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Anthropomorphism:

attribution of human characteristics to God.

Apodictic law:

 a law that is set out in the form of a commandor prohibition, such as “You shall...” or “You shall not...”

Arabah

term that can mean “desert,” “plain,” or “wilderness.” Generally an area corresponding to three distinct geographic regions that descends through the valley southward from the Sea of Galilee to the Red Sea.

Asherah

Canaanite mother-fertility goddess. Regarded as consort of Baal. Also could refer to her cult object which was usually a sacred pole or even a tree. Though technically not the same, often used interchangeably with Ashtoreth.

Atonement

Sacrificial death which effects salvation as the reestablishment of the relationship between God and sinners

Baal

Canaanite storm and fertility god, name means “lord.”Chief male god of the Canaanites.

Birthright

principle by which the firstborn son would receive twice the property as did the other sons.

Blessing

the bestowal of material or spiritual good or favorupon a person.

Canon

the commonly recognized collection of books that make up the authoritative Scriptures, representing the standard by which other teachings are evaluated. The word derives from the Greek and refers to a measuring rod, hence a standard of evaluation.

Casuistic law:

law that is set out on the basis of the circumstances of the case, hence “case law;” its usual format appears as “If...then...” or “When...then...”

Circumcision

surgical procedure to cut off the foreskin of a male. Required by God of the descendants of Abraham as a sign of God’s covenant with his people.

Concubine

female whose status in relation to her sole legitimate sexual partner is something other than primary wife. Her offspring often have no legal inheritance rights.

Consecrate

to dedicate or ordain a person for sacred office or an object for sacred purposes.

Covenant

solemn agreement between two or more parties, made binding by some sort of oath. It often, but not always, entails responsibilities of the agreeing parties to maintain the agreement.

Cuneiform

 a form of writing which used various arrangements of wedges impressed in clay to represent usually either syllables or letters of the alphabet. The word means “wedge-shape.” Cuneiform is not a language, but a style of writing.

Decalogue/Ten Commandments/Ten Words:

The foundational commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomic/Deuteronomistic History/Theology:

the history of Israel traced through the theological lens of the promises and curses of the book of Deuteronomy. Usually considered to include the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1-2Samuel and 1-2 Kings (Ruth is NOT identified as part of this historical or theological attribution.

Diaspora

the Jews of the Post-exilic period who lived outside of Palestine. Also called the dispersion.

Documentary Hypothesis:

a theory which argues that the Bible, in particular, the first five books of the Old Testament, were edited and compiled from a collection of other documents, hypothetically known as J (“Yahwist,” which predominantly uses the Tetragrammaton), E (“Elohist,” which preserves the term elohîm), D (Deuteronomistic), and P (Priestly) sources.

Exile/exilic:

Referring to the time during the Babylonian captivity of Israel—roughly 586 B.C. to 539 B.C. Times before and after the exile can be designated at pre- or post- exilic.

Former Prophets:

the Hebrew designation of the books in the Old Testament canon that are typically thought of in English ashistorical books—Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. They represent the history of Israel from a prophetic perspective.  

Genre

Classification or type of literary composition.

Henotheism

a word meaning “one god,” but in this case it is the belief in and worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods.

Herem (ban)

the ritual devotion of an object to destructionor to sacred use.

Hesed

Hebrew term carrying the idea of loyal love, translated variously in English as lovingkindness, mercy, steadfast love.

High Place

site (often elevated) of a sacred shrine. Called bamah in Hebrew.

Holy/Holiness

Morally pure and separate from evil, thus “wholly other.” Holiness is the primary attribute of God.

Holy War/Divine Warrior:

God’s battle against evil in the world. God himself takes the role as the Divine Warrior who leads the holy war on behalf of his people.

Idol/Idolatry

any false god or representation of a false god. Idolatry is the worship of idols.

Inspiration

term referring to the idea that oral or written discourse is in some way prompted and directed by the Holy Spirit.

Kinsman Redeemer

Close relative who has the right or responsibility to redeem or avenge.

Levirate Marriage:

the practice by which the brother of a man who dies without sons marries the deceased’s widow in order to produce an heir for the dead man.

Lex talionis

law of retaliation that demands the guilty suffer retribution equivalent to the injury inflicted, e.g., eye for eye, tooth for tooth, etc.

Masoretic text

text of the Hebrew Bible produced between A.D. 500 and 950 by Jewish textual scholars (the Masoretes) concerned with the precise transmission of the text.

Merneptah Stele:

a victory stele (ca. 1220 BC) of Pharaoh Merneptah on which he boasts of having subdued Israel: “Israel is laid waste, his seed is not” (ANET-3: 378). The stele preserves the earliest extra-biblical reference to Israel.

Messiah/Christ:

(“Anointed One”) The promised deliverer of Israel from the line of David who would establish God’s rule. The word Messiah transliterates the Hebrew word while the word Christ transliterates the Greek word; both terms mean “anointed one.”

Mishna

a Hebrew word derived from a root meaning “to repeat.” It refers to the collection of beliefs and regulations of the Jews (i.e., “traditions”) that were compiled ca. early 3d century AD. They reflect, however, the discussions and beliefs of Jews from as early as 50 BC.

Monotheism:

a word meaning “one god;” it refers to the belief that there is only one god.

Nazarite

person who dedicated him- or herself to God by a special vow, the requirements of which required abstention from all grape products and alcoholic drink, leaving the hair uncut, and avoidance of contact with a dead body. The vow could be temporary or perpetual and could be taken by men or women.

Negev/Negeb

The southern desert region of ancient Palestine.

Polytheism

a word meaning “many gods” which refers to the belief that more than one god exists and that they are objects of devotion.

Prophet

one who speaks on behalf of God to communicate His will for a particular situation—sometimes predicts or declares what will come in the future.

Providence

God’s ultimate (though often unseen) support, care, and supervision of his creation.

Redemption

the concept of release or freedom on payment of a price; deliverance by a costly method

Sabbath

The Hebrew word means “rest,” but usually refers to the seventh day of the week (Saturday); celebrated by Jews as a day of rest.

Sanctify

the act of making someone clean or holy or the process by which God is cleansing the world and its people.

Sanctuary

The place where God specially manifests his Presence and to which God’s people come for legitimate worship.

Satan

literally, an adversary or plotter, one who devises means for opposing another. Often represented in Scripture as a spiritual being opposed to the people of God.

Septuagint/LXX

the Greek translation of the Old Testament. “LXX” serves as its abbreviation.

Shema

The foundational statement of Jewish belief from Deut. 6:4, “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.” The name is derived from the Hebrew word for “hear” which is “shema.”

Suzerain Treaty

An ancient form of treaty in which a conqueror benefited the conquered people with his protection and stipulated the requirements expected of the conquered people, especially that of undivided loyalty. An important component of the treaty was the list of blessings and curses that will come upon the subject who keeps or breaks the treaty. Many scholars have recognized similarity to a suzerain treaty in the structure of the book of Deuteronomy and parts of the Covenant of the book of Exodus.

Syncretism

The sharing and blending of religious beliefs.

Tabernacle

a word derived from Latin which refers to Israel’s tent sanctuary. The Hebrew references to the tabernacle would more accurately be translated “tent of meeting” or less often “tent of testimony.” Used by Israel as the primary sanctuary prior to the construction of the Temple.

Talmud

a Hebrew word meaning “study” or “learning.” Technically, it is a compilation of commentaries on the Mishnah. There are two collections of the Talmud, one called the Palestinian and the other the Babylonian. Their final forms date from the 4th-5th centuries AD.

tel/tell

Hebrew and Arabic words  respectively, both of which mean “ruin.” These are standard terms applied to archaeological ruins in Syria and Palestine.

Teraphim

Technical term usually translated “household gods,” “gods,” “idol,” but it often simply is transliterated in the text.

Tetragrammaton

a compound word meaning “four letters” which is applied to the formal name of God found in the Hebrew Bible. (YHWH) Usually rendered as LORD in English translations of the Old Testament.

textual criticism

a study strategy which tries to reconstruct as closely as possible the original reading by comparing the surviving manuscripts of the documents.

Theocracy

Government by divine rule.

Theophany

A term meaning literally “appearance of God.” Technical term for the appearance of God in some visible form.

Torah

the Hebrew term referring to the first five books of the Old Testament and equivalent to the Pentateuch, usually translated “Law,” but better rendered “Instruction.” Pentateuch, Law, Books of Moses, and Torah all refer to the same books.

Transliteration

the result of rendering the vocal values of the letters of one language into the equivalent vocal values of the letters of another language; it is simply attempts to replicate the pronunciation, but does not necessarily convey meaning.

Type/Typology

spiritual correspondences particularly between persons, institutions, and events of the OT which are regarded as divinely established models or prerepresentations of corresponding realities in the NT.

United Monarchy

The time of Saul, David, and Solomon, when Israel and Judah were unified under one king.

Urim and Thummim

“lights and perfections;” objects to be placed in the breastpiece of the High Priest and used to discern God’s will.  

Writings (ketubim)

the last of the three sections of the Hebrew canon consisting primarily of wisdom literature, poetry,and some historical type works such as Chronicles, Ruth, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

Yahweh

English rendering of the Tetragrammaton or divine personal name of God (with the addition of the vowels). Sometimes rendered as Jehovah.