vocab for hebrew bible final

1st two commandments

1. worship only yahweh (monotheism)

2. no false idols (no straying from belief)

aaron

moses’ other brother. helped the recently-delivered israelites build a golden calf when moses was on mount sinai for a really long time making the ten commandments. moses’ spokesperson

abraham

god’s first chosen person, created the abrahamic covenant with him. first monotheist (?). multiple wives, many sons. received the promise of descendants, land, and blessing/prosperity. abraham and hagar story.

adam

the first man, made of the ground and named after it.

ahab

childlike king of israel. jezebel’s husband that was lowkey a cuck. seventh king, right after omri. known for promoting religious tolerance that, thanks to his wife, became polytheism thus invoking the wrath of ywhw. wanted the canaanite man’s vineyard and his wife had him killed for it.

ark of the covenant

big wooden box thing that carried the israelite relics. was their connection to god, and kept in their capital to preserve it as a holy site.

baal

canaan god. baal worshippers were the ones that tried to prove baal’s dominance over god on mount carmel. his followers were non-monogamous and inflected wounds upon themselves to earn his favor.

bathsheba

one of king david’s wives. originally a wife to an israelite man, uriah, who david had killed after he raped her and got her pregnant. had solomon, one of the “greatest kings” but ultimately served as a victim to the king’s power

bethel

one of the bigger cities of northern israel where a golden calf was placed for convenience of worshipping yahweh. because traveling to the holy place and capital of jerusalem was a threat to his authority (as it was out of northern boundaries), jeroboam i wanted his people to keep being faithful but in his bounds.

canaanites

people of the land of canaan. god said they were to be wiped out.

dan

the other city where a golden calf was placed. also by jeroboam i. same reason

david

king saul’s son that inherits southern israel after his father and his oldest brother die in battle. known to be paranoid, and his general joab kills ishbaal (northern king)’s general abner. two soldiers kill ishball. david will become king of all israel, and expand the country. he is banned from building any holy sites due to the blood on his hands.

davidic covenant

unconditional covenant of support. david’s son will take the throne. promises permanency.

deborah

the only female judge

eden

first and only perfect place on earth, potentially the only place where god was physically present

elijah

prophet for king ahab — kinda. had the mount carmel thing with the other prophets.

eve

first woman, made to be adam’s equal

the exile

the exile to babylon. skilled israelite workers were treated well for their talents but poor ones were left behind.

the exodus

when moses delivered the israelites from egypt, freeing them from slavery and into freedom

ezekiel

a priest taken from judah to babylonia during the exile. he becomes a prophet, gets a vision that jerusalem will be completely destroyed. has a vision of god and the cherubim that show him as mobile and traveling with his people, explaining the destruction of their land and preserving their belief

hagar

egyptian slavewoman to sarah, abraham’s wife. gives birth to ishmael whos descendants will suffer a tough relationship with god forever. endures so much pain because sarah forced her to get pregnant to bear abraham an heir. a scapegoat

hannah

mother of the prophet samuel, prayed for a child at the shiloh to the priest there, eli. once her and elkanah bear a son she leaves him there for eli to raise as a gift

hanukkah

the end of the maccabean revolt when jewish people were allowed to celebrate their religion again, giving them back autonomy

hasidim

mattathias maccabeus is their leader. the holy ones (jewish folk)

hebrew bible

old testament

hellenizers

non-greeks that incorporated elements of greek life into their culture

herem

total or absolute destruction

isaac

abraham and sarah’s son, the blessed one

ishmael

hagar’s son. will be a wild ass of a man, always at odds with his kin. doomed from the start in some sick tragic way.

israel

jacob, isaac’s son. name change to remind them of their promised land.

jacob

favored son of isaac/israel

jael

wife of heber, killed the general of her own people (sisera) so the israelites would give her protection and not mistreat her when the war was ended.

jericho

canaanite city that supposedly fell to the israelites

jeroboam

king of the north of israel after solomon’s death, made the two golden calves in bethel and dan and got flamed by god for it

jezebel

ahab’s wife, known for making her citizens worship baal regardless of their monotheism. had a vineyard owner stoned so her husband could have his land

joseph

son of israel. given a special coat. favored despite being the youngest. brothers sold him into slavery, he befriended the pharaoh and became his dream interpreter saving egypt from famine.

joshua

book in the bible when the israelites take over canaanite land. joshua was the man that the book was written primarily starring, delivered the israelites to their promised land

judah

southern israel

judges

the book where the israelites became influenced by the canaanites still in the land and started worshipping other gods (big no-no!). this is when the judges from god come to the israelites, because they end up in a pattern of enslavement and freedom based on their religiosity.

leah

jacob’s first wife, sister to his favorite. leah had six sons and one daughter. levi became significant as the leader of the levites, who became priests.

levites

descendants of levi; priests. linked to leah and jacob

lost tribes of israel

when the israelites were deported by the assyrians and disappeared

marduk

babylonian god that inspired the story of creation. known from the enuma elish where he defeated chaos and proved order was superior. head of a bull

miriam

moses’ sister that saved his life and watched over him

mosaic covenant

conditional covenant made with the israelites that said “i will be your god if you will be my people” ie. follow my rules and you get my protection/blessings

moses

the deliverer of the enslaved hebrews from egypt. slow of tongue. met his wife at a well.

mount horeb

where moses had his theophany

mount sinai

where moses had his theophany, more common name for the location

nathan

king david’s prophet that called him out when he got arrogant and self-servient story with the man and the ewee

old testament

aka hebrew bible

passover

the 10th plague on egypt that killed all the firstborns; when the angel of death passed over the hebrews from the lamb’s blood on the door

pharaoh

the king of the world basically. most powerful egyptian

philistines

long-term enemies of israel in the bible. goliath was a philistine giant that david took down proving god’s triumph. saul faught against them and died in battle. etc etc

primeval history

first 11 chapters of genesis

rachel

jacob’s favored wife. mother of joseph and benjamin

rehoboam

solomon’s son and the next king of israel. this is when it got split in two btw. he took judah (southern part of israel)

samaria

capital of the northern part of israel

samuel

prophet, judge, good leader. son of hannah and given back to the shiloh post-birth for eli to raise. LAST judge, FIRST prophet

sarah

abraham’s wife. forced her slave to be raped and impregnated then beat her out of jealousy. mother of isaac. serious mental problems

saul

anointed king by samuel. big military man, died in battle. father of david. first king of israel.

second isaiah

refers to the books written during the babylonian exile meant to keep the faith of the jewish people. pro-monotheism

solomon

the third king of israel, known for having a ton of wives and even more concubines. not well-liked by god because he loved foreign women

temple

a holy place of worship

theophany

when god speaks to you

torah

the first 5 books of the hebrew bible: genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy

uriah

bathsheba’s husband and one of david’s loyal soldiers. killed in battle because his wife was raped, impregnanted, and david couldn’t take accountability for his actions. collateral damage

yam suph

sea of reeds

YHWH

yahweh, the true name of god

zion

israelite beliefs