Download Glossary of Terms Related to the Historical and Cultural Context of Jesus' Teachings and more Quizzes Christianity in PDF only on Docsity!
rabbi
a teacher of the Torah. TERM 2
parable
DEFINITION 2 a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. TERM 3
mashal
DEFINITION 3 any figurative saying (proverbs, riddles, allegorical stories). It was an old Hebrew custom of figurative speech. TERM 4
Kingdom of God
DEFINITION 4 The primary theme of Jesus' teaching and occurs frequently in each gospel. It embodies the reality of God's authority over the physical world and the spiritual. TERM 5
disciple
DEFINITION 5 followers whose main task was to obey Jesus and his words. He was formed a self-conscious messianic community that would transform the world.
Messiah
Hebrew term was (mashiach) and refers to "the anointed on." Simply, a saviour or liberator of a group of people. TERM 7
Son of God
DEFINITION 7 An Old Testament title used for Israel's kings as well as heavenly beings such as angels. Conveys the intimate and unparalleled relationship with Jesus and the Father. TERM 8
Son of Man
DEFINITION 8 In Hebrew the phrase simply meant "man," but in early Judaism it likely took on a specialized use for a celestial figure. TERM 9
ossuary
DEFINITION 9 Jews practiced "secondary burial" in which the decomposed body's bones were placed in ornately carved limestone boxes. Jesus compared these with the Pharisees in Matt 23:27. TERM 10
4th century "Moses
Seat"
DEFINITION 10 In Jesus' culture, teachers sat when they taught, and these seats were named for the authority that the rabbi's represented. Jesus criticized the Jewish leaders through referencing this in Matt 23:2-3.
exile
being forced to leave ones home for a length of time or terminally. TERM 17
Aramaic
DEFINITION 17 During the exile, Judaism had adopted the use of this language. By the first century this was the common language of life in Israel and was likely Jesus' native tongue. TERM 18
Koine Greek
DEFINITION 18 this was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during Hellenistic and Roman antiquity. TERM 19
Diaspora
DEFINITION 19 a scattered population with a common origin in a smaller geographic area. Ex: Many Jews lived outside of Judea and migration to cities like Alexandria was common. TERM 20
Hellenistic
DEFINITION 20 the period of ancient Greek and Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year.
Ethnarch
refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or homogeneous kingdom. TERM 22
Tetrarch
DEFINITION 22 a subordinate ruler TERM 23
Prefect
DEFINITION 23 refers to the leader of an administrative area. TERM 24
Procurator
DEFINITION 24 was the title of various officials of the Roman Empire, posts mostly filled by men of the equestrian order. TERM 25
Babylon
DEFINITION 25 was a significant city in ancient Mesopotamia, in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Herod the Great
( 74/73 BCE - 4 BCE), was a Roman client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. TERM 32
Herod Antipas
DEFINITION 32 (born before 20 BC - died after 39 AD), was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter"). Was really young. TERM 33
Pontius
Pilate
DEFINITION 33 was the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judaea from AD 26-36. He served under Emperor Tiberius, and is best known from the biblical account of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. TERM 34
Herod Agrippa I
DEFINITION 34 (11 BC - 44 AD), was a Judean monarch during the 1st century AD. TERM 35
Herod Agrippa
II
DEFINITION 35 (born AD 27/28), officially named Marcus Julius Agrippa and sometimes just called Agrippa, was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great, the Herodians.
Vespasian
(17 November 9 - 23 June 79) was Roman Emperor from AD 69 to AD 79. He founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empire for twenty seven years. TERM 37
Titus
DEFINITION 37 ( 30 December 39 - 13 September 81) was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, He succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own biological father. TERM 38
Cyrus
DEFINITION 38 Was the king of Persia, and permitted the Jews to begin the emigration back to Israel after Babylon fell. TERM 39
Decapolis
DEFINITION 39 Cities that were freed by Pompey's conquest. Scythopolis, Gadara, Hippos, Dion, Pella, Raphia, Cantata, Damascus, Philadelphia, and Galasa. These cities formed a league and controlled important trade routes from Syria. TERM 40
Caesarea
DEFINITION 40 Herod built the city to impress visitors. And he built Herod's Harbor there. Above all he wanted it to signal his allegiance to Rome.
Nazareth
Jesus' hometown TERM 47
John the Baptist
DEFINITION 47 an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure. Came before Jesus. TERM 48
Jerusalem
DEFINITION 48 located on a plateau in the Judean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. Where Jesus was crucified. TERM 49
Caesarea Philippi
DEFINITION 49 A roman city where Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was. This was his last stop until he headed to Jerusalem. TERM 50
Caiaphas
DEFINITION 50 the Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus.
Josephus
The extant manuscripts of the writings of the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian, include references to Jesus and the origins of Christianity. TERM 52
Jesus Seminar
DEFINITION 52 a group of about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute. TERM 53
Apocryphal Gospels
DEFINITION 53 a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. TERM 54
Synoptics
DEFINITION 54 Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each have a lot in common. 93% of Mark can be found in Matthew or Luke. 58% of Matthew can be found in Mark and Luke. 41 % of Luke can be found in Matthew and Mark. TERM 55
Markan Priority
DEFINITION 55 The hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was the first-written and was a source for later gospels.
Koine Greek
the Greek spoken during the New Testament era TERM 62
Latin
DEFINITION 62 During the New Testament era, educated persons would speak this language in addition to Greek. TERM 63
Slave
DEFINITION 63 The lowest status people in society. This was widely practiced throughout the Roman world. TERM 64
Humiliores
DEFINITION 64 People born free within the Roman society yet were those of low birth and status. TERM 65
Honestiores
DEFINITION 65 People of the higher orders of society or those who were given honor in society.
Patron
Someone who would care for and protect a client. This is the way in which Jesus and his disciples traveled and lived. TERM 67
Client
DEFINITION 67 A person being hosted by a patron. TERM 68
Emperor
DEFINITION 68 was originally granted to generals after victory in battle but Julius Caesar adopted it as a permanent title to designate himself as the supreme military authority in Rome. TERM 69
Senate
DEFINITION 69 During the Roman republic, this body of approximately three hundred men of the highest social class ruled supreme over all affairs, domestic and foreign.
