Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34)
Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34)
The day of atonement represented the key event in the whole year for Israel. It was a time when holy sanctuary was cleased from sins. The sins of the people were transfered to a goat, who was expeled to the desert. In this manner all of Israel's sins were removed.
Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)
Key word of eight beatitudes is word μακάριος (makarios) which could by simply translated as "happy". But in this case, the text has a much broader meaning in mind. Every beatitude is ended followed by reasoning why it is good to be so. And this reason assures that being such is not in vain....
Defilement comes from within (Mark 7:1-23)
This story questions the very essence of what is really important in our religious life. It would be the mistake to just plain read the story and apply it into our life. Key Greek terms used here are παραδοσις meaning "tradition, something handed down" and κοινος meaning "defiled; ordinary,...
Genesis
The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible and is considered to be one of the five books of Moses, also known as the Pentateuch. It is primarily concerned with the creation of the world, the first humans (Adam and Eve), and the early history of humankind. The first 11 chapters of Genesis...
Word Became Flesh (John 1:1-18)
One of the most important verses in gospel of John is John 1:18. It says: "No one has ever seen God: only begotten God who is at the bosom of the Father, He made Him fully known." (translation from Greek). This is how the gospel begins and Jesus is right when He answers Philip, that who ever...
Moses and the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-4:17)
Moses is a person who spoke with God face to face (Dt 34:10). On the first account, when God met Himself with Moses (Ex 3), God introduced Himself with the name: אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה "I am who I am". It was always difficult for translators to rightly translate this phrase. Key Hebrew word...
Ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:1-11)
Jesus' ascension into heaven signifies the end of his earthly ministry and the beginning of the apostles' mission. It also foreshadows Jesus' eventual return, as the angels declare that he will come back in the same way he ascended. Jesus instructs his disciples to be his witnesses in Jerusalem,...
Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15)
One of the most known texts of the Bible is the Lord's prayer. This portion of the Bible is an integral part of Western society. We can hear it in movies or from people who are not Christians. The importance is highlighted by two occurrences in the New Testament in Matthew 6:5-15 and Luke...
Priestly Blessing (Numeri 6:23-27)
The text of Numbers 6:23-27 is known as Priestly Blessing or Birkat Kohanim (coming from Hebrew ברכת כהנים). This liturgical text bears a strong expression of the idea of God in the Old Testament. The passage is a conclusion of a series of priestly legislation. The primary concern of the text is...
Decalogue (Exodus 20:1-17)
Ten Commandments belong among the most known texts of the Bible. However, it is not so much known that this text, in fact, can not be literary called as commandments. This is suggested both by the context, which speaks of Decalogue as "words" (Ex 20:1) or as "ten words" (Ex 34:28), and the...
Hebrew: Basic Vocabulary (700 Most Frequent Words)
The exercise contains words that occur 50 times or more in the Old Testament. Mastering this vocabulary will give you an ability for basic reading of the Old Testament in the Hebrew language.
Greek: Basic Vocabulary (300 Most Frequent Words)
The exercise contains words that occur 50 times or more in the New Testament. Mastering this vocabulary will give you an ability for basic reading of the New Testament in the Greek language.
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is a significant writing system that was developed around 800 BCE and has had a profound impact on the development of Western culture, language, and literature. It is the oldest alphabet in the narrow sense of the term, as it was the first to use distinct symbols for both...
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 basic letters. It is primarily composed of consonants because vowels are the later addition to transcribe correct pronunciation.