Esoteric

adjective

1a. designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone < a body of ~ legal doctrine

b. of or relating to a small group

2a. limited to a small circle <~pursuits>

b. Private, Confidental

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Greek es?terikos, from es?ter?, comparative of es? ‘within,’ from es, eis ‘into.’ Compare with exoteric .

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  • The Hebrew Meaning of Sin
    Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor of BHC discusses the meanings of sin in Judaism and the Jewish Jesus Movement or click here for more BHC Videos
  • Righteousness
    Righteousness, the fulfillment of all legal and moral obligations. In the Bible righteousness bears a distinctly legal character; the righteous man is the innocent party, while the wicked man is the guilty one:
  • Biblical Weights And Measures
    Basic unit of weight-shekel Grains LBS OZ Shekel 175.875 0.402 Bekah (half shekel) 109.30 0.201 Gerah (l /20 shekel) 10.90 0.0201 Maneh (mina) = 60 shekels 13,122.00 1.2561 20.0976 Pound (mna) = 60 shekels 13,122.00 1 14 Pound (litra) 2,252.60 Talent = 60 maneh 527,800.00 75.4 1,206.4 The LB. Avoir. = 7000 grains the oz. […]
  • Etymology
    The history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing it’s development since it’s earliest recorded occurrence in athe language where it is found, by tracing it’s transmission from one langue to another, by identifying it cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language.
  • Noachide Laws
    From the Encyclopaedia Judaica 12:1187 The seven Laws considered by rabbinic tradition as the minimal moral duties by the Bible on all men (Sanh. 50-60; Yad, Melakhim, 8:10, 10:12).Jews are obligated to observe the whole Torahתּוֹרָה‎Tōrā,/ˈtɔːrə, ˈtoʊrə/; law, teaching, direction, instruction – The first five books of the Bible or also called “the books of […]
  • Mikveh
    A collection of water A pool or bath of clear water, immersion in which renders ritually clean a person who become ritually unclean through contact with the dead (Num. 19) or any other defiling object or through an unclean flux from the body (Lev. 15) and especially a menstruant. It is similarly used for vessels […]
  • Torah
    The Law (/ˈtɔːrə, ˈtoʊrə/; Biblical Hebrew: תּוֹרָה‎ Tōrā, “Instruction”, “Teaching” or “Law”) The first five books of the Bible or also called “the books of Moses” comes from an archery term meaning to shoot
  • Peace – Shalom
    Search just this page Taken from the Encyclopedia Judaica Volume 13:195 – 196 Wholeness and Well-Being in the Bible the verb shalem, in both the perfect Gen. 15:16 and participle forms Gen. 33:18, represents a powerful concept of ‘wholeness, completeness and soundness’ in the qal. “PEACE.” This range of meanings is both profound and inspirational. […]
  • Ketuvim (Writings)
    The third section of the Tanakh, also known as the Hebrew Bible, is an impressive compilation of various writings with a wide range of themes and styles. These writings are collected under the name “Ketuvim,” which translates to mean “Writings.” Within this section, readers can find an exceptional array of religious expressions, some of which […]
  • Nevi’im Prophets
    Nevi’im (the Prophets section of the Bible) presents Israel’s history as a nation on its land.
  • Penitence
    n: the quality of state of being penitent: sorrow for sins or faults
  • Penitential
    adj: of or relating to penitence or penance
  • Prerequisite
    Prerequisite n: something that is necessary to end or to the carrying out of a function – prerequisite adj.
  • Repentance
    From the Encyclopaedia Judaica 14:73 Repentance is a Prerequisite n: something that is necessary to end or to the carrying out of a function – prerequisite adj. for divine forgiveness: God will not pardon man unconditionally but waits for him to repent. In repentance man must experience genuine remorse for the wrong he has committed […]
  • Proselytes (law of conversion)
    From The Encylopaedia Judacia 13:1183-1184 The procedure, established by the tannaim, according to which a non-Jew may be into the Jewish faith, was elucided as follows: “in our days, when a proselyte came to be converted we say to him: ‘What is your objective? Is it not known to you that the people of Israel […]
  • Proselytes
    The Encyclopaedia Judaica 13:1182 contains a fascinating analysis that provides extensive evidence of an increasingly common trend towards the conversion to Judaism during the Second Temple period. This period, especially in its later stages, witnessed a marked rise in the use of the term “ger”, previously reserved for referring to strangers or aliens, to denote […]
  • Kidron
    From the Encyclopaedia Judaica 10:988 The first biblical reference to the “brook” Kidron occurs in connection with Davids ABsalm (II Sam. 15:23) In the time of divided monarchy, the reforming Kings of Judah, Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah, cast away and burnt the various idols which defiled Jerusalem there (I Kings 15:13 ; II Kings 23:4, […]
  • Ru’ah ha-Kodesh (name for God)
    From the Encyclopaedia Judaica 14:365 רוח הקודש A more problematical use of the term Ru’ah ha-Kodesh is when in some way hypothesized, or used as a synonym for God. This tendency toward hypostatization is already apparent in such expressions as “Ru’ah ha-Kodesh resting” on a person or place, or someone “receiving Ru’ah ha-Kodesh”. But it […]
  • Exegesis
    To explain, interpret, fr. ex-the geisthai to lead – more at SEEK  an explanation or critical inter operation of a text.
  • Casuistry
    A method or doctrine dealing with cases of conscience and the resolution of questions of right or wrong in conduct.

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Jehovah speaks (210) Mentioning Giants (Rephaim) (27) Rebuilding the Temple (10) Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (7) Story of Abraham (14) Story of Balaam (8) Story of creation (3) Story of Elijah (6) Story of Elisha (6) Story of Isaac (6) Story of Jacob/ Israel (5) Story of Jehu (3) Story of Joab (13) Story of Job (16) Story of Joseph (15) Story of Joshua (23) Story of Judah (2) Story of Lot (4) Story of Moses (112) Story of Noah (5) Story of Samson (4) Story of Samuel (11) The Story of Elijah (1) The story of Judas Maccabeus (11) The Story of King David (47) The Story of King Jehoshaphat (7) The Story Of King Saul (15) The Story of King Solomon (19)
Categories

    • 2nd Maccabees Chapter 15
      Nicanor's blasphemies Judas lectures his men. His dream The disposition of the combatants The defeat and death of Nicanor Compiler's epilogue
    • The Hebrew Meaning of Sin
      Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor of BHC discusses the meanings of sin in Judaism and the Jewish Jesus Movement or click here for more BHC Videos
    • Righteousness
      Righteousness, the fulfillment of all legal and moral obligations. In the Bible righteousness bears a distinctly legal character; the righteous man is the innocent party, while the wicked man is the guilty one:
    • Biblical Weights And Measures
      Basic unit of weight-shekel Grains LBS OZ Shekel 175.875 0.402 Bekah (half shekel) 109.30 0.201 Gerah (l /20 shekel) 10.90 0.0201 Maneh (mina) = 60 shekels 13,122.00 1.2561 20.0976 Pound (mna) = 60 shekels 13,122.00 1 14 Pound (litra) 2,252.60 Talent = 60 maneh 527,800.00 75.4 1,206.4 The LB. Avoir. = 7000 grains the oz. […]
    • Passover
      Passover, also known as Pesach, is a Jewish spring holiday. It commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and their journey to freedom. The holiday reminds us of the ongoing struggle for freedom and justice. Jews around the world celebrate Pesach with customs and a Sederסדר‎plural: סדרים‎ sedarim a Hebrew word meaning “order” or “sequence” For […]
    • Niddah
      “Menstrous Woman” נִדָּה According to Jewish law, a woman is forbidden to maintain sexual relations with her husband during and for sometimes both before and after her menses. For info on the word click here
    • Paradise And Hell in Later Thought
      From the Encyclopedia Judaica 13:82 Paradise and Hell, the place of reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked after death, are traditionally referred to as the Garden and Gehinnom respectively. In the Bible these two names never refer to the abode of souls after death; nevertheless, the idea of a fiery torment for […]
    • Astarte
      From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Astarte (from Greek ?στ?ρτη (Astárt?)) is the name of a goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic regions, cognate in name, origin and functions with the goddess Ishtar in Mesopotamian texts. Another transliteration is ‘Ashtart; other names for the goddess include Hebrew ?????(transliterated Ashtoreth), Ugaritic ‘?trt (also ‘A?tart or ‘Athtart, transliterated […]
    • Ashtaroth
      (Holman Bible Dictionary) (assh’ tuhrahth) is the plural form of Ashtoreth, a Canaanite goddess of fertility, love, and war and the daughter of the god El and the goddess Asherah. 1. The Old Testament uses the plural form, Ashtaroth, more than the singular form, Ashtoreth. The only references to Ashtoreth come in 1 Kings 11:5, […]
    • Anan, Son of Anan
      High Priest of the family of Anan the son Of Seth. Appointed to the office by Agrippa II in 62 C.E., Anan officiated for three months only. He used the interval between the death of the procurator (Gov.) Festus and the arrival of his successor Albinus, to convene the Sanhedrin and have several persons condemned […]
    • ha-Nasi
      Hebrew – the President
    • The Synagogue
      Organization- Every Synagogue had a president, and a number of Elders (Zekenim) equal in rank, a reader and interpreter, one or more envoys or clerks called “messengers” (Sheliah) and a sexton or beadle (Chazzan) for the humbler mechanicals services. There were deacons (Gabac zedaka) for the collection of alms in money and produce. Ten or […]
    • Amoraim
      Amoraim designation of the scholars who were active from the period of the completion of the Minshnah (c. 200 C.E.) until the completion of the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud’s (end of the 4th and end of 5th centuries respectively).
    • Amora (Ahmorah)
      sayer, spokesman Term used originally for the “interpreter,” who communicated audibly to the assembled pupils the lessons of the rabbinic teacher. It was later applied as the generic term for the rabbis of the post-mishnaic period, whose activities were centered on the Mishnah. Even in that period the amora as teacher continued to employ amoraim […]
    • Etymology
      The history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing it’s development since it’s earliest recorded occurrence in athe language where it is found, by tracing it’s transmission from one langue to another, by identifying it cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language.
    • Abraham’s Bosom
      From the Encyclopaedia Judaica 2:165 Designation in the New Testament (Luke 16:22-31) of the abode of the blessed souls of pious and poor in the other world (compare IV Macc. 13:17 ; Matt. 8:11, where all three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are enumerated as those in whose company the pious souls stay). The Hebrew […]
    • Netherworld
      From the Encyclopedia Judaica 12:996 Apart from the Isaiah 14:14-19 and Ezekiel 38:18 ff passages, the numerous biblical references to the netherworld are vague and inspired by Ancient Near Easter folklore. Several names are given to the abode of the dead, most common being Sheol always femmine and without the definite article - a sign […]
    • Nazirite
      From The Encylopaedia Judacia A person who vows for a specific period to abstain from partaking of grapes or any of it’s products whether intoxicating or not, cutting his hair, and touching a corpse (6:3-9) Such a person is called a Nazirite (HEBREW nazir) from the root nzr meaning to separate or dedicate oneself (eg. […]
    • Joshua
      Joshua (/ˈdʒɒʃuə/) also known as Yehoshua (Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ Yəhōšuaʿ, Tiberian: Yŏhōšuaʿ, lit. ‘Yahweh is salvation’) Yeshua or Y’shua (ישוע; with vowel pointing Hebrew: יֵשׁוּעַ, romanized: Yēšūaʿ) was a common alternative form of the name Yehoshua (Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, romanized: Yəhōšūaʿ, lit. ’Joshua’) in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jews of the Second Temple period. […]
    • Wrest
      Wrest |rest| verb [ trans. ] forcibly pull (something) from a person’s grasp : Leila tried to wrest her arm from his hold. • take (something, esp. power or control) from someone or something else after considerable effort or difficulty : they wanted to allow people to wrest control of their lives from impersonal bureaucracies. […]

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