Daily Bread from the Lord’s Prayer is not clear. The word often translated daily is epiousion, which is found only in Matt. 6:11 and Lk. 11:3 and not in any other ancient document. Since it was not part of the Koine vocabulary, the scholars have had to determine the meaning from the components of epiousion. They are not unanimous, but the consensus is that it means enough food and other necessities to last a day or so.

Dates given for the writing of each book of the New Testament are commonly accepted but not universally accepted. There are scholars who put dates for writing these books from the second through the fourth centuries. The many Hebrew idioms and Jewish customs woven throughout the New Testament are evidence that every author was Jewish, which would not have been the case if they were written later than the first century.

Days of a Jewish calendar begin at sundown. The night hours in first century Israel were divided into watches, with the first watch extending from sundown until midnight. The second watch was from midnight until 3:00 AM, and the third from 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM. Matthew 14:25 and Mk. 6:48 use the Roman time of the fourth watch, since the Romans divided the night into four equal parts, from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM. See Jewish Calendar elsewhere in Glossary.

Death is spoken of with three idioms, one being “is not” in Matthew 2:18 and Revelation 17:8 & 11. This idiom is used occasionally in the Tanach as well, in just Genesis 5:24 and Jeremiah 31:15. Another idiom for death is used very frequently and that is to “sleep” as in Jn. 11:11-16 with Lazarus. When this mortal body dies we are only sleeping until He comes for us. Acts 7:60 tells us that Stephen slept after the religious people stoned him. Psalm 17:15 And I – in righteousness I shall behold Your face: upon awakening I shall be sated by Your image. Awakening refers to the hereafter. Song of Songs 7:9, speaking of the sleeper, is used by the Rabbis as one of a number of verses speaking of resurrection. A third idiom, not appearing in the New Testament, is used in Isaiah 58:8, saying, Then your light will burst out like the dawn and your healing will speedily sprout; your righteous deed will precede you and the glory of the LORD* will gather you in. To be gathered in is to enter eternal life, often stated gathered to one’s fathers. See Resurrection elsewhere in Glossary.

Death takes a different perspective when you read Matthew 18:6. Whoever would cause one of the least of these who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a millstone worked by a donkey would be hung around his neck and he would be drowned in the open sea. 7. Woe to the world for those who cause sin: for it is necessary for the temptation to sin to come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes. 8. And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, you must immediately cut it off and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, rather than having two hands and two feet to have been cast into the eternal fire. 9. And if your eye causes you to sin, you must immediately pluck it out and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter life one-eyed rather than having two eyes to have been cast into the Gehenna of fire.

Then again in Mark 9:42. And whoever would cause one of the least of these who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him if a millstone turned by a donkey were placed around his neck and he were cast into the sea. 43. And if your hand would cause you to sin, you must immediately cut it off: it is expedient for you to enter life crippled rather than, having two hands, to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire 44. where their worm does not die and the fire is not put out. 45. And if your foot would cause you to sin, you must immediately cut it off: it is better for you to enter life lame rather than having two feet to have been thrown into Gehenna 46. where their worm does not die and the fire is not put out. 47. And if your eye would cause you to sin, you must immediately cast it out: it is more profitable for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye rather than having two eyes to have been cast into Gehenna, 48. where their worm does not die and the fire is not put out. (Isa. 66:24)

So what we call death, Y’shua calls Entering Life. That is why Paul instructed the Thessalonians that we are not to grieve like the heathens, who have no hope. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13. And we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep,  that you would not grieve as the rest of those who do not have hope. 14. For if we believe that Y’shua died and rose, so God will also bring with Him those who have fallen asleep by means of Y’shua’s redemption. All the loved ones we now miss on earth are waiting for us as each one’s turn comes to enter life.

Dekapolis is a Greek word meaning Ten Cities. Nine of these cities are east of the Jordan, south of Galilee and north of the Dead Sea. The tenth is Beit Sh’an, a few miles west of the Jordan, south of the Lake of Galilee. These ten were declared “Free Cities” by Rome, after the Romans conquered Israel in 63: BC. It was a great honor for each city that was chosen to be a free city.

Deliverance of believers is necessary to fully dedicate our lives to Him. To deliver is the primary meaning of the verb, yod-sheen-ayin, although most translations use the secondary meaning of to save.

In order to yield and submit totally to the Lord, it is essential to get rid of our worldly baggage, the burdens that we needlessly carry. These are the fruit of things passed down through the generations or things we have been through – rejection, lack of a parent’s love, abuse, addictions, unforgiveness, and a myriad of others. To serve the Lord with all your heart you need a release from all your hurts, and to forgive all the causes of those hurts, both people and events. Forgiveness is essential. See Sin, Forgiveness of elsewhere in Glossary.

There are four Hebrew words translated “deliverance;” each with a little different connotation.

They are:    M’falti, to escape

                  Yoshia, to deliver, gain victory

                  Tatsileni, to be delivered, rescued, to deliver from sin and guilt
                  (Root is N-Ts-L)

                  O’halets, to rescue, deliver, save, to be drawn off or out, withdrawn

Notice that Yoshia, from the same Hebrew root as Y’shua, Jesus’ name, means to gain victory. He intends for each of us to lead a victorious life.

Disciples refers to all those who traveled with Y’shua or who believed in Him whether or not they were able to travel with Him. The twelve apostles had a great deal of company much of the time, including both women and men. The replacement for Judas Iscariot came from the group that traveled with Him. Sometimes the twelve were referred to as Disciples, sometimes as Apostles. See Mk. 4:10; 14:12,17, Lk. 6:13-16; 8:1-3; 19:37.

Division of Abijah is given in 1 Chronicles 24:1. Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar. 2. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, therefore Elazar and Ithamar executed the priest’s office. 3. And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Elazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service. 4. And there were more chief men found of the sons of Elazar than of the sons of Ithamar, and thus they were divided. Among the sons of Elazar there were sixteen chief men of the houses of their fathers and eight among the sons of Ithamar according to the houses of their fathers. 5. Thus they were divided by lot, one sort with another, for the governors of the Sanctuary and governors of the House of God were of the sons of Elazar and of the sons of Ithamar. 6. And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, one of the Levites, wrote them before the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and Ahimelekh the son of Abiathar and before the heads of families of the priests and Levites: one principal household being taken for Elazar, and one taken for Ithamar.

24:7. Now the first lot came forth to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedadiah. 8. The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 9. the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,
10.
the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, 11. the ninth to Jeshuah, the tenth to Shecaniah, 12. the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, 13. the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14. the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, 15. the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses, 16. the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, 17. the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, 18. the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. 19. These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the House of the LORD*, according to their manner, under Aaron their father as the LORD* God of Israel had commanded him.

These divisions were set up by David. The sixteen heads from Elazar and the eight from Ithamar made twenty-four divisions, so each division served in the Temple one week at a time, with two times of service each year. Zechariah, of the Division of Abijah, which had the eighth lot, most likely served in June and December, although that could vary some because of their being on the lunar calendar. That would have made the birth of John the Immerser in March-April or September-October. Since Y’shua was born six months after John, His birth would also have been March-April or September-October. The wild card is the Hebrew leap year because there are fifty-one weeks in the lunar year of the Jewish calendar, three divisions served a third time each year, and four additional divisions served in leap years. Since this system of leap years was initiated in the fourth century AD, we do not know with certainty the dates of the first century. See Jewish Calendar elsewhere in this Glossary.

Do not in any way be awed! Do not be dismayed! The Hebrew negative command is very powerful, with no direct English equivalent. It is even stronger than saying, Do not dare to even think about..! When you see the above quoted warnings in bold print, know that faith in God is what you need to replace the fear and dismay. Although usually translated “Fear not,” the Hebrew means to revere, to hold in awe. There is only One Whom we are to revere, to hold in awe, and we are not to be in terror of Him, but give the respect and honor to which He is due. Do not be awed by the size and strength of the enemy, but respect and revere the Awesome God we serve, Who will turn the situation around.

Donkey as used by Y’shua for His Triumphal Entry, recorded in Matt. 21:1-11,
Mk. 11:1-11, Lk. 19:28-38, and Jn. 12:12-19, is significant beyond the reference in Zechariah 9:9. See*** toward the end of this article. The first reference to this is in Genesis 49:10-12. The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor a Torah scholar from between his feet, until Shiloh comes: and the gathering of the peoples will be to Him. 11. Binding His foal to the vine and His donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed His garments in wine and His clothes in the blood of grapes. (Rev.7:14) 12. His eyes will be red with wine, (Rev. 1:14) and His teeth white with milk.

The scepter will not depart from Judah. The Scepter not departing means that the future royal leadership of Israel will always belong to Judah. This kingship began hundreds of years later when David was crowned. The Torah scholar being at his feet means Judah will always be loyal to the Lord.

Nor a scholar, rabbis say this is a reference to Hillel’s descendants. Hillel, who thought “outside the box,” was a highly acclaimed Torah teacher in Galilee while Y’shua was growing up. All our scholarship needs to be able to think as Hallel did, to become free of mindsets.

Until Shiloh arrives. Onkelos, then Rashi, (two great scholars, Onkelos 2nd century, Rashi 11th century) wrote: until the Messiah comes, to whom the word Shiloh is a composite of the words Sh’ loh, meaning “a gift to him,” a reference to the King Messiah, to Whom all nations will bring gifts. This verse is a primary Torah source for the belief that the Messiah will come, and the rabbis always referred to it in the Middle Ages, when they were forced to debate with Christian scholars.

The word until does not mean that Judah’s reign will end with the coming of Messiah. This verse shows that once Messiah begins to reign, Judah’s blessing of kingship will usher in the Messianic reign. At that time, all the nations will assemble to acknowledge His greatness and pay homage to Him.

Gen. 49:11-12. Jacob was not prophesying the entire picture of the end times, but he did give a significant outline that Judah will succeed and will show God’s blessings to the world. While we see hints of this today with Israel’s high tech leadership and more computers per capita than any other country, the picture from Jacob is given in agricultural terms: the vineyards will be so productive that a farmer will tie his donkey to a single vine, for that one vine will produce as many grapes as a donkey can carry.

***Messiah is associated with a donkey rather than a horse ready for battle, because He is depicted not as a warrior but as a man of peace Who represents prosperity, as we see in the metaphor of the vineyard. His wars will be won by Divine power, not through force of arms.

The three verses from Genesis 49 are truly rich. Notice the reference in verse 11 to Messiah washing His garments in wine and His robe in the blood of grapes. Rev. 7:14 tells of the 144,000 who washed their robes and they made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Double Names, as when Y’shua said, “Martha Martha” make a Hebrew idiom of some force. This is punctuated “Martha. Martha!” to indicate the forcefulness that it is a stern attention getter. Someone saying, “Lord. Lord!” would certainly not be stern, but would be making a strong plea. This idiom is still used in modern conversational Hebrew.

Double Negative in Greek is the opposite of the double negative in English, in which doubling the negative cancels the negative. In Greek doubling the negative strengthens the negative. Where they are doubled in the New Testament Greek text, bold type is used to show the emphasis.

Double Yes or No means “Definitely Yes!” or “Definitely No!” This idiom is in use in modern conversational Hebrew.

Dwelling Places in Jn. 14:2 is not speaking of buildings, but of a place for each of us to fit into the heavenly organization, operation. The word translated dwelling places, mon-ai, has a primary meaning of staying, tarrying, abiding, dwelling. Used only in Jn. 14:2 and 23, Y’shua says He is making a ministry for each of us in the heavenly plan, an assignment for each one. We will not have houses in heaven that resemble our earthly homes, that we go to when we are off duty, to rest and play games. Our physical bodies need food and sleep to recharge, but our spirits are recharged as we worship and study His Word. In the hereafter our spirits will not need sleep or food – although we will apparently be able to eat (Rev. 19:7), food will not be a necessity. It is also possible the marriage supper will have spiritual food, not natural food.

A different Greek word, skenoma, with a primary meaning of dwelling, is used for dwelling in Acts 7:46 and 2 Pet. 1:13,14. In Acts it refers to the Tabernacle in the wilderness, while in Peter skenoma refers to Peter’s physical body.

The word Mansion came into John 14 because the Latin word Mansiones was not translated, simply written in English. Mansiones, the Latin word, has a primary meaning of staying, tarrying, abiding – the same as monai in Greek. See Latin Words elsewhere in Glossary.

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