Bible Words & Terms

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Grace

● Eph 2:8 . . For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Grace isn't a substance, rather, it's a characteristic; and tells us a great deal
about the supreme being's personality.

The Greek word basically refers to graciousness, which Webster's defines as
kind, courteous, inclined to good will, generous, charitable, merciful,
altruistic, compassionate, thoughtful, cordial, affable, genial, sociable,
cheerful, warm, sensitive, considerate, and tactful.

Cordial stresses warmth and heartiness

Affable implies easy to approach, and readiness to respond pleasantly to
conversation or requests or proposals

Genial stresses cheerfulness and even joviality

Sociable suggests a genuine liking for the companionship of others

Generous is characterized by a noble or forbearing spirit; viz: magnanimous,
kindly, and liberal in giving

Charitable means full of love for, and goodwill toward, others; viz:
benevolent, tolerant, and lenient.

Altruistic means unselfish regard for, or devotion to, the welfare of others;
viz: a desire to be of service to others for no other reason than it just feels
good to do so.

Compassionate pertains to a sympathetic awareness of others' distress
combined with a desire to alleviate it.

Tactful indicates a keen sense of what to do, or say, in order to maintain
good relations with others in order to resolve and/or avoid unnecessary
conflict.

Compassion was, and still is, a key element in the overall sphere of
salvation. For example:

● John 3:16-17 . . For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only
son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to spare
the world through him.
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Love

There are at least two Greek words for love in the new testament; possibly a
third that I haven't found yet.

One of the words is agape (ag-ah'-pay); spelling varies depending whether
it's in the form of a noun, verb, or an adjective.

Anyway, agape is a sort of general purpose word for love very common
throughout the new testament and may, or may not, include the elements of
tenderness, fondness, and affection. For example:

"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send
the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be
spared through him." (John 3:16-17)

That passage reveals God's concern for the world but doesn't really say how
He feels about the world.

The other word is phileo (fil-eh'-o); again, spelling varies. Now this word is
very particular in that it always includes the elements of tenderness,
fondness, and affection because this is a brotherly love rather than a generic
love. For example:

"The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed
that I came from God." (John 16:27)

That is an astounding declaration! I mean, speaking for myself: it is nigh
unto impossible to believe that the disgusting sinner I've been could ever stir
the supreme being's affections in any way at all. Well; normally that would
never happen had not Christ made it possible.
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[Grailhunter]

Abba is neither English nor Greek; it's Aramaic. The word means father, but
not as an ordinary noun. Grammatically, it's a filial vocative.

It is the same back then as it is today. People tossed about words and phrases from other languages to be trendy and cliché. If you look at the historical of old English as it moved through history we see French and Spanish words making their way into the English language. Back then the Latin language started out as a trend and became classical.

The Hebrew word sheol (sheh-ole') first appears in the Bible at Gen 37:35
where some versions translate it "grave" but although sheol includes the
grave, there's a bit more to it than that.

The concept of Sheol in the Jewish Religion is an enigma….never really being defined and referred to differently and mostly lost in the Christian religion as a possible destination. The Christians referred to what happens to the dead and soul and that is not defined well either.

The spirit world of those that are dead….their bodies….their souls is one of those things that people speculate on….not all scriptures agree.

 

[shepherdsword]

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Love

There are at least two Greek words for love in the new testament; possibly a
third that I haven't found yet.

One of the words is agape (ag-ah'-pay); spelling varies depending whether
it's in the form of a noun, verb, or an adjective.

Anyway, agape is a sort of general purpose word for love very common
throughout the new testament and may, or may not, include the elements of
tenderness, fondness, and affection. For example:

"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send
the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be
spared through him." (John 3:16-17)

That passage reveals God's concern for the world but doesn't really say how
He feels about the world.

The other word is phileo (fil-eh'-o); again, spelling varies. Now this word is
very particular in that it always includes the elements of tenderness,
fondness, and affection because this is a brotherly love rather than a generic
love. For example:

"The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed
that I came from God." (John 16:27)

That is an astounding declaration! I mean, speaking for myself: it is nigh
unto impossible to believe that the disgusting sinner I've been could ever stir
the supreme being's affections in any way at all. Well; normally that would
never happen had not Christ made it possible.
_

eros is the third

 

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Parables

Jesus is famous for teaching with parables, and for the longest time I was
under the impression it was his peculiar academic technique, but the fact of
the matter is: Jesus' method was punitive.

There were a number of people throughout the land of Israel in his day who
had neither interest in him nor in his message; which wasn't really his
message, rather, it was God's.

● John 3:34 . . For he is sent by God; he speaks God's words, for God's spirit
is upon him without measure or limit.

● John 8:26 . .He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things
which I have heard of Him.

● John 8:28 . . I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as
the Father taught me.

● John 12:49 . . I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me,
He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

● John 14:24 . .The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who
sent me.

So those folks who had neither interest in him, nor in his message, them he
instructed with riddles. It came about they heard the word of God from
Jesus but of course hadn't a clue what he was talking about. But no matter
because plain speech would've bounced off some of them like a .22 bullet off
a Russian tank.

● Matt 13:10-15 . . The disciples came to him and asked: Why do you speak
to the people in parables?

. . He replied: The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has
been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he
will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: though seeing,
they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

. .You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing
but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they
hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they
might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.
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Conscience

In the beginning, mankind's moral perception was created in the image and
likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27) and given a grade of excellence. (Gen 1:31)

But then came the forbidden fruit incident whereby mankind's moral
perception became humanistic.

● Gen 3:22 . . And the Lord God said: The man has now become like one of
us, knowing good and evil.

In other words: man's intuition supplanted the conscience that was given
him in the beginning; and he took to rationalizing.

● Rom 2:14-16 . . Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by
nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even
though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of
the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness,
and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
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Prayer

I cannot imagine anyone in the entire cosmos more intelligent, more
mature, more sensible, more reasonable, more dignified, or more superior
than the one who imagined it all, designed it all, and constructed it all to
begin with. That being the case, to wit: the supreme being is a genius
without par; then we should be talking to Him with no less respect for the
head on His shoulders than we give our spouses, our BFF and/or our
associates.

In other words: I think it safe to assume the supreme being is a well
adjusted man for all seasons, so to speak, rather than a quirky, kooky,
imbalanced psychopath.

So then, one's prayers should incline towards rapport; defined by Webster's
as a friendly, harmonious relationship especially a relationship characterized
by agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes
communication possible or easy. For example:

● Heb 4:16 . . Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.

The Greek word translated "boldly" basically pertains to all out-spokenness,
i.e. frankness and/or bluntness. In other words: transparency, candor, and
straight talk, heart to heart, as people seeking meaningful diplomatic
relations ought.

NOTE: If perchance it hasn't become obvious enough already; then I should
point out that the kind of social interaction I'm talking about here cannot be
achieved by means of artificial connectivity like rosaries, missals, and/or
siddurs, etc.
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Prophetic Time

Prophetic months and years are sort of like baker's dozens and troy ounces.
Though a baker's dozen isn't a dozen of twelve, and though a troy ounce is
heavier than a standard ounce; baker's dozens and troy ounces are both
true values in their own way.

The same goes for mean solar time vs. sidereal time, and/or geographic
north vs. magnetic north. As long as Bible readers are aware of the
existence of such a thing as prophetic time, they won't be tripped up when
they encounter it in prophecy; for example the one below:

● Rev 13:5c . . and power was given unto him to continue forty and two
months.

Be advised those are not calendar months, rather, they're prophetic months
of 30 days apiece which add up to a 360-day year instead of the usual +/-
365 days. So then; forty and two months of prophetic time totals exactly
1,260 days.

For another example:

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared
of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and
threescore days." (Rev 12:6)

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly
into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Rev 12:14)

Those two passages tell of a 3½ year period of exactly 1,260 days. Well, 3½
common years add up to +/- 1,278 days; which is eighteen days too many.
But if we reckon those 3½ years as prophetic years of 360 days each, then it
comes out perfectly to 1,260 days.

Scripture also reckons time by means of heptads; which are units of time
consisting of seven prophetic years each, e.g. Daniel 9:25-27.

* An especially important use of prophetic time is relative to Dan 9:25 --the
date of Messiah's official introduction to Jerusalem; the so-called Triumphal
Entry, a.k.a. Palm Sunday (Zech 9:9 & Matt 21:1-12 )
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Firstborn

Primogeniture is a rank-- emphasized quite a bit throughout the Bible --and
is always in reference to males, never females.

The position isn't an irrevocable birthright, rather, it can be taken from the
eldest son and bestowed upon a junior sibling, for example: Ishmael to Isaac
(Gen 20:11-12) Esau to Jacob (Gen 25:23) Reuben to Joseph (Gen 49:3-4 &
1Chr 5:1) and Manasseh to Ephraim. (Gen 48:13-14)

The firstborn is a father's heir apparent, and the position is preeminent, viz:
the firstborn, in a manner of speaking, is a supreme being among his
siblings, for example Gen 27:29 & Gen 27:37.

The position isn't limited to descendants. For example the corporate people
of Israel are God's firstborn among the nations of the world (Ex 4:22) and
David is his firstborn among the world's heads of State. (Ps 89:20-27)

The highest firstborn of all is Christ. (Ps 2:7-8, Col 1:15, Heb 1:2)
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