{"id":170,"date":"2022-07-13T14:33:58","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T19:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowingjesus.today\/?page_id=170"},"modified":"2024-05-02T11:10:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T16:10:22","slug":"history-meaning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/knowingjesus.today\/discerning\/history-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"History & Meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cThe Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.\u201d – G.K. Chesterton<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sections: History - Geography - Names & Concepts - Nations & Peoples - Prophecies<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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History<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJesus existed and the scriptures are reliable records<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

There’s no doubt that Jesus existed. Many Christian and non Christian sources have mentioned Jesus or His Life. \u00a0The historicity of Jesus is almost impossible to dispute<\/p>

Jesus Christ (The man) was born a little over 2 millennia ago in the town of Bethlehem, ancient Palestine, Canaan.
He was of a miraculous birth from a Virgin named Mary, she was about to be betrothed to a man named Joseph. Both Mary and Joseph are of the line of King David. The Bible follows both Jewish and non Jewish tradition to detail the blood line of Jesus. This was a fulfillment of a prophecy where Jesus Christ would be from the Line of David.
Jesus grew up in the town of Nazareth and that’s why He was also called Jesus of Nazareth or the Nazarene.
He performed many miracles both great and small (mending a cut off ear)
He was blameless, yet He was crucified, died and rose on the 3rd day. As per both scripture and documented historical witnesses. Then He rose to sit on the right hand of the Father in Heaven.
Amen<\/p>

Jesus Christ (God) is the Word of God. He Is. He is eternal and He is the creator of all. Everything is by Him, through Him and for Him.<\/strong><\/p>

“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” <\/strong>
John 1:1-5<\/a><\/p>

Jesus is also the Good Shepherd:
11 \u201cI am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.”
John 10:11<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Jesus Christ – Celebrated by everyone\u00a0<\/strong><\/u><\/p>

What year is it<\/strong><\/u><\/p>

Whether they know it or not, the entire whole world, is counting the years since 00 AD or ADNJC to be exact Anno Domini \u00a0Nostri Jesu Christi<\/strong> (The Year of our Lord Jesus Christ) \u00a0
– Make sure you don’t go along with the change of calendar they want in order to satisfy their ego.

Don’t reset your history.<\/strong>
You won’t know yourself any longer.<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Jesus Christ made seven last statements while on the Cross
These reveal both His Divinity and Human Side
<\/strong><\/h4>

Jesus\u2019 7 Last Sayings in Scripture<\/strong><\/h2>

  1. \u201cFather, forgive them, for they know not what they do.\u201d \u2014 <\/em>Luke 23:34<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u201cToday shalt thou be with Me in paradise.\u201d \u2014 <\/em>Luke 23:43<\/p><\/li>

  3. \u201cWoman, behold thy Son.\u201d \u2014<\/em> John 19:26<\/p><\/li>

  4. \u201cMy God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\u201d \u2014 <\/em>Mark 15:34<\/p><\/li>

  5. \u201cI thirst.\u201d \u2014 <\/em>John 19:28<\/p><\/li>

  6. \u201cIt is finished.\u201d \u2014 <\/em>John 19:30<\/p><\/li>

  7. \u201cFather, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.\u201d \u2014 <\/em>Luke 23:46<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

    Sayings of Jesus on the cross<\/p><\/th>

    Matthew<\/p><\/th>

    Mark<\/p><\/th>

    Luke<\/p><\/th>

    John<\/p><\/th><\/tr>

    Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>

    23:34<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>

    Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>

    23:43<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>

    Woman, behold thy son! and<\/i> Behold thy mother!<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>

    19:26\u201327<\/p><\/td><\/tr>

    My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?<\/p><\/td>

    27:46<\/p><\/td>

    15:34<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>

    I thirst.<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>

    19:28<\/p><\/td><\/tr>

    It is finished.<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>

    19:30<\/p><\/td><\/tr>

    Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td>

    23:46<\/p><\/td>

    		\u00a0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJesus in other Religions<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

    All Major Religions Know the Name Jesus but not all of them know the real Jesus Christ of Nazareth, born of a Virgin, died on the cross and rose again on the 3rd day; As per the Scriptures<\/p>

    JUDAISM (Waiting)<\/strong><\/u>
    True Jesus but rejected and crucified – As per the scriptures     Isaiah 53<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a><\/p>

    ISLAM (Claims Relation & 2nd Coming)<\/strong><\/u>
    Jesus from hearsay and local cultural legends
    Islam claims that it is the continuation of the biblical narrative, it uses Jesus and other biblical people (prophets) as reference but with an Islamic version. Jesus is mentioned more than anyone else in the Quran and Muslims expect Jesus to return for a final battle against an \u00a0antichrist figure. After defeating him, Jesus would judge the world. Quran states that Jesus is the word (Sura 3 (Al Imran) 3:39 , 3:34) and spirit from God (Sura 4 (Al Nisa) 4:171); but for some reason falls short in making the connection that He is God. (The Bible says that He who judges the world is God Almighty)<\/p>

    HINDUISM (Jesus in India)<\/strong><\/u>
    Jesus from hearsay and local cultural legends
    Some Hindus believe that Jesus was a good man and moved to India where he got married and had children. You can watch this documentary by the government of India to     find out more here<\/u><\/a><\/p>

    Regardless of how he is seen, this is one example showing some form of knowledge of a Jesus Christ<\/strong>. Even within non Abrahamic religions<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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    Christian statement of belief focused on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology

    <\/strong><\/h4>

    According to Orthodoxwiki;The Athanasian Creed (Quicunque vult) is a statement of Christian doctrine traditionally ascribed to St. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, who lived in the 4th century. Some of today’s historians believe that it was originally written in Latin, not in Greek, and thus Athanasius cannot have been the original author. There are those that believe its theology is closely akin to that found in the writing of western theologians, especially Ambrose of Milan.<\/p>

    It was designed to overcome Arianism. Liturgically, this Creed was recited at the Sunday Office of Prime in the Western Church; it is not in common use in the Eastern Church. Today the Athanasian Creed is rarely used even in the Western Church. When used, one common practice is to use it once a year on Trinity Sunday.<\/p>

    The Creed
    <\/strong><\/h4>

    1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;<\/p><\/li>

    2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.<\/p><\/li>

    3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;<\/p><\/li>

    4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.<\/p><\/li>

    5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.<\/p><\/li>

    6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.<\/p><\/li>

    7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.<\/p><\/li>

    8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.<\/p><\/li>

    9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.<\/p><\/li>

    10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.<\/p><\/li>

    11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.<\/p><\/li>

    12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.<\/p><\/li>

    13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.<\/p><\/li>

    14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.<\/p><\/li>

    15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;<\/p><\/li>

    16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.<\/p><\/li>

    17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;<\/p><\/li>

    18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.<\/p><\/li>

    19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;<\/p><\/li>

    20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.<\/p><\/li>

    21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.<\/p><\/li>

    22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.<\/p><\/li>

    23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.<\/p><\/li>

    24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.<\/p><\/li>

    25. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.<\/p><\/li>

    26. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.<\/p><\/li>

    27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.<\/p><\/li>

    28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.<\/p><\/li>

    29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p><\/li>

    30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.<\/p><\/li>

    31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.<\/p><\/li>

    32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.<\/p><\/li>

    33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.<\/p><\/li>

    34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.<\/p><\/li>

    35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.<\/p><\/li>

    36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.<\/p><\/li>

    37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;<\/p><\/li>

    38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;<\/p><\/li>

    39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;<\/p><\/li>

    40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.<\/p><\/li>

    41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;<\/p><\/li>

    42. and shall give account of their own works.<\/p><\/li>

    43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.<\/p><\/li>

    44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.<\/p><\/li><\/ol><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHistory - Dinosaurs in the Bible<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

      Dinosaurs were recorded in the Bible:<\/p>

      Behemoth (Land Dino)<\/strong> <\/span>(Job 40:15-24)<\/a>:
      Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
      16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
      17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
      18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
      19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
      20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
      21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
      22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
      23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
      24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

      Leviathan (sea Dino)<\/strong><\/span>:
      Job 41:1<\/a>
      Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

      Psalms 74:14<\/a>
      Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

      Psalms 104:26<\/a>
      There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

      Isaiah 27:1<\/a>
      In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

      <\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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      Most important date in the calendar.<\/p>

      Most important event in Christianity<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHistory - Holy Friday<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHistory - Lazarus Saturday<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
      \"\"<\/center><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHistory - Other Resurrections in the Bible<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

      Throughout history, there have been people that were brought back\u00a0 from the dead (resurrected). This is was both before and during the time of Christ. We have counted eight in total, Christ being the 9th<\/p>

      1. Widown of Zarephath\u2019s son (1 Kings 17:17-24)<\/li>
      2. Shunammite woman\u2019s son (2 Kings 4:18-37)<\/li>
      3. Man raised from Elisha\u2019s grave (2 Kings 13:20-21)<\/li>
      4. Widow of Nain\u2019s son (Luke 7)<\/li>
      5. Jairus\u2019 daughter (Luke 8:40-56)<\/li>
      6. Lazarus (John 11<\/a>)<\/li>
      7. Tabitha (Acts 9:40<\/a>)<\/li>
      8. Eutychus raised by St Paul (Acts 20:9-10<\/a>)<\/li>
      9. Jesus Christ<\/li><\/ol><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHistory - Palm Sunday<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
        \"\"<\/center><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeace Be : Common Greeting in Ancient Palestine<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

        Peace be With<\/u>, To<\/u> and Unto<\/u><\/span><\/h1>

        Luke 10:5<\/span><\/a>
        And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to <\/span>this house.<\/span><\/p>

        Romans 15:33<\/a> <\/span>
        Now the God of peace be with <\/span>you all. Amen.<\/span><\/p>

        1 Peter 5:14<\/span><\/a>
        Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with <\/span>you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.<\/span><\/p>

        Genesis 43:23<\/span><\/a>
        And he said, Peace be to <\/span>you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.<\/span><\/p>

        1 Samuel 25:6<\/span><\/a>
        And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to <\/span>thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto <\/span>all that thou hast.<\/span><\/p>

        1 Chronicles 12:18<\/span><\/a>
        Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto <\/span>thee, and peace be to <\/span>thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.<\/span><\/p>

        Ephesians 6:23<\/span><\/a>
        Peace be to <\/span>the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/p>

        3 John 1:14<\/span><\/a>
        But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to <\/span>thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.<\/span><\/p>

        Judges 6:23<\/span><\/a>
        And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto <\/span>thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.<\/span><\/p>

        1 Samuel 25:6<\/span><\/a>
        And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to <\/span>thee, and peace be to <\/span>thine house, and peace be unto <\/span>all that thou hast.<\/span><\/p>

        1 Chronicles 12:18<\/span><\/a>
        Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto <\/span>thee, and peace be to <\/span>thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.<\/span><\/p>

        Daniel 10:19<\/span><\/a>
        And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto <\/span>thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.<\/span><\/p>

        Luke 24:36<\/span><\/a>
        And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto <\/span>you.<\/span><\/p>

        John 20:19<\/span><\/a>
        Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto <\/span>you.<\/span><\/p>

        John 20:21 <\/span><\/a>
        Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto <\/span>you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.<\/span><\/p>


        And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto <\/span>you.
        John 20:26<\/a>
        <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSemitic Languages still remember history<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

        In Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic the first day of the week is actually Sunday. Aramaic Yom Had (Day 1), Hebrew Yom Reshon (Day One) and Arabic: Yom Al Ahad (Day One) complying with the biblical narrative.<\/p>

        \u00a0<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Geography<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAccad<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
        [*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]The high land or mountains, a city in the land of Shinar. It has been identified with the mounds of Akker Kuf, some 50 miles to the north of Babylon; but this is doubtful. It was one of the cities of Nimrod\u2019s kingdom (Ge 10:10<\/a>). It stood close to the Euphrates, opposite Sippara. (See SEPHARVAIM<\/a>.)

        It is also the name of the country of which this city was the capital, namely, northern or upper Babylonia. The Accadians who came from the \u201cmountains of the east,\u201d where the ark rested, attained to a high degree of civilization. In the Babylonian inscriptions they are called \u201cthe black heads\u201d and \u201cthe black faces,\u201d in contrast to \u201cthe white race\u201d of Semitic descent. They invented the form of writing in pictorial hieroglyphics, and also the cuneiform system, in which they wrote many books partly on papyrus and partly on clay. The Semitic Babylonians (\u201cthe white race\u201d), or, as some scholars think, first the Cushites, and afterwards, as a second immigration, the Semites, invaded and conquered this country; and then the Accadian language ceased to be a spoken language, although for the sake of its literary treasures it continued to be studied by the educated classes of Babylonia. A large portion of the Ninevite tablets brought to light by Oriental research consists of interlinear or parallel translations from Accadian into Assyrian; and thus that long-forgotten language has been recovered by scholars. It belongs to the class of languages called agglutinative, common to the Tauranian race; i.e., it consists of words \u201cglued together,\u201d without declension of conjugation. These tablets in a remarkable manner illustrate ancient history. Among other notable records, they contain an account of the Creation which closely resembles that given in the book of Genesis, of the Sabbath as a day of rest, and of the Deluge and its cause. (See         BABYLON<\/a>; CHALDEA<\/a>.)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBabylon<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
        [*Easton*<\/a>]

        The Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning \u201cThe Gate of God.\u201d In the Assyrian tablets it means \u201cThe city of the dispersion of the tribes.\u201d The monumental list of its kings reaches back to B.C. 2300, and includes Khammurabi, or Amraphel (q.v.), the contemporary of Abraham. It stood on the Euphrates, about 200 miles above its junction with the Tigris, which flowed through its midst and divided it into two almost equal parts. The Elamites invaded Chaldea (i.e., Lower Mesopotamia, or Shinar, and Upper Mesopotamia, or Accad, now combined into one) and held it in subjection. At length Khammu-rabi delivered it from the foreign yoke, and founded the new empire of Chaldea (q.v.), making Babylon the capital of the united kingdom. This city gradually grew in extent and grandeur, but in process of time it became subject to Assyria. On the fall of Nineveh (B.C. 606) it threw off the Assyrian yoke, and became the capital of the growing Babylonian empire. Under Nebuchadnezzar it became one of the most splendid cities of the ancient world.

        After passing through various vicissitudes the city was occupied by Cyrus, \u201cking of Elam,\u201d B.C. 538, who issued a decree permitting the Jews to return to their own land (        Ezra 1<\/a>). It then ceased to be the capital of an empire. It was again and again visited by hostile armies, till its inhabitants were all driven from their homes, and the city became a complete desolation, its very site being forgotten from among men.

        On the west bank of the Euphrates, about 50 miles south of Bagdad, there is found a series of artificial mounds of vast extent. These are the ruins of this once famous proud city. These ruins are principally (1) the great mound called Babil by the Arabs. This was probably the noted Temple of Belus, which was a pyramid about 480 feet high. (2) The Kasr (i.e., \u201cthe palace\u201d). This was the great palace of Nebuchadnezzar. It is almost a square, each side of which is about 700 feet long. The little town of Hillah, near the site of Babylon, is built almost wholly of bricks taken from this single mound. (3) A lofty mound, on the summit of which stands a modern tomb called Amran ibn-Ali. This is probably the most ancient portion of the remains of the city, and represents the ruins of the famous hanging-gardens, or perhaps of some royal palace. The utter desolation of the city once called \u201cThe glory of kingdoms\u201d (Isa.13:19) was foretold by the prophets (Isa.13:4-22;         Jer. 25:12<\/a>; 50:2<\/a>, 3<\/a>; Dan. 2:31-38<\/a>).

        The Babylon mentioned in         1 Pet. 5:13<\/a> was not Rome, as some have thought, but the literal city of Babylon, which was inhabited by many Jews at the time Peter wrote.

        In         Rev. 14:8<\/a>; 16:19<\/a>; 17:5<\/a>; and 18:2, \u201cBabylon\u201d is supposed to mean Rome, not considered as pagan, but as the prolongation of the ancient power in the papal form. Rome, pagan and papal, is regarded as one power. \u201cThe literal Babylon was the beginner and supporter of tyranny and idolatry…This city and its whole empire were taken by the Persians under Cyrus; the Persians were subdued by the Macedonians, and the Macedonians by the Romans; so that Rome succeeded to the power of old Babylon. And it was her method to adopt the worship of the false deities she had conquered; so that by her own act she became the heiress and successor of all the Babylonian idolatry, and of all that was introduced into it by the immediate successors of Babylon, and consequently of all the idolatry of the earth.\u201d Rome, or \u201cmystical Babylon,\u201d is \u201cthat great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth\u201d (17:18).<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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        Literally: House of Bread<\/p>[*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]House of bread. (1.) A city in the \u201chill country\u201d of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16<\/a>, 19<\/a>; 48:7<\/a>; Ruth 4:11<\/a>). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2<\/a>), Beth-lehem-judah (1 Sam. 17:12<\/a>), and \u201cthe city of David\u201d (Luke 2:4<\/a>). It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel died and was buried \u201cby the wayside,\u201d directly to the north of the city (Gen. 48:7<\/a>). The valley to the east was the scene of the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the town. Here was David\u2019s birth-place, and here also, in after years, he was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Sam. 16:4-13<\/a>); and it was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his heroes brought water for him at the risk of their lives when he was in the cave of Adullam (2 Sam. 23:13-17<\/a>). But it was distinguished above every other city as the birth-place of \u201cHim whose goings forth have been of old\u201d (Matt. 2:6<\/a>; comp. Micah 5:2<\/a>). Afterwards Herod, \u201cwhen he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,\u201d sent and slew \u201call the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under\u201d (Matt. 2:16<\/a>, 18<\/a>; Jer. 31:15<\/a>).

        Bethlehem bears the modern name of Beit-Lahm, i.e., \u201chouse of flesh.\u201d It is about 5 miles south of Jerusalem, standing at an elevation of about 2,550 feet above the sea, thus 100 feet higher than Jerusalem.

        There is a church still existing, built by Constantine the Great (A.D. 330), called the \u201cChurch of the Nativity,\u201d over a grotto or cave called the \u201choly crypt,\u201d and said to be the \u201cstable\u201d in which Jesus was born. This is perhaps the oldest existing Christian church in the world. Close to it is another grotto, where Jerome the Latin father is said to have spent thirty years of his life in translating the Scriptures into Latin. (See         VERSION<\/a>.)

        (2.) A city of Zebulun, mentioned only in         Josh. 19:15<\/a>. Now Beit-Lahm, a ruined village about 6 miles west-north-west of Nazareth.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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        [*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]A Grecian city, on the isthmus which joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. It is about 48 miles west of Athens. The ancient city was destroyed by the Romans (B.C. 146), and that mentioned in the New Testament was quite a new city, having been rebuilt about a century afterwards and peopled by a colony of freedmen from Rome. It became under the Romans the seat of government for Southern Greece or Achaia (Acts 18:12-16<\/a>). It was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious and immoral and vicious habits of the people. It had a large mixed population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews. When Paul first visited the city (A.D. 51 or 52), Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul. Here Paul resided for eighteen months (18:1-18). Here he first became aquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, and soon after his departure Apollos came to it from Ephesus. After an interval he visited it a second time, and remained for three months (20:3). During this second visit his Epistle to the Romans was written (probably A.D. 55). Although there were many Jewish converts at Corinth, yet the Gentile element prevailed in the church there.

        Some have argued from         2 Cor. 12:14<\/a>; 13:1<\/a>, that Paul visited Corinth a third time (i.e., that on some unrecorded occasion he visited the city between what are usually called the first and second visits). But the passages referred to only indicate Paul\u2019s intention to visit Corinth (comp. 1 Cor. 16:5<\/a>, where the Greek present tense denotes an intention), an intention which was in some way frustrated. We can hardly suppose that such a visit could have been made by the apostle without more distinct reference to it.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        [*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]The capital of proconsular Asia, which was the western part of Asia Minor. It was colonized principally from Athens. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of \u201cthe first and greatest metropolis of Asia.\u201d It was distinguished for the Temple of Diana (q.v.), who there had her chief shrine; and for its theatre, which was the largest in the world, capable of containing 50,000 spectators. It was, like all ancient theatres, open to the sky. Here were exhibited the fights of wild beasts and of men with beasts. (Comp. 1 Cor. 4:9<\/a>; 9:24<\/a>, 25<\/a>; 15:32<\/a>.)

        Many Jews took up their residence in this city, and here the seeds of the gospel were sown immediately after Pentecost (        Acts 2:9<\/a>; 6:9<\/a>). At the close of his second missionary journey (about A.D. 51), when Paul was returning from Greece to Syria (18:18-21), he first visited this city. He remained, however, for only a short time, as he was hastening to keep the feast, probably of Pentecost, at Jerusalem; but he left Aquila and Priscilla behind him to carry on the work of spreading the gospel.

        During his third missionary journey Paul reached Ephesus from the \u201cupper coasts\u201d (        Acts 19:1<\/a>), i.e., from the inland parts of Asia Minor, and tarried here for about three years; and so successful and abundant were his labours that \u201call they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks\u201d (19:10). Probably during this period the seven churches of the Apocalypse were founded, not by Paul\u2019s personal labours, but by missionaries whom he may have sent out from Ephesus, and by the influence of converts returning to their homes.

        On his return from his journey, Paul touched at Miletus, some 30 miles south of Ephesus (        Acts 20:15<\/a>), and sending for the presbyters of Ephesus to meet him there, he delivered to them that touching farewell charge which is recorded in Acts 20:18-35<\/a>. Ephesus is not again mentioned till near the close of Paul\u2019s life, when he writes to Timothy exhorting him to \u201cabide still at Ephesus\u201d (1 Tim. 1:3<\/a>).

        Two of Paul\u2019s companions, Trophimus and Tychicus, were probably natives of Ephesus (        Acts 20:4<\/a>; 21:29<\/a>; 2 Tim. 4:12<\/a>). In his second epistle to Timothy, Paul speaks of Onesiphorus as having served him in many things at Ephesus (2 Tim. 1:18<\/a>). He also \u201csent Tychicus to Ephesus\u201d (4:12), probably to attend to the interests of the church there. Ephesus is twice mentioned in the Apocalypse (1:11; 2:1).

        The apostle John, according to tradition, spent many years in Ephesus, where he died and was buried.

        A part of the site of this once famous city is now occupied by a small Turkish village, Ayasaluk, which is regarded as a corruption of the two Greek words, hagios theologos; i.e., \u201cthe holy divine.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        God’s Holy City<\/strong><\/p>\n

        <\/p>\n[*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]\n


        Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the \u201ccity of God,\u201d the \u201choly city;\u201d by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning \u201cthe holy;\u201d once \u201cthe city of Judah\u201d (        2 Chr. 25:28<\/a>). This name is in the original in the dual form, and means \u201cpossession of peace,\u201d or \u201cfoundation of peace.\u201d The dual form probably refers to the two mountains on which it was built, viz., Zion and Moriah; or, as some suppose, to the two parts of the city, the \u201cupper\u201d and the \u201clower city.\u201d Jerusalem is a \u201cmountain city enthroned on a mountain fastness\u201d (comp. Ps. 68:15<\/a>, 16<\/a>; 87:1<\/a>; 125:2<\/a>; 76:1<\/a>, 2<\/a>; 122:3<\/a>). It stands on the edge of one of the highest table-lands in Palestine, and is surrounded on the south-eastern, the southern, and the western sides by deep and precipitous ravines.<\/p>\n

        It is first mentioned in Scripture under the name Salem (Gen. 14:18<\/a>; comp. Ps. 76:2<\/a>). When first mentioned under the name Jerusalem, Adonizedek was its king (Josh. 10:1<\/a>). It is afterwards named among the cities of Benjamin (Judg. 19:10<\/a>; 1 Chr. 11:4<\/a>); but in the time of David it was divided between Benjamin and Judah. After the death of Joshua the city was taken and set on fire by the men of Judah (Judg. 1:1-8<\/a>); but the Jebusites were not wholly driven out of it. The city is not again mentioned till we are told that David brought the head of Goliath thither (1 Sam. 17:54<\/a>). David afterwards led his forces against the Jebusites still residing within its walls, and drove them out, fixing his own dwelling on Zion, which he called \u201cthe city of David\u201d (2 Sam. 5:5-9<\/a>; 1 Chr. 11:4-8<\/a>). Here he built an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Sam. 24:15-25<\/a>), and thither he brought up the ark of the covenant and placed it in the new tabernacle which he had prepared for it. Jerusalem now became the capital of the kingdom.<\/p>\n

        After the death of David, Solomon built the temple, a house for the name of the Lord, on Mount Moriah (B.C. 1010). He also greatly strengthened and adorned the city, and it became the great centre of all the civil and religious affairs of the nation (Deut. 12:5<\/a>; comp. 12:14; 14:23; 16:11-16; Ps. 122<\/a>).<\/p>\n

        After the disruption of the kingdom on the accession to the throne of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Jerusalem became the capital of the kingdom of the two tribes. It was subsequently often taken and retaken by the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and by the kings of Israel (2 Kings 14:13<\/a>, 14<\/a>; 18:15<\/a>, 16<\/a>; 23:33-35<\/a>; 24:14<\/a>; 2 Chr. 12:9<\/a>; 26:9<\/a>; 27:3<\/a>, 4<\/a>; 29:3<\/a>; 32:30<\/a>; 33:11<\/a>), till finally, for the abounding iniquities of the nation, after a siege of three years, it was taken and utterly destroyed, its walls razed to the ground, and its temple and palaces consumed by fire, by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (2 Kings 25<\/a>; 2 Chr. 36<\/a>; Jer. 39<\/a>), B.C. 588. The desolation of the city and the land was completed by the retreat of the principal Jews into Egypt (Jer. 40-44<\/a>), and by the final carrying captive into Babylon of all that still remained in the land (52:3), so that it was left without an inhabitant (B.C. 582). Compare the predictions, Deut. 28<\/a>; Lev. 26:14-39<\/a>.<\/p>\n

        But the streets and walls of Jerusalem were again to be built, in troublous times (Dan. 9:16<\/a>, 19<\/a>, 25<\/a>), after a captivity of seventy years. This restoration was begun B.C. 536, \u201cin the first year of Cyrus\u201d (Ezra 1:2<\/a>, 3<\/a>, 5-11<\/a>). The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain the history of the re-building of the city and temple, and the restoration of the kingdom of the Jews, consisting of a portion of all the tribes. The kingdom thus constituted was for two centuries under the dominion of Persia, till B.C. 331; and thereafter, for about a century and a half, under the rulers of the Greek empire in Asia, till B.C. 167. For a century the Jews maintained their independence under native rulers, the Asmonean princes. At the close of this period they fell under the rule of Herod and of members of his family, but practically under Rome, till the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. The city was then laid in ruins.<\/p>\n

        The modern Jerusalem by-and-by began to be built over the immense beds of rubbish resulting from the overthrow of the ancient city; and whilst it occupies certainly the same site, there are no evidences that even the lines of its streets are now what they were in the ancient city. Till A.D. 131 the Jews who still lingered about Jerusalem quietly submitted to the Roman sway. But in that year the emperor (Hadrian), in order to hold them in subjection, rebuilt and fortified the city. The Jews, however, took possession of it, having risen under the leadership of one Bar-Chohaba (i.e., \u201cthe son of the star\u201d) in revolt against the Romans. Some four years afterwards (A.D. 135), however, they were driven out of it with great slaughter, and the city was again destroyed; and over its ruins was built a Roman city called Aelia Capitolina, a name which it retained till it fell under the dominion of the Mohammedans, when it was called el-Khuds, i.e., \u201cthe holy.\u201d<\/p>\n

        In A.D. 326 Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the view of discovering the places mentioned in the life of our Lord. She caused a church to be built on what was then supposed to be the place of the nativity at Bethlehem. Constantine, animated by her example, searched for the holy sepulchre, and built over the supposed site a magnificent church, which was completed and dedicated A.D. 335. He relaxed the laws against the Jews till this time in force, and permitted them once a year to visit the city and wail over the desolation of \u201cthe holy and beautiful house.\u201d<\/p>\n

        In A.D. 614 the Persians, after defeating the Roman forces of the emperor Heraclius, took Jerusalem by storm, and retained it till A.D. 637, when it was taken by the Arabians under the Khalif Omar. It remained in their possession till it passed, in A.D. 960, under the dominion of the Fatimite khalifs of Egypt, and in A.D. 1073 under the Turcomans. In A.D. 1099 the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon took the city from the Moslems with great slaughter, and was elected king of Jerusalem. He converted the Mosque of Omar into a Christian cathedral. During the eighty-eight years which followed, many churches and convents were erected in the holy city. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt during this period, and it alone remains to this day. In A.D. 1187 the sultan Saladin wrested the city from the Christians. From that time to the present day, with few intervals, Jerusalem has remained in the hands of the Moslems. It has, however, during that period been again and again taken and retaken, demolished in great part and rebuilt, no city in the world having passed through so many vicissitudes.<\/p>\n

        In the year 1850 the Greek and Latin monks residing in Jerusalem had a fierce dispute about the guardianship of what are called the \u201choly places.\u201d In this dispute the emperor Nicholas of Russia sided with the Greeks, and Louis Napoleon, the emperor of the French, with the Latins. This led the Turkish authorities to settle the question in a way unsatisfactory to Russia. Out of this there sprang the Crimean War, which was protracted and sanguinary, but which had important consequences in the way of breaking down the barriers of Turkish exclusiveness.<\/p>\n

        Modern Jerusalem \u201clies near the summit of a broad mountain-ridge, which extends without interruption from the plain of Esdraelon to a line drawn between the southern end of the Dead Sea and the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean.\u201d This high, uneven table-land is everywhere from 20 to 25 geographical miles in breadth. It was anciently known as the mountains of Ephraim and Judah.<\/p>\n

        \u201cJerusalem is a city of contrasts, and differs widely from Damascus, not merely because it is a stone town in mountains, whilst the latter is a mud city in a plain, but because while in Damascus Moslem religion and Oriental custom are unmixed with any foreign element, in Jerusalem every form of religion, every nationality of East and West, is represented at one time.\u201d<\/p>\n

        Jerusalem is first mentioned under that name in the Book of Joshua, and the Tell-el-Amarna collection of tablets includes six letters from its Amorite king to Egypt, recording the attack of the Abiri about B.C. 1480. The name is there spelt Uru-Salim (\u201ccity of peace\u201d). Another monumental record in which the Holy City is named is that of Sennacherib\u2019s attack in B.C. 702. The \u201ccamp of the Assyrians\u201d was still shown about A.D. 70, on the flat ground to the north-west, included in the new quarter of the city.<\/p>\n

        The city of David included both the upper city and Millo, and was surrounded by a wall built by David and Solomon, who appear to have restored the original Jebusite fortifications. The name Zion (or Sion) appears to have been, like Ariel (\u201cthe hearth of God\u201d), a poetical term for Jerusalem, but in the Greek age was more specially used of the Temple hill. The priests\u2019 quarter grew up on Ophel, south of the Temple, where also was Solomon\u2019s Palace outside the original city of David. The walls of the city were extended by Jotham and Manasseh to include this suburb and the Temple (2 Chr. 27:3<\/a>; 33:14<\/a>).<\/p>\n

        Jerusalem is now a town of some 50,000 inhabitants, with ancient mediaeval walls, partly on the old lines, but extending less far to the south. The traditional sites, as a rule, were first shown in the 4th and later centuries A.D., and have no authority. The results of excavation have, however, settled most of the disputed questions, the limits of the Temple area, and the course of the old walls having been traced.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

        \n\t\t\t\t\t
        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJordan<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
        [*Easton*]\n\nJordan \nHeb. Yarden, \u201cthe descender;\u201d Arab. Nahr-esh-Sheriah, \u201cthe watering-place\u201d the chief river of Palestine. It flows from north to south down a deep valley in the centre of the country. The name descender is significant of the fact that there is along its whole course a descent to its banks; or it may simply denote the rapidity with which it \u201cdescends\u201d to the Dead Sea. \nIt originates in the snows of Hermon, which feed its perennial fountains. Two sources are generally spoken of. (1.) From the western base of a hill on which once stood the city of Dan, the northern border-city of Palestine, there gushes forth a considerable fountain called the Leddan, which is the largest fountain in Syria and the principal source of the Jordan. (2.) Beside the ruins of Banias, the ancient Caesarea Philippi and the yet more ancient Panium, is a lofty cliff of limestone, at the base of which is a fountain. This is the other source of the Jordan, and has always been regarded by the Jews as its true source. It rushes down to the plain in a foaming torrent, and joins the Leddan about 5 miles south of Dan (Tell-el-Kady). (3.) But besides these two historical fountains there is a third, called the Hasbany, which rises in the bottom of a valley at the western base of Hermon, 12 miles north of Tell-el-Kady. It joins the main stream about a mile below the junction of the Leddan and the Banias. The river thus formed is at this point about 45 feet wide, and flows in a channel from 12 to 20 feet below the plain. After this it flows, \u201cwith a swift current and a much-twisted course,\u201d through a marshy plain for some 6 miles, when it falls into the Lake Huleh, \u201cthe waters of Merom\u201d (q.v.). \nDuring this part of its course the Jordan has descended about 1,100 feet. At Banias it is 1,080 feet above sea-level. Flowing from the southern extremity of Lake Huleh, here almost on a level with the sea, it flows for 2 miles \u201cthrough a waste of islets and papyrus,\u201d and then for 9 miles through a narrow gorge in a foaming torrent onward to the Sea of Galilee (q.v.). \n\u201cIn the whole valley of the Jordan from the Lake Huleh to the Sea of Galilee there is not a single settled inhabitant. Along the whole eastern bank of the river and the lakes, from the base of Hermon to the ravine of Hieromax, a region of great fertility, 30 miles long by 7 or 8 wide, there are only some three inhabited villages. The western bank is almost as desolate. Ruins are numerous enough. Every mile or two is an old site of town or village, now well nigh hid beneath a dense jungle of thorns and thistles. The words of Scripture here recur to us with peculiar force: \u2018I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation…And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it…And your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate\u2019 (Lev. 26:31-34).\u201d, Dr. Porter\u2019s Handbook. \nFrom the Sea of Galilee, at the level of 682 feet below the Mediterranean, the river flows through a long, low plain called \u201cthe region of Jordan\u201d (Matt. 3:5), and by the modern Arabs the Ghor, or \u201csunken plain.\u201d This section is properly the Jordan of Scripture. Down through the midst of the \u201cplain of Jordan\u201d there winds a ravine varying in breadth from 200 yards to half a mile, and in depth from 40 to 150 feet. Through it the Jordan flows in a rapid, rugged, tortuous course down to the Dead Sea. The whole distance from the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is in a straight line about 65 miles, but following the windings of the river about 200 miles, during which it falls 618 feet. The total length of the Jordan from Banias is about 104 miles in a straight line, during which it falls 2,380 feet. \nThere are two considerable affluents which enter the river between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, both from the east. (1.) The Wady Mandhur, called the Yarmuk by the Rabbins and the Hieromax by the Greeks. It formed the boundary between Bashan and Gilead. It drains the plateau of the Hauran. (2.) The Jabbok or Wady Zerka, formerly the northern boundary of Ammon. It enters the Jordan about 20 miles north of Jericho. \nThe first historical notice of the Jordan is in the account of the separation of Abraham and Lot (Gen. 13:10). \u201cLot beheld the plain of Jordan as the garden of the Lord.\u201d Jacob crossed and recrossed \u201cthis Jordan\u201d (32:10). The Israelites passed over it as \u201con dry ground\u201d (Josh. 3:17; Ps. 114:3). Twice afterwards its waters were miraculously divided at the same spot by Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:8, 14). \nThe Jordan is mentioned in the Old Testament about one hundred and eighty times, and in the New Testament fifteen times. The chief events in gospel history connected with it are (1) John the Baptist\u2019s ministry, when \u201cthere went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and were baptized of him in Jordan\u201d (Matt. 3:6). (2.) Jesus also \u201cwas baptized of John in Jordan\u201d (Mark 1:9).<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
        \n\t\t\t\t\t
        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNineveh<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
        [*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]First mentioned in Gen. 10:11<\/a>, which is rendered in the Revised Version, \u201cHe [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh.\u201d It is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when it is described (Jonah 3:3<\/a>; 4:11<\/a>) as a great and populous city, the flourishing capital of the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 19:36<\/a>; Isa. 37:37<\/a>). The book of the prophet Nahum is almost exclusively taken up with prophetic denunciations against this city. Its ruin and utter desolation are foretold (Nah.1:14; 3:19, etc.). Zephaniah also (2:13-15) predicts its destruction along with the fall of the empire of which it was the capital. From this time there is no mention of it in Scripture till it is named in gospel history (Matt. 12:41<\/a>; Luke 11:32<\/a>).

        This \u201cexceeding great city\u201d lay on the eastern or left bank of the river Tigris, along which it stretched for some 30 miles, having an average breadth of 10 miles or more from the river back toward the eastern hills. This whole extensive space is now one immense area of ruins. Occupying a central position on the great highway between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, thus uniting the East and the West, wealth flowed into it from many sources, so that it became the greatest of all ancient cities.

        About B.C. 633 the Assyrian empire began to show signs of weakness, and Nineveh was attacked by the Medes, who subsequently, about B.C. 625, being joined by the Babylonians and Susianians, again attacked it, when it fell, and was razed to the ground. The Assyrian empire then came to an end, the Medes and Babylonians dividing its provinces between them. \u201cAfter having ruled for more than six hundred years with hideous tyranny and violence, from the Caucasus and the Caspian to the Persian Gulf, and from beyond the Tigris to Asia Minor and Egypt, it vanished like a dream\u201d (        Nah. 2:6-11<\/a>). Its end was strange, sudden, tragic. It was God\u2019s doing, his judgement on Assyria\u2019s pride (Isa. 10:5-19<\/a>).

        Forty years ago our knowledge of the great Assyrian empire and of its magnificent capital was almost wholly a blank. Vague memories had indeed survived of its power and greatness, but very little was definitely known about it. Other cities which had perished, as Palmyra, Persepolis, and Thebes, had left ruins to mark their sites and tell of their former greatness; but of this city, imperial Nineveh, not a single vestige seemed to remain, and the very place on which it had stood was only matter of conjecture. In fulfilment of prophecy, God made \u201can utter end of the place.\u201d It became a \u201cdesolation.\u201d

        In the days of the Greek historian Herodotus, B.C. 400, it had become a thing of the past; and when Xenophon the historian passed the place in the \u201cRetreat of the Ten Thousand,\u201d the very memory of its name had been lost. It was buried out of sight, and no one knew its grave. It is never again to rise from its ruins.

        At length, after being lost for more than two thousand years, the city was disentombed. A little more than forty years ago the French consul at Mosul began to search the vast mounds that lay along the opposite bank of the river. The Arabs whom he employed in these excavations, to their great surprise, came upon the ruins of a building at the mound of Khorsabad, which, on further exploration, turned out to be the royal palace of Sargon, one of the Assyrian kings. They found their way into its extensive courts and chambers, and brought forth form its hidded depths many wonderful sculptures and other relics of those ancient times.

        The work of exploration has been carried on almost continuously by M. Botta, Sir Henry Layard, George Smith, and others, in the mounds of Nebi-Yunus, Nimrud, Koyunjik, and Khorsabad, and a vast treasury of specimens of old Assyrian art has been exhumed. Palace after palace has been discovered, with their decorations and their sculptured slabs, revealing the life and manners of this ancient people, their arts of war and peace, the forms of their religion, the style of their architecture, and the magnificence of their monarchs. The streets of the city have been explored, the inscriptions on the bricks and tablets and sculptured figures have been read, and now the secrets of their history have been brought to light.

        One of the most remarkable of recent discoveries is that of the library of King Assur-bani-pal, or, as the Greek historians call him, Sardanapalos, the grandson of Sennacherib (q.v.). (See         ASNAPPER<\/a>.) This library consists of about ten thousand flat bricks or tablets, all written over with Assyrian characters. They contain a record of the history, the laws, and the religion of Assyria, of the greatest value. These strange clay leaves found in the royal library form the most valuable of all the treasuries of the literature of the old world. The library contains also old Accadian documents, which are the oldest extant documents in the world, dating as far back as probably about the time of Abraham. (See SARGON<\/a>.)

        \u201cThe Assyrian royalty is, perhaps, the most luxurious of our century [reign of Assur-bani-pa]…Its victories and conquests, uninterrupted for one hundred years, have enriched it with the spoil of twenty peoples. Sargon has taken what remained to the Hittites; Sennacherib overcame Chaldea, and the treasures of Babylon were transferred to his coffers; Esarhaddon and Assur-bani-pal himself have pillaged Egypt and her great cities, Sais, Memphis, and Thebes of the hundred gates…Now foreign merchants flock into Nineveh, bringing with them the most valuable productions from all countries, gold and perfume from South Arabia and the Chaldean Sea, Egyptian linen and glass-work, carved enamels, goldsmiths\u2019 work, tin, silver, Phoenician purple; cedar wood from Lebanon, unassailable by worms; furs and iron from Asia Minor and Armenia\u201d (Ancient Egypt and Assyria, by G. Maspero, page 271).

        The bas-reliefs, alabaster slabs, and sculptured monuments found in these recovered palaces serve in a remarkable manner to confirm the Old Testament history of the kings of Israel. The appearance of the ruins shows that the destruction of the city was due not only to the assailing foe but also to the flood and the fire, thus confirming the ancient prophecies concerning it. \u201cThe recent excavations,\u201d says Rawlinson, \u201chave shown that fire was a great instrument in the destruction of the Nineveh palaces. Calcined alabaster, charred wood, and charcoal, colossal statues split through with heat, are met with in parts of the Nineveh mounds, and attest the veracity of prophecy.\u201d

        Nineveh in its glory was (        Jonah 3:4<\/a>) an \u201cexceeding great city of three days\u2019 journey\u201d, i.e., probably in circuit. This would give a circumference of about 60 miles. At the four corners of an irregular quadrangle are the ruins of Kouyunjik, Nimrud, Karamless and Khorsabad. These four great masses of ruins, with the whole area included within the parallelogram they form by lines drawn from the one to the other, are generally regarded as composing the whole ruins of Nineveh.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
        \n\t\t\t\t\t
        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPalestine (The Holy Land)<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

        First appearance in Exodus 15:14:<\/b><\/u>\u00a0 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina<\/b><\/u>.<\/p>

        \u00a0<\/p>

        Easton’s Bible Dictionary<\/strong>
        Originally denoted only the sea-coast of the land of Canaan inhabited by the Philistines (Ex. 15:14; Isa. 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4), and in this sense exclusively the Hebrew name Pelesheth (rendered \u201cPhilistia\u201d in Ps. 60:8; 83:7; 87:4; 108:9) occurs in the Old Testament.<\/p>

        Not till a late period in Jewish history was this name used to denote \u201cthe land of the Hebrews\u201d in general (Gen. 40:15). It is also called \u201cthe holy land\u201d (Zech. 2:12), the \u201cland of Jehovah\u201d (Hos. 9:3; Ps. 85:1), the \u201cland of promise\u201d (Heb. 11:9), because promised to Abraham (Gen. 12:7; 24:7), the \u201cland of Canaan\u201d (Gen. 12:5), the \u201cland of Israel\u201d (1 Sam. 13:19), and the \u201cland of Judah\u201d (Isa. 19:17).<\/p>

        The territory promised as an inheritance to the seed of Abraham (Gen. 15:18-21; Num. 34:1-12) was bounded on the east by the river Euphrates, on the west by the Mediterranean, on the north by the \u201centrance of Hamath,\u201d and on the south by the \u201criver of Egypt.\u201d This extent of territory, about 60,000 square miles, was at length conquered by David, and was ruled over also by his son Solomon (2 Sam. 8; 1 Chr. 18; 1 Kings 4:1, 21). This vast empire was the Promised Land; but Palestine was only a part of it, terminating in the north at the southern extremity of the Lebanon range, and in the south in the wilderness of Paran, thus extending in all to about 144 miles in length. Its average breadth was about 60 miles from the Mediterranean on the west to beyond the Jordan. It has fittingly been designated \u201cthe least of all lands.\u201d Western Palestine, on the south of Gaza, is only about 40 miles in breadth from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, narrowing gradually toward the north, where it is only 20 miles from the sea-coast to the Jordan.<\/p>

        Palestine, \u201cset in the midst\u201d (Ezek. 5:5) of all other lands, is the most remarkable country on the face of the earth. No single country of such an extent has so great a variety of climate, and hence also of plant and animal life. Moses describes it as \u201ca good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt not eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass\u201d (Deut. 8:7-9).<\/p>

        \u201cIn the time of Christ the country looked, in all probability, much as now. The whole land consists of rounded limestone hills, fretted into countless stony valleys, offering but rarely level tracts, of which Esdraelon alone, below Nazareth, is large enough to be seen on the map. The original woods had for ages disappeared, though the slopes were dotted, as now, with figs, olives, and other fruit-trees where there was any soil. Permanent streams were even then unknown, the passing rush of winter torrents being all that was seen among the hills. The autumn and spring rains, caught in deep cisterns hewn out like huge underground jars in the soft limestone, with artificial mud-banked ponds still found near all villages, furnished water. Hills now bare, or at best rough with stunted growth, were then terraced, so as to grow vines, olives, and grain. To-day almost desolate, the country then teemed with population. Wine-presses cut in the rocks, endless terraces, and the ruins of old vineyard towers are now found amidst solitudes overgrown for ages with thorns and thistles, or with wild shrubs and poor gnarled scrub\u201d (Geikie\u2019s Life of Christ).<\/p>

        From an early period the land was inhabited by the descendants of Canaan, who retained possession of the whole land \u201cfrom Sidon to Gaza\u201d till the time of the conquest by Joshua, when it was occupied by the twelve tribes. Two tribes and a half had their allotments given them by Moses on the east of the Jordan (Deut. 3:12-20; comp. Num. 1:17-46; Josh. 4:12-13). The remaining tribes had their portion on the west of Jordan.<\/p>

        From the conquest till the time of Saul, about four hundred years, the people were governed by judges. For a period of one hundred and twenty years the kingdom retained its unity while it was ruled by Saul and David and Solomon. On the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam ascended the throne; but his conduct was such that ten of the tribes revolted, and formed an independent monarchy, called the kingdom of Israel, or the northern kingdom, the capital of which was first Shechem and afterwards Samaria. This kingdom was destroyed. The Israelites were carried captive by Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, B.C. 722, after an independent existence of two hundred and fifty-three years. The place of the captives carried away was supplied by tribes brought from the east, and thus was formed the Samaritan nation (2 Kings 17:24-29).<\/p>

        Nebuchadnezzar came up against the kingdom of the two tribes, the kingdom of Judah, the capital of which was Jerusalem, one hundred and thirty-four years after the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel. He overthrew the city, plundered the temple, and carried the people into captivity to Babylon (B.C. 587), where they remained seventy years. At the close of the period of the Captivity, they returned to their own land, under the edict of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4). They rebuilt the city and temple, and restored the old Jewish commonwealth.<\/p>

        For a while after the Restoration the Jews were ruled by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and afterwards by the high priests, assisted by the Sanhedrin. After the death of Alexander the Great at Babylon (B.C. 323), his vast empire was divided between his four generals. Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria fell to the lot of Ptolemy Lagus. Ptolemy took possession of Palestine in B.C. 320, and carried nearly one hundred thousand of the inhabitants of Jerusalem into Egypt. He made Alexandria the capital of his kingdom, and treated the Jews with consideration, confirming them in the enjoyment of many privileges.<\/p>

        After suffering persecution at the hands of Ptolemy\u2019s successors, the Jews threw off the Egyptian yoke, and became subject to Antiochus the Great, the king of Syria. The cruelty and opression of the successors of Antiochus at length led to the revolt under the Maccabees (B.C. 163), when they threw off the Syrian yoke.<\/p>

        In the year B.C. 68, Palestine was reduced by Pompey the Great to a Roman province. He laid the walls of the city in ruins, and massacred some twelve thousand of the inhabitants. He left the temple, however, unijured. About twenty-five years after this the Jews revolted and cast off the Roman yoke. They were however, subdued by Herod the Great (q.v.). The city and the temple were destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were put to death. About B.C. 20, Herod proceeded to rebuild the city and restore the ruined temple, which in about nine years and a half was so far completed that the sacred services could be resumed in it (comp. John 2:20). He was succeeded by his son Archelaus, who was deprived of his power, however, by Augustus, A.D. 6, when Palestine became a Roman province, ruled by Roman governors or procurators. Pontius Pilate was the fifth of these procurators. He was appointed to his office A.D. 25.<\/p>

        Exclusive of Idumea, the kingdom of Herod the Great comprehended the whole of the country originally divided among the twelve tribes, which he divided into four provinces or districts. This division was recognized so long as Palestine was under the Roman dominion. These four provinces were, (1) Judea, the southern portion of the country; (2) Samaria, the middle province, the northern boundary of which ran along the hills to the south of the plain of Esdraelon; (3) Galilee, the northern province; and (4) Peraea (a Greek name meaning the \u201copposite country\u201d), the country lying east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. This province was subdivided into these districts, (1) Peraea proper, lying between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; (2) Galaaditis (Gilead); (3) Batanaea; (4) Gaulonitis (Jaulan); (5) Ituraea or Auranitis, the ancient Bashan; (6) Trachonitis; (7) Abilene; (8) Decapolis, i.e., the region of the ten cities. The whole territory of Palestine, including the portions alloted to the trans-Jordan tribes, extended to about eleven thousand square miles. Recent exploration has shown the territory on the west of Jordan alone to be six thousand square miles in extent, the size of the principality of Wales.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

        \u00a0<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        Nave’s topical bible<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

        Palestine (see Canaan)<\/p>

        Son of Ham Ge 9:18
        Descendants of Ge 10:6,15; 1Ch 1:8,13<\/p>

        Land of Ge 11:31; 17:8; 23:2
        Called THE SANCTUARY Ex 15:17
        Called PALESTINE Ex 15:14
        Called THE LAND OF ISRAEL 1Sa 13:19
        Called THE LAND OF THE HEBREWS Ge 40:15
        Called THE LAND OF THE JEWS Ac 10:39
        Called THE LAND OF PROMISE Heb 11:9
        Called THE HOLY LAND Zec 2:12
        Called THE LORD’S LAND Ho 9:3
        Called IMMANUEL’S LAND Isa 8:8
        Called BEULAH Isa 62:4
        Promised to Abraham and his seed Ge 12:1-7; 13:14-17; 15:18-21; 17:8; De 12:9,10; Ps 105:11
        Renewed to Isaac Ge 26:3
        Extent of
        According to the promise Ge 15:18; Ex 23:31; De 11:24; Jos 1:4; 15:1
        After the conquest by Joshua Jos 12:1-8
        In Solomon’s time 1Ki 4:21,24; 2Ch 7:8; 9:26
        Prophecy concerning, after the restoration of Israel Eze 47:13-20
        Fertility of De 8:7-9; 11:10-13
        Fruitfulness of Nu 13:27; 14:7,8; Jer 2:7; 32:22
        Products of
        Fruits De 8:8; Jer 40:10,12
        Mineral De 8:9
        Exports of Eze 27:17
        Famines in Ge 12:10; 26:1; 47:13; Ru 1:1; 2Sa 21:1; 1Ki 17
        See FAMINE
        Spies sent into, by Moses Nu 13:17-29
        Conquest of, by the Israelites Nu 21:21; 35; De 3:3-6; Jos 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; Ps 44:1-3
        Divided by lot among the twelve tribes, and families Nu 26:55,56; 33:54; 34:13
        By Joshua, Eleazar and a prince from each tribe Nu 34:16-29; 35:1-8; Jos 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19
        Divided into twelve provinces by Solomon 1Ki 4:7-19
        Into two kingdoms, Judah and Israel 1Ki 11:29-36; 12:16-21
        Roman provinces of Lu 3:1; Joh 4:3,4<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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        Modern day Iran<\/p>[*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]An ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace, and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were originally a Medic tribe which settled in Persia, on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf. They were Aryans, their language belonging to the eastern division of the Indo-European group. One of their chiefs, Teispes, conquered Elam in the time of the decay of the Assyrian Empire, and established himself in the district of Anzan. His descendants branched off into two lines, one line ruling in Anzan, while the other remained in Persia. Cyrus II., king of Anzan, finally united the divided power, conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylonia, and carried his arms into the far East. His son, Cambyses, added Egypt to the empire, which, however, fell to pieces after his death. It was reconquered and thoroughly organized by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, whose dominions extended from India to the Danube.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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        [*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]A fishery, a town on the Mediterranean coast, about 25 miles north of Tyre. It received its name from the \u201cfirst-born\u201d of Canaan, the grandson of Noah (Gen. 10:15<\/a>, 19<\/a>). It was the first home of the Phoenicians on the coast of Palestine, and from its extensive commercial relations became a \u201cgreat\u201d city (Josh. 11:8<\/a>; 19:28<\/a>). It was the mother city of Tyre. It lay within the lot of the tribe of Asher, but was never subdued (Judg. 1:31<\/a>). The Zidonians long oppressed Israel (Judg. 10:12<\/a>). From the time of David its glory began to wane, and Tyre, its \u201cvirgin daughter\u201d (Isa. 23:12<\/a>), rose to its place of pre-eminence. Solomon entered into a matrimonial alliance with the Zidonians, and thus their form of idolatrous worship found a place in the land of Israel (1 Kings 11:1<\/a>, 33<\/a>). This city was famous for its manufactures and arts, as well as for its commerce (1 Kings 5:6<\/a>; 1 Chr. 22:4<\/a>; Ezek. 27:8<\/a>). It is frequently referred to by the prophets (Isa. 23:2<\/a>, 4<\/a>, 12<\/a>; Jer. 25:22<\/a>; 27:3<\/a>; 47:4<\/a>; Ezek. 27:8<\/a>; 28:21<\/a>, 22<\/a>; 32:30<\/a>; Joel 3:4<\/a>). Our Lord visited the \u201ccoasts\u201d of Tyre and Zidon = Sidon (q.v.), Matt. 15:21<\/a>; Mark 7:24<\/a>; Luke 4:26<\/a>; and from this region many came forth to hear him preaching (Mark 3:8<\/a>; Luke 6:17<\/a>). From Sidon, at which the ship put in after leaving Caesarea, Paul finally sailed for Rome (Acts 27:3<\/a>, 4<\/a>).

        This city is now a town of 10,000 inhabitants, with remains of walls built in the twelfth century A.D. In 1855, the sarcophagus of Eshmanezer was discovered. From a Phoenician inscription on its lid, it appears that he was a \u201cking of the Sidonians,\u201d probably in the third century B.C., and that his mother was a priestess of Ashtoreth, \u201cthe goddess of the Sidonians.\u201d In this inscription Baal is mentioned as the chief god of the Sidonians.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        SUMER<\/b> s\u014d\u014d\u2019 m\u0259r<\/b> (Sumer. kengir<\/i>, Akkad. \u0161umeru<\/i>). The ancient name of the land located in what is today the southern half of Iraq in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Other names used in antiquity to denote this area are Babylonia and Shinar.<\/p>

        1. Name<\/b>. This region is never called \u201cSumer\u201d in the OT. One scholar has proposed that the only remnant of the old name \u201cSumer\u201d in the OT is the personal name Shem, one of Noah\u2019s sons.<\/p>

        2. Geography<\/b>. The northernmost limit of the ancient land of Sumer was prob. in the vicinity of modern Baghdad. Among the old cultural centers which fell within the borders of the land were the cities of Kish (Tell el-Oheimir), Kid Nun (Jemdet Nasr), Nippur (Niffer), Lagash (Telloh), Uruk (Warka), Ur (Tell Muqayyir), Eridu (Abu Shahrain), Shuruppak (Fara), Larsa (Senkere), and Umma (Jocha). Of these illustrious cities two (Uruk-Erech and Ur) are mentioned in the OT. Here also was located the city of Babylon, but it is not usually considered as a Sumer. city, since the period of its first flourishing (c. 1800 b.c.<\/span>) follows the end of the Sumer. periods in the history of Iraq. The history of Sumer properly speaking is the history of her separate cities, since during the period under consideration these cities seldom acted in complete concert. Each city had its claims to fame: its local god, temples, monuments, or rulers. Among the more illustrious of rulers, Kish could claim Enmebaragesi, Akka, and Mesilim; Uruk could claim the famous Gilgamesh, around whose exploits were woven the Gilgamesh epic; Ur could boast Meskalamdug, Mesannepada, Urnammu, and Shulgi; Lagash could recount the deeds of Urnanshe, Urukagina, Gudea, and Eannatum. Each of the important cities had its own local deity or deities. Uruk had the goddess Inanna and the sky-god An. Ur venerated the moon-god Suen. Eridu was the cult center of the god of the sweet waters, Enki (also known as Ea). Nippur contained the temple of the air-god Enlil. In Sippar was the seat of worship for the sun-god Utu.

        Source:         Bible Encyclopedia Bible Gateway<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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        [*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]A rock, now es-Sur; an ancient Phoenician city, about 23 miles, in a direct line, north of Acre, and 20 south of Sidon. Sidon was the oldest Phoenician city, but Tyre had a longer and more illustrious history. The commerce of the whole world was gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. \u201cTyrian merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighbouring islands of the AEgean Sea, in Greece, on the northern coast of Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and Corsica, in Spain at Tartessus, and even beyond the pillars of Hercules at Gadeira (Cadiz)\u201d (Driver\u2019s Isaiah). In the time of David a friendly alliance was entered into between the Hebrews and the Tyrians, who were long ruled over by their native kings (2 Sam. 5:11<\/a>; 1 Kings 5:1<\/a>; 2 Chr. 2:3<\/a>).

        Tyre consisted of two distinct parts, a rocky fortress on the mainland, called \u201cOld Tyre,\u201d and the city, built on a small, rocky island about half-a-mile distant from the shore. It was a place of great strength. It was besieged by Shalmaneser, who was assisted by the Phoenicians of the mainland, for five years, and by Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 586-573) for thirteen years, apparently without success. It afterwards fell under the power of Alexander the Great, after a siege of seven months, but continued to maintain much of its commercial importance till the Christian era. It is referred to in         Matt. 11:21<\/a> and Acts 12:20<\/a>. In A.D. 1291 it was taken by the Saracens, and has remained a desolate ruin ever since.

        \u201cThe purple dye of Tyre had a worldwide celebrity on account of the durability of its beautiful tints, and its manufacture proved a source of abundant wealth to the inhabitants of that city.\u201d

        Both Tyre and Sidon \u201cwere crowded with glass-shops, dyeing and weaving establishments; and among their cunning workmen not the least important class were those who were celebrated for the engraving of precious stones.\u201d (        2 Chr. 2:7<\/a>,14<\/a>).

        The wickedness and idolatry of this city are frequently denounced by the prophets, and its final destruction predicted (        Isa. 23:1<\/a>; Jer. 25:22<\/a>; Ezek. 26<\/a>; 28:1-19<\/a>; Amos 1:9<\/a>, 10<\/a>; Zech. 9:2-4<\/a>).

        Here a church was founded soon after the death of Stephen, and Paul, on his return from his third missionary journey spent a week in intercourse with the disciples there (        Acts 21:4<\/a>). Here the scene at Miletus was repeated on his leaving them. They all, with their wives and children, accompanied him to the sea-shore. The sea-voyage of the apostle terminated at Ptolemais, about 38 miles from Tyre. Thence he proceeded to Caesarea (Acts 21:5-8<\/a>).

        \u201cIt is noticed on monuments as early as B.C. 1500, and claiming, according to Herodotus, to have been founded about B.C. 2700. It had two ports still existing, and was of commercial importance in all ages, with colonies at Carthage (about B.C. 850) and all over the Mediterranean. It was often attacked by Egypt and Assyria, and taken by Alexander the Great after a terrible siege in B.C. 332. It is now a town of 3,000 inhabitants, with ancient tombs and a ruined cathedral. A short Phoenician text of the fourth century B.C. is the only monument yet recovered.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        [*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]Light, or the moon city, a city \u201cof the Chaldees,\u201d the birthplace of Haran (Gen. 11:28<\/a>,31<\/a>), the largest city of Shinar or northern Chaldea, and the principal commercial centre of the country as well as the centre of political power. It stood near the mouth of the Euphrates, on its western bank, and is represented by the mounds (of bricks cemented by bitumen) of el-Mugheir, i.e., \u201cthe bitumined,\u201d or \u201cthe town of bitumen,\u201d now 150 miles from the sea and some 6 miles from the Euphrates, a little above the point where it receives the Shat el-Hie, an affluent from the Tigris. It was formerly a maritime city, as the waters of the Persian Gulf reached thus far inland. Ur was the port of Babylonia, whence trade was carried on with the dwellers on the gulf, and with the distant countries of India, Ethiopia, and Egypt. It was abandoned about B.C. 500, but long continued, like Erech, to be a great sacred cemetery city, as is evident from the number of tombs found there. (See ABRAHAM<\/a>.)

        The oldest king of Ur known to us is Ur-Ba\u2019u (servant of the goddess Ba\u2019u), as Hommel reads the name, or Ur-Gur, as others read it. He lived some twenty-eight hundred years B.C., and took part in building the famous temple of the moon-god Sin in Ur itself. The illustration here given represents his cuneiform inscription, written in the Sumerian language, and stamped upon every brick of the temple in Ur. It reads: \u201cUr-Ba\u2019u, king of Ur, who built the temple of the moon-god.\u201d

        \u201cUr was consecrated to the worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god. It shared this honour, however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran. Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad which led through it from the east to the west. The name is Babylonian, and bears witness to its having been founded by a Babylonian king. The same witness is still more decisively borne by the worship paid in it to the Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient temple of Sin. Indeed, the temple of the moon-god at Harran was perhaps even more famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than the temple of the moon-god at Ur.

        \u201cBetween Ur and Harran there must, consequently, have been a close connection in early times, the record of which has not yet been recovered. It may be that Harran owed its foundation to a king of Ur; at any rate the two cities were bound together by the worship of the same deity, the closest and most enduring bond of union that existed in the ancient world. That Terah should have migrated from Ur to Harran, therefore, ceases to be extraordinary. If he left Ur at all, it was the most natural place to which to go. It was like passing from one court of a temple into another.

        \u201cSuch a remarkable coincidence between the Biblical narrative and the evidence of archaeological research cannot be the result of chance. The narrative must be historical; no writer of late date, even if he were a Babylonian, could have invented a story so exactly in accordance with what we now know to have been the truth. For a story of the kind to have been the invention of Palestinian tradition is equally impossible. To the unprejudiced mind there is no escape from the conclusion that the history of the migration of Terah from Ur to Harran is founded on fact\u201d (Sayce).<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Names & Concepts<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Father of a multitude.<\/p>

        was the son of Terah, and founder of the great Hebrew nation. (B.C. 1996-1822.) His family, a branch of the descendants of Shem, was settled in Ur of the Chaldees, beyond the Euphrates, where Abraham was born. Terah had two other sons, Nahor and Haran. Haran died before his father in Ur of the Chaldees, leaving a son, Lot; and Terah, taking with him Abram, with Sarai his wife and his grandson Lot, emigrated to Haran in Mesopotamia, where he died. On the death of his father, Abram, then in the 75th year of his age, with Sarai and Lot, pursued his course to the land of Canaan, whither he was directed by divine command, (Genesis 12:5<\/a>) when he received the general promise that he should become the founder of a great nation, and that all the families of the earth should be blessed in him. He passed through the heart of the country by the great highway to Shechem, and pitched his tent beneath the terebinth of Moreh. (Genesis 12:6<\/a>) Here he received in vision from Jehovah the further revelation that this was the land which his descendants should inherit. (Genesis 12:7<\/a>) The next halting-place of the wanderer was on a mountain between Bethel and Ai, (Genesis 12:8<\/a>) but the country was suffering from famine, and Abram journeyed still southward to the rich cornlands of Egypt. There, fearing that the great beauty of Sarai might tempt the powerful monarch of Egypt and expose his own life to peril, he arranged that Sarai should represent herself as his sister, which her actual relationship to him, as probably the daughter of his brother Haran, allowed her to do with some semblance of truth. But her beauty was reported to the king, and she was taken into the royal harem. The deception was discovered, and Pharaoh with some indignation dismissed Abram from the country. (Genesis 12:10-20<\/a>) He left Egypt with great possessions, and, accompanied by Lot, returned by the south of Palestine to his former encampment between Bethel and Ai. The increased wealth of the two kinsmen was the ultimate cause of their separation. Lot chose the fertile plain of the Jordan near Sodom, while Abram pitched his tent among the groves of Mamre, close to Hebron. (Genesis 13:1<\/a>) … Lot with his family and possessions having been carried away captive by Chedorlaomer king of Elam, who had invaded Sodom, Abram pursued the conquerors and utterly routed them not far from Damascus. The captives and plunder were all recovered, and Abram was greeted on his return by the king of Sodom, and by Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who mysteriously appears upon the scene to bless the patriarch and receive from him a tenth of the spoil. (Genesis 14:1<\/a>) … After this the thrice-repeated promise that his descendants should become a mighty nation and possess the land in which he was a stranger was confirmed with all the solemnity of a religious ceremony. (Genesis 15:1<\/a>) … Ten years had passed since he had left his father\u2019s house, and the fulfillment of the promise was apparently more distant than at first. At the suggestion of Sarai, who despaired of having children of her own, he took as his concubine Hagar, her Egyptian main, who bore him Ishmael in the 86th year of his age. (Genesis 16:1<\/a>) … [HAGAR; ISHMAEL] But this was not the accomplishment of the promise. Thirteen years elapsed, during which Abram still dwelt in Hebron, when the covenant was renewed, and the rite of circumcision established as its sign. This most important crisis in Abram\u2019s life, when he was 99 years old, is marked by the significant change of his name to Abraham, “father of a multitude;” while his wife\u2019s from Sarai became Sarah. The promise that Sarah should have a son was repeated in the remarkable scene described in ch. 18. Three men stood before Abraham as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day. The patriarch, with true Eastern hospitality, welcomed the strangers, and bade them rest and refresh themselves. The meal ended, they foretold the birth of Isaac, and went on their way to Sodom. Abraham accompanied them, and is represented as an interlocutor in a dialogue with Jehovah, in which he pleaded in vain to avert the vengeance threatened to the devoted cities of the plain. (Genesis 18:17-33<\/a>) In remarkable contrast with Abraham\u2019s firm faith with regard to the magnificent fortunes of his posterity stand the incident which occurred during his temporary residence among the Philistines in Gerar, whither he had for some cause removed after the destruction of Sodom. It was almost a repetition of what took place in Egypt a few years before. At length Isaac, the long-looked for child, was born. Sarah\u2019s jealousy aroused by the mockery of Ishmael at the “great banquet” which Abram made to celebrate the weaning of her son, (Genesis 21:9<\/a>) demanded that, with his mother Hagar, he should be driven out. (Genesis 21:10<\/a>) But the severest trial of his faith was yet to come. For a long period the history is almost silent. At length he receives the strange command to take Isaac, his only son, and offer him for a burnt offering at an appointed place Abraham hesitated not to obey. His faith, hitherto unshaken, supported him in this final trial, “accounting that God was able to raise up his son, even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure.” (Hebrews 11:19<\/a>) The sacrifice was stayed by the angel of Jehovah, the promise of spiritual blessing made for the first time, and Abraham with his son returned to Beersheba, and for a time dwelt there. (Genesis 22:1<\/a>) … But we find him after a few years in his original residence at Hebron, for there Sarah died, (Genesis 23:2<\/a>) and was buried in the cave of Machpelah. The remaining years of Abraham\u2019s life are marked by but few incidents. After Isaac\u2019s marriage with Rebekah and his removal to Lahai-roi, Abraham took to wife Keturah, by whom he had six children, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbok and Shuah, who became the ancestors of nomadic tribes inhabiting the countries south and southeast of Palestine. Abraham lived to see the gradual accomplishment of the promise in the birth of his grandchildren Jacob and Esau, and witnessed their growth to manhood. (Genesis 25:26<\/a>) At the goodly age of 175 he was “gathered to his people,” and laid beside Sarah in the tomb of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael. (Genesis 25:7-10<\/a>)
        Smith’s Bible Dictionary<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

        \n\t\t\t\t\t
        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAngels<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

        Spirit Beings
        No Physical Bodies
        They Have personalities
        They follow the Will of God<\/p>

        They are known to protect people:<\/p>

        Psalms 34:7<\/a>
        The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.<\/p>

        Psalms 91:11 – 12<\/a>
        For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
        12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.<\/p>

        \u00a0<\/p>

        \u00a0<\/p>[*Easton*<\/span><\/a>]A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a \u201cmessenger,\u201d and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14<\/a>: 1 Sam. 11:3<\/a>; Luke 7:24<\/a>; 9:52<\/a>), of prophets (Isa. 42:19<\/a>; Hag. 1:13<\/a>), of priests (Mal. 2:7<\/a>), and ministers of the New Testament (Rev. 1:20<\/a>).

        It is also applied to such impersonal agents as the pestilence (        2 Sam. 24:16<\/a>, 17<\/a>; 2 Kings 19:35<\/a>), the wind (Ps. 104:4<\/a>).

        But its distinctive application is to certain heavenly intelligences whom God employs in carrying on his government of the world. The name does not denote their nature but their office as messengers. The appearances to Abraham at Mamre (        Gen. 18:2<\/a>, 22<\/a>. Comp. 19:1), to Jacob at Peniel (Gen. 32:24<\/a>, 30<\/a>), to Joshua at Gilgal (Josh. 5:13<\/a>, 15<\/a>), of the Angel of the Lord, were doubtless manifestations of the Divine presence, \u201cforeshadowings of the incarnation,\u201d revelations before the \u201cfulness of the time\u201d of the Son of God.

        (1.) The existence and orders of angelic beings can only be discovered from the Scriptures. Although the Bible does not treat of this subject specially, yet there are numerous incidental details that furnish us with ample information. Their personal existence is plainly implied in such passages as         Gen. 16:7<\/a>, 10<\/a>, 11<\/a>; Judg. 13:1-21<\/a>; Matt. 28:2-5<\/a>; Heb. 1:4<\/a>, etc.

        These superior beings are very numerous. \u201cThousand thousands,\u201d etc. (        Dan. 7:10<\/a>; Matt. 26:53<\/a>; Luke 2:13<\/a>; Heb. 12:22<\/a>, 23<\/a>). They are also spoken of as of different ranks in dignity and power (Zech. 1:9<\/a>, 11<\/a>; Dan. 10:13<\/a>; 12:1<\/a>; 1 Thess. 4:16<\/a>; Jude 1<\/a>:9; Eph. 1:21<\/a>; Col. 1:16<\/a>).

        (2.) As to their nature, they are spirits (        Heb. 1:14<\/a>), like the soul of man, but not incorporeal. Such expressions as \u201clike the angels\u201d (Luke 20:36<\/a>), and the fact that whenever angels appeared to man it was always in a human form (Gen. 18:2<\/a>; 19:1<\/a>, 10<\/a>; Luke 24:4<\/a>; Acts 1:10<\/a>), and the titles that are applied to them (\u201csons of God,\u201d Job 1:6<\/a>; 38:7<\/a>; Dan. 3:25<\/a>; comp. 28) and to men (Luke 3:38<\/a>), seem all to indicate some resemblance between them and the human race. Imperfection is ascribed to them as creatures (Job 4:18<\/a>; Matt. 24:36<\/a>; 1 Pet. 1:12<\/a>). As finite creatures they may fall under temptation; and accordingly we read of \u201cfallen angels.\u201d Of the cause and manner of their \u201cfall\u201d we are wholly ignorant. We know only that \u201cthey left their first estate\u201d (Matt. 25:41<\/a>; Rev. 12:7<\/a>,9<\/a>), and that they are \u201creserved unto judgement\u201d (2 Pet. 2:4<\/a>). When the manna is called \u201cangels\u2019 food,\u201d this is merely to denote its excellence (Ps. 78:25<\/a>). Angels never die (Luke 20:36<\/a>). They are possessed of superhuman intelligence and power (Mark 13:32<\/a>; 2 Thess. 1:7<\/a>; Ps. 103:20<\/a>). They are called \u201choly\u201d (Luke 9:26<\/a>), \u201celect\u201d (1 Tim. 5:21<\/a>). The redeemed in glory are \u201clike unto the angels\u201d (Luke 20:36<\/a>). They are not to be worshipped (Col. 2:18<\/a>; Rev. 19:10<\/a>).

        (3.) Their functions are manifold. (a) In the widest sense they are agents of God\u2019s providence (        Ex. 12:23<\/a>; Ps. 104:4<\/a>; Heb. 11:28<\/a>; 1 Cor. 10:10<\/a>; 2 Sam. 24:16<\/a>; 1 Chr. 21:16<\/a>; 2 Kings 19:35<\/a>; Acts 12:23<\/a>). (b) They are specially God\u2019s agents in carrying on his great work of redemption. There is no notice of angelic appearances to man till after the call of Abraham. From that time onward there are frequent references to their ministry on earth (Gen. 18<\/a>; 19<\/a>; 24:7<\/a>, 40<\/a>; 28:12<\/a>; 32:1<\/a>). They appear to rebuke idolatry (Judg. 2:1-4<\/a>), to call Gideon (Judg. 6:11<\/a>, 12<\/a>), and to consecrate Samson (13:3). In the days of the prophets, from Samuel downward, the angels appear only in their behalf (1 Kings 19:5<\/a>; 2 Kings 6:17<\/a>; Zech. 1-6<\/a>; Dan. 4:13<\/a>, 23<\/a>; 10:10<\/a>, 13<\/a>, 20<\/a>, 21<\/a>).

        The Incarnation introduces a new era in the ministrations of angels. They come with their Lord to earth to do him service while here. They predict his advent (        Matt. 1:20<\/a>; Luke 1:26-38<\/a>), minister to him after his temptation and agony (Matt. 4:11<\/a>; Luke 22:43<\/a>), and declare his resurrection and ascension (Matt. 28:2-8<\/a>; John 20:12<\/a>, 13<\/a>; Acts 1:10<\/a>, 11<\/a>). They are now ministering spirits to the people of God (Heb. 1:14<\/a>; Ps. 34:7<\/a>; 91:11<\/a>; Matt. 18:10<\/a>; Acts 5:19<\/a>; 8:26<\/a>; 10:3<\/a>; 12:7<\/a>; 27:23<\/a>). They rejoice over a penitent sinner (Luke 15:10<\/a>). They bear the souls of the redeemed to paradise (Luke 16:22<\/a>); and they will be the ministers of judgement hereafter on the great day (Matt. 13:39<\/a>, 41<\/a>, 49<\/a>; 16:27<\/a>; 24:31<\/a>). The passages (Ps. 34:7<\/a>, Matt. 18:10<\/a>) usually referred to in support of the idea that every individual has a particular guardian angel have no such meaning. They merely indicate that God employs the ministry of angels to deliver his people from affliction and danger, and that the angels do not think it below their dignity to minister even to children and to the least among Christ\u2019s disciples.

        The \u201cangel of his presence\u201d (        Isa. 63:9<\/a>. Comp. Ex. 23:20<\/a>, 21<\/a>; 32:34<\/a>; 33:2<\/a>; Num. 20:16<\/a>) is probably rightly interpreted of the Messiah as the guide of his people. Others have supposed the expression to refer to Gabriel (Luke 1:19<\/a>).<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

        \n\t\t\t\t\t
        \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApocrypha<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

        The following definition is taken from Othodox wiki:
        https:\/\/orthodoxwiki.org\/Apocrypha<\/a><\/p>\n

        \n

        Apocrypha<\/b> may have different meanings depending on how it is applied to the Old or New Testaments and whether it is being used by Catholics, Protestants or Orthodox Christians. For the most part, the term apocrypha<\/i> refers to any collection of scriptural texts that falls outside the canon<\/a>. Since most English language bibles are from non-Orthodox sources, they sometimes are subtitled with Apocrypha<\/i> meaning that it includes the Old Testament, so called Deuterocanonical Books<\/i> that in the Orthodox Church are considered to be genuine parts of the Bible.<\/p>\n

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        Since mostly all of Christianity accept the same 27 books of the New Testament<\/a>, the term apocrypha<\/i> is used for both apocryphal<\/i><\/a> books, and pseudoepigrapha<\/i><\/a> books.<\/p>\n

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