God in which the patriarchal promises were
repeated; he
responded with worship; he continued south. During this journey Rachel
died in childbirth
and was buried on the way to Ephrath.
Jacob joined
Isaac at Mamre & buried his father in the family
sepulcher. When severe
famine gripped
Canaan, Jacob and sons set out for Egypt.
At Beer-sheba
he received more assurance of God’s favor. In Egypt he dwelt “in the
land of Goshen”
until his death.
J-4
This part of the story of Jacob is told
in terms of places and per-
sons. It is,
in fact, primarily a family history.
Rachel’s death was the oc-
casion of Benjamin’s birth. The final chapter in Jacob’s life is an
inti-
mate family portrait. It contrasts
the internal conflicts of jealousy and
hate with the power of love and
forgiveness. At the story’s end Jacob be-
stows a patriarchal blessing upon Ephraim
and Manasseh. At his death
the Egyptians
paid him great homage, and he was buried at Machpelah.
As an individual Jacob is not frequently
mentioned. As Israel’s
third great
patriarch, Jacob is often linked with Abraham.
However, as
the representative of the nation whose name he bears, Jacob
appears
quite frequently. Israel is the
“house of Jacob”; its God is the “King of
Jacob”; and his temple is a
“habitation for the God of Jacob.”
Jacob’s story is a story of
conflict. Having twice supplanted Esau,
Jacob flees to Haran. There Jacob had to
engage in a long struggle with
Laban, resolved only after he has left for
Palestine. The scene in which
Jacob
returns to Esau is pregnant with the threat of hostility and fear. In
short, Jacob is beset with dangers from
the divine, natural, and human
realms.
Upon each occasion his inheritance of the blessing is threatened.
This situation is made more complex by
the sharp edge of Jacob’s
personality.
Jacob, the clever supplanter projects so prominently from
the narrative
that it is difficult to bring the story into proper focus. The
deceitful Jacob deserves to be
forsaken. No other patriarchal narrative
is
so inescapably dominated by the character of the man himself.
Yet the paradox of the Jacob story is
that its very domination by
personal, secular concerns provides also a key to
its underlying theology.
With the other
patriarchs God acts directly. With
Jacob, God seems
mostly to have withdrawn from the scene; but God is no less at
work.
God works through unworthy persons
and unsavory situations, in the
tangled web of conflict and tragedy. God’s half-hidden, guiding hand is
nonetheless present. Jacob utters
blasphemy when he tells Isaac that he
has found game “because the Lord your God
has granted me success.”
At the same
time, he utters the most profound true explanation of his
career.
In many spots Jacob’s story is
distasteful, in others delightful.
Whatever the original purpose, the present narrative was written to
in-
struct its readers. In order to
understand the lesson, the reader has to
make Jacob’s discovery, i.e. that
“surely the Lord is in this place and I
did not know it.”
JACOB’S
WELL (pegh tou
Iakwb (pay gay too ya
kob))
The well where
Jesus met the Samaritan woman; the Old Testament
mentions no such
well. It was along the
road at or near a city of Samaria called Sychar,
which is probably
Shechem. The identification of Jacob’s
Well as Bir Ya
qub, which is at the
foot of Mount Gerizim 1.8 km southeast of Nablus,
where the roads from
Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley join, is supported
unanimously by Jewish, Samaritan,
Christian, and Muslim tradition. There
is no evidence aside from tradition that it was dug by or dates from the time
of Jacob.
The
well, at present about 23 meters deep, is partly filled with de-
bris. It is about 2.4 meters in diameter, but it
narrows toward the top, which
is covered with a large stone with a hole in it. The upper portion of the well
is lined with
masonry, but the lower portion is cut in the soft limestone; it is
fed by
surface water as well as by underground sources. In the 300 A.D. a
cruciform church was built
on the site with the well at the crossing.
It is
now the property of the Greek Orthodox Church. Today one goes down a
stairway below ground
into the remains of a crypt of the Crusader church.
JADA
(ידע, knowing) A Jerahmeelite, son Onam (I Chronicles 2).
JADDUA (ידוע, known) 1. A chief of the people
and signatory to the covenant
(Nehemiah 10).
2. Son of
Jonathan and high priest 3 generations after Eliashib.
He was the last high priest named in the Old
Testament, holding office pro-
bably in the time of Alexander the Great.
JADON (ידון, he judges) A
Meronothite who worked with Melatiah the Gibeo-
nite and the men of Gibeon
and of Mizpah in repairing the walls of Jerusa-
Gibeon.
J-5
JAEL (יעל, mountain goat) The Bedouin woman who killed the
Canaanite lea-
der Sisera after his defeat by the Israelites. According to the Song of De-
borah (Judges 5),
she brought milk as a sign of hospitality.
Sisera was
probably struck down by Jael as he bent his head to the
dish. The later
prose account has Sisera
killed after he had eaten. Jael as the
“wife of
Heber the Kenite” may have been introduced into the poem from the
prose account in the chapter before the Song. It is possible that some
exploit of the wife of Heber has been combined
with that of Jael. It is
also possible
that Jael is a Kenite. A northern origin
of Jael might be
more probable.
JAGUR (יגור, he shall
dwell there) A city in the southeast part of Judah
the border of Edom
JAH (See Yah)
JAHATH (יהת, united) 1. A
descendant of Judah
ancestor and the origin of the name of a clan from the Gershonite Le-
vites (I
Chronicles 6). 3. An Izharite Levite (I
Chronicles 24).
4. A Merarite Levite; an overseer of the workmen
repairing the tem-
ple in the reign of King Josiah (II Chronicles 34).
JAHAZ (יהץ, place trodden down) A city in Transjordan, where the
Israelite de-
feated the Amorite king Sihon, when he refused permission to pass
through
his territory. Jahaz was
assigned to Reuben, given to the Merarite Levites,
and taken by Moab. There are three possible sites for Jahaz, all
north of
the Arnon: 5.6 km east of
Medeba; 1.6 km southwest of Medeba; 12 km
southeast of Medeba.
JAHAZIEL (יהזיאל, he shall see God)
1. One of the Mighty Men who
came to
David at Ziklag.
2. One of the
priests appointed by David to blow trumpets before
the ark of the covenant.
3. A Korahite
Levite listed as a contemporary of David
(I Chroni-
cles 23, 24).
4. A Levite of
the sons of Asaph who prophesied before King
Jehoshaphat (II Chronicles 20).
5. The father of
one Shecaniah among the exiles from Babylon who
returned (Ezra 8).
JAHDAI (יהדי, who the Lord directs) A descendant of Judah
JAHDIEL (יהדיאל, whom God gladdens) A
chief in the half tribe of Manas-
seh (I Chronicles 5).
JAHDO (יהדו, united) A Gadite (I Chronicles 5).
JAHLEEL (יהלאל, hoping in
God)
Third son of Zebulun, and ancestor of the
Jahleelites (Genesis 46).
JAHMAI (יהמי, whom the Lord guards) A descendant of Issachar; son of Tola
(I Chronicles 7).
JAHVEH (יהוה, from the
root-word “to be”) A vocalized form of the four conso-
nants
of the Israelite sacred name; more properly Yahweh.
JAHZEEL (יהצאל, whom God assigns a portion) An ancestor and the origin of
the
name of a tribal family; descendant of Naphtali (Genesis 46).
JAHZEIAH (יהזיה, he shall see the Lord.)
One of the four men who opposed
Ezra’s action in regard to foreign wives
(Ezra 10).
JAHZERAH (יהזרה whom God shall bring back) Ancestor of a priest among
returned exiles (Nehemiah 11).
JAIR (יאיר, God will enlighten) 1.
An ancestor and the origin of the name of
a Manassite family; a son of
Manasseh. He occupied a number of
villages
in Gilead (Numbers 32; Deuteronomy 3).
2. A Gileadite who judged Israel 22 years (Judges
10).
3. A Benjaminite possibly related to the first Jair mentioned
above
(Esther 2).
4. Father of the Elhanan who killed the brother of
Goliath (I Chro-
nicles 20) or Goliath (II Samuel 21).
J-6
JAIRITE (היארי, the
Jairite) A name used only to describe the origin of
Ira the
priest of David (II Samuel 20)
JAIRUS (IairaV) A synagogue official whose dead daughter aged
12 was
raised from the dead by Jesus. In Matthew 9,
Mark 5 and Luke 8, the nar-
rative is interrupted by an account of a woman who
had had a flow of blood
for 12 years.
Matthew does not mention the father’s name, and his version
is much
condensed. Luke’s account has some
details different from those
of Mark.
Mark 5 has Jesus saying “Talitha cumi.”
Luke and Matthew
omit this Aramaic phrase.
In Acts 9 a Dorcas died; her name means
gazelle,” which in Ara-
maic is Tabitha.
There are notable similarities between the two stories.
Other commentators suppose that possibly the
girl was not dead, but only
in a trance.
It is reasonable to conclude that all three evangelists intended
the
narrative to be a bit of wonder-working by Jesus, not a mere error by
the
parents.
JAKEH (יקה, pious) Apparently the father or
ancestor of Agur, a wisdom sage
(Proverbs 30).
JAKIM (יקים, he (deity) will establish him) 1. A Benjaminite (I Chronicles 8)
2. A priest,
descendant of Aaron (I Chronicles 24).
JALAM (יעלם, he hides,
protects) Edomite clan chief; second son of Esau and
Oholibamah (Genesis 36).
JALON (ילון, abiding)
A descendant of Judah
JAMB (איל, ah yil,
from the root-word meaning “strength”) In Ezekiel’s vision
the jambs were
decorative, and not merely structural, parts of a gate
(Ezekiel 40).
JAMBRES. See Jannes and Jambres
JAMES (IakwboV (yak oh bose)) A variant form of the name Jacob. The ex-
tent of identity among the various
people named “James” in the New Testa-
ment is much discussed. Some or all of those listed below are
considered
by many to be the same person.
The Son
of Zebedee; One of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus—
Jesus’ call of James and his brother John is related
with the call of 2 other
brothers, Peter and Andrew. The call of these four was the first event
after
the beginning of the ministry.
That James and John left their father with the
hired servants indicates
that they were working in a family business.
In the Twelve, James and John always form a group of
4 with Peter
and Andrew; they are listed either after or in between Peter
and Andrew.
The latter reflects the new
relationship to Jesus over the human relation-
ship of Peter and Andrew. James was probably the older brother. Mark
alone records that Jesus gave James and
John the special name Boaner-
ges, or “sons of thunder.”
Peter, James, and
John form a special group of disciples on 3 occa-
sions. At the home of Jairus, Jesus permitted only
these three to come in.
At the
Transfiguration, Jesus chose these three to come with up the moun-
tain. Finally, in Gethsemane they were again chosen
to accompany Jesus.
James and John appear together in two other places. They ask
Jesus whether he wants them to call
down fire on the Samaritan village,
thus representing the old way in contrast
to the way of Jesus. The other
episode
in which the two brothers appear together is when they requested
places at
Jesus’ right and left hand in his coming glory.
In Matthew, their
mother makes the request for them; in Mark the
brothers speak for them-
selves. Jesus
answers that the brothers will drink the cup that he drinks,
and says to the
other 10 that true greatness means one is slave or servant
of all. The “greatness” section may not be originally
part of the story of
James and John, whose human desires make their words a
foil for the
words and purpose of Jesus.
James was a witness of the Resurrection; in Christian
tradition
James is known as James the Great.
The narratives of the Resurrection
do not make any special mention of
him. James is the only one of the
Twelve
whose martyrdom is related in the New Testament; probably he
was the first of
them to be put to death. Herod Agrippa I
executed James
as part of a wider move of persecution which included the arrest
of Peter.
His execution may indicate
that Peter, James, and John formed a special
group among the church leaders.
J-7
Some interpreters think that James was a cousin of
Jesus. In Mat-
thew 27 the mother of the
sons of Zebedee is one of the women present at
the Crucifixion. One theory assumes that in John 19 “his
mother’s sister”
is a different person from “Mary the wife of Clopas.” But it is very impro-
bable that James was a
cousin of Jesus. If he had been, this
fact would
have been prominent in the early tradition, but it is not.
The Son of
Alphaeus; One of the 12 Disciples—He heads the
third group of 4 disciples. It has been suggested that James and Levi
were brothers. But this is not likely,
since they are not associated in any in
the gospels. It is quite possible that James the son
Alphaeus is the same
person as James the son of Mary, mentioned in the next
paragraph.
One
of the Sons of Mary—This James had a
brother Joses & was
known as James the “less.” It is often thought that James the son of
Mary
was a cousin of Jesus, but this theory is extremely improbable.
The Father
of Judas—This James has often been
identified with
James the brother of Jesus, who had a brother named Judas, and
identi-
fied with James the son of Alphaeus and James the son of Mary. It is ex-
ceedingly unlikely that these people
are all the same.
A Brother
of the Lord—He is listed first among
the brothers of
Jesus, presumably as the oldest of them. There can be little doubt that
the same
person is referred to simply as James in Acts 12, 15, and 21.
The relationship between James and Jesus has
been much discussed.
New Testament and
early Christian writers refer to James as a “brother,
and the natural
interpretation of the language of that period is the literal,
that James was a
son of Joseph and Mary. Though this view
was rejec-
ted by most of the ancient church, it is probably correct (See also the
entry in the New Testament
Apocrypha section of the appendix).
One view is that James & Jesus were cousins, based on
the theory
that Mary the mother of James was Mary of Cleopas, and that she
rather
than the wife of Zebedee, was the sister of Jesus’ mother. If James is
James the son of Mary, and if the
identification of the Mary of Matthew
and the Mary of John is correct, then
James was a cousin, not a brother
of Jesus.
The view that James and Jesus were cousins became current in
the Western
Church and is current in the Roman Catholic Church.
James apparently was not a disciple during the ministry
of Jesus.
Yet he was a witness of the
Resurrection, and he appeared very early as
an important leader in
Jerusalem. Though he was not one of the
Twelve,
James was apparently regarded as an apostle. It has been suggested that
James became an
apostle as a replacement for James the son of Zebe-
dee, but it is more probable
that in the early church there were more than
12 apostles. James became an apostle by the risen Christ
commissioning
him to be a specially authorized witness to the
Resurrection. The begin-
ning and basis of
James’ position in the church wasn't his human relation-
ship to Jesus, but his
special relationship by faith to the risen Christ.
It is clear that James shared the faith of the first
Christians that
God would establish a new age.
James was at one with Paul in believing
that the new faith in Christ was
for Gentiles. James' own special
voca-
tion, however was to the Jews.
Perhaps James believed that the mission
to the Jews would pave the way
for the salvation of the Gentiles. It is
dif-
ficult, however to know James’ thought in detail, especially since the spee-
ches in Acts are not literal records of the words of the speakers.
Ancient tradition presents James as combining the new
faith with a
strong loyalty to the Jewish law.
In Galatians and Acts, James is not pre-
sented as a rigid follower of the
law. The James of the Letter of James is
the brother of Jesus. The letter is a
collection of Christian teaching presen-
ted in his name, but written in a time
long after his passing. Its emphasis
on
common-sense morality rather than legalism shows that James was not
remembered
as a strict follower of the Mosiac law.
James, Peter, and
John accepted Paul without qualification, except
that he should remember the
saints of Jerusalem. Acts 15 presents an
ac-
count of a public conference about Paul’s work. In Acts the issue of cir-
cumcision drops into
the background, & James proposes certain minimum
requirements to be followed
by non-Jewish believers, which are adopted as
an “apostolic decree”; there are two versions of this text. In the usual, lon-
an “apostolic decree”; there are two versions of this text. In the usual, lon-
ger text, Gentiles are to “abstain from idol pollution, unchastity, from what
is strangled, and from blood.
Some of
the “Western” forms of the list involve moral rather than
ceremonial
requirements. Acts shows James as
mediating between Jew-
ish Christians who wanted the law to be followed, and
Gentile Christians
on whom the obligation of the law was not laid. Many scholars think that
the differences
between Acts and Galatians are most easily resolved by
supposing that the
decree comes from a somewhat later period, and has
been inserted here because
it deals with the relations between Jewish and
Gentile Christians; these rules
attributed to James did not become regular
requirements laid on Gentile
Christians.
J-8
Peter’s refusal to eat with Gentiles was caused by
“certain men . . .
from James who claimed James’ support for requiring the full
observance
of Jewish dietary laws among Jewish Christians. It is not possible to be
sure that they
represented him accurately in the matter of Jewish and Gen-
tile Christian’s
eating together. James is shown in Acts
as joining with the
elders of the church in Jerusalem in advising Paul to share
in a temple
ceremony, which indicates James’ reverence for tradition, but does
not
clearly show how he related it to his new faith. Perhaps James represen-
ted a traditional group
of Christian, while Stephen represented a group
which rejected the temple.
The New Testament references to James show that he was
devoted
to the old Jewish tradition, yet willing to modify it in the light of
the new-
ness of God’s action in Christ.
Later tradition among Jewish Christians
remembered and exaggerated
James’ devotion to the law. In this
picture
James almost becomes himself a mediator between God & man. James’
exaggerated piety reflects a later
period when Jewish and Gentile Chris-
tians had separated. It does not represent the conditions of the
first Chris-
tian generation. Galatians
and Acts does confirm that James was the most
respected and authoritative
leader in Jerusalem.
James’ position in the church was not due to his relation to
the risen
Christ; the fact that he was of the family of Jesus no doubt
strengthened his
authority. The family's role in leadership in the ancient Near East makes it
probable that many
Christians honored James as a brother of Jesus; after
James’ death & Jerusalem's destruction, another relative of Jesus, named
Simeon, came into a
position of leadership. This way of
ensuring continu-
ity did commend itself, but it proved to only a temporary
experiment.
2 separate traditions tell that James was put to death
shortly before
Jerusalem's destruction in 70 A.D. The Jewish historian Josephus writes
that
James was put to death by the priestly authorities in the early 60s. In
another account, Hegesippus writes that
James met his death after being
presented to the people at Passover to give his
impartial judgment about
Jesus.
JAMES, LETTER OF.
The 20th book in
the New Testament and the first of the
so-called Catholic Letters. The author identifies himself simple as
“James,
a teacher, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. His excellent
Greek suggests a Greek
background. His public was Greek.
The issues with which James of Jerusalem was concerned do
not
appear in this letter. The problems
treated by James had grown out of a
misuse of such Pauline emphases as love and
faith to justify moral inertia.
The
soundness of Paul’s positions is assumed by James. Eusebius him-
self regarded James, the Lord’s
brother, whom he calls an apostle as the
author, but he clearly knew the status
of the letter was debatable because
of uncertainty about its authorship.
Origen is the earliest of the fathers to refer explicitly
to James. In
the East, from the time of
Origen, James was generally treated as having
been written by the Lord’s
brother. In Syrian centers like Antioch
& Edes-
sa, James was recognized by the 400s A.D. In Syria, James remained
doubtful. The church in the West came to know James
through leaders
who had traveled in the East.
Authorship of James by the Lord’s brother is rendered
unlikely by
the fact that prior to Origen it was unknown outside of its place of origin.
Skepticism about its
authorship accounts for the slowness with which
James was accepted as part of
the canon. The tradition of authenticity
hinges on the judgment of Origen. Whatever
the origin of the tradition, it
represented the impression the author of the
letter himself probably inten-
ded to create; he wrote in the name of James. The name of James, popu-
larized in Acts and Galatians, was, however, available, and could be ef-
fectively used in accordance
with current literary practice.
The letter describes its reading public as the “twelve
tribes in the
dispersion,” even though Jewish tribal divisions disappeared
centuries be-
fore. Nothing in the letter
suggests the Jewish origin of the readers.
The
address is clearly a designation of Christendom as the spiritual Israel.
J-9
The letter doesn't quote earlier Christian
writings. Rather, its author
knew
Romans, I Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians as members of a
published collection. The concern with the misuse of Paul by
heretics
strongly suggests 125-50 A.D.
The parallels in this letter with both verbal
and ideological aspects of
Matthew, Luke, Hebrews, I Peter, Hermas, and
I Clement, along with Paul’s
published letters, suggests James’ knowledge
of these gospels and letters. Paul’s letter enjoyed a tremendous vogue for
the quarter of a century following their publication. During the second
quarter, Paul’s letter
waned in popularity. James apparently
originated in
the period mentioned above.
Most likely, Origen found the letter at Caesarea and
brought it with
him to Alexandria. Until
then it had enjoyed a purely local circulation.
Faced with serious misuse of Paul’s teaching on love and faith, a Greek
Christian teacher from 100-125 A.D. wrote a letter in the name of James.
James condemns an understanding of love that
condones “partiality,” and
that justifies inertia. James intended to exalt genuineness and
condemn
sham. He wrote to insist that
religiousness be morally energetic and soci-
ally redemptive.
James’ theme is the “righteousness of God.” James insists that
righteousness involves
performance not merely perception of truth.
Effec-
tive piety is a synthesis of obedience, impartiality, integrity,
discipline, humi-
lity, prayerfulness, and love.
The author describes himself as a “servant of
God & of the Lord Jesus
Christ.” (I.e., a Christian,
distinguished from other
Christians only in having taken the role of a
teacher.
Under the analogy of the “12 tribes in the dispersion,”
James addres-
ses the church in its wholeness as the spiritual Israel. In the 1st century,
3/4 of all
Jews in the Roman world were so scattered. Applied to the
church, “the dispersion” described Christians as
temporarily residing in a
hostile world, and as looking toward the bliss of a
heavenly homeland.
Genuineness is strongly emphasized in chapter 1. Exposure of pre-
tense follows and complements
the analysis of genuineness & clarifies its
meaning. The trials James discusses assault people of
faith and tend to
create doubts about God’s providence. Instead, trials should
enhance faith
by enriching its elements.
Constancy is faith’s inner principle; it is staying
power. Maturity of character is the goal of faith.
This perfection is
nurtured by prayer that is undoubting.
The object
of such prayer is wisdom, a religious equivalent of the
worldly human’s
capacity for achieving success based on discernment and
determination.
Poverty and wealth
illustrate the trials James discusses.
The ephermeral
character of riches, discerned by wisdom, is illustrated
by flowers that
“fade and die.” Genuine
faith enables men to face the future unafraid.
James next examines the origin of trials. James insists that though
trials may be so
met as to please God, their origin cannot be attributed to
God. God is untemptable and does not violate his
character by tempting
humankind.
Temptation is from within; man’s inner life is the source. By
their own desires people are enticed. From God comes “every good en-
dowment and every
perfect gift.”
Execution of duty is the listener’s primary concern. Scriptural reve-
lation and inner conviction
support James’ contention. Truth in a
person’s
heart forms the substance of Christian teaching. Interpretation of humans
to themselves and
exposition of revelation are the teacher’s twofold task.
For the Christian, truth is always
imperative, never merely descriptive.
Deeds that express love, not rites constitute genuine purity.
James contends that faith alone makes men Christian. Religion is
debased when churchmen classify
people by earthly norms. Deference to
rich visitors has masqueraded as redemptive love. They will be unmerci-
fully judged who cater
to the rich, because they are leaving the rich unin-
structed regarding true
wealth. James insists that rich visitors
be so trea-
as to show them that true wealth belongs to the realm of faith. Faith
has
ted also been caricatured as a substitute for living by Christian standards,
but faith as commitment is energetic, not apathetic. Faith and the behavior
it implies are halves
of an indivisible whole. James deals
with faith as ei-
ther living or dead. One
effectively saves; the other is useless.
The church leader is
called teacher and wise person. James
makes
it clear that personal qualities, not status, are important. Wisdom implies
a reasoned view of life. Truth is the body of revelation that guides
men in
godliness. The wise man is
expected to exemplify and urge this truth as
the basis for success. Irresponsibility in speech from a teacher
implicates
the church. Because few
Christians are so disciplined, the number of aspi-
rants for teaching should be
kept to the minimum. Also, a too
passionate
zeal for one’s own views is apt to be the undoing of the wise
person. Con-
troversy is less desirable
than meekness, purity, peaceableness, gentle-
ness, reasonableness, and
mercy. Heavenly wisdom is the leader’s
best
credential, and with it he must be endowed “from above.”
Next, worldliness and godliness are analyzed. The godliness of
Christian virtues is urged
on the basis of the nearness of the “coming of
the Lord.” Worldliness is examined under the headings of
double-minded-
ness, presumptuousness, and devotion to pleasure. The prevalence of
worldly wisdom constitutes
“friendship with the world.” This
friendship
makes desire the norm of behavior.
And wealth, like desire, is condemned
as a false and frustrating
goal. The rich, whether Christians or
not, exhibit
the folly of making wealth life’s goal; the prospects for the rich
is the judg-
ment of the Lord of hosts.
J-10
In Chapter 5, James turns to the positive qualities that
mark men as
friends of God. In contrast
to desire, the mark of godliness is humility.
Other qualities are patience, steadfastness, truthfulness, confident
prayer-
fulness, readiness to confess, active concern for the salvation of
others.
Instead of bitter retaliation,
Christians are urged to be patient.
Steadfast-
ness is akin to patience, but specifically describes the person
whom no
suffering can frighten. Job is
the great exemplar of this virtue.
Truthfulness is represented where James,
like Jesus, pleads for a
rigorous integrity that obviates the need for
swearing. Prayer taps divine
sources of
strength; it is the Christians principal reliance in the face of
life’s
difficulties. Confession of sin is
primarily God-ward and is thus an
aspect of prayer. And finally, Christians who bring a wandering
brother
back to the truth will save the sinner’s soul “from death and will
cover a
multitude of sins.”
Several versions of the Letter of James existed by the
300s A.D.
References to James in the
writings of early church fathers are extremely
limited in number. Codex Vaticanus of the early uncials of this
period
best preserves the text. The
other main version of this letter, the Old
Latin Version, was the result of a
changeover from Greek to Latin as the
official language of the church in the
West, instituted by Pope Callistus.
JAMIN (ימין, right hand)
1. An ancestor and the origin
of the name of a fami-
ly from the tribe of Simeon.
3. One of the Levites who helped interpret the law to the people at the
public reading by Ezra (Nehemiah 8).
JAMLECH (ימלך, God will give dominion)
A Simeonite and family prince.
JANAI (יעני, the Lord answers) A
Gadite (I Chronicles 5).
(Joshua 15).
JANNAI (Iannai) An ancestor of Jesus (Luke 3).
JANNES AND JAMBRES
(IannhV kai
IambrhV) The
legendary Egyptian
magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron and duplicated their
miracles to
discredit them. The names do
not occur in the Old Testament, Philo, or
Josephus. But they are common in late Jewish and in
Christian sources.
Non-Jewish sources
simply identify them as outstanding magicians living
after Zoroaster. The 2 are also named in various Christian
sources, II
Timothy and Origen. In the
late Jewish and Samaritan sources an exten-
sive legendary tradition developed
about them in connection with the Exo-
dus account. They were connected with the figure of Bileam
(Balaam)
and with Beliar (Belial).
According to legend, they become proselytes to
Judaism and join in the
Exodus.
Shechem Joshua 16). 2. A town in northern Galilee, captured by Tiglath-
pileser III of Assyria. The site is uncertain (II Kings 15)
JAPHETH (יפת, perfect) The second son of Noah.
When Noah became drunk from the wine of his vineyard
and lay un-
covered, “his youngest son” breeched the laws of Hebrew modesty by
seeing his father’s nakedness. Upon
awaking, Noah cursed Canaan, ma-
king him the lowest of slaves to his brothers. This story presents such a
different view of
Noah’s life & family from that given in the flood account
that they are best
considered separate traditions.
One
scholar believes that the Yahwistic writer picked up this ancient
piece and
placed it here to show why the Israelites (Shem) don't have sole
possession of
the land, that the Philistines (Japheth) have a share in Ca-
naan. In the Priestly genealogy Japheth is the
youngest of Noah’s 3 sons
and the father of Gomer, Magog, Jadai, Javan,
Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras,
all people who lived to the west and north of the
Hebrews.
J-11
JAPHIA (יפיע, splendid) 1. King of Lachish, southwest
of Jerusalem, one of
5 confederate kings that attempted to halt Joshua’s
invasion (Joshua 10).
2. A
son of David, born after David had become king in Jerusalem.
(II Samuel 5).
3. A border town in Zebulun, identified with
Yafa, 3.2 km south-
west of Nazareth.
JAPHLET (יפלט, may God
deliver) A Asherite, son of Heber (I Chronicles 7).
JAPHLETITES (יפלט, [see previous entry]) A clan whose location helps to
mark
the boundary of Ephraim in an area east of Gezer
JARAH (יערה, honeycomb) A descendant of King Saul
(I Chronicles 9).
Instead of this name,
I Chronicles 8 has Jehoaddah.
JAREB (ירב, great) The King James Version translates as
the name of a
king. More likely it
should be translated “great king.”
JARED (ירד, descent) An patriarch from before
the Flood, from the line of
Seth; father of Enoch.
JARHA (ירהע) Egyptian servant of Sheshan, a Jerahmeelite, who gave
his
daughter as wife to the former.
JARIB (יריב, adversary) 1. A son of Simeon, according to I
Chronicles 4, but
not mentioned in Genesis 46.
2. One of the
leading men who assisted Ezra in securing temple ser-
vants before the return to
Palestine.
3. One of the
priests compelled by Ezra to give up his foreign wives
(Ezra 10).
JARMUTH (ירמות, heights)
1. A city of Judah situated on an easily
defended
hill, 12.8 km north northeast of Eleutheropolis. One of five Canaanite royal
cities in the
coalition that was defeated by Joshua; this city’s king was exe-
cuted at
Makkedah. It became a part of the
Shepelah province of Zorah-
Azekah.
Around 1365 B.C. Yaramu (Jarmuth)
is a town ruled by a robber
chief who is answerable only to the Egyptian
officials.
2. A Levitical
town in Issachar (Joshua 21).
JAROAH (ירוה, moon) A Gadite (I Chronicles 5).
JASHAR, BOOK OF (ספר הישר (seh far ha ya sher), roll of the upright)
A
written document mentioned as though well known and cited as containing
Joshua’s poetic sun and moon address (Joshua 10), David’s Saul & Jona-
than lament
(II Samuel 1), and Solomon’s original words of dedication of
the temple (I
Kings 8).
The nature of this book must be inferred from its
three quotations;
there is no other evidence.
It seems to have been a national song book.
The first one cited in the Bible is
apparently a very old incantation to Yah-
weh’s heavenly bodies to prolong
daylight. The second, a literary
monu-
ment to David’s poetic skill, is a remarkable appreciation of both the
natio-
nal significance and the personal friendship of the tragic heroes involved.
The third is probably an authentic utterance
of Solomon on the occasion of
the temple’s dedication.
The origin of the Book of Jashar is uncertain. Probably it was the
beginning of sacred
literary archives established at the height of the monar-
chy. The intriguing and mysterious nature of the
Book of Jashar has given
rise through the centuries to both false
identifications and imitations of the
book.
JASHEN (ישן, old) A
member of the Mighty Men of David known as the
“thirty.” The name of the hero in the original
catalog would then seem to
have been “Jashen/Hashem the Gizonite.”
JASHOBEAM (ישובעם, the people
shall return) 1. A Hachmonite who is
described as the son
of Zabdiel & a descendant of Perez; the chief of the
“Three,” the highest
command among the Mighty Men of David (I Chroni-
cles 11). He was also in command of the 24,000 men of
the Davidic mili-
tia for the first month of the year. Because of the differences between
I
Chronicles 11 and II Samuel 23, most likely due to errors in copying the
text, the
text should most likely be reconstructed as: “Ishbaal, Hachmonite;
he was chief
of the three; he wielded his spear against 300 whom he slew
at one
time.”
the proscribed band of David at Ziklag.
J-12
JASHUB (ישוב, may God
return) 1. An ancestor descended from Asher and
the origin of the name of a tribe (Numbers 26; I Chronicles 7). 2. One
of the men persuaded by Ezra to
divorce their foreign wives (Ezra 10).
JASON (Iaswn) Paul’s
host at Thessalonica, haled before the politarchs when
the mob could not find
Paul. He was freed upon giving security
to keep
the peace; it is possible that he was the same Jason as the one in
Acts.
JASPER (יהלום (ya ha lom), diamond; ישפה (yaw shef
ay); IaspiV (ee as
pis))
A green waxy-looking quartz. Yahalom is used for a stone in the king
of Tyre’s covering. Yashephe is a stone in the breastpiece of judgment
(Exodus 28). Iaspis, is used with carnelian in the
description of the one on
the throne (Revelation 4).
JATHNIEL (יתניאל, whom God
bestows) A Korahite gatekeeper of
the
sanctuary.
JATTIR (יתיר, excellent) A Levitical city of Judah in the hill-country district of
Debir,
about 21 km south-southwest of Hebron.
JAVAN (יון) The fourth son of Japheth son of Noah. The name is generally
understood to refer to
the descendants of Japheth through Javan, which
includes the western lands of
Ionia, or Greece in the broad sense of the
word, Cyprus, Rhodes; and at least
part of Syria. Javan is mentioned in
Isaiah 66 as one of the distant nations which will witness the future mani-
festation of God’s glory. The sons
of the Javanites are referred to in Joel
3 as slave traders who purchased
Jewish captives. Judah and Ephraim
will
serve as God’s warriors in wreaking vengeance upon the sons of
Javan. Javan is mentioned in the Hebrew text of
Ezekiel. Here Javan is
most likely a
Greek colony or an Arab tribe in Arabia.
JAVELIN. See Weapons and Implements of War.
JAZER (יעור, he will help) A fortified Amorite city in Gilead in
a district that was
disputed by the Israelites, Moabites and Ammonites, near
the river Jabbok
as it flows north from Amman.
After the defeat of Sihon, king of the Amo-
rites, Moses occupied Jazer.
Later it became a Levitical city. The
region
was noted for the pasture lands and for its fruits and vines. Jazer was im-
portant as a border post against
an attack from Ammon. After the death
of
Ahab (853 B.C.), the entire region was conquered by Mesha of Moab,
and Jazer
became an important Moabite city.
JAZIZ (יזיז, he moves) A Hagrite who was one of the royal stewards of David
in charge of
the flocks.
JEALOUSY (קנא (kin aw), zealous; zhloV (zay los), zealous) The biblical
idea of jealousy includes
attitudes ranging from the intense hatred of one
person for another out of envy
to the positive emotion of zeal. The
term
“jealousy” is used for both humans and God, both as “jealousy of”
some-
thing and as “jealousy for.”
For the Old Testament jealousy is the emotion of
single-minded de-
votion. When turned upon
the self, it produces hatred or envy of others;
when turned beyond the self,
produces overpowering zeal leading to total
selflessness. Human jealousy may be either envy of or zeal
for another.
Jealous causes vengeful fury
and produces a kind of spiritual death.
The
jealousy which produces positive devotion is exemplified by Joshua’s
de-
sire to forbid Eldad and Medad from prophesying. Phinehas’ murder of
an Israelite and his
Midianite bride is commended by Yahweh as being
“jealous with my
jealousy.” Jehu’s jealousy for Yahweh is
likewise ex-
pressed by the slaughter of Ahab’s family.
The divine jealousy is also expressed in two
directions. Willful
departure from the
covenant causes the jealousy of God to break forth in
destructive
judgment. Covenantal jealousy demands
totality of obedience.
The divine
jealousy, however, is the principle of God’s protection of his
people. God’s jealousy for Judah is both wrath
against her adversaries
and compassion for Jerusalem. (See
also entry in the Old Testament (OT)
Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT
section of the Appendix).
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In the New Testament (NT), jealousy is both negative and positive.
Jealousy of others
for the NT is the antithesis of love.
The positive pole of
jealousy is found in the NT particularly in Paul,
who finds pious jealousy
admirable in the Jews, and who feels that it
characterized his own life be-
fore his conversion. Paul hopes that his ministry will provoke
the Jews to
yet more jealousy for God’s truth; zeal must be focused on the
proper end.
Other writers commend zeal
for “good deeds” and for “what is right.”
JEALOUSY, ORDEAL OF (מנחת קנאת (maw nekh eth kin eh ath), cereal
offering of jealousy) A
test which was devised to determine if a woman
suspected of adultery was guilty
or not. She had to drink holy water
mixed with dust after taking an oath, & while holding the “cereal offering
of
jealousy.” If she was guilty, her body
would swell & her thigh fall away.
JEARIM, MOUNT (הר יערים (har yah ar eem), mountain of forests)
A
mountain on the northern border of Judah Mount
JEBERECHIAH (יברכיה, whom God has blessed) The
father of Zechariah
(Isaiah 8).
JEBUS (יבוס, place trodden down)
Originally the name of a clan, the Jebu-
sites, in control of Jerusalem
name Jebus occurs in Judges 19 with the
explanation “that is, Jerusalem,”
& I Chronicles 4: “that is Jebus, where the
Jebusites were.” One may con-
clude from
these passages, either that Jebus was Jerusalem's primitive
name, or that
Jebus was derived from the name of the clan which the occu-
pied the site. The name Jebus may well have been forged by
late biblical
writers unaware of the fact that the name Jerusalem was of
ancient and
pagan origin.
The clan of Jebusi is from the same ethnic line as the
Amorites. The
Jebusites being listed
among the Canaanites is for geographical rather
than ethnic reasons. The Amorites & their kindred are mentioned
as inha-
biting the highlands and living in the midst of the Canaanite populations.
In the division of Canaan, the boundary
between Judah and Benjamin ran
along the Valley of Hinnom just to the south of
Jerusalem.
The location & the general layout of the city have been
ascertained
by archaeology. Jerusalem
wasn't occupied by the Israelites as they over-
ran the land of Canaan under
Joshua. It was not until the capture of
the
stronghold of Zion by David that the domination of the Jebusite came to an
end. David purchased from a Jebusite the
rocky hilltop used as a threshing
floor to the north of the city of David with
a view to building a permanent
structure for housing the ark.
JECOLIAH (יכליה, the Lord has prevailed) The
mother of King Azariah
(II Kings 15; II Chronicles 26).
JEDAIAH (ידיה, who praises the Lord) 1. A Simeonite (I Chronicles 4).
2. Someone who helped to repair
Jerusalem’s wall (Nehemiah 3).
3. Aaron
descendant, an ancestor and the origin of the name of a
priestly house. The other “Jedaiahs” listed are a part of
this priestly line,
but the exact relationships cannot be determined. 4. One of the
priests
among those resident in post-exilic Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11).
5. A priest among
the returned exiles, related to a priestly house of
this name (Nehemiah 12). 6 . Evidently another priest related to ano-
ther priestly
house of this name (Nehemiah 12). 7. One
of the returned
exiles who brought contributions from Babylon for the Jerusalem
community.
JEDIAEL
(ידיעאל, known of God) 1. An
ancestor and the origin of the name
of a Benjaminite family (I Chronicles 7);
the genealogy may originally have
been that of Zebulun. 2. One of David’s Mighty Men (I Chronicles
11).
3. One of the Manassites who deserted to David (I Chronicles
12).
4. A Korahite gatekeeper in
the reign of David (I Chronicles 26).
JEDIDAH
(ידידה, beloved) The mother of King Josiah (II Kings 22).
JEDIDIAH
(ידידיה, beloved of Yahweh) A name given to Solomon by Nathan
to
indicate Yahweh’s love for Solomon (II Samuel 12).
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JEDUTHUN
(ידותון, from the root meaning “hand.”) A Levitical singer of
Da-
vid’s time. He is associated with Asaph and Heman; Jeduthun is said to
“prophecy.” Possibly the guild which traced
its origin to Jeduthun was
originally a prophetic guild. In I Chronicles 16, Jeduthun is mistakenly
made the father of the gatekeepers. The
first of these verses may be a
gloss by one who found Obed-edom mentioned as a
singer in I Chron. 15.
JEGAR-SAHADUTHA
(שהדותא יגר, witness-heap
of stones) The Aramaic
name given by
Laban to the heap of stones set up by Laban and Jacob.
JEHALLELEL (יהללאל, he shall praise God)
1. An ancestor and the origin
of the name of a family descended from Judah (I Chronicles 4). 2. A
Merarite Levite (II Chronicles
29).
JEHDEIAH
(יהדיהו, whom the Lord gladdens) 1. A Levite identified in I Chro-
nicles 24 with the reign of King
David. 2. A Meronothite; official in charge
of David’s she-asses (I
Chronicles 27).
JEHEZKEL
(יהזקאל, whom God shall strengthen)
An ancestor and the origin
of the name of a priestly family descended from
Aaron.
JEHIAH
(יהיה, the Lord lives) A
Levite who was appointed as a gate keeper
for the ark when it was brought to
Jerusalem by David (I Chronicles 15).
JEHIEL
(יהיאל, God lives) 1. A
Levite musician among those ministering be-
fore the ark in Jerusalem
chief
of Laadan’s house, in charge of the temple treasury in David’s
reign, and
founder of a priestly family. (I Chron.
23, 29) 3. An instruc-
tor or adviser
to David’s sons (I Chron. 27). 4. A
son of King Jehosha-
phat of Judah (II Chron. 21).
5. One
of the Levites assisting King Hezekiah's reforms (II Chron. 29).
6. A ruler of the temple during the
reforms of King Josiah (II Chron. 35).
7. The father of one of the exiles returning with Ezra from Babylon (Ezra 8).
8.
The father of the Shecaniah associated with Ezra’s marriage reforms
(Ezra
10), & perhaps the Jehiel who was among those induced to divorce
their foreign
wives. 9. A priest among those
persuaded by Ezra to di-
vorce their foreign wives (Ezra 10).
JEHIZKIAH (יהזקיה, whom the
Lord shall strengthen) Son of
Shallum; a chief
of Ephraim (II Chronicles 28).
JEHOADDAH (יהועﬢה) A
obscure Benjaminite (I Chronicles 9).
JEHOADDAN (יהועדן, Yahweh is
delight) The mother of King of
Amaziah
(II Kings 14).
JEHOAHAZ
(יהואהז, the Lord holds him) 1. King
of Judah around 842 B.C.;
youngest son & successor of Jorain (II Chronicles
34). 2.
King of Israel
around 815-801 B.C.; son and successor of Jehu (II
Kings 13). The text
mentioned above is
confused regarding his reign. Israel was
overrun by
the Syrians under Hazael & his son Ben-hadad. The survival of the Ashe-
rah in Samaria was
the religious reason for Israel’s overthrow.
The military
reason can be traced to the destruction of Israel’s (the
Northern King-
dom’s) military forces. Archaeological evidence bears out this reason,
as Megiddo seems to have been
destroyed at this time and was not rebuilt
until a later period.
3. King of Judah 609-608 B.C.; son and successor of
Josiah. In our
sources this king is
called by 2 names—Jehoahaz and Shallum, the latter
most likely being his
personal name. Jehoahaz came to the
throne at the
age of 23, the youngest of Josiah’s four sons and reigned three
months in
Jerusalem. Jehoahaz succeeded
to the throne in tragic circumstances.
With Josiah’s death at Megiddo Judah’s dream of independence and a
revi-
val of the old Davidic empire was rudely shattered. After 3 months Jehoa-
haz was summoned by
Pharaoh Neco to Riblah on the Orontes.
Jehoa-
haz was made a prisoner and tribute was imposed on Judah to the
extent
of a 100 talents of silver and ten talents of gold. The exile of Jehoahaz to
Egypt was the occasion
of Jeremiah’s dirge.
J-15
JEHOHANAN (יהוהנן, the Lord has graciously
bestowed him) 1. A Korahite
Levite;
gatekeeper of the sanctuary (I Chronicles 26).
2. One of King
Jehoshaphat’s
captains (II Chronicles 17). 3. The father of Ishmael, a
commander
who supported Jehoiada’s revolt against Athaliah (II Chroni-
cles 23).
4. The owner of the chamber to which
Ezra withdrew for fasting (Ezra
10); called the “son of Eliashib.” If he is the
Johanan that is a grandson of
Eliashib, then his connection with Ezra offers
an important clue to the chro-
nology of Ezra-Nehemiah.
5. One
of the Israelites, contemporaries of Ezra, who had married
foreign wives (Ezra
10). 6. A son of Tobiah the
Ammonite; contempo-
rary of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6). 7. A
priest in the time of the high priest
Joiakim (Nehemiah 12). 8. One
of the priests officiating at the dedication
of the Jerusalem wall during
Nehemiah’s term as governor (Nehemiah 12).
JEHOIACHIN (יהויכין, Yahweh establishes) King of Judah 598-597 B.C., son
and
successor of Jehoiakim carried into exile by Nebuchadrezzar. Jehoi-
chin and Joiachin probably represent his
throne name, while Jeconiah was
his personal or private name. According to II Chronicles 36 he was eight,
but the Babylonian tablets and the mention of his wives in II Kings 24,
make it
clear he was 18 years old. His mother
was Nehushta. The promi-
nence given her
suggests her great influence in the briefly reported events.
Jehoiachin inherited a disintegrating kingdom. His father Jehoia-
kim may have been
assassinated in a palace revolt. The
Babylonian Chro-
nicle establishes the chronology for the end of Jehoiachin’s
reign. In the
seventh year of
Nebuchadrezzar’s reign, he seized the city and captured
the king. He appointed
there a king of his own choice. The
captured king
was Jehoiachin, the king of his own choice was Jehoiachin’s
uncle, Matta-
niah, now named Zedekiah.
The exile of Jehoiachin was the occasion for oracles of
Jeremiah.
The prophet Hananiah predicted
the return of Jehoiachin within two years.
Ezekiel dated his oracles, not according to the reign of Zedekiah, but
by
the exile of King Jehoiachin.
Zedekiah may have been regarded by many
as only a provisional ruler in
anticipation of Jehoiachin’s return. It
is pos-
sible that Gedaliah, who was Judah's governor after Zedekiah was
de-
posed, may also have been regarded as a provisional ruler.
The Babylonian themselves may have intended the eventual
restora-
tion of Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin
continued to bear the title of king of Judah
in Babylon
living a fairly normal life
in Babylonia. Jehoiachin had 7 sons
(I Chroni-
cles 3). It has been suggested that one of them may have been Judah's
first leader or governor of after the return. In Matthew 1's genealogy,
Jechoniah is given
as the son of Josiah, the name Jehoiakim being absent
from the list.
JEHOIADA (יהוידע, Yaweh has regarded) 1. The father of the Benaiah who
commanded King David’s mercenaries. It
is doubtless this same Jehoiada
joined forces with David at Hebron (I Kings
1-2). 2. The successor to
Ahithophel as David’s counselor; presumably
the grandson of the one
mentioned above (I Chronicles 27). 3. High
priest in Jerusalem who
organized and led the coup that overthrew Queen
Athaliah of Judah (842-
837 B.C.) (II Chronicles 22). Jehoiada apparently acted as regent for the
new king during the latter’s minority. Jehoiada’s son Zechariah, was exe-
cuted
by King Joash; in turn Joash suffered divine punishment through
military defeat
and assassination. 4. A priest in the time of Jeremiah
the prophet (Jeremiah 29).
JEHOIAKIM (יהויקים,Yahweh raises up) King of Judah around 609-598 B.C.;
son of Josiah. In documents the name
appears as Yaukim. His given name
was Eliakim, but Pharaoh Neco changed his
name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim
was the 2nd son of Josiah. His younger
brother Jehoahaz was deposed by
Pharaoh Neco.
Jehoiakim became king at the age of 25 & reigned 11
years in
Jerusalem. He may have been passed over
as his father’s imme-
diate successor because of his pro-Egyptian leanings. Neco laid Judah
under heavy tribute. Jehoiakim levied a tax upon the whole land,
and
put some of the money to his own personal use.
Our knowledge of events has been increased by the
Babylonian
Chronicle, which adds to the knowledge we have from the Berossus
extract. The world powers are Egypt and
the Medo-Babylonian Empire.
From 609 to 605 Nabopolassar and Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon were
unable to dislodge the
Egyptians from their position at Carchemish on
the Euphrates. In mid-605 Nebuchadrezzar drove the Egyptians
out of
Carchemish, and pursued his attack to the west and “conquered the
Hatti-
country” (i.e., Syria-Palestine).
J-16
Jeremiah assigns the Battle of Carchemish to the fourth
year of Je-
hoiakim. As a result of
Nebuchadrezzar’s victory Jehoiakim transferred his
allegiance to him. For three years Jehoiakim acknowledged Babylonian
suzerainty. Then he rebelled after an
indecisive battle of great ferocity
fought near the Egyptian border between the
Babylonian and the Egyptians
in 601-600. Casualties were very heavy, & Nebuchadrezzar was compelled
to break
off the campaign and withdraw to Babylonia, where he remained
for almost two
years.
Egypt continued her policy of intrigue & managed to
capture Gaza.
Jehoiakim’s revolt against
Nebuchadrezzar, against the advice of Jeremi-
ah, was probably due to Egyptian
influence. Nebuchadrezzar dispatched
bands of Chaldeans, enlisted the Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, and
in 598
besieged Jerusalem. The city and King
Jehoiachin were captured
in March of 597, Jehoiakim having died in December of
598.
The manner of the king’s death is unclear. The writer of Kings indi-
cates that he died a
peaceful death; the Chronicler makes no mention of
his death; Jeremiah’s two
oracles describe an undesirable burial for him.
The most likely explanation the lack of information regarding his death
would be that he was murdered by supporters of the pro-Babylonian party.
He paid for his pro-Egyptian policy with his
life. In the genealogical list in
Matthew
1, Jehoiakim’s name is missing; only Jechoniah is mentioned by
name as the son
of Josiah.
JEHOIARIB (יהויריב, may Yahweh contend [on one’s
behalf]) Descendant of
Aaron, the
ancestor and origin of the name of a priestly house identified in
I Chronicles
24 with the reign of King David.
JEHONATHAN
(יהונתן, Yahweh has given) 1. One
of the Levites who, in
company with the princes of Judah & some priests,
instructed the people in
the law during an itinerant teaching mission in Judah
(II Chronicles 17).
2. Head of
the postexilic priestly family of Shemaiah (Nehemiah 10; 12).
JEHOSHAPHAT
(יהושפט, Yahweh judges or has judged) 1. One of the
priests who took part in the procession when the
ark of God was brought
from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David
2. Recorder in the administrations of David and Solomon;
one of the
chief officials of the kingdom (II Samuel 8; 20; I Kings 4; I
Chronicles 18).
3. One of Solomon’s twelve administrative officers, with
responsibility
for the district of Issachar and to provide food for the king’s
household for
one month each year (I Kings 4).
4. King of Judah from about 873-849 B.C.; son & successor of Asa.
Jehoshaphat's reign was marked by the
end of the warfare between Israel
and Judah.
There was an alliance between them that was confirmed by
marriage of
Ahab’s daughter Athaliah to Jehoram, son and heir of Jehosha-
phat. The immediate result was a revival of
strength in both kingdoms.
Jehoshaphat was on a state visit when he was persuaded to join an
attempt to recover Ramoth-gilead for Israel. Ahab’s 400 prophets an-
nounced the success of the pending action Jehoshaphat had Ahab send
for Micaiah son of
Imiah. Micaiah first agreed with the
other prophets,
but later declared that Israel would be “scattered upon the
mountains, as
sheep that have no shepherd”; in the ensuing battle Ahab was
mortally
wounded. Nothing further is
said of Jehoshaphat, and we have to assume
that he withdrew to Jerusalem.
Jehoshaphat
was an able ruler; he brought Edom under his control,
which gave Judah command
of most of the caravan routes from Arabia.
Toward the end of Jehoshaphat’s reign, he tried to revive Arab maritime
trade. Ahaziah of Israel offered help to
man a fleet, but Jehoshaphat re-
fused his help. Also during his reign the kings
of Israel, Judah, and Edom
undertook a war against Moab, which had revolted
from Israel.
The
Chronicler gives a long and detailed account of Jehoshaphat’s
achievements. He fortified cities in
Judah & garrisoned cities in Ephraim.
He was feared and held in high regard by all the surrounding
peoples. Phi-
listines and Arabs brought
tribute. He had a mighty army, for which
we do
not have reliable figures.
Noteworthy during his reign is the account of a
great assembly gathered
“to seek help from the Lord.”
Jehoshaphat carried out a systematic
teaching program among the
people of Judah; priests went out to instruct the
people in the “book of the
law of the Lord.”
He also appointed judges in all of Judah's fortified cities,
and
established a court of final appeal in Jerusalem. The numbers used in
the Chronicler’s account
of the Jehoshaphat’s war are unreliable; only the
fact that his reforms took
place is indisputable. It seems probable
that the
fortresses and store cities of Jehoshaphat were part of a provincial
system
existing in Judah. Jehoshaphat may
have acted as regent for his father,
Asa, after the king was incapacitated in
his 39th year.
J-17
JEHOSHAPHAT,
VALLEY OF (עמק יהושפט (ay mek yeh hosh af at))
A valley
in which God summons the nations to be judged in the days
of the mes-
sianic restoration of Judah Jerusalem
as a symbol, rather
than a geographic reality.
A
few Jewish commentators and majority of early & medieval Chris-
tian
interpreters, took the valley as a real place.
Some have identified it
with the Hinnom Valley or the Kidron Valley, on
the south and east side of
Jerusalem, respectively. The association of the Kidron Valley with judg-
ment
survives in various Moslem legends concerning the so-called Golden
Gate, on the
eastern front of the Hara mesh-Sherif or temple area.
JEHOSHEBA
(יהושבע, Yahweh is abundance, wholeness) The daughter of
King Jehoram of Judah
queen mother Athaliah destroyed the rest of
the royal family and reigned
herself.
Jehosheba saved Joash from this destruction, hiding him for six
years,
until he could be king.
JEHOVAH.
An artificial form which results from
combining the actual conso-
nants from the Holy Name, with the vowels used in the
name that was ac-
tually spoken (i.e the YHWH was used with the “a” or “e,” the
“o, and the
“ai” in “Adonai.”
JEHOVAH-JIREH
(יהוה יראה, the Lord will provide)
The designation Abraham
gave to the place where God provided a ram to sacrifice
in Isaac’s stead;
its location is unknown.
Tradition has always put the location at the Solo-
monic temple. Scholarship offers the alternative of the oak
of Moreh at
Shechem (Genesis 22).
JEHOVAH-NISSI (יהוה נסי, the Lord is my banner)
This was Moses’ desig-
nation of the altar which he had erected as a
memorial after the victory
over the Amalekites (Exodus 17).
JEHOVAH-SHALOM
(יהוה שלום, the Lord is peace) The
name of the altar
erected by Gideon at Ophrah.
JEHOZABAD
(יהוזבד, Yahweh gives) 1. Son
of Shomer; one of the servants
of Joash who murdered the king at Millo (II
Kings 12). 2. A temple gate
keeper, son of Obed-edom (I Chronicles 26). 3. A
Benjaminite comman-
der under Jehoshaphat (I Chronicles 17).
JEHU
(יהוא, he shall live) 1. King
of Israel 842-815 B.C. He began his rule
after
the murder of Joram, last of the Omride dynasty (II Kings 9-10). Jehu was
the son of Jehoshaphat. He reigned in Samaria 28 years.
Certain features of this bloody revolution are noteworthy. It was pro-
phet-inspired. It is clear that the worship of the Tryian
Baal-Melcarth and
Astarte, imported by Jezebel, was regarded as an insult to
Yahweh. Joram
had been wounded at
Ramoth-gilead. Elisha summoned one of
the pro-
phet’s sons and sent him to Ramoth-gilead to seek out Jehu and privately
anoint him king over Israel.
It is probable that the command to
exterminate the house of Ahab
did not belong in the original statement. Jehu’s fellow commanders pro-
claimed him king,
and Jehu made preparations to drive to Jezreel.
Joram
was suspicious and ordered messengers on horseback to be sent out
to
meet them, but they did not come back.
He and King Ahaziah of Judah
rode out to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that
Jezebel
confiscated from Naboth after having him falsely accused and
executed.
In ruthless manner Joram was
slain by Jehu and his body tossed
on the plot that had once been Naboth’s. Ahaziah king of Judah tried to
escape, but
was pursued, overtaken, and seriously wounded.
Then Jehu
came to Jezreel, where Jezebel was thrown into the street from
an upper
window, trampled on by the horses, and eaten by dogs.
The murder of the kings of Israel and
Judah, together with the
queen mother, was followed by the slaughter of Ahab’s
family, 70 persons
in all. Jehu
challenged the loyalty of the city’s leaders, and ordered the
heads of Ahab’s
family to be sent to him at Jezreel. On
his way there he
met the royal party from Judah coming to visit the royal
family in Samaria.
Jehu gave orders that
the whole party should be slaughtered.
The religious element in the revolt is
shown by the fact that Jona-
dab, son of Rechab, is pictured as giving his
wholehearted support to Jehu.
The Rechabite ideal was the simple life of the
desert. Jonadab was remem-
bered as taking part with Jehu in the purge that
followed. Under the pre-
tense of offering
a great sacrifice to Baal, Jehu summoned all the Baal-
worshipers to the house
of Baal. Orders were issued that every
single per-
son present was to be slain. The
house of Baal itself was demolished, but
Baal-worship survived.
J-18
An economic factor was also
involved. Israel’s economic prosperity
had depended upon the small peasant; larger farms were rare. After a
great drought occurred in Ahab’s
reign, wealthy merchants loaned money
at extortionate rates, confiscated the
land of peasant farmers, & enslaved
their families. The incident of Naboth’s vineyard aroused
popular discon-
tent. It is equally clear
that there was dissatisfaction in the army.
But Jehu’s purge of the land went too
far. From the religious point
of view it
accomplished its purpose. From the
political point of view, it
was a major disaster. The prophetic hatred of Jezebel’s Tyrian
deities may
account for Jehu’s savage revenge of Jezebel and her followers, but
it is
difficult to find any real justification for the murder of Judah’s royal
family.
In 842 Shalmaneser III marched
against Aram, and put Damascus
under siege. He then proceeded to Phoenicia. In the course of this cam-
paign Shalmaneser received tribute from the
inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon
and from Jehu, Omri’s son. Shalmaneser’s famous Black Obelisk shows
Jehu
actually presenting tokens of his submission.
It also portrays Isra-
elites for the first time. During this time Aram was constantly
attacking
both Israel and Judah. The Chronicler gives only a brief summary of
the
events recorded in chapters 9 and 10 of II Kings. He was only interested
only in the fate of
Ahaziah.
2.
A prophet, son of Hanani, who
foretold the destruction of Baasha’s
house.
The prophet who censured Jehoshaphat, king of Judah
with Ahab king of Israel
3.
A Benjaminite from Anathoth; one of
David’s Mighty Men who
came to Ziklag (I Chronicles 12).
4. A
Judahite, of the family of Jerahmeel; son of Obed
(I Chronicles 2).
5. A
Simeonite; son of Joshibiah, head of a father’s house
(I Chronicles 4).
JEHUBBAH
(יהבה, hidden, protected)
A descendant of Asher
(I Chronicles 7).
JEHUCAL
(יהוכל, enabled, strong) Son
of Shelemiah; a courtier of Zede-
kiah (Jeremiah 38).
JEHUD
(יהד, praise) A Danite
village about 12.8 km southeast of Jaffa
(Joshua 19).
JEHUDI
(יהודי, Jew, Judean) The
prince, son of Nethaniah, who brought
Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch to the court and
read his scroll to Jehoiakim.
His name
may mean he was a naturalized Judean (Jeremiah 36).
JEHUDIJAH (יהדיה, Jewish woman)
While the King James Version translates
it as a proper name, it is
actually a description, to distinguish one wife of
Mered from another, who was
Egyptian (I Chronicles 4).
JEIEL
(יעיאל, a carrying away of God)
1. A chief of the tribe of Reuben
(I Chronicles 5). 2. Ancestor of the inhabitants of Gibeon and of King
Saul (I
Chronicles 9). 3. One of David’s Mighty Men (I Chronicles
11).
4. A Levite represented both as gatekeeper and as musician (I
Chronicles
15, 16). 5. A Levite of
the sons of Asaph (II Chronicles 20). 6.
King
Uzziah’s secretary who prepared military lists (II Chronicles 26). 7. A
chief of the Levites in the time Josiah (II Chronicles 35). 8. One
of the
Jews who put away their foreign wives in obedience to Ezra’s decree
(Ezra 10).
JEKAMEAM
(יקמעם, he shall gather the people)
A Levite, son of Hebron
(I Chronicles 23, 24).
JEKAMIAH
(יקמיה, the Lord shall gather together) 1. A Jerahmeelite
(I Chronicles 2). 2. One of the sons of King Jehoiachin (I Chronicles 3).
JEKUTHIEL
(יקותיאל, veneration of God)
An ancestor and the origin of the
name of a tribe of Judah
JEMIMAH
(ימימה, dove) The first of
Job’s 3 daughters born to him when his
fortunes were restored.
JEMUEL
(ימואל) The first son of Simeon; same as Nemuel (Genesis 46;
Exodus 6).
J-19
JEPHTHAH
(יפתה, opening) Gileadite
warrior who, as “ruler” or “judge” deli-
vered Israel from the Ammonites,
sacrificed his daughter in fulfillment of a
vow, and defeated the Ephraimites
(Judges 11-12). The Hebrew name
Jephthah
appears also as a place name, Iphtah.
The biblical story of Jephthah contains a number of puzzling literary
and historical problems. The faithless
Israelites have fallen successively
into the worship of seven foreign
gods. Yahweh has sold them into the
hands of seven foreign nations, until they have cried for deliverance. Spe-
cial attention is given to the Philistines
& the Ammonites; Jephthah’s diplo-
matic negotiations with the enemy mentions
the Ammonites only in the in-
troduction and the conclusion. The body of the argument concerns the
Moabites.
Some interpreters explain this confusion
between Moabite and Am-
monite history as due to the fact that this passage was
written in the 600s
B.C., when distinctions between national deities were
blurred. Other scho-
lars think that there
were once two very different narratives of Jephthah. In
the earlier one Jephthat was a Gileadite
driven from home because of be-
ing a bastard, and he was the leader of a bandit
gang. He saved his peo-
ple from the
Ammonites, and massacred escaping Ephraimites. In the
later one, Jephthah was respectable and lived in Mizpah; he saved
his peo-
ple from the Moabites and sacrificed his daughter to keep a vow.
The Ammonites’ territory was on the
border of the Arabian Desert
east of both Gilead and Moab. Jephthah’s call was in response to their
pu-
shing west in perhaps the early 1000s B.C.
The selection of Jephthah is
the story of crisis-motivated popular
demand that an obviously God-empo-
wered leader become a practical dictator, despite
a low family background.
Jephthah’s mother was a harlot, so
Jephthah was banished from
home. As
leader of an outlaw band Jephthah conducted successful raiding
parties from
his center at Tob, perhaps some 24 km east of Ramoth-gilead.
In the crisis Jephthah was offered the
position of “chief” or “ruler.” When
his mission was successfully accomplished,
his position was to be perma-
nent, but he is recorded as having been judge only
six years.
At Mizpah in Gilead, Jephthah was
consecrated in a solemn cere-
mony.
Because of his decisive victory over the Ammonites, they caused
no more
trouble until Saul’s reign. The central
concern in Jephthah’s story
is his vow and its fulfillment. Jephthah’s vow was not rash, but
deliberate.
Expecting great things of
Yahweh, he promised his best in return, human
sacrifice, or the first person
to come forth from his house to greet him.
Jephthah’s bitter sorrow lay in the fact that God took his “absolutely
only
child.”
The Hebrew storyteller with
fine sensitivity shows Jephthah’s bitter
grief and his daughter’s courageous
self-denial, born of respect for her fa-
ther’s faith, and then leaves the
outcome to the reader’s imagination. The
idea that she wasn't sacrificed but became founder of an order of perpetual
virgins is a medieval idea.
Jephthah’s conflict with the Ephraimites
could have been a private
feud between a few individuals, which in the
subsequent telling was blown
up to become a tribal affair. According to the exaggerated figures, 42,000
Ephraimites trying to return to their western Jordan homeland were massa-
cred
when detected because of their inability to pronounce the “sh” in “shib-
boleth”
with the “th” sound that Gileadites used.
Jephthah’s victories stopped Ammonite
invasions until the days of
Saul, some decades later. His massacre of Ephraimites gives the Hebrew
student evidence of early dialect differences among the Israelites. As one
of the chief “judges” he was
remembered as one of Yahweh’s chief deliver-
ers of his people and celebrated by
the author of the Letter to the Hebrews
as one of the heroes of faith.
JEPHUNNEH
(יפנה, turned) 1. The father of Caleb, identified as a
member
of the tribe of Judah
included in the genealogy of the tribe of Asher (I Chronicles 7).
JERAH
(ירה, moon) A son of
Joktan, & hence probably the name of an Ara-
bian locality, probably on the
Mahra coast (Genesis 10; I Chronicles 1).
JERAHMEEL
(ירהמאל, whom God will pity) 1. A Semitic tribe first men-
tioned as living
in southern Judah
them. Only in the postexilic period is Jerahmeel
listed as a Hebrew
clan, of the tribe of Judah
son of a certain Kish
hoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and contemporary with the prophet Jeremiah.
He was perhaps the kings’s brother or had
some other relation to royalty
(Jeremiah 36).
J-20
JERED
(ירד, descent) An
ancestor and the origin of the name of a tribe of Ju-
JEREMAI
(ירמי, highlander) One of
those compelled by Ezra to give up their
foreign wives (Ezra 10).
JEREMIAH
(ירמיה, whom the Lord appoints)
1. One of the “Mighty Men”
who joined David at Ziklag. (I Chronicles 12). 2. A warrior, a Gadite, who
joined
David at Ziklag (I Chronicles 12). 3. A third warrior, also a Gadite,
who
joined David at Ziklag (I Chronicles 12). 4. A Manassite, head of a
father’s house
(I Chronicles 5). 5. The father of
Hamutal, wife of King
Josiah and mother of King Jehoahaz (II Kings 23). 6. See Jeremiah the
Prophet. 7. The father of Jaazaniah, Rechabite
contemporaneous with
Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 35). 8. A priest who returned from Baby-
those officiating at the dedication of the Jerusalem
(Nehemiah 12).
JEREMIAH
THE PROPHET. One of the major prophets, whose activity span
the period from about 626-580 B.C. and whose book is second in the ca-
nonical order
of the Prophets.
The Man and His Times— Ashur-banipal’s death in 631 B.C. sig-
naled revolt
with the Assyrian Empire. In 626, Chaldea under Nabopolas-
sar declared its independence. By 616 Nabopolassar had pressed his cam-
paign
into Assyria . Then the
Medes under Cyaxares intervened; in 614
they captured Asshur. Egypt
support of
the Assyrian army at Harran , but the city was taken in 610. The
next year Neco went to relieve the
hard-pressed Assyrians. He arrived
too
late to help his Assyrian ally, however, for the Chaldeans were already
in
command. The issue between Chaldea and Egypt
the important Battle of
Carchemish, where Nebuchadrezzar, son Nabopo-
lassar, won a decisive victory.
Manasseh’s
long reign of 55 years was one of subservience to As-
succeeded by Josiah, a child of 8 years (640-609). “In the 12th year [of
his reign],
he began to purge Judah Jerusalem
rian
party is a more likely reason for the reformation than the discovery of
the
Book of the Law. The Chronicler’s date
for the beginning of the re-
forms coincides with the year of the Chaldean
revolt.
Josiah’s
designs were national, political, and religious. He sought to
re-establish the kingdom of David Israel
tage in the Shechemite tribal confederacy. The Covenant Book within the
book of
Deuteronomy was a greatly expanded version of the Mosaic faith.
In 609, Neco went to the aid of the dying Assyria ; Josiah met him at Me-
Jehoahaz,
Josiah’s second son, was anointed king of Judah
summoned
him to Riblah and made his elder brother king, changing his
name to
Jehoiakim. 3 years after the fall of
Carchemish
598, the Judean king withheld
tribute. Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites,
and
Ammonites invaded, & in 598 Jerusalem
Jehoiachin went to Babylon
of a
captive monarch.
The book of Jeremiah presents
a vivid picture of this period. The
prophet
was the victim of the nationalistic hysteria of those who favored
revolt. In
588 the Chaldean army laid
siege to Jerusalem
tered the city. The temple was destroyed, and Judah
Babylonian province.
Not
only is the age of Jeremiah extraordinarily well documented,
but the life of
the man who was called to speak to that age, is richer in lite-
rary witnesses
than that of any other of the prophets.
Already in his call
we can discern the beginning of those tensions which
were to disturb him
throughout his life.
His poetry possesses a lyrical quality, emotional po-
wer, and passion
unrivaled in the records of Semitic antiquity.
His “confes-
sions” are the most intimate & unpolished of any that have
been preserved
to us from ancient times.
Alongside the prophet’s own poetry lie long prose
narratives, written
perhaps by Baruch.
The portrait which emerges from an
examination of these literary re-
cords is one of a very sensitive man, with a
capacity to set down all that he
observed and felt and suffered, however much
they might offend his ten-
dencies toward self-centeredness and pride. To the world of nature, in all
its varied
manifestations, he was sensitive and perceptive. Throughout his
life he suffered the torment
of being set apart from others. He was
denied
the comfort and joy of wife and family.
Yet he was sustained by an aware-
ness of God’s presence with him. He was sore afflicted by a sense of
alie-
nation from God.
It was this sensitive & passionate man
who was called to be a pro-
phet to the nations.
Jeremiah addresses his own people during the four
decades before the
Chaldean conquest of 587 B.C. It was he
more than
any other who gave expression to a piety, faith, and hope, & indeed
a the-
ology, which made it possible for Judah
tion’s fall.
J-21
Life and Ministry—Jeremiah was born in
Anathoth, about 3.2 km
northeast of Jerusalem
tribe of Benjamin,
for which Jeremiah seems to have had special concern.
In his earliest poems he reveals a firm grasp
of the election-covenant faith
of the Mosiac age. His prophetic predecessors left a deep
impression upon
him, especially Hosea, who prophesied near the end of Israel
kingdom).
The prophet’s call came in the year 626
B.C. How old he was we do
not know; he was probably only a youth. Like Moses, he shrinks from the
burden that
is laid on his shoulders, but the divine word overcomes him.
Two visions follow the call: An almond rod, signifying God’s watching
over
his word to bring it to fruition; & a boiling caldron “facing away from
the
north,” signifying a foe coming from the north.
From 626-621 B.C., Jeremiah’s prophetic
activity is directed to two
major concerns:
the prevailing religious corruption caused by the seduc-
tive lure of the
nature cults; and the imminent invasion of the foe from the
north. Yahweh remembers Israel Israel
changed her God for other gods. The central theme of harlotry is the same
in both Hosea and
Jeremiah. Jeremiah issues an urgent plea
for Judah
turn from her gross infidelity and to return to
Yahweh.
In poems on the foe from the north,
Jeremiah achieves the loftiest
height of lyrical expression. Much controversy
has raged over the identity
of this foe.
It is probably best to hold that the reference was originally to
the
Scythians, but that it was altered by Jeremiah himself in the light of
later
events. Jeremiah is torn & at times
even convulsed by Yahweh’s re-
velation to him that the imminent war is his
judgment upon Judah
his passionate concern for his own people; for Jeremiah these
events
were already happening.
There was much in the reformation of
Josiah of which the prophet
might approve.
Unfortunately it is uncertain whether we have any record
at all of
Jeremiah’s activity during the years following the reformation. It
may well be that chapter 11 gives an
authentic account of Jeremiah’s early
support of the movement. Possibly, Jeremiah proclaimed the words of
the
reformation at the command of Yahweh.
There may have been a time of
relative peace for Judah
were
able to implement their national goals.
It was to receive a terrible
reversal in the tragic death of the king at
Megiddo
This was a dark hour for Judah
meet it. Jeremiah went to the temple to deliver a
sermon against the ex-
cessive trust in the temple as a source of
deliverance. The place in and of
itself
was no harbor of refuge; Yahweh is present to those whose lives
conform to
God’s will. The address caused
consternation among the tem-
ple priests and prophets, and they pronounced their
verdict upon the pro-
phet: “You shall die.”
He defended himself by saying that he had spoken
at the behest of
God. The princes and the people rose to
the prophet’s de-
fense, accepting his word that he had spoken in the name of
Yahweh and
invoking the instance of the prophet Micah in the 700s B.C.
Jehoiakim proved to be an unscrupulous
and oppressive monarch,
self-seeking and luxury-loving; the reforming movement
suffered a serious
reversal. Jeremiah’s
proclamations in its support were deeply resented.
His temple address shows that he had begun to
have serious reservations,
for the people were exaggerating the value of cultic
acts to the exclusion of
ethical concerns.
He was outspoken concerning the efficacy of sacrificial
offerings solely
as cultic acts, & persisted in his call to repentance, although
he came to
feel their moral sense was so atrophied that repentance was
impossible. Against Jehoiakim he
launched a bitter invective, contrasting
his corrupt behavior with the
exemplary behavior of his father.
In 605 he was commanded by Yahweh to
transcribe all his prophe-
cies. He
himself was debarred from the temple precincts, doubtless be-
cause of the temple
discourse, so his secretary Baruch was ordered to
read the scroll on a great
national day of fasting before the people.
Jehudi
was commanded to read the scroll to the king, who burnt pieces of
the
scroll as it was read. Jeremiah was
commanded to dictate his prophecies
again.
Returning from Tophet, where he been prophesying, he stood in
the
temple’s court and proclaimed imminent doom upon Jerusalem
hur the
priest beat the prophet, put him in stocks, and left him there for the
night. Jeremiah then delivered a
terrible indictment of Pashhur. Such
ex-
periences left Jeremiah deeply wounded.
J-22
The year of the fall of Carchemish
beginning of a new
period of his activity. This is most
likely the time that
his interior encounters with Yahweh, the symbolic
prophecies took place.
In the
confessional laments Jeremiah reveals his innermost feelings. The
laments of the prophet are remarkable
for their wide range of feeling and
mood, the ebb and flow from faith to doubt,
from courage to despair; Jere-
miah does not hesitate to expose his
thoughts. The egocentricity in these
outcries is overcome by God’s word.
Yahweh cancels his claims, ignores
his complaints, and admonishes him to
return. Jeremiah’s declarations
about
himself are transformed by the divine first-person. His knowing is
God’s causing him to know; his
returning is God’s causing him to return.
When in 598 Jehoiakim refused tribute to Babylonia and the city
was subjected to siege, Jeremiah uttered a vehement
oracle of doom
against its inhabitants.
When Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon
refused to offer any hope for his return,
or for the resumption of the Davi-
dic dynasty.
Zedikiah came to the throne at the age of 21. He was incapa-
ble of coping with the forces
arrayed against him. He lacked force and
sta-
bility. He was friendly to Jeremiah
and often called on his counsel. But
there were many popular prophets who predicted an imminent return to
the
exiles; Jeremiah strenuously opposed this view.
The issue came to a dramatic head in 594
in Jerusalem
the command of Yahweh, placed thongs and yoke bars on his neck and ad-
dressed
them with oracle. The sovereignty of
nations is in the power of the
Creator of the earth, and it is for God to
dispose of nations as God will. Ne-
buchadrezzar
is God’s servant, and to him has been given all the lands.
Later in the year he was confronted by the
prophet Hananiah in the pre-
sence of a crowd of priests. Hananiah proclaimed the imminent defeat of
former
prophets gave no such pleasant assurances. Hananiah broke the
yoke bars from Jeremiah’s neck. Jeremiah left but some time later re-
turned with bars of iron.
Perhaps it was at this time that Jeremiah
wrote a letter to the exiles
urging them not to be deceived by the dreams of
diviners and prophets, be-
cause the exile would be long. Zedekiah was unable to hold out against the
demand for resistance, and Jeremiah’s support of his policy gave him no
strength. Nebuchadrezzar & his army
descended upon Jerusalem
was surrounded & the towns of Judah
made a covenant
to liberate all the slaves, but in a short time they returned
to their masters. When the siege was lifted at the approach of the Egyptian
army around 588,
Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to pray for the city, but the pro-
phet replied that any
relief would only be temporary.
Jeremiah set out to go to the land of Benjamin
but was arrested by a sentry,
accused of desertion, beaten by the princes
and placed in custody. Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah secretly, who
replied:
“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon
but after the siege was resumed, Jeremiah purchased a field from his
cousin Hanamel, since the right of redemption belonged to him. Jeremiah
persisted in counseling
capitulation, even by individual citizens; it was a
choice of life or
death. He was cast into a cistern of the
court of the guard,
but was later rescued by Ebed-melech. A poignant interview with the king
followed. Jeremiah feared for his life,
and the king was in the depths of
despair.
The Babylonians captured Jerusalem
buchadrezzar had given orders to show
Jeremiah special consideration.
He was
released from confinement, and elected to go to Mizpah to join
Gedaliah,
governor of the newly created Chaldean province. Jeremiah
prayed to Yahweh. It was Yahweh’s will that they remain in the
land, trust
themselves to the mercy of the Chaldeans, and not go to Egypt
group was enraged at this advice, and set out for Egypt
Baruch with them. Of the prophet’s life in Egypt
that in Egypt Baruch compiled
his master’s prophecies.
Theology—The thought and faith of Jeremiah are so intimately
inter-
woven that it is impossible to isolate one from the other. Behind all this lie
the traditions of the
election-covenant faith. No where does
he endeavor to
delineate his thought into a nicely articulated system. From the beginning
to the end of his life, Yahweh was transcendent, to be sure, but also a per-
sonal Lord active in the
concrete intimacies of life. So abundant and stri-
king are his imagery that
general or abstract terminology deprives his
thought of what is often most
alive.
Throughout his life he is aware that it
is his destiny to proclaim Yah-
weh’s dabar
or word. Dabar has Yahweh’s intention and will in it, and it is
alive with
the divine energy and sovereignty. The
popular prophets speak
in the name of Yahweh, but Jeremiah denies that they
have been sent, &
they deceive the people by their optimism. The Word was not subject to
human choice for
Jeremiah; the purpose and activity of God was the deci-
ding factor. For Jeremiah it formed the line of battle
where he waged his
conflicts.
J-23
The acute problem which the word of God
could pose for Jeremiah
is shown in his meditation upon God’s knowledge. The life of faith is being
known of God. Jeremiah is aware of Yahweh’s foreknowledge of
him.
Yahweh knows the plans and devices
of people. Yahweh’s knowing is an
activity of relationship. Yahweh’s
activity in Jeremiah’s life is best under-
stood by examining the many verbs in
which he is addressed.
Underlying all that Jeremiah has to say is
the memory of Israel
election as the people of Yahweh.
In the first of his oracles, Jeremiah tells
of Yahweh’s participating in Israel
votion of her
youth. The covenant is seldom
specifically referred to. Per-
meating the prophet’s thoughts is the realization that Israel
Yahweh & that her existence stands upon
the foundation demanding obedi-
ence and service. She is accountable to God, and God’s action
is deter-
mined by her conduct.
The nations, too, are under Yahweh’s
gracious sovereignty. The foe
from the
north is the divine judgment against Israel
Judah's downfall, Yahweh assures the remnant at Mizpah that they need
not fear Babylon
inhabit it. The whole created universe, with its fixed
order and purpose, is
assurance of his lordship over history. Yahweh has revealed his holy will
through his
Torah and in the ministry of priests and prophets.
What is required of Israel
characterize his rule over the earth: steadfast love, justice, and
righteous-
ness. These are not ethical
norms, but ways of divine action through reve-
lation in call, consecration,
election, and covenant. Sin is viewed as
unna-
tural, a violation of all that which Israel
commitment to Yahweh’s
proffered relationship. The misfortunes that be-
fall a people are from God and
they are called forth by its guilt and disobe-
dience and refusal to serve.
It's probable that Jeremiah himself was
connected with the temple &
its ministry.
But the temple, sacrifices, rituals, and even the Torah had no
efficacy
in and of themselves and the temple will be destroyed because its
worshipers
violate the spirit and attitude which true worship requires. The
true circumcision is circumcision of the
mind and heart. It is not probable
that
Jeremiah opposed any of these institutions, but he saw them as possi-
ble instruments of corruption and excuses not to repent.
Jeremiah’s expectations for the future
are obscured by the presence
of material which is not his and which borrows
ideas from Ezekiel and
Second Isaiah.
There are passages which have some claim to authenticity
where the
restoration motif is present. In the
letter to the exiles all hopes
of a speedy return are rejected. Yet he has a plan for them, a plan for
wel-
fare to give them a future to which they may look forward.
In Jeremiah’s account of his purchase of the
field at Anathoth he
says, “For thus says the Yahweh of host . . . : Houses, fields, and vine-
yards shall again be
bought in this land.” In this chapter we
hear again of
the promise of one heart and one way. Finally, in the great oracle of the
coming age,
the prophecy of a new covenant, we have words which,
while not from Jeremiah,
are consistent with the tenor of much of his ear-
lier utterances. The new covenant will be engraved on the
hearts of the
men of Israel Judah
The
Book—The Bible’s book of Jeremiah is
the second book of
the major prophets in our present canon, but in an earlier
period it came
first. It reveals the
prophet’s personal experiences and sufferings, as well
as his own intimate
self-disclosures. While he was by no
means the first
in Israel
ancy of his laments and “confessions” left a deep impression.
Like
the other great prophetic collections the book of Jeremiah is a
compilation of
compilations. The poetry reflects many
moods: ecstatic
lyricism in the war songs; cosmic brooding about the imminent
“end”; in-
tense subjectivity in the confessional laments; unsparing and
withering de-
nunciation in the invectives; and rhetorical and stylistic
diversity in the
poems against the foreign nations.
Similarly
the prose of the book has many forms: parables acted out;
sermonic discourse;
biographical narrative; letter; and vision.
The variety
in literary form & style calls attention to the sharp
contrast between syste-
matic order and disarray.
It is clear as one reads through the whole book
that it has gone through
a long and complicated process. It is
not the work
of a single mind or the craft of a single writer, and it is
probable that many
of the poems and oracles circulated in the oral tradition
before they were
transcribed.
J-24
The impression of an involved literary
history is confirmed by the
substantial number of repetitions or literary
duplications, and the divergen-
ces of the primary Greek text from the Masoretic
Text. In the primary
Greek text of
Jeremiah, the oracles a gainst the nations appear in a radi-
cally different place and order from the Hebrew text (middle of 25 vs. 46);
the primary Greek OT also
omits about one-eighth of the Hebrew text.
Masoretic
Text order: Greek
Old Testament order:
In spite of this, there are a number of collections
which have a clear topic
and appropriate headings or introductions. The scroll with Jeremiah dicta-
ted to Baruch
was certainly controlled by a dominant theme.
The book may be outlined as follows:
prophecies against Jerusalem
and Judah (Chapters 1-25); biographical narratives
about Jeremiah (Chap-
ters 26-45); prophecies against the foreign nations
(Chapters 46-51); and
the historical appendix (Chapter 52). It is within the
first division of the
book that we find the greatest amount of material
stemming from Jeremiah
himself. The
second division is almost exclusively prose and is in all pro-
bability the
composition of Baruch. The third
division seems to have a dif-
ferent literary history from the rest of the book. The appendix is derived
from II Kings 24-25,
and 27-39.
The scholar Mowinckel has found 3 major collections of material:
authentic Jeremiah oracles; the work of the
author of the book itself in the
form of a personal-historical composition; & a special source of pronounced
Deuteronomic style with the formula: “The word
which came to Jeremiah
from Yahweh.”
Authentic Jeremiah oracles
Chapter Verse Chapter Verse
1 4-10; 11-12; 13-16 2 2-9; 10-13; 14-28; 29-37
3 1-5; 19-20; 21-25 4 1-4; 5-10; 11-18; 19-22;
4 23-28; 29-31
5 1-9; 10-14; 6 1-8; 9-15; 16-19;
5 15-17; 20-31 6 20-21; 22-26; 27-30
7 8 4-12;
13; 14-17; 18-23
9 1-8; 9-11; 16-21; 10 17-22
9 22-23; 24-25
11 15-16-18-20; 22-23 12 1-6;
7-12
13 12-14; 15-27 14 2-10; 11-16; 17-22
15 1-2; 5-9; 10-21 16 1-13; 16-18, 21
17 1-4; 9-10; 12; 14-18 18 13-17; 18-23
19 20 7-13; 14-18
21 11-12; 13-14 22 6-9; 10-12; 13-19;
22 20-23; 24-30
23 5-6; 9-15; 16-20;
23 21-24, 29 24 1-10
25 15-16; 27-38
Personal History
Chapter Verses Chapter Verses
19 1-2; 10; 11; 14-15 20 1-6
26 1-24 28 1-29
29 24-32 36 1-32
37 1-21 38 1-28
39 3; 14 40 1-16
41 1-18 42 1-22
43 1-13 44 15-19;
24-30
In Jehoiakim’s
fourth year, Jeremiah was commanded to dictate to
Baruch all the “words” which
he had spoken against Israel Judah
the nations; the king destroyed it. The date (626-605 B.C.), the judgment
and
threat character of the oracles, the length (it was read three times in
the
course of a single day), seem to indicate that this scroll, if it is in our
book, is likely to be found in the first major division (Chapters 1-25).
J-25
The
first three verses of the book may be the work of Baruch or of
the final editor
or of both. Verses 4-10 may be
Jeremiah’s own description
of his calling.
Verses 13-19 represent the report of Baruch, though based
on Jeremiah’s
own account. As mentioned earlier, the
style of the biogra-
phical narratives contrasts sharply with that of Jeremiah in
his early period
and is most likely from Baruch, who reproduces the prophet’s
words in his
own words. Apparently an
original order has been altered. Here we
have
Baruch’s somewhat circumstantial and detailed yet deeply moving account
of the suffering & persecutions of his master. It is probable that Chapter 26
is Baruch’s version of the prophet’s activities from Chapter 7: 1-15.
It is
probable that the style of speech used in the Deuteronomic work
that is
scattered throughout the book (Chapters 7, 8, 11, 18, 21, 25, 32, 34,
35, and
44) was contemporary with the prophet, and that they are depen-
dent upon
authentic historical information derived from the prophet him-
self. It is unclear whether Jeremiah wrote it and
whether it is historical.
Chapters
30-31, called the “Little Book of Comfort,” represents an
independent
compilation. The little book is highly
composite, representing
very early oracles and substantial additions from a
much later period than
Jeremiah’s. The
poems are mostly interested in the northern kingdom of
has the same imagery,
and ecstatic quality of his earliest work.
The
oracles against the foreign nations originally comprised a sepa-
rate compilation
and is comparable to similar collections in Isaiah, Ezekiel
& Amos. The change of style from other pieces
considered to be genuine
isn't necessarily decisive against their genuineness,
for if these oracles are
from his late period, it is likely that Jeremiah did
not retain his fervor and
imaginative genius throughout his life. The poem against Egypt
bably genuine, & portions of other poems
may go back to him. The book's
concluding
chapter, as we have seen, has been taken from II Kings 24-25.
JEREMOTH
(ירמות, heights) 1. According to I Chronicles 7, a
Benjaminite;
but the genealogy is probably Zebulunite. 2. A Benjaminite (I Chronicles
8). 3. A
Merarite Levite (I Chronicles 23). 4. A Levite of the “sons of
Heman” (I Chronicles 25).
5. A
chief of the tribe of Naphtali (I Chronicles 27). 6. One of the
Jews who listed as having foreign wives (Ezra 10). 7. Another Jew
listed as having a foreign
wife (Ezra 10). 8. A third Jew listed as having
a foreign wife (Ezra 10).
JERIAH
(יריהו, established of Lord) A
Kohathite Levite, son of Hebron
(I Chronicles 23, 24); listed as chief of the Hebronites in the time of King
David.
JERIBAI
(יריבי, whom the Lord defends) One
of the sons of Elnaam whose
names appear among the 16 additional names that the
Chronicler added
to the list of David’s Mighty Men (II Samuel 23).
plain. The Old Testament (OT)
city was built above one of the largest
springs in all of Palestine
of the OT Jericho.
The story of the fall of Jericho
cho of Joshua’s day still presents a
highly technical problem; only a small
portion of that city survived to the
present century. When the fall of Jericho
is studied in the light of the military campaigns
which preceded it and fol-
lowed it, the archaeologist can reconstruct the Jericho
Since the fall of Jericho
of scripture, it isn't surprising to find that Jericho
in Palestine
gave only a minimum attention
to pottery, specializing on striking forms
rather than on an overall portrayal
of the pottery. The best pottery expert
was an unofficial observer at the excavations, and he insisted that there
was pottery from the 1200s B.C. on the site.
John Garstang discovered that the site
was occupied in the Neoli-
thic period, even before the invention of pottery; he dated
Joshua’s con-
quest at 1400-1388 B.C. The
city was destroyed in a great fire apparently
assisted by an earthquake. Whatever date is given to this particular
de-
struction, it is more than a century earlier than the conquest of the cities
which began at Ai & ended at Hazor.
Garstang’s emphasized the view of
several scholars that the Israelites
left Egypt
in a single mass exodus.
Kathleen M. Kenyon excavated the mound
for 5 years. She found
that most of
the mound is 1500s B.C. or earlier. Most
of the mound be-
longs to prehistoric times, and the last big city was something like 300
years earlier than Moses. Very little of the more recent levels, with
their
mud-brick construction, had escaped destruction by wind and rain, and
those had already been excavated.
J-26
The capture of Bethel-Ai, which can shed
light on Jericho
shown by a terrific fire followed by a complete
cultural change. This pat-
tern is
repeated in the fall of Lachish
as dated around 1200 B.C. The Mer-ne-ptah inscription is the first
men-
tion of Israel Israel
a nation without boundaries. And Joshua’s northern campaign has now
been
confirmed by Israeli excavations at Hazor.
The success of such an extensive military
campaign as these ar-
chaeological excavations have demonstrated shows that the
conquest of
these cities could hardly have been a local feud. The preceding Trans-jor-
dan campaign had been
an excellent preparatory action. Jericho
junction point of these 2 campaigns. It was the first city across the Jordan
Turning now to interpretation of archaeological evidence, it looks
as if Jericho
tion of the old brick wall of an earlier city for its defense. That there was
some occupation at Jericho
of Mycenean ware. Not only is the city
which Joshua conquered largely
missing, but the next two cities that succeeded
it do not appear anywhere
on the mound.
The city of palm trees from Judges 3 & city that David’s
ambassadors stopped at in II Samuel 10 have left behind no remains to be
discovered by archaeologists.
The interpretations of the Israelite
conquest fit into two general cate-
gories: Jericho
which saw Israel Transjordan and then
move successfully against
some of the major cities of western Palestine
extended over a
considerable length of time and occurred in two or more
waves. When the conquered land was distributed Jericho
the tribe of Benjamin. The curse which Joshua laid upon Jericho
lized by Hiel, the Bethelite. The loss of his sons may well refer to
founda-
tion sacrifice after the Canaanite pattern.
At one point on the mound the Germans
found a heavy building
with long rooms. Archaeologists now recognize this as an Israelite gra-
nary. The founding of this city by Hiel may well
refer to its elevation as a
military depot.
There was a school of the prophets in Jericho
of Elijah being taken up into heaven. Nehemiah notes that the men of Jeri-
The archaeologist Garstang dug back into
the Neolithic period of
the city, and continued to dig down to a pre-pottery
period. Kenyon has
demonstrated that
civilization actually existed here several thousand years
earlier than most
thought possible. The several layers of
Neolithic cities
occupy 13.7 meters of debris representing about 20 different
levels of buil-
ding. There was a new
religious factor, however, in the use of skulls, some
of which had the features
reproduced in plaster. Among the earlier
Neoli-
thic phases was a military defense consisting of a solid stone tower 9
me-
ters thick, and an 8.2 meter ditch cut out of solid rock. In the lowest levels
the houses were round
and the walls battered.
(See also the entry in the Old Testament
Apocrypha/Influences Out-
side the Bible section of the Appendix.).
Zacchaeus, the most famous of all tax
collectors, held an office in
one of the earlier Greek-style
forts. Beggars were also found in these
rich
cities, for almsgiving was highly meritorious. As Christ left the city, he en-
tered at once
into the great canyon of the Wadi Qelt, which carried the
main road to Jerusalem
of his temptation immediately after the
baptism. At the close of his mini-
stry Christ passed through the same mountain setting en route to Calvary .
Archaeologists haven't yet found any
evidence of Jericho
tion by Vespasian’s army. He spared the city and stationed large
garrisons
here preparatory to the attack on Jerusalem
stroy Khirbet
Qumran , about 11 km to the
south; the relationship of this
Essene community to Jericho Jerusalem
stroyed in 70 A.D., Jericho
the
old capital had shrunk to a small garrison town. Roman Jericho was
still located on this site
in 333 A.D. Shortly after that, Roman
Jericho was
replaced by a new Byzantine Jericho about 1.6 km to the east. Modern
JERIEL
(יריאל, established of God) A
descendant of Issachar (I Chronicles 7).
J-27
JERIMOTH
(ירימות, heights) 1. According to Chronicles 7, a Benjaminite;
but
this genealogy is thought to be rather that of Zebulun. 2. A Benja-
minite among those who joined
forces with David at Ziklag (I Chroni-
cles 12). 3. A Mararite Levite (I Chronicles 24). 4. A
Levite of the
“sons of Heman” (I Chronicles 25). 5. A
son of King David, and the
father of Mahalath, wife of Rehoboam (II Chronicles
11). 6. A Levite
who helped supervise the temple treasuries in the reign
of King Hezekiah
(715-687 B.C.; II Chronicles 31).
JERIOTH (יריעות, curtains) One of the wives of Caleb.
Either Jerioth is ano-
ther name for Azubah, or Azubah was formerly the
wife of another man
Jerioth.
JEROBOAM
(ירבעם, who contends with the people) 1. The first king of
tribes at the kingdom’s disruption following the death of
Solomon.
There are two accounts of Jeroboam, prior to his becoming king. In
I Kings 11, he was an Ephraimite from the village of Zeredah
we hear of Jeroboam,
he was a young man whom Solomon had appointed
overseer of the forced labor from
the house of Joseph. His awareness of
the deep resentment this system caused may have influenced him to rebel
against
the king and side with the people.
Ahijah met Jeroboam one day as he was
leaving Jerusalem
tore
his new robe in to twelve pieces, gave ten of them to Jeroboam, and
announced
that the God of Israel on Solomon’s death would give ten tribes
to him. “Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam,” but he fled
to Egypt
king of Egypt
sources has been combined by the Deuteronomic editor of Kings.
According to the latter account Jeroboam
was an Ephraimite. His
mother’s name was
Sarira, a harlot. The king appointed him overseer of
the forced labor from the
house of Joseph, and he built a city called Sarira.
He had 300 chariots; he
built the Akra, enclosed the city of David
belled against Solomon. Solomon therefore attempted to kill him, but
he
Sousakim finally gave him permission to return. He came back to Sarira
and built a fortress.
The present text of both Kings and
Chronicles indicates that on his
return he was summoned by the assembly of the
northern tribes to She-
chem, where he took part in the complaint made to King Rehoboam
to
redress the grievances of the people; Jeroboam was not present at the
dis-
cussions with the king. After revolt
had been declared, Jeroboam was
called to the assembly and made king of the ten
tribes.
Jeroboam had to consolidate the northern
kingdom and counteract
the well-established position in which Jerusalem
and religiously. Both Israel Judah
sion, with Israel Judah
ly probable that Jeroboam was engaged in border warfare with Judah
Jeroboam
fortified Shechem and made it his capital.
From the military
point of view Shechem could be defended only with
difficulty. He proba-
bly established a
strong point on the other side of the Jordan
the Jabbok River
Judean prejudice has colored the account
of Jeroboam’s so-called
religious innovation, so it is difficult to assess
their true value. Jeroboam
would not
have dared to substitute any other God for Yahweh. So he reor-
ganized the Yahweh
cult on the basis of old traditions which were charac-
teristic of the northern
tribes. He chose two sites—Dan and Bethel
claimed
connection with the family of Moses.
Tradition affirmed that the
golden bull calf had been introduced into
the Israelite cult by Aaron while
Moses was still alive.
What Jeroboam did was to alter the
symbolism of the Yahweh cult.
The bull
of the north replaced the cherubim of the south and bore the invi-
sible presence
of Yahweh. It is questionable that
Jeroboam was motivated
by a real religious concern. Rather, political expediency dominated his
ac-
tions. From the point of view of the
temple priesthood in Jerusalem
was guilty of an unpardonable crime in appointing
non-Levitical priests to
have charge of the cult. He also appointed a feast in the 8th month
similar
to a feast held in Judah
The story of the nameless man of God who
came from Judah
appeared suddenly at Bethel
altar (I
Kings 13) is of doubtful historical value.
Chapter 14, which tells
of the sickness of Jeroboam’s son Abijah, the
visit of his mother to Ahijah,
and Ahijah’s pronouncement of doom on Jeroboam’s
house, probably con-
tain factual data.
J-28
Apart from the general statement that
there was continual war be-
tween Rehoboam and Jeroboam, no details of specific
battles are given.
II Chronicles 13
gives details of a battle near Mount Zemaraim
Abijah and Jeroboam, which resulted in a
great southern victory. The Isra-
elites
fled before the men of Judah Bethel
and Ephron, each with its villages. This warfare naturally involved the
border
territory for the most part. The details
of the Mount Zemaraim bat-
tle given by the Chronicler are not reliable. The probability is that Abijah
had the king
of Syria
It is difficult to define precisely the
line of demarcation which sepa-
rated the kingdoms. The territory of Benjamin Judah
without a struggle. The border seems to have passed through the
territory
formerly occupied by the Danites.
2. King
of Israel
boam reigned for 41 years. The book of Kings furnishes scant information
about his achievements, but it is clear that under him the northern kingdom
attained prosperity such as it had not known before. He recovered Damas-
math
to the Sea of the Arabah.” An oracle to
this effect had been given by
the prophet Jonah the son of Amittai, who was an
intense nationalist, & as
such stands over against his contemporaries Amos
and Hosea. Details of
Jeroboam’s
campaigns are almost entirely lacking.
The international situation was
particularly favorable. Assyria was
weak & managed to retain only a measure of control in the
west. Damas-
had success against both Hamath and Damascus
weh flourished as never before, Baalism still prevailed among a lot
of peo-
ple. According to Amos, everything
in the land was crooked. A great gulf
separated the rich and the poor. Trade
was good; architecture & the arts
flourished; but fundamentally the revival
was unsound and could not last.
JEROHAM
(ירהם, he shall obtain mercy)
1. An Ephraimite, and the father or
ancestor of Elkanah the father of
Samuel (I Samuel 1). 2. A Benjami-
nite of Gedor; father or
ancestor of two men who joined David at Ziklag
(I Chronicles 12). 3. Father or ancestor of Azarel, who was a chief
offi-
cer over the tribe of Dan during the King David’s reign (I Chronicle
27).
4. Father or ancestor of
Azariah, one of the military officers involved
in the uprising against Athaliah
(II Chronicles 23). 5. A Benjaminite
perhaps the
same as the Jeremoth in the same chapter (I Chronicles 8).
6. Father or ancestor of a Benjaminite among
the residents of postexilic
Jerusalem (I Chronicles 9). 7. A priest resident in
postexilic Jerusalem
(I Chronicles 9; Nehemiah 11).
JERUBBAAL
(ירבעל, let Baal contend) The name given to Gideon when he
broke down
his father’s Baal altar. The root
meaning of the name expres-
ses the power of Baal to fight for himself or to make
fruitful. It could ori-
ginally have
referred to Yahweh as the “Baal” or “lord’ with these quali-
ties. In the context of Judges 6, it seems clearly
to be understood as ironi-
cally urging the impotent god Baal’s defiance of
Yahweh’s hero.
JERUBBESHETH
(ירבשת, let the idol contend, let shame contend) The de-
formation of the name Jerubbaal by substituting the word
“shame” for the
god name “Baal” in order to erase the Baal element in the
original name.
JERUEL
(ירואל, founded of God) A wilderness area between Tekoa and En-
gedi;
scene of Jehoshaphat’s defeat of the Ammonite-Moabite-Meunite
coalition.
ther it appears in about two-thirds of the books of the Old
Testament and
about half of the books of the New Testament.
List of Topics—1. Names and Topography; 2. Early
History, Conquest, and Settlement; 3. Early Monarchy;
4. Kingdom of Judah; 5. Exile and Persian Period; 6. Table: Interpretation of Locations in Nehemiah's Jerusalem; 7. Lifetime of Jesus; 8. Apostolic Period to the Death of Agrippa I; 9. Death of Agrippa I to the First Revolt;
1. Names and Topography—The name Jerusalem
Egyptian “Execration Texts” of the
1800s and 1700s B.C. in a form equi-
valent to Urushalim. The meaning of
the name is undoubtedly “founda-
tion of Shalem.” The traditional interpretation, “city of
peace,” is as inaccu-
rate etymologically as it is inappropriate historically. Jerusalem
dently in early times a center of worship of the
god Shulmanu or Shalem
(See Shalem). The first name under which the city appears
in the Bible is
and Ariel.
It
lies on the central plateau at an altitude of about 760 meters
above sea level. Its location makes it a natural center of the
country. This
is not the highest point
in the country or even in the immediate vicinity. A
traveler from any direction cannot see the city
until he has crossed the hills
which was on the lowest of
the hills occupied by Jerusalem
ries, at the southeast corner of the
group of hills.
J-29
The
city as we have it today has an irregular shape, forced upon it
by geography. It is roughly 0.9 km to a
full kilometer on a side, and re-
sembles a partially collapsed box. Starting in
the northwest corner, the pre-
sent wall runs northeast about 675 meters before
it takes a slightly more
easterly direction for the remaining 600 meters. The eastern side runs
straight for 825
meters. The southern side is the most
irregular side. From
east to west it
follows the terrain going 112 meters west, 75 meters south,
375 meters south
and west, and 450 meters west. The
western side goes
375 meters north and 375 meters northwest.
The
city is surrounded by valleys except on the north. On the west
and south is the Valley of (the
son of) Hinnom; on the east is the Kidron
through the city from north to south
and dividing it into two very unequal
parts is a central valley not named in
the Bible but known in Roman times
as the Tyropoeon, or Cheesemakers’ Valley.
The
hill to the east of the central valley is highest and broadest at its
northern
end, which is the Temple Mount
thern end of the eastern hill is where the ancient City of David
higher, larger hill to the west is cut off on the north by a smaller valley
run-
ning through West Jerusalem . To the north
and west of the two valleys is
the hill on which stands the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre.
The
first settlement was located on the low, narrow southeastern hill
because only
there was a convenient supply of water available; in the Bible
its name is
Gihon. Another spring, En-rogel is about
230 meters to the
south of the southernmost tip of the hill. In the Valley of Rephaim
west and southwest of Jerusalem
thic
flints.
2. Early
History, Conquest, and settlement—At Jerusalem
pottery from the 3000s B.C. has been found. The walled city of this period
was very small,
only 8 or 9 acres (about 1/30 of a square kilometer); Jeri-
2100) walls
have been discovered on the southern part of the hill. The
western wall of the pre-Israelite city
has not been traced, but a large gate
uncovered near the northwest corner of
the city may indicate where the
wall was.
At the south of the hill a stone stairway cut out of the rock has
been
excavated, which may go back to the earliest period of settlement,
before any
wall and gate were built.
In Genesis 14, the city was called Salem
and priest of it (2100-1600
B.C.). The second time that Abraham came
to Jerusalem was the occasion of the offering of Isaac (Genesis 22). By
the time of II Chronicles 3, it was
believed that the temple hill was where
Isaac had almost been sacrificed.
In roughly the 1400s B.C. the Hurrians or
Horites came into Pale-
thods of fortification. One of their strong masonry ramparts was
excava-
ted on the city's eastern slope.
There were two curving sections, between
which there was probably a
gate. The rulers of the city undertook
also to
ensure their water supply.
Several shafts and tunnels were cut in the solid
rock above Gihon,
affording access to the spring from inside the city.
The capture of Ai and the submission of Gibeon
so alarmed King
Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem
attacked Gibeon . The coalition
was crushed and Adoni-zedek killed, but
for Judah and Benjamin. Coming up from the Jordan Valley
ches En-rogel; thence it “goes up by the
valley of the son of Hinnom” at
the southern shoulder of the Jebusite.”
The Jebusites were clearly the
pre-Israelite inhabitants of Jerusa-
the Jebusites, even
though it was outside the walled city.
The first 8 verses
of Judges reports that Judah and Simeon defeated and
mutilated Adoni-
bezek, and that Judah
however, the Jebusites reoccupied
and rebuilt it. In Judges 19, the Levite
and his concubine arrived at nightfall “opposite Jebus [Jerusalem
Levite refused to “turn aside into the city of
foreigners.” The name Jebus
occurs
elsewhere only in I Chronicles 11.
3. Early
Monarchy—The account of the capture
of Jerusalem
David (II Samuel 5; I Chronicles 11) is
obscure. We note first that “David
took
the stronghold of Zion David
counter the name Zion Zion
temple hill; still
later tradition transferred it to the southwestern hill. The
original text of his capture of Jerusalem
“Whoever reaches
the water shaft first & smites the Jebusites & the lame
and blind, who are
hated by David’s soul, shall be chief and commander.”
What David challenged his men to accomplish
was to fight their way up to
the opening of the shaft & so cut off the
Jebusites from their water supply.
J-30
David now made the stronghold his own
dwelling and “built the city
round about from the Millo inward.” Portions of walls excavated on the
southeast
hill have been attributed by archaeologists to David, but none
can be definitely
dated to his time. The city of David
the shape of a hairbrush; the
original City of David
the handle, just outside the
walls of modern Jerusalem
long and 150 meters wide.
The selection of Jerusalem
historic
importance. Belonging to neither the
northern or southern tribes,
it facilitated the unification of the kingdom; it
also constituted a personal
domain for David. David also made Jerusalem
nation by bringing the
sacred ark to the city and setting up a tent for it.
Where David’s house was built we cannot
tell. Nehemiah suggests that it
was near
the southern end of the hill and on the east side. From the roof
of this house David saw
Bathsheba bathing. David made Bathsheba
his
wife after making sure Uriah died in battle.
Absalom’s own house is mentioned, as well
as the fact that he set
up a monument to himself, possibly at the point where
the Kidron, Tryopo-
eon, and the Hinnom valleys met. Fleeing from Jerusalem
Absalom’s revolt, David crossed the
brook Kidron and “went up the ascent
of the Mount of Olives .” During his
absence he was informed of what was
happening in the city by his spies, to whom
a maid servant brought word
while they hid at En-rogel. The pathetic closing scenes of David’s life
took
place, no doubt, in the palace that Hiram’s men had built for him. The
tomb of David is most likely near the
southern end of the southeastern hill
on its east side. Remains of ancient tombs excavated in this
area may in-
dicate the place.
When Adonijah attempted to seize throne,
he offered sacrifices be-
side En-rogel.
Prompt action by the prophet Nathan led to the anointing of
Solomon at
Gihon. Adonijah sought sanctuary at the
altar in the tent set up
by David. Solomon’s most important act was undoubtedly
the building of
the Temple
built “his own house”
and “the wall around Jerusalem
using the hairbrush analogy, consisted of the “handle,” 800 by 150
meters,
and the temple area or “head of the brush,” 470 meters by 300 meters.
From the northeast corner of David’s city
the wall was carried to the
north above the Kidron Valley
the
level of the ground. About where the Golden Gate now stands, the wall
turned and followed to the northwest the southern
edge of a small valley
now covered by the northern part of the sacred area. The southwest cor-
ner of the present sacred
enclosure juts out into the Tryopoeon Valley
which originally curved to the east near the “Wailing Wall's position.”
Solomon’s wall may have followed the valley to the southeast until
it
reached the northwest corner of the City of David
follow the old wall of the
southeast hill. The “Millo” which
Solomon built
may have been the rebuilding of something. It's connected with closing the
“breach of
the city of David
thing rather imposing to be included along with Solomon’s major
achievements.
According to Ecclesiastes, Solomon made
some provision for Jeru-
buted by
archaeologists to Solomon. Just above
the strong ancient wall
across the mouth of the Tyropoeon valley there is an
older and lighter wall
which seems to have been built to form a pool for the
water from this chan-
nel. A similar
channel, made to bring water to Jerusalem
ditionally known as Solomon’s Pools,
near Bethlehem
earliest form to Solomon.
Other works of the royal builder were:
House of the Forest of Leba-
ces also to a house built
for Solomon’s Egyptian wife. This great
complex
of buildings evidently lay between the City of David
mon also built pagan altars for his foreign wives. The high place for Che-
mosh & Moab Jerusalem
thernmost summit of the Mount of Olives . Solomon was
buried in the City
of David
shak
attacked Jerusalem
hoboam and most who followed him were buried in the City of David
young
prince Joash was crowned in the temple, after guards had been pos-
ted at the
“Gate Sur” and the “gate behind the guards,” which was most
likely between the
temple & the palace. When Athaliah
came on the scene,
she was seized by the guards & taken “through the horses’
entrance to the
king’s house,” where she was killed. The Horse Gate must have been near
the temple
enclosure’s southeast corner, not far from the city wall but pro-
bably not a
part of it. Following Joash's coronation, the temple of Baal
destroyed.
J-31
During Joash’s reign, Jerusalem
Joash was
wounded. II Kings 12 and II Chronicles
24 agree that Joash’s
servants conspired against him and killed him; they
don't agree as to where
he was killed. Amaziah, the Joash’s successor, was defeated by Jehoash
of Israel and
taken captive at Beth-shemesh. Jehoash
thereupon “came to
The Ephraim gate was mentioned in the passage
just referred to. Its
name suggests that
a road to the north passed through it. In
Amaziah’s
time there was a wall, running east and west from the middle of the
wes-
tern wall of the temple area; remains of it were discovered late in the 20th
century Ephraim Gate was about midway between the
temple and the Cor-
ner Gate (a short distance east of the modern-day Jaffa
Gate).
Azariah (Uzziah) built towers in Jerusalem
at the Valley Gate, which was
in either the western or southern wall of the
city. The only act with which Jotham is credited in
II Kings is the building
of the “upper gate of the house of the Lord.” The momentous meeting of
Ahaz with the
prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 7) took place “at the end of the con-
duit of the upper
pool on the highway to the fuller’s field.”
None of the
places mentioned can be identified now. The next chapter of Isaiah refers
to the waters
of Shiloah that flow gently (In the primary Greek Old Testa-
ment, this name
takes the form of Siloam).
In Hezekiah’s reign Sennacherib “came up
against the fortified
cities of Judah Jeru-
submission while standing
by the conduit of the upper pool, a place outside
the city wall, but near it,
on a highway. Hezekiah “collected the
waters of
the lower pool” and “made a reservoir between the walls for the water
of
the old pool.” The reservoir for the
water of the old pool was evidently a
new receptacle to receive water from that
pool.
Hezekiah tried “to stop the water of the
springs that were outside the
city.” The king and his men also “stopped all the
springs and the brook that
flowed through the land. . . This
same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of
the waters of Gihon and directed them
down to the west side of the city of
for nearly six hundred
yards from the spring to an opening in the central
valley near its mouth. Just inside the opening was found in 1880 an
inscrip-
tion recording the cutting of the tunnel by two teams who began at the
ends
and met in the middle.
The
“reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool”
was perhaps the
pool into which Hezekiah’s tunnel emptied.
The “2 walls”
may have been those on both sides of the central
valley. The spot where
Isaiah met Ahaz
and the Assyrian envoys later threatened Hezekiah wasn't
beside this upper
pool in the Kidron Valley
wer down used to
water the gardens in the valley.
The lower pool was probably in the mouth
of the central valley, just
above the strong double wall which here crosses the
valley and just below
the spot where the new reservoir was made somewhat later. The irrigating
conduit mentioned above was
diverted and carried around the southern
end of the hill by a short tunnel, so
that the water flowed into the pool in
the central valley. Clearly the central valley was by Hezekiah’s
time inside
the city, & at least some of the larger southwestern hill was now
also within
the walls.
Hezekiah “built up all of the wall that
was broken down, and raised
towers upon it, and outside it he built another
wall.” What was the other
wall which
Hezekiah built? It probably enclosed a
new portion of the ex-
panded city, which most likely first expanded to the
north. All Hezekiah’s
precautions would
hardly have availed against a determined Assyrian at-
tack, but at the moment of
supreme peril Jerusalem
vered; her doom, however, was
only postponed.
After
Hezekiah, all King Manasseh built is a succession of pagan
places and objects
of worship. His wickedness evoked the
vivid prophecy
that God would “wipe Jerusalem
ning it upside
down (II Kings 21:13 ).” The Chronicler adds the story of
Manasseh’s
captivity & repentance, after which he removed all the pagan
altars and
idols he had set up.
He built an outer wall to the city of David
valley, to the entrance by the
Fish Gate, and carried it round Ophel, and
raised it to a very great
height.” Manasseh’s outer wall must have
been
on the eastern slope of the southeastern hill, below the older wall of the
City of David
closed the Second Quarter, about where
it crossed the central valley.
J-32
Of the brief reign of Amon, nothing of
note for the history of Jerusa-
pagan sanctuaries and idols of his
predecessors. Many of the idolatrous
objects removed from the temple and city were burned and pulverized in
the “brook
Kidron.” On hearing the Book of the Law found in the temple,
Josiah sent the
high priest and his associates to consult the prophetess
Huldah, who lived in
Jerusalem. Zephaniah mentions the
Mortar, but this
place isn't mentioned elsewhere; it is only identified as a
commercial quar-
ter of the city. Most of
the places in Jerusalem
tion account cannot now be
identified.
The death of Josiah was closely connected
with the rise of the Neo-
Babylonian Empire.
Jehoiakim came to the throne as a tool of Egypt
did not
live to see the consequent siege & surrender of Jerusalem
these
tragic years, beginning back in Josiah reign, Jeremiah prophesied, &
there is much about Jerusalem
doom of Judah
sherd Gate.” The Potsherd Gate isn't mentioned elsewhere, and may have
been
the same gate elsewhere called the Dung Gate.
Several points in Jerusalem
miah 31, to
make the point that the whole city & even the polluted valley
south of it
“shall be sacred to the Lord.” The tower of Hananel
northwest corner of the temple
enclosure. The Corner Gate was at the
western end of the city’s northern wall.
The line will continue straight to
the south along the western hill’s
edge. From the southwest corner, the
line follows the top of the western hill,
crosses the valley between the two
hills to the tip of the City of David
the eastern wall of the City David to Ophel and the
temple area.
Most of the other places mentioned
Jeremiah’s book, are associated
with the Temple
of the Lord’s house.” The implied lower gate was probably a city
gate in
the north or east wall; the upper Benjamin Gate was a temple gate,
which
marked the opposite extreme from the Corner Gate, and may have been
called the Muster gate. The dramatic
scene of the reading and burning of
Jeremiah’s scroll took place in the king’s
“winter house.” We can't identify
this
or the other places mentioned as Jeremiah’s “jail cells”. The account
cers “came & sat in the middle gate,” perhaps called the Fish Gate
else-
where.
5. Exile
and Persian Period—Although the city
had been left in
ruins by the Chaldeans, returning refugees probably made some
effort to
worship on the site of the temple.
Cyrus issued a proclamation charging
the Jewish exiles to go to Jerusalem
upon returned, taking with them
the temple vessels. Other groups
evidently
followed them at intervals. So
far we hear nothing of rebuilding the city it-
self. Zechariah receives assurance that the Lord
will comfort Zion
will not be needed.
A charge that the Jews
were rebuilding the city was made in the
reign of Xerxes; Artaxerxes I ordered
the rebuilding stopped. In any case,
it
was in the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign I (444 B.C.) that Nehemiah
was
authorized to go to Jerusalem
in the wall are named in 3 passages concerning the work of Nehemiah:
his preliminary inspection by night; the rebuilding of the wall; and its
dedication.
The table below presents possible locations
of the points named
in Nehemiah as presented by 3 outstanding
scholars. The first view, that
of
Avi-Yonah, envisions Nehemiah’s Jerusalem
eastern hill
and roughly half of the western hill. The
points used in each
table are named in clockwise order, starting in the
northwest corner of the
city. Names in
parentheses indicates an alternate name for a given point.
6. Table: Interpretation of Locations in Nehemiah's Jerusalem
Avi-Yonah
Northern
Wall: Tower of Hananel
Tower of the Hundred; Sheep Gate
Eastern
Wall: Horse Gate; Angle; Water Gate;
Sepulchers of David;
Stairs of the City of David
Western Wall: Valley
Gate; Tower of the Ovens; Broad Wall; Corner
Gate (Old Gate).
Simons
Northern Wall: Corner
Gate (Tower of the Ovens); Broad Wall; Gate
of Ephraim; Old Gate; Fish
Gate; Tower of
Hananel; Tower of
the Hundred; Sheep Gate.
Eastern Wall:
Muster Gate; Old Gate; Water Gate; Sepulchers of
David; Stairs of the City of
David; Fountain Gate; Dung
Gate.
Southern Wall: Valley
Gate
J-33
Vincent
Northern Wall: Corner
Gate (Tower of the Ovens); Gate of Ephraim
(Old Gate); Fish Gate; Tower of Hananel
Eastern Wall:
East Gate; Horse Gate; Water Gate; Sepulchers of
David; Stairs of the City of David; Fountain Gate.
Southern Wall:
Dung Gate
Western Wall:
Valley Gate
The Corner Gate is not mentioned in Ezra or
Nehemiah. The Gate
of Ephraim is named
in the account of the dedication of the wall, but not in
the account of the
rebuilding. The Valley Gate is not named
in connection
with the dedication of the wall, but it was clearly the point
from which the
two processions set out, proceeding in opposite directions and
meeting at
the temple.
Between the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate, the
Jackal’s Well is
named in Nehemiah 2. If
the Valley Gate was at the southwestern corner
of the city, the Dung Gate was
not far from where Hinnom Valley Tryo-
crossed the mouth of the Tyropoeon Valley
covered there.
The Fountain Gate was undoubtedly at the northern end
of the wall
just mentioned, at the southern tip of the eastern hill. The Lower Pool into
which Hezekiah’s tunnel
emptied, the King’s Pool, and the Pool of Shelah
may have been the same
pool. Perhaps it lay at the end of the Tyropoeon
right after the Fountain Gate.
An actual staircase that was cut into rock has
been excavated.
Nehemiah 12:37
mentions next the “ascent of the wall.”
Step-like
cuts in the rock have been discovered which were apparently
used for the
foundation of successive sections of the wall. From here on, we proceed
northward along the
eastern side of the hill. David’s tomb
was in the sou-
thern part of the eastern hill.
The house of David mentioned was the pa-
lace built by David on the
eastern hill. Remains of a wall which
may be
the one repaired by Nehemiah have been uncovered along the eastern
edge
of the hill in this region.
The next portion of wall designated is a “section
opposite the ascent
to the armory at the Angle”; the context indicates that we
are not far from
the temple area. Next
we come into the vicinity of Solomon’s palace, or
the “upper house of the
king,” as distinguished from David’s palace.
The
workers on the next section of the wall, from the projecting tower
to the
Water Gate, included “temple servants living on Ophel.” Since the Water
Gate appears as the terminus
of the first procession; a position very close
to the temple is indicated.
The repeated references to projecting towers and the
reappearance
of the Angle are confusing.
Possibly near here there were two walls under
repair, like the city wall
and the palace or temple wall. The
prepositions
used don't always make clear whether what is named was part of
the wall
or something inside or outside the city. The Horse Gate seems to be a pa-
lace entrance,
so it was probably a gate in the city wall, not far north of
the corner where
it also became the eastern wall of the temple enclosure.
The East Gate of Nehemiah 3:29 is a temple gate.
Nehemiah’s Muster
Gate may have been the Benjamin Gate of Jeremiah and
Zechariah.
The northern wall
still followed the southern slope of the valley which
descended from the
northwest into the Kidron Valley
Sheep Gate, the starting point and end of the account of
rebuilding. From
the Sheep Gate the
second company in the dedicatory procession went on
& stopped by the “Gate of
the Guard.” To the west of the Sheep
Gate were
2 towers that were evidently not far apart. The Fish Gate was the northern
gate of the
Mishneh, where the city wall crossed the central valley.
For the Persian
period’s remaining time the period’s writers had
much to say concerning the
city’s future glory. Either or both of 2
prophetic
passages in the OT may have come from the Greek & not the Persian
peri-
od. The first is the judgment prophecy
in the Valley of Jehoshaphat
The prophet probably
had no particular valley in mind. The
Hebrew doesn’t
indicate as steep and narrow a valley as that of the
Kidron.
The second passage is the vision of the judgment on the Mount of
scription mentions the Gate of Benjamin, marking
the city’s eastern extent,
the Corner Gate, marking the western limit, the Tower of Hananel
ting the north, & the king’s wine presses,
which marked the southern end
of the city.
This indicates that the king’s wine presses were in or near the
(See also the
entry in the OT Apocrypha / Influences Outside the
Bible section of the Appendix)
J-34
7. Lifetime of Jesus—The
New Testament (NT) Jerusalem
have been similar in shape to modern-day Jerusalem
eastern sides. Many ancient walls have been discovered, but
it is difficult
to say what period they belong to. The eastern side was
extended nearly
another 800 meters to include the old City of David within the
city walls.
The city walls were also
built from just south of the tip of the eastern hill,
across the mouth of the Tyropoeon Valley
was left outside
of the city walls.
Starting in the northwest corner, the city wall runs
northeast 770
meters and then more easterly for 522 meters. The east wall runs straight
south for 852
meters, and then follows the irregular terrain roughly south-
southwest for 800
meters. At the bottom of the southern
hill, the wall runs
west 605 meters, then zigzags back to the northeast for 300
meters, then
north for 150 meters. The
wall runs west for 357 meters across the sou-
thern end of the western hill (the
tip of the hill is outside of the walls).
The western side runs 385 meters to the north and 357 to the northwest.
The gospel’s opening events occurred during the last
troubled years
of Herod’s reign. When
Joseph learned that Herod was dead and his son
Archelaus was reigning, he
withdrew to Galilee . Archelaus had
to put
down rioting in the temple before he could sail for Rome
peror’s confirmation of his authority. The Roman official in charge so en-
raged the
people, they rose against him at the Feast of Pentecost; 3 bands
attacked
his forces. In a violent struggle on the
temple area’s western side,
the Romans burned the porticoes. The people’s attack on the palace conti-
nued
until Syria
Augustus appointed Archelaus ethnarch of Judea ,
Samaria
mea.
Within ten years, however, Arhelaus’ subjects appealed to the
Empe-
ror. In 6 A.D. he was banished to Gaul ,
and Judea came under the direct
government of a Roman
procurator. Jesus would have been 12 at
the time.
The procurators did not like Jerusalem Caesarea their
principal
place of residence. On their
periodic visits to Jerusalem
lived at the palace. Under the first four procurators nothing of
great impor-
tance occurred.
In 26 A.D. Pontius Pilate became procurator, and trouble
started.
The first time he came to Jerusalem
ror’s image. A delegation of indignant citizens went to
Pilate, who with-
drew; a few days later the ensigns were removed. Pilate built an aqueduct
to bring a more
adequate supply of water from the vicinity of Bethlehem
To pay for it
he undertook to draw on the temple treasury.
The Synoptic gospels say nothing of any visit to Jerusalem
after he was 12 until he died. The cleansing of the temple and the
conver-
sation with Nicodemus take place at the Passover. The healing of the lame
man took place at the
pool called Bethesda
church is commonly believed to be the pool of
Bethzatha. In John 7-8 a
visit to Jerusalem
tions the healing of the blind in the pool of Siloam, possibly at the outlet
of Hezekiah’s tunnel.
When Jesus saw his end approaching, he “set his face to
go to Jeru-
spread garments and branches
before him, he came to Jerusalem
halfway
down the west side of the Mount of Olive is believed to be the
place where
Jesus wept over Jerusalem Kidron Valley
Jesus “entered Jerusalem
For the “holy places” connected with the last week of
Jesus’ life on
earth, we are dependent upon church traditions of uncertain age
and value;
in no case they be traced back any earlier than the 300s A.D. The place of
the Last Supper of Jesus with
his disciples is defined in the gospels only
as a large upper room in a private
house on the southwest hill outside the
present walls, which is also the
location of the high priest’s palace.
Tradition has long regarded a cave on the western side of
the Tryo-
Field of Blood or Akeldama
is traditionally located on the hill directly south
of the Valley of Hinnom
was at Herod’s palace. Most authorities, however, accept the
tradition
which identifies it with the fortress Antonia. At such a time as the Passover,
he may well
have made his headquarters at the fortress overlooking the
temple. The 1st Station of the Cross is in the
courtyard of the Muslim
school on the rock above the northwestern corner of the
sacred area. The
trial of Jesus before
Pilate probably occurred near this spot.
J-35
Luke’s
gospel has the Procurator sending Jesus to Herod Antipas.
The supposed site of his house was northeast
of the present Old City
far from Antonia, overlooking the Tyropoeon Valley
Jesus’ death “didn't enter the praetorium.”
Jesus’ place of judgment is The
Pavement. The strongest evidence for this location and
the location of the
praetorium is a stone pavement more than 45 meters on a
side; it was the
courtyard of the Antonia and now has a triumphal arch on it,
built in the
100s A.D.
The 2nd
station of the cross is at the foot of the ramp coming down
from the Muslim
school. The incidents marked by the
3rd and 4th Stations
of the Cross are not in the gospels. A broken column at the corner of the
street
which comes down from the Damascus
the 3rd station, where Jesus is thought to have
fallen under the weight of
the cross. At
the 4th station where the Via Dolorosa turns the corner to the
south,
tradition says that Jesus met his mother.
The way turns westward a
short distance further; the fifth station is at
this point, where Simon of Cy-
rene was forced to carry the cross.
The street
now climbs the western side of the valley.
About midway
up the hill part of an old column indicates the 6th
station, where Veronica
wiped the Master’s face. Where the ascending street meets another
run-
ning straight south, tradition says that this is where the Gate of Judgment
was. A chapel now marks the 7th
station where Jesus is thought to have
fallen; the actual gate was probably
further south.
Crossing
the street & continuing up the hill to the west, one comes to
the 8th
station, believed to be the place where Jesus spoke to the women
of Jerusalem
proceed south to
a flight of steps which lead to a Coptic monastery. The
9th station, where Jesus is thought to
have fallen a third time, is marked
here by a column.
The last
5 of the 14 Stations of the Cross are inside the vast Church
of the
Holy Sepulcher, 4 of them at Calvary and the last at the tomb itself.
Just inside the door of the church on the
right is the elevated rock which
tradition regards as Golgotha or Calvary . The question
of its authenticity
has been a subject of heated controversy. There is an alternative site for
authenticity have no historical value.
While the traditional site itself is by
no means conclusive it remains
more probable that any other site.
The answer
to the question of where Calvary was depends largely
on the location of the city wall
in the first century. The Jewish
historian
Josephus mentions a “second wall,” called Gannath or Garden Gate, at
the southwest corner of the city, somewhere in the center of the western
hill. It is not clear where the city
wall turned north, whether it was to the
east of traditional Calvary (i.e. outside of the city walls) or to the west.
Archaeological evidence for the more westerly
line, enclosing the
traditional site, has been shown to be irrelevant. That advanced for the
line farther east is
more impressive but still not entirely conclusive. The
existence of other Jewish tombs near the
Holy Sepulcher supports the
view that this area was outside the wall in the
first century; other evi-
dence also favors this general vicinity.
Neither the
praetorium’s location nor the authenticity of traditional
course
still less certain, quite apart from the fact that many of the streets in
the
time of Jesus lay far below the present level of the ground. Many of the
Jewish tombs of the period have a
circular slab resembling a millstone that
rolls in a groove so that it covers
the opening but can be rolled back to
gain access to the tomb, these details
are similar to the details of Jesus’
burial.
The locations of the post-resurrection appearances mentioned in
Luke and
John aren't specified. Jesus appeared
repeatedly to the disciples
“during 40 days” and “charged them not to depart
from Jerusalem
Ascension is located on the Mount
of Olives , most likely on
its summit.
8. Apostolic
Period to the Death of Agrippa I—The first recor-
ded incident in the history
of the apostolic church is the selection of Mat-
thias to take the place of
Judas; where this took place is not stated.
The
fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit at the Feast of
Pentecost oc-
curred when “they were all together in one place”; there is nothing
in the
text to indicate where it was. We
have no way of knowing even which
quarter of the city events took place, except
for those incidents in the
book of Acts which occurred at the temple.
Among those
who disputed with Stephen & caused his arrest were
“some from the synagogue
of the Freedmen.” A possible reference to this
synagogue was found in a cistern
on Jerusalem
Stephen was stoned to death is
designated only as outside the city. One
of
the possibilities was on the Nablus Road, north
The rival site is beside the Jericho Road Kidron Val-
“circumcision
party.”
J-36
In 36 A.D.
Pilate was deposed because of a cruel massacre of Sa-
maritans. The Roman legate in Syria
tor. Before Vitellius left Jerusalem
Caligula had
become emperor. Vitellius & his
successor, Petronius, dealt
wisely with the Jews, but all chance of tranquility
at Jerusalem
when Caligula ordered his own image set up
in the temple.
Caligula’s
successor, Claudius (41-54 A.D.), added Samaria Judea
to the domain of Agrippa, who reigned over the whole kingdom of Herod
A famine “in the days of Claudius,”
necessitated sending relief from other
places to Jerusalem
harsh treatment of the disciples at Jerusalem
brother of John put to
death. Foundations of an ancient wall
which have
been uncovered at some distance north of the city are believed
by some
archaeologists to be the remains of Agrippa’s wall that he started but
never
finished. It began at Hippicus,
one of the towers of Herod’s palace and ex-
tended northward to a great tower
named Psephinus.
At this
point the wall turned to the east and passed opposite the site
of the somewhat
later tomb of Helen. Agrippa’s wall
passed through the
royal caverns, meaning undoubtedly the so-called Quarries of
Solomon,
which run under the present northern wall. What Josephus tells us about
the third wall
thus corresponds fairly closely with the present northern wall
of the Old City
9. Death of Agrippa I to the First Revolt—Soon
after Agrippa’s
death (44 A.D.) Queen Helen of Adiabene, a convert to Judaism,
came to
wall she had a
magnificent tomb made for herself and her family. Most of
the procurators after
Agrippa’s death were corrupt and indifferent to Jewish
traditions. Contending factions arose among the Jews themselves. The
temple was often desecrated by fighting
and killing, as one high priest suc-
ceeded another. In 49-50 A.D. the Emperor Claudius gave the
supervision
of the temple & the right to appoint the high priests to Agrippa
II. He was
also given the old Hasmonean
palace.
About a
year later Felix became procurator.
Although he married
Agrippa’s sister, his dealings with the Jews were
far from sympathetic. It
was during this
time that the apostle Paul came to Jerusalem
tacked by a mob. His life was saved by the intervention of the
Roman tri-
bune. The conversation between
Paul & the tribune includes a reference
to the assassins and to an Egyptian Jew
who led some of them into the de-
sert.
Felix killed over a hundred Assassins, and captured two hundred, but
their leader escaped. Felix put to death
many brigands and agitators, but
he allowed some of the brigands into Jerusalem
In 60 A.D.,
Felix was removed from office. His
successor, Porcius
Festus, won the approval of less extreme elements of Jerusalem
leaders had to build a high wall at the west edge of the inner court, cutting
off the king’s view. Festus ordered them
to demolish the wall but let them
appeal to the Emperor Nero, who allowed them
to leave it standing.
Albinus,
who followed Festus, was one of the worst of the procura-
tors. Gessius Florus, the last procurator, was
even worse than Albinus. He
allowed
disorder to go unchecked, imprisoned Jews who protested, and
misappropriated
the funds of the temple. Taking up his
residence at the
and heard the
supplications of the city’s leading men, rejected their peti-
tions and turned
his troops loose against the people in the market place.
Josephus says that about 3,600 men, women,
and children were killed that
day.
Some of the
Jewish leaders and priests persuaded the multitude to
desist from protest. Troops brought up from Caesarea fell upon a delega-
tion, and then pushed through the northern quarter (Bezetha)
in the hope
of occupying the fortress Antonia and the temple. The people stopped
their passage through the
narrow streets and threw darts at them from the
housetops. Florus now withdrew to Caesarea and reported to the legate of
Persuaded
by Agrippa to walk around the city accompanied only by
one servant, the tribune
was convinced that the population was peaceful.
The people were going to send a delegation to
Rome
bled the people in the Tyropoeon Valley
people not to
complain to Nero. When he urged
submission to Florus,
however, he was so violently opposed that he
withdrew.
The war
with Rome
foreign
offering in the temple. The city’s leading
men, unable to stop the
rebellion, appealed to Rome
the revolt occupied the
upper city of the western hill, but were soon driven
from the upper city and
shut up in the Herodian palace. The
fortress Anto-
nia fell to the rebels, who burned it and slaughtered its
garrison. The Ro-
mans took refuge in the
towers of Hippicus, Phasael, & Mariamne.
Even-
tually they too surrendered & were massacred. The rebels now controlled
the whole
city. In the autumn of 66 A.D., Cestius
Gallus brought an army
against them, and the northern quarter, Bezetha, was burned.
J-37
All efforts
among the Jews to avoid war were now abandoned, and
the leaders at Jerusalem
sent Vespasian to put down the
revolt. In 67, Vespasian undertook to
get
control of the rest of the country before attacking Jerusalem
strife in the city, resulting in frightful slaughter of Jews by Jews or
Idume-
ans, prevented an effective defense, and was worse than the siege.
After a
rapid succession of 3 emperors in one year after the death of
Nero,
Vespasian became emperor in 69 & went to Rome
Titus to carry out the attack on Jerusalem
northwest and took one wall after another. To take
the oldest and innermost
wall, he set up great mounds or ramps. The whole city was surrounded by
a wall more
than five miles long. Famine was soon
added to the horrors of
the siege, but the factions in the city continued their
insensate fighting and
killing. The
fortress Antonia was captured and dismantled; the sacred en-
closure became a
scene of frightful carnage.
For both
Judaism and Christianity the fall of Jerusalem
ple’s destruction marked a turning
point. The Christian community es-
caped
to Pella Jordan
tory is located at Jerusalem
God can never again be localized either there or at any other place
on
earth.
JERUSHA (ירושא, possessed)
The mother of Jotham, king of Judah
Chronicles 27).
JESHAIAH (ישוהיה, salvation
of the Lord) 1. A descendant of King David
(I
Chronicles 3). 2. A Levite musician, one
of the “sons of Jeduthun”
(I Chronicles 25).
3. One of the Levites sharing supervision of
the
temple treasuries. 4. An
Elamite among the Babylonian exiles who re-
turned to Jerusalem
exiles who returned to Jerusalem
ancestor of one of the residents of postexilic Jerusalem
JESHANAH (ישנה, old) One of the cities, about 4.8 km north
of Jifneh, taken
with its villages by Abijah in a war with Jeroboam I (II
Chronicles 13).
Apparently the same
place, called Isanas, was the headquarters of Pap-
pus, general of Antigonus,
where the forces of Herod the Great were
victorious.
JESHARELAH (ישראלה, upright
towards God) A musician among the sons
of Asaph during
the time of David. The name is probably
a corrupt form of
Asharelah (I Chronicles 25).
JESHEBEAB (ישבאב, father’s
dwelling) A priest or priestly house, descended
from Aaron (I Chronicles 24).
JESHER (ישר, uprightness) A son of Caleb, listed in the genealogy of Judah
(I Chronicles 2).
JESHIMON (הישימון, wasteland, desert) 1.
A waste area in the neighborhood
of Ziph, perhaps a few kilometers south of
Hebron
2. A waste that can be seen from Peor and
Pisgah, most likely near the
northeast end of the Dead Sea (Numbers 21, 23).
JESHISHAI (ישישי, of aged) A Gadite (I Chronicles 5).
JESHOHAIAH (ישוהיה, the Lord humbles) A
prince of the tribe of Simeon
(I Chronicles 4).
JESHUA (ישוע, the Lord is salvation) 1. The form of Joshua used in
Nehe-
miah 8. 2. A division of
Aaronite priests identified by the Chronicler first
with the time of David, and
perhaps the same house as is listed with the
returning exiles (I Chronicles 24;
Ezra 2). 3. A Levite who assisted in
the distribution of the priests’ allowances (II Chronicles 31). 4. A subdi-
vision of the (non-priestly) clan of Pahath-Moab listed among the
exiles re-
turning from Babylon
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5. A high priest (560-490 B.C.), son of Jozadak, who was
among the
Jews taken into Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C., and a contemporary
of
the prophets Haggai and Zechariah in postexilic Jerusalem. The books of
Haggai and Ezra generally
mention his name and governor Zerubbabel’s
together as a pair. Following Zerubbabel, who is first, “Jeshua”
heads the
Chronicler’s list of returned exiles.
He shares with Zerubbabel the respon-
sibility for building the Jerusalem
nection is generally presumed to belong in the reign
of Darius.
Jeshua is the subject of several of the prophet
Zechariah’s apoca-
lyptic visions, one of which appears to be expressing divine
sanction for the
high priest’s ecclesiastical authority in the face of doubts
concerning the
qualifications of a returned exile. Originally, Zechariah 6 anticipates that
Zerubbabel was to receive the crown of David.
However, the passage was
emended later to read “Joshua” by a redactor
who knew that both civil and
religious authority would end up residing in the
high priest after Persia
withdrew all political power. Some of Jeshua’s family is listed among those
contemporaries of Ezra who married foreign wives.
6. A Levitical
house or clan among the exiles returning to Jerusa-
lem from Babylon
Ezra (Nehemiah 10).” 7. A
Levite chief who helped supervise the work
of rebuilding the temple in the days
of Zerubbabel. 8. One of the Levites
who interpreted the law as Ezra read from it
before the people. 9. A
town occupied by Jewish returnees from the Exile (Nehemiah
11).
JESHURUN (ישרון, upright) A variant form of the name Israel
regarded by scholars as a late and artificial construction, and is best
taken
to be a form of Israel
JESIMIEL (ישימאל, whom God constitutes) A prince of the tribe of Simeon
(I
Chronicles 4).
JESSE (ישי, wealthy) The father of King David.
He was of the tribe of Judah
Samuel visits Bethlehem
Jesse. He saw all the sons of Jesse
except David; when David was finally
summoned, Samuel anointed him as the
future king of Israel
Somewhat later Jesse
received messengers from King Saul, peti-
tioning that David be sent to the court
to stay and alleviate the periodic
mental depression of the monarch. From another source, Jesse sends
David with
provisions for his three eldest sons, serving in the army of Saul
against the
Philistines; David ends up facing Goliath.
Jesse was the son of Obed and the grandson of Boaz, the
hero of
the story of Ruth. He was father
of Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah, Nethanel,
Raddai, Ozem, Elihu, Zeruiah, Abigail,
and David. The designation of
David as
the “son of Jesse” began as an insult, but eventually became a
mark of
distinction & an important symbol in prophecy about the Messiah.
JESUS (Greek
form of Jeshua or Joshua, the Lord is salvation) 1. See Jesus
Christ. 2. Jesus Barabbas. See Barabbas. 3. Jesus
Justus. See
Justus (3).
JESUS CHRIST. The personal name of the one whose title, “Christ” (or
“the
Christ), gave its name to the Christian religion. Jesus is taken from the
Latin form; the
original Hebrew was Joshua, or more
fully Yehoshuah (the
Lord is
salvation), which the early Jewish Christian took to be Jesus’ role
(i.e. to be
our salvation).
The name was fairly common in the first century;
Josephus mentions
19 persons called Jesus.
In order to distinguish their Master from others of
the name, the
disciples used various phrases, such as “Jesus of Naza-
reth,” “Jesus, Son of
David,” “the Galilean,” and “the Nazarene.”
The Gen-
tile church, on the other hand, preferred titles with a
theological connota-
tion. Even before the
period of Paul’s missionary activity, the title “Christ”
had tended to become a
proper name. The title “Christ Jesus”
retained
more of the original significance (i.e. the Messiah Jesus).
The history of this title and its transformation into a
proper name re-
flects the earliest development of Christology. It began with a Jewish mes-
sianic concept and
ended with the metaphysical idea of divine incarnation.
It also reflects the spread of Christianity
in the Greco-Roman world, where
Greek and Latin proper names usually included a
personal name with a de-
scriptive label, such as Julius Caesar and Titius
Justus.
List of Topics—1. Literary Sources; 2. Background;
3. Jesus' Birth; 4. John the Baptizer; 5. Jesus' Mission
and Message; 6. The Mighty Works 7. Death of Jesus
1. Literary Sources—The
earliest literary reference to the birth of
Jesus is in Paul’s letter to the
churches in Galatia (Galatians 4): “But
when
the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born
under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that
we might receive adoption as children.”
“Born of a woman” is not a refer-
ence to the Virgin Birth, but to the
fact that “He was truly born, of flesh
and blood, not a phantom.” “Born under the law” affirms that he was a
Jew.
J-39
Paul’s statement presupposes Jesus’ early life, but doesn't elabo-
rate. He presupposes that the
story of Jesus is already familiar to his rea-
ders. These stories of Jesus’ life, teaching,
ministry, death, and exaltation
were a part of the earliest Christian
preaching. Paul’s disregard for the
facts of Jesus’ life shows Paul’s insistence upon the supernatural, divine
and
absolute significance of the whole of Jesus’ time on earth. Occasio-
nally Paul will cite specific events.
At other times one must read between
the lines for references to the life of
Jesus. The other writers of the New
Testament (NT) make similar presuppositions.
The 4 gospels are “theological” writings, whose
purpose is either
to convince their contemporaries that Jesus is divine, or to
set forth a
more satisfactory interpretation of the meaning of his life than
the one
proposed by Jewish or pagan opponents.
The variety found in the gos-
pels and in their underlying traditions provides
us with the range and
variety in testimony which are needful in interpreting
the life of Jesus.
The gospels are not
biographies of Jesus. They are the
writing-down of
the traditions of his earthly life, his teaching, death, and
resurrection, a
part of the early Christian proclamation.
As a matter of fact, very few detailed biographies have
come down
to us from the ancient world.
They are usually based on tradition.
The
church created the gospel form to serve its own purposes. The material
thus used was the oral tradition
which had circulated in the church itself,
from the beginning. The reasons for writing were obvious: the age
of the
earlier “eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” was drawing to a close;
the stories from Jesus’ life and his reported sayings, parables, controver-
sies,
and exposition of scripture must be written down if they were to be
preserved
for continued use. The necessity of
writing down the tradition
was strongly felt, and led to the composition of the
4 gospels in the period
following 65 A.D.
The nature of the gospels, which comes from the Old
English word
godspel (“good spell” or
“good news”) was “theological,” the bearing of
this upon their historical
interpretation & use in writing the life of Jesus is
often overlooked. The significance of “all that Jesus began to
do & teach”
is found, not in the ongoing sequences of historical continuity,
but in its
relevance to the resurrection & glorification that followed them,
& the final
coming that will follow them.
The whole tradition forms the main subject
and substance of the early
Christian gospel or “good news” of salvation.
By the same process, words of early Christian prophets
are occasio-
nally added to the tradition.
The reconstruction of the life of Jesus involves
a careful literary and
historical examination of the gospels; for the original
stratum of tradition
must be distinguished from later levels, and even then
this earliest stratum
has been interpreted, & has become theological. His-
tory has meaning, & so is remembered,
only because it has been interpre-
ted in one or another particular way.
The use of “gospel” as referring to a book came only
in the 100s
A.D.; the earliest usage still referred to the contents of the book
(i.e. “The
Gospel According to Mark). As
the earliest of the four, this gospel was
written in the 60s just before the
fall of Jerusalem
the gospel as it circulated in and was cherished by the Christian
commu-
nity in Rome
Mark referred to the Acts 12 is
uncertain. Marcus was a very common
Roman name.
The traditions preserved in Mark are arranged in a
recognizable
order, perhaps even that of the Jewish Christian liturgical year. The story
begins with the prophetic ministry
and message of John the Baptist, Jesus’
baptism and temptation, and his own
ministry in Galilee and Jerusalem
Jesus’ work
in the towns about the Sea of
Galilee (Chapters 1-5)
includes
controversies with the scribes, parables, and miracle stories. It is impossi-
ble to assume these groups of
stories represent any but the most general
chronological scheme.
Chapters 6-10 of Mark recount a series of journeys
outside Galilee .
Two more or
less parallel accounts are given of what may have been the
same journey. By chapter 10, Jesus is already on his way to
Jerusalem
where his ministry is to culminate in his death. Chapters 11-12 contain a
series of
controversies; chapter 13 contains a great apocalyptic discourse.
The narrative in chapters 14-15 is probably Mark’s
revision of the
older Roman form of the passion narrative. The general course of events
is the same in
all the gospels; but the details vary greatly.
Mark’s passion
narrative probably reached its climax in the testimony of
the Roman centu-
rion. Finally the account
finding the empty tomb is Mark’s closest appro-
ximation to the story of the
Resurrection.
J-40
It is now thought that the “blocks” of material found in
Mark repre-
sent old pre-Markan sources.
There is little question that arrangement of
the tradition had begun
before Mark wrote. The importance of
Mark’s ar-
rangement of the traditional material is that Mark’s order continued
to do-
minate the presentation of the life of Jesus. There is a strong probability
that Mark
follows a trustworthy general sequence.
First, there was John the Baptist, Jesus in Galilee , and more distant
journeys, then the journey to Judea ,
his visit to Jerusalem
death, and resurrection. It is obvious that Mark’s order is far more
topical
than chronological; it is in fact chronological only in its widest,
most gene-
ral outline. Mark’s purpose was
to encourage the oppressed Christian
church, his fellow Christians, to stand
fast and remain loyal to Christ in
spite of outrage, torture, even death.
The order of the other gospels is in general that of
Mark, but each
has its own plan and purpose.
The order of Matthew is the result of combi-
ning a series of subject
sequences, where 5 great sections of narrative are
followed by a discourse
summing up Jesus’ teaching on a related topic.
To
this very formal didactic arrangement of the life and teaching of Jesus,
the
nativity narrative has been added as a preface, & the passion narrative
has
been added as a conclusion. Clearly
Matthew’s topical and didactic order
does not supply us with a chronology of
the life of Jesus.
In the gospel of Luke, Mark is revised, omitting two long
sections,
and inserting material from the “Sayings Source” (“Q” for “Quelle,”
the
German word for source); the gospel’s order is obviously not chronologi-
cal.
Luke-Acts, a sequel to the gospel by
Luke, was designed to show that
Christianity was not a subversive movement. Also neither Jesus nor Paul,
nor the other apostles, nor the rank & file
of Christians had ever threa-
tened public law and order or encouraged revolution
against Rome
Christians
were entitled to the same rights and privileges accorded
the Jews, for
Christianity itself was a “way” within Judaism, on a par with
that of the
Pharisees, with whom they shared several of their main beliefs.
The “Q” Source mentioned above is the
material that is common to Luke
and Matthew and did not come from Mark. It is impossible to say, how-
ever, whether it
was in written or stereotyped oral form.
The order of John is even more formal and didactic. After the great
hymn about the Logos, into
which the author has inserted references to
John the Baptist, the book is
divided into two main parts: the revealing of
the incarnate Logos on earth; & then Jesus’ return to the Father.
Although
it was once thought that John presupposed the other gospels,
it is now ge-
nerally held that both his material and point of view are
unique. In John,
the cosmic Christ of
Christian faith and worship at the end of the first cen-
tury speaks to his
disciples.
The cosmic Christ is the head of his church, the Savior of
the world,
the one by whom men are to live forever; men are to judge themselves
by
their response or reaction to him.
The long-recognized contrast between
John and the Synoptics is certainly
obvious, but can easily be exaggerated.
It is not John’s purpose to write either history or biography, but to
prove
that Christ was truly human, and not a phantom who was incapable of
suf-
fering or dying.
Modern gospel research has abandoned the hopeless attempt
to
weave together the 4 gospels into one consecutive narrative. Their diver-
gent purposes and arrangement make
this impossible. The gospel tradition
existed in separate pericopes, each a unit complete in itself & each
reflec-
ting the whole of Jesus’ thought, attitude, purpose, & career. None requires
any other for its explanation;
each of Jesus’ sayings is also an independent
unit. The marvelous fact is that, despite the
divergent purpose of the evan-
gelists, and the differing frames or
classification in which the sayings of
Jesus have been collected, the unique
and distinctive character of Jesus
clearly stands out. And the gospels
themselves have the freshness and
vividness of all human life.
The gospel tradition embraces a variety of narrative
forms: brief
anecdotes; more elaborate narratives; the great miracle stories;
and purely
legendary material. It also
includes a variety of didactic forms.
The narra-
tives, like the sayings and parables were originally distinct
and were not at
first part of a continuous account of the life or ministry of
Jesus. It is Luke
who had done most to
link the story of Jesus into one consecutive narra-
tive. Even in Luke these are only initial attempts
to weave together the
gospel story.
The preservation of divergent types of tradition
was due entirely to
their use in the early church. The parables were probably used for
instruc-
ting the converts and the faithful.
The controversies grew out of the conti-
nuing contest of the church with
its opponents. The prophetic and
apoca-
lyptic material grew out of the apocalyptic interests of the church. In its
original form the gospel tradition
circulated in Aramaic. It was not long
before this was translated into the ordinary, everyday Greek of the Greco-
Roman
world. Thus some of Jesus’ sayings have
been transmitted in two
or more different forms.
J-41
Jesus’ sayings and
parables reflect a world of thought quite diffe-
rent from that of the Pauline
letters. Jesus is the prophet who spoke
sim-
ply, with inspired directness. If a
few of the sayings are from the parallel
tradition of Jewish wisdom or early Christian
prophets, they're also found
to be “in character” and belong by right of
identical spiritual insight with
those of Jesus. Old Testament (OT) sayings and other
religious writings
are also included because they are relevant and expressed
Jesus’ point of
view and convictions.
The source and authenticity and the later elaboration of
sayings
which have to do with Jesus’ own destined place in the kingdom of God
must be considered in connection with Jesus’ own self-consciousness and
sense
of mission. Since the gospels were the
faithful preservation of the
early church’s traditions about Jesus, the whole
content of this new faith
had to be moved back into the earthly life of
Jesus. What was for him
only an
apprehension, a presentiment, a growing awareness, became for
the church a
positive conviction. Hence, it was
inevitable that some of
Jesus’ sayings would be reinterpreted and reformulated,
in the interest of
making clear his own awareness of the supreme role which he
was to play
in the purposes of God.
The question to be investigated is the extent to which
the church
has reinterpreted or re-emphasized Jesus’ words. We cannot escape the
duty of drawing a line
where interpretation passes over into reinterpreta-
tion, and where later
convictions are read into the simpler early sayings
and narratives. It is asking the impossible to demand a
clear, plain state-
ment of “just what happened.”
As for later Christian writings, there are
scattered sayings attributed
to Jesus. The data contained in the
apocry-
phal gospels are mainly unreliable.
The non-Christian sources are few and slight. Tacitus described
the horrible tortures meted
out by Nero to the Christians in Rome
old
Slavonic version of Josephus’ War
mentions Jesus in several places,
and even describes his personal appearance;
but the hand of someone
making insertions is clearly evident. The Babylonian Talmud contains
a vague
reference to Jesus. There is no evidence
to identify Jesus as the
“Teacher of Righteousness” referred to in the Dead
Sea Scrolls.
The
question is often asked, whether it is possible to write a life
of Jesus. The chronology of Jesus’ ministry has
variously estimated, all
the way from a few months, to four, seven, and even
twelve years. John
represents Jesus as announcing
his divine nature from the outset, and
has three Passovers to Mark’s one. The difference in the interpretation
of
Jesus’ teaching has resulted in totally divergent reconstructions of
Jesus’
life and ministry. The question of
“messianic consciousness” and
of the sense in which he used the term “Son of
man,” has divided scho-
lars, especially since 1900, into two or more
irreconcilable camps.
In
modern research it has become clear that the student can't trust
his own
private and personal impressions derived from the careful rea-
ding of the
English Bible. It is especially
important to question whether
the ancient world had any conception of history
comparable to the mo-
dern conception. The
purpose of tradition was something entirely diffe-
rent from recording past
events. The influence of the OT must
also be
recognized. The student must
realize that there was no interest in what
we call “personality.”
Thus it will have to be recognized that
we shall probably never ar-
rive at a fully detailed and authentic account of
Jesus’ life and character. In
spite of this,
the text is most likely correct to within one or two percent. As
we work back through the gospels, we are
confronted by a consistent and
homogeneous figure. What we have, in the end, is separate
pericopes,
just as they have been read in the church’s liturgy for centuries.
The dream of recovering the biography of
Jesus was too ambitious,
too modern, and really impossible. What we have instead is the 4-fold gos-
pel
in the NT. There is no short cut to the
achievement of a purely “histori-
cal life of Jesus.” We must “search and
examine” the gospels, and apply
them, first of all, in our own lives. For several centuries it was held that
the OT
was an authentic “source” for the life of Jesus. The gospels were
forced to yield data which would
fit into whatever dogmatic system was
held by the commentator or exegete. Today, the data of the gospels was
established first. The result thus far
has been the liberation of exegesis
and literary-historical criticism from the
shackles of dogmatic theology.
2. Background—Jesus was a Galilean.
This fact was of far-rea-
ching significance for his whole career. Galilee was the “Circle
of the
Gentiles.” In the days of Jesus
there were many non-Jews, especially Sy-
rians, Phoenicians, Arameans, Greeks,
and Romans, some of whom were
descended from the peoples who had settled in Palestine
these foreigners were forced to
accept Judaism.
J-42
The outlook of a Jewish boy growing up in
this region, surrounded
by Gentiles, was necessarily different from that someone
in Jerusalem
The ancient
caravan road from Egypt Nazareth
pressed with the vastness of the world, when daily before his
eyes came
“many from east and west,” Gentiles who might be seeking both the
riches
of this world and the kingdom of God?
Galilee was a widely diversified
and prosperous agricultural region. There was grain, figs, olives grapes,
other
fruits, and fish. It is impossible even
to approximate the figures for
the population of first-century Galilee ; the best guess is 400,000.
For 100 years Palestine
War was won only
by a heroic expenditure of life and treasure.
In 63 B.C.
Pompey was invited to come settle the right of succession; he
never with-
drew. Herod the Great was an
“allied king,” and his sons were permitted
to succeed him by Roman consent: Archelaus (4 B.C.-6 A.D.) as ethnarch
of Judea
and Samaria Galilee and
Peraea; and Philip (4 B.C.-26 A.D.) as tetrarch in northeast Palestine
man policy
was consistent & continuous: the whole exposed eastern fron-
tier, from the Black Sea to the Red, required the establishment of a continu-
ous line of
defense.
The land of the Jews was forcibly
annexed, conquered, and recon-
quered again & again. The Maccabean War had been won by the
heroism
and sacrifices of the Maccabees during the period of the declining Seleu-
cid Empire. The insurgents in Jesus’ days were devoted to
the ancient
ideal of a priestly theocracy.
The new Roman Empire was a wholly diffe-
rent force in world affairs than
the tottering Seleucid Empire.
On the whole, the East was better off
than the West in the 1st cen-
enhanced by the Ptolemies for 300 years; but under Rome Egypt
looted. 2 centuries of warfare had all but
exhausted the agricultural popu-
lation. Greece
There was also an influx of
slaves into Rome
fected the early church in its westward advance. In Palestine
refusal of the Jews to make adjustments
to the “wicked kingdom” made it
impossible for Palestine
100s A.D. The ancient forests were gone
and the land was already beco-
ming arid, as it has remained for centuries under
Arab, Frank and Turkish
rule.
The Roman tribute, designed to meet occupation
and defense costs,
was imposed without regard to sacred taxes, tithes, and
other offerings
which were set up as the only system of taxation. It has been estimated
that the total
taxation, Roman and priestly, amounted to about 35-40% of
the nation’s total
income. For an ancient people with
almost no margin
between production and consumption, this was an impossible
economic
burden. The combination of
political friction and oppression with a hope-
less economic situation formed Palestine
& ministry of John
the Baptist, & of Jesus & the early Christian apostles.
These conditions led to the rise and spread of the belief in the
coming of a military Messiah. Jesus & John rejected violence in response
to a widespread appeal which was steadily winning the masses & leading
on to
the catastrophe of the late 60s. It was
led by people who vocally ap-
proved of the movement while making the most of it
for personal ends. If
scattered groups
gathered to pray for the “redemption” of Israel
because things had gone so far that no
solution could be thought of short
of divine intervention. Only complacent Sadducees washed their
hands of
the whole movement and made the most of both worlds.
Off in the wilderness north of the Dead Sea , the Essenes observed
their special rites, chiefly baptismal, and
studied their esoteric books. The
Essenes also, like many Pharisees and Christians, were pietists and esca-
pists. The theory that the Essenes, or the Qumran
community (their library
contained the Dead Sea Scrolls) influenced John,
Jesus, the early Chris-
tian, or the NT, is not convincing.
3. Jesus’ Birth—It is now widely
recognized that the accounts of
Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2 were
entirely independent in origin.
Each had a genealogy; Matthew 1 traces Jesus’ descent through the royal
line from
King David, and Abraham. Luke’s
genealogy reverses the order,
& traces Jesus’ ancestry, as the son of Joseph,
through another line back
to King David and Abraham, continuing back to Adam.
The story of the annunciation, birth, and
childhood of both Jesus &
John, as told in Luke 1-2, is a weaving together of
two infancy narratives.
The story of
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth
strands of
Johannine and Nazarene stories. It's
partly traditional, no doubt,
but the telling is the work of an extraordinary
literary artist. The language
and
thought are alike derived from the OT, especially the Psalms and the
Prophets. If Jesus’ boyhood home had an
influence upon the shaping of
his mind, then we must suppose that the picture
Luke draws in his first two
chapters is true & realistic, & that the early
surroundings must have been
those of this humble, beautiful Jewish home.
J-43
The central story in Luke’s infancy
narrative is the annunciation to
Mary in Luke 1. The prophecy is in the language of the
ancient messianic
hope, and it is followed by the question: “How shall this
be?”, which re-
fers to her son’s glorious destiny. The fact that Jesus never mounted an
earthly
throne, or desired to do so, increases our debt to Luke for preser-
ving this
ancient conception and emphasis, deeply embedded in the old
Palestinian
tradition. The concluding sections of
Luke’s infancy narrative
stress the deep piety of Jesus and his family, in
which he had to rise above
family loyalty in his life of utter obedience to God.
The story in Matthew 1-2 is far less
inspiring; it resembles the pre-
dictable tales that were free flights of
fancy. From an ancient Jewish point
of
view the Virgin Birth would add nothing to the assurance of Jesus’ future
greatness; the idea is purely Greek.
Later Christian doctrine laid great em-
phasis upon the Virgin Birth; but
for the gospels and the NT writers gene-
rally, it had little significance.
4. John the Baptizer—Mark, as the earliest form of “gospel” be-
gins,
not with Jesus’ birth, but with the coming of John the Baptist. Al-
though there is some evidence of later
rivalry between followers of Jesus
& those of John, the view which
prevailed is that John was the “forerunner”
or herald, whose chief function was
to announce the coming of the Mes-
siah. The beginning of John’s ministry, as Luke dates it, must have been
27 or
28 A.D., with the presumption that Jesus’ ministry began in 28 or 29.
John’s message was a call to repentance
in preparation for the
coming Judgment.
His garb, manner, & message suggested Elijah. John
followed Malachi and renewed the ancient
prophet’s denunciation of sin
and wickedness.
John denounced Herod Antipas for his highhanded taking
of his brother
Philip’s wife. The Jewish historian
Josephus says that Anti-
pas put John in prison out of fear of his growing
popularity.
By “repentance” John meant “turning
about,” away from sin and to-
wards the Lord. The seal of thorough repentance was baptism, a self-admi-
nistered rite of
cleansing. It was like the baptism of
Jewish proselytes.
The literary analysis
of Mark 1 suggests that the original form of John’s
saying was: “I baptize you
with water; he will baptize you with fire.” Mark
revised this to fit the current
Christian situation, and read: “I have baptized
you with water; but he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Luke
and Matthew combined the two versions into: “with the Holy
Spirit and with
fire.” The character of John is much
different than that of
Jesus. John was
an ascetic who renounced the world.
Jesus was the pro-
phet of the kingdom of God
others, in word and deed, the mighty
powers of the coming kingdom.
John’s mission connected with Jesus’
mission at the baptism of
Jesus. At this
moment, according to the first 3 gospels, Jesus becomes
aware of his life’s
mission: the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends
upon him, and the voice of
God declares: “Thou art my beloved Son; with
thee I am well pleased.” It was
this endowment with the Spirit which led
Jesus into the wilderness and equipped
him for his public ministry.
The story of the Temptation briefly
recounted by Mark is best under-
stood as an account of the ordeal of the
Messiah. The solution of the pro-
blem in
each trial is a verse from the story of the Exodus (Deuteronomy 6
and 8). In form,
it is perhaps a meditation on the Deuteronomic story of the
nation, rather than
an autobiographical narrative from Jesus own lips.
Crossing this motif of the ordeal is
another: the devil’s attempt to as-
certain Jesus’ true nature, whether he is
really the Son of God” or not.
Jesus’
victory over the tempter was decisive, but not permanent: the devil
departed
“until an opportune time.” The
temptation narrative gives us an
insight into a widespread early Christian view
of Jesus, according to which
his whole career was one of conflict with the
powers of darkness, and
reached its climax at the Cross, where defeat turned into victory through
the Resurrection.
5. Jesus’ Mission and Message—Although
the Gospel of John re-
presents Jesus as one of the Baptist’s followers who took
away some of
John’s own disciples, the earlier gospels state only that Jesus’
public mini-
stry began after John had been imprisoned by Herod Antipas. His mission
was primarily that of a prophet;
his message was the announcement of the
arrival of the reign of God.
Nothing is said of Jesus’ personal
appearance or habits, because
there was nothing unusual about them. His intrepid courage is clear from
every page
of the gospels; at the same time his gentleness is evident from
the attraction
which he had for children. The popular
estimate of him as a
prophet is reflected in Luke 7, where Simon the Pharisee
questions it.
J-44
But the gift of the Spirit transformed
men into prophets; it did not
make
them messiahs. The discussion in John 7
implies that Jesus was
popularly known as a prophet. This was the attitude of the “common peo-
ple,”
the “great throng” who heard him gladly in Galilee , Judea , and Jeru-
The ancient conception of prophet was not one
of “lowly humanness” or
of a religious or theological expert; a prophet was the
direct mouthpiece
of God.
Since John the Baptist was thought of as
a prophet, this was also
Jesus’ view of him.
Not only Herod Antipas but also the people assumed
that Jesus was John
risen from the dead. Their authority as
Jesus implied
was identical, yet John’s preaching did not go beyond the coming
Judg-
ment, and never embraced the kingdom, which was Jesus’ main subject of
discourse. John was the forerunner,
Jesus the fulfiller; this was the sim-
ple, pristine theology of the Palestinian
church.
Jesus’ conception of the Kingdom of God
tically or dogmatically anywhere in the gospels. Instead it is assumed that
the reader will
understand what is meant. What has
become of John’s pre-
diction of the coming Judgment is not clear; apparently
Jesus takes it for
granted. Luke seems
to identify it with the fall of Jerusalem
fall of Jerusalem
The statement in Luke that: “The kingdom of God
of you,” isn't to be taken otherwise. The contrast isn't between an inward
realization and an outward manifestation of the kingdom, but between a
present
realization and the gradual approach that would thus permit one to
calculate
the time before its arrival. The
“signs” are already present, there-
fore the kingdom of God kingdom
the
context of this verse, & also to the whole NT presentation of the idea.
Jesus clearly takes for granted his
hearers’ understanding of the
term, yet the phrase “kingdom of God
literature.
The most probable explanation seems to be that the term wasn't
really a
theological one at all, but popular, perhaps taken over from the
Zealots. The great slogan of the Zealots, “No king but
God,” had been
perverted and degraded by murderers masking as religious and
political
liberators.
The term was perfectly appropriate on the lips of one whose pur-
pose was entirely religious, and who looked forward to the establishment
of God’s reign, not by violence or armies, but by the act of God. Jesus’
mission was to wait, prepare, & convert; to heal the sick, exorcise demons,
convert the sinful, and thus gather a consecrated people who would make
ready for the full and final coming of God’s reign.
Many of Jesus’ parables deal with the kingdom’s coming, though
the precise meaning is not conveyed by such language as the “the king-
dom of God is like . . .” The point of comparison with the kingdom of
duction. The theory that the parables were meant to conceal Jesus’ tea-
ching rather than to make it clear, is peculiar to Mark and Luke. Mark’s
theory may have seemed probable in the Rome
was surely out of place in the Galilee of the 20s.
There's no suggestion of an advance,
founding, or building of God's
The point of the parable
of the sower and other parables isn't the nature of
kingdom, but the
response to the message of its coming and the call to re-
pentance. In the parables of the mustard seed and the
leaven, the results
are out of all proportion to the tiny beginnings. The parable of hidden trea-
sure, the pearl,
& the net, found only in Matthew, aren't descriptive of the
kingdom but of
its joyful discovery and priceless value.
Jesus assumes that the king is coming at
once. The growing unrest,
the tyranny of
foreign occupation, the injustice, and impotence of religious
authorities, all
these tensions & frustrations indicated that a crisis was im-
pending. This “prophetic” interpretation of
contemporary history is not to
be confused with the “apocalyptic.” The presuppositions of Mark 13 are de-
rived
not from Jesus teaching, but from the Jewish-Christian Little Apoca-
lypse. As in the OT, God’s patience has been
exhausted by this generation.
The passage announcing the threat of doom
is credited by Luke to
the “Wisdom of God.”
In the fall of Jerusalem
whole eschatological gospel
of Jesus through the lurid haze of this great
catastrophe. The tension and grief of the times is clearly
in Luke 13,
where Jesus weeps over the city, and in Luke 12, where the “fire”
& “water
of John’s baptismal preaching are applied by Jesus to himself.
Repeatedly Jesus warns that the coming Judgment, or the Parou-
sia of the Son of man, will be sudden instantaneous,
inescapable, and
“without observation.”
The kingdom is already here, in essence; its full
manifestations in
external reality will be instantaneous.
Further emphasis
upon this suddenness of the final end is seen in the
reference to the Flood
and the burning of Sodom Gomorrah
J-45
For Jesus, everything will be clear at
the coming Judgment; this is
his teaching about the end-time and not Gnosticism. Only a few will be
saved. Jesus doesn't say that these are identical
with his followers, though
it is assumed that his own disciples will receive
the kingdom as a gift
(Luke 10). The
real answer to the request and the continuation of the nar-
rative is later in
the same chapter. The sublime account of
the last Judg-
ment in Matthew 25 isn't a “parable” but an illustrative story,
and so is the
rich man and Lazarus, which was based on an old Egyptian tale of
the
judgment of souls after death; Jesus’ message was to watch, for not even
Jesus knows the day or the hour of the impending Parousia.
There are passages in which the kingdom
is referred to as Christ’s
or the Son of man’s, where the kingdom is
identified with the church;
these are late editorial revisions. So also are passages which apparently
identify the kingdom with the Jewish people or church-state. One saying
in Matthew speaks of the kingdom
of heaven suffering violence or co-
ming violently. Matthew’s form looks back upon a period of
violence
which began with the Baptist’s martyr death; here, the kingdom is
appa-
rently the Jewish people. Luke’s
form pictures the beginning of the gos-
pel. As both are interpretations, it is difficult to find Jesus’ original
saying.
Jesus’ ministry was devoted to the “lost
sheep of Israel
scorned by the religious leaders, since
they neglected the observance of
the religious rules of strict Judaism. Their very occupations required them
to
disregard some of the rigid theoretical rules of the scribes. Such ab-
stract,
theoretical, and inhuman interpretation of the law help to account
for the
neglect of the law by many of the laity.
It was to the neglected common people,
that Jesus devoted himself.
“I was sent
only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel
any consideration of the needs of
Gentiles). The above statement is now
generally thought to reflect the views of the ultra-right-wing Jewish
Chris-
tians. Jesus viewed his mission as
“to call sinners rather than the righte-
ous.”
The gospel was, from the outset, a gospel of redemption, with many
examples of people being saved.
Jesus’ teaching embraced, apparently,
most of the basic beliefs and
practices of religion as set forth in
contemporary Judaism. The fundamen-
tal
revelation of God in the OT, & God’s character and purposes as therein
revealed, are everywhere taken for granted.
In the practice of religion, ab-
solute sincerity and singleness of
purpose are required. The actual
prac-
tice of religion is what matters, not ardent professions of zeal or
devotion,
and the outward act discloses the inner motive and disposition.
High among the duties of religion in
Judaism and also by Jesus is
love for one’s neighbor, and even one’s
enemy. Sayings like those about
reconciliation and forgiveness of enemies make the principle still
clearer.
Above all things, the sin of
leading others into sin must be avoided.
The
teaching on humility is very prominent, not only in the Beatitudes,
but also
repeatedly in the gospels. The
Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in
spirit,”
means “in their own estimation, aware of their own shortcomings.” Mat-
thew insists that Jesus held the Jewish
law to be permanently binding, but
mechanical piety will not do. The Torah cannot be easily observed, or
ob-
served 101%. The Torah really requires
monogamy and forbids divorce
and remarriage.
In its phraseology the Lord Prayer (See also article) closely resem-
bles the
ancient form of Kaddish. The Lord’s Prayer begins, as all Jewish
prayers begin,
with the praise of God. “Hallowed be thy
name” means
“May God be recognized & worshiped everywhere.” “Daily bread” means
enough for daily
needs. “Forgive us our debts” includes
our failure to do
good as well as actually doing wrong. “Lead us not into temptation” means
“Do not test
us.” “Deliver us from evil,” means from the evils of life not from
wickedness.
Jesus’ teaching shares many principles
also found in Pharisaism,
such as the resurrection doctrine. Luke 16 includes avarice as a Pharisaic
vice. Jesus’ criticism of the scribal
interpretation of the law, and also of the
personal character of religious
leaders, is clear in all the gospel sources.
Jesus’ teaching on wealth was probably more of a concern to the rich, land-
owning
high-priestly aristocracy than to either the scribes or Pharisees or
the
average “poor priest.” Luke 14 states
“Whoever of you does not re-
nounce all that he has can't be a disciple.” The motive for this requirement
isn't based
on asceticism, or on eschatology, but upon the love, mercy,
and goodness
of God—and the love of neighbor that forms the heart of this
religious ethic.
Jesus’ ethic as a whole is neither
scientific nor philosophical, in ei-
ther the modern or the ancient sense. The “Golden Rule” is an added ad-
monition, not
an ethical principle of fundamental importance.
It was an
ancient adage, and circulated in its negative form in the
Judaism of Hillel
and of Jesus: “Don't
do to others what you wouldn't have them do to you.”
J-46
The criticisms of Jesus by the scribes and
Pharisees included his
association with “sinners.” The charge brought by the scribes from Jerusa-
the charge is masterly:
a kingdom divided—as they represent Satan’s to
be—is on the way to ruin; the
fact that Jesus exorcises demons shows that
the “strong man” is already bound;
if Jesus’ exorcisms are affected by Be-
elzebul, by what power do the “sons” of
the scribes exorcise demons?; if
on the contrary, Jesus’ exorcisms are done by God’s
authority and power,
then it must follow that God’s kingdom is close at hand.
The criticism that Jesus undertook to
forgive sins appears in Mark 2.
The
criticism that he disregarded the Sabbath was most serious; it meant a
breach of the law. Again, Jesus’
refutation was justification: works of
mercy were at least on a par with works
of necessity. The interpretation of
“Son
of Man” in Mark 2 cannot be either “man” or Jesus himself. It must
be an
inference drawn in the early church in the course of the transmission
of the
tradition.
Jesus’ criticism of the scribal
interpretation of the law went farther
and included some parts of the law
itself. The scribal authorities debated
the grounds for divorce, but most of the interpretations were impossible,
since
they were covered by other regulations in the Torah. But Jesus said:
“From the beginning” God
intended husbands and wives to be “joined to-
gether,” Jesus also quoted from
Genesis 2: “What therefore God has joined
together, let not man put asunder.” The added verse in Mark 10 makes the
rule
applicable to both partners. This is an
example of the way in which
Jesus, a non-rabbinic, non-scribal lay teacher of
religion, expounded the
OT, and dealt with one of the problems which vexed the
schools.
Jesus appealed to the highest principles,
God’s love, mercy, and jus-
tice, and took his stand upon a direct, intuitive
understanding of God’s will
and requirements, not upon the scribal tradition. It was his freedom from
scribal tradition,
and his unhesitating rejection of scribal authority, which
roused the religious
authorities’ antagonism and resulted in his death. He
was seen as a “heretic”, and executed as a
revolutionist.
Much of Jesus’ teaching was addressed to
his disciples and to the
larger group of followers who gathered about him. The main purpose of
the disciples was to
preach and have authority to cast out demons.
The
disciples’ mission has been read back into Jesus’ lifetime. Discipleship is
a great privilege and
therefore any sacrifice it requires must be met cheer-
fully and unhesitatingly;
it also requires single-hearted devotion.
Persecu-
tion is foreseen as the disciples’ lot, though some details
probably reflect
the conditions of tension and opposition in Palestine
which led up to the breach between
the church and the synagogue.
6. The Mighty Works—Jesus’ proclamation of God's kingdom
was accompanied by supernatural manifestations.
Such ailments as pos-
session by a “demon,” fever, paralysis, chronic bleeding,
deafness, blind-
ness, epilepsy, and dropsy are the ailments that were common in
the an-
cient world. The continuous emphasis
on healing in Mark justifies calling
this work the “gospel of Jesus’ mighty
works,” which took place every-
where except at Nazareth
suggested.
Perhaps the cursing of the
fig tree should be included; in Mark it
was the only miracle performed in or
near Jerusalem
Mark’s, and the picture of a disappointed and vindictive prophet or holy
man is unworthy of Jesus; this passage is probably a later addition. Other
miracles include walking on the water,
and the feeding of the multitude is
told in two forms; which are two accounts
of the same event. The whole
outlook of
the passage is diametrically opposed to the temptation narrative,
where he flatly
refuses to perform a miracle out of hunger.
Thus the Synoptic gospels’ miracle
stories are mainly of one class,
healing and exorcism, which could be performed
by others than Jesus. His
practice of
exorcism & healing wasn't denied or included among the char-
ges brought
against him. Paul lays no emphasis on
Jesus’ “miracles.”
Even Jesus’ resurrection
is not a “sign” or a “mighty work,” but the natural
consequence of the Son of
God’s victorious life and death.
The whole modern concept of “miracle,” as
a stupendous, inexplic-
able event is useless when we try to explain Jesus’ “mighty
works.” They
weren’t indications of
superior skill or even of Jesus’ supernatural power;
they were the “mighty works”
of God, and evidence of the fact that the
out demons, then the kingdom of God
The Baptism of Jesus was not the
“awakening of Jesus’ messianic
consciousness,” or his “inauguration” as Son of
God. The Baptism was
Jesus’ endowment
with the Holy Spirit for his office and ministry as a pro-
phet. Jesus’ endowment was permanent in that he
neither committed a
sin nor spoke a sinful word after his endowment with the
Spirit. The ordeal,
through which he at
once passed, was the test of his vocation, and proved
him superior to the
various diabolical proposals—short cuts devised to
bring in God’s kingdom.
The temptation narrative provides the key
to his ministry’s beginning.
Jesus’ testing
in the wilderness takes 40 days, as the wilderness testing of
tism and at the
Transfiguration are related. The scene
is prophetic, as
Moses’ and Elijah’s presence suggests. Some scholars interpret the Trans-
figuration as a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus which pre-dated the
Galilean ministry; whatever its origin, the story as now told is anticipation
of the “coming
glory.”
J-47
It's significant that according to the
Synoptics, Jesus did no “mighty
works” outside Galilee , except healing the Syrophoenician girl. The jour-
neys to the region of Tyre Sidon
evangelizing the
Gentiles. The simple fact is, we don't
know why he went
away and the Phoenician cities did not, as a matter of fact,
repent. Jesus
was a prophet, which meant
an authorized and authoritative representative
of God. If he was something more, Jesus made no
public claim to either
the title or the office.
After Peter’s confession of faith, Jesus
made the stern charge that
they were to say nothing about it. Most likely,
Jesus had no intention of
fulfilling the ancient hope of a great king. The “messianic hope” was too
earth-bound, too
this-worldly, too materialistic, even jingoistic, to match
Jesus’ concept of
the kingdom of God
more
profound. When Jesus rebuked Peter for
protesting against his ap-
proaching rejection of death, it became clear that
what Peter meant by
messiahship was not at all Jesus’ conception of his mission. Too many
deliverers claimed royal
descent, and proved by their actions how remote
were their aims from the true
purposes of God. Jesus’ aim was nonpolitical.
Unlike some other religious leaders, and
unlike the portrayal in John,
Jesus doesn’t make himself the center of his
teaching or demand loyalty to
himself.
His whole concern was with God’s kingdom and its coming. Nor
is the messianic claim the real ground of
Jesus’ condemnation by Jewish or
Roman authorities. In both cases the charge is trumped up & garbled, to
make Jesus look like a revolutionist or insurrectionist. Mark’s interest was
in showing that Jesus was
Messiah during his earthly life, & that he acted
accordingly. The earliest church’s fundamental conviction
was that Jesus
became Messiah at his resurrection from the dead.
In the passage of the Great Thanksgiving Jesus
gives thanks for the
way in which his mission was revealed to “infants.” And the blessing of
Peter is now widely
recognized to be a bit of pious theorizing or fancy, in
the interest of the
supreme authority of Peter as the Christian interpreter of
the law. The total neglect or ignoring of this
passage in the other gospels
and the Pauline letters is sufficient proof that
this was a product of the early
church and not Jesus’ own words. As Origen said, “The whole life of Jesus
proves that he avoided speaking of himself . . . He preferred to make him-
self
known as Messiah more by his works than by his words.” It was the
kingdom and not his own position
in it, which was his sole and exclusive
concern.
Much has been made of Jesus’ solemn tone in the phrase: “You have
heard that it was said . . . But I say to you . .
.” In such a turn of expression
the human
Jesus still stands before us, with his emphasis, which is on the
truth of what
he is saying: “But I tell you . . .”
There is no question that
Jesus viewed himself & was viewed by others
as a prophet; the incidental
notes in the discourses and the gospel narratives
reflect this fact.
The passages which show Jesus as a
prophet are clear & consis-
tent whereas those which show him claiming
messiahship are not. The
title “son of
David” probably goes back to Jesus, while the exalted “Son
of man” was the attribution
to Jesus as being the Judge at the last Judg-
ment. Although the title “rabbi” is given to Jesus,
the title wasn't in com-
mon use before the Jewish schools’ reorganization after
Jerusalem
(70 A.D.). It was essentially an academic term,
“my teacher”; he was most
likely viewed as a lay religious teacher.
7. The Death of Jesus—The Gospel of John represents Jesus as
actively
engaged in teaching and “performing signs”; the Synoptics de-
scribe him as
centering his ministry in Galilee, and going to Jerusalem
only for the final
Passover. Jesus is aware of the dangers
confronting him,
and does not flinch, but that he actually courted death, or
went up to Jeru-
The forces arrayed against him were:
scribes, jealous of his influ-
ence, and resentful of his independent exposition
of Scripture and of his
criticism of their methods and their traditions;
Pharisees, stung by his rid-
dling exposure of their weaknesses; Herod Antipas,
suspecting political
intrigue; Sadducees, equally suspicious, and roused to
fury by his interfer-
ence with temple worship; Romans, concerned only with peace
and secu-
rity; and Pilate, concerned chiefly over his own waning popularity with
the Jews.
In Luke and Matthew, the Triumphal Entry
into Jerusalem
lowed at once by the “cleansing of the temple,”
when Jesus drove the
tradesmen and their wares out of the sacred
enclosure. This was an act
which any OT
prophet might have undertaken, though the early Chris-
tians no doubt viewed it
as messianic. His teaching in the
temple, accor-
ding to Mark, was chiefly controversial, such as the parable of
the wicked
tenant, his asking by what authority John the Baptist acted, and the
ques-
tion over tribute to Caesar, to which Jesus replied that both Caesar’s
de-
mands and God’s are to be met.
J-48
In his answer to the question regarding
resurrection, Jesus proves
by the Sadducees own methods of exegesis that the
Torah itself teaches
the survival of the departed, but not in a mundane or
material sense. The
question of the
Great Commandment which follows ends the series of
controversies and questions
& shows the agreement of at least one scribe
with Jesus’ teaching; the
prediction of the coming destruction of
the temple completes the setting for
the passion narrative.
The passion narrative proper opens with
the plot of the Jewish au-
thorities, and Judas’ agreement to hand over Jesus to
them. Mark’s basic
narrative, derived
from the old Roman passion narrative, must have con-
tained the account of the
Last Supper. Despite Mark’s editorial
treat-
ment, this was probably not a Passover meal, but simply Jesus’ last meal
with his disciples, because many of the features in the Passover meal are
missing. Jesus’ whole ministry of
teaching, healing, preaching, and pre-
paration for the kingdom of God
the purposes of God led another way than
the one he had anticipated.
The sacramental
“institution’s” whole purpose is clear from these
words: Jesus is binding his
disciples to himself, and himself to them,
with bonds which death can't break
or weaken. If the prospect of death
now
faces them, so also does the resurrection promise. Apparent defeat
is the beginning of
triumph. Such invincible faith is the
spirit, not only of
the supper, but of Jesus’ whole gospel, and of the Christian
religion’s
beginning.
After the supper the band withdrew to the
Garden of Gethsemane
across the Kidron Valley Mount of
slaves and temple
police, seized Jesus, and led him to Annas’ house, the
former high priest. Although Matthew, Mark, and Luke represent
the
scene as a Sanhedrin session and a trial, the proceedings violate Jewish
legal procedure, in particular the right to try capital cases, which the
San-
hedrin did not have. In this case, John’s
Gospel is preferred, as it de-
scribes the “trial” as a private examination by
the high priest Caiaphas.
The situation is different in the Roman
trial. The basic story is the
same in
all four gospels. Pilate is informed
that Jesus is an agitator and
insurrectionist claiming to be “King of the
Jews,” and therefore a danger-
ous plotter against Roman authority. Pilate is unimpressed. He asks
Jesus if he is
“the King of the Jews.” Jesus replies:
“You have said so.”
Luke understands this as an affirmation, but Pilate ignores
the reply as
inconclusive. Pilate tells
the Jewish leaders that he found Jesus guiltless,
but yields to the insistence
of the high priests and elders, supported now
by an excited mob, and orders
Jesus scourged and crucified.
This was a most horrible, agonizing
death, usually taking several
days. Only
the most vicious criminals, traitors, brigands, and public ene-
mies were
condemned to this mode of execution.
Their bodies were
sometimes nailed, usually only tied to low crosses,
barely off the ground.
The location of
the scene was just outside one of Jerusalem's nor-
thern gates, on a hill called Golgotha . Mark gives the time, 9 A.M. , and
adds that from 12 to 3 there was darkness over
the land. Some of Mark’s
details, and
more of Matthew’s, Luke’s and John’s are derived from the
OT. One such detail may be the “cry of
dereliction,” quoted from Psalm
22; perhaps Jesus was reciting the Psalms on
the cross. Mark says that
he died with a
mighty shout of victory. Luke adds:
“Father, into thy hands
I commit my spirit (Psalm 31).”
The burial of Jesus was in a nearby
garden, in a new grave or sepul-
cher belonging to a secret disciple, Joseph of
Arimathea; the burial was
only temporary.
When Jesus’ women disciples arrived, they found the
tomb empty. In Mark and Matthew, the women are bidden to
go and tell
the disciples that Jesus is preceding them back to Galilee . Luke has: “Re-
member what he
told you, while he was still in Galilee . In John there
is no
angel, and Jesus makes himself known to Mary Magdalene.
It is clear that several strands of
tradition have been woven together
in the Easter story. Matthew tries to fill out what seems missing
in Mark’s
brief account, & recounts an appearance of Jesus in Galilee . Luke ampli-
fies with the
sublime story of the walk to Emmaus.
Someone in the 100s
A.D. completed Mark’s brief narrative of the open
tomb (Chapter 16:1-8)
with material taken from the other three canonical
gospels, while another
added the shorter ending: “. . . And after this, Jesus himself sent out
by
means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclama-
tion
of eternal salvation.”
It isn't strange that various theories
of the Resurrection have been
advanced, some of which involve rationalizing and
giving a purely psy-
chological explanation for the appearances. Other theories assume a
wholly corporeal idea
of the risen body of Christ quite contrary to the NT
concept. Paul lists a series of appearances of the risen
Lord to his disci-
ples. Paul uses the
term ophthe, which in the primary Greek
OT never
means “was seen by” but “made himself seen by,” a technical term in
the
“Jewish Greek” which the early church took over and made its own.
It is, therefore, a great mistake in
interpretation to ignore the purely
supernatural character of the Resurrection,
and try to explain it in some
naturalistic way; it is equally a mistake to
reduce the Resurrection to a
mere revival.
The fulfillment of the gospel, with its eschatological hope,
takes place
in the “new being,” the new existence which comes to pass “in
Christ,” and
which was inaugurated by the event which we still call, inade-
quately, his
“resurrection from the dead.”
JETHER
(יתר, abundance) 1. The oldest son of Gideon, one of the
judges
during Israel Canaan . Jether was commanded by
his father to slay
the prisoners Zebah and Zalmunna. Gideon
performed
the act himself; the prisoners were spared the humiliation of
execution by a
boy (Judge 8).
2. An
Ishmaelite; father or ancestor of Amasa, whom Absalom made
commander when
Absalom rebelled against David (I Kings 2).
3. A de-
scendant of Jerahmeel (I Chronicles
2). 4.
Son of a certain Ezrah of
Judah (I Chronicles 4) 5. A descendant of Asher (I
Chronicles 7).
JETHETH (יתת, pin, nail) A Edomite clan chief or perhaps “chiefs of Jepheth.”
Judah Israel
Assyria for cylinder seals.
Palestine
flint
Sinai
Peninsula near mines which
were worked from early times
pitedha, chrysolite, pitedha, chrysolite, sappheiros, sapphire,
topaz, (Green) topaz, (Green) lapis lazuli, (Blue)
bareqeth, emerald, yahalom, moonstone, chalkedon,agate,
feldspar, (Green) jasper, (White) jasper, (White or Clear)
nophek, turquoise, tarshish ,beryl, smaragdinos, emerald,
emerald, (Green) feldspar,(Green) feldspar, (Green)
sappir, sapphire, lapis shoham, onyx, sardonux, onyx,
shebho, agate, beryllos, beryl,
ahlama, amethyst, topazion, topaz,
tarshish ,beryl, sappir, sapphire, chrysoprasos, chryso-
yashephe, jasper, areqeth, emerald, amethytos, amethyst,
Another passage having to do with precious stones is Job 28. In it,
ley Galilee from Samaria Valley of Jezreel Palestine
JETHRO
(יתרו, pre-eminence) Priest
of Midian; Moses’ father-in-law. Moses’
flight from Egypt
Jethro’s hospitality. Moses
found refuge and a bride, Zipporah. The
deity
Jethro was a priest for isn’t disclosed, but Jethro affirmed that “Yahweh
is
greater than all gods.”
Tradition preserves 2 names, Hobab and Jethro; Hobab belongs to
the
Jahwist, and Jethro to the Elohwist source. Moses attempted to per-
suade his father-in-law to come with the
Israelites as guide through the
wilderness, but “Jethro went back to his own
country.” Jethro has attrac-
ted the most
attention because of attempts to identify his priesthood with a
pre-Mosaic
Yahweh cult.
According to this idea,
Jethro introduced Moses and the Israelites to
Yahweh. In this view Israel
institutions from the Midianites.
Jethro’s proposal that Moses lighten his
judicial burden by hearing only
those cases in which he would “represent
the people before God, and bring their
cases to God” may have introduced
the sacred lot to Israel
from priest to visiting father-in-law.
Undoubtedly,
Israel
likely that someone made up Moses’
intimate connection with Jethro and
Midian, in view of the later hostility
between Midianites and Israelites. On
the other hand, Jethro is repeatedly characterized as father-in-law but only
once as priest. It remains an intriguing
fact that the initial and perhaps
foremost proponent of Yahweh, “whose name is
Jealous,” should have
been sheltered, married, employed, and counseled within
the precincts of a
priest of Midian.
JETUR
(יטור, from the root “watch, guard”) A tribe descended from Ishmael,
which was at war with the
Israelites of Transjordan (I Chronicles 5).
JEUEL
(יעואל, a carrying away of God) 1. Chief
of a father’s house; listed
among the returned exiles (I Chronicles 9). 2. One of the Levites who
took part in the
reforms of King Hezekiah (II Chronicles 29).
3. One of
those who returned with Ezra from Babylon
JEUSH
(יעוש, hastener) 1. A eponym; one of the sons of Esau born to him
by Oholibamah (Genesis 36). 2. A
Benjaminite, son of Bilhan (I Chro-
nicles 7).
3. A Benjaminite, son of Eshek
(I Chronicles 8). 4. A
Ger-
shonite Levite, and the house descended from him (I Chronicles 23).
5. A son of King Rehoboam.
JEUZ
(יעוץ, counselor) A
Benjaminite (I Chronicles 8).
J-50
JEW,
JEWS, JEWESS In biblical terms, the members of Judah
or the postexilic Israelites in
contrast to Gentiles. “Jew” comes from
Old
French giu, which came from the
Latin judaeus.
In the Old Testament, “Jew” is not used for members of the old tribe
of
Judah
those of the northern kingdom. It is scarcely used until the kingdom of
subject of the Babylonian or Persian province of Judah
bean state.
In
the New Testament,” “Jew” is used in contrast to “Gentiles” and
“Samaritans.” This would indicate that
“Jew” in the New Testament is ap-
plied to one who is Jewish by both nationality
and religion; Jewish Chris-
tians are called Jews. On the other hand, one may be called a Jew,
not by
race or nationality, but because of his faith. The New Testament at times
rather
indiscriminately speaks of Jews as antagonists to Jesus, his mini-
stry, the
gospel, and his followers. While this is
particularly true in John's
Gospel, even here an attitude favorable to
Jesus is evidenced among
the Jews.
The
word “Jewess” occurs only once in the Bible, for Drusilla, the
wife of
Felix. The usage of the term “Jew” was
very fluid even in biblical
times. Soon,
however, one was called a Jew, regardless of nationality, if
he adhered to
Judaism. Nonetheless, religion didn't
become the sole crite-
rion. Today the
term is even more fluid. There are Jews
both by religion
and by birth, by religion, but not by birth, and by birth but
not by religion.
There is no least
common denominator for the some 12 million people
today who called themselves
Jews; one is a Jew who says they are a Jew.
JEWELER
(רש אבןח (khaw rash eh ben), stone-engraver) An artificer who
cut inscriptions on precious stones.
JEWELS
AND PRECIOUS STONES (כלי (kel ee), vessel; אבנים יקרות (oh
beh neem yaw kaw roth)) Stones valued for rarity
beauty, association,
especially stones polished, cut or engraved for use as
ornaments.
General
Observations—Gems according to Pliny,
are the world’s
concentrated beauty.
Aesthetic appreciation was probably not the earliest
motivation for
acquiring, preparing, and wearing stones.
The desire for
personal adornment
may have come first, with magical benefits being a
close second. The “magic stone” which causes everything to
prosper is
suggestive of the amuletic power of jewels, but this idea is rarely
found
in biblical texts. One of the safest
and soundest ways the ancient had to
conserve great wealth was jewels.
The Hebrew language doesn't have one
specific word for “jewel.”
“Precious
stones” is an original Hebrew expression which has come into
the English
language by Bible translations, and which appears 14 times in
the Revised
Standard Version. Jewels were used for
personal adornment,
tokens of friendship, royal crowns, garments, treasuries,
and sanctuaries,
and for the high priest’s insignia.
Israelites actually must have possessed small
quantities of jewels,
precious stones, or decorative minerals. An outstanding example is the
Ezion-geber
necklace of carnelian, agate, alabaster, and glass beads.
Comparatively slight evidence for precious
stones has been found. The
Phoenician, in
contrast, left behind many engraved gems, as well as elabo-
rately tooled vessels
of gold and silver.
Geological surveys indicate that in
Palestine-Syria there are no gem
deposits.
Egypt
different gem stones. Apart from an
early quantity from Egypt
of manufactured jewelry, jewels came into
Palestine
tributors, especially the traders
of Phoenicia
stones came from still more remote places. Foreign merchants had facto-
ries in the
Samaria of Omri’s time. Cutting stones
in facets to intensify
brilliance by multiplying internal light reflection is a
modern, European
technique. The method
of stone dressing involved rounded convex forms
with smooth or polished sides.
The jewels named in the Old Testament
appear incidentally and in
connection with the writers’ primary interests. The difficulty of positive
identification of
ancient jewels still remains. English
versions tell us of
the kind of stones that were considered precious by the
translators of the
1600s A.D., rather than what the Bible means.
The ancient writers shared the scientific
limitations of their time.
They relied
on examination & classification by color, weight, consistency,
hardness,
transparency, conductivity, friction, taste, and smell. Exact iden-
tification is often impossible as an
identical name is given to stones which
modern analysis shows to be quite
different.
The most that can be offered
is an alphabetical listing of jewels as
named in the current English version of
the Bible, each of which has its
own separate article. Also included are gem stones known to have
been
available and used as jewels in the Bible land and times. Where Bible
verses are not listed, the most
likely verses are: Exodus 28, 39; Ezekiel 27,
28 for Hebrew and Revelation 21
for Greek.
Glossary
adamant (שמיר (sha mir); יהלם (yah ha lom))—The words
for the hardest substance known. Since diamonds became useful
precious stones only
in the 1400s, when it was discovered how to
cut them, the word translated as
“diamond” should be understood
as iron or a splinter of crystal (See also Diamond).
agate (כדכד (kad kode)
in Isaiah 54; Ezekiel 27; שבו (sheb oh)
in Exodus 28, 39)—These quartz stones, with their banded struc-
ture adapted for engraving, were sold at great price up until early
Roman times.
alabaster (See calcite in this article)
amber (השמל (has mal
(?) in Ezekiel 1,8)) Although
actually
fossilized resin, it was considered a “precious stone” in ancient
times and was used especially with yellow gold by the ancients
for personal
jewelry.
amethyst (אהלמה (ah lay ma) in Exodus 28, 39, from the root-
word
meaning “to dream”)—It is a purple
quartz and is widely
represented in the excavations in Palestine
bbasalt—This is a black volcanic rock available in Palestine
where in the Near East , and was used in Egypt
bdellium (בדלה, (bed oh
lah))—This precious material is of
uncer-
tain identification, perhaps crystalline.
beryl (תרשיש (tar
shish); שהם (so ham), onyx, sardonyx;
bhpulloV in Revelation 21)—A stone usually of
sea-green
color. The emerald is a superior variety of beryl; it is sometimes
confused with green feldspar.
calcite—one of the most common minerals; alabaster, marble, and
onyx are among its varieties.
carbuncle (ברקת (bay reh keth) in Exodus 28, 39, from the root-
word for lightning)—A bright, deep red stone like a garnet cut
with smooth rounded
sides.
carnelian (אדם (oh dem), from the root-word for “red sparkling”)
—Red stones, especially chalcedony,
are among the most frequent-
ly excavated stones in Palestine
brew seals.
chalcedony (calkhdwn in Revelation 21)—A
class of quartz stones
including carnelian, sardius, chrysoprate, agate, & onyx, frequent in
chrysolite (תרשיש (tar
shish); crusoliqoV (kris oh lee thos))—
modern magnesium iron silicate or topaz.
chrysoprase
(crusoprasoV)—If the same as that known today, it
was a green
variety of quartz.
coral (ראמות (ray moth)
in Job 28; פנינים (peh nih neem) in Lamen-
tation 4, red coral)—A type of coral from the Red Sea was used for
beads in Egypt
corundum
dust—Used as polishing and drilling
abrasives
crystal (גביש (gah beesh)
Job 28; קרה (ker akh) Ezekiel 1; krus-
talloV Revelation 22)—This
word covers transparent, almost
colorless material such as glass, rock crystal,
etc. Beads of this are
found in Palestine
diamond (see adamant, both above and separate article)
emerald (נפכ (no fek)
Exodus 28,39; Ezekiel 27, 28 ברקת (bah
reh keth) Ezekiel 28; smaragdinoV (sma rag dih nos) Revela-
tion 4, 21) In ancient times nophek may have meant only green pre-
cious stones like green
feldspar and turquoise; they have the same
general color tones and appear
frequently in excavations.
emery—Used as polishing and drilling abrasives.
feldspar—It is an aluminum silicate, and was a frequent
occurrence
in excavations. Green
feldspar is commonly confused with other
stones, such as emeralds, and was
popular in Egypt
and beads.
and tools, & may have continued as a valued stone at least among
the less wealthy folk.
garnet—This native dark red or reddish brown stone was
employed
by Egypt or beads. The
flame-colored garnet was largely used for
Greek, Etruscan, and Roman engraved
gems.
glass—The glass found was opaque and in various colors; Egypt
them from 3000 B.C. on.
hematite—In Egypt
It was used in beads, amulets,
kohl sticks, scarabs, and other small
objects. Palestinian seals and beads were
discovered made of this
mineral.
J-52
jacinth (לשם (leh shem);
uakinqoV (hoo ak in thos) in Revelation
21, hyacinth)—an orange zircon.
jasper (ישפה (yay she
fay); יהלם (yah ha lom); iaspiV (ee as pis)
in Revelation 4, 21)—A present-day opaque type of quartz usually
red, brown, or
yellow. This stone is frequent in
Palestinian tombs
and Egyptian amulets.
lapis lazuli—A rich azure blue with “fool’s gold” spangles, it was
imported to Egypt
stinian excavations. Lapis lazuli
was probably the ancient sapphire
or firestone.
ligure—see “jacinth” above.
limestone—In some varieties it is hard enough for engraving and
polishing, used in Palestinian seals, beads and other ornamentation,
generally
among the common people.
malachite—It is a brilliant green copper carbonate, occasionally
used
in Egypt
paint. The Sinai had malachite
and turquoise deposits.
marble (שש (sheesh) in
I Chronicles 29; Esther 1; Song of Solomon
5)—A crystallized limestone capable of high polish, used in
buil-
dings and beads.
mother-of-pearl—This is a possible alternative to the translation
“coral” in Ezekiel 27.
nephrite—a low-grade jade, sometimes appears among Palestinian
beads.
obsidian—a kind of dark, glassy volcanic rock used sparingly in
an-
cient Egypt
onyx (שהם (sho ham)
in Genesis 2; Exodus 25, 28, etc.; sardonuV
sar doh
nus) in Revelation 21)—A chalcedony
of banded structure,
often in black and white.
opal—A translucent, colorless stone not native to the Near East ; only
a few have been found there.
pearl (פנינים (pen nih
neem) in Job 28; margarithV
(mar ga ree
tes) in Matthew 7,13, etc.)—It is not a precious stone but is always
associated with gems. A pink variety comes from the Red Sea .
peridot—A green chrysolite variety of olivine used as a gem
stone.
Found on Red Sea Islands Egypt
is
possible that peridot is the Old Testament “topaz” and was used
in Palestine
rock crystal—A colorless, crystallized quartz which appears in
Hebrew seals, Palestinian beads, and as amulet, bead, inlay, and
even vase
material in Egypt
ruby—In the modern sense ruby appears to be unknown in the
an-
cient Near East before the 200s B.C.
The King James Version
uses “ruby” for peninim (Job 28), which is better understood as
“coral” or “pearl.”
sapphire (ספיר (sap pir); sapfeiroV (sap fay ros)) It is likely that
the Old Testament
“sapphire” is not the modern transparent blue
stone, which was too hard for the
ancients to engrave, but rather
lapis lazuli.
sardius (אדם (oh dem) in
Ezekiel 28; sardion (sar dee on) in Reve-
lation 4, 21)—Along with carnelian & red jasper, it is frequently
found in Egypt Assyria , and Palestine
sardonyx (sardonux (sar doh nux) in Revelation 21)—This term is
a possible alternative translation of soham.
It was popular with
Romans for cameos and signets.
steatite—A gray-green or brown talc, also called soapstone, is
fre-
quent in Palestinian excavations, especially in beads. Engravers
throughout the ancient world used
it early on, not in later times.
topaz (פטדה (pih ted
ha) in Exodus; Job 28; Ezekiel 28; topazion
(toe pa zi
on) in Revelation 21) The Old Testament “topaz” is
probably
modern peridot or olivine, a green gem stone found on
Red Sea islands.
turquoise (נפכ (no fek) A
possible alternative translation of nophek.
Abundant in Egypt
excavation
finds. There are ancient turquoise
workings in the
for malachite and copper ore.
J-53
Noteworthy
Jewel Passages—The breastpiece of the
High Priest
(See article) is
described in Exodus 28 and 39. Upon the
gold, blue, pur-
ple, and scarlet fine linen of which the breast-piece was made
there were
to be mounted 12 precious stones in 4 rows of 3, each
engraved with the
name of one of the tribes of Israel
tament as to any assignment of a jewel to each of the
12. This list ap-
pears to be the
basis of lists that appear later in the Old Testament (Eze-
kiel 28) and the New Testament
(Revelation 21) as evidenced by the ta-
ble below, which includes the Hebrew or
Greek word, The New Revised
Version translation, a possible alternative, and
the predominant color.
Exodus 28 and 39 Ezekiel 28 Revelation 21
odem, carnelian, odem, carnelian, iaspis, jasper,
sardius, (Red) sardius, (Red) (Green)
pitedha, chrysolite, pitedha, chrysolite, sappheiros, sapphire,
topaz, (Green) topaz, (Green) lapis lazuli, (Blue)
bareqeth, emerald, yahalom, moonstone, chalkedon,agate,
feldspar, (Green) jasper, (White) jasper, (White or Clear)
nophek, turquoise, tarshish ,beryl, smaragdinos, emerald,
emerald, (Green) feldspar,(Green) feldspar, (Green)
sappir, sapphire, lapis shoham, onyx, sardonux, onyx,
lazuli, (Blue) sardonyx, black sardonyx, red or black
yahalom, moonstone, yashephe, jasper, sardion, carnelian,
yahalom, moonstone, yashephe, jasper, sardion, carnelian,
jasper, (White) quartz, (Brown) sardius, (Clear Red)
leshem, jacinth, chrysolithos, chrysolite,
leshem, jacinth, chrysolithos, chrysolite,
zircon, (Orange) feldspar, yellow
shebho, agate, beryllos, beryl,
(Various colors) feldspar, (Green)
ahlama, amethyst, topazion, topaz,
(Purple) chrysolite, (Green)
tarshish ,beryl, sappir, sapphire, chrysoprasos, chryso-
feldspar, (Green) lapis lazuli, (Blue) prase, quartz, (Green)
shoham, onyx, nophek,
turquoise, yakinthos, jacinth,
sardonyx, (Black) emerald, (Green) zircon, (Orange)
yashephe, jasper, areqeth, emerald, amethytos, amethyst,
quartz, (Brown) feldspar, (Green) (Purple)
Another passage having to do with precious stones is Job 28. In it,
a
connection is made between treasures of earth such as gold, silver, onyx,
sapphire, coral, crystal, pearls, and topaz, apparently offered as sacrifices,
and the superstitious worship of Tehom and Yam.
The allusion of the pas-
sage is clearly to a false and pagan association
of the wealth of the earth
with the underworld spirits.
The next passage is from Ezekiel 28. It is the final oracle in the
book of Ezekiel
dealing with Tyre
nate concern for
splendor had suffered a disastrous fall described in terms
of expulsion from Eden
the king’s shield. In Isaiah 54, there is a message of comfort which
the
prophet directs to Jerusalem Jerusalem
as the foundation and walls.
J-54
The third list in the preceding
table is from Revelation 21 and de-
scribes the jewels in the foundation of Jerusalem
differs with regard to the name of the stones and to their
order. On the
assumption that there is a
literary dependence of the Revelation list on the
Old Testament lists, several
solutions to the problem of terminology and
order have been proposed. The weight of the evidence favors the view that
the content and order of the Revelation list was derived from a tradition in-
dependent of other biblical lists as well as that of Josephus.
Jewels and precious stones with
pagan mythological or magical con-
notations are not used much in the Bible. There are notable passages in
which the
symbolism of jewels is a significant feature.
The connection of
precious stones with appearances of God has some
support in the Bible.
In Ezekiel 1
certain stones are used to describe the glory of the appea-
rance. The ability of the polished stone to reflect
brilliant light is doubtless
the source of the idea that the jewel was the
microcosmic counterpart of
the heavenly bodies.
In apocalyptic literature the myths
of the heavenly city, New Jerusa-
lem, and paradise were originally distinct, but
in later writings they flow to-
gether to form a composite picture. The concept of the heavenly city is
found in
Babylonian mythology, where the vault of heaven rests on 4 pil-
lars and is
bedecked with glittering jewels, and crossed by a golden street.
There are twelve portals or gates in this
city.
This mythology is in part taken over
and adapted to the idea of the
renewal of Jerusalem
the heavenly city are incorporated
in the picture of the New Jerusalem.
The
third part of the image is the garden of God
thy that precious stones are also connected with the garden
in Genesis 2
and the garden of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. The tree of life is trans-
ferred to the New
Jerusalem. Thus, the picture of the New
Jerusalem in
Revelation is a composite drawn from several strands of mythological
tra-
dition which had been partially fused.
While the list of foundation stones
of the New Jerusalem in Revela-
tion is not directly dependent on the breastpiece
tradition, the two have a
single root, namely the ancient mythological view of
the heavens. The
author of Revelation
knew that the 12 jewels were properly associated
with the divine city and
stood, as in earlier tradition, for the twelve heroes
of the church upon which
the city rests.
JEWRY (יהודה (ya hood a), Judah Judea ) King
James Version translation of Hebrew.
JEZANIAH (יזניהו, whom the
Lord hears) One of the Judean captains who
remained
with Gedaliah at Mizpah after the Babylonian deportation
(Jeremiah 40,42).
JEZEBEL (איזבל, unihabited) Probably the deliberate
Hebrew distortion of a
Phoenician name honoring Baal.
She was the wife of Ahab, king of Israel
Ethbaal, who was “king of
the Sidonians,” and priest in the Phoenician
cult of Baal and Astarte. Jezebel made every effort to remain a true
daugh-
ter of her father in both these respects.
She had a ruthless devotion to the
absolute rights of oriental monarchy
and to the worship of the Phoenician
Baal, not only during the reign of Ahab,
but also during the reigns of her
two sons, Ahaziah and Jehoram. Jezebel, like any foreign queen, seems
to have
demanded the right to practice her worship from the beginning.
She pressed her cult on Israel
and Asherah,
and carried her attack against the prophets of Yahweh.
The contrast between the Israelite
and the usual oriental monarch
is seen in the incident of confiscating Naboth’s
vineyard. She stopped
only long enough
to cover her action with a pretense of legal form, and
had Naboth stoned so
that the king could take possession. The
account of
the death of Jezebel, when she “painted her eyes, adorned her head”
and
defied Jehu, is a fitting climax to the biblical picture of this
remorseless,
“cursed,” but royal woman, whose strength of character was with
her to
the end.
JEZER (יצר, imagination) Third son of Naphtali;
ancestral head of the Jezerites
(Genesis 46; Numbers 26).
JEZIEL (יזואל, assembly of God) Son of Azmaveth; one of the
disaffected Ben-
jaminite warriors who joined the proscribed band of David at
Ziklag
(I Chronicles 12).
JEZRAHIAH (יזרחיה, whom the Lord brings to light)
A leader of temple
singers (Nehemiah 12).
J-55
JEZREEL (יזרעאל, God planteth) 1.
A descendant of Judah
the town in Judah
(I Chronicle 4). 2. The
oldest son of the prophet Hosea by Gomer; his
named recalled the bloodshed at
Jezreel by Jehu in his bid for power.
3. A border town
in Issachar, approximately 11 km north of Jenin.
The site commands a view of the entire Plain
of Jezreel, and is strategic-
ally located on the routes from the Mediterranean Coast Jordan Val-
ring the reign of Ahab, it became a royal
residence, and was the scene of
the incident involving the vineyard of Naboth
the Jezreelite. This town
witnessed more of the bloodshed that accompanied Jehu’s revolution than
any other town of Israel Samaria
4. The Old
Testament name of the entire valley which separates
Esdraelon, while the name Jezreel is
restricted to the eastern part of the
valley.
The smaller eastern section of the valley begins at the pass be-
tween
Moreh and Gilboa, and terminates abruptly at the Jordan Rift. The
dance of water. It is also the major
corridor through the rugged hills of
From early
times, the Valley of Jezreel
nites.
During the period of the judges, Gideon and the northern tribes
defeated
a coalition of Midianites, Amalekites, and “people of the east”
who encamped in
the valley. From here was issued the
news of the death
of Saul and his sons, including Jonathan, in battle with the
Philistines.
Jezreel was among the areas
of Israel
5. A town in the
territory of Judah
of Hebron
no certain identification has been made.
J-56
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