Bible Flashcards

During the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, in the sixth century B.C., the prophet Daniel continued to pray to his God against the express command of the king. As a result, Daniel was thrown into a lions’ den to be devoured. But God sent an angel to protect him, and he emerged miraculously unharmed the next day. 1 ‡ Daniel’s situation is an image for an impossibly hostile environment

A great king of the Israelites in the Old Testament. David was a shepherd in his boyhood. As a youth, he asked for King Saul’s permission to fight Goliath, the giant Philistine warrior whom all the other Israelites were afraid to face. Despite his small size, David managed to kill Goliath by hitting him in the forehead with a stone flung from a sling. King Saul then gave David command of his army, but he grew jealous of him and tried to kill him; David spent many years fleeing from Saul. After Saul’s death, David was made king of the Israelites and served nobly, despite occasional lapses, such as an affair with Bathsheba; he had Bathsheba’s husband killed so that he could marry her. Many of the Psalms are attributed to David, who was famed as a harpist. His descendants, the House of David, included Solomon and the subsequent kings of Israel and Judah; according to the Gospels, Jesus was descended from David. 1 ‡ A “David and Goliath” contest is an unequal one in which one side is far bigger or more numerous than the other.

The expression often connotes an impatience to move ahead, without pausing over details or ceremonies.

A large collection of written scrolls, containing nearly all of the Old Testament, found in a cave near the Dead Sea in the late 1940s. The scrolls were part of a library collected by the Essenes, a religious community of Jews that flourished for a few centuries around the time of Jesus. The scrolls are highly valued for the information they give about the Bible and about Judaism in the period.

The followers of Jesus, who adhered to his teaching and transmitted it to others. The Twelve Apostles were the disciples closest to Jesus. 1 ‡ In general, a disciple is an active follower of a leader or movement, religious or otherwise.

In the Book of Genesis, words that God spoke to Adam in casting him and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. In saying this, God reminded Adam that he had been made from “the dust of the ground” and confirmed that Adam and Eve had brought death upon themselves by disobeying him and eating the forbidden fruit. (See Fall of Man.) 1

A book in the Old Testament containing the reflections of a philosopher known as “the Preacher.” “Vanity of vanity saith the Preacher,… all is vanity,” where the word “vanity” indicates that striving is in vain, because death comes to all, and “there is no new thing under the sun.” He believes that our character and achievements do not affect our fate. “The race is not to the swift nor to the strong.” He concludes that one should enjoy the good things found in life until death brings oblivion. The argument and tone of this book are very unlike those of the other books of the Bible. (See nothing new under the sun, A time to be born and a time to die, and Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.)

The beautiful garden containing the tree of life, where God intended Adam and Eve to live in peaceful and contented innocence, effortlessly reaping the fruits of the Earth. The garden also contained the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from which Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat. When they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit, God drove them from the garden. Their sin and consequent loss of God’s grace and of their paradise is known as the Fall of Man. 1 ‡ Figuratively, a “Garden of Eden” (sometimes simply “the Garden,” or “Eden”) is any state or place of complete peace and happiness.

An ancient empire in Africa that was centered on the Nile River. Ruled by a pharaoh, Egypt figures prominently in many events in the Bible, including the stories of Joseph and his brothers and of Moses and the Exodus

A book of the Old Testament that tells the story of a beautiful Jewish woman named Esther who is chosen by the king of Persia (now Iran; see Persian Empire) to be his queen. Esther, with the aid of her cousin Mordecai, stops a plot to massacre the Jews in Persia, and Mordecai becomes the king’s chief minister. 1 ‡ This event is celebrated by Jews as the feast of Purim.

The second book of the Old Testament; it tells of the departure of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, made possible by the ten plagues of Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea. Moses led them, and their destination was the Promised Land. God guided them by sending a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to show them the way they should go. God also fed them with manna and gave them water out of a solid rock. Because of their frequent complaining and failure to trust him, however, God made them stay in the desert for forty years before entering the Promised Land. God gave them the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Mosaic law on Mount Sinai during the Exodus. Exodus is a Greek word meaning “departure.” 1

The principle of justice that requires punishment equal in kind to the offense (not greater than the offense, as was frequently given in ancient times). Thus, if someone puts out another’s eye, one of the offender’s eyes should be put out. The principle is stated in the Book of Exodus as “Thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” 1 ‡ Jesus referred to this principle in the Sermon on the Mount, calling on his followers to turn the other cheek instead.

Part of a saying of Jesus: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

The three great virtues that the New Testament calls for in Christians. Charity is often called love. According to the Apostle Paul, “Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

A prayer that Jesus spoke on the cross, concerning those who put him to death. (See Crucifixion.)