Glossary
ADONAI: the Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH. Both ADONAI and Ha’Shem are substitute names for YHVH. ADONAI, however, is more of an affectionate name like daddy.
ADONAI-Tzva’ot: The LORD of heaven’s angelic armies.
Adversary, the: Satan, the devil, and the old dragon.
Antimony: Two biblical truths that seem to be mutually exclusive, but both are true.
Avraham: Abraham.
Beit-Lechem: Bethlehem, birthplace of David and Yeshua, meaning house of bread.
B’rit Chadashah: New Testament.
Chaff: The dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain.
Chesed: Faithfulness, kindness, goodness, mercy, love and compassion, but primarily loyalty to a covenant. Such commitment requires taking unusual risks.
Coda: A concluding section of a book forming an addition to the basic structure.
El Shaddai: the ever-existent One, the eternal One, the One who fills and makes fruitful.
Epilogue: A section at the end of a book.
Gleaned: To gather leftover grain or other produce after a harvest.
Goyim: the Nations, non-Jews, Gentiles.
Grace: To receive something you don’t deserve.
Ha’Shem: the Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH. Both ADONAI and Ha’Shem are substitute names for YHVH. While ADONAI is more of an affectionate name like daddy, while Ha’Shem is a more formal name like sir.
Kinsman-Redeemer or go’el: There were three obligations of the kinsman-redeemer. First, he was to redeem his brother and his brother’s inheritance according to his ability to do so if it was poverty that compelled his brother to sell himself into slavery or to dispose of his land. Secondly, he was to serve as the avenger of his brother’s blood. And thirdly, he was to rise up a successor to his brother, if his brother had died without leaving a son.
Levirate: The key root yavim, meaning to perform the duty of the brother-in-law.
Marah: Bitter.
Midrash: allegorical interpretation or application of a text. The hearer is expected to understand that the maker of the midrash is not expounding the plain meaning of the text, but introducing his own ideas.
Mercy: Not to receive something you do deserve.
Messiah: Christ, the Anointed One.
Moabitess: A Gentile female from the country of Mo’av.
Mo’av: Mo’ab
Narrator, the: The person who wrote the book of Ruth.
Prologue: A separate introductory section of a book.
Redeem or Redemption: To set free by paying a price.
Ruach ha-Kodesh: The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
Shabbat: Judaism’s day of rest and the seventh day of the week. It is the most important ritual observance instituted in the Ten Commandments. It is also the most important special day, even more important than Yom Kippur.
Shaddai, El: The name first appears in connection with Abraham in Genesis 17:1-2 as God Almighty, or, El Shaddai. He is the God (El) of Isra’el who gives power and strength to His people (Psalm 68:35). Thus, El Shaddai reveals Himself by special deeds of power. He is the One who fills and makes fruitful. El Shaddai appears 48 times in the TaNaKh and in the book of Revelation appears in connection with the pouring out of judgments.
Shavu’ot: Since the festival of Weeks comes seven weeks after Pesach it is also called Pentecost, from the Greek word for fifty because one counts fifty days after Passover. It is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.
Sh’khinah glory: The visual manifestation of the presence of God.
Shuwb: to repent (from evil), to return, or to turn back (to something or someone good).
TaNaKh: The Hebrew word TaNaKh is an acronym, based on the letters T (for “Torah”), N (for “Nevi’im,” or the Prophets), and K (for “Ketuvim,” or the Sacred Writings). It is the collection of the teachings of God to human beings in document form. This term is used instead of the phrase, “the Old Testament.”
The LORD: the Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH. ADONAI, Ha’Shem and the LORD are substitute names for YHVH.
The Promised Land: Palestine.
Threshing: The grain was beaten out of the stalks by having an animal like an ox or donkey drag a wooden threshing sledge (with stones inserted into it) over it continually on the threshing floor.
Threshing floor: It was a flat, hard area, usually the bedrock on a slightly raised hill or platform, but always downwind of the village.
Torah: This is a tricky one, because it can mean different things in different contexts. In its most limited sense, Torah refers to the Five Books of Moshe: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. But the word Torah can also be used to refer to the entire TaNaKh, or in its broadest sense, to the whole body of Jewish law and teachings.
Tziyon: Zion, Mount Zion, was originally the City of David, south of the modern Old City of Yerushalayim (see Zion below). Later the name Tziyon came to refer metaphorically to the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, or the people of Isra’el. The hill now called Mount Tziyon was given its name in the fourth century AD.
Unnamed redeeming kinsman: When Bo’az said: Come over here, my friend (Hebrew: peloni’almoni meaning something like Mr. So-and-so).
Winnowing: Followed threshing and involved throwing the grain into the air with a fork or shovel, allowing the wind to carry the light husks of chaff would be blown away.
Yeshua: Jesus, and is a masculine form, and a word play on yeshu’ah (salvation).
Yerushalayim: Jerusalem.
Y’hudah: Judah.
YHVH: the Tetragrammaton, meaning the Name, the four-letter name of God. Therefore, God does not have many names, He has only one name – YHVH (Yud Hay Vav Hay). All the other names in the Bible describe His characteristics and His attributes.
Yisra’el: Isra’el.
Zion: the hill of Jerusalem on which the city of David was built. The word Zion is also used in a theological or spiritual sense in the Bible. In the TaNaKh Zion refers figuratively to Isra’el as the people of God (Isaiah 60:14). In the B’rit Chadashah, Zion refers to God’s spiritual Kingdom. We have not come to Mount Sinai, says the apostle, but to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Kefa (Peter), quoting Isaiah 28:16 refers to Messiah as the Cornerstone of Zion, saying: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame (First Peter 2:6).
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