Nelson’s A-to-Z Series - All the Names in the Bible - Find What You Belive - Find It Fast in the Bible

Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-5291-0650-6

ISBN: 978-0-5291-0651-3 (eBook)

 

Caesarea

 

[Cae·sa·re′a], pertaining to Caesar—An important biblical seaport located south of modern Haifa. Built at enormous expense by Herod the Great between 25 and 13 B.C., and named in honor of Caesar Augustus, the city was sometimes called Caesarea of Palestine to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi.

 

Herod spent 12 years building his seaport jewel on the site of an ancient Phoenician city named Strato’s Tower. He constructed a huge breakwater. The enormous stones he used in this project were 15.25 meters (50 feet) long, 5.5 meters (18 feet) wide, and 2.75 meters (9 feet) deep. Some of them still can be seen extending 45.75 meters (150 feet) from the shore. Caesarea frequently was the scene of disturbances as cities of mixed Jewish–Gentile population tended to be. When Pilate was prefect (governor) of Judea, he lived in the governor’s residence at Caesarea. In 1961, a stone inscribed with his name was found in the ruins of an ancient amphitheater there. Philip the evangelist preached there (Acts 8:40), and Peter was sent there to minister to the Roman centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:1, 24; 11:11). Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea, being “eaten of worms” (Acts 12:19–23).

 

Caesarea was prominent in the ministry of the apostle Paul as well. After Paul’s conversion, some brethren brought him to the port at Caesarea to escape the Hellenists and sail to his hometown of Tarsus (Acts 9:30). Paul made Caesarea his port of call after both his second and third missionary journeys (Acts 18:22; 21:8). Felix sent Paul to Caesarea for trial (Acts 23:23, 33) and the apostle spent two years in prison before making his celebrated defense before Festus and Agrippa (Acts 26). Paul sailed from the harbor in chains to appeal his case before the emperor in Rome (Acts 25:11; 26:1–13).

 

Other ruins on the site that demonstrate the splendor of ancient Caesarea are a large amphitheater and sections of an aqueduct, which was used to pipe water from the mountains to the coastal city. Caesarea attained ecclesiastical importance by becoming the seat of a bishop in the second century.

 

* * *

 

Hanani

 

[Ha·na′ni], gracious—Five Old Testament men:

 

1. Father of Jehu, the prophet (1 Kings 16:1). He denounced Asa, king of Judah, and was imprisoned (2 Chron. 16:7).

 

2. Son of Heman. He was the head of the eighteenth course of musicians appointed by David for the sanctuary (1 Chron. 25:4, 25).

 

3. Son of Immer, a priest. He rejected his foreign wife (Ezra 10:20).

 

4. Nehemiah’s brother (Neh. 1:2; 7:2).

 

5. A Levite musician who officiated at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 12:36).

 

* * *

 

Leviathan

 

[Le·vi′a·than], coiled one—This word occurs only six times in the Old Testament but the term has stirred up great interest and controversy. Leviathan has become a word for anything of enormous size and power. The word is thought to be derived from a verb meaning “to twist.” Job 41 is devoted to a detailed description of Leviathan, with God challenging Job to master him.

 

Some scholars believe that in Job the word poetically describes the Nile crocodile with his scaly hide, terrible teeth, and fast swimming. They feel that this fits in with the overthrow of Egypt in the Red Sea, since “Leviathan” is used for Egyptian troops in Psalm 74:13–14. But in Psalm 104:25–26, some envision a dolphin or a whale. However, the description in Job 41:33–34 seems too majestic for a crocodile or dolphin, or even for a whale: “On earth there is nothing like him, which is made without fear. He beholds every high thing; he is king over all the children of pride.” Since we really do not know for certain what a Leviathan was (or is), the best we can say is “great sea animal whose identity we do not know.”

Find What You Believe - Nelson’s A-to-Z Series

Find It Fast in the Bible - Nelson’s A-to-Z Series

• Lev 20:3 I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name
• Lev 22:2 Speak to Aaron and his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they do not profane My holy name in those things which they sanctify to Me
• Lev 22:32 You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel
• 1Chr 16:10 Glory in His holy name, let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord
• I Chr 16:35 gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise
• 1Chr 29:16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own
• Ps 30:4 Sing praise to the Lord, You saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name
• Ps 33:21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name
• Ps 97:12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name
• Ps 103:1 And all that is within me, bless His holy name
• Ps 105:3 Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord
• Ps 106:47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, and to triumph in Your praise
• Ps 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever
• Ezek 20:39 but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols
• Ezek 36:20 When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name when they said of them
• Ezek 36:21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went
• Ezek 39:7 So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore
• Ezek 39:25 Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name
• Ezek 43:7 No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places
• Ezek 43:8 When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed
• Amos 2:7 a man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile My holy name