Bible Dictionary
ARMY
ARMY
(a) ARMY.
Soldiers gathered into well-organized troops, under the orders of a leader (Gen. 21:22; Judges 4:2; Ex. 7:4; 12:41; Num. 2:3; 1 Kings 2:5). It must be remembered that Israel was the host of Jehovah, placed at his command, and fighting his battles (Ex. 12:41; Josh. 5:14).
It seems that all those over twenty years of age were considered capable of bearing arms (Num. 1:3). During the march through the desert and the conquest they camped in four divisions of three tribes each, with a captain over each tribe. The subdivisions were in thousands and hundreds (Num. 31:14) and in families (Josh. 7:17).
There were trumpet calls (Num. 10:9; cp. 1 Cor. 14:8), and all the appearance of careful organization. Until the time of the kings this natural or tribal organization seems to have been maintained, but in the time of Saul we find a personal guard (1 Sam. 13:2), and a general of the army (1 Sam. 17:55).
In David’s time the heroes who were with him in the cave of Adullam formed the core of his “mighty men” (2 Sam. 23:8-39). They were dedicated to the service of the king appointed by God. David later organized a militia of 24,000 men under 12 captains (1 Chron. 27:1-15).
The general rank ranged from soldiers, men of war, “servants” of Solomon, captains, chariot commanders, and horsemen (1 Kings 9:22). It may be noted that, horses having been prohibited (Deut. 17:16), it was not until the time of Solomon that cavalry was organized, although David had reserved horses for one hundred chariots of the spoils of the Syrians (2 Sam. 8:4).
Solomon, trading with Egypt (1 Kings 10:28, 29), increased his numbers until the force reached 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen (1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chron. 1:14). With all able-bodied men subject to military service, David had an army of 1,570,000 men “who drew the sword” (1 Chron. 21:5).
After the division, Judah, during the reign of Abijah, had 400,000 “mighty, chosen men of war,” while Israel had, at the same time, 800,000 “chosen men”; Jehoshaphat, who grew greatly, had 1,160,000 men at his disposal, apart from those who were garrisoning the fortified cities.
There are a few references to the Roman army in the NT. A “legion” was an army corps that contained all ranks. During the empire, there was, in round numbers, a force of more than 6,000 men.
Each legion had, theoretically, 10 cohorts of 600 men; each cohort, 3 maniples of 200 men; and each maniple 2 centuries of 100. Hence comes the name centurion or commander of 100 men as we find in Acts. 10:1, 22, etc.
The headquarters of the Roman troops in Palestine was at Caesarea, with a cohort at Jerusalem; but at the time of the festival, when the rebellious temper of the Jews could manifest itself, more reinforcement troops were found in the city, although without their emblems of the eagle, etc., which were especially offensive to the Jews.
Although the Romans were God’s rod to punish them, they were not willing to humble themselves or receive the punishment as coming from the Lord.
(b) ARMY OF HEAVENS
(JEHOVAH OF HOSTS). On a very different level, the Bible also speaks of the celestial army formed by angels (1 Kings 22:19; Ps. 148:2; Luke 2:13). The group of stars is also sometimes called the army of heaven (Deut. 4:19; 2 Kings 23:5).
The Semites gave this name to the sky, its powers and the celestial bodies; while by the term earthly army they denoted the earth, everything that is found in the forces of nature: winds, lightning, heat, cold, wild beasts and inanimate things (Gen. 2:1; Ps. 33:6) . God himself is often called Jehovah of hosts.
This expression is sometimes stated to mean that Jehovah is the God of the armies of Israel; and to demonstrate this point we can quote the words of David to Goliath: «You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (1 Sam. 17:45); The prophet Isaiah also said: “The Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion” (Is. 31:4).
However, this application does not exhaust the meaning of the term. It is true that Jehovah waged war for his people, and that he truly was “Jehovah the strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle” (Ps. 24:8). However, Jehovah of hosts means much more than a God giving victory to the Israelites on the battlefield.
The Greek translations saw the deep meaning of this term, and translated it as “Pantocrator”, the Almighty. The term army that appears in this expression refers to the armies of all creation, which, spiritually and materially, constitutes an immense army, with numerous divisions, composed of all types of troops, organized and commanded.
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.
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.
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).
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).
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).
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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BETHEL
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