The Jewish Annotated New Testament (175 page)

Eighteen Benedictions
see
Amidah
.

elder
see
presbyter
.

elect, election
idea that certain persons or groups are chosen for a particular role (2 Pet 1.10). Some NT texts regard the followers of Jesus as assuming Israel’s role as God’s people (1 Pet 2.4–10; Gal 4.22–5.1).

Elephantine Papyri
Aramaic documents, mostly from the fifth century BCE, from a Jewish colony on the island of Elephantine, near modern Aswan in Egypt.

Elohim
Heb word usually translated “God,” and sometimes “gods.”

Enoch, books of
writings dating from the third century BCE to the sixth century CE, attributed to Enoch (Gen ch 5).
1 Enoch
, a collection of apocalyptic visions, is quoted in Jude 14–15.
2 Enoch
contains a series of linked visions of ascent through seven heavens.

entolē
(Gk “charge,” “command” usually for Heb
mitzvah
) a commandment, especially one from God, e.g., Mt 15.3.

epiphany
(Gk “manifestation,” “appearance”) the appearance of a divine being.

Epicureans
Greek philosophical school, founded by Epicurus, who taught that human beings naturally seek pleasure, and that the best way to achieve this pursuit was in moderation.

Epiphanes
a title, “[God] made manifest,” adopted by Antiochus IV, the
Seleucid
-Greek king who promoted pagan worship in the Jerusalem Temple, thus provoking the Maccabean revolt.

epistle
a letter intended for public reading and therefore written according to a particular literary form.

Epistle of Barnabas
a late first or early second century anti-Jewish Christian text that claims Jews lost their covenantal status with the incident of the golden calf and that biblical law must be understood allegorically (e.g., prohibition of pork means that people are not to act like swine).

eschaton, eschatological, eschatology
(Gk
eschata
, “last things”) a concern with the end time or the end of the world.

Essenes
Jewish movement, first century BCE to first century CE, which rejected the Jerusalem establishment and kept the law with utmost rigor.

ethnos/ethnē
(Gk “nation,” “race,” “people,” or, depending on context, “Gentiles”) Heb
goyyim
.

Eucharist
ritual or service of thanksgiving, centering on the sharing of bread and wine, based on Jesus’ final meal (see
Last Supper
).

eusebeia
Gk “piety,” “reverence,” “religion.”

Eusebius
(ca. 263–339) Bishop of Caesarea (from 314). His
Ecclesiastical History
surveys the development of Christianity.

evangelist
(from Gk
euangelion
, “good news”) the author of a Gospel or, more broadly, one who proclaims the “good news” of Jesus.

exegesis
(Gk “lead into”) the explanation or interpretation of a text.

F

Festival of Weeks
see
Shavuot
.

First Temple
the Temple in Jerusalem from Solomon’s time (tenth century BCE) until the destruction of Jerusalem by
Babylon
in 586. The First Temple period extends from the tenth to the sixth centuries BCE.

Former Prophets
the first part of the biblical section called “the Prophets” (
Nevi’im
): the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.

Fourth Ezra
chs 3–14 of 2 Esdras, a late-first-century CE Jewish apocalypse, incorporated into a Christian frame, set during the
Babylonian exile
(586–538 BCE) but referring to the destruction of the
Second Temple
.

fulfillment citations
quotations from the
Tanakh
/
LXX
in the Gospel of Matthew and elsewhere that proclaim the events in Jesus’ life are “fulfillments” of predictions.

fundamentalist
in its narrow meaning, a conservative Protestant who holds to the five fundamentals: the sole authority of Scripture; the Virgin Birth of Jesus; the doctrine of substitutionary atonement; Jesus’ bodily resurrection; and his Second Coming to judge the world.

G

Gabriel
one of two named angels in
Tanakh
(Dan 8.16; the other is Michael, Dan 12.1). Gabriel serves as a messenger from God (see, e.g., Lk 1.19,26).

Galilee
Israel’s northernmost geographical area.

Gehenna
the place of punishment after death (see Mt 5.22). The name derives from Heb
geiben hinnom
, “valley of the sons of Hinnom,” a place south of Jerusalem thought to be where children were burnt as sacrificial offerings: Josiah (2 Kings 23.10) destroyed the site, but its associations with burning and evil remained, and developed into the image of burning punishment.

Gemara
(Aram “completion”) commentary that supplements and extends the
Mishnah
. The Mishnah and the Gemara together form the
Talmud
.

gematria
(likely from Gk
geometria
) a procedure for interpreting a word or phrase by its numerical value, with each Hebrew letter representing a number (alef=1; bet=2, etc.; see Rev 13.18).

genizah
see
Cairo Genizah
.

Gentile
a person who is neither a Jew nor a Samaritan.

Gnosticism
(from Gk
gnōsis
, “knowledge”) a philosophy that regards spirit and matter as opposites and the material world as created by an inferior divine being; in Gnostic teaching, “knowledge” (as opposed to faith or the cross) gains salvation.

Gospel
(Old English “god spel,” “good news,” translating Gk
euangelion
) a written account of Jesus’ life or sayings, or more broadly, the “good news” of his life and death.

goyyim
(Heb “nations,” “peoples”) a general term for non-Israelite peoples. See
ethnē
.

gymnaō
(from Gk
gymnos
, “naked”) to exercise (in a gymnasion or place of physical training).

H

Hades
the abode of the dead in Greek religion; in the NT the general name for the place where souls go after death (e.g., Mt 11.23; Acts 2.27).

haftarah
(Heb “conclusion”) the reading from a prophetic book that follows the Torah reading in the Sabbath or festival service.

haggadah
see
aggadah
.

Haggadah of Pesach
(“telling of Passover”) the liturgical recitation at the Passover
Seder
; also the book that contains the recitation and instructions of the Seder.

hagioi
(Gk “holy ones,” “saints”) a standard address in NT letters for the members of a congregation; see, e.g., Rom 1.7; 1 Cor 1.2; Eph 1.1.

halakhah
(Heb “way,” from
halakh
“go”; pl.
halakhot
) the legal portions of the Talmud, or any legal ruling according to Jewish law.

Hallel
(Heb “praise”) Psalms 113–118, recited on major Jewish festivals.

hallelujah
(Gk and Lat “alleluia”) Hebrew acclamation, “Praise Yah!”

Ḥaninah ben Dosa
first century CE rabbi known for performing miraculous healing.

Hanukkah
(Heb “dedication”) the commemoration of the rededication of the Temple on 25 Kislev 164 BCE, after the Maccabees defeated the supporters of Antiochus IV.

ha-Shem
see
Shem
.

Hasidic
,
Hasidim
(Heb
Hasid
, “pious one”) (1) a pietistic Jewish group in the Maccabean period; (2) a Jewish renewal movement that began in eastern Europe under the influence of the Baal Shem Tov (“master of the good Name”), R. Yisrael ben Eliezer (ca. 1700–1760).

Hasmonean
the dynasty descended from the Maccabee brothers. It ruled Israel from 135 to 36 BCE, when Herod overthrew it.

Hasmonean Revolt
the uprising led by the family of Mattathias Heshmon against Antiochus IV Epiphanes beginning in 167 BCE, which succeeded in liberating Jerusalem and the surrounding territory from Seleucid rule in 164. See
Hannukah
.

ḥaverim
[or
chaverim
] Heb “friends,” “those in fellowship.”

Hebraism
the reproduction in another language of characteristic Hebrew phraseology; see
Son of Man
(Gk
huios tou anthrōpou
), which may be derived from
ben adam
, frequent in Ezekiel.

hekhalot
(Heb “palaces”) visionary writings in the form of travels through heavenly realms; often connected to
merkavah
mysticism.

Hellenism
Greek culture, politics, and language spread following the conquests of Alexander the Great (d. 323 BCE).

ḥen
Heb “grace,” “favor.”

Herodian
followers and members of the court of Herod the Great and his sons.

ḥesed
Heb “lovingkindness,” “mercy.”

Hexapla
the compendium compiled by
Origen
(d. 254 CE) of six Bible versions in columns: 1. Hebrew, 2. Hebrew transliterated into Greek, 3. Greek [Aquila], 4. Greek [Symmachus], 5. Septuagint, 6. Greek [Theodotion]). The original 7,000-page Hexapla is lost, but quotations exist in various writings including a Syriac translation of column 5 (known as the Syro-Hexapla), prepared by a Christian bishop, Paul of Tella (618–19).

high priest
leading priest in the Jerusalem Temple. In the first century CE, Roman rulers (or their agent, the ruler of Judea) influenced the choice of the high priest.

hilasterion
(Gk “place of propitiation or expiation”) the covering of the Ark (Ex 25.17,
kapporet
,
LXX
hilasterion
), regarded as a place from which to ask mercy or forgiveness; Rom 3.25 applies the term to Jesus’ death.

Hillel, Rabbi
an important early rabbinic sage of the first century BCE; according to tradition, he migrated from Babylonia to Israel. Tradition also suggests that he set up a “house” or scholarly school. The House of Hillel often differs with the House of
Shammai
in halakhic rulings, and is typically more lenient.

Holy Spirit
the Spirit of God regarded as a source of power or love (in
Tanakh
usually “spirit of God” [e.g., Gen 1.2; Num 24.2] or “spirit of the Lord” [e.g., Judg 6.34], but sometimes “holy Spirit” [Ps 51.11; Heb v. 13]). See
Trinity
.

homiletical
having the character or function of a sermon.