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Agagite
The term Agagite () is used in the Book of Esther as a description of Haman. The term is understood to be an ethnonym although nothing is known with certainty about the people designated by the name. According to Cheyne and Black, this term is used to label Haman, figuratively, as a "descendant" of Agag, the enemy of Israel and king of the Amalekites.Cheyne and Black (1899), ''Encyclopaedia Biblica,'' entry for "Agagite./ref> "Haman, as an Amalekite, is opposed to Mordecai, the descendant of Kish (Esth r2:5) ... The meaning is that there is an internecine struggle between the Jews and their enemies, like that between Saul and Agag of old." With this understanding, the Greek translator rendered the term "Macedonian." A well known Midrashic explanation of the term relates it to King Agag of the Amalekites whereby it is viewed as meaning either a literal descendant of Agag or a symbolic term for an antisemite, due to the Amalekites being a perennial enemy to the Israelites. Rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haman
Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian empire under King Ahasuerus#Book of Esther, Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I (died 465 Common era, BCE) but traditionally equated with Artaxerxes I of Persia, Artaxerxes I or Artaxerxes II of Persia, Artaxerxes II. His epithet, ''Agagite'', indicates that Haman was a descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Some commentators interpret this descent to be symbolic, due to his similar personality. Retrieved 13 February 2017 In the narrative of the Book of Esther, Haman was a proud and ambitious man who demanded that everyone bow down to him as a sign of respect. However, a Jewish man named Mordecai refused to bow down to him, which enraged Haman. Seeking revenge, Haman convinced the king to issue a decree that all Jews in the Persian empire be Genocide, exterminated. Haman's plot was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Esther
The Book of Esther (; ; ), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Megillot, Five Scrolls () in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament. The book relates the story of a Jews, Jewish woman in Achaemenid Empire, Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people. The story takes place during the reign of King Ahasuerus in the Achaemenid Empire, First Persian Empire. Queen Vashti, the wife of King Ahasuerus, is banished from the court for disobeying the king's orders. A beauty pageant is held to find a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman living in Persia, is chosen as the new queen. Esther's cousin Mordecai, who is a Jewish leader, discovers a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire by Haman, one of the king's advisors. Mordecai urges Esther to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agag
Agag (; ''ʾĂgāg'') is a Northwest Semitic name or title applied to a biblical king. It has been suggested that "Agag" was a dynastic name of the kings of Amalek, just as Pharaoh was used as a dynastic name for the ancient Egyptians. The etymology is uncertain, according to John L. McKenzie (1995), while Cox (1884) suggested "High." In the Torah, the expression "Its king higher than Agag, and its kingdom exalted" was uttered by Balaam in Numbers 24:7, in his third prophetic utterance, to describe a king of Israel who would be higher than the king of Amalek. This is understood to mean that Israel's king would take a higher position than even Amalek himself, and would exercise a wider authority. The writer uses an allusion to the literal significance of the word "Agag", meaning "high", to convey that the king of Israel would be "higher than High". A characteristic trait of biblical poetry is to use puns. Agag also refers to the Amalekite king who survived King Saul's extermin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used by the ethnic group itself). For example, the dominant ethnic group of Germany is the Germans. The ethnonym ''Germans'' is a Latin-derived exonym used in the English language, but the Germans call themselves , an endonym. The German people are identified by a variety of exonyms across Europe, such as (French language, French), (Italian language, Italian), (Swedish language, Swedish) and (Polish language, Polish). As a sub-field of anthroponymy, the study of ethnonyms is called ethnonymy or ethnonymics. Ethnonyms should not be confused with demonyms, which designate all the people of a geographic territory, regardless of ethnic or linguistic divisions within its population. Variations Numerous ethnonyms can apply to the same ethni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Israeli-occupied territories, It occupies the Occupied Palestinian territories, Palestinian territories of the West Bank in the east and the Gaza Strip in the south-west. Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Status of Jerusalem, Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, while Tel Aviv is the country's Gush Dan, largest urban area and Economy of Israel, economic center. Israel is located in a region known as the Land of Israel, synonymous with the Palestine (region), Palestine region, the Holy Land, and Canaan. In antiquity, it was home to the Canaanite civilisation followed by the History of ancient Israel and Judah, kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Situate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amalekites
Amalek (; ) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the enemy of the nation of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau, or anyone who lived in their territories in Canaan, or North African descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. Etymology Most scholars regard the origin of the term, "Amalek" to be unknown but in some rabbinical interpretations, it is etymologized as , 'a people who lick (blood)'. Richard C. Steiner has suggested that the name is derived from the Egyptian term ''*ꜥꜣm rqj'' "hostile Asiatic", possibly referring to Shasu tribesmen from around Edom. In the Hebrew Bible According to the Hebrew Bible, Amalek was the son of Eliphaz (himself the son of Esau, ancestor of the Edomites and the brother of Israel) and Eliphaz's concubine Timna. Timna was a Horite and sister of Lotan.; According to a midrash, Timna was a princess who tried to convert. However, she was rejected by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She replied s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Septuagint
The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into Koine Greek, the Greek language at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BC) by seventy-two Hebrew sofer, translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.Megillah (Talmud), Tractate Megillah 9](9a)/ref>Soferim (Talmud), Tractate Soferim 1](1:7-8)/ref> Textual criticism, Biblical scholars agree that the Torah, first five books of the Hebrew Bible were translated from Biblical Hebrew into Koine Greek by Jews living in the Ptolemaic Kingdom, centred on the History of the Jews in Alexandria, large community in Alexandria, probably in the early or middle part of the 3rd century BC. The remainin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash" . ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot'') is an expansive Judaism, Jewish Bible, Biblical exegesis using a rabbinic mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud. The word itself means "textual interpretation", "study", or "exegesis", derived from the root verb (), which means "resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require". Midrash and rabbinic readings "discern value in texts, words, and letters, as potential revelatory spaces", writes the Hebrew scholar Wilda Gafney. "They reimagine dominant narratival readings while crafting new ones to stand alongside—not replace—former readings. Midrash also asks questions of the text; sometimes it provides answers, sometimes it leaves the reader to answer the questions". Vanessa Lovelace defines midrash as "a Jewish mode of int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antisemite
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemitic tendencies may be motivated primarily by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually known as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of the largest Jewish religious organizations. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad mainly operates in the wider world and caters to nonobservant Jews. Founded in 1775 by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745–1812) in the city of Liozno in the Russian Empire, the name "Chabad" () is an acronym formed from the three Hebrew words— Chokmah, Binah, Da'at— for the first three sefirot of the kabbalistic Tree of Life after Keter: , "Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge"—which represent the intellectual and kabbalistic underpinnings of the movement. The name Lubavitch derives from the town in which the now-dominant line of leaders resided from 1813 to 1915. Other, non-Lubavitch scions of Chabad either disappear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amalek
Amalek (; ) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the enemy of the nation of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau, or anyone who lived in their territories in Canaan, or North African descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. Etymology Most scholars regard the origin of the term, "Amalek" to be unknown but in some rabbinical interpretations, it is etymologized as , 'a people who lick (blood)'. Richard C. Steiner has suggested that the name is derived from the Egyptian term ''*ꜥꜣm rqj'' "hostile Asiatic", possibly referring to Shasu tribesmen from around Edom. In the Hebrew Bible According to the Hebrew Bible, Amalek was the son of Eliphaz (himself the son of Esau, ancestor of the Edomites and the brother of Israel) and Eliphaz's concubine Timna. Timna was a Horite and sister of Lotan.; According to a midrash, Timna was a princess who tried to convert. However, she was rejected by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She replied ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purim
Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (usually dated to the late-5th or 4th centuries BCE). Haman was the Vizier, royal vizier to the List of monarchs of Iran, Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; and in Old Persian, respectively). His plans were foiled by Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin, who previously to that warned the king from an assassination attempt and thus saving his life, and Esther, Mordecai's cousin and adopted daughter who had become queen of Persia after her marriage to Ahasuerus. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing among Jews. According to the Scroll of Esther, "they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor". Purim is celebrated among Jews by: *Exchangi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
