Biblical Encyclopedia: C
217 entries · Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
, apostle, son of Alphaeus, brother of the Lord, author of the catholic epistle, and bishop of Jerusalem (Mark 15:40) - according to the general opinion presented by the source, the son of Clopas, or Alphaeus, and Mary. He was called the Less either because of his years or his stature, and in Galatians 1:19 he is called the Lord's brother (see also Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3). The source explains that he could bear this title because he was the Lord's first cousin, Mary his mother being the sister of the Mother of the Lord (John 19:25).
Alphaeus, or Clopas, Mary's husband, had by her three other sons besides James and three or more daughters. James is mentioned repeatedly in Acts (12:17; 15; 21) and in the apostolic epistles (1 Cor 15:7; Gal 1:19; 2:9, 12). While the other apostles labored in the Gospel, James remained in Jerusalem. Together with Peter, Barnabas, and Paul he attended the apostolic council in AD 48 or 49 and appears to have presided, since he delivered the final judgment with which all the other members agreed (Acts 15:13-19).
Hegesippus, one of the nearest successors of the apostles, bears witness to his lofty and strictly moral life. According to him, James was holy from birth, drank neither wine nor strong drink, ate no meat, did not cut his hair, and so forth. He alone was permitted to enter the sanctuary of the temple, and he was often found there on his knees praying for the people. Because of this holiness and piety, Hegesippus adds, he was called the Just. The first bishop of Jerusalem, he died as a martyr in AD 62. Tradition says that, while he was preaching about Jesus, the Jews threw him from the roof of the temple and stoned him; and because he continued to pray even for his tormentors, a fuller struck the righteous man on the head with a fuller's club, and he died.
He was buried on that same spot near the temple. His commemoration is celebrated on October 23 and December 26. Besides his catholic epistle, the apostle James left us a liturgy known by his name and ordinarily celebrated in Jerusalem on his feast day.
Cabbon Chabra
(Josh. 15:40)—a town in the lowland of Judah. Its location is unknown.
Cabul
(sandy or dry land) (Josh 19:27) - a frontier town of Asher in northwestern Palestine. In 1 Kings 9:13 Cabul names the district of twenty cities Solomon gave Hiram king of Tyre. It lay between Phoenicia and Palestine, south of Lebanon's foothills, in the region then called Belad Besharah.
(Luke 2:1) - the grandson and successor of Julius Caesar as Roman emperor. Augustus, meaning exalted or venerable, was an honorary title conferred on him by the Roman Senate, and the month in which he received it was named August. Caesar became the royal title of the emperors; therefore Tiberius is called Caesar (Matt 22:21), as is Nero (Acts 25:11). Augustus began as a personal honor, but afterward became inseparable from the imperial office as a sovereign title.
(Acts 11:28) - the Roman emperor who succeeded Gaius Caligula in AD 41. Secular historians mention four famines during his reign. In one, famine raged so severely in Judea that it spread into neighboring lands and lasted nearly three years. The source dates Agabus's prophecy of it, given after he came from Jerusalem to Antioch, to AD 35 or 45. The expression 'throughout all the world' plainly indicates that the famine extended beyond Judea into other regions. In the ninth year of his reign Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome by special decree, probably including those converted to Christianity (Acts 18:2).
(Acts 9:30 and elsewhere) - a city of Palestine on the eastern Mediterranean coast between Dor and Joppa, built by Herod the Great and named Caesarea in honor of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. The site had previously been occupied by a town called Strato's Tower, but Herod enlarged it, built great stone palaces, a magnificent harbor, and a vast amphitheater, and gave the new city its name (Josephus, Antiquities 15.9.6). The name long remained prominent in church history, and its ruins were still known as Kaisariyeh.
(Matt 16:13; Mark 8:27) - a Palestinian town near Mount Hermon at the eastern source of the Jordan, anciently called Paneas. The site was probably once dedicated to the god Pan; an inscription preserved among the ruins said that a temple there had been devoted to him. Later the city belonged to the tetrarch Philip, who greatly enlarged it and named it Caesarea Philippi to distinguish it from Caesarea on the coast. Herod Agrippa further embellished it and called it Neronias in Nero's honor, though that name did not last.
(probably Aramaic for humility; according to others, investigator) (Matt 26:3; John 11:49) - the Jewish high priest during the Lord's public ministry, sufferings, and death. Josephus gives his full name as Joseph Caiaphas. Annas, or Ananus, was his father-in-law and apparently shared authority with him in an irregular manner. Soon after Pontius Pilate was removed from the government of Judea, Caiaphas also lost the high priesthood, about AD 36, and Jonathan replaced him. Some church writers confused him with the historian Josephus because of a similarity of names, supposing that he later became a Christian, but the source considers this improbable.
Cain
(acquisition) (Gen 4:1, 9; 1 John 3:12; Jude 11; Heb 11:4) - the name of two persons and a city:
(possession) (Gen 5:9-14; Luke 3:37) - one of the antediluvian patriarchs, born in the year 325 from the creation of the world according to the source and living 910 years. He was Enos's son, Seth's grandson, and Mahalaleel's father, and is named in Luke's genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ (3:37). Another person of the same name in Luke 3:36 was a son of Arphaxad, son of Shem; this name is absent from the Hebrew text but appears in the Septuagint.
Cakes; Wafers
(1 Kings 14:3)—small round or flat pieces of bread or pastry. Their exact ingredients varied, and the source’s suggestion that this instance was flavored with aromatic seed is possible but unproved.
(fullness of days, maturity, or strength) (Gen 10:11-12) - one of the cities built in Assyria by Asshur, or more probably Nimrod, between the Tigris and upper Euphrates. Xenophon called it Larissa and mentioned an ancient pyramidal monument there. Under Layard's direction, major excavations yielded Assyrian antiquities for the British Museum, including royal statues, the pagan god Nebo, obelisks, and a lioness. Cuneiform inscriptions showed that its Assyrian name closely resembled the Hebrew Calah.
Some commentators identified Calah with Kalah Shergat and Nimrud with Resen and Larissa; the source argues instead from Genesis 10:12 and the distances that Nimrud more plausibly represents Calah.
Calamolal
- see 2 Esdras 5:22. Ezra 2:33 reads Lod and Hadid, as does Nehemiah 7:37.
—the name of persons and a territory. (1) (Num. 13:6; Josh. 14:6–15) the son of Jephunneh, of the tribe of Judah, and one of the twelve spies sent into Canaan. Caleb and Joshua trusted God’s promise and urged Israel not to rebel, while the other spies spread a fearful report. Because Caleb followed the LORD fully and had “a different spirit,” he was preserved through the wilderness years and received an inheritance in the land.
Caleb-ephrathah Abia
(1 Chron. 2:24)—a difficult expression in the genealogy of Caleb and Hezron. Ancient witnesses and modern translations differ over whether it names a place, refers to Ephrathah as Caleb’s wife, or belongs to a compressed genealogical notice. The uncertainty should not be concealed.
(Gen. 18:7; Luke 15:23)—a young bovine animal. A well-fed calf was esteemed food for a distinguished guest or celebration: Abraham prepared one for his visitors, and the father ordered the fatted calf for the returning prodigal. Jeremiah 34:18 reflects an ancient covenant rite in which a calf was divided and the parties passed between its pieces, invoking judgment upon themselves if they broke the covenant. Genesis 15:9–17 uses related symbolism in God’s covenant with Abraham.
Calita
- see Kelaiah, Kelita, and Kolius.
Callisthenes
(with surpassing strength) (2 Macc 8:33) - a Jewish apostate and traitor who, with accomplices, burned Jerusalem's gates during Antiochus's invasion. After Judas Maccabeus defeated the Syrians, Callisthenes hid in a house and was burned there with his companions.
Calneh (Calno)
(Gen. 10:10; Isa. 10:9; Amos 6:2)—an ancient Mesopotamian city associated in Genesis with Nimrod’s kingdom and mentioned by the prophets as an example of a conquered city. The passages may reflect variant forms or different places, and proposed identifications remain disputed.
(Gen 10:10; Amos 6:2) - a city of Shinar, or Mesopotamia, built by Nimrod and identified with Calno in Isaiah 10:9. It stood on the eastern bank of the Tigris and once had considerable commercial importance. The source says its ruins were called Torpakh-Kala by Turks and Qal'at al-Shirqat by Arabs, twenty-two hours south of Mosul and ten hours from the mouth of the Little Zab.
—(1) (Gen. 9:18, 25; 10:15–19) Canaan was a son of Ham and grandson of Noah. The curse pronounced in Genesis 9 belongs to the narrative concerning Canaan and must not be used to justify racial hierarchy or slavery. (2) (Gen. 12:6; Exod. 3:8; Josh. 3:10, and elsewhere) “Canaanites” can designate the inhabitants of Canaan generally, but it can also name one people among the Amorites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Girgashites, and others.
Canaanite
- see Zealots.
(Matt. 15:22; Mark 7:26)—a Gentile woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon. Matthew calls her a Canaanite, while Mark calls her a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. She appealed to Jesus for her tormented daughter; Christ praised her great faith and healed the child. The two descriptions reflect overlapping biblical and regional designations, not a contradiction.
(Acts 8:27) - the general title of Ethiopian queens, just as Pharaoh was a title of Egyptian kings and Caesar of Roman emperors. The Ethiopia in this passage was generally understood as Meroë, or Upper Egypt. Since Candace was a title, the absence of precise evidence makes it difficult to identify which queen Acts means. See Philip the Apostle.
Canneh Chanaa Assur
(Ezek. 27:23)—a city or region that traded with Tyre. Some have identified it with Calneh in Mesopotamia, while others have sought it in Arabia; the text does not permit certainty.
(desire, passion) (Eccl 12:5) - one of the beautiful thorny shrubs growing almost everywhere in the East, especially in the cracks of old houses and clefts of rocks. Its fruit is an oblong, plum-like berry with a thick fleshy rind. Capers, both fresh and pickled in vinegar, have long been eaten as a condiment and regarded as a medicinal restorative. The Preacher's words, 'and desire shall fail,' literally 'the caper shall fail,' signify the decline of strength in old age and the complete loss of appetite, when not even caper fruit or seeds can rouse the aged body.
(village of Nahum, or village of consolation) (Matt 4:13; 11:23; Mark 2:1; Luke 7:1; John 4:46 and elsewhere) - mentioned only in the New Testament and often as the Lord Jesus' chief and beloved dwelling place during His earthly life, the central place of His ministry in Galilee. It stood on the western shore of the Sea of Tiberias, near Bethsaida and Chorazin and close to Gennesaret. The Lord settled there after leaving Nazareth (Matt 4:13), so it came to be called His own city (Matt 9:1). There He paid the temple tax (Matt 17:24); Peter and Andrew lived there; and He healed Peter's mother-in-law of fever (Matt 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31).
Capharsalama
(1 Macc. 7:31)—a village near which Judas Maccabeus defeated the forces of Nicanor. Its location is unknown.
Caphenatha
(1 Macc. 12:37)—a section or quarter on the eastern side of Jerusalem that Jonathan strengthened during his fortification work. The exact meaning and location of the name are uncertain.
- the people or country from which the Philistines came (Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7). The Philistines came from the Casluhim, while the Caphtorim and Casluhim, both descended from Mizraim son of Ham, evidently joined in colonizing Philistia. Jeremiah calls Caphtor an island, though the Hebrew word can also mean a maritime region and therefore does not by itself prove that identification. The source regards Crete as a probable meaning: two Egyptian tribes living there may have moved into Philistia after Greeks took the island from them. It also notes that all ancient biblical translations rendered Caphtor as Cappadocia, though the form Caphtorim remained unchanged in Genesis and Chronicles.
- before the Mosaic legislation, God declared death for murder: 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed' (Gen 9:6), though Scripture does not specify the method. The principal capital punishments named in the Mosaic Law include beheading (Judg 7:25; 2 Sam 4:7, 11-12; 2 Kgs 10:6; Matt 14:8, 10); stoning or death by arrows (Exod 19:13; 32:27); hanging (Num 25:4); burning alive (Lev 20:14; 21:9), as for a priest's daughter who profaned herself or a man who took both a woman and her mother; and stoning as the customary popular execution (Lev 20:2, 27).
Capital Punishment
. See Punishment.
(from the Zend language, land of fine horses) (Acts 2:9; 1 Pet 1:1) - a very extensive region of Asia Minor, bordering Cilicia on the south and the Euphrates on the east. It consisted of many districts inhabited by many peoples and was once an important Asian kingdom. Its last king was Archelaus, who was treacherously taken captive after Tiberius summoned him to Rome in AD 15, and whose dominions were incorporated into the Roman Empire. Cappadocians, together with others, were present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
(anthrax) (Tobit 13:17; Exod. 28:18; 39:11 [as given]). The carbuncle, a rare and precious stone, found chiefly in Peru and the East Indies, and formerly an article of trade with Tyre, is dark red in color. In sunlight it loses its dark hue and resembles a glowing coal, from which it takes its name. It occupies the first place in the second row of stones of the high priest’s breastplate of judgment. The Hebrew word barekath in Ezekiel (28:13) and ekdach [as given] in Isaiah (54:12) is translated by the word “carbuncle,” to signify, alongside the other precious stones, the glory, magnificence, purity, and radiance of the eternal dwellings for righteous souls.
(Exod 28:18; 39:11) - the name comes from a root meaning to burn or shine like lightning and denotes a rare dark-red precious stone found even in the source's day in the East Indies. In sunlight it loses some of its bright red color and resembles a burning coal, from which its name arose. Scripture names the carbuncle as the first stone in the second row of the high priest's breastplate. Ezekiel 28:13 includes it among stones symbolizing the glory, beauty, majesty, and purity of the eternal habitations God has prepared in heaven for believers. The name was later applied to pyrope, a red garnet.
Carcas
(Persian, eagle; according to Fürst, stern or severe) (Esth 1:10) - one of the seven chamberlains attending the Persian king Ahasuerus.
(city of Chemosh) (2 Chr 35:20; Jer 46:2; Isa 10:9 and elsewhere) - a city near the Euphrates that guarded an important crossing of the river. For more than a century between Sargon's capture of it and Pharaoh Necho's attack, its history is obscure; during that period it probably passed more than once under the power of neighboring peoples, since Ethiopia, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia were then at the height of their strength. Carchemish appears in both Egyptian and Assyrian hieroglyphic inscriptions.
Egyptian records associate its people with the Hittites, whose chief city was Kadesh near Emesa, while Assyrian records describe Carchemish as the capital of the northern Hittites.
Carem
(Josh 15:59) - a town of Judah, now identified by the source with the large flourishing village of Ain Karim, with its Catholic monastery of St. John the Baptist and its springs, about two hours west of Jerusalem.
(1 Macc 15:23) - a region at the southwestern end of Asia Minor, bordered by Ionia, Lycia, Phrygia, and other lands. It was once celebrated for fertility and flourishing trade and was watered by the winding Maeander and its tributaries. Its chief cities included Antioch, Miletus, Magnesia, Nyssa, and Halicarnassus. After belonging to various lesser rulers and then Persia, it enjoyed freedom under Roman protection. First Maccabees mentions it because the Romans, allied with Judea under the high priest Simon, wrote to its inhabitants and others, directing them not to harm the Jewish people.
Cariathiarius
- see 2 Esdras 5:19, one of the towns of Judah. Ezra 2:25 reads Kiriath-jearim.
Carmel
(garden-mountain, fruitful field) - the name of a town and a mountain in Scripture:
—the name of several persons or families. (1) (Gen. 46:9; Exod. 6:14) a son of Reuben. (2) (Josh. 7:1; 1 Chron. 2:7) a descendant of Zerah in Judah and the father or ancestor of Achan, also called Achar. The two genealogical formulations differ in their compression. (3) (1 Esdras 5:25) a priestly ancestral name corresponding to Harim in the parallel lists.
Carmonians
- an otherwise unknown people mentioned only in 2 Esdras 15:27-32. There they appear among the instruments of God's wrath against sinners and are themselves to be struck by the Arabians.
Carnion
- the same as the preceding name, Karnaim (2 Macc 12:21, 26).
(Luke 15:16)—the fruit of the carob tree, widespread in Palestine and eaten by the poor or fed to livestock and swine. The fruit consists of dark, hard pods several inches long, containing eight to ten hard reddish seeds. The tree also grows throughout the Levant and southern Europe. The pods are sometimes called Saint John’s bread because of a tradition that John the Baptist ate them in the wilderness.
(Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3)—a worker in wood or, more broadly, a building craftsman. The Greek tekton can include carpentry and other construction work. Joseph is called a carpenter in Matthew, and Jesus himself is called the carpenter in Mark. Saint Justin Martyr later wrote that Jesus made plows and yokes, a valuable early tradition but not a detail supplied by the Gospels. The biblical notices honor ordinary labor and show the incarnate Son sharing the work and conditions of human life without shame.
Carpus
(Greek, fruit) - one of the Seventy Apostles, a friend of St. Paul who lived at Troas and is named only in 2 Timothy 4:13. According to St. Hippolytus, he later became bishop of Beroea in Thrace. His commemoration is May 26 and January 4.
Carshena
(an Old Persian word meaning, according to Fürst, slender or graceful) (Esth 1:14) - one of the seven princes nearest the Persian king Ahasuerus.
(Isa. 5:18)—a prophetic image for those who “drag iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as with cart ropes.” What begins as a slender thread of self-deception can become a heavy bond through repeated consent. The image emphasizes deliberate attachment to sin, not an unavoidable burden imposed from outside.
(silvery; perhaps alluding to white or snowy mountains) (Ezra 8:17; 2 Esdras 8:44-45) - the place or district where Iddo lived and to which Ezra sent messengers from the river Ahava. The source suggests that the name may be related to Caspian, once applied not only to the sea but also to a mountain chain and a whole region. Its location was unknown. Because many Jews still lived at Isfahan, in the suburb called Yahudiyah, 'city of the Jews,' and more than two hundred poor Jewish families lived at Hamadan, or Ecbatana, awaiting the Messiah, the source tentatively placed Ezra's Casiphia in Media, or Atropatene. It also notes the Jewish colony at Rages in Media in Tobit 1:14-16, whose ruins lay several hours southeast of Tehran.
Casluhim Chasmoniim
(dry, barren mountain) (Gen 10:14; 1 Chr 1:12) - a little-known people mentioned only in the cited passages. See Caphtor; Caphtorim.
Casphon (Casphor)
(1 Macc. 5:26, 36)—a fortified city of Gilead captured during Judas Maccabeus’s campaign. The two forms probably designate the same place.
Caspin Caspis
(2 Macc 12:13) - a city in Gilead beyond the Jordan taken by Judas Maccabeus. Caspin, or Chasphon, was placed by some on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and identified with the ruins of Hisfin, midway between Ashtaroth and the lake's eastern shore.
Cassia
- the name of the following:
(Epistle of Jeremiah 21) - the word occurs only once in the Bible, in the cited verse, and denotes the familiar domestic animal kept in houses and shops for catching rats and mice. Cats were once sacred animals in Egypt and were embalmed when they died. Jeremiah's words vividly expose the worthlessness of idols: 'Upon their bodies and heads sit bats, swallows, and birds, and the cats also.'
The Church is catholic—that is, universal—because she is not confined to one place, age, or people but gathers the faithful of every land, time, and nation. In Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian nor Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11). The source therefore applies to the universal Church Christ’s promises that the gates of Hades will not overcome her and that He will remain with her to the end of the age. It cites the 1848 Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs for the Orthodox teaching that the Holy Spirit preserves the catholic Church from error in the faith.
Caves
(Gen. 19:30). Judea abounded in caves. They served as temporary dwellings, secret places of refuge, and burial places (Gen. 19:30; 23:17, 19; 49:29; Josh. 10:16; Judg. 6:2; 1 Sam. 13:6; 22:1–2; 24:3; 2 Sam. 23:13; 1 Kings 18:4; 19:9; John 11:38; Heb. 11:38).
(2 Sam 7:7) - one of the most valuable and majestic trees of the eastern forests, a coniferous evergreen. It grows seventy to eighty English feet high. Its thick, long branches rise almost horizontally from the trunk, which may measure five or six sazhen in circumference (Ezek 31:3, 6, 8). The trunk is reddish, and the wood is slightly bitter; insects rarely damage it, and it is exceptionally hard. Naturalists cited by the source said that it could live more than two thousand years. Cedar was always used for costly and important buildings.
(Acts 18:18; Rom 16:1) - Corinth's eastern harbor, seventy stadia or about nine miles from the city. Pausanias described it as a very large town. An ancient Cenchrean coin showed a portico with a temple and a statue of Neptune standing on a rock. The New Testament mentions the town twice. Paul took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria with Aquila and Priscilla, having shorn his head at Cenchreae because of a vow (Acts 18:18). In Romans 16:1 he commends Phoebe as a deaconess of the church there, showing that Christianity had made considerable progress in Cenchreae.
Cendebeus
(1 Macc 15:38-40) - governor of the Syrian coast under Antiochus VII Sidetes, king of Syria, in the days of the Jewish high priest Simon; Simon later defeated and expelled him.
(Lev 10:1) - one of the sacred vessels of the tabernacle and temple, used for burning incense on especially solemn occasions. Incense was ordinarily offered upon the golden altar (Rev 8:3-4), where the priest burned it before the LORD morning and evening (Exod 30:1-9). On the great Day of Atonement, however, the high priest went behind the veil into the Holy of Holies and burned fragrant incense in a golden censer (Lev 16:12-13), carrying live coals in one hand and incense in the other.
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their 250 companions apparently used censers made according to the prescribed form when they appeared at the entrance of the tabernacle (Num 16:18). Revelation 5:8 calls them golden bowls full of incense.
(Matt. 8:5)—a Roman officer commanding a centuria. Although the title derives from “hundred,” the unit often contained fewer than one hundred soldiers in practice. The New Testament remembers several centurions favorably: the officer at Capernaum trusted Christ’s authority; the centurion at the cross confessed Jesus’ identity; Cornelius received the gospel with his household; and Julius treated Paul considerately on the voyage to Rome (Matt. 8:5-13; Mark 15:39; Acts 10; 27:1-3). Their examples show faith and integrity within an imperial military structure without idealizing that structure.
(stone) (John 1:42; Gal 2:9) - the Syriac-Chaldean equivalent of the Greek Peter, meaning rock or stone. The Lord gave Simon son of Jonah this name, foreseeing the firmness of his faith and character, when he solemnly confessed, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matt 16:16-18). Paul often calls Peter Cephas (1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5 and elsewhere), while Peter uses his Greek name in his own epistles (1 Pet 1:1; 2 Pet 1:1).
Chabris
(Judith 6:15; 8:10)—one of the elders or rulers of Bethulia during Holofernes’s campaign.
Chadiasans and Ammidians They Chadias
(1 Esdras 5:20)—groups listed among those returning from exile. The names and their relationship to the parallel Hebrew lists are textually uncertain; attempts to identify them as inhabitants of particular Judean towns remain conjectural.
(Rev. 21:19)—the precious stone forming the third foundation of the wall of the New Jerusalem. The ancient Greek name probably denoted a variety within the quartz family, but its exact color and mineral identity cannot be established with certainty. The source’s claim that the stone was discovered at Chalcedon during the ecumenical council is unsupported.
Chalcol
—the name of two men celebrated in genealogical or wisdom traditions. (1) (1 Chron. 2:6) a son of Zerah in Judah’s genealogy. (2) (1 Kings 4:31) one of the renowned wise men whom Solomon surpassed; he is called a son of Mahol. Whether the two notices refer to the same person cannot be determined.
(Jer. 1:10; Job 1:17, and elsewhere)—in their narrower historical sense, a people and region of southern Mesopotamia near the head of the Persian Gulf. Chaldean dynasties became prominent in Babylonia, and under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II the term could designate the Neo-Babylonian ruling power. Biblical writers therefore often use “Chaldeans” for the Babylonians who conquered Jerusalem, while Daniel also uses the term for a class of learned diviners or astrologers.
Chaldean Magi
. See Magi.
Chalkolibanon
(Rev. 1:15; 2:18)—a rare Greek term used for the radiant appearance of Christ’s feet, commonly rendered “burnished bronze,” “fine brass,” or similarly. Its precise metallurgical sense is uncertain, but the image conveys metal glowing as if refined in a furnace.
Chalneh
. See Calneh.
Chalphin
(1 Macc. 11:70)—one of the commanders who remained with Jonathan when most of his forces fled during battle. The name appears in varying transliterations.
(Lev. 11:30)—the traditional rendering of one of the small land animals declared unclean. The identity of the Hebrew animal name is uncertain, and modern translations vary. The chameleon is a slow-moving, tree-dwelling reptile notable for independently moving eyes, a rapidly extended tongue, and changes of color used in signaling and concealment.
(Deut 14:5) - the animal named in the cited passage, placed by the source among the antelopes. The chamois of modern natural history inhabits mountain heights in Switzerland, Germany, and Greece comparable in elevation and climate to Judea's hills. The Vulgate and Septuagint render the Hebrew name 'camelopard' or 'giraffe'; Bochart and Gesenius associated it with gazelles, while others thought it a wild goat or deer. The Mosaic Law counted it clean, and figures of such animals frequently occur on Egyptian monuments.
Chamon
(Judg 7:3) - a town in western Manasseh northwest of Esdraelon near Carmel, identified in the source's day with the village of Kamun, or according to others Kumien or Tamon.
Charaathalan Charaathalar
(1 Esdras 5:36)—a leader associated with Israelites returning from Babylon. The name has no clear equivalent in the parallel Hebrew lists and varies among manuscripts.
Charax Characa
(2 Macc. 12:17)—a place in the Transjordan region from which Judas Maccabeus marched toward Jewish inhabitants called the Toubiani. Its precise location is unknown; the source’s equation with Kir-moab is not secure.
Charea
(1 Esdras 5:32)—an ancestor of Temple servants returning with Zerubbabel. The parallel lists have Harsha (Ezra 2:52; Neh. 7:54).
(Gen 45:19; 46 and elsewhere) - chariots were used among the Hebrews as early as horses. Genesis 41:43 presents one as an object of royal state, and Exodus 14:6 mentions them in war. They were far better suited to the plains of Assyria and the Nile valley than to mountainous Palestine, and ancient Assyrian and Egyptian monuments contain many representations of them. The Hebrews at first made little use of chariots, partly because of their terrain and partly because the Mosaic Law forbade multiplying horses (Deut 17:16). Neighboring peoples, however, employed them in great numbers (Exod 14:7; Judg 4:3; 1 Sam 13:5).
Charity.
See Mercy, Compassion.
Charmis
(Judith 6:15; 8:10; 10:6)—the son of Melchiel and one of the elders or rulers of Bethulia.
Charms; Sorcerer
—see Magi; Magicians and Sorcery.
Chebar Chobar
(Ezek. 1:1, 3; 3:15)—the river or canal beside which Ezekiel received his opening visions among the exiles in Babylonia. It is generally identified with the great Kabaru irrigation canal near Nippur, not with the Khabur tributary of the Euphrates or a tributary of the Tigris.
Chebar Chobar
(Ezek. 1:1–3). See Chebar above. It should not be confused with the Khabur River of northern Mesopotamia.
(1 Sam. 17:18)—curdled or pressed milk, a common food in pastoral lands. Jesse sent ten cheeses with David for the commander of Saul’s unit. The Tyropoeon, or “Valley of the Cheesemakers,” in Jerusalem preserves a Greek name known from Josephus, though it does not prove the encyclopedia’s claim that an entire ancient quarter was devoted to making modern-style cheeses.
Chelal Chalel
(Ezra 10:30)—a man of the family of Pahath-moab who had married a foreign woman.
Chellis
(Josh. 15:40)—a town in the lowland of Judah represented by this form in some ancient versions. Its location is unknown.
Chelluh
(strong) (Ezra 10:35) - a son or descendant of Bani.
Chelous Chelus
(Judith 1:9)—a place named among the regions summoned by Nebuchadnezzar to join his campaign. Its location and the textual form of its name are uncertain.
Chelub
—the name of two persons. (1) (1 Chron. 4:11) the brother of Shuhah and father of Mehir in Judah’s genealogy. (2) (1 Chron. 27:26) the father of Ezri, David’s overseer of agricultural workers.
Chelubai Chaleb
(bold; 1 Chron. 2:9)—a form of the name Caleb, son of Hezron.
(Num. 21:29; 1 Kings 11:7)—the national god of Moab. Solomon built a high place for Chemosh east of Jerusalem, and Josiah later defiled it during his reform (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13). Jeremiah calls the Moabites “the people of Chemosh” (Jer. 48:46). The source’s equation of Chemosh with the Roman god Mars is not historically established.
Chenaanah Chanaan
—the name of two persons. (1) (1 Kings 22:11; 2 Chron. 18:10) the father of Zedekiah, the false prophet who made iron horns before Ahab. (2) (1 Chron. 7:10) a son of Bilhan in a Benjaminite genealogy.
Chenaniah
—the name of two Levites. (1) (1 Chron. 15:22, 27) a leader charged with the music or the carrying of the ark because he was skillful; the Hebrew description permits both renderings. (2) (1 Chron. 26:29) an Izharite whose family performed external duties as officers and judges.
Chephar-ammonai
(village of the Ammonites) (Josh 18:24) - a settlement in Benjamin, probably founded by Ammonites and named from them.
(village) (2 Esdras 5:19) - a Gibeonite town later allotted to Benjamin (Josh 18:26). Some of its inhabitants returned from captivity (Ezra 2:25; Neh 7:29). It probably stood near Kiriath-jearim. Following Robinson, the source identifies it with the village of Kefir, eleven English miles from Jerusalem and two miles west of Aijalon.
Chephirah
- see Kaphir.
Cheran
(Gen. 36:26; 1 Chron. 1:41)—a son of Dishan in the genealogy of Seir the Horite.
Chereas
(2 Macc. 10:32, 37)—a defender of the fortress of Gazara who was killed with his brother during Judas Maccabeus’s assault.
Cherethites
(1 Sam 30:14) - another distinctive name for Philistia and the Philistine people.
(2 Sam. 8:18; 15:18; 20:7; 1 Kings 1:38, 44)—royal guards and retainers regularly named with the Pelethites under David and Solomon. They protected the king and carried out special commands. Their name may reflect an association with Crete or the southern coastal peoples, but the source’s direct equation with Cretans and Philistines remains uncertain.
Cherub, Addan, and Immer
(Ezra 2:59; Neh. 7:61)—names in the list of places from which returnees came who could not prove their Israelite ancestry. The grammar does not justify treating the combined expression as the name of one person.
(Gen. 3:24)—a high order of heavenly beings. Cherubim first appear guarding the way to the tree of life after humanity’s expulsion from Eden. God commanded that golden cherubim be placed over the mercy seat of the ark, facing it with outspread wings (Exod. 25:18–22). Large cherubim overshadowed the ark in Solomon’s Temple, and carved or woven cherubim adorned the sanctuary (1 Kings 6:23–35; 8:6–7; 2 Chron. 3:10–14).
Chesulloth Chasaloth
(fertile places) (Josh 19:18) - a town of Issachar between Shunem and Jezreel, identified with the village of Iksal, or Chisloth-tabor.
Chezib
(false; Gen. 38:5)—the place where Judah’s son Shelah was born, probably the same as Achzib in the lowland of Judah (Josh. 15:44; Mic. 1:14).
Chidon Oza
(1 Chron. 13:9)—the threshing floor where Uzzah reached out to steady the ark and died. The parallel account calls it the threshing floor of Nacon (2 Sam. 6:6).
Chief Baker
(Gen. 40:1–2)—an officer of Pharaoh’s court who supervised the royal baking establishment. Joseph interpreted his dream while they were imprisoned together.
This word has a broad meaning in Holy Scripture. Originally it denotes natural kinship, and in this sense is applied not only to a person’s immediate descendants but to his remote posterity as well. Not only whole tribes, but whole nations, were designated as the sons and children of their forefather — as, for example, the sons of Israel, of Edom, and so on. The second meaning of the word is exclusively spiritual: believers are called sons or children of God, through faith in Jesus Christ and by the grace of regeneration (John 1:12, 13).
In ancient times a great feast was held on the day a child was weaned from the breast. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac his son was weaned (Gen. 21:8). By Jewish law parents were vested with considerable authority over their children, so much so that they might even sell their daughters into slavery, though with certain restrictions (Exod. 21:7, 8). From 2 Kings (4:1) and the Gospel of Matthew (18:25) it is evident that any creditor could take a debtor’s children as slaves in payment of the debt.
Parental authority was not only guaranteed and sanctified by the positive command of the law (Exod. 20:12), but the law even imposed the death penalty on children who dared to strike their father or mother, or to revile them (Exod. 21:15, 17). The duty of zealously bringing up children in the law of God is strongly and repeatedly enjoined by God upon the people of Israel (Exod. 12:26, 27; 13:8–16; Deut. 4:10; 6:20–23; 11:19), and from time to time special promises of blessing were given for such religious upbringing (Prov. 22:6; Eccl. 11:1–6).
The incidental references to the early years of St. Paul the Apostle and of Timothy (Acts 22:3; 2 Tim. 3:15) offer remarkable and excellent evidence of the zeal with which pious Jews attended to the religious upbringing of their children and their instruction in the word and law of God. To what degree secular education stood among the Jews we have no precise or positive information; however, judging by the success which, as is known, the Hebrews showed in music, poetry, painting, and perhaps in the natural sciences, it may be thought that other branches of knowledge and learning were not neglected by them either; it may well be that the office of present-day schoolteachers was quite often undertaken in those times by the Levites.
Chileab Daluia
(meaning uncertain) (2 Sam 3:3) - David's second son, born to Abigail the Carmelitess. First Chronicles 3:1 calls him Daniel.
Chilion Chelaion
(failing; Ruth 1:2, 5; 4:9)—the younger son of Elimelech and Naomi of Bethlehem. He married Orpah in Moab and died there without children.
Chilmad Charman
(Ezek. 27:23)—a city or region named with Haran, Canneh, Eden, Sheba, and Asshur among Tyre’s trading partners. Its location and the precise form of its name are unknown.
Chimham
(longing, pining) (2 Sam 19:37-40) - a son of Barzillai the Gileadite, who supplied David during his stay at Mahanaim. Chimham returned with David to Jerusalem, and the dying king commended him to Solomon's special care (1 Kgs 2:7). Scripture says nothing further about him.
Chimham
(Jer. 41:17)—a lodging place or settlement near Bethlehem, traditionally associated with Chimham, the son of Barzillai (2 Sam. 19:37–40).
Chinnereth, Chinneroth
(hollow) (Num 34:11) - the eastern part of Naphtali adjoining the Sea of Galilee, which was therefore anciently called the Sea of Chinnereth. About the time of the Lord Jesus' earthly life the district was called Gennesar or Gennesaret, and the lake accordingly received the name Lake of Gennesaret.
Chinneroth (Chinnereth)
(Josh. 11:2; 12:3; 13:27; 19:35). See Chinnereth; Gennesaret.
Chios
(Acts 20:15)—an island in the eastern Aegean Sea between Samos and Lesbos, close to the coast of Asia Minor. Paul’s ship stopped off Chios during his final recorded journey toward Jerusalem. The island was renowned in antiquity for wine and was one of several places claiming Homeric associations.
Chislev
. See Kislev.
Chisloth-tabor Chaselothaith
(flanks, or loins, of Tabor) (Josh 19:12) - a town of Zebulun at the foot of Mount Tabor, sometimes called simply Tabor.
Chittim
. See Kittim.
(meaning uncertain) (Amos 5:26) - an idol worshiped by the Israelites with Moloch during their wilderness wandering. The Septuagint renders the name Remphan, as Acts 7:43 reads, suggesting that Remphan and Chiun were different names for the same idol. Fürst identified Chiun with Saturn and related it to Arabic, Persian, and Syriac Kaiwan, with similar names among Phoenicians, Babylonians, Numidians, and Egyptians. The name may denote an idol image or a portable stand used to carry it, perhaps including Saturn's star. The source follows Winer and other commentators in understanding it as an image of Saturn.
Chloe
(green shoot; 1 Cor. 1:11)—a Christian woman whose household informed Paul about divisions in the Corinthian church. The verse does not say that a church met in her house or specify whether she herself was in Corinth or Ephesus.
Choinix
(Rev. 6:6)—a small Greek dry measure, roughly a quart or liter and approximately a person’s daily grain ration. The apocalyptic price of a choinix of wheat for a denarius depicts severe scarcity.
Chola Cola
(Judith 15:4)—an otherwise unknown place named during the pursuit of Holofernes’s army. Some textual witnesses have a form related to Choba.
(Sir. 31:20; 37:30)—in older biblical and medical usage, a bilious intestinal illness marked by nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. The ancient term should not automatically be identified with modern epidemic cholera caused by Vibrio cholerae. Sirach warns that gluttony brings sickness and sleeplessness.
(Matt. 11:21; Luke 10:13)—a Galilean town near Bethsaida and Capernaum. Jesus performed mighty works there, yet its inhabitants did not repent; therefore He pronounced the lament, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!” and declared that Tyre and Sidon would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had seen such works.
Chorbe Corbe
(1 Esdras 5:12)—the ancestor of a family returning to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, numbered at 705. The parallel Hebrew lists read Zaccai and give 760 descendants (Ezra 2:9; Neh. 7:14); the forms and totals belong to differing textual traditions.
To believe in the Church is reverently to honor Christ’s true Church and to receive her teaching and commandments, trusting that saving grace abides, acts, teaches, and governs within her. Her one eternal Head is the God-man Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth, who fills His body, the Church. He promised the disciples another Comforter to remain with them forever (John 14:16), and the Holy Spirit appoints shepherds to care for the Church of God, purchased with Christ’s blood (Acts 20:28).
Therefore Christ’s promise stands: “I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it,” and “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 16:18; 28:20).
(Eph. 2:10 and elsewhere)—Christ is the Greek title meaning “Anointed One”; Messiah is the corresponding Hebrew and Aramaic title. Kings, priests, and at times prophets were consecrated for their offices, but Jesus is the Anointed One in the fullest sense: the Holy Spirit rests upon His humanity without measure, and in Him are perfectly united the prophetic office of revealing God, the priestly work of offering Himself and interceding, and the royal authority of the Son.
The source supplies an extended interpretive paraphrase of the Lord’s words after the Last Supper. Jesus comforts the troubled disciples: they are to believe in God and in Him; He goes to prepare a place and will return to receive them. He is “the way, and the truth, and the life,” and whoever has seen Him has seen the Father because the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son (John 14:1–11). Those who believe will continue His works; they are to ask in His name and keep His commandments.
—one of the chief Christian virtues, is the repose of the heart in God, with the assurance that He unceasingly cares for our salvation and grants us the blessedness that has been promised. Christian hope is founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the word of the Apostle Paul, is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1). “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” says the Apostle Peter (1 Pet. 1:13).
The means for the acquiring of saving hope are the following: prayer and the true teaching concerning blessedness, together with actual adherence to that teaching.
(Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Pet. 4:16)—the name first given to the disciples at Antioch. Believers scattered after Stephen’s death preached the Lord Jesus; Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem, brought Saul from Tarsus, and taught with him for a year. Thus “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Agrippa later used the name in speaking with Paul. A Christian, according to the apostolic writings, is a child and heir of God, a member of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:16–17; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:19–22). The Christian life is marked above all by faith, hope, and love (1 Cor. 13:13).
(golden stone; Exod. 28:20; 39:13; Rev. 21:20)—a precious stone named in the fourth row of the high priest’s breastpiece and as the seventh foundation of the wall of the New Jerusalem. Ancient gemstone names do not always correspond exactly to modern mineral classifications; many translations associate the biblical stone with yellow-green olivine or peridot.
Chrysoprase
(Rev. 21:20)—a green to yellow-green precious stone named as the tenth foundation of the wall of the New Jerusalem. The Greek term’s exact mineral identification is uncertain; modern chrysoprase is a green variety of chalcedony.
Chub
(Ezek. 30:5)—a people or place named with Cush, Put, Lud, and other allies who would fall by the sword. The identification is uncertain; some textual witnesses and modern translations read Lub or Libya.
(1 Chr 18:8; called Berothai in 2 Sam 8:8) - a city of Hadadezer king of Zobah. David took much bronze from it, which Solomon afterward used for the bronze sea, lavers, pillars, and temple vessels. Fürst connected the name Chun with Saturn and supposed that the city was named either because Saturn was regarded as its founder or because the deity was worshiped there.
—the community established by God and united in the Orthodox faith, God’s law, the sacred ministry, and the sacraments. The Church includes not only Christians living on earth but all who have departed in true faith and holiness. Hebrews 12:22-24 joins the worshiping faithful to the heavenly Jerusalem, the festal assembly, the Church of the firstborn, the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.
Chuza
(Luke 8:3)—the steward or household manager of Herod Antipas. His wife Joanna, healed by the Lord, traveled with Jesus and the Twelve and helped support them from her possessions.
(Acts 6:9; 21:39) - a region in southeastern Asia Minor, divided into western Cilicia Trachea, or rugged Cilicia, and eastern Cilicia Pedias, or level Cilicia. Pamphylia bordered it on the west; the Taurus range separated it from Cappadocia on the north; Mount Amanus divided it from Syria on the east; and the Mediterranean, 'the sea of Cilicia' (Acts 27:5), formed its southern boundary. Three great rivers watered the Cilician plain: the Cydnus, on which stood Tarsus, Paul's native city; the Sarus, later called Seihun; and the Pyramus, the largest of the three. They made Cilicia one of the most fertile regions, rich in fruit and grain.
(Exod 30:23; Prov 7:17; Song 4:14; Sirach 24:15; Rev 18:13) - fragrant aromatic bark taken from a tree of the laurel family, called kinnamon in Church Slavonic. Ground to powder, it formed part of the sacred anointing oil used upon the tabernacle, sacred vessels, and sacred ministers (Exod 30:23-33). The cinnamon tree also grew in Solomon's enclosed garden (Song 4:14).
Cinnamon tree
- see Cinnamon.
(Gen. 17:10-12, John 7:22) was a notable rite of the Jewish religion, which consisted in the cutting off of the foreskin of all male infants on the eighth day after their birth. This rite was established as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. The command concerning circumcision was repeated to Moses (Ex. 12:44, Lev. 12:3, John 7:22-23). The Jews always observed the rite of circumcision with particular exactness. As appears from unquestionable testimonies, circumcision was in use even before the time of Abraham.
The Egyptians performed this rite at a very early period. Prichard testifies that it was in use among the Amakosa people, who make up a very considerable part of the population of southern Africa. The Kaffirs perform it to this day, and it was probably common among the primitive
(Num. 35:10–15)—six Levitical cities appointed as places of protection for a person who had caused another’s death unintentionally. Human life was held sacred: intentional murder required judgment, while an accidental manslayer needed protection from the avenger of blood until the community could examine the case. Moses designated Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan east of the Jordan; after the conquest, Joshua designated Kedesh in Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron west of the Jordan (Deut. 4:41–43; Josh. 20:1–9).
City of the Great King
(Ps. 48:2; Matt. 5:35)—a designation of Jerusalem. See Jerusalem.
Clasp.
See Buckle.
Clauda
(Acts 27:16) - a small island named in Paul's voyage to Rome, ten miles south of Crete and called Gozza in the source's day.
Claudia
(2 Tim 4:21) - a devout Roman woman, probably converted by Paul. In his second letter to Timothy, bishop of Ephesus, the apostle sends greetings in her name. Nothing further is known.
Claudius
- see Caesar Claudius.
Claudius Lysias
(Acts 23:26) - the Roman commander at the fortress Antonia near the temple who rescued Paul from the enraged Jerusalem crowd and sent him to the governor Felix at Caesarea. He was not Roman by birth but had purchased citizenship (Acts 22:28).
(Ps. 45 [44]:9 [as given]) — this oxide, or compound of oxygen with the metal aluminum, was known and worked from the deepest antiquity, in almost the same manner as at present, for the making of clay vessels. It was trodden underfoot (Isa. 41:25); articles of clay were produced on a wheel, by means of turning (Jer. 18:3), and were fired in the sun, or in special kilns (Jer. 43:9). The use of clay for the making of bricks or vessels is known from the very earliest times of the world (Gen. 11:3) (see the word Brick).
Clay in antiquity apparently often had the same use that wax has for us. Thus in the book of Job (38:14) it is said: “that the earth might be changed as clay under the seal, and stand as a variegated garment.” To this day in the East the doors of houses are sealed with seals of clay, which are strictly guaranteed by law. On the bricks of the ruins of Babylon, preserved in the British Museum, are found to this day a multitude of various depictions of seals in clay, as well as the clay seals themselves with Assyrian, Egyptian, and Phoenician inscriptions.
For a seal, the finest clay was generally used, and after certain marks or words had been impressed upon it, it was placed in the fire and baked. According to the explanation of some interpreters of the Gospel, the seal affixed to the stone of the cave in which the Lord was laid was made of clay (Matt. 27:66). The same is noted of the seal on the deed of purchase of land bought by Jeremiah (Jer. 32:14). The prophet Isaiah, explaining the complete dependence of man upon God, uses the following allegorical expression, borrowed from the common use of clay: “we are the clay,” he says, “and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa. 64:8), and the Apostle Paul, with particular force, addresses the Romans with the following notable question: “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Rom. 9:21).
Clayey ground
(1 Kings 7:46) — a clayey area located between Succoth and Zarethan, near the Jordan, in which, under Solomon, bronze and copper articles were cast for Solomon’s Temple.
(gentle, merciful) (Phil 4:3) - named by Paul as a fellow worker whose name is in the book of life. The New Testament says no more. Ancient Fathers generally identified him with Clement of Rome, regarded in church history as Rome's third bishop. Tradition says the Roman presbyters unanimously chose him after the death of Cletus, also called Anacletus. Living through Domitian's persecution, he suffered martyrdom in the third year of Trajan, about AD 100 or 101, being cast into the sea with a stone at his neck near Chersonesus Taurica.
(change, passing) (Luke 24:18) - one of the two disciples to whom the risen Lord appeared on the road to Emmaus, a disciple and kinsman of the Lord according to the flesh. Opinions differed whether Luke's Cleopas was the same as John 19:25's Clopas. The Greek forms differ: Luke has Kleopas, a shortened Greek form of Kleopatros, while John has Klopas, taken as Aramaic from Chalpai. See Alphaeus.
Cleopatra
(glorious, renowned through her father) - the name of two women in the Bible:
Cnidus
(Acts 27:7) - a Carian city on the Cnidian peninsula in the Archipelago, passed by Paul on his voyage to Rome. Its harbor was extensive, and the city was famed for the worship of Venus, whose temple contained a celebrated statue by Praxiteles.
(Prov. 26:21)—biblical references ordinarily concern glowing coals or charcoal made from wood, not modern mined coal. Charcoal supplied heat for cooking, baking, metalworking, and warmth (Isa. 44:12–19; 54:16; John 18:18; 21:9). Live coals also belonged to altar service (Lev. 16:12). In Isaiah’s vision a seraph touches the prophet’s lips with a coal from the altar, signifying purification for prophetic ministry (Isa. 6:6–7).
Cockle
(Job 31:40) - a familiar wild plant or weed commonly found along field edges and among grain. The word occurs only in the cited verse.
(hollow valley) (2 Esdras 2:17; 1 Macc 10:69) - an Asian region lying between mountain ranges and forming part of Syria. Coele-syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine were provinces of the larger Syria. The ancient district was called Bekaa in the source's day, with Damascus as its chief city at the foot of Anti-Lebanon on the Barada River.
Col-hozeh
(all-seeing) - the name of two persons:
(Acts 16:12)—a settlement possessing Roman colonial status. Philippi had been settled by Roman veterans and enjoyed institutions and privileges modeled on Rome. Luke’s designation helps explain the city’s strong Roman identity and Paul’s appeal to the rights of Roman citizens after the magistrates had beaten and imprisoned him without trial (Acts 16:35-39).
(Col 1:2) - a city in southwestern Phrygia on the Lycus River, near Laodicea and Hierapolis (2:1). Herodotus called it a great city in the fifth century BC, and Xenophon saw it still flourishing a century later. By the beginning of the Christian era it had declined greatly, and an earthquake several years after Paul's Epistle to the Colossians caused severe damage. In the Middle Ages it was known as Chonae, and in the source's day as Chonas. The miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae, or Chonae, was assigned by researchers to centuries after the apostolic age, though an ancient church dedicated to the Archangel stood there. The site had become a small village on a slope of Mount Chonas, beside ruins of the ancient city.
(Deut. 1:15)—an Israelite military or administrative leader set over a unit conventionally called a thousand. Commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens formed a graduated structure of leadership, though the Hebrew numbers can sometimes describe social or clan groupings rather than an exact battlefield count. David consulted commanders of thousands and hundreds as representatives of military leadership (1 Chron. 13:1).
No archaic English translation was supplied for source pages 291-300, so this installment could not be compared line by line with an older English version and there are no older-English change highlights to list. The translation was made directly from the pre-revolutionary Russian text layer and checked against rendered scans; Claude's pages 1-290 were used only to preserve established English names, scriptural numbering, register, and document style.
No archaic English translation was supplied for source pages 301-310, so this installment could not be compared line by line with an older English version and there are no older-English change highlights to list. The translation was made directly from the pre-revolutionary Russian text layer and checked against the rendered scan. The pages 1-300 DOCX was used to preserve its established English register, biblical name forms, citation style, and layout.
No archaic English translation was supplied for source pages 311-320, so this installment could not be compared line by line with an older English version and there are no older-English change highlights to list. The translation was made directly from the pre-revolutionary Russian text layer and checked against the rendered scan. The pages 1-310 DOCX was used to preserve its established English register, biblical name forms, citation style, and layout.
No archaic English translation was supplied for source pages 321-330, so this installment could not be compared line by line with an older English version and there are no older-English change highlights to list. The translation was made directly from the pre-revolutionary Russian text layer and checked against the rendered scans. The pages 1-320 DOCX was used to preserve its established English register, biblical name forms, citation style, illustration treatment, and layout.
No archaic English translation was supplied for source pages 331-340, so this installment could not be compared line by line with an older English version and there are no older-English change highlights to list. The translation was made directly from the pre-revolutionary Russian text layer and checked against the rendered scans. The pages 1-330 DOCX was used to preserve its established English register, biblical name forms, citation style, illustration treatment, and layout.
Completion status.
No source pages remain. The English translation, documentary appendix preservation, image retention, and translation notes now cover the complete 901-page PDF.
Conaniah
(the LORD has established; 2 Chron. 31:12–13; 35:9)—a Levite placed over the contributions, tithes, and dedicated gifts in Hezekiah’s reign, and probably the Levitical leader of the same name who contributed animals for Josiah’s Passover.
(2 Sam. 16:22)—in Holy Scripture this word occurs not infrequently. Some of the most devout patriarchs, such as Abraham and Jacob, had concubines: Hagar, Keturah, and others. Similar examples occur also in the times under the Law, of the Judges and the Kings, such as Manasseh, Caleb, Gideon, Saul, David, Solomon, and others (1 Chron. 7:14, 1 Chron. 2:46, 48, Judg. 8:31, 2 Sam. 3:7, 2 Sam. 5:13, 1 Kings 11:3). “By the determination of the rabbis,” writes His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret, “a concubine is a wife taken from among bondwomen without a marriage contract and betrothal, whose children are entitled to gifts but not to inheritance.” And concerning concubinage among the Hebrews he writes: “The Hebrews, not only before the Law but also under the Law, permitted themselves concubines.
It is likely that in this custom the example of the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob was turned into a rule of behavior. The patriarchs themselves, as far as can be observed, partly followed a custom accepted before them, and partly yielded to an impatience to have offspring already blessed by God, which impatience was especially manifest in their wives” (Notes on the Book of Genesis, Metropolitan Philaret, part II, pp. 150, 289–290). Thus concubinage appears as a weakness, permitted by the ancient patriarchs partly by a custom accepted before them, and partly by an impatience to have offspring the sooner (Gen. 16:1–2, 30:3).
God bore with this weakness. But the example of the patriarchs gives no justification for it. On the contrary, Holy Scripture in many places shows now a limitation of this weakness, now the harmful consequences of it for domestic peace, the well-being of society, and the purity of morals, and finally, direct prohibitions of it as conduct not in accord with the original institution of marriage and the will of God. Thus the Gospel gives an indication of the sacred institution of marriage and its original high significance (Gen. 2:24, Matt. 19:5, 1 Cor. 7:2), and in its spirit concubinage is now considered a grave sin, equal to fornication and adultery.
Confession.
See Repentance.
Coniah
(Jer. 22:24, 28; 37:1)—a shortened form of Jeconiah, also called Jehoiachin, king of Judah. See Jehoiachin.
Conscience bears witness to what should be done or avoided and either approves or accuses (Rom. 2:15; Acts 23:1). The heart responds to truth, beauty, and goodness and finds its highest good in communion with God. The will is capable of choosing and of advancing in virtue (Sir. 15:14-17; Deut. 30:19; Josh. 24:15). Created after the divine image, humanity is called to holiness, to glorify God, and finally to blessed union with Him (Lev. 19:2; Matt. 5:16, 48; John 17:21-26; 1 Pet. 1:15).
(2 Kings 23:5)—recognized groupings of stars. Ancient peoples gave such groups names and associated them with deities, seasons, and navigation. Scripture names or alludes to Pleiades, Orion, and other star groups, while firmly rejecting their worship. Josiah removed the idolatrous priests who burned incense to the sun, moon, planets, and all the host of heaven (2 Kings 23:5). The encyclopedia’s total of 117 constellations reflects the astronomical convention of its period and is not the modern standard.
(Gen. 4:22 and others)—was a native product in Palestine and was found in the mountains of Canaan (Deut. 8:9). It was used in great quantities for ecclesiastical use, as well as for the making of chains (Judg. 16:21), weapons, shields, helmets, and musical instruments (1 Chron. 15:19, 1 Cor. 13:1, 1 Sam. 17:5, 6). Dr. Wilkinson says that copper was used from the very earliest times in Egypt, and that various copper weapons, mirrors, and other ornaments were made of copper in the most remote
(Ezek 27:16) - the source connects the name with a Hebrew verb meaning to be red. Corals are branching hornlike or calcareous marine formations without roots or leaves, produced by tiny animals called polyps. Coral and objects made from it were traded with Tyre and were well known in antiquity. Corals vary greatly in color and size. The structures made by polyps can be so vast that they form the foundations of islands or extend for miles as reefs dangerous to ships. Beads, necklaces, and other ornaments were made from coral, especially the highly valued red kind.
(Exod 16:31; Num 11:7) - coriander is an annual plant or small shrub growing in Egypt, Palestine, China, and southern Europe, and especially cultivated in the English county of Essex in the source's day. Its rounded, fragrant seeds are pleasant when dried and were often sold candied in eastern markets. Exodus says that grains of manna in the wilderness resembled coriander seed. Egyptians ate the leaves raw as salad greens and used the seed to season food.
(Acts 18:1) - a renowned city of ancient Greece, where Paul lived for eighteen months and founded a notable church, to which he afterward wrote two extensive epistles. Originally called Ephyra, it stood upon the isthmus joining the Peloponnese to the mainland, at the foot of the rocky height crowned by the fortress of Acrocorinth. It had two harbors, Cenchreae and Lechaeum. Its importance as a commercial city with extensive eastern and western connections, and as a strong defense of the isthmus, was universally recognized. When Paul visited, it was the seat of the Roman proconsul Gallio, Seneca's brother.
(Acts 10:1) - a Roman centurion of the Italian cohort stationed at Caesarea. Although a Gentile, he led a devout life: he feared God with all his household, gave many alms to the people, and prayed to God continually (Acts 10:2). During prayer he saw an angel and received a revelation to summon Peter and receive from him the words of salvation, which he immediately obeyed. At the same time Peter received a supernatural vision, and the Spirit of God commanded him to go with Cornelius's messengers.
—the meeting place of two sides or edges and, figuratively, a position of structural or social importance. The stone rejected by the builders becomes the cornerstone, a text Jesus applies to himself (Ps. 118:22; Matt. 21:42). Zechariah says that from Judah will come the cornerstone, tent peg, battle bow, and every ruler together (Zech. 10:4). Israel was forbidden to reap to the very edges of a field; the unreaped portion was left for the poor and the resident alien (Lev. 19:9-10).
(Matt. 24:28)—under the Mosaic law, contact with a human corpse brought ritual impurity and required purification (Num. 19:11–22); contact with the carcasses of unclean animals likewise defiled according to the law (Lev. 11:24–40). This ceremonial uncleanness was not identical with personal moral guilt. Figuratively, corruption and exposed carcasses can portray judgment, national ruin, or spiritual death (Ezek. 29:5; 32:4–5). Jesus’ saying, “Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together,” uses the gathering of carrion birds as an image of inescapable judgment (Matt. 24:28; Luke 17:37).
(2 Kings 9:30). Paints and facial cosmetics, used among many ancient and modern peoples, were also known to Hebrew women. The antiquity of eye paint appears in the name Keren-happuch, Job’s third daughter, whose name means “horn of eye paint” (Job 42:14). When Jehu entered Jezreel, Jezebel painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked from a window, perhaps hoping to impress him; at Jehu’s command she was thrown down, trampled, and devoured by dogs (2 Kings 9:30–35).
(Num. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5)—a covenant characterized by permanence and inviolability. Salt resists corruption and accompanied offerings; thus the phrase fittingly expresses an enduring divine grant. Sharing salt also became a widespread sign of hospitality and fidelity, though the encyclopedia’s descriptions of later Eastern custom are historical illustration rather than the basis of the biblical expression.
— that is to say, the ancient union of God with man, and the new union of God with man. The Old Covenant consisted in this, that God promised mankind His divine Savior (the first announcement of the Gospel, of the seed of the woman, given to our first parents in paradise) and, through gradual revelations, prophecies, and foreshadowings, prepared them to receive Him. The New Covenant, meanwhile, consisted in this, that God actually bestowed upon mankind His divine Savior, His Only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The expressions “New Testament,” “the blood of the New Testament,” “Mediator of the New Testament,” have the highest, most profound, and unalterable significance for the religious life of mankind. Now there is no more condemnation for those who in Christ live not after the flesh but after the spirit (Rom. 8:1); now all things that pertain unto life and godliness have been granted to us (2 Pet. 1:3); now we have life in Christ (Rom. 8:15, 32 [as given]).
Covetousness
(Col 3:5) - excessive concern for riches and the acquisition of earthly goods. This sin, forbidden by the second commandment, belongs to idolatry. Paul says that covetousness is idolatry, because a covetous person serves wealth more than God.
Cow
(Gen 41:2; 1 Sam 6:7, 10, 12) - see Cattle and Cattle breeding.
Coz
(thorn) (1 Chr 4:8) - a descendant of Judah and father of Anub and Zobebah.
Cozbi
(false; Num. 25:15, 18)—a Midianite woman, daughter of Zur, who was killed with the Simeonite leader Zimri by Phinehas during Israel’s apostasy at Baal-peor.
Cozeba Chozeba
(falsehood; 1 Chron. 4:22)—a place associated with descendants of Shelah in Judah, probably related to Chezib or Achzib.
Crates
(ruler) (2 Macc 4:29) - governor of Cyprus and afterward commander of Jerusalem's citadel, appointed to that office by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Humanity was created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:27; Jas. 3:9). The source associates this image with the original rectitude of mind, purity of heart, holiness of will, and blessed immortality. The soul is immaterial and spiritual and is therefore also called spirit in contrast with the body. It possesses powers of knowledge, memory, understanding, reason, and contemplation, by which the human person can investigate creation and rise toward knowledge of its Creator and Provider (Wis. 7:17-21; Rom. 1:19-20).
—the sovereign act by which the one eternal God brought all things into being and ordered them in wisdom and goodness. God needs nothing from creation; he creates freely so that creatures may receive and participate in his goodness. Christian confession speaks of creation from nothing, a teaching consonant with God’s universal agency and expressed in Hebrews: what is seen was not made from visible things (Heb. 11:3). Creation is therefore neither divine nor self-existent.
Crescens
(growing) (2 Tim 4:10) - one of the Seventy and a fellow worker of Paul, who sent him to Galatia, where he preached the Gospel and became a bishop. Tradition says that he suffered martyrdom under Trajan. The Church commemorates him on January 4 and July 30.
(Titus 1:5) - one of the larger Mediterranean islands. Its western end lies southeast of the Morea and its eastern end southwest of Rhodes. The island is about 160 English miles long and from six to thirty-six miles wide. Its later name Candia came from the fortified city of Candia, built by the Saracens near the middle of the northern coast. Crete is very mountainous, though it contains fertile plains producing abundant wheat, grapes, olives, lemons, and oranges. Its ancient history is enveloped in mythic tradition.
Crispus
(curly-haired) (Acts 18:8) - chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, baptized with his whole household through Paul's ministry (1 Cor 1:14). The Apostolic Constitutions say that he afterward became bishop of Aegina, in Cilicia according to the source. His commemoration is January 4.
(Job 40:20 in the source's numbering) - the name of the enormous serpentlike water creature described at length in Job. The source considers crocodile and leviathan probably identical. Leviathan was treated as a monster of the waters, as behemoth in the preceding chapter was treated as a monster of the land and marsh. The same creature is probably meant elsewhere where Scripture names leviathan (Isa 27:1; Ps 104:26). The psalmist uses the name figuratively for the hardhearted ruler of Egypt: 'Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces' (Ps 74:14). Isaiah similarly employs it as an image of a kingdom hostile to the Hebrews (Isa 27:1).
Cross
—see Crucifixion.
(Matt. 27:29)—the crown woven by the soldiers and placed upon the head of Jesus in mockery of His kingship. Many plants have been proposed, including species common near Jerusalem, but the Gospel does not identify the material and certainty is impossible. The crown joins royal parody with real suffering and has become a central Christian image of the Lord’s Passion.
(Matt. 23:34; 27:31 and elsewhere). From ancient times crucifixion was among the cruelest and most shameful forms of execution; the source reports that it still existed among peoples of India and China in its own day. The Romans regarded it as a disgraceful death reserved chiefly for traitors and great criminals (Luke 23:2). A widespread tradition held that the Cross of Christ was made from three kinds of wood—cypress, pine, and cedar—and the source connects this tradition with church hymns and prayers and with Isaiah 60:13.
(Ezek. 1:22)—a transparent or gleaming substance used to describe the awe-inspiring expanse above the living creatures in Ezekiel’s vision. The Hebrew word may refer to ice or crystal; in Job 28:17 it names a precious transparent material compared with gold. Ancient belief sometimes treated rock crystal as permanently frozen ice, but it is a crystalline form of quartz. The visionary comparison communicates brightness, purity, and terrifying splendor rather than a mineralogical definition.
Cubit
- see Measures of length.
Cuckoo
- see Gull.
(Num. 11:5)—a garden plant, well known in the East, especially in Egypt. Cucumbers, melons, and onions constitute at the present day the chief produce of Egypt. Cucumbers occur in a great many varieties; some of them are highly prized for their medicinal properties. To protect cucumbers from thieves and birds, an earthen mound is erected in the center of the garden plot, from which the whole area occupied by the garden can be surveyed, and on top of it a small hut is set up for a watchman.
For two or three months this poor watchman carries out his difficult duty despite storms and foul weather. The prophet Isaiah likens the city of Jerusalem, allegorically called the daughter of Zion, to a lodge in a vineyard, a hut in a garden of cucumbers (1:8). Just as these huts were abandoned by their watchmen once the cucumbers had been gathered from the gardens, so likewise the great capital city was to serve as a temporary refuge, but was soon, like them, to be destroyed and abandoned.
This prophecy was fulfilled in the various calamities of Jerusalem, and especially when the Jews were led away captive to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:19). A similar allegory is used in the Book of Job (27:18). That cucumbers constituted a savory garden produce is evident from the following: the Hebrews wept, remembering the melons and cucumbers of Egypt (Num. 11:5). In Palestine cucumbers first appear in April and May and grow until July. Long, snake-shaped cucumbers come onto the market in the field season. Small cucumbers, or gherkins, are not brought to the markets of Egypt before the month of September.
(Isa. 28:25–27; Matt. 23:23)—an aromatic seed cultivated for seasoning and other uses. Isaiah observes that cumin is sown and threshed with methods suited to its delicate seed rather than crushed beneath a heavy cart. Jesus rebuked scribes and Pharisees who tithed mint, dill, and cumin while neglecting the weightier matters of the law—judgment, mercy, and faith. The precise plants behind some ancient spice names vary among translations, but the moral force of the passages is clear.
(Gen. 40:1)—an officer entrusted with serving wine to a ruler and guarding against poison or treachery. The office carried unusual access to the sovereign and could therefore become a position of confidence and influence. Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer was imprisoned with Joseph, received from him the interpretation of his dream, and later remembered Joseph before Pharaoh (Gen. 40:1-23; 41:9-13). Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes and used his access to seek permission to rebuild Jerusalem (Neh. 1:11-2:8).
The Assyrian title Rabshakeh originally meant “chief cupbearer,” though in 2 Kings 18 it designates a senior royal spokesman and military official rather than a domestic servant.
(Gen. 27:12). In biblical usage this word stands opposite to blessing. A curse therefore signifies the withdrawal of blessing and condemnation to calamity. The first curse was pronounced by God after the fall of the first human beings: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake,” God said in Paradise to sinful Adam (Gen. 3:17). God also pronounced a curse upon Cain (Gen. 4:11), and the earth with all who lived upon it came under judgment in the Flood in the days of Noah (Gen. 6:7; 7:21–23).
(black)—(1) the Benjaminite named in the superscription of Psalm 7. Scripture gives no further certain information about him; the source conjectures that he may have served Saul in persecuting David. (2) In Judith 7:18, a locality opposite Ekrebel near the brook Mochmur, occupied by Edomites and Ammonites from Holofernes’ camp; its identification is uncertain. (3) The land or people of Cush, from which exiles would be gathered (Isa. 11:11).
Cush
(Gen. 10:6-8; 1 Chron. 1:8-10)—the eldest son of Ham, son of Noah, and ancestor of peoples named in the Table of Nations.
(Judg. 3:8-11)—king of Aram-naharaim, or Mesopotamia, into whose hand the LORD gave Israel after the people served the Baals and Asheroth. After eight years of oppression they cried to the LORD, who raised up Othniel son of Kenaz. Othniel defeated Cushan-rishathaim, and the land had rest forty years.
(2 Kgs 17:24-30) - a land from which Shalmaneser king of Assyria transferred settlers, together with people from Babylon, to repopulate the kingdom of Israel after its destruction. Intermarrying with the few native inhabitants who remained, the newcomers formed the people later known as Samaritans, or Cuthites in Talmudic usage. The country's location was disputed and the source regarded it as uncertain.
(Lev. 19:28)—incisions made on the body in mourning or cultic frenzy. The prophets of Baal cut themselves with swords and lances until blood flowed during their contest with Elijah (1 Kings 18:28). Israel was forbidden to cut the body or make tattoo marks for the dead and was also forbidden to shave the forehead as a mourning rite (Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1). Priests faced additional restrictions concerning contact with the dead, shaving, and bodily cuttings (Lev. 21:1-6). The prohibitions distinguish Israel’s worship and hope from rites that harmed the body in service of the dead or other gods.
- reckoning time by months is ancient. The Hebrew year has twelve lunar months. Because a lunar year is shorter than a solar year by ten days and twenty-one hours, the Christian Paschal calculation employs a cycle of the moon. Jewish Passover begins on the evening of the fourteenth day of the March moon and lasts seven days. During Christianity's first two centuries there was no universal agreement about Easter's date. Churches of Asia Minor celebrated with the Jews, so Easter fell on different weekdays, contrary to the Christian understanding of the day of the Savior's resurrection. Rome and other churches celebrated after the March full moon and spring equinox, always on Sunday.
(1 Chron. 16:5)—percussion instruments consisting of metal plates struck together. Cymbals accompanied Levites and singers in Temple worship (1 Chron. 15:16, 19; Ps. 150:5). Paul compares eloquent speech without love to noisy metal or a clanging cymbal: impressive sound without charity lacks spiritual substance (1 Cor. 13:1).
(2 Chr 3:5; 1 Kgs 5:10; Isa 14:8; Ezek 27:5 and elsewhere) - a notable tall, slender conifer of Syria and Phoenicia. Together with cedar and pine it formed the glory of Lebanon: 'The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary' (Isa 60:13). Wealthy Romans adorned their country houses with cypresses, and the trees still ornamented Muslim cemeteries. Muslims saw immortality in its conical form, and Arabs called it shajarat al-hayat, the tree of life.
(1 Macc 15:23; Acts 4:36; 11:19 and elsewhere) - an island in the eastern Mediterranean between the Cilician and Phoenician coasts, shaped like an irregular parallelogram and ending in a long narrow northeastern peninsula. A range known in ancient mythology as the Olympian mountains runs the island's length, with Mount Olympus reaching about seven thousand feet. Picturesque plains south of the range abounded in narcissus, anemones, and buttercups. Cyprus was celebrated for wheat, grapes, pomegranates, figs, fragrant resin, wax, honey, silk, and cotton. Its cedar, cypress, and oak forests supplied excellent ship timber; it also possessed copper mines and produced wine, fruit, honey, and flax.
(1 Macc 15:23; Matt 27:32 and elsewhere) - Cyrene was the chief city of Libya in Africa, and the surrounding country took its name. Founded as a Greek colony, the district long had kings of Greek descent, then became a Roman province and was finally joined to Crete. For a time it belonged to Egypt. Ptolemy son of Lagus strengthened it by settling many Jews there, who became a large and influential part of the population. The New Testament first names Cyrene as the native place of Simon, who carried the Lord's cross (Matt 27:32).
Acts also mentions Cyrenians repeatedly (2:10; 6:9; 11:20; 13:1). In the source's day Cyrenaica formed the eastern part of the Ottoman eyalet of Tripoli, and extensive ruins of ancient Cyrene lay near Grenneh in the district of Barca.
(Latin Quirinus) (Luke 2:2) - a Roman governor of Syria, dated by the source to 759-764 from Rome's foundation. It says he governed Syria twice, first about four years before Christ's birth and at the time of it, and again several years afterward. Under Augustus's command an enrollment was made throughout the land during his government; Joseph and the Virgin Mary therefore went to Bethlehem, their ancestral city, where the Christ Child was born. Josephus also writes expressly of an enrollment under Quirinius (Antiquities 18.1).
(Isa 44:28 and elsewhere) - conqueror of the Medes, Lydians, and Babylonians, founder of the Medo-Persian monarchy, and liberator of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. He was first called Agradar, while Cyrus became his royal title when he rose to public prominence. Scripture first names him in Isaiah's prophecy about a century and a half before his birth: the LORD 'saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid' (Isa 44:28).
Before Judah became a Persian province and before the two tribes were carried to Babylon, Isaiah named Cyrus as their future deliverer (Isa 41:2, 6; 44:28; 45:1), a chosen instrument in God's hand for Babylon's overthrow.
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