Bible Dictionary
DEVIL
DEVIL
Greek name that means “adversary”, like its corresponding Heb. «Satan« or «Satan». This is how this word is translated when referring to other adversaries. Cp. No. 22:22; 1 Kings 11:14, 23, 25.
He was the devil who initially deceived Eve, for it is clear that the dragon, the ancient serpent, and Satan are all the same evil spirit (Rev. 20:2).
The devil, Satan, was the great adversary of God’s people in OT times (1 Chr. 21:1); He was the one who tempted the Lord Jesus, who treated him like Satan; and he is the tempter and adversary of the saints and of all humanity today.
He attempts to neutralize the effect of the gospel; He snatches away the good seed sown in the heart (Mt. 13), and blinds the minds of unbelievers so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ does not shine on them. His efforts are thwarted by God, or no one would be saved.
Furthermore, to counteract the work of God, Satan raises up heretics to mix with the saints, to corrupt them with bad doctrines, as taught in the metaphor of the tares sown among the wheat.
He goes around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8), but the saints are exhorted to resist him, and he will depart from them (James 4:7).
The power of death, which the devil had, has been annulled by Christ in his death (Heb. 2:14).
He warns the saints against his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11), because he becomes an angel of light, a teacher of morality (2 Cor. 11:14).
God provides a complete armor for his saints, so that they can resist him and his schemes, giving them the sword of the Spirit (the word of God), as a weapon of attack (Eph. 6: 11-18)
The origin of Satan is not stated explicitly, but it seems evident (as the early church believed) that there is a reference to him in Ezek. 28:12-19, under the name of king of Tyre, as “protective cherub with spread wings”; all the precious stones and gold were also his clothing, resplendent with reflected light; he had his place in Eden, the garden of God, and he was in the holy mountain of God. He was perfect in all his ways from the day he was created, until evil was found in him.
This could hardly apply to the prince of Tire (Ez. 28:1-10) as a human being, but the Scriptures attribute it to the king of Tire. The change from prince (Heb.: “nagid”, leader) of Tire (Ez. 28:2) to king (Heb.: “melek”, king) is very indicative.
Tire, in his worldly wisdom and beauty, is morally regarded as the creation of the king and god of this world, and he will end his race in damnation in the lake of fire.
In the Epistle of Jude the action of the archangel Michael in relation to Satan is given as an example of moderation in speaking of dignities: he did not dare to pronounce a damning judgment against the devil, but said: “The Lord rebuke you.”
This implies that Satan had been put in dignity, which, although he had fallen, had to still be respected, in the same way that Saul’s life was sacred in the eyes of David because he was God’s anointed, although he had fallen.
That Satan has been set in dignity is confirmed by the fact that Christ, on the cross, dispossessed “the principalities and the powers,” not just the “powers” (Col. 2:15).
The expressions “the prince” of this world (John 12:31), “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), and “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2) are They evidently refer to the devil.
When the Lord was tempted in the desert, Satan, after showing him “all the kingdoms of the world,” offered to give him all the power and glory of them, if he would worship him, adding “for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want” (Lk. 4:5, 6).
In the book of Job we see that Satan has access to God in heaven (Jb. 1:6, etc.); the Christian struggles with the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12); The day will come when Michael and his angels will fight against Satan and his angels, and they will be expelled from heaven (Rev. 12:7).
This seems to indicate that Satan has a place in heaven, just as God originally gave it to him. During the millennium he would be shut up in the abyss, then let loose for a short time, and finally thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:1-10), prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. . 25:41).
When Jesus was born, Satan tried to destroy him (Mal. 2:16; Rev. 12:1-5). At the end of the Lord’s earthly career, Satan was the great instigator of his death.
To achieve this, he entered Judas Iscariot, while in the other cases, as far as it has been revealed to us, the possession was carried out by a demon, and not the devil himself.
When the Lord was arrested, he said to the Jews: “This is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Lk. 22:53). But Christ was the true victor. With his death he defeated the one who had the power of death, the devil (Heb. 2:14); he led captivity captive (Eph. 4:8).
However, Satan continues to work, and when he is cast to the earth he will become the spirit of a trinity of evil. He will give the throne and authority from it to the Beast (Rev. 13:2). He will also be the leader of the nations in the last battle against the camp of the saints (Rev. 20: 7-9).
It is a notable fact that, despite Satan’s wickedness, God uses him in the discipline of his saints, as in the case of Job, but only allows the devil to go as far as He wants (cp. Jb. 1: 12).
Paul used his apostolic power to deliver some to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20).
The thorn that Paul himself had in the flesh was a messenger of Satan who slapped him, so that the sublime of the revelations that he had received in the third heaven would not cause him to be exalted beyond measure (2 Cor. 12: 7).
It must be remembered that Satan is already a morally defeated enemy, because he has already been denounced (Col. 2:15); also that no Christian can be touched by him, except in what God the Father allows and controls for the discipline of his children and for their good.
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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BETHEL
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