舊約詞匯 - J

J

The acronym for the Yahwist source of the Pentateuch.

Jacob cycle

The narratives of Genesis 25:19-35:29, which revolve around the ancestor Jacob. See Chapter 2.

Jacob

The second son of Isaac and Rebekah; he was the twin brother of Esau; his name was changed to Israel after he wrestled with God at the Jabbok River; he became the recipient of the ancestral promises and his twelve sons because the tribes of Israel. See Chapter 2.

Japheth

One of the sons of Noah, he was blessed because with Shem he covered his father's nakedness.

Jebus

The Canaanite city conquered by David and made his capital, Jerusalem. See Chapter 8.

Jehoiachin

King of Judah for only three months in 598 B.C.E., he was taken captive to Babylon. See Chapter 9, Chapter 11.

Jehoiakim

(609-598) One of the last kings of Judah. See Chapter 9, Chapter 11.

Jehovah

An early and mistaken attempt to represent the special Hebrew name for deity, YHWH; a more probable reconstruction of the divine name is Yahweh.

Jehu

(843-815) King of Israel who was instrumental in engineering the demise of the house of Ahab. See Chapter 9.

Jephthah

A judge of Israel from the book of Judges (see 10:6-12:7). See Chapter 7.

Jeremiah

A prophet in Judah during the Babylonian crisis (late seventh and early sixth centuries B.C.E.); he was persecuted because of his unpopular prophetic statements, including a prediction of the fall of Jerusalem; also, the prophetic book containing his oracles and narratives about him. See Chapter 11.

Jeremiah's complaints

Portions of the book of Jeremiah that express Jeremiah's frustrations and doubts concerning his prophetic calling.

Jericho

The first city in Canaan conquered by Joshua and the Israelites. See Chapter 6, Chapter 6.

Jeroboam

(922-901) An administrator in Solomon's court who rebelled and became the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel; he built non-Yahwistic shrines in the cities of Dan and Bethel; a king of Israel in the eighth century B.C.E. also held this name and is sometimes referred to as Jeroboam II. See Chapter 9.

Jerusalem

The political and religious capital of Israel when it was united, then of the southern kingdom of Judah; David captured Jebus and made it his capital city, the City of David; Mt Zion is the ridge in Jerusalem on which the royal palace and temple were built; Jerusalem is where Jesus/Joshua was crucified and resurrected. See Chapter 8.

Jeshua

Another spelling of Joshua; Jeshua was the high priest of Judea in the sixth century B.C.E. during the time of Zerubbabel, Haggai, and Zechariah.

Jesus/Joshua

("Jesus" is the Greek attempt to transliterate the Semitic name "Joshua") The Palestinian popular figure from the first century C.E. whose death and resurrection as God's Messiah/Christ became foundational for an early Jewish sub-group known as the Nazarenes, from which Christianity ultimately developed as a separate religion.

Jethro

Father of Zipporah and father-in-law of Moses, also called Reuel.

Jew

The term applied to the people of God after the Babylonian exile; it is derived from the Hebrew/Aramaic term for Judeans, jehudi. See Introduction.

Jezebel

The Phoenician wife of Ahab who promoted Baal worship in Israel and opposed Elijah the prophet. See Chapter 9.

Jezreel

A Israelite royal city of the Omride dynasty, the place where Jehu executed Jezebel; it became a byword for Jehu's cruelty and Hosea named his son Jezreel to signal God's judgment.

Joab

David's military commander. See Chapter 8.

Job

A righteous man whom God tested by disaster and personal suffering; in the end God restored his wealth and family; the book of Job, considered a work of wisdom literature, contains the story. Chapter 14.

Joel

One of the Twelve Prophets; of uncertain date but perhaps fourth century, a prophet who preached the Day of Yahweh and the pouring out of Yahweh's spirit on everyone. See Chapter 13.

Jonah

An eighth century B.C.E. Israelite prophet who was called to preach to the Assyrians in Nineveh; the book of Jonah is one of the twelve books of the minor prophets. See Chapter 13.

Jonathan

A son of king Saul, he had a special relationship with David; he was killed by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. See Chapter 8.

Jordan

The river which flows from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea; it is the border between Canaan and Transjordan.

Joseph cycle

The collection of stories centered on Joseph, son of Jacob, contained in Genesis 37-50 See Chapter 2.

Joseph

Son of Jacob by Rachel; brother of Benjamin; he was sold into slavery by his brothers and became a high official within the Egyptian government; his sons Ephraim and Manasseh became tribes within Israel. See Chapter 2.

Josephus

(also known as Flavius Josephus) The Jewish general and author in the latter part of the first century C.E. who wrote a massive history (Antiquities) of the Jews and a detailed treatment of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 66-73 C.E.

Joshua

Moses' aide during the wilderness sojourn; after the death of Moses he led the Hebrews into the Promised Land; another figure was called Joshua (sometimes Jeshua), the high priest of the Jerusalem community which rebuilt the temple. See Chapter 6, Chapter 13, Chapter 18.

Josiah

(640-609) King of Judah who reformed Judean religion and died in battle at Megiddo. See Chapter 5, Chapter 9, Chapter 11.

Josiah's reform

The religious reform of 622 B.C.E. initiated by Josiah, king of Judah, after the book of the covenant was found in the Jerusalem temple; it is sometimes called the Deuteronomic reform, because the book appears to have been an early form of Deuteronomy.

Jubilee

(from Hebrew yovel, "ram's-horn trumpet") Every fiftieth year was a jubilee (the year following seven times seven years, or seven weeks of years); special arrangements during this year were designed to aid the poor and dispossessed.

Judah

Jacob's fourth son, he was the ancestor of the tribe of Judah; Judah became the name of the southern kingdom after the northern ten tribes separated from Judah and Benjamin. See Biblical Story, Chapter 2.

Judah the Prince

(also known as Judah Hanasi) Head of the rabbinic Jewish community in Palestine around 200 C.E.; credited with publication of the Mishnah.

Judaism

From the Hebrew name of the ancestor Judah, whose name also came to designate the tribe and tribal district in which Jerusalem was located; thus the inhabitants of Judah and members of the tribe of Judah come to be called "Judahites" or, in short form, "Jews"; the religious outlook, beliefs, and practices associated with these people comes to be called "Judaism," and has varying characteristics at different times and places, such as early Judaism and rabbinic Judaism. See Biblical Story.

Judas the Maccabee

A second century B.C.E. Judean who led the Jewish Maccabean revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid occupation of Jerusalem and Judea.

Judge

In the period of the Judges, a person who held off Israel's enemies, for example, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, and Samson. See Chapter 7.

Judges

The period of the Judges was between the conquest and the Davidic monarchy when Israelite tribes were settling the land of Canaan; the book of Judges contains the stories of the individual judges.