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| Aaron | The brother of Moses. Only he and his descendants were to serve as priests and offer sacrifices for the people of Israel. |
| Abel | The second son of Adam and Eve and the younger brother of Cain, who killed him, after God accepted Abel's offering and refused Cain's. |
| Abijah | A descendant of Aaron. King David divided the priests into twenty-four groups, and Abijah was head of the eighth group. |
| Abraham | The husband of Sarah and the father of Isaac. God promised Abraham that he would be a blessing to everyone on earth, because Abraham had faith in him. |
| Adam | The first man and the husband of Eve. |
| Agrippa | * Herod Agrippa was king of Judea A.D. 41-44 and mistreated Christians (Acts 12.1-5)
* Agrippa II was the son of Herod Agrippa and ruled Judea A.D. 44-53. He and his sister Bernice listened to Paul defend himself (Acts 25.13-26,32) |
| aloes | A sweet-smelling spice that was mixed with myrrh and used as a perfume. |
| amen | A Hebrew word used after a prayer or a blessing and meaning "Let it be that way." |
| ancestor | Someone born one or more generations earlier in a family line, such as a grandparent or great-grandparent. |
| angel | A supernatural being who tells God's messages or protects God's people. |
| Antipas | The father of Herod the Great and ruler of Judea 55-43 B.C. He was also known as Antipater. |
| apostle | A person chosen by Christ to take his message to others. |
| Aramaic | A language closely related to Hebrew. It was spoken by many Jews including Jesus during New Testament times. |
| Augustus | This is the title meaning "honoured" that the Romans gave to Octavian when he began ruling the Roman world in 27 B.C. He was Emperor when Jesus was born (Luke 2.1) |
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| barley | A grain something like wheat and used to make bread. |
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| Cain | The first son of Adam and Even and the brother of Abel. |
| Christ | A Greek word meaning "the Chosen One" and used to translate the Hebrew word "Messiah". It is used in the New Testament both as a title and a name for Jesus. |
| circumsize | To cut off the foreskin from the male organ. This is done for Jewish boys as part of a religious ceremony eight days after they are born to show that they belong to God's people. God's command to Abraham (Genesis 17.9-14) was to circumsize all males on the eighth day. Jesus' circumcision on the eighth day is reported in Luke 2.21. |
| citizen | A person who is given special rights and privileges by a nation or state. In return, a citizen was expected to be loyal to that nation or state. |
| commandments | God's rules for his people to live by. |
| council | A leading group of Jewish men who were allowed by the Roman government to meet and make certain decisions for their people. |
| cumin | A plant with small seeds used for seasoning food. |
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| David | The most famous ancestor of the Jewish people and the most powerful king Israel ever had. They hoped that one of his descendants would always be their king. |
| Day of Atonement | The one day each year (the tenth day after the Jewish new yeaer's day in the autumn) when the high priest went into the most holy part of the temple and sprinkled some of the blood of a sacrificed bull on the sacred chest. This was done so that the people's sins would be forgiven. This holy day is called Yom Kippur in Hebrew. |
| deep pit | The place of punishment for demons and evil spirits. |
| demon | Supernatural beings that do harmful things to people and sometimes cause them to do bad things. In the New Testament they are sometimes called "unclean spirits," because people under their power were thought to be unclean and unfit to worship God. |
| descendant | Someone born one or more generations later in a family line, such as a grandchild or great-grandchild. |
| devil | The chief of the demons and evil spirits, also known as "Satan." |
| disciple | Someone who was a follower of Jesus and learnt from him. |
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| elders | Men whose age and wisdom made them respected leaders. |
| Elijah | A prophet who spoke for God in the ninth century B.C. Many Jews in later centuries thought Elijah would return to get things ready for the coming of the Lord. |
| Emperor | The ruler who lived in the city of Rome and governed all the land around the Mediterranean Sea. |
| Epicureans | People who followed the teaching of a man called Epicurus, who taught that happiness should be a person's main goal in life. |
| eternal life | Life that is the gift of God and never ends. |
| evil spirit | Supernatural beings that do harmful things to people and sometimes cause them to do bad things. In the New Testament they are sometimes called "unclean spirits," because people under their power were thought to be unclean and unfit to worship God. |
| exile | The time in Jewish history (597-539 B.C.) when the Babylonians took away most of the people of Jerusalem and Judah as prisoners of war and made them live in Babylonia. |
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| Feast of Thin Bread | The days after Passover when Jews eat a kind of thin, flat bread made without yeast to remember how God freed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and gave them a fresh start. |
| Felix | The Roman governor of Judea A.D. 52-60, who listened to Paul speak and kept him in jail. |
| Festival of Shelters | This festival celebrates the period of forty years when the people of Israel walked through the desert and lived in small shelters. This happy celebration takes place each year in connection with the fall harvest season. Its name in Hebrew is Sukkoth. |
| Festus | The Roman governor after Felix, who sent Paul to stand trail in Rome. |
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| Gentile | Someone who is not a Jew. |
| God's kingdom | God's rule over people, both in this life and in the next. |
| God's Law | God's rules for his people to live by. They are found in the Old Testament, especially in the first five books. |
| God's tent | The tent where the people of Israel worshipped God before the temple was built. |
| Greek | The language in which the New Testament was written. |
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| Hagar | A personal servant of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. When Sarah could not have any children, she followed the ancient custom of letter her husband have a child by Hagar, her servant woman. The boy's name was Ishmael. |
| Hebrew | The language used by the people of Israel and for the other Greek gods. |
| Herod | 1. Herod the Great was the king of all Palestine 37-4 B.C. He ruled Judea at the time when Jesus was born.
2. Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great and the ruler of Galilee 4 B.C.-A.D. 39, during the time of John the Baptist and Jesus
3. Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great, ruled Palestine A.D. 41-44 |
| Holy One | A name for the Saviour that God had promised to send. |
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| incense | A material that makes a sweet smell when burned and is used in the worship of God. |
| Isaac | The son of Abraham and Sarah and the father of Esau and Jacob. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are three of the most famous ancestors of the Jewish people. |
| Isaiah | A prophet from Jerusalem, who lived during the eighth century B.C. He served as a prophet during the rule of four different kings of Judah, between the years 740-700 B.C. |
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| Jacob | The son of Isaac and Rebecca. He is better known by the name Israel, which God gave to him. |
| judges | Leaders chosen by the Lord for the people of Israel after the time of Joshua and before the time of the kings. |
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| Law and the Prophets | The sacred writings of the Jews in Jesus' day (the first two of the three sections of the Old Testament) |
| Law of Moses | Usually refers to the first five books of the Old Testament, but sometimes to the entire Old Testament. |
| Law of the Lord | Usually refers to the first five books of the Old Testament, but sometimes to the entire Old Testament. |
| Levite | A member of the tribe of Levi, from which priests were chosen. Men from this tribe who were not priests helped with the work in the temple. |
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| Messiah | A Hebrew word meaning "the Chosen One." |
| mint | A garden plant used for seasoning and medicine. |
| Moses | The leader of the people of Israel when God rescued them from Egypt. |
| myrrh | A valuable sweet-smelling powder used in perfume. |
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| Nazarenes | A name that was sometimes used for the followers of Jesus, who came from the small town of Nazareth. |
| Noah | When God destroyed the world by a flood, Noah and his family were kept safe in a big boat that God had told him to build. |
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| paradise | The place where God's people go when they die, often understood as another name for heaven. |
| Passover | A day each year in the spring when Jews celebrate the time God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. |
| Pentecost | A Jewish festival fifty days after Passover to celebrate the wheat harvest. |
| Pharisees | A large group of Jews who thought they could best serve God by strictly obeying the laws of the Old Testament as well as their own teachings. |
| pit | The place of punishment for demons and evil spirits. |
| priest | A man who led the worship in the temple and offered sacrifices. Some of the more important priests were call "chief priests," and the most important priest was called the "high priest." |
| Promised One | A title for the Saviour that God promised to send. |
| prophet | Someone who speaks God's message and tells what will happen in the future. To speak as a prophet is thus to "prophesy." |
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| rue | A garden plant used for seasoning and medicine. |
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| Sabbath | The seventh day of the week when Jews worship and do not work, in obedience to the third commandment. |
| Sadducees | A small and powerful group of Jews who were closely connected with the high priests and who accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament as their Bible. They also did not believe in life after death. |
| Samaria | A district between Judea and Galilee. The people of Samaria, called Samaritans, worshipped God differently from the Jews and did not get along with them. |
| Sarah | The wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac. When she was very old, God promised her that she would have a son. |
| Satan | The chief of the demons and evil spirits. |
| save | To rescue people from the power of evil, to give them new life, and to place them under God's care. |
| Saviour | The one who rescues people from the power of evil, gives them new life, and places them under God's care. |
| Scriptures | The sacred writings known as the Old Testament. These were first written in Hebrew and Aramaic, then translated into Greek about two centuries before the birth of Jesus. This Greek translation, known as the Septuagint, was used both by Jews and Christians in the first century. |
| Son of Man | A name often used by Jesus to refer to himself. It is also found in the book of Daniel and refers to the one to whom God has given the power to rule. |
| Stoics | Followers of a man named Zeno, who believed that nature was controlled by the gods and who taught that people should learn self-control. |
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| taxes | Special fees collected by rulers, usually part of the value of a citizen's crops, property or income. There were also market taxes to be paid, and customs taxes were collected at ports and border crossings. The wealthy Zacchaeus (Luke 19.1-10) was a tax collector who collected taxes at a border crossing near Jericho. Jews hired by the Roman government to collect taxes from other Jews were hated by their own people. |
| temple | A building used as a place of worship. The Jewish temple was in Jerusalem. |
| Temple Festival | In 165 B.C. the Jewish people recaptured the Jerusalem temple from their enemies and made it fit for worship again. They celebrate this event in December of each year by a festival which they call "dedication" (Hanukkah). In the New Testament it is mentioned only in John 10.22. |
| Theophilus | The name means "someone God loves" and is foundonly in Luke 1.3 and Acts 1.1. Nothing else is known about him. |
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| Way | In the book of Acts the Christian religion is sometimes called "the Way" or "the Way of the Lord" or "God's Way." |
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| Zeus | The chief god of the Greeks. |