A sandy place, an ancient royal city of the Canaanites,
on the south-western border of the plain of Esdraelon, 4 miles south of
Megiddo. Its king was conquered by Joshua Jos 12:21 It was assigned to the
Levites of the family of Kohath Jos 17:11-18 21:25 It is mentioned in the song
of Deborah Jud 5:19 It is identified with the small modern village of Ta'annuk.
Approach to Shiloh, a place on the border of Ephraim Jos
16:6 probably the modern T'ana, a ruin 7 miles south-east of Shechem, on the
ridge east of the Mukhnah plain.
Impressions; rings, "the children of, "returned
from the Captivity Ezr 2:43
Famous, a town in the tribe of Ephraim Jud 7:22 to the
south of Bethshean, near the Jordan.
Goodness of God, the father of one whom the kings of
Syria and Samaria in vain attempted to place on the throne of Ahaz Isa 7:6
A Persian governor of Samaria, who joined others in the
attempt to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem Ezr 4:7
Burning, a place in the wilderness of Paran, where the
"fire of the Lord" consumed the murmuring Israelites Nu 11:3 De 9:22
It was also called Kibroth-hattaavah (q.v.).
Playing on a small drum or tabret. In Na 2:7 where alone
it occurs, it means beating on the breast, as players beat on the tabret.
1. A house or dwelling-place Job 5:24 18:6 etc.
2. A portable shrine (comp.) Ac 19:24 containing the
image of Moloch Am 5:26 marg. and R.V., "Siccuth".
3. The human body 2Co 5:1,4 a tent, as opposed to a
permanent dwelling.
4. The sacred tent (Heb. mishkan, "the
dwelling-place"); the movable tent-temple which Moses erected for the
service of God, according to the "pattern" which God himself showed
to him on the mount Ex 25:9 Heb 8:5 It is called
a. "the tabernacle of the congregation, "rather
"of meeting", i.e., where God promised to meet with Israel Ex 29:42
the
b. "tabernacle of the testimony" Ex 38:21 Nu
1:50 which does not, however, designate the whole structure, but only the
enclosure which contained the "ark of the testimony" Ex 25:16,22 Nu
9:15
c. the "tabernacle of witness" Nu 17:8
d. the "house of the Lord" De 23:18
e. the "temple of the Lord" Jos 6:24
f. a "sanctuary" Ex 25:8
A particular account of the materials which the people
provided for the erection and of the building itself is recorded in Ex 25 The execution
of the plan mysteriously given to Moses was intrusted to Bezaleel and Aholiab,
who were specially endowed with wisdom and artistic skill, probably gained in
Egypt, for this purpose Ex 35:30-35 The people provided materials for the
tabernacle so abundantly that Moses was under the necessity of restraining them
Ex 36:6 These stores, from which they so liberally contributed for this
purpose, must have consisted in a great part of the gifts which the Egyptians
so readily bestowed on them on the eve of the Exodus Ex 12:35,36 The tabernacle
was a rectangular enclosure, in length about 45 feet (i.e., reckoning a cubit
at 18 inches) and in breadth and height about 15 Its two sides and its western
end were made of boards of acacia wood, placed on end, resting in sockets of
brass, the eastern end being left open Ex 26:22 This framework was covered with
four coverings, the first of linen, in which figures of the symbolic cherubim
were wrought with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet threads, and probably
also with threads of gold Ex 26:1-6 36:8-13 Above this was a second covering of
twelve curtains of black goats'-hair cloth, reaching down on the outside almost
to the ground Ex 26:7-11 The third covering was of rams' skins dyed red, and
the fourth was of badgers' skins (Heb. tahash, i.e., the dugong, a species of
seal), Ex 25:5 26:14 35:7,23 36:19 39:34 Internally it was divided by a veil
into two chambers, the exterior of which was called the holy place, also
"the sanctuary" Heb 9:2 and the "first tabernacle" He 9:6
and the interior, the holy of holies, "the holy place, ""the
Holiest, "the "second tabernacle" Ex 28:29 Heb 9:3,7 The veil
separating these two chambers was a double curtain of the finest workmanship,
which was never passed except by the high priest once a year, on the great Day
of Atonement. The holy place was separated from the outer court which enclosed
the tabernacle by a curtain, which hung over the six pillars which stood at the
east end of the tabernacle, and by which it was entered. The order as well as
the typical character of the services of the tabernacle are recorded in Heb
9:1-10:22 The holy of holies, a cube of 10 cubits, contained the "ark of
the testimony", i.e., the oblong chest containing the two tables of stone,
the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. The holy place was the western
and larger chamber of the tabernacle. Here were placed the table for the
shewbread, the golden candlestick, and the golden altar of incense. Round about
the tabernacle was a court, enclosed by curtains hung upon sixty pillars Ex
27:9-18 This court was 150 feet long and 75 feet broad. Within it were placed the altar of burnt
offering, which measured 7 1/2 feet in length and breadth and 4 1/2 feet high,
with horns at the four corners, and the laver of brass Ex 30:18 which stood
between the altar and the tabernacle. The whole tabernacle was completed in
seven months. On the first day of the
first month of the second year after the Exodus, it was formally set up, and
the cloud of the divine presence descended on it Ex 39:22-43 40:1-38 It cost 29
talents 730 shekels of gold, 100 talents 1,775 shekels of silver, 70 talents
2,400 shekels of brass Ex 38:24-31 The tabernacle was so constructed that it
could easily be taken down and conveyed from place to place during the
wanderings in the wilderness. The first encampment of the Israelites after
crossing the Jordan was at Gilgal, and there the tabernacle remained for seven
years Jos 4:19 It was afterwards removed to Shiloh Jos 18:1 where it remained
during the time of the Judges, till the days of Eli, when the ark, having been
carried out into the camp when the Israelites were at war with the Philistines,
was taken by the enemy 1Sa 4:1ff. and was never afterwards restored to its
place in the tabernacle. The old tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness
was transferred to Nob 1Sa 21:1 and after the destruction of that city by Saul
1Sa 22:9 1Ch 16:39,40 to Gibeon. It is mentioned for the last time in 1Ch 21:29
A new tabernacle was erected by David at Jerusalem 2Sa 6:17 1Ch 16:1 and the
ark was brought from Perez-uzzah and deposited in it 2Sa 6:8-17 2Ch 1:4 The
word thus rendered('ohel) in Ex 33:7 denotes simply a tent, probably Moses' own
tent, for the tabernacle was not yet erected.
the third of the great annual festivals of the Jews Le
23:33-43 It is also called the "feast of ingathering" Ex 23:16 De
16:13 It was celebrated immediately after the harvest, in the month Tisri, and
the celebration lasted for eight days Le 23:33-43 During that period the people
left their homes and lived in booths formed of the branches of trees. The
sacrifices offered at this time are mentioned in Nu 29:13-38 It was at the time
of this feast that Solomon's temple was dedicated 1Ki 8:2 Mention is made of it
after the return from the Captivity. This feast was designed
1. to be a memorial of the wilderness wanderings, when
the people dwelt in booths Le 23:43 and
2. to be a harvest thanksgiving Ne 8:9-18
The Jews, at a later time, introduced two appendages to
the original festival, viz.,
1. that of drawing water from the Pool of Siloam, and
pouring it upon the altar Joh 7:2,37 as a memorial of the water from the rock
in Horeb; and
2. of lighting the lamps at night, a memorial of the
pillar of fire by night during their wanderings. "The feast of
Tabernacles, the harvest festival of the Jewish Church, was the most popular
and important festival after the Captivity. At Jerusalem it was a gala day. It
was to the autumn pilgrims, who arrived on the 14th (of the month Tisri, the
feast beginning on the 15th) day, like entrance into a silvan city. Roofs and
courtyards, streets and squares, roads and gardens, were green with boughs of
citron and myrtle, palm and willow. The booths recalled the pilgrimage through
the wilderness. The ingathering of fruits prophesied of the spiritual
harvest.", Valling's Jesus Christ, p. 133
(in Greek called Dorcas), gazelle, a disciple at Joppa.
She was distinguished for her alms-deeds and good works. Peter, who was sent
for from Lydda on the occasion of her death, prayed over the dead body, and
said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes and sat up; and Peter
"gave her his hand, and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows,
he presented her alive" Ac 9:36-43
Mr 7:4 means banqueting-couches or benches, on which the
Jews reclined when at meals. This custom, along with the use of raised tables
like ours, was introduced among the Jews after the Captivity. Before this they
had, properly speaking, no table. That which served the purpose was a skin or
piece of leather spread out on the carpeted floor. Sometimes a stool was placed
in the middle of this skin.
See ABRAHAM'S BOSOM See BANQUET See MEALS
Probably a string of beads worn round the neck Ex 35:22
Nu 31:50 In Isa 3:20 the Hebrew word means a perfume-box, as it is rendered in
the Revised Version.
A height.
1. Now Jebel et-Tur, a cone-like prominent mountain, 11
miles west of the Sea of Galilee. It is about 1,843 feet high. The view from
the summit of it is said to be singularly extensive and grand. This is alluded
to in Ps 89:12 Jer 46:18 It was here that Barak encamped before the battle with
Sisera (q.v.) Jud 4:6-14 There is an old tradition, which, however, is
unfounded, that it was the scene of the transfiguration of our Lord. See HERMON
"The prominence and isolation of Tabor, standing, as it does, on the border-land
between the northern and southern tribes, between the mountains and the central
plain, made it a place of note in all ages, and evidently led the psalmist to
associate it with Hermon, the one emblematic of the south, the other of the
north." There are some who still hold that this was the scene of the
transfiguration (q.v.).
2. A town of Zebulum 1Ch 6:77
3. The "plain of Tabor" 1Sa 10:3 should be, as
in the Revised Version, "the oak of Tabor." This was probably the
Allon-bachuth of Ge 35:8
(Heb. toph), a timbrel (q.v.) or tambourine, generally
played by women Ge 31:27 1Sa 10:5 18:6 In Job 17:6 the word (Heb. topheth)
"tabret" should be, as in the Revised Version, "an open
abhorring" (marg., "one in whose face they spit; "lit., "a
spitting in the face").
Good is Rimmon, the father of Benhadad, king of Syria 1Ki
15:18
Hooks or clasps by which the tabernacle curtains were
connected Ex 26:6,11,33 35:11
=Hach'monite, a name given to Jashobeam 2Sa 23:8 comp.
1Ch 11:11
Isa 33:23 the ropes attached to the mast of a ship. In Ac
27:19 this word means generally the furniture of the ship or the
"gear" Ac 27:17 all that could be removed from the ship.
Palm, a city built by Solomon "in the
wilderness" 2Ch 8:4 In 1Ki 9:18 where the word occurs in the Authorized
Version, the Hebrew text and the Revised Version read "Tamar, "which
is properly a city on the southern border of Palestine and toward the
wilderness (comp.) Eze 47:19 48:28 In 2Ch 8:1-4 Tadmor is mentioned in
connection with Hamath-zobah. It is called Palmyra by the Greeks and Romans. It
stood in the great Syrian wilderness, 176 miles from Damascus and 130 from the
Mediterranean and was the centre of a vast commercial traffic with Western
Asia. It was also an important military station.
See SOLOMON "Remains of ancient temples and palaces,
surrounded by splendid colonnades of white marble, many of which are yet
standing, and thousands of prostrate pillars, scattered over a large extent of
space, attest the ancient magnificence of this city of palms, surpassing that
of the renowned cities of Greece and Rome."
=Tahpanhes=Tehaphnehes, (called "Daphne" by the
Greeks, now Tell Defenneh), an ancient Egyptian city, on the Tanitic branch of
the Nile, about 16 miles from Pelusium. The Jews from Jerusalem fled to this
place after the death of Gedaliah (q.v.), and settled there for a time Jer 2:16
43:7 44:1 46:14 A platform of brick-work, which there is every reason to
believe was the pavement at the entry of Pharaoh's palace, has been discovered
at this place. "Here, "says the discoverer, Mr. Petrie, "the
ceremony described by Jeremiah Jer 43:8-10 ["brick-kiln", i.e.,
pavement of brick] took place before the chiefs of the fugitives assembled on
the platform, and here Nebuchadnezzar spread his royal pavilion" (R.V.,
"brickwork").
The wife of Pharaoh, who gave her sister in marriage to
Hadad the Edomite 1Ki 11:19,20
The land of the newly inhabited, 2Sa 24:6 It is
conjectured that, instead of this word, the reading should be, "the
Hittites of Kadesh, "the Hittite capital, on the Orontes. It was
apparently some region east of the Jordan and north of Gilead.
1. Heb. tokhen, "a task, "as weighed and
measured out tally, i.e., the number told off; the full number Ex 5:18 see 1Sa 18:27
1Ch 9:28 In Eze 45:11 rendered "measure."
2. Heb. hegeh, "a thought;
""meditation" Ps 90:9 meaning properly "as a whisper of
sadness, "which is soon over, or "as a thought." The LXX. and
Vulgate render it "spider; "the Authorized Version and Revised
Version, "as a tale" that is told. In Job 37:2 this word is rendered
"sound; "Revised Version margin, "muttering; "and in Eze
2:10 "mourning."
1. Of silver contained 3,000 shekels Ex 38:25,26 and was
equal to 94 3/4 lbs. avoirdupois. The Greek talent, however, as in the LXX.,
was only 82 1/2 lbs. It was in the form of a circular mass, as the Hebrew name
_kikkar_ denotes.
2. A talent of gold was double the weight of a talent of
silver 2Sa 12:30 Parable of the talents Mt 18:24 25:15
Mr 5:41 a Syriac or Aramaic expression, meaning,
"Little maid, arise." Peter, who was present when the miracle was
wrought, recalled the actual words used by our Lord, and told them to Mark.
Abounding in furrows.
1. One of the Anakim of Hebron, who were slain by the men
of Judah under Caleb Nu 13:22 Jos 15:14 Jud 1:10
2. A king of Geshur, to whom Absalom fled after he had
put Amnon to death 2Sa 3:3 13:37 His daughter, Maachah, was one of David's
wives, and the mother of Absalom 1Ch 3:2
Oppressed.
1. A Levite porter 1Ch 9:17 Ne 11:19
2. One whose descendants returned with Zerubbabel to
Jerusalem Ezr 2:42 Ne 7:45 probably the same as No. 1.
Palm.
1. A place mentioned by Ezekiel Eze 47:19 48:28 on the
southeastern border of Palestine. Some suppose this was "Tadmor"
(q.v.).
2. The daughter-in-law of Judah, to whose eldest son, Er,
she was married Ge 38:6 After her husband's death, she was married to Onan, his
brother Ge 38:8 and on his death, Judah promised to her that his third son,
Shelah, would become her husband. This promise was not fulfilled, and hence
Tamar's revenge and Judah's great guilt Ge 38:12-30
3. A daughter of David 2Sa 13:1-32 1Ch 3:9 whom Amnon
shamefully outraged and afterwards "hated exceedingly, "thereby
illustrating the law of human nature noticed even by the heathen,
"Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris", i.e., "It is
the property of human nature to hate one whom you have injured."
4. A daughter of Absalom 2Sa 14:27
Heb. 'eshel Ge 21:33 1Sa 22:6 31:13 in the R.V.; but in
A.V., "grove, ""tree"); Arab. asal. Seven species of this
tree are found in Palestine. It is a "very graceful tree, with long
feathery branches and tufts closely clad with the minutest of leaves, and
surmounted in spring with spikes of beautiful pink blosoms, which seem to
envelop the whole tree in one gauzy sheet of colour" (Tristram's Nat.
Hist.).
A corruption of Dumuzi, the Accadian sun-god (the Adonis
of the Greeks), the husband of the goddess Ishtar. In the Chaldean calendar
there was a month set apart in honour of this god, the month of June to July,
the beginning of the summer solstice. At this festival, which lasted six days,
the worshippers, with loud lamentations, bewailed the funeral of the god, they
sat "weeping for Tammuz" Eze 8:14 The name, also borrowed from
Chaldea, of one of the months of the Hebrew calendar.
Consolation, a Netophathite; one of the captains who supported
Gedaliah 2Ki 25:23 Jer 40:8
Eze 30:14 marg. (zoan A.V.)
See ZOAN
Apple-region.
1. A town in the valley or lowland of Judah; formerly a
royal city of the Canaanites Jos 12:17 15:34 It is now called Tuffuh, about 12
miles west of Jerusalem.
2. A town on the border of Ephraim Jos 16:8 The
"land" of Tappuah fell to Manasseh, but the "city" to Ephraim
Jos 17:8
3. En-tappuah, the well of the apple, probably one of the
springs near Yassuf Jos 17:7
Stopping; station, an encampment of the Hebrews in the
wilderness Nu 33:27,28
The bearded darnel, mentioned only in Mt 13:25-30 It is
the Lolium temulentum, a species of rye-grass, the seeds of which are a strong
soporific poison. It bears the closest resemblance to wheat till the ear
appears, and only then the difference is discovered. It grows plentifully in
Syria and Palestine.
1Sa 17:6 A.V., after the LXX. and Vulg., a kind of small
shield. The margin has "gorget, "a piece of armour for the throat.
The Revised Version more correctly renders the Hebrew word (kidon) by
"javelin." The same Hebrew word is used in
1. Jos 8:18 (A.V., "spear; "R.V.,
"javelin");
2. Job 39:23 (A.V., "shield; "R.V.,
"javelin");
3. Job 41:29 (A.V., "spear; "R.V.,
"javelin").
A Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning "the sea
coast."
1. One of the "sons" of Javan Ge 10:4 1Ch 1:7
2. The name of a place which first comes into notice in
the days of Solomon. The question as to the locality of Tarshish has given rise
to not a little discussion. Some think there was a Tarshish in the East, on the
Indian coast, seeing that "ships of Tarshish" sailed from Eziongeber,
on the Red Sea 1Ki 9:26 22:48 2Ch 9:21 Some, again, argue that Carthage was the
place so named. There can be little doubt, however, that this is the name of a
Phoenician port in Spain, between the two mouths of the Guadalquivir (the name
given to the river by the Arabs, and meaning "the great wady" or
water-course). It was founded by a Carthaginian colony, and was the farthest
western harbour of Tyrian sailors. It was to this port Jonah's ship was about
to sail from Joppa. It has well been styled "the Peru of Tyrian adventure;
"it abounded in gold and silver mines. It appears that this name also is
used without reference to any locality. "Ships of Tarshish" is an
expression sometimes denoting simply ships intended for a long voyage Isa
23:1,14 ships of a large size (sea-going ships), whatever might be the port to
which they sailed. Solomon's ships were so styled 1Ki 10:22 22:49
The chief city of Cilicia. It was distinguished for its
wealth and for its schools of learning, in which it rivalled, nay, excelled
even Athens and Alexandria, and hence was spoken of as "no mean
city." It was the native place of the Apostle Paul Ac 21:39 It stood on the
banks of the river Cydnus, about 12 miles north of the Mediterranean. It is
said to have been founded by Sardanapalus, king of Assyria. It is now a ruinous
Turkish town, called Tersous.
See PAUL
Prince of darkness, one of the gods of the Arvites, who
colonized part of Samaria after the deportation of Israel by Shalmaneser 2Ki
17:31
An Assyrian word, meaning "the commander-in-chief."
1. One of Sennacherib's messengers to Hezekiah 2Ki 18:17
2. One of Sargon's generals Isa 20:1
Gift,
1. a Persian governor (Heb. pehah, i.e., "satrap;
"modern "pasha") "on this side the river", i.e., of
the whole tract on the west of the Euphrates. This Hebrew title _pehah_ is
given to governors of provinces generally. It is given to Nehemiah Ne 5:14 and
to Zerubbabel Hag 1:1 It is sometimes translated "captain" 1Ki 20:24
Da 3:2,3 sometimes also "deputy" Es 8:9 9:3 With others,
2. Tatnai opposed the rebuilding of the temple Ezr 5:6
but at the command of Darius, he assisted the Jews Ezr 6:1-13
A place on the great "Appian Way, "about 11
miles from Rome, designed for the reception of travellers, as the name
indicates. Here Paul, on his way to Rome, was met by a band of Roman Christians
Ac 28:15 The "Tres Tabernae was the first mansio or mutatio, that is,
halting-place for relays, from Rome, or the last on the way to the city. At
this point three roads run into the Via Appia, that from Tusculum, that from
Alba Longa, and that from Antium; so necessarily here would be a halting-place,
which took its name from the three shops there, the general store, the
blacksmith's, and the refreshment-house...Tres Tabernae is translated as Three
Taverns, but it more correctly means three shops" (Forbes's Footsteps of
St. Paul, p.20
First mentioned in the command Ex 30:11-16 that every Jew
from twenty years and upward should pay an annual tax of "half a shekel
for an offering to the Lord." This enactment was faithfully observed for
many generations 2Ch 24:6 Mt 17:24 Afterwards, when the people had kings to
reign over them, they began, as Samuel had warned them 1Sa 8:10-18 to pay taxes
for civil purposes 1Ki 4:7 9:15 12:4 Such taxes, in increased amount, were
afterwards paid to the foreign princes that ruled over them. In the New
Testament the payment of taxes, imposed by lawful rulers, is enjoined as a duty
Ro 13:1-7 1Pe 2:13,14 Mention is made of
1. the tax (telos) on merchandise and travellers Mt 17:25
2. the annual tax (phoros) on property Lu 20:22 23:2
3. the poll-tax (kensos, "tribute, ")Mt 17:25
22:17 Mr 12:14
4. the temple-tax ("tribute money" two drachmas
half shekel,) Mt 17:24-27 comp. Ex 30:13
See TRIBUTE
Lu 2:2 R.V., "enrolment", "when Cyrenius
was governor of Syria, "is simply a census of the people, or an enrolment
of them with a view to their taxation. The decree for the enrolment was the
occasion of Joseph and Mary's going up to Bethlehem. It has been argued by some
that Cyrenius (q.v.) was governor of Cilicia and Syria both at the time of our
Lord's birth and some years afterwards. This decree for the taxing referred to
the whole Roman world, and not to Judea alone.
See CENSUS
Es 2:16 a word probably of Persian origin, denoting the
cold time of the year; used by the later Jews as denoting the tenth month of
the year. Assyrian tebituv, "rain."
(an old name for the lime-tree, the tilia), Isa 6:13 the
terebinth, or turpentine-tree, the Pistacia terebinthus of botanists. The Hebrew word here used (elah) is rendered
oak (q.v.) in Ge 35:4 Jud 6:11,19 Isa 1:29 etc. In Isa 61:3 it is rendered in
the plural "trees; " Ho 4:13
"elm" (R.V., "terebinth"). Ho 4:13 "elm" (R.V.,
"terebinth"). In 1Sa 17:2,19 it is taken as a proper name,
"Elah" (R.V. marg., "terebinth"). "The terebinth of Mamre,
or its lineal successor, remained from the days of Abraham till the fourth
century of the Christian era, and on its site Constantine erected a Christian
church, the ruins of which still remain." This tree "is seldom seen
in clumps or groves, never in forests, but stands isolated and weird-like in
some bare ravine or on a hill-side where nothing else towers above the low
brushwood" (Tristram).
See ELM
Weighed Da 5:27
Pitching of tents; fastening down, a town of Judah, about
12 miles south of Jerusalem, and visible from the city. From this place Joab
procured a "wise woman, "who pretended to be in great affliction, and
skilfully made her case known to David. Her address to the king was in the form
of an apologue, similar to that of Nathan 2Sa 12:1-6 The object of Joab was, by
the intervention of this woman, to induce David to bring back Absalom to
Jerusalem 2Sa 14:2,4,9 This was also the birth-place of the prophet Amoa Am 1:1
It is now the village of Teku'a, on the top of a hill among ruins, 5 miles
south of Bethlehem, and close to Beth-haccerem ("Herod's mountain").
Hill of corn, a place on the river Chebar, the residence
of Ezekiel Eze 3:15 The site is unknown.
Young lambs, a place at which Saul gathered his army to
fight against Amalek 1Sa 15:4 probably the same as Telem No 2..
Or Thelasar, Isa 37:12 2Ki 19:12 a province in the
south-east of Assyria, probably in Babylonia. Some have identified it with Tel
Afer, a place in Mesopotamia, some 30 miles from Sinjar.
Oppression.
1. A porter of the temple in the time of Ezra Ezr 10:24
2. A town in the southern border of Judah Jos 15:24
probably the same as Telaim.
Hill of the wood, a place in Babylon from which some captive
Jews returned to Jerusalem Ezr 2:59 Ne 7:61
Hill of salt, a place in Babylon from which the Jews
returned (id.). Ezr 2:59 Ne 7:61
South; desert, one of the sons of Ishmael, and father of
a tribe so called Ge 25:15 1Ch 1:30 Job 6:19 Isa 21:14 Jer 25:23 which settled
at a place to which he gave his name, some 250 miles south-east of Edom, on the
route between Damascus and Mecca, in the northern part of the Arabian
peninsula, toward the Syrian desert; the modern Teyma'.
Id.
1. A grandson of Esau, one of the "dukes of
Edom" Ge 36:11,15,42
2. A place in Southern Idumea, the land of "the sons
of the east, " frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. It was noted for
the wisdom of its inhabitants Am 1:12 Ob 1:8 Jer 49:7 Eze 25:13 It was divided
from the hills of Paran by the low plain of Arabah Hab 3:3
A man of Teman, the designation of Eliphaz, one of Job's
three friends Job 2:11 22:1
One of the sons of Ashur, the father of Tekoa 1Ch 4:6
1. First used of the tabernacle, which is called
"the temple of the Lord" 1Sa 1:9
2. In the New Testament the word is used figuratively of
a. Christ's human body Joh 2:19,21
b. Believers are called "the temple of God" 1Co
3:16,17
c. The Church is designated "an holy temple in the
Lord" Eph 2:21
d. Heaven is also called a temple Re 16:17
e. We read also of the heathen "temple of the great
goddess Diana" Ac 19:27
3. This word is generally used in Scripture of the sacred
house erected on the summit of Mount Moriah for the worship of God. It is
called
a. "the temple" 1Ki 6:17
b. "the temple [R.V., 'house']of the Lord" 2Ki
11:10
c. "thy holy temple" Ps 79:1
d. "the house of the Lord" 2Ch 23:5,12
e. "the house of the God of Jacob" Isa 2:3
f. "the house of my glory" Isa 60:7
g. an "house of prayer" Isa 56:7 Mt 21:13
h. "an house of sacrifice" 2Ch 7:12
i. "the house of their sanctuary" 2Ch 36:17
j. "the mountain of the Lord's house" Isa 2:2
k. "our holy and our beautiful house" Isa 64:11
l. "the holy mount" Isa 27:13
m. "the palace for the Lord God" 1Ch 29:1
n. "the tabernacle of witness" 2Ch 24:6
o. "Zion" Ps 74:2 84:7
p. Christ calls it "my Father's house" Joh 2:16
The temple erected by the exiles on their return from
Babylon had stood for about five hundred years, when Herod the Great became
king of Judea. The building had suffered considerably from natural decay as
well as from the assaults of hostile armies, and Herod, desirous of gaining the
favour of the Jews, proposed to rebuild it.
This offer was accepted, and the work was begun (B.C. 18) and carried
out at great labour and expense, and on a scale of surpassing splendour. The
main part of the building was completed in ten years, but the erection of the
outer courts and the embellishment of the whole were carried on during the
entire period of our Lord's life on earth Joh 2:16,19-21 and the temple was
completed only A.D. 65 But it was not long permitted to exist. Within forty
years after our Lord's crucifixion, his prediction of its overthrow was
accomplished Lu 19:41-44 The Roman legions took the city of Jerusalem by storm,
and notwithstanding the strenuous efforts Titus made to preserve the temple,
his soldiers set fire to it in several places, and it was utterly destroyed
(A.D. 70) and was never rebuilt. Several remains of Herod's stately temple have
by recent explorations been brought to light. It had two courts, one intended
for the Israelites only, and the other, a large outer court, called "the
court of the Gentiles, "intended for the use of strangers of all nations.
These two courts were separated by a low wall, as Josephus states, some 4 1/2
feet high, with thirteen openings. Along the top of this dividing wall, at
regular intervals, were placed pillars bearing in Greek an inscription to the
effect that no stranger was, on the pain of death, to pass from the court of
the Gentiles into that of the Jews. At the entrance to a graveyard at the
north-western angle of the Haram wall, a stone was discovered by M. Ganneau in
1871 built into the wall, bearing the following inscription in Greek capitals:
"No stranger is to enter within the partition wall and enclosure around
the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will be responsible to himself for his death,
which will ensue." There can be no doubt that the stone thus discovered
was one of those originally placed on the boundary wall which separated the
Jews from the Gentiles, of which Josephus speaks. It is of importance to notice that the word rendered "sanctuary"
in the inscription was used in a specific sense of the inner court, the court
of the Israelites, and is the word rendered "temple" in Joh 2:15 Ac
21:28,29 When Paul speaks of the middle wall of partition Eph 2:14 he probably
makes allusion to this dividing wall.
Within this partition wall stood the temple proper, consisting of,
1. the court of the women, 8 feet higher than the outer
court;
2. 10 feet higher than this court was the court of
Israel;
3. the court of the priests, again 3 feet higher; and
lastly
4. the temple floor, 8 feet above that; thus in all 29
feet above the level of the outer court. The summit of Mount Moriah, on which
the temple stood, is now occupied by the Haram esh-Sherif, i.e., "the
sacred enclosure." This enclosure is about 1,500 feet from north to south,
with a breadth of about 1,000 feet, covering in all a space of about 35 acres.
About the centre of the enclosure is a raised platform, 16 feet above the
surrounding space, and paved with large stone slabs, on which stands the Muslim
mosque called Kubbet es-Sahkra i.e., the "Dome of the Rock, "or the
Mosque of Omar. This mosque covers the site of Solomon's temple. In the centre
of the dome there is a bare, projecting rock, the highest part of Moriah
(q.v.), measuring 60 feet by 40 standing 6 feet above the floor of the mosque,
called the sahkra, i.e., "rock." Over this rock the altar of
burnt-offerings stood. It was the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The
exact position on this "sacred enclosure" which the temple occupied
has not been yet definitely ascertained. Some affirm that Herod's temple
covered the site of Solomon's temple and palace, and in addition enclosed a
square of 300 feet at the south-western angle. The temple courts thus are
supposed to have occupied the southern portion of the "enclosure, "
forming in all a square of more than 900 feet. It is argued by others that
Herod's temple occupied a square of 600 feet at the south-west of the
"enclosure."
Before his death David had "with all his might"
provided materials in great abundance for the building of the temple on the
summit of Mount Moriah 1Ch 22:14 29:4 2Ch 3:1 on the east of the city, on the
spot where Abraham had offered up Isaac Ge 22:1-14 In the beginning of his
reign Solomon set about giving effect to the desire that had been so earnestly
cherished by his father, and prepared additional materials for the building.
From subterranean quarries at Jerusalem he obtained huge blocks of stone for
the foundations and walls of the temple. These stones were prepared for their
places in the building under the eye of Tyrian master-builders. He also entered
into a compact with Hiram II., king of Tyre, for the supply of whatever else was
needed for the work, particularly timber from the forests of Lebanon, which was
brought in great rafts by the sea to Joppa, whence it was dragged to Jerusalem
1Ki 5:1-6:38 As the hill on which the temple was to be built did not afford
sufficient level space, a huge wall of solid masonry of great height, in some
places more than 200 feet high, was raised across the south of the hill, and a
similar wall on the eastern side, and in the spaces between were erected many
arches and pillars, thus raising up the general surface to the required level.
Solomon also provided for a sufficient water supply for the temple by hewing in
the rocky hill vast cisterns, into which water was conveyed by channels from
the "pools" near Bethlehem. One of these cisterns, the "great sea,
"was capable of containing three millions of gallons. The overflow was led
off by a conduit to the Kidron. In all these preparatory undertakings a space
of about three years was occupied; and now the process of the erection of the
great building began, under the direction of skilled Phoenician builders and
workmen, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, 480 years after the Exodus 1Ki
6:1ff. 2Ch 3:1ff. Many thousands of labourers and skilled artisans were
employed in the work. Stones prepared in the quarries underneath the city 1Ki
5:17,18 of huge dimension
See QUARRIES were gradually placed on the massive walls,
and closely fitted together without any mortar between, till the whole
structure was completed. No sound of hammer or axe or any tool of iron was
heard as the structure arose 1Ki 6:7 "Like some tall palm the noiseless
fabric sprang." The building was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30
cubits high. The engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund, in their
explorations around the temple area, discovered what is believed to have been
the "chief corner stone" of the temple, "the most interesting
stone in the world." It lies at the bottom of the south-eastern angle, and
is 3 feet 8 inches high by 14 feet long. It rests on the solid rock at a depth
of 79 feet 3 inches below the present surface.
See PINNACLE In examining the walls the engineers were
"struck with admiration at the vastness of the blocks and the general
excellence of the workmanship." At length, in the autumn of the eleventh
year of his reign, seven and a half years after it had been begun, the temple
was completed in all its architectural magnificence and beauty. For thirteen
years there it stood, on the summit of Moriah, silent and unused. The reasons
for this strange delay in its consecration are unknown. At the close of these
thirteen years preparations for the dedication of the temple were made on a
scale of the greatest magnificence. The ark was solemnly brought from the tent
in which David had deposited it to the place prepared for it in the temple, and
the glory-cloud, the symbol of the divine presence, filled the house. Then
Solomon ascended a platform which had been erected for him, in the sight of all
the people, and lifting up his hands to heaven poured out his heart to God in
prayer 1Ki 8:1ff. 2Ch 6:1-7:1ff. The feast of dedication, which lasted seven
days, followed by the feast of tabernacles, marked a new era in the history of
Israel. On the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles, Solomon dismissed the
vast assemblage of the people, who returned to their homes filled with joy and
gladness, "Had Solomon done no other service beyond the building of the
temple, he would still have influenced the religious life of his people down to
the latest days. It was to them a
perpetual reminder and visible symbol of God's presence and protection, a
strong bulwark of all the sacred traditions of the law, a witness to duty, an
impulse to historic study, an inspiration of sacred song." The temple
consisted of,
1. The oracle or most holy place 1Ki 6:19 8:6 called also
the "inner house" 1Ki 6:27 and the "holiest of all" Heb 9:3
It was 20 cubits in length, breadth, and height. It was floored and wainscotted
with cedar 1Ki 6:16 and its walls and floor were overlaid with gold 1Ki
6:20,21,30 There was a two-leaved door between it and the holy place overlaid
with gold 2Ch 4:22 also a veil of blue purple and crimson and fine linen 2Ch
3:14 comp. Ex 26:33 It had no windows 1Ki 8:12 It was indeed the dwelling-place
of God.
2. The holy place (q.v.), 1Ki 8:8-10 called also the
"greater house" 2Ch 3:5 and the "temple" 1Ki 6:17
3. The porch or entrance before the temple on the east
1Ki 6:3 2Ch 3:4 29:7 In the porch stood the two pillars Jachin and Boaz 1Ki
7:21 2Ki 11:14 23:3
4. The chambers, which were built about the temple on the
southern, western, and northern sides 1Ki 6:5-10 These formed a part of the
building.
Round about the building were,
1. The court of the priests 2Ch 4:9 called the
"inner court" 1Ki 6:36 It contained the altar of burnt-offering 2Ch
15:8 the brazen sea 2Ch 4:2-5,10 and ten lavers 1Ki 7:38,39
2. The great court, which surrounded the whole temple 2Ch
4:9 Here the people assembled to worship God Jer 19:14 26:2
This temple erected by Solomon was many times pillaged
during the course of its history,
1. 1Ki 14:25,26 Sishak, king of Egypt
2. 2Ki 14:14 Jehoash, king of Israel
3. 2Ki 16:8,17,18 Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria
4. 2Ki 18:15,16 Sennacherib, king of Assyria
5. At last it was pillaged and destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar 2Ki 24:13 2Ch 36:7 He burned the temple, and carried all its
treasures with him to Babylon 2Ki 25:9-17 2Ch 36:19 Isa 64:11 These sacred
vessels were at length, at the close of the Captivity, restored to the Jews by
Cyrus Ezr 1:7-11
After the return from captivity, under Zerubbabel (q.v.)
and the high priest Jeshua, arrangements were almost immediately made to
reorganize the long-desolated kingdom. The body of pilgrims, forming a band of
42 including children, having completed the long and dreary journey of some
four months, from the banks of the Euphrates to Jerusalem, were animated in all
their proceeding by a strong religious impulse, and therefore one of their first
cares was to restore their ancient worship by rebuilding the temple. On the
invitation of Zerubbabel, the governor, who showed them a remarkable example of
liberality by contributing personally 1,000 golden darics (probably about
besides other gifts, the people with great enthusiasm poured their gifts into
the sacred treasury Ezr 2:1ff. First they erected and dedicated the altar of
Jehovah on the exact spot where it had formerly stood, and they then cleared
away the charred heaps of debris which occupied the site of the old temple; and
in the second month of the second year (B.C. 535) amid great public excitement
and rejoicing Ps 116, 117, 118 the foundations of the second temple were laid.
A wide interest was felt in this great movement, although it was regarded with
mingled feelings by the spectators Hag 2:3 Zec 4:10 The Samaritans made
proposals for a co-operation in the work.
Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the elders, however, declined all such
cooperation: Judah must build the temple without help. Immediately evil reports
were spread regarding the Jews. The Samaritans sought to "frustrate their
purpose" Ezr 4:5 and sent messengers to Ecbatana and Susa, with the result
that the work was suspended. Seven years after this Cyrus died ingloriously,
having killed himself in Syria when on his way back from Egypt to the east, and
was succeeded by his son Cambyses (B.C. 529) on whose death the "false
Smerdis, "an imposter, occupied the throne for some seven or eight months,
and then Darius Hystaspes became king (B.C. 522) In the second year of this
monarch the work of rebuilding the temple was resumed and carried forward to
its completion Ezr 5:6-17 6:1-15 under the stimulus of the earnest counsels and
admonitions of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. It was ready for consecration
in the spring of B.C. 516 twenty years after the return from captivity. This
second temple had not the ark, the Urim and Thummim, the holy oil, the sacred
fire, the tables of stone, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod. As in the tabernacle, there was in it only
one golden lamp for the holy place, one table of shewbread, and the incense
altar, with golden censers, and many of the vessels of gold that had belonged
to Solomon's temple that had been carried to Babylon but restored by Cyrus Ezr
1:7-11 This second temple also differed from the first in that, while in the
latter there were numerous "trees planted in the courts of the Lord,
"there were none in the former. The second temple also had for the first
time a space, being a part of the outer court, provided for proselytes who were
worshippers of Jehovah, although not subject to the laws of Judaism. The
temple, when completed, was consecrated amid great rejoicings on the part of
all the people Ezr 6:16 although there were not wanting outward evidences that
the Jews were no longer an independent people, but were subject to a foreign
power. Hag 2:9 is rightly rendered in the Revised Version, "The latter
glory of this house shall be greater than the former, "instead of,
"The glory of this latter house, "etc., in the Authorized Version.
The temple, during the different periods of its existence, is regarded as but
one house, the one only house of God (comp.) Hag 2:3 The glory here predicted
is spiritual glory and not material splendour. "Christ himself, present
bodily in the temple on Mount Zion during his life on earth, present
spiritually in the Church now, present in the holy city, the heavenly
Jerusalem, of which he is the temple, calling forth spiritual worship and
devotion is the glory here predicted" (Perowne).
1. Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God "tempted
Ge 22:1 R.V., 'did prove']Abraham; "and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e.,
to try, men Jas 1:2,12 comp. De 8:2 putting their faith and patience to the
test.
2. Ordinarily, however, the word means solicitation to
that which is evil, and hence Satan is called "the tempter" Mt 4:3
Our Lord was in this way tempted in the wilderness. That temptation was not
internal, but by a real, active, subtle being. It was not self-sought. It was
submitted to as an act of obedience on his part. "Christ was led, driven.
An unseen personal force bore him a certain violence is implied in the words"
Mt 4:1-11 The scene of the temptation of our Lord is generally supposed to have
been the mountain of Quarantania (q.v.), "a high and precipitous wall of
rock, 1,200 or 1,500 feet above the plain west of Jordan, near Jericho."
Temptation is common to all Da 12:10 Zec 13:9 Ps 66:10 Lu 22:31,40 Heb 11:17
Jas 1:12 1Pe 1:7 4:12 We read of the temptation of
a. Joseph Ge 39:1ff.
b. David 2Sa 24:1ff. 1Ch 21:1ff.
c. Hezekiah 2Ch 32:31
d. Daniel Da 6:1ff. etc. So long as we are in this world
we are exposed to temptations, and need ever to be on our watch against them.
1. Heb. 'ohel Ge 9:21,27 This word is used also of
a. a dwelling or habitation 1Ki 8:66 Isa 16:5 Jer 4:20
b. the temple Eze 41:1
c. When used of the tabernacle, as in 1Ki 1:39 it denotes
the covering of goat's hair which was placed over the mishcan.
2. Heb. mishcan So 1:8 used also of
a. a dwelling Job 18:21 Ps 87:2
b. the grave Isa 22:16 comp. Isa 14:18
c. the temple Ps 46:4 84:2 132:5
d. the tabernacle Ex 25:9 26:1 40:9 Nu 1:50,53 10:11
e. When distinguished from 'ohel, it denotes the twelve
interior curtains which lay upon the framework of the tabernacle (q.v.).
3. Heb. kubbah Nu 25:8 a dome-like tent devoted to the
impure worship of Baal-peor.
4. Heb. succah 2Sa 11:11 a tent or booth made of green
boughs or branches (see) Ge 33:17 Le 23:34,42 Ps 18:11 Jon 4:5 Isa 4:6 Ne
8:15-17 (where the word is variously rendered).
a. Jubal was "the father of such as dwell in
tents" Ge 4:20
b. The patriarchs were "dwellers in tents" Ge
9:21,27 12:8 Ge 13:12 26:17
c. during their wilderness wanderings all Israel dwelt in
tents Ex 16:16 De 33:18 Jos 7:24
Tents have always occupied a prominent place in Eastern
life 1Sa 17:54 2Ki 7:7 Ps 120:5 So 1:5 Paul the apostle's occupation was that
of a tent-maker Ac 18:3 i.e., perhaps a maker of tent cloth.
i.e., the tenth part of an ephah (as in the R.V.), equal
to an omer or six pints. The recovered leper, to complete his purification, was
required to bring a trespass, a sin, and a burnt offering, and to present a
meal offering, a tenth deal or an omer of flour for each, with oil to make it
into bread or cakes Le 14:10,21 comp. Ex 16:36 29:40
The wanderer; loiterer, for some unknown reason emigrated
with his family from his native mountains in the north to the plains of
Mesopotamia. He had three sons, Haran, Nahor, and Abraham, and one daughter,
Sarah. He settled in "Ur of the Chaldees, "where his son Haran died,
leaving behind him his son Lot. Nahor settled at Haran, a place on the way to
Ur. Terah afterwards migrated with Abraham (probably his youngest son) and Lot
(his grandson), together with their families, from Ur, intending to go with
them to Canaan; but he tarried at Haran, where he spent the remainder of his
days, and died at the age of two hundred and five years Ge 11:24-32 Jos 24:2
What a wonderful part the descendants of this Chaldean shepherd have played in
the history of the world!
Givers of prosperity, idols in human shape, large or
small, analogous to the images of ancestors which were revered by the Romans.
In order to deceive the guards sent by Saul to seize David, Michal his wife
prepared one of the household teraphim, putting on it the goat's-hair cap worn
by sleepers and invalids, and laid it in a bed, covering it with a mantle. She
pointed it out to the soldiers, and alleged that David was confined to his bed
by a sudden illness 1Sa 19:13-16 Thus she gained time for David's escape. It seems
strange to read of teraphim, images of ancestors, preserved for superstitious
purposes, being in the house of David. Probably they had been stealthily
brought by Michal from her father's house. "Perhaps, "says Bishop
Wordsworth, "Saul, forsaken by God and possessed by the evil spirit, had
resorted to teraphim (as he afterwards resorted to witchcraft); and God
overruled evil for good, and made his very teraphim (by the hand of his own
daughter) to be an instrument for David's escape.", Deane's David, p. 32
Josiah attempted to suppress this form of idolatry 2Ki 23:24 The ephod and
teraphim are mentioned together in Ho 3:4 It has been supposed by some
(Cheyne's Hosea) that the "ephod" here mentioned, and also in Jud
8:24-27 was not the part of the sacerdotal dress so called Ex 28:6-14 but an
image of Jehovah overlaid with gold or silver (comp.) Jud 17:1-18:1ff. 1Sa 21:9
23:6,9 30:7,8 and is thus associated with the teraphim.
See THUMMIM
(R.V. marg. of De 11:30 etc.), the Pistacia terebinthus
of botanists; a tree very common in the south and east of Palestine.
See OAK
Severe, a eunuch or chamberlain in the palace of
Ahasuerus, who conspired with another to murder him. The plot was detected by
Mordecai, and the conspirators were put to death Es 2:21 6:2
The third, a Roman Christian whom Paul employed as his
amanuensis in writing his epistle to the Romans Ro 16:22
A modification of "Tertius; "a Roman advocate, whom
the Jews employed to state their case against Paul in the presence of Felix Ac
24:1-9 The charges he adduced against the apostle were,
1. "First, that he created disturbances among the Romans
throughout the empire, an offence against the Roman government (crimen
majestatis).
2. Secondly, that he was a ringleader of the sect of the
Nazarenes; disturbed the Jews in the exercise of their religion, guaranteed by
the state; introduced new gods, a thing prohibited by the Romans
3. And thirdly, that he attempted to profane the temple,
a crime which the Jews were permitted to punish."
Occurs twelve times in the New Testament Heb 9:15 etc. as
the rendering of the Gr. diatheke, which is twenty times rendered
"covenant" in the Authorized Version, and always so in the Revised
Version. The Vulgate translates incorrectly by testamentum, whence the names
"Old" and "New Testament, "by which we now designate the
two sections into which the Bible is divided.
See BIBLE
1. Witness or evidence 2Th 1:10
2. The Scriptures, as the revelation of God's will 2Ki
11:12 Ps 19:7 119:88 Isa 8:16,20
3. The altar raised by the Gadites and Reubenites Jos
22:10
The tabernacle, the great glory of which was that it
contained "the testimony", i.e., the "two tables" Ex 38:21
The ark in which these tables were deposited was called the "ark of the
testimony" Ex 40:3 and also simply the "testimony" Ex 27:21 30:6
Strictly the ruler over the fourth part of a province;
but the word denotes a ruler of a province generally Mt 14:1 Lu 3:1,19 9:7 Ac
13:1 Herod and Phasael, the sons of Antipater, were the first tetrarchs in
Palestine. Herod the tetrarch had the title of king Mt 14:9
Breast, the name of one of the apostles Mr 3:18 called
"Lebbaeus" in Mt 10:3 and in Lu 6:16 "Judas the brother of
James; "while John Joh 14:22 probably referring to the same person, speaks
of "Judas, not Iscariot." These different names all designate the
same person, viz., Jude or Judas, the author of the epistle.
A badger, a son of Nahor, Abraham's brother Ge 22:24
1Ki 10:22 22:48
See TARSHISH 26588
Only mentioned in Ac 19:29,31 The ruins of this theatre
at Ephesus still exist, and they show that it was a magnificent structure,
capable of accommodating some 56,700 persons. It was the largest structure of
the kind that ever existed. Theatres, as places of amusement, were unknown to
the Jews.
Brightness, a place some 11 miles north-east of Shechem,
on the road to Scythopolis, the modern Tabas. Abimelech led his army against
this place, because of its participation in the conspiracy of the men of
Shechem; but as he drew near to the strong tower to which its inhabitants had
fled for safety, and was about to set fire to it, a woman cast a fragment of
millstone at him, and "all to brake his skull" i.e., "altogether
brake, "etc. His armourbearer thereupon "thrust him through, and he
died" Jud 9:50-55
Punished by restitution, the proportions of which are
noted in 2Sa 12:6 If the thief could not pay the fine, he was to be sold to a
Hebrew master till he could pay Ex 22:1-4 A night-thief might be smitten till
he died, and there would be no blood-guiltiness for him Ex 22:2 A man-stealer
was to be put to death Ex 21:16 All theft is forbidden Ex 20:15 21:16 Le 19:11
De 5:19 24:7 Ps 50:18 Zec 5:3 Mt 19:18 Ro 13:9 Eph 4:28 1Pe 4:15
A word first used by Josephus to denote that the Jews
were under the direct government of God himself. The nation was in all things
subject to the will of their invisible King. All the people were the servants
of Jehovah, who ruled over their public and private affairs, communicating to
them his will through the medium of the prophets. They were the subjects of a
heavenly, not of an earthly, king. They were Jehovah's own subjects, ruled
directly by him (comp.) 1Sa 8:6-9
Lover of God, a Christian, probably a Roman, to whom Luke
dedicated both his Gospel Lu 1:3 and the Acts of the Apostles Ac 1:1 Nothing
beyond this is known of him. From the fact that Luke applies to him the title
"most excellent", the same title Paul uses in addressing Felix Ac 23:26
24:3 and Festus Ac 26:25 it has been concluded that Theophilus was a person of
rank, perhaps a Roman officer.
Thessalonians, The Epistles to
1. The first epistle to the Thessalonians
a. was the first of all Paul's epistles. It was in all
probability written from Corinth, where he abode a "long time" Ac
18:11,18 early in the period of his residence there, about the end of A.D. 52
b. The occasion of its being written was the return of
Timotheus from Macedonia, bearing tidings from Thessalonica regarding the state
of the church there Ac 18:1-5 1Th 3:6 While, on the whole, the report of
Timothy was encouraging, it also showed that divers errors and
misunderstandings regarding the tenor of Paul's teaching had crept in amongst
them. He addresses them in this letter with the view of correcting these
errors, and especially for the purpose of exhorting them to purity of life,
reminding them that their sanctification was the great end desired by God
regarding them. The subscription erroneously states that this epistle was
written from Athens.
2. The second epistle to the Thessalonians
a. was probably also written from Corinth, and not many
months after the first.
b. The occasion of the writing of this epistle was the
arrival of tidings that the tenor of the first epistle had been misunderstood,
especially with reference to the second advent of Christ. The Thessalonians had
embraced the idea that Paul had taught that "the day of Christ was at
hand", that Christ's coming was just about to happen. This error is
corrected 1Th 2:1-12 and the apostle prophetically announces what first must
take place. "The apostasy" was first to arise. Various explanations
of this expression have been given, but that which is most satisfactory refers
it to the Church of Rome.