5 entries · Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Matt. 5:26; Mark 12:42)—the smallest Roman bronze coin commonly named in the New Testament, worth one quarter of an as. Mark explains that two Greek lepta equaled one quadrans. Monetary equivalents in nineteenth-century Russian currency are omitted because purchasing power cannot be conveyed accurately by a fixed modern conversion.
(fatness, abundance) (Ex. 16:13)—a bird of the grouse and partridge kind. It formed part of the food miraculously sent to the Israelites during their wandering in the wilderness (Ps. 105:40; cf. Ps. 78:27–29). Quails were still seen in great numbers in the deserts of Arabia in the source’s day and were brought by the thousands to the markets of Jerusalem.
(fourth) (Rom 16:23) - one of the Seventy Apostles, converted at Corinth and a disciple of St. Paul, who sends his greeting to the Christians at Rome. Tradition makes Quartus bishop of Beirut in Phoenicia. His commemoration is January 4 and November 10.
(Matt. 12:42)—the queen of Sheba, who ruled a people south of Palestine, commonly associated with southern Arabia. Drawn by Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem with a splendid retinue and tested his wisdom with difficult questions. Having seen his wisdom and prosperity, she blessed the LORD, the God of Israel (1 Kings 10:1-13). Jesus said that she would rise at the judgment against those who failed to recognize that one greater than Solomon was present.
(fifth) (2 Macc 11:34) - one of the Roman envoys to the Jewish people in the days of Judas Maccabeus and Antiochus Eupator.