Bible Dictionary
APOCRYPHA (Book)
APOCRYPHA (Book)
Gr. «apokrypha», «hidden».
This term is applied to a number of books and writings that appear in the Greek version of the LXX, but do not appear in the Hebrew Bible. After almost all of them after the 3rd century BC, they went from the LXX to the Latin version (Vulgate) and to all the ancient and modern versions until the beginning of the 19th century.
The synagogue did not consider them inspired at all. Certain authors of the same books deny them all inspiration (see “Prologue of Sirach”; 1 Mac. 4:46; 9:27; 2 Mac. 15:38, 39). They are not part of the Jewish canon. Jesus never mentions them, and neither do the apostles. Added to this are spiritual reasons, due to the disfavor with which these books were received.
In the 4th century, the same translator of the Latin Bible, Jerome, disqualified the set of books introduced by the LXX as part of the OT. The Apocrypha are not at all distinguished by their spiritual value; The prophetic breath is conspicuous by its absence, and many of the doctrines expressed there contradict the doctrine of the Hebrew canon and that of the NT, such as the intercession of angels and saints (Tob. 12:12; 2 Mac. 15 :14; Bar. 3:4), the redemption of souls after death (2 Mac. 12:42, 46), etc.
The “Church of Rome” has preferred to follow the criteria of Augustine of Hippo to that of Jerome, and considers as canonical all the books accepted by the LXX and the Vulgate, except “3 and 4 Esdras” and the “Prayer of Manasseh”, according to dogmatic decision adopted at the Council of Trent (1546) and confirmed at the First Vatican Council (1870).
Instead, the Reformation adhered to Jerome’s views. In his German version of the Bible (see BIBLE VERSIONS), Luther rejected them from the pages of the OT, placing them grouped between the OT and the NT, with the following note: “Books that should not be considered equal to the Holy Scriptures , but which are nevertheless useful and good to be read.»
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1643) states: “The books called Apocrypha are not divinely inspired, nor do they form part of the Canon of Scripture, nor have they any authority in the Church of God. “They should not be considered any more than another kind of human writing.” David Martin wrote, for his part, in 1707, in the preface to the Apocrypha: «These books are read by very few people, and with the exception of Sirach, Wisdom, the first book of Maccabees and chapter 7 of the second, the rest barely if it’s worth reading.”
It was in 1826 that the British and Foreign Bible Society resolved to exclude all apocryphal books from its editions. This decision, however, has been revoked since 1968, when the United Bible Societies committed to cooperation with Rome. The result of this was the translation called “God speaks today”, or also “God comes to man”; For this version, in the editions for Catholic consumption, the United Bible Societies include the apocryphal books, thus breaking a long tradition of printing only the Word of God without additions.
Classification. The apocrypha can be classified as follows, following their literary character:
(a) Historical accounts:
1 and 2 Maccabees.
(b) Patriotic works:
Maccabees,
Tobias,
Judith,
Additions to Esther,
3 Esdras,
Suzanne,
Bel and the Dragon.
These last two are additions to Daniel.
(c) Lyrical and mystical writings:
Prayer of Azariah (addition to Daniel),
Prayer of Manasseh,
Baruch,
Epistle of Jeremiah.
(d) Moral and religious books:
Ecclesiasticus (or Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach),
Wisdom of Solomon.
The book 4 Esdras and 4 Maccabees are part of the pseudoepigraphs. See PSEUDOEPIGRAPHICS). It is a set of Judeo-Christian writings that belong to the same group as the Apocrypha, but have always been kept outside of any pretension of canonicity; They are generally presented under the name of a famous person.
Unlike the canonical books of the OT, written in Hebrew with the exception of a few short passages in Aramaic, the Apocrypha are written in Greek. In any case, it should be noted that Judith, Sirach, Baruch 1 to 3:8, and 1 Maccabees were originally written in Hebrew.
Bible Dictionary
BETHEL
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
Bible Dictionary
PUTEOLI
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
Bible Dictionary
PUT (Nation)
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
Bible Dictionary
PURPLE
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
Bible Dictionary
PURIM
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
Bible Dictionary
PURIFICATION, PURITY
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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