Biblical Allusions Flashcards
a son who brings heartache to his father; from the 3rd son of David, King of Israel; exiled for 3 years before he was allowed to return to the court or see his royal father, he plotted to cause a rebellion against his father to overtake the kingdom because he heard Solomon was to succeed David; when he was killed in battle, King David grieved for his son despite of his treachery against him
Absolom
the beginning and the end, from a quote in Revelations in the New Testament
Alpha and Omega
a brother who kills a brother; from the story of Adam and Eve’s son who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy
Cain
one known for wisdom and accurate judgment; from a wise leader in the Old Testament who was able to read the handwriting on the wall
Daniel
represents a big sin; from King David’s affair with the wife of Uriah; after they had an affair and she became pregnant, David had her husband put on the front lines of battle so he would die; the affair formed a critical turning point in King David’s life; prior to this, he had prospered greatly, but afterward, his personal fortunes were greatly diminished; Nathan the prophet confronted David after he took her for his wife and trapped him into admitting his own guilt
David and Bathseba
a very difficult task; from famous narrow gateway called “the needle;” in the NT, Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter heaven
Eye of the Needle
money or profits; from a story in the NT of Jesus casting moneylenders out of the Temple
Filthy Lucre
a large person; from the giant from the Philistine city of Gath, slain by David when he was a shepherd boy
Goliath
someone who helps another person, perhaps someone of a different race or background; from a NT parable about a Samaritan, a traditional enemy of the Hebrews, who stopped to help a Jewish man who had been beaten and left for dead at the side of the road
Good Samaritan
what the future holds; from the OT story of Daniel, who was able to accurately predict some mysterious writing that appeared on a wall (it predicted the imminent death of the king)
Handwriting on the wall
one who is cast out as being unworthy; the son of Abraham and his handmaiden Hagar, he was cast into the desert when his wife Sarah had their son Isaac; therefore said to be the ancestor of the nomadic desert tribes of Arabs
Ishmael
grandson of Abraham, son of Isaac and Rebekah, brother of Esau, and the traditional ancestor of Israelites; his name changed to Israel, and his 12 sons became the 12 Tribes of Israel
Jacob
he who suffers a great deal but remains faithful; from an OT character whose faith in God was tested by Satan; though he lost his family and belongings, he remained patient and faithful
Job
“friends” who try to help by bringing blame; ironically, Job’s “friends didn’t comfort at all but were the source of more affliction
Job’s comforters
one who brings bad luck; an OT prophet who ran from God and sailed to the sea; when a storm arose, he admitted that he was the cause, and the sailors threw him overboard, where he was swallowed by a large fish
Jonah
a traitor or treacherous kiss (a ___ kiss); one of the 12 Apostles, notorious for betraying Jesus; his surname in Latin means “murderer” or “assassin;” he disclosed Jesus’ whereabouts to the chief priests and elders for thirty pieces of silver
Judas
an evil king of Israel and his treacherous evil wife, synonymous today with evil; through her marriage to Ahab, Jezebel introduced the worship of Baal, an idol, to Israel, inciting mutual enmity with the prophets; she instigated the murder of Naboth for the possession of a vineyard; today, her name means a brazen or forward woman
King Ahab and Jezabel
a sustaining life-giving source or food; from the sweetish bread-like food that fell from heaven for the Israelites as they crossed the Sinai Desert to the Promised Land with Moses
Manna
the idea that all men are innately sinful as a result of Adam and Eve’s fall from the state of innocence; when they ate of the forbidden fruit, they were cast out the Garden of Eden; a post-biblical expression for the doctrine of Adam’s transgression and mankind’s consequential inheritance of a sinful nature because he ate of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge
Origin Sin/The Fall
something so precious that one would devote everything to or give up everything for it; in one of Jesus; parables, the kingdom of heaven is compared to this price or value, found by a merchant
Pearl of Great Price
a person indifferent or hostile to the arts and refinement; from Sea-going people from Crete who became enemies of the Israelites and fought over their lands
Philistine
a wasteful son who disappoints his father; from the NT parable of a man with two sons; when he split his estate between the two, the younger son gathered his fortune and left home to live the wild life while the other son stayed home to work in the fields; when the younger son spent all of his money, he came crawling back to his father, who accepted him, pardoning his error by saying that he was “lost but was found”
Prodigal Son
paragons of love between in-laws; faithful friends; from the OT story of a woman, who, when her husband died in battle, left her own land to travel with his mother back to her people
Ruth and Naomi
treacherous love story; Samson, an Israelite hero and legendary warrior with extraordinary physical strength, fell in love with Delilah, a Philistine; when his wife learned that Samson’s hair was the source of his strength, she betrayed him by accepting a Philistine bribe to cut off his hair while he slept; today, her name is associated with a voluptuous, treacherous woman
Samson and Delilah
one that is made an object of blame for others; the goat was symbolically burdened with the sins of Jewish people and thrown over a precipice outside of Jerusalem to rid the nation of iniquities
Scapegoat
tomb in the OT
Sepulcher
any place associated with wickedness or sin; from the evil cities of the OT that were destroyed by fire
Sodom and Gomorrah
an extremely wise person; from the son of King David, the Israelite king who wrote Proverbs, and was known for wisdom
Solomon
according to the OT, the Hebrew people took possession of the Promised Land of Canaan after the death of Moses and named the tribes after the sons and grandson of Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel); Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulum, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim
Twelve Tribes of Israel
