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Arab-Israeli Wars

(Encyclopedia)Arab-Israeli Wars, conflicts in 1948–49, 1956, 1967, 1973–74, and 1982 between Israel and the Arab states. Tensions between Israel and the Arabs have been complicated and heightened by the politic...

Hazor

(Encyclopedia)Hazor hāˈzôr [key] 1 Fortified city of N Galilee, 5 mi (8 km) SW of Lake Hula, in present-day Israel. Strategically located in ancient Palestine on the road leading from Egypt to Syria and Asia Min...

Josephus, Flavius

(Encyclopedia)Josephus, Flavius flāˈvēəs jōsēˈfəs [key], a.d. 37–c.a.d. 100, Jewish historian and soldier, b. Jerusalem. Josephus' historical works are among the most valuable sources for the study of ear...

James, Saint (the “brother” of Jesus)

(Encyclopedia)James, Saint, in the Bible, the “brother” of Jesus. The Gospels make several references to the brothers of Jesus, and St. Paul speaks of “James the Lord's brother.” While Protestants generally...

Neusner, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Neusner, Jacob, 1932–2016, American scholar and historian of Judaism, b. West Hartford, Conn, B.A. Harvard, 1953, M.A. Jewish Theological Seminary, 1960), Ph.D. Columbia, 1960. Regarded as the world...

Luria, Isaac ben Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Luria or Loria, Isaac ben Solomon lo͝orˈēə, lôrˈ– [key], 1534–72, Jewish kabbalist, surnamed Ashkenazi, called Ari [lion] by his followers, b. Jerusalem. In his 20s he spent seven years in s...

Matthew, Gospel according to

(Encyclopedia)Matthew, Gospel according to, 1st book of the New Testament. Scholars conjecture that it was written for the church at Antioch toward the end of the 1st cent. Traditonally regarded as the earliest Gos...

Kokoschka, Oskar

(Encyclopedia)Kokoschka, Oskar ôsˈkär kōkôshˈkä [key], 1886–1980, Austrian expressionist painter and writer. After teaching at the art academy in Dresden (1920–24), Kokoschka traveled extensively in Euro...

Tabernacle

(Encyclopedia)Tabernacle tăbˈərnăkˌəl [key], in the Bible, the portable holy place of the Hebrews during their desert wanderings. It was a tent, like the portable tent-shrines used by ancient Semites, set up ...

Baruch, book of the Septuagint and of the Apocrypha

(Encyclopedia)Baruch, early Jewish book included in the Septuagint, but not included in the Hebrew Bible and placed in the Apocrypha in the Authorized Version. It is named for a Jewish prince Baruch (fl. 600 b.c.),...