Bizjothjah
(contempt of Jehovah), a town in the south of Judah. (Joshua 15:28)
Biztha
(eunuch), the second of the seven eunuchs of King Ahasuerus’ harem. (Esther 1:10) (B.C. 483.)
Black
Properly the absence of all colour. In Prov. 7:9 the Hebrew word means, as in the margin of the Revised Version, “the pupil of the eye.” It is translated “apple” of the eye in Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8; …
Blade
Applied to the glittering point of a spear (Job 39:23) or sword (Nah. 3:3), the blade of a dagger (Judg. 3:22); the “shoulder blade” (Job 31:22); the “blade” of cereals (Matt. 13:26).
Blains
Occurs only in connection with the sixth plague of Egypt (Ex. 9:9, 10). In Deut. 28:27, 35, it is called “the botch of Egypt.” It seems to have been the fearful disease of black leprosy, a kind of el…
Blasphemy
In the sense of speaking evil of God this word is found in Ps. 74:18; Isa. 52:5; Rom. 2:24; Rev. 13:1, 6; 16:9, 11, 21. It denotes also any kind of calumny, or evil-speaking, or abuse (1 Kings 21:10;…
Blastus
Chamberlain to king Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12:20). Such persons generally had great influence with their masters.
Ble
BLE according to individual fitness. See Elder.
Blemish
Imperfection or bodily deformity excluding men from the priesthood, and rendering animals unfit to be offered in sacrifice (Lev. 21:17-23; 22:19-25). The Christian church, as justified in Christ, is …
Bless
(1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35). (2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps. 103:1…
Bless, Blessed, Blessing
BLESS, BLESSED, BLESS'ING . Gen 12:2; Gen 22:17-18. These words are of frequent occurrence in the sacred writings, and their particular force may generally be determined by the connection. Men are sa…
Blessing
BLESSING, VALLEY OF . See Berachah, Valley of. BLIND'NESS is extremely common in the East, as all travellers in those lands observe. In Egypt especially ophthalmia prevails extensively among children…
Blessing, Valley Of
BLESSING, VALLEY OF . See Berachah, Valley of.
Blind
Blind beggars are frequently mentioned (Matt. 9:27; 12:22; 20:30; John 5:3). The blind are to be treated with compassion (Lev. 19:14; Deut. 27:18). Blindness was sometimes a punishment for disobedien…
Blindness
is extremely common in the East from many causes. Blind beggars figure repeatedly in the New Testament (Matthew 12:22) and “opening the eyes of the blind” is mentioned in prophecy as a peculiar attri…
Blood
(1.) As food, prohibited in Gen. 9:4, where the use of animal food is first allowed. Comp. Deut. 12:23; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14. The injunction to abstain from blood is renewed in the decree of the…
Blood, Revenger Of
He who avenged the blood of one who had been killed. The nearest relative of the deceased became the authorized avenger of blood. (Numbers 35:19) The law of retaliation was not to extend beyond the i…
Bloody Sweat
The sign and token of our Lord’s great agony (Luke 22:44).
Blot
A stain or reproach (Job 31:7; Prov. 9:7). To blot out sin is to forgive it (Ps. 51:1, 9; Isa. 44:22; Acts 3:19). Christ’s blotting out the handwriting of ordinances was his fulfilling the law in our…
Blue
Generally associated with purple (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36, etc.). It is supposed to have been obtained from a shellfish of the Mediterranean, the Helix ianthina of Linnaeus. The robe of the high pries…
Boanerges
Sons of thunder, a surname given by our Lord to James and John (Mark 3:17) on account of their fervid and impetuous temper (Luke 9:54).
Boar
Occurs only in Ps. 80:13. The same Hebrew word is elsewhere rendered “swine” (Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:8; Prov. 11:22; Isa. 65:4; 66:3, 17). The Hebrews abhorred swine’s flesh, and accordingly none of the…
Boaz
Alacrity. (1.) The husband of Ruth, a wealthy Bethlehemite. By the “levirate law” the duty devolved on him of marrying Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:1-13). He was a kinsman of Mahlon, her first husband.…
Bocheru
(youth), son of Azel, according to the present Hebrew text of (1 Chronicles 8:38)
Bochim
Weepers, a place where the angel of the Lord reproved the Israelites for entering into a league with the people of the land. This caused them bitterly to weep, and hence the name of the place (Judg. …
Bohan
(thumb), a Reubenite. (Joshua 15:6; 18:17)
Bohan, Stone Of
a stone erected in honor of Bohan on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, in the valley of Achor, along the eastern side of the present Wady Dahr, running into the Dead Sea.
Boil
(rendered “botch” in Deut. 28:27, 35), an aggravated ulcer, as in the case of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:7; Isa. 38:21) or of the Egyptians (Ex. 9:9, 10, 11; Deut. 28:27, 35). It designates the disease of …
Bolled
(Ex. 9:31), meaning “swollen or podded for seed,” was adopted in the Authorized Version from the version of Coverdale (1535). The Revised Version has in the margin “was in bloom,” which is the more p…
Bolster
The Hebrew word kebir, rendered “pillow” in 1 Sam. 19:13, 16, but in Revised Version marg. “quilt” or “network,” probably means some counterpane or veil intended to protect the head of the sleeper. A…