Bible Dictionary

ALMOND, ALMOND TREE In Hebrew, both the tree and the fruit have the same name (“shaqed”). It is derived from a root that means “to hasten”, and which is very consistent with its nature, because

ALMS This term is not found in our versions of the OT (instead, it is frequent in the apocryphal books), but the act of benevolence expressed with it had a great place in Israel. Jb.

ALOE (Num. 24:6; Ps. 45:8; Pr. 7:17; Song 4:14; John 19:39). Resinous and aromatic tree, from which perfume was extracted. The Egyptians used aloe in embalming corpses. It should not be confused with the current

ALPHA (a) First letter of the Greek alphabet, and also meaning the number 1. (b) Title or character of God and Christ, pointing to His eternity as “the beginning,” “the first,” the “I am.” (Rev.

ALPHABET List of the elementary phonemes of a language. It is characterized by the order and shape of the signs that compose it. More rigorously, it is the Greek list of signs that begin with

ALTAR A structure on which sacrifices were offered to God; imitated by the pagans in honor of their false gods. The first altar of which we have mention in the Scriptures is the one built

AMALEK, AMALEKITES Descendants of Esau (Gen. 36:12). They lived for a long time in the vicinity of Kadesh-barnea. They were in these places at the time of the exodus (Num. 13:29; 14:25). From the summits

AMARNA (TELL EL-AMARNA) Name in Upper Egypt, almost halfway between Luxor and Cairo, on the eastern bank of the Nile; These are the mines of the city of Akhenaten. Famous for the discovery there, at

AMASAI (a) Names of several Levites (1 Chr. 6:35; 15:24; 2 Chr. 29:12). (b) One of the captains of David’s trusted group (1 Chr. 12:18). (c) A priest of Nehemiah’s time (Neh. 11:13).

AMASIAS “Jehovah has power.” (a) Son of Joash, king of Judah, he succeeded to the throne; He reigned 29 years, from 796 to 767 BC. He acted well at the beginning of his reign. He