1.
Benjamin West
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Benjamin West PRA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence and the Seven Years War. He was the president of the Royal Academy in London. He was offered a knighthood by the British Crown, but declined it and he said that Art is the representation of human beauty, ideally perfect in design, graceful and noble in attitude. West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in a house that is now in the borough of Swarthmore on the campus of Swarthmore College, as the child of an innkeeper. The family later moved to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where his father was the proprietor of the Square Tavern, Benjamin West was an autodidact, while excelling at the arts, he had little education and, even when president of the Royal Academy, could scarcely spell. From 1746 to 1759, West worked in Pennsylvania, mostly painting portraits, while West was in Lancaster in 1756, his patron, a gunsmith named William Henry, encouraged him to paint a Death of Socrates based on an engraving in Charles Rollins Ancient History. His resulting composition, which differs from the source, has been called the most ambitious. During this time West met John Wollaston, a painter who had immigrated from London. West was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, whose portrait he painted. Franklin was the godfather of Wests second son, Benjamin, in common with many artists architects and lovers of the fine arts at that time he conducted a Grand Tour. West expanded his repertoire by copying works of Italian painters such as Titian, in Rome he met a number of international neo-classical artists including German-born Anton Rafael Mengs, Scottish Gavin Hamilton, and Austrian Angelica Kauffman. In August 1763, West arrived in England, on what he intended as a visit on his way back to America. In fact, he never returned to America and he stayed for a month at Bath with William Allen, who was also in the country, and visited his half-brother Thomas West at Reading at the urging of his father. In London he was introduced to Richard Wilson and his student Joshua Reynolds and he moved into a house in Bedford Street, Covent Garden. In 1765 he married Elizabeth Shewell, an American to whom he engaged in Philadelphia. All three prelates commissioned work from him, in 1766 West proposed a scheme to decorate St Pauls Cathedral with paintings. It was rejected by the Bishop of London, but his idea of painting an altarpiece for St Stephen Walbrook was accepted, at around this time he also received acclaim for his classical subjects, such as Orestes and Pylades and The Continence of Scipio. Benjamin West was known in England as the American Raphael and his Raphaelesque painting of Archangel Michael Binding the Devil is in the collection of Trinity College, Cambridge
2.
Religion
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Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has considered a source of religious beliefs. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, about 84% of the worlds population is affiliated with one of the five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. With the onset of the modernisation of and the revolution in the western world. The religiously unaffiliated demographic include those who do not identify with any religion, atheists. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs, about 16% of the worlds population is religiously unaffiliated. The study of religion encompasses a variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, Religion is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure. One possible interpretation traced to Cicero, connects lego read, i. e. re with lego in the sense of choose, go over again or consider carefully. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders, we hear of the religion of the Golden Fleece, of a knight of the religion of Avys. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religio was understood as a virtue of worship, never as doctrine, practice. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Some languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities
3.
Divinity
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Such things are regarded as divine due to their transcendental origins or because their attributes or qualities are superior or supreme relative to things of the Earth. Divine things are regarded as eternal and based in truth, while things are regarded as ephemeral. Such things that may qualify as divine are apparitions, visions, prophecies, miracles, and in some also the soul, or more general things like resurrection, immortality, grace. Otherwise what is or is not divine may be loosely defined, the root of the word divine is literally godly, but the use varies significantly depending on which deity is being discussed. This article outlines the major distinctions in the use of the terms. For specific related academic terms, see Divinity, or Divine, for instance, Jehovah is closely associated with storms and thunder throughout much of the Old Testament. He is said to speak in thunder, and thunder is seen as a token of his anger and this power was then extended to prophets like Moses and Samuel, who caused thunderous storms to rain down on their enemies. Divinity always carries connotations of goodness, beauty, beneficence, justice, pantheistic and polytheistic faiths make no such distinction, gods and other beings of transcendent power often have complex, ignoble, or even irrational motivations for their acts. Note that while the demon and demonic are used in monotheistic faiths as antonyms to divine, they are in fact derived from the Greek word daimón. There are three distinct usages of divinity and divine in religious discourse, In monotheistic faiths, the divinity is often used to refer to the singular God central to that faith. Often the word takes the article and is capitalized — the Divinity — as though it were a proper name or definitive honorific. Divine — capitalized — may be used as an adjective to refer to the manifestations of such a Divinity or its powers and this leads to the second usage of the word divine, to refer to the operation of transcendent power in the world. In its most direct form, the operation of transcendent power implies some form of divine intervention, for pan- and polytheistic faiths this usually implies the direct action of one god or another on the course of human events. In monotheistic religions, divine intervention may take very direct forms, miracles, visions, transcendent force or power may also operate through more subtle and indirect paths. Monotheistic faiths generally support some version of divine providence, which acknowledges that the divinity of the faith has a profound but unknowable plan always unfolding in the world. Unforeseeable, overwhelming, or seemingly unjust events are often thrown on the will of the Divine, in deferences like the Muslim inshallah, in the third usage, extensions of divinity and divine power are credited to living, mortal individuals. More commonly, and more pertinent to recent history, leaders merely claim some form of divine mandate, in Greek mythology, Achilles mother bathed him in the river Styx to give him immortality, and Hercules — as the son of Zeus — inherited near-godly powers. In religious Taoism, Lao Tsu is venerated as a saint with his own powers, various individuals in the Buddhist faith, beginning with Siddhartha, are considered to be enlightened, and in religious forms of Buddhism they are credited with divine powers
4.
Prophecy
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Prophecy is not limited to any one culture. It is a property to all known ancient societies around the world. Many systems and rules about prophecy have been proposed over several millennia, the related meaning thing spoken or written by a prophet dates from c. 1300, while the verb to prophesy is recorded by 1377, the former closely relates to the definition by Al-Fârâbî who developed the theory of prophecy in Islam. According to Western esotericist Rosemary Guiley, clairvoyance has been used as an adjunct to divination, prophecy, Modern research in prophecy is a pseudoscience. In general, a diviners foretelling or a prophetic prediction of the future does not adhere to the scientific method, from a skeptical point of view, there is a Latin maxim, prophecy written after the fact vaticinium ex eventu. The Jewish Torah already deals with the topic of the false prophet, the Haedong Kosung-jon records that King Beopheung of Silla had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheungs Grand Secretary, Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal, Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhisms power. Ichadons scheme went as planned, and the officials took the bait. The omen was accepted by the court officials as a manifestation of heavens approval. In ancient Chinese, prophetic texts are known as Chen, the most famous Chinese prophecy is the Tui bei tu The New Testament refers to prophecy as one of the spiritual gifts given by the indwelling Holy Spirit. From this, many Christians believe that the gift of prophecy is the ability to receive. The purpose of the message may be to edify, exhort and comfort the members of the Church, in this context, not all prophecies contain predictions about the future. The Apostle Paul teaches in First Corinthians that prophecy is for the benefit of the whole Church, a recognized form of Christian prophecy is the prophetic drama which Frederick Dillistone describes as a metaphorical conjunction between present situations and future events. The gift of prophecy was acknowledged in the Church after the death of the apostles, in his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr argued that prophets were no longer among Israel but were in the Church. The Shepherd of Hermas, written around the mid-2nd century - John A. T. Robinson dates it before 85 AD, irenaeus confirms the existence of such spiritual gifts in his Against Heresies
5.
Divination
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Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Divination can be seen as a method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed. Fortune-telling, on the hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and religion, divination is dismissed by the scientific community and skeptics as being superstition. Psychologist Julian Jaynes categorized divination into the four types, Omens. Chinese history offers scrupulously documented occurrences of births, the tracking of natural phenomena. Chinese governmental planning relied on this method of forecasting for long-range strategies and it is not unreasonable to assume that modern scientific inquiry began with this kind of divination, Joseph Needhams work considered this very idea. This consists of the casting of lots, or sortes, whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, coins, modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination. This ranks a set of given possibilities and it can be qualitative, for example, dowsing developed from this type of divination. The Romans, in times, used Etruscan methods of augury such as hepatoscopy. Augury is normally considered to refer to divination by studying the flight patterns of birds. An unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, the answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear. Some religions use a form of bibliomancy, they ask a question, riffle the pages of their holy book, other forms of spontaneous divination include reading auras and New Age methods of feng shui such as intuitive and fuzion. In this practice, the examines the hands of a person for whom they are divining for indications of their future. The Oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis was made famous when Alexander the Great visited it after delivering Egypt from Persian rule in 332 BC, deuteronomy 18, 10-12 or Leviticus 19,26 can be interpreted as categorically forbidding divination. However, some would claim that divination is indeed practiced in the Bible, such as in Exodus 28, communicating with God through prayer is not the same as divination, though both are open, typically two-way conversations with God. Both oracles and seers in ancient Greece practiced divination, oracles were the conduits for the gods on earth, their prophecies were understood to be the will of the gods verbatim. Because of the demand for oracle consultations and the oracles’ limited work schedule
6.
Augury
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Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed flight of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, augur and auspices are from the Latin auspicium and auspex, literally one who looks at birds. Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable, sometimes bribed or politically motivated augures would fabricate unfavorable auspices in order to delay certain state functions, such as elections. Pliny the Elder attributes the invention of auspicy to Tiresias the seer of Thebes, plato notes that hepatoscopy held greater prestige than augury by means of birds. One of the most famous auspices is the one which is connected with the founding of Rome, once the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, arrived at the Palatine Hill, the two argued over where the exact position of the city should be. Romulus was set on building the city upon the Palatine, but Remus wanted to build the city on the strategic, the two agreed to settle their argument by testing their abilities as augures and by the will of the gods. Each took a seat on the ground apart from one another, according to unanimous testimony from ancient sources the use of auspices as a means to decipher the will of the gods was more ancient than Rome itself. The use of the word is associated with Latins as well as the earliest Roman citizens. Stoics, for instance, maintained that if there are gods, they care for men, in ancient Rome, the appointment and inauguration of any magistrate, decisions made within the people’s assembly and the advancement of any campaign always required a positive auspicium. Unlike in Greece where oracles played the role of messenger of the gods, Auspices showed Romans what they were to do, or not to do, giving no explanation for the decision made except that it was the will of the gods. It would be difficult to execute any public act without consulting the auspices, elections, the passing of laws, and initiation of wars were all put on hold until the people were assured the gods agreed with their actions. The men who interpreted these signs, revealing the will of the gods were called augures, the magistrates were also expected to understand the basic interpretations as they were often expected to take the auspices whenever they undertook any public business. Until 300 BC only patricians could become augures, plebeian assemblies were forbidden to take augury and hence had no input as to whether a certain law, war or festival should occur. Cicero, an augur himself, accounts how the monopoly of the created a useful barrier to the encroachment of the populares. With this new power it was not only possible for plebeians to determine the gods will in their favor, there were five different types of auspices. Of these, the last three formed no part of the ancient auspices, ex caelo This auspice involved the observation of thunder and lightning and was often seen as the most important auspice. Whenever an augur reported that Jupiter had sent down thunder and lightning, ex avibus Though auspices were typically bird signs, not all birds in the sky were seen as symbols of the will of the Gods. There were two classes of birds, Oscines, who gave auspices via their singing, and Alites, the Oscines included ravens, crows, owls and hens, each offering either a favorable omen or an unfavorable depending on which side of the Augurs designated area they appeared on
7.
Neviim
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Neviim is the second main division of the Hebrew Bible, between the Torah and Ketuvim. The Neviim are divided into two groups, the Former Prophets consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, while the Latter Prophets include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and The Twelve minor prophets. In Judaism, Samuel and Kings are each counted as one book, in addition, twelve relatively short prophetic books are counted as one in a single collection called Trei Asar or The Twelve Minor Prophets. The Jewish tradition thus counts a total of eight books in Neviim out of a total of 24 books in the entire Tanakh, the Book of Daniel is part of the Writings, or Ketuvim, in the Tanakh. The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, after Moses death, Joshua, by virtue of his previous appointment as Moses successor, receives from God the command to cross the Jordan. The book essentially consists of three parts, The history of the conquest of the land, the allotment of the land to the different tribes, with the appointment of cities of refuge, the provision for the Levites, and the dismissal of the eastern tribes to their homes. The farewell addresses of Joshua, with an account of his death, the Book of Judges consists of three distinct parts, The Introduction giving a summary of the book of Joshua. The Main Text, discussing the five Great Judges, Abimelech, the Appendices, giving two stories set in the time of the Judges, but not discussing the Judges themselves. The Books of Samuel consists of five parts, The period of Gods rejection of Eli, Samuels birth, the period of the life of Saul prior to meeting David. The period of Sauls interaction with David, the period of Davids reign and the rebellions he suffers. An appendix of material concerning David in no order. A conclusion of sorts appears at 1 Kings 1-2, concerning Solomon enacting a final revenge on those who did what David perceived as wrongdoing, the Latter Prophets are divided into two groups, the Major prophets and the Twelve Minor Prophets collected into a single book. The 66 chapters of Isaiah consist primarily of prophecies of the judgments awaiting nations that are persecuting Judah and these nations include Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria, Israel, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, and Phoenicia. Chapter 6 describes Isaiahs call to be a prophet of God, Chapters 36–39 provide historical material about King Hezekiah and his triumph of faith in God. This section is seen by Jews as describing an actual king, a descendant of their king, David. The prophecy continues with some scholars have called The Book of Comfort which begins in chapter 40. In chapter 45,1 the Persian ruler Cyrus is named as the messiah who will overthrow the Babylonians, the remaining chapters of the book contain prophecies of the future glory of Zion under the rule of a righteous servant. The Book of Jeremiah can be divided into subsections
8.
Social justice
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Social justice is the fair and just relation between the individual and society. This is measured by the explicit and tacit terms for the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity, in the current global grassroots movements for social justice, the emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers for social mobility, the creation of safety nets and economic justice. Social justice assigns rights and duties in the institutions of society, while the concept of social justice can be traced through the theology of Augustine of Hippo and the philosophy of Thomas Paine, the term social justice became used explicitly from the 1840s. A Jesuit priest named Luigi Taparelli is typically credited with coining the term, in the late industrial revolution, progressive American legal scholars began to use the term more, particularly Louis Brandeis and Roscoe Pound. In the later 20th century, social justice was made central to the philosophy of the social contract, in 1993, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action treats social justice as a purpose of the human rights education. The different concepts of justice, as discussed in ancient Western philosophy, were centered upon the community. Plato wrote in The Republic that it would be a state that every member of the community must be assigned to the class for which he finds himself best fitted. In an article for J. N. V University, author D. R, bhandari says, Justice is, for Plato, at once a part of human virtue and the bond, which joins man together in society. It is the quality that makes good and social. Justice is an order and duty of the parts of the soul, Plato says that justice is not mere strength, but it is a harmonious strength. Justice is not the right of the stronger but the harmony of the whole. All moral conceptions revolve about the good of the whole-individual as well as social, reflecting this time when slavery and subjugation of women was typical, ancient views of justice tended to reflect the rigid class systems that still prevailed. On the other hand, for the groups, strong concepts of fairness. Distributive justice was said by Aristotle to require that people were distributed goods, socrates is attributed with developing the idea of a social contract, whereby people ought to follow the rules of a society, and accept its burdens because they have accepted its benefits. After the Renaissance and Reformation, the concept of social justice, as developing human potential. The chief good is that he should arrive, together with other individuals if possible, all that extent of capacity which never fails to appear in revolutions. This is the highest abstract standard of social and distributive justice, towards which all institutions, and the efforts of all virtuous citizens, should be made in the utmost degree to converge. In the later 19th and early 20th century, social justice became an important theme in American political and legal philosophy, particularly in the work of John Dewey, Roscoe Pound, from this point, the discussion of social justice entered into mainstream legal and academic discourse
9.
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
10.
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
11.
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
12.
Ancient Greek philosophy
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Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC and continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Ancient Greece was part of the Roman Empire. Philosophy was used to sense out of the world in a non-religious way. It dealt with a variety of subjects, including political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, ontology, logic, biology, rhetoric. Many philosophers around the world agree that Greek philosophy has influenced much of Western culture since its inception, alfred North Whitehead once noted, The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. Clear, unbroken lines of lead from ancient Greek and Hellenistic philosophers to Early Islamic philosophy, the European Renaissance. Some claim that Greek philosophy, in turn, was influenced by the wisdom literature. But they taught themselves to reason, Philosophy as we understand it is a Greek creation. Subsequent philosophic tradition was so influenced by Socrates as presented by Plato that it is conventional to refer to philosophy developed prior to Socrates as pre-Socratic philosophy. The periods following this, up to and after the wars of Alexander the Great, are those of classical Greek, the pre-Socratics were primarily concerned with cosmology, ontology and mathematics. They were distinguished from non-philosophers insofar as they rejected mythological explanations in favor of reasoned discourse, Thales of Miletus, regarded by Aristotle as the first philosopher, held that all things arise from water. It is not because he gave a cosmogony that John Burnet calls him the first man of science, according to tradition, Thales was able to predict an eclipse and taught the Egyptians how to measure the height of the pyramids. He began from the observation that the world seems to consist of opposites, therefore, they cannot truly be opposites but rather must both be manifestations of some underlying unity that is neither. This underlying unity could not be any of the classical elements, for example, water is wet, the opposite of dry, while fire is dry, the opposite of wet. Anaximenes in turn held that the arche was air, although John Burnet argues that by this he meant that it was a transparent mist, the aether. Xenophanes was born in Ionia, where the Milesian school was at its most powerful, Burnet says that Xenophanes was not, however, a scientific man, with many of his naturalistic explanations having no further support than that they render the Homeric gods superfluous or foolish. He has been claimed as an influence on Eleatic philosophy, although that is disputed, and a precursor to Epicurus, a representative of a total break between science and religion. Pythagoras lived at roughly the time that Xenophanes did and, in contrast to the latter. Parmenides of Elea cast his philosophy against those who held it is and is not the same, and all travel in opposite directions, —presumably referring to Heraclitus
13.
Zoroastrianism
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Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster, it exalts a deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda, as its Supreme Being. Zoroastrianism was suppressed from the 7th century onwards following the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633-654, recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians at around 2.6 million, with most living in India and in Iran. Besides the Zoroastrian diaspora, the older Mithraic faith Yazdânism is still practised amongst Kurds, the religious philosophy of Zoroaster divided the early Iranian gods of Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition. The most important texts of the religion are those of the Avesta, in Zoroastrianism, the creator Ahura Mazda, through the Spenta Mainyu is an all-good father of Asha, in opposition to Druj and no evil originates from him. He and his works are evident to humanity through the six primary Amesha Spentas, Spenta Mainyu adjoined unto truth oppose the Spirits opposite, Angra Mainyu and its forces born of Akəm Manah. In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to be among those who renew the world. to make the progress towards perfection. Its basic maxims include, Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta, which mean, Good Thoughts, Good Words, there is only one path and that is the path of Truth. Do the right thing because it is the thing to do. The full name by which Zoroaster addressed the deity is, Ahura, The Lord Creator and he proclaimed that there is only one God, the singularly creative and sustaining force of the Universe. He also stated that human beings are given a right of choice, Zoroasters teachings focused on responsibility, and did not introduce a devil per se. The contesting force to Ahura Mazda was called Angra Mainyu, or angry spirit, post-Zoroastrian scripture introduced the concept of Ahriman, the Devil, which was effectively a personification of Angra Mainyu. The name Zoroaster is a Greek rendering of the name Zarathustra and he is known as Zartosht and Zardosht in Persian and Zaratosht in Gujarati. The Zoroastrian name of the religion is Mazdayasna, which combines Mazda- with the Avestan language word yasna, meaning worship, in English, an adherent of the faith is commonly called a Zoroastrian or a Zarathustrian. An older expression still used today is Behdin, meaning The best Religion | Beh < Middle Persian Weh + Din < Middle Persian dēn < Avestan Daēnā. In Zoroastrian liturgy the term is used as a title for an individual who has formally inducted into the religion in a Navjote ceremony. The term Mazdaism /ˈmæzdə. ɪzəm/ is a typical 19th century construct, taking Mazda- from the name Ahura Mazda, the March 2001 draft edition of the Oxford English Dictionary also records an alternate form, Mazdeism, perhaps derived from the French Mazdéisme, which first appeared in 1871. In older English sources, the terms Gheber and Gueber were used to refer to Zoroastrians, however, Zoroastrian philosophy is identified as having been known to Italian Renaissance Europe through an image of Zoroaster in Raphaels School of Athens by Giorgio Vasari in 1550. The Oxford English Dictionary records use of the term Zoroastrianism in 1874 in Archibald Sayces Principles of Comparative Philology, Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, supreme god, Ahura Mazda, or the Wise Lord
14.
Manichaeism
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Manichaeism was a major religious movement that was founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism taught a dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process which takes place in history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light. Its beliefs were based on local Mesopotamian gnostic and religious movements, Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through the Aramaic-Syriac speaking regions. It thrived between the third and seventh centuries, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world, Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as China and as far west as the Roman Empire. It was briefly the main rival to Christianity in the competition to replace classical paganism, while most of Manichaeisms original writings have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived. An adherent of Manichaeism is called, especially in older sources, Mani, an Arsacid Persian by birth, was born 216 AD in Mesopotamia, which was ruled by Persia, then within the Sassanid Empire province of Asuristan. According to the Cologne Mani-Codex, Manis parents were members of the Jewish Christian Gnostic sect known as the Elcesaites, Mani composed seven writings, six of which were written in Syriac Aramaic. The seventh, the Shabuhragan, was written by Mani in Middle Persian and presented by him to the contemporary King of Sassanid Persia, Shapur I, in the Persian capital of Ctesiphon. Although there is no proof Shapur I was a Manichaean, he tolerated the spread of Manichaeism, while Manichaeism was spreading, existing religions such as Zoroastrianism were still popular and Christianity was gaining social and political influence. Although having fewer adherents, Manichaeism won the support of many high-ranking political figures, with the assistance of the Persian Empire, Mani began missionary expeditions. The date of his death is estimated at AD 276–277, Mani believed that the teachings of Buddha, Zoroaster, and Jesus were incomplete, and that his revelations were for the entire world, calling his teachings the Religion of Light. Manichaean writings indicate that Mani received revelations when he was 12 and again when he was 24, with the discovery of the Mani-Codex, it also became clear that he was raised in a Jewish-Christian baptism sect, the Elcesaites, and was influenced by their writings as well. It taught him truths which he developed into a religion and his divine Twin or true Self brought Mani to self-realization. He claimed to be the Paraclete of the Truth, as promised in the New Testament, Manichaeisms views on Jesus are described by historians, Jesus in Manichaeism possessed three separate identities, Jesus the Luminous, Jesus the Messiah and Jesus patibilis. Jesus the Messiah was a historical being who was the prophet of the Jews, however, the Manichaeans believed he was wholly divine. He never experienced human birth as notions of physical conception and birth filled the Manichaeans with horror, since he was the light of the world, where was this light, they asked, when he was in the womb of the Virgin. Jesus the Messiah was truly born at his baptism as it was on occasion that the Father openly acknowledged his sonship
15.
Nevi'im
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Neviim is the second main division of the Hebrew Bible, between the Torah and Ketuvim. The Neviim are divided into two groups, the Former Prophets consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, while the Latter Prophets include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and The Twelve minor prophets. In Judaism, Samuel and Kings are each counted as one book, in addition, twelve relatively short prophetic books are counted as one in a single collection called Trei Asar or The Twelve Minor Prophets. The Jewish tradition thus counts a total of eight books in Neviim out of a total of 24 books in the entire Tanakh, the Book of Daniel is part of the Writings, or Ketuvim, in the Tanakh. The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, after Moses death, Joshua, by virtue of his previous appointment as Moses successor, receives from God the command to cross the Jordan. The book essentially consists of three parts, The history of the conquest of the land, the allotment of the land to the different tribes, with the appointment of cities of refuge, the provision for the Levites, and the dismissal of the eastern tribes to their homes. The farewell addresses of Joshua, with an account of his death, the Book of Judges consists of three distinct parts, The Introduction giving a summary of the book of Joshua. The Main Text, discussing the five Great Judges, Abimelech, the Appendices, giving two stories set in the time of the Judges, but not discussing the Judges themselves. The Books of Samuel consists of five parts, The period of Gods rejection of Eli, Samuels birth, the period of the life of Saul prior to meeting David. The period of Sauls interaction with David, the period of Davids reign and the rebellions he suffers. An appendix of material concerning David in no order. A conclusion of sorts appears at 1 Kings 1-2, concerning Solomon enacting a final revenge on those who did what David perceived as wrongdoing, the Latter Prophets are divided into two groups, the Major prophets and the Twelve Minor Prophets collected into a single book. The 66 chapters of Isaiah consist primarily of prophecies of the judgments awaiting nations that are persecuting Judah and these nations include Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria, Israel, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, and Phoenicia. Chapter 6 describes Isaiahs call to be a prophet of God, Chapters 36–39 provide historical material about King Hezekiah and his triumph of faith in God. This section is seen by Jews as describing an actual king, a descendant of their king, David. The prophecy continues with some scholars have called The Book of Comfort which begins in chapter 40. In chapter 45,1 the Persian ruler Cyrus is named as the messiah who will overthrow the Babylonians, the remaining chapters of the book contain prophecies of the future glory of Zion under the rule of a righteous servant. The Book of Jeremiah can be divided into subsections
16.
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
17.
Hebrew Bible
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They are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The term does not comment upon the naming, numbering or ordering of books, the term Hebrew Bible is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents but avoid allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. Hebrew Bible refers to the Jewish biblical canon, in its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text. Many biblical studies scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible as a substitute to terms with religious connotations. Hebrew Bible Old Testament without prescribing the use of either, however, he accepts that there is no reason why non-Christians should feel obliged to refer to these books as the Old Testament, apart from custom of use. Modern Christian formulations of this tension include Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, New Covenant Theology, Dispensationalism, in terms of canon, Christian usage of Old Testament does not refer to a universally agreed upon set of books but, rather, varies depending on denomination. The Hebrew Bible includes small portions in Aramaic, written and printed in Aramaic square-script, the books that constitute the Hebrew Bible developed over roughly a millennium. The oldest texts seem to come from the 11th or 10th centuries BCE and they are edited works, being collections of various sources intricately and carefully woven together. Since the 19th century, most biblical scholars have agreed that the Pentateuch consists of four sources which have been woven together and these four sources are J, D, E and P sources. They were combined to form the Pentateuch sometime in the 6th century BCE and this theory is now known as the documentary hypothesis, and has been the dominant theory for the past two hundred years. The Deuteronomist credited with the Pentateuchs book of Deuteronomy is also said to be the source of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, several editions, all titled Biblia Hebraica, have been produced by various German publishers since 1906. Between 1906 and 1955, Rudolf Kittel published nine editions of it,1966, the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft published the renamed Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in six editions until 1997. Since 2004 the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft has published the Biblia Hebraica Quinta, other projects include, Hebrew University Bible Project Hebrew Bible, A Critical Edition Biblical canon Books of the Bible Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible Torah Brueggemann, Walter. An introduction to the Old Testament, the canon and Christian imagination, the People of Ancient Israel, an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row,1974. Sinai and Zion, An Entry into the Jewish Bible, archived from the original on 14 March 2012. The Ancient Near East, Volume I, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. An abridgement of Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Noth, how the Bible Became a Book. The Old Testament, A Literary History, hebrew-English Tanakh, the Jewish Bible Complete, fully vocalized, contilated, Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, together with the classic English translation by the Jewish Publication Society
18.
Book of Deuteronomy
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The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Torah and the Christian Old Testament. The Hebrew title is taken from the opening phrase Eleh ha-devarim, the English title is from a Greek mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase mishneh haTorah hazoth, a copy of this law, in Deuteronomy 17,18, as to deuteronomion touto – this second law. The book consists of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land. Many scholars see the book as reflecting the needs and social status of the Levite caste. One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6,4, the Shema Yisrael, which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity, Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Verses 6, 4–5 were also quoted by Jesus in Mark 12, Patrick D. Miller in his commentary on Deuteronomy suggests that different views of the structure of the book will lead to different views on what it is about. Chapters 1–4, The journey through the wilderness from Horeb to Kadesh, chapters 4–11, After a second introduction at 4, 44–49 the events at Mount Horeb are recalled, with the giving of the Ten Commandments. Chapters 12–26, the Deuteronomic code, Laws governing Israels worship, the appointment and regulation of community and religious leaders, social regulation, chapters 27–28, Blessings and curses for those who keep and break the law. Chapters 29–30, Concluding discourse on the covenant in the land of Moab, including all the laws in the Deuteronomic code after those given at Horeb, Israel is again exhorted to obedience. Chapters 31–34, Joshua is installed as Mosess successor, Moses delivers the law to the Levites, and ascends Mount Nebo or Pisgah, the narrative of these events is interrupted by two poems, the Song of Moses and the Blessing of Moses. Deuteronomy 12–26, the Deuteronomic Code, is its oldest part of the book and it is a series of mitzvot to the Israelites regarding how they ought to conduct themselves in Canaan, the land promised by Yahweh, God of Israel. The following list organizes most of the laws into thematic groups, The worship of Canaanite gods is forbidden, native mourning practices such as deliberate disfigurement are forbidden. The worship at Asherah groves and setting up of ritual pillars are forbidden, all sacrifices are to be brought and vows are to be made at a central sanctuary. Sacrificed animals must be without blemish, first-born male livestock must be sacrificed. The procedure for tithing produce or donating its equivalent is given, the Pilgrimage Festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot are instituted. A catalog of which animals are permitted and which forbidden for consumption is given, the consumption of animals which are found dead and have not been slaughtered is prohibited. Judges are to be appointed in every city, judges are to be impartial and bribery is forbidden. Should the Israelites choose to be ruled by a King, regulations for the office are given, Regulations of the rights, and revenue, of the Levites are given
19.
God
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In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith. The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, divine simplicity, many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent and all loving. Furthermore, some religions attribute only a purely grammatical gender to God, incorporeity and corporeity of God are related to conceptions of transcendence and immanence of God, with positions of synthesis such as the immanent transcendence of Chinese theology. God has been conceived as personal or impersonal. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, in pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism, God has also been conceived as the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable existent. Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God, there are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about Gods identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten, premised on being the one true Supreme Being and creator of the universe. In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, He Who Is, I Am that I Am, in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, in Islam, the name Allah is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a concept of God. In Chinese religion, God is conceived as the progenitor of the universe, intrinsic to it, other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Baháí Faith, Waheguru in Sikhism, and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism. The earliest written form of the Germanic word God comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus, the English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau-, in the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic God and gods in polytheism. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, in many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton. Allāh is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning The God, Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. Mazda, or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå and it is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means intelligence or wisdom. Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning placing ones mind, Waheguru is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God
20.
Nun (letter)
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Nun is the fourteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Nūn, Hebrew Nun נ, Aramaic Nun, Syriac Nūn ܢܢ, and Arabic Nūn ن. It is the letter in Thaana, pronounced as noonu. The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek nu, Etruscan, Latin N, Nun is believed to be derived from an Egyptian hieroglyph of a snake or eel. Some have hypothesized a hieroglyph of fish in water as its origin, naḥš in modern Arabic literally means bad luck. The cognate letter in Geez and descended Semitic languages of Ethiopia is nehas, Nūn is also used as the prefix for first-person plural imperfective/present tense verbs. Thus هُوَ يَكْتُب huwwa yaktub → نَحْنُ نَكْتُب naḥnu naktub, the Arabic letter nūn became associated with the spray-painting of nūn for Nasrani on the gateposts of Christian houses in Isis-held areas of Iraq. It is retroflex nasal consonantal sound symbol, used in spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɳ⟩, like all the retroflex consonants, the IPA symbol is formed by adding a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of an en. Saraiki uses the letter ⟨ݨ⟩ for /ɳ/ and it is a compound of nūn and rre. For example, کݨ مݨ، چھݨ چھݨ، ونڄݨ۔ After the fall of Mosul, ISIL demanded Assyrian Christians in the city to convert to Islam, pay tribute, ISIL begun marking homes of Christian residents with the letter nūn for Nassarah. Thousands of Christians, Yazidis and other, mostly Shia, Muslims abandoned their homes, some Christians changed their profile pictures on Facebook and Twitter to pictures of the letter ن as a symbol of support. The letter ن, in relation to social media campaign, is being called the Mark of the Nazarene from naṣrānī. The word naṣārā comes from Classical Arabic, the more common term used to refer to Christians in Modern Standard Arabic is masihi, whereas the Quranic naṣārā may now be used to mean foreigners of European origin regardless of religion. Hebrew spelling, נוּן Nun represents a nasal, like the English letter N. Nun, like Kaph, Mem, Pe. Its shape changes from נ to ן, there are also nine instances of an inverted nun in the Tanakh. In gematria, Nun represents the number 50 and its final form represents 700 but this is rarely used, Tav and Shin being used instead. As in Arabic, nun as an abbreviation can stand for neqevah, in medieval Rabbinic writings, Nun Sophit stood for Son of. Nun is also one of the seven letters which receive a special crown when written in a Sefer Torah, see Shin, Ayin, Teth, Gimmel, Zayin, and Tzadi
21.
Bet (letter)
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This letters name means house in various Semitic languages, and appears to derive from an Egyptian hieroglyph of a house by acrophony. The Phoenician letter gave rise to, among others, the Greek Beta, Latin B, the Arabic letter ب is named باء bāʾ. For /p/, it may be used interchangeably with the Persian letter پ - pe in this case, Hebrew spelling, בֵּית The Hebrew letter represents two different phonemes, a b sound and a v sound. The two are distinguished by a dot in the centre of the letter for /b/ and no dot for /v/ and it is also named beth, following the Tiberian Hebrew pronunciation, in academic circles. In modern Hebrew the frequency of the usage of bet, out of all the letters, is 4. 98%, when the Bet has a dot in its center, known as a dagesh, then it represents /b/. There are various rules in Hebrew grammar that stipulate when and why a dagesh is used, when this letter appears as ב without the dagesh in its center then it represents a voiced labiodental fricative, /v/. Bet in gematria symbolizes the number 2, as a prefix, the letter bet may function as a preposition meaning in, at, or with. Bet is the first letter of the Torah, as Bet is the number 2 in gematria, this is said to symbolize that there are two parts to Torah, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. In set theory, the numbers stand for powers of infinite sets. In the Syriac alphabet, the letter is ܒ — Beth. It is one of six letters that represents two associated sounds, when Beth has a hard pronunciation it is a. When Beth has a soft pronunciation it is pronounced as a. However, in dialects, the soft Beth is more often pronounced as a. Whether Beth should be pronounced as a hard or soft sound is determined by its context within a word. However, wherever it is traditionally geminate within a word, even in dialects that no longer distinguish double consonants, in the West Syriac dialect, some speakers always pronounce Beth with its hard sound. Beth, when attached to the beginning of a word, represents the preposition in, with, as a numeral, the letter represents the number 2, and, using various systems of dashes above or below, can stand for 2,000 and 20,000
22.
Aleph
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Aleph is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Ālep, Hebrew Ālef א, Aramaic Ālap
23.
Book of Genesis
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The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The basic narrative expresses the theme, God creates the world and appoints man as his regent. The new post-Flood world is also corrupt, God does not destroy it, instead calling one man, Abraham, to be the seed of its salvation. At Gods command Abraham descends from his home into the land of Canaan, given to him by God, Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus. The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, the books author or authors appear to have structured it around ten toledot sections, but modern commentators see it in terms of a primeval history followed by the cycle of Patriarchal stories. In Judaism, the importance of Genesis centers on the covenants linking God to his chosen people. It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, while the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book. The primeval history has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, God creates the world in six days and consecrates the seventh as a day of rest. God creates the first humans Adam and Eve and all the animals in the Garden of Eden but instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A talking serpent portrayed as a creature or trickster, entices Eve into eating it anyway. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel, Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abels offering but not Cains. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abels place, after many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by the sin of man and Nephilim, and God determines to wipe out mankind. First, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build a huge boat, then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises that he not destroy the world a second time with water with the rainbow as the symbol of his promise. But upon seeing mankind cooperating to build a great tower city, God instructs Abram to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. Abrams name is changed to Abraham and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah, because Sarah is old, she tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife. God resolves to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people, Abraham protests and gets God to agree not to destroy the cities if 10 righteous men can be found. Angels save Abrahams nephew Lot and his family, but his wife back on the destruction against their command and is turned into a pillar of salt
24.
Malachi
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Malachi, Malachias, Malache or Malachi was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim section in the Hebrew Bible. No allusion is made to him by Ezra, however, in the Christian Greek Old Testament, the Prophetic Books are placed last, making Book of Malachi the last protocanonical book before the Deuterocanonical books or The New Testament. According to the 1897 Eastons Bible Dictionary, it is possible that Malachi is not a proper name, the Greek Old Testament superscription is ἐν χειρὶ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ. Because Malachis name does not occur elsewhere in the Bible, some scholars indeed doubt whether Malachi is intended to be the name of the prophet. None of the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible or the Greek Old Testament are anonymous. The form malakhi, signifies my messenger, it occurs in Malachi 3,1, but this form of itself would hardly be appropriate as a proper name without some additional syllable such as Yah, whence malakhiah, i. e. messenger of Elohim. Haggai, in fact, is expressly designated messenger of Elohim, besides, the superscriptions prefixed to the book, in both the Septuagint and the Vulgate, warrant the supposition that Malachis full name ended with the syllable -yah. At the same time the Greek Old Testament translates the last clause of Malachi 1,1, by the hand of his messenger, and the Targum reads, by the hand of my angel, whose name is called Ezra the scribe. Certain traditions ascribe the book to Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, others, still, to Malachi, whom they designate as a Levite, certain modern scholars, however, on the basis of the similarity of the title, declare it to be anonymous. Cameron, suggests that the termination of the word Malachi is adjectival, the term would thus be an official title, and the thought would not be unsuitable to one whose message closed the prophetical canon of the Old Testament. The prophet speaks of the governor, as do Haggai. The social conditions portrayed appear to be those of the period of the Restoration, more specifically, Malachi probably lived and labored during the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. e. Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Easton. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Singer, Isidore. New York, Funk & Wagnalls Company, la Bible dAlexandrie, vol. xxiii/12, Éditions du Cerf, Paris,2011. Media related to Malachi at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Malachi at Wikiquote Prophet Malachi Orthodox icon and synaxarion
25.
Siena Cathedral
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Siena Cathedral is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Previously the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Siena, from the 15th century the Archdiocese of Siena, the cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome, the dome rises from a hexagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary citys founders, Senius and Aschius. The origins of the first structure are obscure and shrouded in legend, there was a 9th-century church with bishops palace at the present location. In December 1058 a synod was held in this resulting in the election of pope Nicholas II. In 1196 the cathedral masons’ guild, the Opera di Santa Maria, was put in charge of the construction of a new cathedral. Works were started with the north - south transept and it was planned to add the main, larger body of the cathedral later, by 1215 there were already daily masses said in the new church. There are records from 1226 onwards of the transport of black and white marble, probably for the construction of the façade, the vaults and the transept were constructed in 1259-1260. In 1259 Manuello di Ranieri and his son Parri carved some wooden choir stalls, in 1264, Rosso Padellaio was paid for the copper sphere on top of the dome. A second massive addition of the body of the cathedral was planned in 1339. It would have more than doubled the size of the structure by means of a new nave. The construction was begun under the direction of Giovanni di Agostino, construction was halted by the Black Death in 1348. Basic errors in the construction were already evident by then, however, the outer walls, remains of this extension, can now be seen to the south of the Duomo. The floor of the nave now serves as a parking lot and museum, and, though unfinished, the remains are testament to Sienese power, ambition. Underneath the choir of the Duomo, a narthex containing important late 13th-century frescoes was found, the frescoes depict scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ. This was part of the entrance of an earlier church, but when the baptistry was built, this under-church was filled with rubble
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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
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Jews
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The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד Yid, ייִדן, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group
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Jeremiah
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Jeremiah, also called the Weeping prophet, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Greater detail is known about Jeremiahs life than for that of any other prophet, however, no biography of him can be written, as there are few facts available. Judaism considers the Book of Jeremiah part of its canon, christianity also regards Jeremiah as a prophet and he is quoted in the New Testament. Islam also considers Jeremiah a prophet, and his narrative is given in Islamic tradition, Jeremiahs ministry was active from the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah, until after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomons Temple in 3358 AM or 587 BC. This period spanned the reigns of five kings of Judah, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, the Hebrew-language chronology Seder HaDoroth gives Jeremiahs final year of prophecy to be 3350 AM or 595BC, whereby he transmitted his teachings to Baruch ben Neriah. Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, a kohen from the Benjamite village of Anathoth, the difficulties he encountered, as described in the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, have prompted scholars to refer to him as the weeping prophet. Jeremiah was called to prophetic ministry c.626 BC, Jeremiah was called by YHWH to give prophesy of Jerusalems destruction that would occur by invaders from the north. This was because Israel had been unfaithful to the laws of the covenant and had forsaken God by worshiping Baal, the people of Israel had even gone as far as building high altars to Baal in order to burn their children in fire as offerings. This nation had deviated so far from God that they had broken the covenant, Jeremiah was guided by God to proclaim that the nation of Judah would be faced with famine, plundered and taken captive by foreigners who would exile them to a foreign land. The prophetess, Huldah, was a relative and contemporary of Jeremiah while the prophets Zephaniah and Isaiah were his mentors, such was the lust of the nation for false gods that after Josiahs death, the nation would quickly return to the gods of the surrounding nations. Jeremiah was said to have appointed to reveal the sins of the people. Jeremiah resisted the call by complaining that he was only a child, however, the Lord insisted that Jeremiah go and speak, and he touched Jeremiahs mouth to place the word of the Lord there. God told Jeremiah to Get yourself ready, the character traits and practices Jeremiah was to acquire are specified in Jeremiah 1 and include not being afraid, standing up to speak, speaking as told, and going where sent. In his early ministry, Jeremiah was primarily a preaching prophet and he condemned idolatry, the greed of priests, and false prophets. Many years later, God instructed Jeremiah to write down these early oracles, Jeremiahs ministry prompted plots against him. Unhappy with Jeremiahs message, possibly for concern that it would shut down the Anathoth sanctuary, his priestly kin, however, the Lord revealed the conspiracy to Jeremiah, protected his life, and declared disaster for the men of Anathoth. When Jeremiah complains to the Lord about this persecution, he is told that the attacks on him will become worse. A priest Pashur the son of ben Immer, an official in Jerusalem had Jeremiah beaten
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Gehenna
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Gehenna, from the Hebrew Gehinnom, is a small valley in Jerusalem and the Jewish and Christian analogue of hell. The terms are derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, the Valley of Hinnom is the modern name for the valley surrounding Jerusalems Old City, including Mount Zion, from the west and south. It meets and merges with the Kidron Valley, the principal valley around the Old City. In the Hebrew Bible, Gehenna was initially where some of the kings of Judah sacrificed their children by fire, thereafter it was deemed to be cursed. In Jewish Rabbinic literature, and Christian and Islamic scripture, Gehenna is a destination of the wicked and this is different from the more neutral Sheol/Hades, the abode of the dead, although the King James Version of the Bible usually translates both with the Anglo-Saxon word Hell. In the King James Version of the Bible, the term appears 13 times in 11 different verses as Valley of Hinnom, Valley of the son of Hinnom or Valley of the children of Hinnom. English Gehenna represents the Greek Geenna found in the New Testament and this was known in the Old Testament as Gei Ben-Hinnom, literally the Valley of the son of Hinnom, and in the Talmud as גהנם Gehinnam or גהנום Gehinnom. Joshua is describing the boundaries of the tribe of Judah and this reference in the Book of Joshua is the first mention in the Old Testament of this Valley of the Sons of Hinnom. This valley, as Keil and Delitzsch note, is on the side of the Jebusite town. In the Quran, Jahannam is a place of torment for sinners and non-believers, the exact location of the Valley of Hinnom is disputed. Older commentaries give the location as below the wall of ancient Jerusalem. Smith, Dalman, Bailey and Watson identify the Wadi ar-Rababi, according to Joshua, the valley began at En-rogel. If the modern Bir Ayyub is En-rogel, then Wadi ar-Rababi, the oldest historical reference to the valley is found in Joshua 15,8,18,16 which describe tribal boundaries. The next chronological reference to the valley is at the time of King Ahaz of Judah who sacrificed his sons according to 2 Chron. Since his legitimate son by the daughter of the High Priest Hezekiah succeeded him as king, the same is recorded of Ahaz grandson Manasseh in 33,6. There remains debate about whether the cause his children to pass through the fire meant a religious ceremony or literally child sacrifice. In the reign of Josiah a call came from Jeremiah to destroy the shrines in Topheth and to end the practice Jeremiah 7 and it is recorded that King Josiah destroyed the shrine of Molech on Topheth, to prevent anyone sacrificing children there in 2 Kings 23,10. Despite Josiahs ending of the practice, Jeremiah also included a prophecy that Jerusalem itself would be made like Gehenna, a final purely geographical reference is found in Neh.11,30 to the exiles returning from Babylon camping from Beersheba to Hinnom
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Kingdom of Judah
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The Kingdom of Judah was an Iron Age kingdom of the Southern Levant. The Hebrew Bible depicts it as the successor to a United Monarchy, in the 10th and early 9th centuries BCE the territory of Judah appears to have been sparsely populated, limited to small rural settlements, most of them unfortified. Significant academic debate exists around the character of the Kingdom of Judah, archaeologists of the minimalist school doubt the extent of the Kingdom of Judah as depicted in the Bible. Around 1990–2010, an important group of archaeologists and biblical scholars formed the view that the actual Kingdom of Judah bore little resemblance to the portrait of a powerful monarchy. These scholars say the kingdom was no more than a tribal entity. Other archaeologists say that the identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa as an Israelite settlement is uncertain, the status of Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE is a major subject of debate. The oldest part of Jerusalem and its urban core is the City of David. However, unique structures such as the Stepped Stone Structure and the Large Stone Structure. According to the Hebrew Bible, the kingdom of Judah resulted from the break-up of the United kingdom of Israel after the tribes refused to accept Rehoboam. At first, only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David, the two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north, coexisted uneasily after the split until the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in c. 722/721. The major theme of the Hebrew Bibles narrative is the loyalty of Judah, and especially its kings, to Yahweh, which it states is the God of Israel. Accordingly, all the kings of Israel and almost all the kings of Judah were bad, which in terms of Biblical narrative means that they failed to enforce monotheism. Of the good kings, Hezekiah is noted for his efforts at stamping out idolatry, for the first sixty years, the kings of Judah tried to re-establish their authority over the northern kingdom, and there was perpetual war between them. Israel and Judah were in a state of war throughout Rehoboams seventeen-year reign, Rehoboam built elaborate defenses and strongholds, along with fortified cities. In the fifth year of Rehoboams reign, Shishak, pharaoh of Egypt, brought a huge army, in the sack of Jerusalem, Rehoboam gave them all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute and Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Rehoboams son and successor, Abijah of Judah continued his fathers efforts to bring Israel under his control and he fought the Battle of Mount Zemaraim against Jeroboam of Israel and was victorious with a heavy loss of life on the Israel side. The Bible does not state whether Zerah was a pharaoh or a general of the army, the Ethiopians were pursued all the way to Gerar, in the coastal plain, where they stopped out of sheer exhaustion. The resulting peace kept Judah free from Egyptian incursions until the time of Josiah some centuries later, in his 36th year, Asa was confronted by Baasha of Israel, who built a fortress at Ramah on the border, less than ten miles from Jerusalem
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Nebuchadnezzar II
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Nebuchadnezzar II was a Chaldean king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c.605 BCE – c.562 BCE. Both the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalems temple are ascribed to him and he is featured in the Book of Daniel and is mentioned in several other books of the Bible. The Akkadian name,
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Babylon
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Babylon was a major city of ancient Mesopotamia in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was built upon the Euphrates and divided in parts along its left and right banks. Babylon was originally a small Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of the Akkadian Empire c.2300 BC, the town attained independence as part of a small city-state with the rise of the First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty in 1894 BC. Babylon grew and South Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia, the empire quickly dissolved after Hammurabis death and Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination. After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians, Babylon became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 609 to 539 BC, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, and Sassanid empires. It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from c.1770 to 1670 BC and it was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000. Estimates for the extent of its area range from 890 to 900 hectares. The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometres south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings, the English Babylon comes from Greek Babylṓn, a transliteration of the Akkadian Babili. The Babylonian name in the early 2nd millennium BC had been Babilli or Babilla, by the 1st millennium BC, it had changed to Babili under the influence of the folk etymology which traced it to bāb-ili. The Gate of God or Gate of El being from the Aramaic Hebrew Bab for Gate and El for God and this being similar to the Hebrew word for confusion Balal. In the Bible, the name appears as Babel, interpreted in the Hebrew Scriptures Book of Genesis to mean confusion, the modern English verb, to babble, or to speak meaningless words, is popularly thought to derive from this name, but there is no direct connection. The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings and debris. The site at Babylon consists of a number of mounds covering an area of about 2 by 1 kilometer, oriented north to south, along the Euphrates to the west. Originally, the river roughly bisected the city, but the course of the river has since shifted so that most of the remains of the western part of the city are now inundated. Some portions of the city wall to the west of the river also remain, remains of the city include, Kasr—also called Palace or Castle, it is the location of the Neo-Babylonian ziggurat Etemenanki and lies in the center of the site. Amran Ibn Ali—the highest of the mounds at 25 meters, to the south and it is the site of Esagila, a temple of Marduk which also contained shrines to Ea and Nabu. Homera—a reddish colored mound on the west side, most of the Hellenistic remains are here
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Isaiah
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Isaiah was the 8th century BCE Jewish prophet who gave his name to the Book of Isaiah. The exact relationship between the Book of Isaiah and any such historical Isaiah is complicated, jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon, he is the first listed of the Neviim Aharonim, the latter prophets. Muslims consider Isaiah a prophet mentioned in Muslim exegesis of canonical scriptures, the first verse of the Book of Isaiah states that Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah. Uzziahs reign was 52 years in the middle of the 8th century BCE, Isaiah lived until the fourteenth year of Hezekiahs reign, and may have been contemporary for some years with Manasseh. Thus Isaiah may have prophesied for as long as 64 years, another interpretation, holds that it was simply an honorary title is likely. They had two sons, naming one Shear-Yashuv, meaning A remnant shall return and the younger, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, meaning, Spoil quickly, soon after this, Shalmaneser V determined to subdue the kingdom of Israel, Samaria was taken and destroyed. This led the king of Assyria to threaten the king of Judah, Sennacherib led a powerful army into Judah. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted to the Assyrians, but after a brief interval war broke out again. Again Sennacherib led an army into Judah, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem, Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians, whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, which he spread before the LORD. Whom hast thou taunted and blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice. Yea, thou hast lifted up thine eyes on high, even against the Holy One of Israel, according to the account in 2 Kings 19 the judgment of God now fell on the Assyrian army and wiped out 185,000 of its men. Like Xerxes in Greece, Sennacherib never recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah and he made no more expeditions against either the Southern Levant or Egypt. The remaining years of Hezekiahs reign were peaceful, Isaiah probably lived to its close, and possibly into the reign of Manasseh, but the time and manner of his death are not specified in either the Bible or other primary sources. The Talmud says that he suffered martyrdom by being sawn in two under the orders of Manasseh, according to rabbinic Literature, Isaiah was the maternal grandfather of Manasseh. Some writers assert that Isaiah was a vegetarian, on the basis of passages in the Book of Isaiah that extol nonviolence and reverence for life, such as Isaiah 1,11,11, 6-9,65,25, and 66,3. Some of these refer to the vegetarian Isaiah, the notorious vegetarian Isaiah, and Isaiah. Gregory of Nyssa, believed that the Prophet Isaiah knew more perfectly than all others the mystery of the religion of the Gospel. Of specific note are the songs of the Suffering Servant which Christians say are a direct revelation of the nature, purpose
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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
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Bible prophecy
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Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from God, Prophetic passages appear widely distributed throughout the different Bibles. Some prophecies in the Bible are conditional, with the conditions either implicitly assumed or explicitly stated, Some prophetic passages present themselves as direct statements from God, while other statements are expressed as the privileged perspective of the biblical author considered to be a prophet. Prophets in the Hebrew Bible often warn the Israelites to repent of their sins and idolatries, blessings and catastrophes are attributed to the deity. According to believers in Bible prophecy, many of these prophecies are viewed as having been fulfilled within later passages, in Judaism and Christianity, a number of biblical passages have been taken as prophecies of a coming Messiah. Most Christians believe many messianic prophecies will be fulfilled with the Second Coming of Christ, rabbinic Judaism does not separate the original coming of the Messiah and the advent of the Messianic Age. For details of the differences, see Christianity and Judaism, another much-discussed issue concerns the end times, or last days, particularly according to the Revelation of John. Verses such as Acts 7, 4–5 and Hebrews 11,13 indicate that this promise was not accomplished during Abrahams time, F. F. Bruce argues that the fulfilment of this prophecy occurred during Davids reign. Christian apologists point to corporate personality here to connect Abraham with the Jewish nation, H. Hebrews 11, 15–16 says that the patriarchs longed for the heavenly country, which explains that Hebrews 11,13 speaks about the promise of the heavenly home. The same applies to the Girgashites, in Exodus 34, 10–27, this is referred to as a covenant, commandments being given. In Judges, the Israelites are described as disobeying the commandment to worship no other gods and, as a result, the Israelites did not drive all of the Canaanite tribes out in the lifetime of Joshua. The books of Joshua and Judges mention towns that could not be defeated, According to 2 Samuel, the Israelites occupied Canaan but the complete seizure took place only when David defeated the Jebusites in Jerusalem and made it the capital of the Kingdom of Israel. God states that the house, throne and kingdom of David,1 Kings 9, 4–7 as well as 1 Chronicles 28,5 and 2 Chronicle 7,17 state that Solomons establishment is conditional on Solomon obeying Gods commandments. Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem and did not obey Gods commandments, the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BC brought an end to the rule of the royal house of David. Some scholars including Saul of Cyrene state that God has promised an eternal dynasty to David unconditionally and they feel the conditional promise of 1 Kings 9, 4–7 seems to undercut this unconditional covenant. Most interpreters have taken the throne of Israel as a reference to the throne of the United Monarchy. They see this as a conditionalization of the unconditional dynastic promise to Davids house expressed in 1 Kings 11,36,15,4 and 2 Kings 8,19. They argue the presence of unconditional and conditional promises to the house of David would create intense theological dissonance in the Book of Kings
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False prophet
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In religion, a false prophet is one who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or who uses that gift for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a prophet by some people is simultaneously considered a false prophet by others. The term is applied outside religion to describe someone who fervently promotes a theory that the speaker thinks is false. Throughout the New Testament, there are warnings of both false prophets and false Messiahs, and believers are adjured to be vigilant, the following verses are from the Sermon on the Mount, Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves, by their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles, likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them, the following verses are from the Olivet Discourse, At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, for false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time, in the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas encountered a false prophet named Elymas Bar-Jesus on the island of Cyprus. They traveled through the island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar‑Jesus, the proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, You are a child of the devil and you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord, now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun, immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord and this particular story likewise best matches the model found in Deuteronomy. The claim here is that Elymas is trying to turn Sergius Paulus from the true faith, in these verses, we do not see Elymas prophesying as the term is popularly understood, so the model seems to fit this scenario best
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Book of Isaiah
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The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. While virtually no one today attributes the entire book, or even most of it, to one person, Isaiah 1–33 promises judgment and restoration for Judah, Jerusalem and the nations, and chapters 34–66 presume that judgment has been pronounced and restoration follows soon. It can thus be read as a meditation on the destiny of Jerusalem into. Isaiah speaks out against corrupt leaders and for the disadvantaged, Isaiah 44,6 contains the first clear statement of monotheism, I am the first and I am the last, besides me there is no god. This model of monotheism became the characteristic of post-Exilic Judaism. Isaiah was one of the most popular works among Jews in the Second Temple period, the scholarly consensus which held sway through most of the 20th century saw three separate collections of oracles in the book of Isaiah. God has a plan which will be realised on the Day of Yahweh, on that day all the nations of the world will come to Zion for instruction, but first the city must be punished and cleansed of evil. Israel is invited to join in this plan, chapters 5–12 explain the significance of the Assyrian judgment against Israel, righteous rule by the Davidic king will follow after the arrogant Assyrian monarch is brought down. The oppressor is about to fall, chapters 34–35 tell how Yahweh will return the redeemed exiles to Jerusalem. Chapters 36–39 tell of the faithfulness of king Hezekiah to Yahweh during the Assyrian siege as a model for the restored community, chapters 55–66 are an exhortation to Israel to keep the covenant. Gods eternal promise to David is now made to the people of Israel/Judah at large, the book ends by enjoining righteousness as the final stages of Gods plan come to pass, including the pilgrimage of the nations to Zion and the realisation of Yahwehs kingship. Chapters 56–66 assume an even later situation, in which the people are returned to Jerusalem. Anonymity → Isaiahs name suddenly stops being used after chapter 39, style → There is a sudden change in style and theology after chapter 40, numerous key words and phrases found in one section are not found in the other. These observations led scholars to the conclusion that the book can be divided into three sections, labeled Proto-Isaiah, Deutero-Isaiah, and Trito-Isaiah. Early modern-period scholars treated Isaiah as independent collections of sayings by three individual prophets, brought together at a later period, about 70 BCE, to form the present book. The second half of the 20th century saw a change in approach. The conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon and the exile of its elite in 586 BCE ushered in the stage in the formation of the book. Deutero-Isaiah addresses himself to the Jews in exile, offering them the hope of return, deutero-Isaiahs predictions of the imminent fall of Babylon and his glorification of Cyrus as the deliverer of Israel date his prophecies to 550–539 BCE, and probably towards the end of this period
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Pharaohs in the Bible
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The Bible makes reference to various pharaohs of Egypt. 2 Kings 19,9 and Isaiah 37,9 mention the 25th dynasty pharaoh Taharqa as the opponent of Sennacherib of Assyria and he is called King of Ethiopia, and hence is not given the title pharaoh which he bears in Egyptian documents. 2 Kings 23,29 sqq. and 2 Chronicles 35,20 sqq. mention the 26th dynasty pharaoh Necho II, responsible for the death of Josiah, and Jeremiah 44,30 mentions his successor Apries or Hophra. 1 Kings 11,40 and 2 Chronicles 12,2 sqq. tell of an invasion of Israel by Shishak, and a subsequent raid of Jerusalem,2 Kings 17,4 says that king Hoshea sent letters to So, King of Egypt. No pharaoh of this name is known for the time of Hoshea, the passages Genesis 12, 10–20 narrate how Abraham moves to Egypt to escape a period of famine in Canaan. The unnamed pharaoh hears of the beauty of Abrahams wife Sarah and, thinking she was Abrahams sister, as a result of the marriage, Abraham rises in the Pharaohs favor and acquires livestock and servants. After discovering Sarahs true relationship to Abraham, however, the pharaoh releases her and Abraham and orders them to take their goods and to leave Egypt. Eugene H. Merrill has suggested that Senusret II, the pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty. The Bible tells how the Israelites are enslaved in Egypt and eventually escape under the leadership of Moses, at least one or two pharaohs are involved, the pharaoh of the oppression who enslaves the Israelites, and the pharaoh of the exodus during whose rule the Israelites escape. The biblical story does not name or give information to identify the period in which the events are set. There have thus been many suggestions as to which of Egypts many rulers was involved, Rabbinic sources state that the First Temple stood for 410 years and the Seder Olam Rabbah place its construction in 832 BC and destruction in 422 BC,165 years later than secular estimates. The Seder Olam Rabbah determines the commencement of the Exodus to 2448 AM and this date has become traditional in Rabbinic Judaism. As a by-result the synchronisms with the narrative have changed. Rohls theory has failed to support among scholars in his field. New Kingdom of Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ahmose I, Most ancient writers considered Ahmose I to be the pharaoh of the Exodus and his widow Hatshepsut then became first Regent then Pharaoh in her own right. Edersheim states that Thutmose II is the only Pharaohs mummy to display cysts, possible evidence of plagues which spread through the Egyptian, shea suggested that there were 2 Amenhotep IIs. The first one died in the Sea of reeds, after which his brother took the same title, sigmund Freud in his book Moses and Monotheism argued that Moses had been an Atenist priest forced to leave Egypt with his followers after Akhenatens death. Additionally, the historical Pithom was built in the 7th century BC, merneptah, Isaac Asimov in his Guide to the Bible makes a case for him to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus
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Books of Samuel
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According to Jewish tradition the book was written by Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, modern scholarly thinking is that the entire history was composed in the period c. 630–540 BC by combining a number of independent texts of various ages, Samuel begins with the prophet Samuels birth and Gods call to him as a boy. The story of the Ark of the Covenant that follows tells of Israels oppression by the Philistines, but Saul proved unworthy and Gods choice turned to David, who defeated Israels enemies and brought the Ark to Jerusalem. God then promised David and his successors an everlasting dynasty, the childless Hannah vows to Yahweh of hosts that if she has a son, he will be dedicated to him. Eli, the priest of Shiloh, blesses her, and a child named Samuel is born, Samuel is dedicated to the Lord as a Nazirite – the only one beside Samson to be identified in the Bible. Elis sons, Hophni and Phinehas, prove unworthy of the priesthood and are killed in battle during the Battle of Aphek, the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh and take it to the temple of their god Dagon, who recognises the supremacy of Yahweh. The Philistines are afflicted with plagues and return the ark to the Israelites, the Philistines attack the Israelites gathered at Mizpah in Benjamin. Samuel appeals to Yahweh, the Philistines are decisively beaten, in Samuels old age, he appoints his sons as judges, but they are unworthy, and so the people clamour for a king. God reluctantly accedes and gives them Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, Saul defeats the enemies of the Israelites, but sins against Yahweh. Yahweh tells Samuel to anoint David of Bethlehem as king, and David enters Sauls court as his armour-bearer, Sauls son and heir Jonathan befriends David and recognises him as rightful king. Saul plots Davids death, but David flees into the wilderness, David joins the Philistines, but continues secretly to champion his own people, until Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle at Mount Gilboa. At this point, David offers a eulogy, where he praises the bravery. The elders of Judah anoint David as king, but in the north Sauls son Ishbaal rules over the northern tribes. After a long war Ishbaal is murdered by Rechab and Baanah, David is then anointed King of all Israel. David captures Jerusalem and brings the Ark there, David wishes to build a temple, but Nathan tells him that one of Davids sons will be the one to build the temple. David defeats the enemies of Israel, slaughtering Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, David commits adultery with Bathsheba and plots the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite, for this Yahweh sends disasters against his house. The prophet Nathan tells David that the sword shall never depart from his house, for the remainder of his reign there are problems. Absalom kills Amnon, rebels against his father, and is killed following the Battle of the Wood of Ephraim, finally only two contenders for the succession remain, Adonijah and Bathshebas son Solomon
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Solomon's Temple
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Because of the religious sensitivities involved, and the politically volatile situation in Jerusalem, only limited archaeological surveys of the Temple Mount have been conducted. No archaeological excavations have been allowed on the Temple Mount during modern times, therefore, there are very few pieces of archaeological evidence for the existence of Solomons Temple. The only source of information on the First Temple is the Hebrew Bible, according to the biblical sources, the temple was constructed under Solomon, during the united monarchy of Israel and Judah. The Bible describes a Hiram I of Tyre who furnished architects, workmen and he also co-operated with Solomon in mounting an expedition on the Red Sea. 1 Kings 6,1 puts the date of the beginning of building the temple in the year of Solomons reign over Israel. The conventional dates of Solomons reign are circa 970 to 931 BCE and this puts the date of its construction in the mid-10th century BCE. Some scholars have speculated that a Jebusite sanctuary may have occupied the site. 1 Kings 9,10 says that it took Solomon 20 years altogether to build the Temple, the Temple itself finished being built after 7 years. During the united monarchy the Temple was dedicated to Yahweh, the God of Israel, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Temple was plundered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire king Nebuchadnezzar II when the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem during the brief reign of Jehoiachin c. A decade later, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem and after 30 months finally breached the city walls in 587 BCE, subsequently burning the Temple, according to Jewish tradition, the Temple was destroyed on Tisha BAv, the 9th day of Av. The Temple of Solomon is considered to be according to Phoenician design. The detailed descriptions provided in the Tanakh are the sources for reconstructions of its appearance, technical details are lacking, since the scribes who wrote the books were not architects or engineers. Nevertheless, the descriptions have inspired modern replicas of the temple, the usual explanation for the discrepancy between its height and the 30-cubit height of the temple is that its floor was elevated, like the cella of other ancient temples. It was floored and wainscotted with cedar of Lebanon, and its walls, there was a two-leaved door between it and the Holy Place overlaid with gold, also a veil of tekhelet, purple, and crimson and fine linen. It had no windows and was considered the dwelling-place of the name of God, kodesh haKodashim was prepared to receive and house the Ark, and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark, containing the original tablets of the Ten Commandments, was placed therein. When the priests emerged from the place after placing the Ark there. The Hekhal, or Holy Place, is called the greater house and the temple, the word also means palace, was of the same width and height as the Holy of Holies. Its walls were lined with cedar, on which were carved figures of cherubim, palm-trees, and open flowers, chains of gold further marked it off from the Holy of Holies
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Shiloh (biblical city)
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Shiloh was an ancient city in Samaria mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It has been identified with modern Khirbet Seilun, a tell or archaeological mound. It is located near modern Shilo, south of ancient Tirzah and 16 kilometres north of Beth El, Shiloh was the major Israelite worship centre before the first Temple was built in Jerusalem. The meaning of the word Shiloh is unclear, sometimes it is translated as a Messianic title that means He Whose It Is or as Pacific, Pacificator or Tranquility that refers to the Samaritan Pentateuch. Regardless, the name of Shiloh the town is derived from שלה, mentioned in the time of the Genesis, Book of Joshua and Judges, Shiloh is situated north of Bethel, east of the Bethel–Shechem highway, and south of Lebonah in the hill-country of Ephraim. Shiloh was identified unambiguously with Khirbet Seilun by American philologist E. Robinson in 1838, the location had been established long before by the Roman writer Eusebius, and by Nestorius ha-Parhi. Located in the west bank Long before the advent of the Israelites, Shiloh was a city with a religious shrine or sanctuary during Middle. When the Israelites arrived in the land, they set up there the ancient wilderness tent shrine, there Joshua and Eleazar divided the land among the tribes who had not yet received their allocation and dealt with the allocation of cities to the Levites. Subsequently, Shiloh became one of the leading religious shrines in ancient Israel, the Tent of Meeting is to be distinguished from the Dwelling Place often translated Tabernacle. The whole congregation of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up the tent of the congregation there, the tabernacle had been built under Moses direction from God to house the Ark of the Covenant, also built under Moses direction from God. According to Talmudic sources, the tent sanctuary remained at Shiloh for 369 years until the Ark of the Covenant was taken into the camp at Eben-Ezer. At some point during its stay at Shiloh, the portable tent seems to have been enclosed within a compound — a Greek temenos. It was at Shiloh that Eli and Samuel ministered and Shiloh was the site of a structure that had doors. At some point, the Tent of Meeting was moved to Gibeon, Shiloh was one of the main centers of Israelite worship during the pre-monarchic period, by virtue of the presence there of the Tent Shrine and Ark of the Covenant. The people made there for major feasts and sacrifices. According to I Samuel 1–3, the sanctuary at Shiloh was administered by the Aaronite high priest Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phineas. According to this account, the young Samuel was dedicated by his mother Hannah there, to be raised at the shrine by the high priest and it was under Eli and his sons that the Ark was lost to Israel in a battle with the Philistines at Aphek. The great biblical historian and archaeologist, W. F, albright, hypothesized that the Philistines also destroyed Shiloh at this time, but this conclusion is disputed
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Abraham
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Abraham, originally Abram, is the first of the three patriarchs of Judaism. His story features in the texts of all the Abrahamic religions and Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity. The biblical narrative revolves around the themes of posterity and land, Abraham is called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land originally given to Canaan, but which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. Various candidates are put forward who might inherit the land after Abraham, Abraham later marries Keturah and has six more sons, but on his death, when he is buried beside Sarah, it is Isaac who receives all Abrahams goods, while the other sons receive only gifts. Terah, the ninth in descent from Noah, was the father of three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran, Haran was the father of Lot, and died in his native city, Ur of the Chaldees. Abram married Sarah, who was barren, Terah, with Abram, Sarai, and Lot, then departed for Canaan, but settled in a place named Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the substance and souls that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan. There was a famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households. On the way Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she was his sister, however, God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, for which he tried to find the reason. Upon discovering that Sarai was a woman, Pharaoh demanded that they and their household leave immediately. When they came back to the Bethel and Hai area, Abrams and this became a problem for the herdsmen who were assigned to each familys cattle. But Lot chose to go east to the plain of Jordan where the land was well watered everywhere as far as Zoar, Abram went south to Hebron and settled in the plain of Mamre, where he built another altar to worship God. During the rebellion of the Jordan River cities against Elam, Abrams nephew, the Elamite army came to collect the spoils of war, after having just defeated the king of Sodoms armies. Lot and his family, at the time, were settled on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Sodom which made them a visible target, one person who escaped capture came and told Abram what happened. Once Abram received this news, he immediately assembled 318 trained servants, Abrams force headed north in pursuit of the Elamite army, who were already worn down from the Battle of Siddim. When they caught up with them at Dan, Abram devised a plan by splitting his group into more than one unit. Not only were able to free the captives, Abrams unit chased and slaughtered the Elamite King Chedorlaomer at Hobah. They freed Lot, as well as his household and possessions, upon Abrams return, Sodoms king came out to meet with him in the Valley of Shaveh, the kings dale
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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
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