Glossary
Abba: an affectionate way to say Father, hence dear Father, or even Daddy, Papa.
Adar: the twelfth month of the Jewish biblical calendar.
Adonai: literally, my Lord, a word the TaNaKh uses to refer to God.
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. 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.
ADONAI Elohei-Tzva’ot: the LORD God of heaven’s angelic armies.
ADONAI Eloheinu: LORD our God.
ADONAI Nissi: the LORD my Banner.
ADONAI Shalom: the LORD of Peace.
ADONAI Tzidkenu: the LORD our Righteousness.
ADONAI-Tzva’ot: The LORD of heaven’s angelic armies.
Adversary, the: Satan, the devil, and the old dragon.
Amen: “It is true,” or “So be it,” or “May it become true.”
Ariel: lion of God, fireplace on God’s altar.
Aviv: the first month of the biblical year, corresponding to the modern Jewish month of Nisan.
Avraham: Abraham.
Azazel: a scapegoat or goat demon.
Ba’al: the chief male god of the Phoenicians and Canaanites. The word means lord or master.
Beit-Lechem: Bethlehem, birthplace of David and Yeshua, meaning house of bread.
B’rit Chadashah: The New Covenant, New Testament.
Diaspora, the Dispersion: the scattering of the Jewish people in exile. Today about 4.5 million Jews live in Isra’el, and between 9 and 13 million Jews live in the Diaspora.
El ‘Elyon: God Most High.
El Gibbor: Mighty God.
El Shaddai: God Almighty.
Far Eschatological Prophecy: end times prophecy.
Goyim: the Nations, non-Jews, Gentiles.
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. 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.
Kefa: Peter, Cephas.
The LORD: the Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH. ADONAI, Ha’Shem and the LORD are substitute names for YHVH. 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.
Messiah: Christ, the Anointed One.
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.
Mikveh: a bath o pool with a flow of fresh water; used in Orthodox Judaism to this day for ritual purification.
Mitzvah: literally command or commandment; more broadly, a general principle for living.
Moshe: Moses.
Near Historical Prophecy: a prophecy into the near historical future of the prophet. One of the tests of a prophet was to make a near historical prophecy . . . and if it came true then the people could trust his far eschatological prophecy as well. But if what a prophet proclaims in the name of ADONAI does not come true, that false prophet must be put to death (Deuteronomy 18:14-22). It may be that the prophet may still be alive when his prophecy is fulfilled, such as with Jeremiah, or it may be that the prophecy was fulfilled after his death, such as with Isaiah. But either way, the prophet was vindicated.
Negev: the south, the southern desert of Isar’el.
Nisan: the first month of the biblical year, the seventh month of the modern Jewish year in March-April.
Pesach: Passover. It is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.
Rabbi Sha’ul: Apostle Paul
Righteous of the TaNaKh, the: Those who believed in, trusted in, had faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob before the resurrection of Yeshua Messiah.
Ruach ha-Kodesh: The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
Sukkot: Or the festival of Booths or Tabernacles, celebrating the forty years when the people of Isra’el lived in booths, tens, shacks, in the desert between Egypt and the land of Isra’el. It is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.
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.
Sinai: the mountain in the desert between Egypt and the land of Isra’el.
Shuwb: turn, turning. The big idea of Jeremiah.
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 “Ketuv’im,” 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.”
Torah: literally, means teaching. It can be used for the five books of Moshe, or the whole TaNaKh (John 10:34). Uncapitalized, torah can be understood generally as a law or principle (Romans 7:21-8:2).
Tziyon: Zion, Mount Zion, was originally the City of David, south of the modern Old City of Yerushalayim. 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.
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.
Yirmeyahu: Jeremiah
Yisra’el: Isra’el.
Yochanan: John.
Yom Kippur: the Day of Atonement.
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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