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.
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
Afikomen: Literally, “That which comes after.” Piece of matzah that is hidden during the Seder, to be found and eaten after the third cup of redemption.
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 sent out in the wilderness on Yom Kippur.
Ba’al: the chief male god of the Phoenicians and Canaanites. The word means lord or master.
Bar or Bat Mitzvah: Son or daughter of the commandments. The ceremony by which a boy or girl at 13 or 12 is considered an adult.
Beit-Lechem: Bethlehem, birthplace of David and Yeshua, meaning house of bread.
Bnei-Yisrael: The children of Isra’el
B’rit Chadashah: The New Covenant, New Testament
Chesed: Mercy, righteousness (see the commentary on Ruth Af – The Concept of Chesed).
Cohen of Ha’Elyon: Priest of the God Most High
Cohen Rosh Gadol: Great High Priest
Cohen: A priest, a man who offered sacrifices and performed other religious rituals at the Temple in Jerusalem.
Cohanim: The cohanim were descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses. The Sadducees were from the priestly sect of Judaism.
Diaspora, the Dispersion: the scattering of the Jewish people in exile. Today over 6 million Jews live in Isra’el, and over 8 million Jews live in the Diaspora.
Echad: The Hebrew word for “one” or “unity.” Echad is used in the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4).
El ‘Elyon: the Most High God
El Shaddai: God Almighty
Emissaries: Apostles
Goyim: Nations, non-Jews, Gentiles
Gehenna: The word for “hell,” the place of perpetual misery and suffering after this life. If comes from the Greek word Genna and the Hebrew word Gei-Hinnom, which means the valley of Hinnom. There was actually such a valley by that name south of the Temple in Jerusalem. It was used as a garbage dump, and fires were always burning there, making it a suitable picture of life in hell. In Jewish sources, the term is used as the opposite of Gan-Eden, or the garden of Eden or Paradise (Matthew 23:33; Mark 9:43).
Gentiles: The nations, or the goyim
Halacha: The way, the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law), or the rules governing Jewish life.
Ha’Shem: While ADONAI is more of an affectionate name like daddy, while Ha’Shem is a more formal name like sir.
Hag ha-Matzah: The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Hanukkah: Meaning dedication, the feast commemorating the victory of the Maccabees over the armies of Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 BC and the rebuilding and dedication of the Temple after its desecration by Syrian invaders.
Hellenist: In the B’rit Chadashah, it refers to Jews who lived in the Diaspora, or had moved to Isra’el from the Diaspora, spoke Greek, and were more Greek in their culture than traditional Jewish people brought up in Isra’el (Acts 6:1, 9:29, 11:20).
Immerse: To dip the whole body under water as an act of dedication to the LORD, or as a profession of faith in Yeshua. The word is often seen in other translations as “baptize.” The ceremony of dipping is called “immersion” or “baptism.” Yeshua’s cousin was known as John the Immerser (Matthew 3:1; Mark 6:14; Luke 7:20).
Kadosh: Holy
Levite: Descendants of the tribe of Levi, who served in the Tabernacle and Temple as gatekeepers, musicians, teachers, and assistants to the priests. The scribes, or Torah-teachers, came from among the Levites and were the forerunners of the Pharisees – though Pharisees were from all tribes, with no affiliation with Levi required.
Malki-Tzedek: Melchizedek
Matzah: Unleavened bread, bread made without yeast.
Megillah (singular) or Megillot (plural): The five books in the Writings used for special readings during holidays: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther.
Meshugah: A Yiddish word meaning crazy.
Messiah (Greek): Christ, the Anointed One
Mashiach (Hebrew): Messiah, 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 or pool with a flow of fresh water; used in Orthodox Judaism to this day for ritual purification or ceremonial cleansing, performed at various times in a person’s life.
Mitzvah: A good deed; literally command or commandment; more broadly, a general principle for living.
Mitzvot: commandments
Moshe: Moses
Olam haba, the: the age to come
Omer: Meaning “sheaf,” the bundle of barley used in the Firstfruits offering. After the Temple period it came to be identified with Sefirat ha’Omer, or the counting of the omer, the counting of the days from Firstfruits to Shavu’ot.
Pesach: Passover. It is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.
Pharisees: One of the sects of Judaism in the first century. The Pharisees had their own views of how exactly to keep Torah. They were especially concerned with ritual impurity and (unlike the Sadducees) they believed in the resurrection of the dead. While the Sadducees were more involved with the Temple, the Pharisees were concerned more with home and synagogue life.
Purim: Meaning “lots,” the holiday based on the story of Esther.
Rasheet: One of several names for the Festival of First Fruits.
Redeemed: Setting free from slavery, buying back something lost, for a price.
Righteous of the TaNaKh, the: Old Testament believers
Rosh ha-Shanah: The Feast of Trumpets
Ruach: Wind or spirit
Ruach ha-Kodesh: The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
Sadducees: One of the sects of Judaism in the first century. From the Sadducees came the leading priests who managed the affairs of the Temple. In contrast to the Pharisees, they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Sanhedrin: Literally, the gathering of the seated, like being a judge seated on a bench – a legal term for an officiating judge. This was the Supreme Court of ancient Isra’el. It exercised legislative and judicial authority.
Shabbat: The Sabbath Day, the seventh day of the week, when work ceases. Shabbat begins on Friday evening at sundown and ends Saturday evening after three stars appear.
Shalom: Peace, wholeness, wellness; a greeting used when meeting or departing.
Shaddai: A common name for God in the TaNaKh, usually translated as Almighty. The name is often used in a combination such as El Shaddai, or God Almighty.
Sh’khinah: The visual manifestation of the glory of God.
Shavu’ot: the festival of Weeks (Hebrew) or Pentecost (Greek), since it comes seven weeks after Pesach; 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. It originally celebrated the harvest, but later commemorated the day God gave the Torah to Isra’el.
Sh’ol: The Hebrew equivalent of the Greek “Hades,” the place where the dead exist.
Shofar: A ram’s horn, used in the Bible for summoning armies, calling to repentance, and in other situations. Blasts of various lengths and numbers signified different instructions Metal trumpets were also used for similar purposes, but exclusively by the cohanim. Today, the shofar is used on Rosh ha-Shanah of Yom Kippur, the Jewish High Holy Days.
Sinai: the mountain in the desert between Egypt and the land of Isra’el.
Shuwb: turn, turning, and the big idea of Jeremiah.
Sukkot: 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. The Hebrew word sukkah means booth and sukkot is the plural and means booths. Sukkot is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.
Synagogue: Meaning “assembly,” an adopted Greek word for a house of prayer and study.
Tabernacle: A temporary dwelling, such as the booths constructed during Sukkot. It is also used in the TaNaKh of the tent in which God dwelt among the Jewish people, both in the wilderness and in the land of Isra’el. When the word is used as a verb, it refers to Yeshua coming to dwell among His people (John 1:14), reminding us of the wilderness Tabernacle and also of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Talmid (singular) or Talmidim (plural): Student or students
Talmud: The codified body of Jewish Oral Law; includes literary creations, legends, scriptural interpretations, comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara.
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 or instruction. 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).
Torah-Teacher: A Torah scholar engaged in interpreting and transmitting the Torah. They wrote Torah scrolls, bills of divorce, and other legal documents. The Hebrew term is sofer. Many times translated scribe in non-Jewish bibles.
Tree of Life: The tree at the center of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9, 3:24), the source of eternal life. Scripture points to a future in the B’rit Chadashah, with access to the Tree of Life. In the meantime, the Torah is like to the Tree of Life to those who embrace her, and blessed will be all who hold firmly to her (Proverbs 3:18 also see Revelation 2:7, 22:2 and 14).
Tzitzit: A fringe that was put on a garment in accordance with Numbers 15:37-41.
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 (Isaiah 1:27; Psalm 65:2; Matthew 21:5; John 12:15).
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
Yochanan: John
Yom ha-Bikkurim: One of several names for The Feast of Firstfruits.
Yom Kippur: the Day of Atonement, the close of the High Holy Days, and considered the holiest day of the year in traditional Judaism.
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