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Pharisees
The Pharisees were a Jewish sect that emerged c. 150 BCE and promoted the idea of priestly purity for all Jews, belief in providence or fate, and the concept of the resurrection of the dead, and taught that besides the commandments, Oral...
Definition
Isaiah
Isaiah was one of the major prophets of ancient Israel. Isaiah is Hebrew for "God is salvation." Isaiah is one of the longest prophetic books (66 chapters). Originating in the 8th century BCE, it was updated at least twice, in the 7th and...
Definition
Amos
Amos is listed as one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Amos was one of the first to put his visions into writing. The earthquake mentioned in the first chapter of the Book of Amos places Amos between 760-755 BCE. The Two...
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Josephus on Christianity
Titus Flavius Josephus (36-100 CE), the Jewish historian, is the main source for understanding Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE. In the last decades of the 1st century CE, he wrote The Jewish War, the Antiquities of the Jews, Against...
Definition
Abraham, the Patriarch
In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Abraham is a venerated patriarch whose relationship with God provides the foundational story for God's beneficial relationship with humanity. According to biblical tradition (and some say myth), Abraham...
Definition
Cherub
A cherub (pl. cherubim) was a divine being who dwelt in the heavenly realm of the gods, either as a servant or a mediator between humans and the divine. The word most likely derived from the Akkadian karabu ("to bless"). The cherubim are...
Definition
Samaritans
The Samaritans are a religious sect of ethnic Jews living near Mount Gerizim, Nablus, Hebron, and the West Bank in Israel. This community differs from mainstream Judaism by claiming that followers only accept the five books of Moses (Torah...
Definition
Noah
Noah is considered one of the patriarchs in the Jewish Scriptures or one of the founding fathers of what became the religion of Judaism. His story begins in Genesis 6 and consists of three elements: the evil of the earth; the flood narrative...
Definition
Ezekiel
Ezekiel was both a priest and a prophet who lived in the 6th century BCE. The prophets of Israel were oracles (a term for a person as well as a place) for ways in which humans communicated with their gods. The oracle was possessed by the...
Definition
Tallit
The tallit is a garment worn by those of Jewish faith as a symbol of communal solidarity and devotion to their god. The foundation for modern Jewish socio-religious concepts is the Tanakh, or Hebrew bible which is also the Christian Old Testament...