Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mamre

(Encyclopedia)Mamre mămˈrē [key], in the Bible, Amorite ally of Abraham and owner of part of Hebron. ...

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader

(Encyclopedia)Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 1933–2020, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1993–2020), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Joan Ruth Bader. A graduate (1954) of Cornell, she attended Harvard Law School, then...

modernismo

(Encyclopedia)modernismo mōᵺārnēˈsmō [key], movement in Spanish literature that had its beginning in Latin America. It was paramount in the last decade of the 19th cent. and the first decade of the 20th cent...

Chedorlaomer

(Encyclopedia)Chedorlaomer kĕdˈərlāˈōmər, –lāōˈ– [key], in the Bible, king of Elam. With him were allied Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; and Tidal, “king of nations.” They attac...

Lot, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Lot, in the Book of Genesis, the son of Abraham's brother Haran. Lot settled in Sodom and received a warning of its destruction. As he fled with his family, his wife, disobeying God's orders, looked b...

Lincoln, Mary Todd

(Encyclopedia)Lincoln, Mary Todd, 1818–82, wife of Abraham Lincoln, b. Lexington, Ky. Of a good Kentucky family, she was living with her sister, daughter-in-law of Gov. Ninian Edwards of Illinois, in Springfield,...

kabbalah

(Encyclopedia)kabbalah or cabala both: kăbˈələ [key] [Heb.,=reception], esoteric system of interpretation of the Scriptures based upon a tradition claimed to have been handed down orally from Abraham. Despite t...

Eliezer

(Encyclopedia)Eliezer ēlīēˈzər, ĕlīēˈ– [key], in the Bible. 1 Servant of Abraham. 2 Son of Moses. 3 Prophet who rebuked King Jehoshaphat. 4 Priest under David. 5 Chief Reubenite. 6 Messenger of Ezra. 7 M...

Moreh

(Encyclopedia)Moreh mōˈrē [key], in the Bible. 1 Place, ancient Palestine, known by its holy tree, near Shechem. It was Abraham's first resting place after entering the land of Canaan. 2 Hill of N ancient Palest...

Browse by Subject