Bible Dictionary Terms 1 Flashcards
Temple of Solomon
- The Hebrew word for temple is similar to the English palace
- The temple was built after the model of the tabernacle, the dimensions of each part being exactly double.
- The materials of the temple—gold, silver, iron, copper, timber, and stone(GICTSS)—had been collected by David. He had also planned the house and its furniture to its details, had collected a number of skilled workmen capable of executing the work
- Solomon gets the credit of the actual accomplishment of the work.
- The temple was shorn of some of its magnificence by Shishak of Egypt in the reign of Solomon’s son. It was often spoiled of its treasures, whether by foreign enemies (Shishak, Jehoash of Israel, Nebuchadnezzar) or by kings of Judah (Asa, Joash, Ahaz, Hezekiah) to buy off the attack or purchase the alliance of foreign powers. It was restored by Joash and by Josiah. Some works in connection with it were taken in hand by Jehoshaphat, Jotham, and Hezekiah. It was polluted by Athaliah, Ahaz, and above all, Manasseh. It was cleansed by Hezekiah and Josiah. Finally it was burned to the ground and utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, all that was valuable in it being carried to Babylon. The vessels of silver and gold were afterwards restored by Cyrus and Darius.
Assyria and Babylonia
The two great Eastern empires before which all the old states of Syria and Palestine fell. We learn their history partly from the Bible narrative and also from contemporary monuments written in cuneiform characters and recently deciphered.
Israel, Kingdom of
The division of the house of Israel into two kingdoms at approximately 925 B.C. had been prophesied by Ahijah (1 Kgs. 11:31–35). The immediate cause was a revolt of the people against the heavy taxes levied by Solomon and his son Rehoboam. Ten tribes formed the northern kingdom, with headquarters at Shechem in Samaria. They were known as Israel, or the northern kingdom, or Ephraim, since Ephraim was the dominant group among them. Their first king was Jeroboam, an Ephraimite; he was followed later by such kings as Omri and Ahab (who ruled with his Phoenician wife Jezebel). The southern kingdom, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, was headquartered at Jerusalem.
The northern kingdom soon went into apostasy and adopted many practices of Baalism, notwithstanding the ministries of such great prophets as Elijah and Amos. After a history of over 200 years and a series of 19 kings, the kingdom was captured by the Assyrians and the people carried away captive into Assyria. They have therefore become known as the “lost ten tribes.”
Since their captivity they have never yet returned to their homeland, but extensive promises and prophecies speak of the time when they of the “north countries” shall return when they are ready to obey the gospel. The gathering of the lost tribes is to be a more spectacular event than the children of Israel coming out of Egypt in Moses’ day.
Judah, Kingdom of
In the reign of Rehoboam the dominions of Solomon were broken up into two separate kingdoms, mainly in consequence of the jealousy between the tribes of Ephraim and Judah. The southern kingdom included the tribe of Judah and the greater part of Benjamin and had Jerusalem as its capital. On the whole it remained more faithful to the worship of Jehovah than the northern kingdom; it was less exposed to attack from the north and east, and the supreme power remained in the hands of the family of David until the Exile. It consequently managed to exist for 135 years after the downfall of the more populous and more powerful kingdom of Israel. For an outline of the history and a list of the kings, see Bible Chronology in the appendix.
Jerusalem
After the division of the kingdoms Jerusalem remained the capital of Judah. It was frequently attacked by invading armies. Under Hezekiah it was made the one center of religious worship, and the “high places” were abolished. After the return it was gradually rebuilt but was captured and partly destroyed by Ptolemy Ⅰ in 320 B.C. and by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C. The city grew under the Maccabees, and during the reign of John Hyrcanus the fortress, known in later days as the Castle Antonia, was rebuilt on the temple area. It was again captured in 65 B.C. by Pompey, who forced an entrance on the Sabbath. Herod rebuilt the walls and the temple, beautifying the city at great expense, but in A.D. 70 it was entirely destroyed by the Romans under Titus. During these later years of its history the Holy City was regarded with intense affection by all Jews, and the words of one of the Psalms of the captivity, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning”, express a feeling that has outlasted 25 centuries of trial and 18 continuous centuries of alienation
Captivities of the Israelites
(1) Of Israel: In 740 B.C. Tiglath-pileser carried away the trans-Jordanic tribes and the inhabitants of Galilee to Assyria; in 721 B.C. Sargon Ⅱ carried into captivity the rest of Israel, placing them at Halah, Habor, etc. The cities of Samaria were then peopled with colonists from Babylon, Cuthah, etc. The later history of the captive Israelites cannot be followed with certainty; some were merged in the gentile population, some returned to their homeland under the decree of Cyrus, and others remained in Babylon and helped to form the dispersion. They have come to be known as the lost tribes.
(2) Of Judah: In 701 B.C. Sennacherib carried into Assyria 200,150 captives from Jewish cities; in 597 B.C. and again in 586 B.C. there were large deportations under Nebuchadnezzar. A considerable number of Jews were left behind in Judea. Those in captivity were assured by the teaching of Ezekiel that the glory of the temple would again be restored. The captivity was brought to a close by the decree of Cyrus in 536 B.C., who permitted all worshippers of Jehovah to return and build the temple in Jerusalem. Only part of the people availed themselves of this permission; the rest remained behind and formed the dispersion.
The period of the captivity had a lasting effect upon the Jewish people. It put a stop to the old sin of idolatry; it was a time of great spiritual revival, a number of the Psalms being written during this period; and it led to a deepening reverence for the law of Moses, especially that part of it dealing with ritual observance.
Persia
The Persians were a tribe who in the 8th century B.C. inhabited a district east of Elam. Cyrus united the Medes and Persians, conquered Babylon (538 B.C.), and founded the Persian Empire, which extended from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, including Asia Minor. Its capitals were Persepolis, Babylon, Susa or Shushan, and Ecbatana or Achmetha. Judea was a subject province to the Persian Empire from 530 until 334 B.C., when it passed, along with the other provinces of that empire, into the hands of Alexander the Great.
Temple of Zerubbabel
There are few definite statements concerning the dimensions and arrangements of the temple of Zerubbabel. But we may reasonably infer that it was, so far as circumstances permitted, in its principal parts a reproduction of Solomon’s temple, and on the ancient site. The dimensions and principles of construction were prescribed in decrees of the Persian kings. They also provided the materials, which came from Sidon. The Jews reckoned the temple of Zerubbabel to be in five points inferior to the temple of Solomon: in the absence of
(1) the Ark of the Covenant (lost or burned at the destruction of Jerusalem and never renewed); (2) the Shechinah or manifestation of the glory of the Lord;
(3) the Urim and the Thummim;
(4) the holy fire upon the altar;
(5) the spirit of prophecy.
Alexander
King of Macedon, surnamed the Great; born 356 B.C., died 323 B.C. He made himself ruler over a wide empire stretching from Greece to the Indus, including Syria and Egypt. Josephus records a meeting between him and the high priest Jaddua. This story is that Alexander was marching against Jerusalem when the high priest came to meet him in his robes of hyacinth and gold and accompanied by a train of priests and citizens arrayed in white. Alexander was so moved by the solemn spectacle that he did reverence to the high priest, visited Jerusalem, and conferred important privileges on the Jews.
Hellenists
The word denotes those who adopt the Greek language and possibly also Greek modes of life. The KJV does not use the word itself but translates it “Grecians”. The Hellenists were Jews who had settled in Greek-speaking countries, and themselves used that language. It was for their use that the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, was made.
Septuagint
The Greek translation of the Old Testament (so called because Jewish tradition said it was made in 70 days by 72 elders sent from Jerusalem) made in the first instance for the use of Greek-speaking Jews living in Alexandria in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (284–246 B.C.), though parts were not finished till the middle of the 2nd century B.C. Most of the quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament are taken from this version; it was the Bible in common use at the beginning of the Christian era and included the books we call the Apocrypha. This translation proved of immense service to the Christian Church, for it taught, in what was then the language of the civilized world, the religious truths that had been the special possession of the Hebrew race. In this way a church that was Jewish in origin was able to teach religion to the world. In commentary material the Septuagint is often referred to as the ⅬⅩⅩ.
Antiochus Epiphanes
King of Syria (175–164 B.C.), at a time when Palestine was a Syrian province. He resolved to try to crush all that was distinctive of Jewish nationality and worship. The struggle that followed is recorded in 1 Maccabees.
Maccabees
A family of Jewish patriots…
Herod
The Herodian family were Idumeans by birth but had become converts to the Jewish faith. Their object was to found, under the protection of Rome, a semi-independent kingdom. By his marriage with Mariamne, Herod the Great allied himself with the family of the Maccabees, who had been for several generations the leaders of the patriotic party among the Jews. Herod was a successful ruler and was on terms of friendship with Augustus, the Roman Emperor. In order to gain favor with his subjects, with whom he was most unpopular, he rebuilt the temple at an immense cost. His reign was disgraced by many acts of cruelty. In a fit of jealousy he had his wife, whom he dearly loved, put to death; later on he had her two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, also murdered. In the same year in which he gave the order for the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem, he had Antipater, another of his own sons, put to death. A few months later Herod himself died. His kingdom was then divided between three of his sons: Archelaus, who received Judea, Idumea, and Samaria; Antipas, who had Galilee and Perea; and Philip, who had the northeast districts of Palestine.
Temple of Herod
To win popularity with the Jews, Herod, in the 18th year (17 B.C.) of his reign, proposed to rebuild the temple of Zerubbabel. The Jews feared lest, having pulled down, he should be unable to rebuild, and to reassure them, Herod promised to gather materials before he began the work. The area of the temple site was inadequate for his design, and to enlarge it he built up a wall from the bottom of the valley, binding rocks together with lead and iron and filling up the hollows. By this means he obtained a site nearly square, each side being 600 feet. The temple proper was built by the priests themselves in a year and six months. The cloisters (the specialty of Herod’s temple) and outer enclosures were built in eight years. Other buildings were added from time to time. The work was proceeding all through our Lord’s earthly life, and the design was not complete till the year A.D. 64, only six years before the temple’s final destruction.
In A.D. 70, on the evening of the anniversary of the destruction of the first temple, Herod’s temple was taken and destroyed by the army of Titus. A temple to Jupiter Capitolinus was erected on the site by Hadrian.
