The English Bible uses the word "abomination" to reflect about a dozen terms in the original languages of both Testaments. The prevailing idea behind the words is a divine revulsion at transgressio...

Divorce may be defined as the legal dissolution of a marriage covenant. Under the Mosaic regime, divorce could be obtained for a variety of reasons (Dt. 24:1; Mt. 19:8). But this looseness was me...

Kindness (chrestos) may be defined as that which is characterized by honesty, friendliness, goodness, generosity, compassion, etc. The term is used in the N.T. in two main senses. (a) Kindness desc...

Paul's second letter to the saints in Thessalonica was written not long after the first one, while the apostle was still at Corinth (Acts 18:11). This epistle seeks to correct an erroneous impressi...

A priest is one who offers sacrifice and ministers in services pertaining thereto (cf. Heb. 5:1). This term implies recognition of sin and the need for atonement, in some fashion or another. (a) Th...

The descendants of Esau (brother of Jacob) were the Edomites. They settled in the region southeast of Palestine. They became a tribe that was very hostile to the Israelite people, providing comfort...

The apostle John affirms that Jesus functions as an "advocate" on behalf of his people (1 Jn. 2:1). The Greek word for advocate is parakletos, literally suggesting the sense "to call to one's side....

Paul's second preserved letter to the Corinthian brethren was designed to be corrective. It urged the saints to be forgiving to the brother who had been disciplined because of his fornication (2:1f...

Astrology is a pagan superstition that believes the heavenly bodies influence human activity. Additionally, the theory often includes the belief that human events can be predicted by "reading" the ...

The term devil means one who slanders or accuses (cf. Rev. 12:9-10). This word is used thirty-three times in the New Testament of the arch-enemy of man, Satan (Mt. 13:28). Since only the deity is...

The common word for "walk" in the New Testament is peripateo. It means to walk around or, in a figurative sense, "to conduct oneself" in a certain way. It was the common Jewish idiom for how one li...

Jude, a brother of James, and half-brother of Jesus (1:1; Mt. 13:55), is the author of this general epistle. As he was in the process of beginning a letter relative to the "common salvation," he wa...

Demons (not "devils" KJV) were evil spirits (Mt. 12:43-45) that were permitted to inhabit the bodies of some people during the days of Christ and his apostles.  Almost certainly, this was to allow...

The Scriptures emphatically teach that the Second Person of the Godhead, the Word (Jn. 1:1), actually became a flesh and blood human being (Jn. 1:14; Heb. 2:14). One partakes of the spirit of antic...

The Greek word diakonos comes into the English language as "deacon." The term basically means to serve. It is used of ordinary servants in a secular sense (Jn. 2:5, 9) or of those who serve gener...

This book, authored by the Lord's half-brother (Gal. 1:19), is directed to the "twelve tribes scattered abroad." This is either Jewish Christians, or a figurative designation for "spiritual Israel"...

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs of praise, authored by a variety of writers (seventy-three are attributed to David). They celebrate the Lord's power of creation and his sovereignty over nature....

"Christian" is the name given to the disciples of Christ in Antioch of Syria following the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 11:26). The verb chrematizo ("called") in this passa...

Faith is the willingness to trust and obey God without ever having seen him. It is not a gullible "leap in the dark," as existential "faith" postulates. Instead, it rests on evidence that allows u...

This is the title of a sovereign who exercises regal authority over a certain territory. The term is used in the following senses in Scripture. (a) Jehovah God is king over the entire earth (1 Sam....