The ExodusThe Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, Yeẓi'at Miẓrayim: Departure from Egypt) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The consensus of modern scholars is that the Pentateuch does not give an accurate account of the origins of the Israelites, who appear instead to have formed as an entity in the central highlands of Canaan in the late second millennium BCE from the indigenous Canaanite culture.
Covenant (biblical)The Hebrew Bible makes reference to a number of covenants (בְּרִיתוֹת) with God (YHWH). These include the Noahic Covenant (in Genesis), which is between God and all living creatures, as well as a number of more specific covenants with Abraham, the whole Israelite people, the Israelite priesthood, and the Davidic lineage of kings. In form and terminology, these covenants echo the kinds of treaty agreements in the surrounding ancient world. The Book of Jeremiah, verses says that YHWH will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
Genesis flood narrativeThe Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is a Hebrew flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre-creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microcosm of Noah's ark. The Book of Genesis was probably composed around the 5th century BCE, although some scholars believe that Primeval history (chapters 1–11), including the flood narrative, may have been composed and added as late as the 3rd century BCE.
El ShaddaiEl Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדַּי; el ʃadːaj) or just Shaddai is one of the names of the God of Israel. El Shaddai is conventionally translated into English as God Almighty (Deus Omnipotens in Latin, الله عز وجل), but its original meaning is unclear. The translation of El as "God" or "Lord" in the Ugaritic and the Canaanite languages is straightforward, as El was the king of the gods in Ugaritic and Canaanite religion. The literal meaning of Shaddai, however, is the subject of debate.
Genesis creation narrativeThe Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word for god) creates the heavens and the Earth in six days, then rests on, blesses, and sanctifies the seventh (i.e. the Biblical Sabbath). In the second story God (now referred to by the personal name Yahweh) creates Adam, the first man, from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden.
Patriarchs (Bible)The patriarchs ( אבות Avot, singular אב Av) of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites. These three figures are referred to collectively as the patriarchs, and the period in which they lived is known as the patriarchal age. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam hold that the patriarchs, along with their primary wives, known as the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebekah and Leah), are entombed at the Cave of the Patriarchs, a site held holy by the three religions.
Yehud MedinataYehud, also known as Yehud Medinata or Yehud Medinta, was an autonomous administrative province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It was one of several such provinces in Palestine, with the others being Moab, Ammon, Gilead, Samaria, Ashdod and Idumea, constituting the fifth Persian satrapy of Eber-Nari. Located in Judea, it continued to exist for two centuries before it was incorporated into the Hellenistic empires following the Wars of Alexander the Great.
NoahNoah (ˈnoʊ.ə) appears as the last of the Antediluvian patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baha'i writings. Noah is referenced in various other books of the Bible, including the New Testament, and in associated deuterocanonical books. The Genesis flood narrative is among the best-known stories of the Bible.
ElohimElohim (אֱלֹהִים: (ʔ)eloˈ(h)im), the plural of אֱלוֹהַּ (), is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly the God of Israel. In other verses it refers to the singular gods of other nations or to deities in the plural. Morphologically, the word is the plural form of the word eloah and related to el.
Book of ExodusThe Book of Exodus (from Ἔξοδος; שְׁמוֹת Šəmōṯ, 'Names') is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, who has chosen them as his people. The Israelites then journey with the prophet Moses to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh gives the 10 commandments and they enter into a covenant with Yahweh, who promises to make them a "holy nation, and a kingdom of priests" on condition of their faithfulness.
