Bible Dictionary
TEST
TEST
This name is given to the Jewish writings that appeared, for the most part, between the years 150 BC. and 100 AD, which were not admitted into the OT canon (see CANON).
Its name is due to the fact that they give a false author name. There are other books, among the apocrypha, that are attributed to fictitious authors (see APOCRYPHA).
Below is a list of the pseudepigraphic writings that appear in the translation of them published by Kautzsch (Tübingen, 1900). Certain writings classified as apocryphal also appear as pseudepigrapha, and are not treated here (see APOCRYPHA). Works lacking religious value are also overlooked.
List:
(a) Legends:
The letter of Aristeas,
the Book of Jubilees,
the Martyrdom of Isaiah.
(b) Poetry:
The Psalms of Solomon.
(c) Didactic books:
the fourth book of Maccabees.
(d) Apocrypha:
The Sibylline Oracles,
the book of Enoch,
the Assumption of Moses,
the fourth book of Ezra,
the apocrypha of Baruch (one Syrian and one Greek),
the Testaments of the Twelve
Patriarchs,
the Life of Adam and Eve.
The letter of Aristeas. The author presents himself as a high dignitary of the court of Egypt, and as a gentile.
He writes to a friend (Philocrates) to relate the origin of the Greek version of the Bible (LXX): «King Ptolemy II Philadelphus wrote to the high priest Eleazar to obtain a translation of the Law of the Jews.
Eleazar sent seventy-two doctors (six from each tribe) to Ptolemy. After having captivated the king with their wisdom during a court banquet, the doctors were installed on the island of Pharos, and set to work.
They dedicated eight hours a day to it, while Demetrius of Falero, curator of the famous library of Alexandria, recorded in writing the translation of the Bible in which the seventy-two doctors showed total unanimity.
The task was completed in seventy-two days. This story is legendary. It cannot come from a pagan, since the Law is highly glorified.
It is evident that it was not written at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, because the author makes serious errors regarding the chronology of Ptolemy II.
The details he gives about Palestine lead to the conjecture that he returned around 100 BC, although certainly before Philo and Josephus, since the latter echoed this legend.
The Psalms of Solomon. They are eighteen. They are written according to the rules of Hebrew parallelism (see HEBREW POETRY). It seems that they must be attributed to the same poet.
His zeal for the Law, and his hostile attitude toward the Hasmonean dynasty, as well as his messianic hopes, allow one to see in him a member of the Hasidim, a fervently religious group preceding the Pharisees and with similarities to them.
Internal evidence shows that the author did not intend to pass off his poems as Solomon’s. It is evident that this name was added later.
The reason that moved him to write was the brutal desecration of the Temple by the impious Pompey in the year 63 BC. An older date has been assigned to this work, seeing in the cursed man that the poet points not to Pompey, but to Antiochus Epiphanes.
Then, the evil kings would not be the Hasmoneans, but the Seleucids. But this hypothesis does violence to the internal evidence of the work, and causes more problems than it aims to solve.
The most plausible opinion is the one that places its writing shortly after the year 63, or even after the death of Pompey, in the year 48 BC.
These eighteen psalms, with the exception of the first, carry, as has already been pointed out, a heading with the name of Solomon. Written in Greek, they give evidence of their original writing in Hebrew.
Its writing period is sufficient to rule out any Solomonic origin. This work had completely disappeared until a ms was discovered. in the 17th century, being then published.
An analogous discovery, although of undoubtedly later date, has recently been made, the Odes of Solomon.
It is a compilation of songs and prayers: fourteen fragments (seven of them from the OT, three from the Apocrypha, two from the NT, and a last fragment of New Testament air, although independently written: it is a thanksgiving and prayer to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
It is found in some mss. (Alexandrino) and in editions of the LXX (Swete).
Fourth book of Maccabees. It is a didactic work, a kind of philosophical dissertation designed to show the superiority of reason over the passions.
The argument is based on Jewish history. The author considerably expands the account of 2 Mac. 6-7 (the martyrdom of Eleazar and that of the mother with her seven children). 5/6 of the length of the book are dedicated to this story. Hence its name 4 Mac.
This work was written in Greek, but is addressed to the Jews. Its author preaches obedience to the Law. He believes in the survival of the soul. It appears before 70 AD.
Various writing places are noted, the most favored being Egypt and Antioch in Syria, where the tombs of the Maccabean martyrs were located.
The attribution of this work to Josephus, supported by Eusebius of Caesarea, is unfounded. (See APOCRYPHAS, QUMRÁN.)
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).
Poetry of Praise and Redemptive Mission
The Praise that Unites All
Praise Resounds Throughout Creation
True Worship that Pleases the Lord
From Heavenly Greatness to Inexhaustible Love
The Gift of Himself
Healing Time
A Personal Promise
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BETHEL
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