1.
Kohen
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Kohen or cohen is the Hebrew word for priest used colloquially in reference to the Aaronic priesthood. Jewish kohanim are traditionally believed and halakhically required to be of direct descent from the biblical Aaron. The term is used colloquially in Orthodox Judaism in reference to modern day descendants of Aharon, during the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, kohanim performed the daily and holiday duties of sacrificial offerings. Today, kohanim retain a lesser though distinct status within Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism, in the Samaritan community, the kohanim have remained the primary religious leaders. The noun kohen is used in the Torah to refer to priests, the Hebrew noun kohen is most often translated as priest, whether Jewish or pagan, such as the priests of Baal or Dagon, though Christian priests are referred to in Hebrew by the term komer. The word derives from a Semitic root common, at minimum, to the Central Semitic languages, as a starkly different translation the title worker, Rashi on Exodus 29,30 and servant Targum to Jeremiah 48,7, have been offered as a translation as well. Some have attempted to resolve this contradiction by suggesting that, although the priest does enjoy specific privileges. The status of priest kohen was conferred on Aaron, the brother of Moses, during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and until the Holy Temple was built in Jerusalem, the priests performed their priestly service in the portable Tabernacle. Their duties involved offering the daily and Jewish holiday sacrifices, and blessing the people in a Priestly Blessing, in a broader sense, since Aaron was a descendant of the Tribe of Levi, priests are sometimes included in the term Levites, by direct patrilineal descent. However, not all Levites are priests, when the Temple existed, most sacrifices and offerings could only be conducted by priests. The Torah mentions Melchizedek king of Salem, identified by Rashi as being Shem the son of Noah, the second is Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis, then Jethro, priest of Midian both pagan priests of their era. When Esau sold the birthright of the first born to Jacob, Rashi explains that the priesthood was sold along with it, because by right the priesthood belongs to the first-born. Only when the first-born sinned in the incident of the calf, the priesthood was given to the Tribe of Levi. Aaron received the priesthood along with his children and any descendants that would be born subsequently, however, his grandson Phinehas had already been born, and did not receive the priesthood until he killed the prince of the Tribe of Simeon and the princess of the Midianites. Thereafter, the priesthood has remained with the descendants of Aaron, in every generation when the Temple was standing, one kohen would be singled out to perform the functions of the High Priest. His primary task was the Day of Atonement service, another unique task of the high priest was the offering of a daily meal sacrifice, he also held the prerogative to supersede any priest and offer any offering he chose. Although the Torah retains a procedure to select a High Priest when needed, in the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem, prior to that time, the priestly courses numbered a mere eight. This newly instated a cycle of courses, or priestly divisions
2.
Russian icons
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The use and making of icons entered Kievan Rus following its conversion to Orthodox Christianity in AD988. As a general rule, these icons strictly followed models and formulas hallowed by Byzantine art, as time passed, the Russians widened the vocabulary of types and styles far beyond anything found elsewhere in the Orthodox world. In the mid-17th-century changes in liturgy and practice instituted by Patriarch Nikon resulted in a split in the Russian Orthodox Church, the traditionalists, the persecuted Old Ritualists or Old Believers, continued the traditional stylization of icons, while the State Church modified its practice. These types of icons, while found in Russian Orthodox churches, are sometimes found in various sui juris rites of the Catholic Church. Russian icons are typically paintings on wood, often small, though some in churches and monasteries may be much larger, some Russian icons were made of copper. Many religious homes in Russia have icons hanging on the wall in the krasny ugol, there is a rich history and elaborate religious symbolism associated with icons. In Russian churches, the nave is separated from the sanctuary by an iconostasis, or icon-screen. Russians sometimes speak of an icon as having written, because in the Russian language the same word means both to paint and to write. Icons are considered to be the Gospel in paint, and therefore careful attention is paid to ensure that the Gospel is faithfully and accurately conveyed, Icons considered miraculous were said to appear. The appearance of an icon is its supposedly miraculous discovery, a true icon is one that has appeared, a gift from above, one opening the way to the Prototype and able to perform miracles. The preeminent Russian icon painter was Andrei Rublev, who was glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1988 and his most famous work is The Old Testament Trinity. Russians often commissioned icons for private use, adding figures of saints for whom they or members of their family were named gathered around the icons central figure. Pairs of icons of Jesus and Mary were given as wedding presents to newly married couples, icon painting was and is a conservative art, in many cases considered a craft, in which the painter is essentially merely a tool for replication. The painter did not seek individual glory but considered himself a servant of God. Even today large numbers of icons are purchased by Orthodox rather than more expensive painted panels. As the painter did not intend to glorify himself, it was not deemed necessary to sign an icon, later icons were often the work of many hands, not of a single artisan. Nonetheless some later icons are signed with name of the painter, as well as the date and this transition from religious to secular subjects gave rise, in the mid-1920, to Russian lacquer art on papier-mâché. Most distinguished within this new art form are the intricate Palekh miniature paintings on a black lacquer background
3.
Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
4.
Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
5.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
6.
Calendar of saints
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The word feast in this context does not mean a large meal, typically a celebratory one, but instead an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a Menologion, Menologion may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels. As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to days in some traditions or completely removed. For example, St. Perpetua and Felicity died on 7 March, when the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March. Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, the Roman Catholic calendars of saints in their various forms, which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally, Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title confessor was used for saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, a broader range of titles was used later, such as, Virgin, Pastor, Bishop, Monk, Priest, Founder, Abbot, Apostle, Doctor of the Church. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes, the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs, Pastors, Doctors of the Church, Virgins, some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints days, their works may appear dated as The Feast of Saint Martin. Poets such as John Keats commemorate the importance of The Eve of Saint Agnes, as different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. In the present ordinary form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked as solemnities and those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples. See Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite, in the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are, Great Feasts, middle, each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows, All-Night Vigils, Polyeleos, Great Doxology, Sextuple. There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and Double, in Double Feasts the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon, the liturgy book. In the Church of England, there are Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days, Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations. com
7.
Eastern Orthodox Church
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The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles. It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith, the Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each typically governed by a Holy Synod. It teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, prior to the Council of Chalcedon in AD451, the Eastern Orthodox had also shared communion with the Oriental Orthodox churches, separating primarily over differences in Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. As a result, the term Greek Orthodox has sometimes used to describe all of Eastern Orthodoxy in general. However, the appellation Greek was never in use and was gradually abandoned by the non-Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox churches. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople, there are also many in other parts of the world, formed through immigration, conversion and missionary activity. The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Catholic Church and it is the name by which the church refers to itself in its liturgical or canonical texts, in official publications, and in official contexts or administrative documents. Orthodox teachers refer to the Church as Catholic and this name and longer variants containing Catholic are also recognized and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. The common name of the Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, is a shortened practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use, for this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as Greek, even before the great schism. After 1054, Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople and this identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. Today, many of those same Roman churches remain, while a large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national origin. Eastern, then, indicates the element in the Churchs origin and development, while Orthodox indicates the faith. While the Church continues officially to call itself Catholic, for reasons of universality, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another. Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, thus, almost from the very beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same Church, a number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, not directly from the Orthodox Church, the depth of this meaning in the Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word Orthodox itself, a union of Greek orthos and doxa
8.
Maronite Church
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The Syriac Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular church of the Catholic Church. It came in communion with the Pope, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches by the Patriarch of Antioch, officially known as the Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch al-Kanīsa al-Anṭākiyya al-Suryāniyya al-Mārūniyya), it is part of the Syriac Christianity by liturgy and heritage. Traditionally, the Maronite Church ministers to the Levant, particularly around Mount Lebanon, other centers of historical importance include Kfarhay, Yanouh, Mayfouq and Qadisha Valley. Establishment of the Maronite Church can be divided into three periods, from the 4th to the 7th centuries, a congregation movement, with Saint Maroun as an inspirational leader and patron saint marked the first period. The second began with the establishment of the Monastery of Saint Maroun on the Orontes and this monastery was described as the Greatest Monastery in the region of Secunda Syria, with more than 300 hermitages around it, according to ancient records. After 518, the de facto administered many parishes in Prima Syria. The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch re-established their patriarchate in 751 AD, although reduced in numbers today, Maronites remain one of the principals ethno-religious groups in Lebanon, with smaller minorities of Maronites in Syria, Cyprus, Israel and Jordan. Over 3,198,600 Maronites practice the faith, Maron is considered the founder of the spiritual and monastic movement now called the Maronite Church. This movement has had an influence in Lebanon, and to a lesser degree in Syria, Jordan. Saint Maron spent his life on a mountain in Syria, generally believed to be Kefar-Nabo on the mountain of Ol-Yambos, thesix major traditions of the Catholic Church are Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian, Chaldean, Constantinopolitan, and Latin. The Maronite Church follows the Antiochene Tradition, a Roman Catholic may attend any Eastern Catholic Liturgy and fulfill his or her obligations at an Eastern Catholic Parish. That is, a Roman Catholic may join any Eastern Catholic Parish, Maronites who do not reside within a convenient distance to a local Maronite Church are permitted to attend other Catholic churches while retaining their Maronite membership. The Maronite Patriarchal Assembly identified five distinguishing marks of the Maronite Church and it is Chalcedonian, in that the Maronites were strong supporters of the Council of Chalcedon of 451. It is faithful to the See of Peter in Rome and it has strong ties to Lebanon. Many of his followers also lived a monastic lifestyle, following Marons death in 410 AD, his disciples built Beth-Maron monastery at Apamea. This formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church, in 452, after the Council of Chalcedon, the monastery was expanded by the Byzantine emperor Marcian. The Maronite movement reached Lebanon when St. Marons first disciple, Abraham of Cyrrhus, the Maronites subscribed to the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Monophysites of Antioch slew 350 monks and burned the monastery, although Justinian I later restored the walls, correspondence concerning the event brought the Maronites papal and orthodox recognition, indicated by a letter from Pope Hormisdas dated February 10,518
9.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
10.
Prophet
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Claims of prophethood have existed in many cultures through history, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, in Ancient Greece, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and many others. Traditionally, prophets are regarded as having a role in society that promotes change due to their messages and actions which can convey the displeasure of God for the behavior of people. In the late 20th century the appellation of prophet has been used to refer to individuals particularly successful at analysis in the field of economics, alternatively, social commentators who suggest escalating crisis are often called prophets of doom. In Hebrew, the word נָבִיא, spokesperson, traditionally translates as prophet, the second subdivision of the Hebrew Bible, TaNaKh, is devoted to the Hebrew prophets. The meaning of navi is perhaps described in Deuteronomy 18,18, where God said. and I will put My words in his mouth, thus, the navi was thought to be the mouth of God. The root nun-bet-alef is based on the two-letter root nun-bet which denotes hollowness or openness, to receive transcendental wisdom, cf. Rashbams comment to Genesis 20,7. In addition to writing and speaking messages from God, Israelite or Jewish neviim often acted out prophetic parables in their life. For example, in order to contrast the people’s disobedience with the obedience of the Rechabites, God has Jeremiah invite the Rechabites to drink wine, the Rechabites refuse, wherefore God commends them. Other prophetic parables acted out by Jeremiah include burying a linen belt so that it gets ruined to illustrate how God intends to ruin Judahs pride. Likewise, Jeremiah buys a jar and smashes it in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in front of elders and priests to illustrate that God will smash the nation of Judah. God instructs Jeremiah to make a yoke from wood and leather straps and to put it on his own neck to demonstrate how God will put the nation under the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The prophetic assignment is not always portrayed as positive in the Hebrew Bible, likewise, Isaiah was told by his hearers who rejected his message, Leave the way. Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel, the life of Moses being threatened by Pharaoh is another example. According to I Samuel 9,9, the old name for navi is roeh, רֹאֶה and that could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. The seer-priests were usually attached to a shrine or temple, such as Shiloh. Canonical prophets were not organised this way, the similar term ben-navi means member of a seer-priest guild. Some examples of prophets in the Tanakh include Abraham, Moses, Miriam, Isaiah, Samuel, Ezekiel, Malachi, in Jewish tradition Daniel is not counted in the list of prophets. A Jewish tradition suggests that there were twice as many prophets as the number which left Egypt, the Talmud recognizes the existence of 48 male prophets who bequeathed permanent messages to mankind
11.
High priest
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The term high priest usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste. In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the gods revered by the Egyptians. High Priests of Amun The main cult of Amun was in Thebes,943 BC High Priest of Osiris. The main cult of Osiris was in Abydos, the main cult of Ptah was in Memphis. The main cult of Re was in Heliopolis, gods Wife of Amun the highest ranking priestess of the Amun cult. The priesthood in ancient Israel had a high priest who served in the Tabernacle then in the First Temple, list of High Priests of Israel. The Samaritan High Priest is the high priest of the Samaritan community, archiereus title of a high priest from Ancient Greece. Dastur is a Zoroastrian high priest, hierophant, the chief priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries. NIN or EN in cuneiform script, a high priest or priestess of a Sumerian city-states patron-deity Pontifex Maximus from Ancient Rome, pythia the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Vidyaranya was a Hindu high priest in the Vijayanagara Empire, panditrao was a title of the appointed high priest that sat on the Council of 8 in the early Maratha Empire. The New Testament book of Hebrews uses the high priest sixteen times. Some Old Testament texts prophesy of a priest-king, christianity views Jesus as fulfilling these prophecies, effectively replacing the former Jewish system of worship. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint sects, the 16th-century Maya priesthood was headed by a high priest who instructed the other priests and advised the king. Kahuna Nui, presides over the temple or heiau, below the Kahuna Nui are various types and ranks of priests. In Shinto, a high priest, called a Guji, is usually the highest ranking priest in a shrine, in Ásatrú, the high priest is called a goði and is the leader of a small group of practitioners collectively referred to as a Kindred. The goði are collectively known as the goðar, in both the Yoruba religion and a number of its various New World sects, such as Santeria, a high priest is called a Babalawo. The term means wise man, and comes from the Yoruba language of West Africa, the High Priest and High Priestess are the two highest positions of leadership and administration within the Church of Satan. High Priest and High Priestess is also given to the members of a Pagan or Wiccan Coven when they have completed their third, or Fifth year of study
12.
Moses
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Moses is a prophet in Abrahamic religions. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew, he is the most important prophet in Judaism and he is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith as well as a number of other Abrahamic religions. Moses Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through the Pharaohs daughter, the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile river and grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slavemaster, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak with assurance or eloquence, so God allowed Aaron, his brother, to become his spokesperson. After the Ten Plagues, Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, after which they based themselves at Mount Sinai, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died within sight of the Promised Land on Mount Nebo. According to archaeologist William G. Rabbinical Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE, Jerome gives 1592 BCE, the Biblical account of Moses birth provides him with a folk etymology to explain the ostensible meaning of his name. He is said to have received it from the Pharaohs daughter and she named him Moses, saying, I drew him out of the water. This explanation links it to a verb mashah, meaning to draw out, the princess made a grammatical mistake which is prophetic of his future role in legend, as someone who will draw the people of Israel out of Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. Abraham Yahuda, based on the spelling given in the Tanakh, argues that it combines water or seed and pond, expanse of water, the Hebrew etymology in the Biblical story may reflect an attempt to cancel out traces of Moses Egyptian origins. The Egyptian character of his name was recognized as such by ancient Jewish writers like Philo of Alexandria and Josephus. Philo linked Mōēsēs to the Egyptian word for water, while Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, claimed that the element, -esês. Hizkuni suggested she either converted or took a tip from Jochebed, the Israelites had settled in the Land of Goshen in the time of Joseph and Jacob, but a new pharaoh arose who oppressed the children of Israel. At this time Moses was born to his father Amram, son of Kehath the Levite, who entered Egypt with Jacobs household, his mother was Jochebed, Moses had one older sister, Miriam, and one older brother, Aaron. One day after Moses had reached adulthood he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, Moses, in order to escape the Pharaohs death penalty, fled to Midian. There, on Mount Horeb, God revealed to Moses his name YHWH and commanded him to return to Egypt and bring his people out of bondage. Moses returned to carry out Gods command, but God caused the Pharaoh to refuse, from Egypt, Moses led the Israelites to biblical Mount Sinai, where he was given the Ten Commandments from God, written on stone tablets
13.
Abrahamic religions
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Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the largest Abrahamic religions in terms of numbers of adherents. As of 2005, estimates classified 54% of the population as adherents of an Abrahamic religion, about 32% as adherents of other religions. Christianity claims 33% of the population, Islam has 21%, Judaism has 0. 2%. It has been suggested that the phrase, Abrahamic religion, may mean that all these religions come from one spiritual source. Christians refer to Abraham as a father in faith, there is an Islamic religious term, Millat Ibrahim, indicating that Islam sees itself as having practices tied to the traditions of Abraham. Jewish tradition claims descent from Abraham, and adherents follow his practices and it is the Islamic tradition that Muhammad, as an Arab, is descended from Abrahams son Ishmael. Jewish tradition also equates the descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, with Arabs, as the descendants of Isaac by Jacob, who was also later known as Israel, are the Israelites. The Báb, regarded by Baháís as a predecessor to Baháulláh, was a Sayyid, or a descendant of Muhammad. Tradition also holds that Baháulláh is a descendant of Abraham through his third wife, while there is commonality among the religions, in large measure their shared ancestry is peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences. For example, the common Christian beliefs of Incarnation, Trinity, there are key beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are not shared by most of Christianity, and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Baháí Faith not shared by Judaism. Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob and it has a strictly unitary view of God, and the central holy book for almost all branches is the Masoretic Text as elucidated in the Oral Torah. In the 19th century and 20th centuries Judaism developed a number of branches, of which the most significant are Orthodox, Conservative. Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the Mediterranean Basin of the first century CE and evolved into a separate religion—Christianity—with distinctive beliefs, Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, considered by almost all denominations to be God the Son, one person of the Trinity. The Christian biblical canons are usually held to be the ultimate authority, over many centuries, Christianity divided into three main branches, dozens of significant denominations, and hundreds of smaller ones. Islam arose in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century CE with a unitary view of God. Muslims hold the Quran to be the authority, as revealed and elucidated through the teachings and practices of a central. The Islamic faith consider all prophets and messengers from Adam through the messenger to carry the same Islamic monotheistic principles. Soon after its founding Islam split into two branches, each of which now have a number of denominations
14.
Quran
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The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature, the Quran is divided into chapters, which are then divided into verses. The word Quran occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names, according to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammads death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and these codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthmans codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with minor differences in meaning. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures and it summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and it sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law, during prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz, some Muslims read Quranic ayah with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers, in order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself and it is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, meaning he read or he recited. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to reading or lesson. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammads lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the act of reciting, as reflected in an early Quranic passage, It is for Us to collect it, in other verses, the word refers to an individual passage recited. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example, So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it, the word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran, each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb, āyah, and sūrah, the latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with an article, the word is referred to as the revelation
15.
Miriam
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Miriam, according to the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, was the daughter of Amram and Yocheved, and the sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophet and first appears in the Book of Exodus, Miriam was the daughter of Amram, the leader of the Israelites in ancient Egypt, and of Yocheved, who was so righteous she was exempt from the curse of Eve. Both Amram and Yocheved were from leading families of the illustrious Tribe of Levi, as such, Miriam was also the sister of Aaron and Moses. The Torah refers to her as “Miriam the Prophetess” and the Talmud names her as one of the seven female prophets of Israel. According to the Midrash, just as Moses led the men out of Egypt and taught them Torah, so too Miriam led the women, Miriam was the oldest child of Amram and Yocheved. According to the Midrash, just as Aaron was three years older than Moses, so too Miriam was three years older than Aaron, thus Miriam was three years older than Aaron and six years older than Moses. Although there are various opinions throughout Talmudic sources regarding Miriam’s spouse, calev’s wife is also identified as Efrat, meaning “fruitful”. This suggests that Miriam, as the wife of Calev, had at least two names - Miriam and Efrat and this connotes the fact that Miriam was born during the beginning of Pharaoh’s bitter decrees as in the verse, “And the embittered lives with hard labor”. However, another meaning of “mar” is “water” as in the verse, in her merit, this well miraculously provided water for the Jews by accompanying them throughout their wanderings in the wilderness. Another meaning behind Miriam is related to the letters ‘mem’, ‘reish’ and this connotes the way she rebelled against Pharaoh’s orders that the Jewish midwives kill all male infants. She even rebelled against her father who, in the name of sparing Jewish infants from death, Miriam rebelled against her father claiming that he exacerbated the decree. Once she convinced her father of his mistake, Amram remarried Yocheved, followed by the other Jewish men, a last meaning is based on all of the letters of the name Miriam, ‘mem’, ‘reish’, ‘yud’, ‘mem’ spelling the word “merim” which means “elevate”. This might be consistent with an idea which, although not found in Jewish sources, is based on the suggestion that “mri” in ancient Egyptian means “beloved”. Interestingly, in relation to Miriam’s being the wife of Calev, Talmudic sources mention that she had other names, each with its own specific. According to these Midrashic teachings, at marriageable age, Miriam became very ill such that she found no suitor, the Torah relates, “Now the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one who was named Shifrah, and the second, who was named Puah. And he said, ‘When you deliver the Hebrew women, and you see on the stool, if it is a son, you shall put him to death. The midwives, however, feared God, so they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, the Talmudic Sages taught that these midwives, Shifra and Puah, were actually Yocheved and her daughter Miriam, respectively. Miriam was only five years old at the time but she accompanied her mother to help deliver, thus the Sages note that her zealous character was apparent at a very early age
16.
Kinship
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Anthropologist Robin Fox states that the study of kinship is the study of what man does with these basic facts of life – mating, gestation, parenthood, socialization, siblingship etc. Human society is unique, he argues, in that we are working with the raw material as exists in the animal world. These social ends include the socialization of children and the formation of economic, political. Kinship can refer both to the patterns of social relationships themselves, or it can refer to the study of the patterns of relationships in one or more human cultures. Further, even within two broad usages of the term, there are different theoretical approaches. Broadly, kinship patterns may be considered to include people related by both descent – i. e. social relations during development – and by marriage. Human kinship relations through marriage are commonly called affinity in contrast to the relationships that arise in ones group of origin, in some cultures, kinship relationships may be considered to extend out to people an individual has economic or political relationships with, or other forms of social connections. Within a culture, some descent groups may be considered to lead back to gods or animal ancestors and this may be conceived of on a more or less literal basis. Kinship can also refer to a principle by which individuals or groups of individuals are organized into groups, roles, categories. Family relations can be represented concretely or abstractly by degrees of relationship, a relationship may be relative or reflect an absolute. Degrees of relationship are not identical to heirship or legal succession, many codes of ethics consider the bond of kinship as creating obligations between the related persons stronger than those between strangers, as in Confucian filial piety. In a more general sense, kinship may refer to a similarity or affinity between entities on the basis of some or all of their characteristics that are under focus. This may be due to a shared origin, a shared historical or cultural connection. For example, a person studying the roots of human languages might ask whether there is kinship between the English word seven and the German word sieben. It can be used in a more diffuse sense as in, for example, in biology, kinship typically refers to the degree of genetic relatedness or coefficient of relationship between individual members of a species. It may also be used in this sense when applied to human relationships. Family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, in most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children. Kin terminologies can be descriptive or classificatory
17.
Land of Goshen
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The Land of Goshen is named in the Bible as the place in Egypt given to the Hebrews by the pharaoh of Joseph, and the land from which they later left Egypt at the time of the Exodus. It was located in the eastern Delta of the Nile, if the Septuagint reading Gesem is correct, the word, which in its Hebrew form has no known meaning, may mean cultivated—comparing the Arabic root j-š-m, to labor. According to the Joseph narrative in the Book of Genesis, the sons of Jacob who were living in Hebron, since word was that Egypt was the only kingdom able to supply food, the sons of Jacob journeyed there to buy goods. In the second year of famine, the Vizier of Egypt, Joseph and they settled in the country of Goshen. Goshen is described as the best land in Egypt, suitable for crops and livestock. After the death of Joseph and those of his generation, the generations of Israelites had become populous in number. The Egyptians feared potential integration or takeover, so they enslaved the Israelites, approximately four hundred and thirty years later, Moses was called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, from Goshen to Succoth, the first waypoint of the Exodus. They pitched at 41 locations crossing the Nile Delta, to the last station being the plains of Moab, naville identified Goshen as the 20th nome of Egypt, located in the eastern Delta, and known as Gesem or Kesem during the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. Goshen, a division of Egypt settled by the Israelites between Jacobs immigration and the Exodus
18.
High Priest of Israel
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High Priest was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post-Exilic times until the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. This tradition came to an end in the 2nd century BCE during the rule of the Hasmoneans, when the position was occupied by other priestly families. Aaron, though he is but rarely called the great priest, being simply designated as ha-kohen, was the first incumbent of the office. The succession was to be one of his sons, and was to remain in his own family. If he had no son, the office devolved upon the next of age. In the time of Eli, however, the passed to the collateral branch of Ithamar. But King Solomon is reported to have deposed the High Priest Abiathar, and to have appointed Zadok, a descendant of Eleazar, in his stead. After the Exile, the succession seems to have been, at first, in a line from father to son. Antiochus IV Epiphanes for instance, deposed Onias III in favor of Jason, Herod the Great nominated no less than six high priests, Archelaus, two. The Roman legate Quirinius and his successors exercised the right of appointment, as did Agrippa I, Herod of Chalcis, even the people occasionally elected candidates to the office. The age of eligibility for the office is not fixed in the Law, aristobulus, however, was only seventeen when appointed by Herod, but the son of Onias III was too young to succeed his father. The age a Levite entered the priesthood was 30 years of age, legitimacy of birth was essential, hence the care in the keeping of the genealogical records and the distrust of one whose mother had been captured in war. The high priest had to abstain from ritual defilement and he may marry only an Israelite virgin. In Ezekiel 44,22 this restriction is extended to all kohanim, according to Josephus, birth on foreign soil was not a disqualification, but the disqualifications of Leviticus 21,17 et seq. applied to the high priest as well as to other priests. The Torah provides for specific vestments to be worn by the priests when they are ministering in the Tabernacle, And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for dignity and these garments are described in detail in Exodus 28, Exodus 39 and Leviticus 8. The high priest wore eight holy garments, of these, four were of the same type worn by all priests, and four were unique to the Kohen Gadol. That of the High Priest was embroidered, those of the priests were plain, Priestly sash, that of the High Priest was of fine linen with embroidered work in blue and purple and scarlet, those worn by the priests were of white, twined linen. It was fastened to the Ephod On the front of the turban was a golden plate inscribed with the words, the High Priest, like all priests, would minister barefoot when he was serving in the Temple
19.
Israelites
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The Israelites were a Semitic-speaking people of the ancient Near East, who inhabited a part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods. The ancient Israelites are considered to be an outgrowth of the indigenous Canaanite populations that inhabited the Southern Levant, Syria, ancient Israel. In the period of the monarchy it was only used to refer to the inhabitants of the northern kingdom. The Israelites were also known as the Hebrews and the Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Jews are named after and also descended from the southern Israelite Kingdom of Judah, particularly the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and partially Levi. The word Jews is found in 2 Kings, Chronicles, and in passages in the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Zechariah. The Kingdom of Israel, often called the Northern Kingdom of Israel, contained all the tribes except for the tribes of Judah, following its conquest by Assyria, these ten tribes were allegedly dispersed and lost to history, and they are henceforth known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Jewish tradition holds that Samaria was so named because the mountainous terrain was used to keep Guard for incoming enemy attacks. According to Samaritan tradition, however, the Samaritan ethnonym is not derived from the region of Samaria, thus, according to Samaritan tradition, the region was named Samaria after them, not vice versa. In Modern Hebrew, the Samaritans are called Shomronim, while in Samaritan Hebrew they call themselves Shamerim, in Judaism, an Israelite is, broadly speaking, a lay member of the Jewish ethnoreligious group, as opposed to the priestly orders of Kohanim and Levites. In texts of Jewish law such as the Mishnah and Gemara, the term יהודי, meaning Jew, is rarely used, Samaritans commonly refer to themselves and to Jews collectively as Israelites, and they describe themselves as the Israelite Samaritans. The name Israel first appears in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 32,29, the Hebrew Bible etymologizes the name as from yisra to prevail over or to struggle/wrestle with, and el, God, the divine. The name Israel first appears in non-biblical sources c.1209 BCE, the inscription is very brief and says simply, Israel is laid waste and his seed is not. The inscription refers to a people, not to an individual or a nation-state, in modern Hebrew, bnei yisrael can denote the Jewish people at any time in history, it is typically used to emphasize Jewish religious identity. From the period of the Mishna the term Yisrael acquired a narrower meaning of Jews of legitimate birth other than Levites. In modern Hebrew this contrasts with the term Yisraeli, a citizen of the modern State of Israel, the term Hebrew has Eber as an eponymous ancestor. It is used synonymously with Israelites, or as a term for historical speakers of the Hebrew language in general. Today, Jews and Samaritans both recognize each other as communities with an authentic Israelite origin, the terms Jews and Samaritans largely replaced the title Children of Israel as the commonly used ethnonym for each respective community. The name Yahweh, the god of the later Israelites, may indicate connections with the region of Mount Seir in Edom, the Canaanites were also the first people, as far as is known, to have used an alphabet
20.
Mount Hor
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Mount Hor is the name given in the Old Testament to two distinct mountains. One borders the land of Edom in the south of the Dead Sea. Mount Hor is significant to the Jews as Aaron the high priest, brother of Moses and this Mount Hor is situated in the edge of the land of Edom and was the scene of Aarons divestiture, death and burial. On the summit is a shrine, the Tomb of Aaron, some investigators at the turn of the 20th century dissented from this identification, for example, Henry Clay Trumbull preferred the Jebel Madara, a peak northwest of Ain Kadis. Another Mount Hor is mentioned in the Book of Numbers, defining the boundary of the Land of Israel. It is traditionally identified as the Nur or Amanus Mountains and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Hor, Mount
21.
Book of Exodus
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The Book of Exodus or, simply, Exodus, is the second book of the Torah and the Hebrew Bible. The book tells how the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, led by their prophet Moses they journey through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh promises them the land of Canaan in return for their faithfulness. There is no agreement among scholars on the structure of Exodus. One strong possibility is that it is a diptych, with the division between parts 1 and 2 at the crossing of the Red Sea or at the beginning of the theophany in chapter 19. On this plan, the first part tells of Gods rescue of his people from Egypt and their journey under his care to Sinai, jacobs sons and their families join their brother, Joseph, in Egypt. Once there, the Israelites begin to grow in number, several generations later, Egypts Pharaoh, fearful that the Israelites could be a fifth column, orders that all newborn boys be thrown into the Nile. A Levite woman saves her baby by setting him adrift on the river Nile in an ark of bulrushes, the Pharaohs daughter finds the child, names him Moses, and brings him up as her own. But Moses is aware of his origins, and one day, there he marries Zipporah, the daughter of Midianite priest Jethro, and encounters God in a burning bush. Moses asks God for his name, God replies, I AM that I AM, God tells Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham. Moses returns to Egypt and fails to convince the Pharaoh to release the Israelites, God smites the Egyptians with 10 terrible plagues including a river of blood, many frogs, and the death of first-born sons. Moses leads the Israelites out of bondage after a chase when the Pharaoh reneges on his coerced consent. The desert proves arduous, and the Israelites complain and long for Egypt, the Israelites arrive at the mountain of God, where Moses father-in-law Jethro visits Moses, at his suggestion Moses appoints judges over Israel. God asks whether they agree to be his people. Moses is told to ascend the mountain, God pronounces the Ten Commandments in the hearing of all Israel. Moses goes up the mountain into the presence of God, who pronounces the Covenant Code, Moses comes down the mountain and writes down Gods words and the people agree to keep them. God calls Moses up the mountain where he remains for 40 days and 40 nights, at the conclusion of the 40 days and 40 nights, Moses returns holding the set of stone tablets. Aaron is appointed as the first hereditary high priest, God gives Moses the two tablets of stone containing the words of the ten commandments, written with the finger of God. While Moses is with God, Aaron makes a golden calf, God informs Moses of their apostasy and threatens to kill them all, but relents when Moses pleads for them
22.
Aaron's rod
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Aarons rod refers to any of the staves carried by Mosess brother, Aaron, in the Torah. The Bible tells how, along with Mosess rod, Aarons rod was endowed with power during the Plagues of Egypt that preceded the Exodus. There are two occasions where the Bible tells of the rods power, in the culture of the Israelites, the rod would be a natural symbol of authority, as the tool used by the shepherd to correct and guide his flock. Mosess rod is, in fact, cited in Exodus 4,2 as carried by him while he tended his sheep, Aarons rod, however, is cited twice as exhibiting miraculous power on its own, when not physically in the grasp of its owner. In Exodus 7, God sends Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh once more, instructing Aaron that when Pharaoh demands to see a miracle, he is to cast down his rod and it will become a serpent. When he does so, Pharaohs sorcerers counter by similarly casting down their own rods, which also become serpents, Pharaohs heart is stubborn and he chooses to ignore this bit of symbolic warning, and so the Plagues of Egypt ensue. Notably, this begins with God telling Moses, Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh. As God transmits his word through his prophets to his people, the prophets task was to speak Gods word on Gods behalf. In order to stop the complaints of the Israelites, God commands that each of the Twelve Tribes provide a rod, and only that of the tribe chosen to become priests will miraculously sprout overnight. Aaron provides his rod to represent the tribe of Levi, and it put forth buds, produced blossoms, in commemoration of this decision it was commanded that the rod be put again before the testimony. A later book of the Bible seems to assert that the rod was kept in the Ark of the Covenant, the main fact, however, is thus confirmed, that a rod was preserved in the Tabernacle as a relic of the institution of the Aaronic priesthood. The Bible ascribes similar miraculous powers to the Rod of Aaron, the Haggadah goes a step further, and entirely identifies the Rod of Aaron with that of Moses. Thus, the Midrash Yelammedenu states that, the staff with which Jacob crossed the Jordan is identical with that which Judah gave to his daughter-in-law, Tamar. It is likewise the holy rod with which Moses worked, with which Aaron performed wonders before Pharaoh, David left it to his descendants, and the Davidic kings used it as a scepter until the destruction of the Temple, when it miraculously disappeared. When the Messiah comes it will be given to him for a scepter in token of his authority over the heathen. It was made of sapphire, weighed forty seahs, and bore this inscription דצכ עדש באחב, legend has still more to say concerning this rod. God created it in the twilight of the day of Creation. After it had passed through the hands of Shem, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, on Josephs death the Egyptian nobles stole some of his belongings, and, among them, Jethro appropriated the staff
23.
Hur (Bible)
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Hur was a companion of Moses and Aaron in the Hebrew Bible. He was a member of the Tribe of Judah and his identity remains sketchy in the Torah itself, but it is elaborated in rabbinical commentary. Other individuals named Hur are also mentioned in the Bible, in the Book of Exodus, Hur is first mentioned as a companion of Moses and Aaron watching the Battle of Rephidim against the Amalekites. He is mentioned once more as Moses staunch ally when he is left in co-charge with Aaron of the Israelites when Moses was away on Mount Sinai, Moses told the people Aaron and Hur are with you, whosoever hath a cause, let him come near unto them. However, only Aaron is mentioned in the account of events during Moses absence. Hur is also mentioned as the grandfather of Bezalel, designated by God to be the creator of the Tabernacle. Though it is not entirely certain that this Hur is the same individual, in the Books of Chronicles Hur is either the son or the father of Caleb. The language is sufficiently ambiguous that different interpretations are possible, the King James Version of the Bible states These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim. The New International Version has These were the sons of Caleb, the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, were Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim. The second version places Hur as the first child of Caleb by his second wife Ephrath. Hur had four sons, Uri the father of Bezalel, and three others, Shobal, Salma and Hareph, who are said to have been the founders of the towns of Kirjath-jearim, Bethlehem, however, I Chronicles calls Hur himself the father of Bethlehem. The Bible in Exodus 38,22 states explicitly Hurs descendants, And Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur. but not directly his parental lineage, according to Rabbinic tradition, Hur was the son of Miriam, thus Moses and Aarons nephew. The Talmud states that Caleb, a descendant from Judah, married Miriam and this is based on the Targum to I Chron. 2,19. and Caleb took for himself Ephrath and she bore him Hur, Ephrath was another name for Miriam. Rashis Bible commentary justifies this position on the two locations in Exodus where Hur is mentioned,17,10 &24,14. However, Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews states that Hur was the husband of Moses sister Miriam. In Talmudic tradition the sudden disappearance of Hur from the narrative of Exodus is explained by the claim that Hur was killed when he tried to prevent the making of the Golden Calf, the murder of Hur intimidated Aaron into complying with the popular demand to create the idol. Hurs faithfulness was rewarded by God by granting his grandson the role of making the Tabernacle and it is the traditional view that Hur the companion of Moses is the same as the grandfather of Bezaleel, but this is not certain
24.
Joshua
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Joshua /ˈdʒɒʃuə/ or Jehoshua is the central figure in the Hebrew Bibles Book of Joshua. According to the books of Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he was Moses assistant and his name was Hoshea the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him Yehoshua the name by which he is commonly known. The name is shortened to Yeshua in Nehemiah, according to the Bible he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus. According to the Hebrew Bible, Joshua was one of the spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. In Numbers 13, 1–16, and after the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan, according to Biblical chronology, Joshua lived between 1355 and 1245 BCE, or sometime in the late Bronze Age. According to Joshua 24,29, Joshua died at the age of 110, Joshua also holds a position of respect among Muslims. According to Islamic tradition, he was, along with Caleb, all Muslims also see Joshua as the leader of the Israelites, following the death of Moses. Some Muslims also believe Joshua to be the attendant of Moses mentioned in the Qurān, before Moses meets Khidr, the English name Joshua is a rendering of the Hebrew language Yehoshua, meaning Yahweh is salvation. The vocalization of the second name component may be read as Hoshea—the name used in the Torah before Moses added the divine name, Jesus is the English of the Greek transliteration of Yehoshua via Latin. In the Septuagint, all instances of the word Yehoshua are rendered as Ἰησοῦς, thus, in Greek, Joshua is called Jesus son of Naue to differentiate him from Jesus Christ. This is also true in the Slavic languages following the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Joshua was a major figure in the events of the Exodus. He was charged by Moses with selecting and commanding a group for their first battle after exiting Egypt, against the Amalekites in Rephidim. He later accompanied Moses when he ascended biblical Mount Sinai to commune with God, visualize Gods plan for the Israelite tabernacle and receive the Ten Commandments. Joshua was with Moses when he descended from the mountain, heard the Israelites celebrations around the Golden Calf, and broke the tablets bearing the words of the commandments. However, when Moses returned to the mountain to re-create the tablets recording the Ten Commandments, Joshua was not present, according to Joshua 1, 1-9, God appointed Joshua to succeed Moses as leader of the Israelites along with giving him a blessing of invincibility during his lifetime. The first part of the book of Joshua covers the period when he led the conquest of Canaan, at the Jordan River, the waters parted, as they had for Moses at the Red Sea. The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the Battle of Jericho, Joshua led the destruction of Jericho, then moved on to Ai, a small neighboring city to the west. However, they were defeated with thirty-six Israelite deaths, the defeat was attributed to Achan taking an accursed thing from Jericho, and was followed by Achan and his family and animals being stoned to death to restore Gods favor
25.
Levite
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A Jewish male descended patrilineally from Levi is a Levi, and his full name may be written as HaLevi. The prefix ה, in the Hebrew language, means the, the daughter of a Levi is a Bat Levi. In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Israelite Tribe of Levi, descended from Levi, the Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political responsibilities as well. In return, the tribes were expected to give tithe to support the Levites. The Kohanim were the priests, who performed the work of holiness in the Temple, Today, Levites in Orthodox Judaism continue to have additional rights and obligations compared to lay people, although these responsibilities have diminished with the destruction of the Temple. For instance, Kohanim are eligible to be called to the Torah first, Levites also provide assistance to the Kohanim, particularly washing their hands, before the Kohanim recite the Priestly Blessing. They also do not participate in the Pidyon HaBen ceremony, because they are pledged to Divine service. Reconstructionist and Reform Judaism do not observe the distinctions between Kohanim, Levites, and other Jews, Orthodox Judaism believes in the eventual rebuilding of a Temple in Jerusalem and a resumption of the Levitical role. There are a number of schools, primarily in Israel, to train priests. Conservative Judaism believes in a restoration of the Temple as a house of worship and in some role for Levites. The Kohanim are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct descent from the Biblical Aaron of the Levi tribe. The noun kohen is used in the Torah to refer to priests, during the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, Kohanim performed the daily and holiday duties of sacrificial offerings. Today kohanim retain a lesser though distinct status within Judaism. During the Priestly Blessing, the Levites traditionally wash the hands of the Kohanim prior to the blessing of the House of Israel. Contrary to popular belief, this is not due to any sort of lineal sanctity, in Israel, Conservative/Masorti Judaism has not extended Torah honors to either a bat Kohen or a bat Levi. He wrote, Today, we also are living through a time of flood, Not of water, but of a bright fire and we are now drowning in a flood of blood. Through the Kohanim and Leviim help will come to all Israel, a 2003 study of the Y-chromosome by Behar et al. pointed to multiple origins for Ashkenasi Levites, a priestly class who comprise approximately 4% among the Ashkenazi Jews. A2013 paper by Siiri Rootsi et al, here we report the analysis of 16 whole R1 sequences and show that a set of 19 unique nucleotide substitutions defines the Ashkenazi R1a lineage
26.
Urim and Thummim
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In the Hebrew Bible, the Urim and Thummim are associated with the hoshen, divination in general, and cleromancy in particular. Most scholars suspect that the phrase refers to specific objects involved in the divination, although at face value the words are plural, the context suggests they are pluralis intensivus—singular words which are pluralised to enhance their apparent majesty. The singular forms—ur and tumm—have been connected by some scholars with the Babylonian terms urtu and tamitu, meaning oracle and command. Thummim is widely considered to be derived from the consonantal root ת. ם, Urim traditionally has been taken to derive from a root meaning lights, these derivations are reflected in the Neqqudot of the Masoretic Text. In consequence, Urim and Thummim has traditionally been translated as lights and perfections, or, by taking the phrase allegorically, as meaning revelation and truth, or doctrine and truth. The description of the clothing of the Hebrew high priest in the Book of Exodus portrays the Urim and Thummim as being put into the sacred breastplate, the Talmudic rabbis argued that Urim and Thummim were words written on the sacred breastplate. Like the Urim and Thummim, the Tablets of Destiny came into use when the fate of king, Abiathar joined David, who was then in the cave of Adullam. He remained with David, and became priest of the party of which he was the leader, when David ascended the throne of Judah, Abiathar was appointed High Priest and the kings counselor. Meanwhile, Zadok, of the house of Eleazar, had been made High Priest, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia Abiathar was deposed from office when he was deserted by the Holy Spirit without which the Urim and Thummin could not be consulted. Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, said that he used interpreters in order to translate the Book of Mormon from the golden plates. The interpreters he described as a pair of stones, fastened to a breastplate joined in a similar to that of a large pair of spectacles. Smith later referred to this object as the Urim and Thummim, Smiths mother, Lucy Mack Smith, described these Urim and Thummim as being like two smooth three-cornered diamonds. Although many of Smiths associates said they saw him use the devices, Latter Day Saints believe that Smiths Urim and Thummim were functionally identical to the biblical Urim and Thummim. Smith extended the use of the term Urim and Thummim to describe the place of God, the earth in a future state. In accordance with the belief that Urim and Thummim translates to Light and Truth, Lux et Veritas is the motto of Indiana University and the University of Montana, similarly, Northeastern Universitys motto is Lux, Veritas, Virtus. Though Urim and Thummim itself is emblazoned across the open book pictured on the Yale University coat of arms, in the novel The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, page 30 the king of Salem gives the main character Santiago two stones that the king calls Urim and Thummim. One of the stones is black, which is said to signify yes, and the other is white, said to signify no, the king himself had removed the stones from his shining golden breastplate
27.
Babylonian captivity
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The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a number of Judahites of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylonia. After the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, the dates, numbers of deportations, and numbers of deportees given in the biblical accounts vary. These deportations are dated to 597 BCE for the first, with others dated at 587/586 BCE, after the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE, exiled Judeans were permitted to return to Judah. According to the book of Ezra, construction of the second temple in Jerusalem began around 537 BCE. All these events are considered significant in Jewish history and culture, the return of the exiles was a gradual process rather than a single event, and many of the deportees or their descendants did not return. In the late 7th century BCE, the kingdom of Judah was a client state of the Assyrian empire, in the last decades of the century, Assyria was overthrown by Babylon, an Assyrian province. Egypt, fearing the rise of the Neo-Babylonian empire, seized control of Assyrian territory up to the Euphrates river in Syria. In the process Josiah, the king of Judah, was killed in a battle with the Egyptians at the Battle of Megiddo, after the defeat of Pharaoh Nechos army by the Babylonians at Carchemish in 605 BCE, Jehoiakim began paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. Some of the nobility of Judah were taken to Babylon. In the following years, the court of Jerusalem was divided into two parties, in support of Egypt and Babylon, after Nebuchadnezzar was defeated in battle in 601 BCE by Egypt, Judah revolted against Babylon, culminating in a three-month siege of Jerusalem beginning in late 598 BCE. Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, died during the siege and was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin at the age of eighteen. The city fell on 2 Adar 597 BCE, and Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and its Temple and took Jeconiah, his court, jehoiakims uncle Zedekiah was appointed king in his place, but the exiles in Babylon continued to consider Jeconiah as their Exilarch, or rightful ruler. Despite warnings by Jeremiah and others of the party, Zedekiah revolted against Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar returned, defeated the Egyptians, and again besieged Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city wall and the Temple, together with the houses of the most important citizens. Zedekiah and his sons were captured, the sons were executed in front of Zedekiah, Judah became a Babylonian province, called Yehud, putting an end to the independent Kingdom of Judah. Some time later, a member of the royal family assassinated Gedaliah and his Babylonian advisors. According to the book of Ezra, the Persian Cyrus the Great ended the exile in 538 BCE, the exile ended with the return under Zerubbabel the Prince and Joshua the Priest and their construction of the Second Temple in the period 521–516 BCE. He appointed there a king of his own choice and taking heavy tribute brought it back to Babylon, one of the tablets refers to food rations for Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu and five royal princes, his sons
28.
Ezekiel
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Ezekiel is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baháí Faith, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet, the author of the Book of Ezekiel presents himself as Ezekiel, the son of Buzzi, born into a priestly lineage. Apart from identifying himself, the author gives a date for the first divine encounter which he presents, if this is a reference to Ezekiels age at the time, he was born around 622 BCE, about the time of Josiahs reforms. His thirtieth year is given as 5 years after the exile of Judahs king Jehoiachin by the Babylonians, josephus claims that at the request of Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylonian armies exiled three thousand Jews from Judah, after deposing King Jehoiachin in 598 BCE. According to the Bible, Ezekiel and his wife lived on the bank of the Chebar River, there is no mention of him having any offspring. Ezekiel describes his calling to be a prophet by going into detail about his encounter with God. For the next five years he incessantly prophesied and acted out the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, on the hypothesis that the thirtieth year of Ezekiel 1,1 refers to Ezekiels age, Ezekiel was fifty years old when he had his final vision. On the basis of dates given in the Book of Ezekiel, the last dated words of Ezekiel date to April 570 BCE. Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, is said by Talmud and Midrash to have been a descendant of Joshua by his marriage with the proselyte, some statements found in rabbinic literature posit that Ezekiel was the son of Jeremiah, who was called Buzi because he was despised by the Jews. Ezekiel was said to be active as a prophet while in the Land of Israel, and he retained this gift when he was exiled with Jehoiachin. Ezekiel, like all the prophets, has beheld only a blurred reflection of the divine majesty. At first God revealed to the prophet that they could not hope for a rescue, whereupon the prophet was greatly grieved. But after they had left the house of the prophet, fully determined to sacrifice their lives to God, Ezekiel received this revelation and that shall not happen, but do thou let them carry out their intention according to their pious dictates, and tell them nothing. Ezekiel is commemorated as a saint in the calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church—and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite—on July 23. Ezekiel is commemorated on August 28 on the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church, certain Lutheran churches also celebrate his commemoration on July 20. Ezekiels statement about the gate is understood as another prophecy of the Incarnation, the gate signifying the Virgin Mary. This is one of the readings at Vespers on Great Feasts of the Theotokos in the Eastern Orthodox, the imagery provides the basis for the concept that God gave Mary to mankind as the Gate of Heaven, an idea also laid out in the Salve Regina prayer. According to 17th-century commentator Matthew Henry Ezekiel is also believed to have known as Nazaratus Assyrius
29.
Second Temple period
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Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. The Jewish diaspora began with the Assyrian conquest and continued on a larger scale with the Babylonian conquest. Jews were also widespread throughout the Roman Empire, and this carried on to an extent in the period of Byzantine rule in the central. In 638 CE the Byzantine Empire lost control of the Levant, the Arab Islamic Empire under Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem and the lands of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain coincided with the Middle Ages in Europe, during that time, Jews were generally accepted in society and Jewish religious, cultural, and economic life blossomed. During the Classical Ottoman period, the Jews, together with most other communities of the empire, in the 17th century, there were many significant Jewish populations in Western Europe. During the period of the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, significant changes occurred within the Jewish community, Jews began in the 18th century to campaign for emancipation from restrictive laws and integration into the wider European society. During the 1870s and 1880s the Jewish population in Europe began to actively discuss immigration back to Israel. The Zionist movement was founded officially in 1884, meanwhile, the Jews of Europe and the United States gained success in the fields of science, culture and the economy. Among those generally considered the most famous were scientist Albert Einstein, a large number of Nobel Prize winners at this time were Jewish, as is still the case. In 1933, with the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany, economic crises, racial anti-Semitic laws, and a fear of an upcoming war led many Jews to flee from Europe to Palestine, to the United States and to the Soviet Union. In 1939 World War II began and until 1941 Hitler occupied almost all of Europe and this genocide, in which approximately six million Jews were methodically exterminated, is known as The Holocaust or Shoah. In Poland, three million Jews were killed in gas chambers in all concentration camps combined, with one million at the Auschwitz concentration camp alone, in 1945 the Jewish resistance organizations in Palestine unified and established the Jewish Resistance Movement. The movement began attacking the British authority, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed on May 14,1948, the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel to be known as the State of Israel. Immediately afterwards all neighbouring Arab states attacked, yet the newly formed IDF resisted, in 1949 the war ended and the state of Israel started building the state and absorbing massive waves of hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over the world. Today, Israel is a democracy with a population of over 8 million people. The largest Jewish communities are in Israel and the United States, with communities in France, Argentina, Russia, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada. For statistics related to modern Jewish demographics see Jewish population, ‹See Tfd› The history of the early Jews, and their neighbors, centers on the Fertile Crescent and east coast of the Mediterranean Sea
30.
Golden calf
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According to the Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by the Israelites during Moses absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as ḥēṭ’ ha‘ēggel or The Sin of the Calf and it is first mentioned in Exodus 32,4. Bull worship was common in many cultures, among the Egyptians and Hebrews neighbors in the ancient Near East and in the Aegean, the Aurochs, the wild bull, was widely worshipped, often as the Lunar Bull and as the creature of El. When Moses went up into Biblical Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, he left the Israelites for forty days, the Israelites feared that he would not return and demanded that Aaron make them gods to go before them. Aaron gathered up the Israelites golden earrings and ornaments, constructed a molten calf and they declared, These thy gods, O Israel, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed the next day to be a feast to the LORD. So they rose up early the day and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings, and the people sat down to eat and to drink. Moses besought and pleaded that they should be spared, and God repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people. Moses went down from the mountain, but upon seeing the calf, he became angry, Moses burnt the golden calf in a fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on water, and forced the Israelites to drink it. When Moses asked him, Aaron admitted collecting the gold, and throwing it into the fire, the Bible records that the tribe of Levi did not worship the golden calf. When Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whosoever is on the LORDs side, and all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, the golden calf is mentioned in Nehemiah 9, 16–21. But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery, but you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, This is your god, because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path and you gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst, for forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen. The language suggests that there are inconsistencies in the other accounts of the Israelites. As the version in Exodus and 1 Kings are written by Deuteronomistic historians based in the kingdom of Judah
31.
Nadab and Abihu
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In the biblical books Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, Nadab and Abihu were the two eldest sons of Aaron. According to Leviticus 10, they offered a sacrifice with strange fire before the LORD, disobeying his instructions, Moses instructed Aaron and his family not to mourn, although the people at large were permitted. Nadab and Abihu were the first two sons of Aaron the Levite by his marriage to Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab from the tribe of Judah and they had four sons in total, the younger two sons being named Eleazar and Ithamar. During the Exodus journey, after the Israelites affirmation of their covenant with God, Abihu and Nadab accompanied Moses, Aaron, and 70 elders up Mount Sinai. There they saw God with great clarity, walking on a pavement of sapphire stone, Aaron and his four sons were the first priests appointed as the priestly system was established by God. The Levites as a tribe were later ordained for the service after answering a call to take the LORD’s side after the idolatry centered around the golden calf. After the death of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar took their places as priests, in Exodus 30 and Leviticus, God outlines a proper sacrifice to him. Aaron, the chief priest, was to present all offerings representing himself, God would send his own fire to consume the sacrifice as a sign of his presence. When Nadab and Abihu lit the offering in the censers themselves, their fire was profane and they prepared an incense offering upon kindling of their own and not of the holy incense from the sacred bronze altar. Thus Hebraically, it was termed strange fire, Aaron’s sons spurned the command to wait for holy fire and offered incense with profane fire. Anyone who altered the system assumed a prerogative belonging to God alone. After the death of Nadab and Abihu, Moses dictated what was to be done with their bodies and he told Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, to carry the bodies away from the sanctuary to a place outside of the camp. He specified for Mishael and Elzaphan to be careful to only touch Nadab and Abihu’s tunics, the first concerns in burial were to prevent what is holy from being defiled and the service of God from being disrupted. The corpses had to be removed immediately, because to allow the uncleanliness of the bodies to remain in the sanctuary could invoke God’s wrath again, the bodies were lifted up “by their tunics” to avoid direct physical contact. This did not prevent the carriers from becoming ritually unclean, but lessened the time, Aaron and the other surviving priests were commanded not to mourn, participate in mourning rituals, or have contact with the dead. This was applicable not only in case, but it was modified in an ongoing command. While priests could mourn, they could not have contact with the dead - even a dead spouse, parent or child -, as the representatives of the people, priests were to avoid anything that might disqualify them for God’s service. They were to remain ready and able to act in Gods service whenever the community needed them, the command not to mourn also applied because the crime of Nadab and Abihu was so provoking to God and fully merited the punishment which God had inflicted
32.
Tzaraath
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The Hebrew noun tzaraath describes disfigurative conditions of the skin, hair of the beard and head, clothing made of linen or wool, or stones of homes located in the land of Israel. All variations are referred to in chapters 13–14 of Leviticus. The noun form comes from the verb tzara which means to have a skin disease, the masoretic Torah text introduces three variations of tzaraath affecting the skin, שאת, ספחת ובהרת. The classical Greek term lepra is primarily used only of skin discoloration and not rot, the JPS Tanakh translates it as a scaly affection in Leviticus 13,2. Tzaraath is sufficiently dissimilar from leprosy to be considered a different disease altogether, for instance, tzaraath is not contagious between individuals, whereas leprosy is slightly contagious. The metzora is barred from entering Israels encampment or the city of Jerusalem not because of contagiousness, the New Testament describes instances of Jesus healing people with leprosy, although the precise relationship between this, tzaraath, and Hansens disease is not established. The Torah identifies three manifestations of tzaraath, as an affliction of human skin, of garments and of houses, the Torah also speaks of tzaraath on two other occasions, one in reference to Moses and the other in reference to his sister, Miriam. In Exodus 4, 6–7, when Moses is standing before the burning bush, God provides him with two signs to prove his mission, turning his rod into a snake and then back into a rod and turning his hand into being stricken with tzaraath and then back again. Moses revealed these wonders to the elders in Exodus 4,30, in Numbers 12,10, Miriam was stricken with tzaraath for her involvement in slandering Moses. Aaron asks Moses to cure her via extraordinary means, because he claims that he, as her own brother, Moses prays for his sister and she is cured of the tzaraath but must remain in confinement for seven days. The Torah, however, does not indicate that she went through any purification process similar to what is normally required, though this is not the view of the Jewish Publication Society nor of the Bible Society. Additionally, a diagnosis of tzaraath is not to be performed by anyone, such an eruption on a bald scalp must appear in a distinct fashion but is regulated by rules similar to that of negaim on the skin, however, it can only occur on men. For a scalp eruption to be tzaraath, the lesion must be a white tinged with red. This can occur in one of two places, within what are referred to as a mans posterior baldness and anterior baldness, if someone cuts off some skin or a part of his body to remove a negah, he becomes impure, even if he had no confirming signs. He may become pure only after another negah forms, the exception is when a negah appears on the tip of the foreskin and is cut off during circumcision, which is permitted, because a positive commandment overrides a negative commandment. Boils and burns, as naturally as a result of an abscess, blunt force trauma or thermal insult to the skin, are not tzaraath. During the healing phases of these wounds, however, if certain signs that mimic those of the aforementioned patches appear, tzaraath may occur. There are two confirming signs, thin yellow hair – if at least two and a half hairs from within the bald patch turn yellow spreading – if the balding spreads, according to Maimonides
33.
Korah
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Korah or Kórach (Hebrew, קֹרַח, Standard Kórakh Tiberian Qōraḥ, Baldness, ice, hail, frost is a name which is associated with at least two men in the Hebrew Bible. Some older English translations, as well as the Douay Bible, spell the name Core, according to the Book of Genesis 36,5, Korah was the son of Esau and Aholibamah, and had two brothers, Jeush and Jaalam. Genesis 36,14 has Korahs mother, Aholibamah, being daughter of Anah, the same verse repeats Genesis 36,5 and names his two brothers again. Anah in Genesis 36,2,14,18,25 mentioned above is the same as the Anah, in verse 2 and 14 it says, Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite. Some are confused with this wording and believe that it is saying that Anah is a daughter of Zibeon, in verse 24 it clearly says that Zibeons two sons were Ajah and Anah. Since the original text does not have a word for grand daughter the word bath was used in both cases. But this sentence is stating that Aholibamah is the daughter of Anah, Esau had multiple wives and Korah is also listed as a grandson of Esau through Eliphaz, causing some confusion. Esau and his wife Adah bore Eliphaz, Genesis 36,16 states that Eliphaz bore a number of sons that came from his son Eliphaz, and one of them is Duke Korah. It is not unreasonable that Esau had a son and a grandson named Korah, however, it is more accurately viewed as, a grandson is a son. Exodus 6,24 And the sons of Korah, Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph, genealogy Exodus 6,21 cites another Korah as being the son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi. Korahs brothers through Izhar were Nepheg and Zichri, Exodus 6,18 connects this Korah with Hebron, Uzziel and Amram, who were his fathers brothers. 1 Chronicles 6,2,18,38, and 23,12, repeat this genealogy, however, Hebron is the patriarch from whom the region is named. Numbers 16,1 traces this lineage back further to Levi, son of the patriarch Israel. According to Numbers 16,21, his lineage goes, Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, making him the great-grandson of the patriarch Levi and the cousin of Moses and Aaron. Rebellion Numbers 16, 1-40 indicates that Korah rebelled against Moses along with 249 co-conspirators and were punished for their rebellion when God sent fire from heaven to consume all 250 of them. Numbers 16,41 Furthermore, the Israelites who did not like what had happened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram objected to Moses, God then smote 14,700 men with plague, as punishment for objecting to Korahs destruction. Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not, based on the Jewish Encyclopedia The name Korah is explained by the Rabbis of the Talmudic era as meaning baldness. It was given to Korah on account of the gap or blank which he made in Israel by his revolt, Korah is represented as the possessor of extraordinary wealth, he having discovered one of the treasures which Joseph had hidden in Egypt
34.
Augustin Hirschvogel
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Augustin Hirschvogel was a German artist, mathematician, and cartographer known primarily for his etchings. His thirty-five small landscape etchings, made between 1545 and 1549, assured him a place in the Danube School, a circle of artists in sixteenth-century Bavaria and Austria. He began work in his birthplace, Nuremberg, where he was trained in painting by his father, Veit Hirschvogel the elder. In 1525, Nuremberg accepted the Protestant Reformation, putting an end to lavish stained glass commissions, Veit the elders workshop was then being run by Augustins elder brother Veit, their father died the same year. The younger Hirschvogel had his own workshop by 1530, and soon formed a partnership with the potters Oswald Reinhart, Hirschvogel left in 1536 for Laibach, returning to Nuremberg in 1543. During this period he produced his earliest known work as a cartographer, maps of Turkish borders and of Austria and his commissions for armorials show that he had been in contact with the Imperial Court of Vienna by 1543. With his move to Vienna in 1544, he rendered his services to the city, court, the city employed him in 1547 to develop designs for bastions, to create etched views of Vienna, and to produce a plan for the city following the Siege of Vienna. These views were the first ever rendered according to scale, and the city plan was the first ever produced by triangulation. Viennas council sent him to explain his work to Ferdinand I in Prague and to Charles V in Augsburg and he died in Vienna in 1553. Hirschvogel took up etching late in his career, and almost all of his prints date from the last decade of his life, when he resided in Vienna. His etchings, numbering about 300, reflect his concern with Italianate problems of space, form, and ornament, and include portraiture, cartography and he was among the first etchers to use copper rather than iron plates. A series of 53 hunting scenes for stained glass are of questionable authorship, Hirschvogel is credited with the single authentic portrait of the Swiss physician Paracelsus, but this attribution is not certain. His pen-and-ink landscapes have been described as strong but light, sure, the lack of shadow in his landscapes contributes to a tranquil, idyllic mood. Almost 100 drawings are attributed to him, some are not his own. His art shows the influence of Albrecht Dürer, Albrecht Altdorfer, Sebald Beham, Hans Burgkmair, record of the Art Museum, Princeton University,22, pp. 2–7
35.
Kadesh (biblical)
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Kadesh or Qadhesh in Classical Hebrew, קָדֵשׁ, from the root קדש holy, is a place-name that occurs several times in the Hebrew Bible. The alternate spelling appears as Qadesh Barneaʿ, Barnea meaning wilderness wandering, the Bible associates the place-name Kadesh, with a number of biblical episodes, bestowing considerable importance to the site - or sites - in the narrative of the genesis of the Israelites. According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Kadesh is identified with Petra, genesis 14,7 And they returned and came to Emmishpat, which Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon Tamar. Gen 16,14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi, behold, gen 20,1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. Numbers 20,1 Then came the children of Israel, the congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month and the people abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died there. Numbers 33,36 And they removed from Eziongaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, numbers 33,37 And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. Deuteronomy 1,46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, and in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab but he would not, and Israel abode in Kadesh. Psalm 29,8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness, ezekiel 47,19 And the south side southward, from Tamar to the waters of strife Kadesh, the river to the great sea. Ezekiel 48,28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, Kadesh, or Kadesh Barnea, is described as an oasis south of Canaan, west of Arabah and east of the Brook of Egypt. It is 11 days march by way of Mt. Seir from Horeb, as many as eighteen sites have been proposed as the identification of biblical Kadesh. Part of the confusion may arise from the fact that Kadesh is sometimes mentioned in connection with the Desert of Paran and at other times in connection with the Zin Desert. This discrepancy has been noted since the time of the commentators, leading some to seek a reconciliatory model. A minority of modern scholarship has maintained there were two sites identified as Kadesh—western Kadesh and eastern Kadesh. This view seems to be represented by Josephus and Eusebius of Caesarea, the Nabataeans came to Petra in about 400 BCE knowing it to be an ancient burial ground of caves, and buried their dead on top of the graves used 100 years earlier by the Hebrews. Several Iron Age fortresses have been excavated there, the oldest, a small, elliptical structure, dates to the tenth century BCE, and was abandoned for some time after its first destruction. A second fort, constructed during the eighth century BCE, was destroyed during the seventh century BCE, two ostraca engraved in Hebrew have been recovered there, suggesting the Israelites did indeed occupy this site. However, these Kadesh Barnea ostraca are dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE, excavations at Ain el-Qudeirat conducted by Dr. On the other hand, Late Bronze Age, the time of the Exodus, is unattested in the Negev
36.
Jacob
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Jacob, later given the name Israel, is regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites. According to the Book of Genesis, Jacob was the third Hebrew progenitor with whom God made a covenant and he is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham, Sarah and Bethuel, the nephew of Ishmael, and the younger twin brother of Esau. Jacob had twelve sons and at least one daughter, by his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and by their handmaidens Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacobs twelve sons, named in Genesis, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and his only daughter mentioned in Genesis is Dinah. The twelve sons became the progenitors of the Tribes of Israel, as a result of a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his sons moved to Egypt at the time when his son Joseph was viceroy. Jacob is mentioned in a number of sacred scriptures, including the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament, the Quran, hadith, Baháí scripture, and the Book of Mormon. According to the folk etymology found in Genesis 25,26, according to Jan Fokkelman, the name is a shortened version of Yaaqob-el, meaning God may protect. The Hebrew Bible says at Genesis 32, 28-29 and 35,10, etymologically, it has been suggested that the name Israel comes from the Hebrew words לִשְׂרות and אֵל. Popular English translations typically reference the face off with God, ranging from wrestles with God to God contends, some commentators say the name comes from the verb śārar, thereby making the name mean God rules or God judges, or the prince of God or El fights/struggles. The biblical account of the life of Jacob is found in the Book of Genesis, Jacob and his twin brother, Esau, were born to Isaac and Rebecca after 20 years of marriage, when Isaac was 60 years of age. Rebekah was uncomfortable during her pregnancy and went to inquire of God why she was suffering and she received the prophecy that twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight all their lives, even after they became two separate nations. According to Genesis 25,25, Isaac and Rebecca named the first son Hebrew, עשו, the second son they named יעקב, Jacob. The boys displayed very different natures as they matured. and Esau was a hunter, a man of the field. Moreover, the attitudes of their parents toward them also differed, And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, Genesis 25, 29-34 tells the account of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob. This passage tells that Esau, returning famished from the fields, Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange for his birthright, to which Esau agreed. As Isaac aged, he became blind and was uncertain when he would die and he requested that Esau go out to the fields with his weapons to kill some venison. Isaac then requested that Esau make savory meat for him out of the venison, according to the way he enjoyed it the most, so that he could eat it and bless Esau. It is suggested that she realized prophetically that Isaacs blessings would go to Jacob, Rebecca blessed Jacob and she quickly ordered Jacob to bring her two kid goats from their flock so that he could take Esaus place in serving Isaac and receiving his blessing
37.
Leah
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Leah, as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the daughter of Laban. She and her younger sister Rachel became the two concurrent wives of Hebrew patriarch Jacob and she had six sons, whose descendants became some of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. She also had a daughter, Dinah, the Torah introduces Leah by describing her with the phrase, Leah had tender eyes. It is argued as to whether the adjective tender should be taken to mean delicate, the commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leahs eyes became weak. According to this story, Leah was destined to marry Jacobs older twin brother, in the Rabbinic mind, the two brothers are polar opposites, Jacob being a God-fearing scholar and Esau being a hunter who also indulges in murder, idolatry, and adultery. But people were saying, Laban has two daughters and his sister, Rebekah, has two sons, the older daughter will marry the older son, and the younger daughter will marry the younger son. Hearing this, Leah spent most of her weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as soft from weeping, God hearkens to Leahs tears and prayers and allows her to marry Jacob even before Rachel does. Leah becomes Jacobs wife through a deception on the part of her father, in the Biblical account, Jacob is dispatched to the hometown of Laban—the brother of his mother Rebekah—to avoid being killed by his brother Esau, and to find a wife. Out by the well, he encounters Labans younger daughter Rachel tending her fathers sheep, Laban is willing to give Rachels hand to Jacob as long as he works seven years for her. On the wedding night, however, Laban switches Leah for Rachel, later Laban claims that it is uncustomary to give the younger daughter away in marriage before the older one. Laban offers to give Rachel to Jacob in marriage in return for seven years of work. Jacob accepts the offer and marries Rachel after the celebration of his marriage to Leah. Leah is the mother of six of Jacobs sons, including his first four, according to the scriptures, God saw that Leah was unloved and opened her womb as consolation. Seeing that she is unable to conceive, Rachel offers her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob, Leah responds by offering her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob, and names and raises the two sons that Zilpah bears. According to some commentaries, Bilhah and Zilpah are actually half-sisters of Leah, one day, Leahs firstborn son Reuben returns from the field with mandrakes for his mother. Leah has not conceived for a while, and this plant, frustrated that she is not able to conceive at all, Rachel offers to trade her night with their husband in return for the mandrakes. Leah agrees, and that night she sleeps with Jacob and conceives Issachar, afterwards she gives birth to Zebulun and to a daughter, Dinah
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Levi
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Levi was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi. Certain religious and political functions were reserved for the Levites and these scholars suspect that it may simply mean priest, either as a loan word from the Minaean lawiu, meaning priest, or by referring to those people who were joined to the ark of the covenant. In the Book of Jubilees 28, 14-15, it says that Levi was born in the new moon of the first month which means that he was born on 1 Nissan, in the narratives found in the Book of Genesis, Levi’s youth is marked by impetuosity. He and his brother, Simeon, exterminate the city of Shechem in revenge for the rape of Dinah, seizing the wealth of the city and killing the men. The brothers had earlier misled the inhabitants of Shechem by consenting to Dinahs rapist marrying her, in the Blessing of Jacob, Jacob is described as imposing a curse on the Levites, by which they would be scattered, in punishment for Levis actions in Shechem. Nevertheless, Isaac, Levis grandfather, give a special blessing about the lineage of priest of God, in the Book of Genesis, Levi is described as having fathered three sons—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The Masoretic Texts version of Levis genealogy thus implies that Levi also had a daughter, the names of Levis sons, and possible daughter, are interpreted in classical rabbinical literature as being reflections on their future destiny. In some apocryphal texts such as the Testament of Levi, and the Book of Jubilees, Levis wife, his childrens mother, is named as Milkah, a daughter of Aram. Some scholars attribute the genealogy to a hypothetical Book of Generations, some Biblical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilinial and patrilinial descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses. In accordance with his role as founder of the Levites, Levi is referred to as being particularly pious, in the Testament of Levi, Levi is described as having had two visions. The first vision covered eschatological issues, portraying the seven heavens, the Jewish Messiah, and Judgement Day. According to some scholars this is to be expected, since the Testament of Levi is believed to have been written during Maccabean rule. Levite Miscegenation Testament of Levi Tribe of Levi “The Tribe, The Cohen-Levi Family Heritage”
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Jochebed
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For people named Yocheved, see Yocheved. According to the Torah, Jochebed was a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and she was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning her life, according to Jewish legend, Jochebed is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias. She is praised for her faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the story of Jochebed is thought to be described in the Book of Exodus - although she is not explicitly named here. She lived in Egypt, where the descendants of Israel were being oppressed, the Pharaoh had decreed that all their baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile, because he feared that they might become too powerful. When Moses, her youngest child, was born, Jochebed therefore hid him for three months until she could hide him no longer. To save her sons life, she made a wooden chest of bulrushes, made it watertight with slime and pitch and she then let the chest float in the Nile while Miriam, her daughter, kept watch over it from a distance. It was found by the Pharaohs daughter, Bithia, who had come to bathe in the river, moved with compassion when she discovered the child, she decided to adopt him. The sister of the child, who had come forward, suggested to find her a Hebrew woman to nurse the child, the Pharaohs daughter agreed and so Miriam called her mother, who was appointed to take care of him. Thus Jochebed nursed her son until he was old enough and brought him to the Pharaohs daughter, the story continues with Moses, who grew up to become the leader of the Exodus, leading his people out of the land of Egypt. According to the Book of Numbers, Jochebed was born to Levi when he lived in Egypt, Amram was the son of Kohath, who was a son of Levi. This would make Jochebed the aunt of Amram, her husband and this kind of marriage between relatives was later forbidden by the law of Moses. Jochebed is also called Amrams fathers sister in the Masoretic text of Exodus 6,20, some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Septuagint state that Jochebed was Amrams fathers cousin, and others state that she was Amrams cousin. In the Apocryphal Testament of Levi, it is stated that Jochebed was born, as a daughter of Levi, when Levi was 64 years old. Jochebed is identified by some rabbis in the Talmud with Shiphrah, textual scholars attribute the genealogy to the Book of Generations, a hypothetical document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source. Biblical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilinial and patrilinial descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses, jochebeds efforts to save the baby Moses are recounted, along with the parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush and the Ten Commandments. Stories of unusual events during the pregnancy of Aminah, mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, are compared with the experiences of Jochebed when she was carrying Moses. The significance of this comparison is understood to spring from the affinity of Arabic folklore for Hebrew traditions, the Ten Commandments calls her Yoshebel
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Cook, Stanley Arthur (1911). "Aaron". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). p. 4.
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