Biblical Terms

Julina Corona
AP English 12
Unknown
August 10, 2007
Biblical Terms
The Creation: When god created the heavens and earth, the earth was a formless wasteland and it was very dark. So god first said let there be light and he separated the darkness from the light. He then created night day and the sky. On the second day he created dry land and brought forth vegetation, with many plants that bore seeds and fruits. The third day came, and God created stars, the moon, and other planets to be seen by night; and the sun to be seen by day. So on the fourth day God made living creatures in the waters and birds to live in earth and to roam about the dome of the sky. When he saw how good it was he then said let them be fertile and multiply throughout the world. On the fifth day God said let there be creeping creatures on earth. On the sixth day he said let there be man to our likeness. Man will have dominion over other creatures of the world, God said. On the seventh day God rested for he had completed all his work and so he blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
The Fall: At the start of creation God made the first man known as Adam, and from him created Eve. They only knew happiness, pleasure, and beauty. Corruption, hunger, sadness, sorrow and all other unfortunate things didn’t exist to them. In the Garden of Eden they were surrounded by trees that contained an abundance of fruits. God allowed them to eat from every tree in the Garden except from one; he told them that if they ate from it they would die. So one day the serpent convinced Eve to eat from the forbidden tree by saying that the tree doesn’t cause death. The serpent also said that the real reason why God didn’t want them to eat from it was because their eyes would be opened and they would know right from wrong. So since the fruit looked appealing and desirable she ate some of the fruit and gave some to Adam. Soon after both realized they were naked and got some leaves to cover them. A little later God went to the Garden looking for them and called out for them. He couldn’t find them because as soon as Adam and Eve heard God coming they hid. God then asked them why they hid from him and Adam responded by saying they were naked. God then knew that they had eaten from the forbidden tree. So Adam blamed it on Eve because she gave it to him to eat and Eve blamed it on the serpent for tricking her. God punished the three and he banned Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. He put an angel to guard the gates of the garden so that they may never return to the garden of eternal life. Now Adam had to work hard to eat and Eve had to suffer at the birth of her children. They were made from dirt and shall return to dirt for disobeying, God said.
The Mark of Cain: After Adam and Eve went into the hard parts of the earth were they had to work; they had their first sons Cain and Able. Cain was a tiller of the soil and Able was a keeper of flocks. When both brothers mad an offering to God, Cain offered some of the fruits from the soil he had worked. However, Able gave him one of his best firstlings of his flock. God appreciated Abel’s gift and not the gift of Cain. For this Cain was very jealous of his brother; so he told him to go into the fields. There Cain attacked his brother and killed him. God was angry with Cain and punished him. Cain would no longer receive fruits when he toiled the soil and would become a restless wanderer on the earth. God also said that no one should kill Cain or Cain will revenge sevenfold. So God put a mark on Cain, lest any one should kill him at sight. So Cain left sight of God and settled in the land of Nod east of Eden.
The Flood: When God saw how corrupted and wicked men became on earth he decided to destroy everything he had created. So since Noah was good to God, God told Noah to build a huge ark to fit all the animals on earth in pairs and all his family. And so God made a flood on earth that lasted forty days and forty nights. The water lifted the ark above the earth and so even the tallest mountain wasn’t visible anymore. The waters maintained over the earth for a hundred and fifty days. Every living thing had drowned. After a very long period of time Noah sent out a dove to see if the earth was still covered in water. He sent the dove out several times and it would always come back until finally the earth was dry and the dove no longer returned. The Ark had landed on top of the mountains of Anarat. Soon God told him to come out with his family and the animals to start all over.
Lot and his wife: When Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, Lot moved among the cities of the Jordan Plain because it was very beautiful: however he pitched his tents near Sodom and lived there. This was bad because the people from Sodom were very wicked. God was going to destroy the city. So he sent several angles to go down to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to see if any good people were left. So the angels were coming into Sodom when they ran into Lot and he begged them to stay in his home for the night. Before they went to bed all the men from Sodom surrounded Lot’s home and called him out telling him to bring out his guests so that they may have intimacies with them. At this Lot responded let me give you my two daughters, they are virgins and you can have them, but please leave these guest that have come under my roof for shelter. The men were angry and tried to go inside so the angels told Lot to run off with his family because God had sent them to destroy the world. His daughter’s fiancées did not want to leave because they thought it was a joke. After their hesitation an angel took hold of them and sent them out of the city into safety. So they traveled to a near city however the angel asked of them to not look back or stop. Lots wife turned around and she became a pillar of salt. After arriving to the small city, Lot was afraid to stay there, so they went into the hills and he lived in a cave with his daughters.
Sodom and Gomorrah: These two cities were inhabited by evil and wicked people so God was going to destroy it. However, he allowed Lot and his family escape before destroying it. The Lord rained down sulphurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
Moses and the flight from slavery in Egypt: Moses was a son of the Israelites, the slaves of Egypt. The Pharaoh wanted all the Israelite male babies dead. So Moses’ mother sent her baby(Moses) down the river in a basket. The Pharaoh’s daughter went down the river and found the baby; she felt compassion for him and adopted him. When Moses became older, he saw how badly the Egyptians treated his people. One day he saw a soldier hurting an Israelite and he attacked him and killed him. So Moses ran away when he was forty. Later he got married and after many years he was going by a particular mountain and there was a burning tree. The tree was God and he spoke to Moses. He told him to go back to Egypt to save his people. After hesitating a bit Moses headed back to Egypt and along with his brother Aaron told the Pharaoh to free his people as he was sent by God. Pharaoh would not free the Israelites so the Egyptians were disposed to many plagues. 1. Blood river 2. The frogs 3. The gnats 4. The flies 5. The pestilence 6. The boils 7. The hails 8. The locusts 9. The darkness 10. The death of the first born
After the last plague the Pharaoh let the Israelites free so that same night they headed out. God split the Red Sea in two and so the Israelites walked through it. Pharaoh was after them because he had changed his mind about freeing them. So when the Israelites cross through, the sea went back to normal so the Pharaoh and his army of men all drowned.
Samson and Delilah: Samson was the strongest man on earth and no enemy was able to defeat him. When Samson fell in love with Delilah, the Philistines told her to find out his weakness so that thy may over come him and they promised her eleven hundred shekels for this task. So one day Delilah asked Samson his weakness. He told her that if he were tied by seven fresh bow strings which hadn’t dried yet he would be weak. Delilah believed him and so she tried to weaken him, but when Samson found out by Delilah’s cries that he was in danger he ripped of the strings like paper. So Delilah begged Samson many times to tell her the secret, but Samson would lie to her and she would be angry. Finally after Samson was tired of hearing Delilah beg he told her his secret in confidence. The secret was: his hair had never been shaved since he was born and if anyone was ever to shave his head he would be as weak as any other man. So one day Delilah called a Philistine to come shave Samson’s head and take him away. When they shaved his head Delilah cried out “the Philistines are here” but Samson couldn’t do anything for he was weak. So they gouged out his eyes and sent him to a temple to be watched by the audience as they prosecuted him. Samson then prayed to God one last time and asked him to give his strength back so that he can avenge on the Philistines for gouging his eyes. Then Samson grabbed the pillars in the center of the temple; so the temple fell on top of all.
David and Goliath (Philistines): David asked Saul to allow him to go after Goliath and fight him. However, Saul didn’t want David to go for he wasn’t fit to fight such a “heroic” warrior but to this David responded: “I have fought lions when they come and try to steal prey from my flock; I take the prey from them and you think I can’t fight a human?” So then Saul allowed David to go and fight the Philistine warrior. On his way to Goliath, David tried to prepare for his confrontation as he put on some armor that Saul gave him. However David told him that he wasn’t used to carrying armor with him. So he took it off and picked up a couple of smooth stones he found on his way. When he got a glimpse of the Philistine, he announced that he wanted to fight him. The Philistine laughed and says that David wasn’t fit to fight him. David responded by saying that he didn’t need armor to defeat him for he had God with him and therefore he would beat him and prove to him that he had a God. So David began to run towards him, meanwhile he walked to David slowly. When David has close enough he got one of the stones and with his slingshot he killed Goliath. The stone had shot him on the forehead and Goliath was died instantly and then David cut his head off. When the Philistines heard of what had happened to their hero they ran away instantly. So therefore the Israelites beat the Philistines.
Jonah and the whale: God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell the residents that their whole city would be destroyed if they didn’t change their wrong doings. But Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh and he tried to flee from God. He aboarded a ship that was headed to Tarshish; God caused a great storm which was causing the ship to sink. Jonah confessed to the sailors that he was fleeing from his Lord god and that the storm might be put to an ease if they throw him out to the see since he was what caused this storm in the first place. The sailors threw Jonah out of the ship and asked forgiveness to God for taking the man’s life away. When Jonah fell into the sea, God sent a huge fish to eat him and there he was for three nights and three days. In the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to god and repented for his wrong doings. For this God commanded the fish to spit Jonah out in the shore. God expected Jonah to do what he was asked. That was precisely what Jonah did. He went into Nineveh and told them God’s message. After hearing what Jonah had said all of the city’s inhabitants repented of their wrong doing, so God spared them. Jonah was very angry at this and said he wished to die. Later Jonah went out of the city to under a shade to see what god would do. He fell asleep and the shade wasn’t on him so god mad a plant at the top of his head to give him shade and then killed it the next day. At this Jonah was very mad and God told him, “You get angry because I killed a plant that you didn’t labor for but still you are also angry because I spared the life of thousands of helpless people in Nineveh!”
The Prodigal Son: A rich man had two sons. The youngest one went up to the father one day and told him he couldn’t wait until his death for his share of the will. So he asked his father to give him his share at that precise moment. The father agreed to his son’s offer and off went the younger son with his fortune to a new city. There he spent all his money on friends, prostitutes, parties, and all sorts of pleasures. When his fortune was gone, his friends abandoned him. He was doing so bad that the job he had was to tend the swine. He realized that if he went back to his father he would be better off for his father treated his servants better than the way he was treated there. He thought his father was going to be angry at him and he was afraid to know what his father would do to him. His father waited every day for his son to come back and the day his son came he took off running to receive him with open arms. He called for a feast and took of his ring and put on his son. He even ordered the servants to slaughter the fattened calf. When his older son heard of this he was very angry. The angry son complained to his father. He had killed the fattened calf for his son that left him and spent his treasures, while he stayed by his father’s side, was obedient and always served him well. However, the father responded that everything he had was also his, but that at the moment they must celebrate for “his brother was once lost and now he has been found.”
Golgotha: Its meaning is “Place of Skull” and here he was crucified.
The Nativity: Before Jesus was born, an angel appeared to Mary and told her she was going to be pregnant, and was going to give birth to the child of God through the Holy Spirit. Mary was a virgin before Jesus was born and didn’t have relations with Joseph until after giving birth to Jesus. Joseph didn’t want to expose Mary’s shame so he was going to divorce her secretly. However, an angel came to him in his sleep and told him that he had to raise the child.
Lazarus: There was a rich man that lived very pleasingly. He dressed nice and was content with what he ate. Lying at his door was a very poor man Lazarus that would happily eat the crumbs off the old man’s floor. Both men died. The old man was buried and went to the netherworld; however, Lazarus went to heaven and was at father Abraham’s right side. The old man saw them and asked father Abraham if he would please allow Lazarus to dip his fingers in water and cool his tongue because the flames were burning him up. Abraham told him that if he remembered he lived well on earth and Lazarus didn’t so now was his turn. The old man asked Abraham to allow Lazarus back to earth and warn his father and brothers so that they may not have to go to hell, but Abraham tells him that they don’t need a dead person to warn them since they have Moses and the prophets and if they don’t listen to them lest they shall listen to someone that has risen from the dead.
The Crucifixion: When Jesus was brought up by the soldiers to Golgotha they offered him wine with a mix of myrrh, but he did not take it. After they crucified him they took of his garments and on top of his head there was the written charge against him “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him one in the right and the other on the left. People would pass by Jesus and tell him to come down the cross if he was really son of God. The priests, elders and scribes made mocked him, even the prisoners that were crucified next to him.
The Denial: On the last supper Jesus told Peter that before the crock crows twice he would deny him three times. Peter promised Jesus that he would never do that and that he would first die with him before doing that. So when Jesus was being judged Peter was in the courtyard and a lady asked, “Aren’t you one of the apostles.” Peter said he knew nothing of which she spoke of. The crock crowed once. Then some one else said that he had seen Peter with Jesus before. Peter denied it and said it wasn’t true. A little later a bystander saw him and said the same. Peter became angry and said they were confused and that he had nothing to do with Jesus. The crock crowed twice right after that so Peter realized what he had done and wept bitterly.
The thirty pieces of silver: After Judas saw Jesus get condemned, he went to the chief priests and elders and threw the thirty pieces of silver in the temple. Judas realized that he had sinned for betraying innocent blood so he left the temple and hung himself. The priests picked it up, but said it wasn’t lawful to put into the temple’s treasury sins it was “the price of blood.” So they decided to use it to buy the potter’s field to use it as a burial place for foreigners. The field today is still called the “Field of Blood.”
Revelations: John watched as the Lamb broke open the seven seals, and heard one of the four living creatures cry out like thunder, “Come forward,” to a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories. When he broke open the second seal, the second living creature cried out, “Come forward.” Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given the power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another and he was given a huge sword. When he broke open the third seal, John heard the third seal cry out, “Come forward.” When John looked there was a black horse, and its rider held a scale in his hand. John heard a voice coming among the four living creatures that said, “A ration of wheat is a day’s pay, and three rations of barely cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil or the wine.” When the fourth seal was broken, the fourth living creature cried out “Come forward”, and there came a pale green horse. Its rider named Death and Hades accompanied him. They were given the authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth. At the fifth broken seal, John heard the souls that had been killed for being witnesses to the word of the lord asking when the time would come to punish those on earth, but they were told to be patient until the number was fulfilled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.
Then he opened the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth and the whole moon became like blood. The stars fell on earth like figs shaken from a tree in a strong wind. Then the sky was divided like a torn scroll curling up. Mountains and islands were moved and every one hid in caves (everyone). Seven trumpets were blown by seven angels at different times and each time something else took place on earth. After several other events a Beast was being idolized on earth and everyone had to praise him, to buy or sell something the people had to have the Beasts name or number on their right hand or forehead the number was six hundred and sixty six.
Buddha/Buddhism: The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Sakya tribe of Nepal, in approximately 566 BC. When he was twenty nine years old, he left the comforts of his home to seek the meaning of the suffering he saw around him. After six years of arduous yogic training, he abandoned the way of self-mortification and instead sat in mindful meditation beneath a bodhi tree. On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, the enlightened one. The Buddha wandered the plains of northeastern India for 45 years more, teaching the path or Dharma he had realized in that moment. Around him developed a community or Sangha of monks and, later, nuns, drawn from every tribe and caste, devoted to practicing this path. In approximately 486 BC, at the age of 80, the Buddha died. His last words are said to be... Impermanent are all created things; Strive on with awareness.