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Nehushtan

(Encyclopedia)Nehushtan nēhŭshˈtăn [key], in the Bible, brazen serpent made by Moses. It was eventually worshiped by the Israelites, and Hezekiah destroyed it. ...

Jethro

(Encyclopedia)Jethro jĕthˈrō [key], Midianite priest of the peninsula of Sinai who was the companion and father-in-law of Moses. He is also called Reuel, Raguel, and Hobab. ...

Ambarvalia

(Encyclopedia)Ambarvalia ămbərvālˈyə [key], in Roman religion, yearly agricultural rite held at the end of May. To insure fertility and disperse evil, each farmer led members of his household and a sacrificial...

Amram

(Encyclopedia)Amram ămˈrăm [key], in the Bible. 1 Moses' father; ancestor of a Levitical family. 2 Edomite. 1 Chron. 1.41. Hemdan: Gen. 36.26. 3 Jew who had married a foreign wife. ...

primitivism

(Encyclopedia)primitivism, in art, the style of works of self-trained artists who develop their talents in a fanciful and fresh manner, as in the paintings of Henri Rousseau and Grandma Moses. The term primitive ha...

Numbers

(Encyclopedia)Numbers, book of the Bible, fourth of the five books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. Numbers begins at Sinai and ends in Moab on the eve of the Hebrews' entry into...

Jeshaiah

(Encyclopedia)Jeshaiah jēshāˈyə [key], in the Bible. 1 Chief singer. 2 Tribal chief accompanying Ezra. 3 Descendant of Moses. An alternate form is Isshiah. 4 Merarite who returned with Ezra. ...

Gershom

(Encyclopedia)Gershom gûrˈshəm [key], in the Bible. 1 Moses' first son. 2 See Gershon. 3 One of Ezra's companions. ...

Jacobs, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Jacobs, Jane, 1916–2006, American-Canadian urbanologist, b. Scranton, Pa., as Jane Butzner. She moved to New York City in the 1930s, was an editor (1952–64) of Architectural Forum magazine, and wr...

Wood, Jethro

(Encyclopedia)Wood, Jethro, 1774–1834, American inventor, b. either in Dartmouth, Mass., or in Washington co., N.Y. In 1814, while a farmer in Cayuga co., N.Y., he patented a cast-iron plow in which he later embo...

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