glossary

Seraphim (Hebrew seraphim, from saraph, «to burn, to blaze») means «the burning ones». They are the fiery beings described by Isaiah 6:2-3 around God's throne, with six wings, who sing the Trisagion «Holy, holy, holy». Their name ties worship to the fire that purifies, like the burning coal of Isaiah 6:6-7.

Zion (Hebrew Tziyon) is originally the Jebusite hill-citadel that David conquers and calls «the city of David» (2Sam 5:7). Extending to the mount of the Temple, it becomes the name of God's dwelling and then an eschatological cipher of Jerusalem. In the New Testament it is the «heavenly Zion», the city of God (Heb 12:22).

The ephod (Hebrew אֵפוֹד) is a cultic vestment of the high priest described in Exodus 28: a garment of precious linen to which the breastpiece of judgment was fastened, with the twelve stones of the tribes and the oracle Urim and Tummim. It was at once a liturgical vestment and an instrument for consulting the will of God.

The intercessor is the one who «stands in the middle», who meets God on behalf of others. The Hebrew paga unites the idea of «to meet» and of «to intercede»; figures like Abraham and Moses pray for the people. In the New Testament Christ «intercedes» (Greek entynchano) at the right hand of the Father, and the Spirit intercedes for us.

Calvary comes from the Latin Calvaria, «skull», with which the Vulgate translates the Greek Kranion and the Aramaic Golgotha (John 19:17). It is the place, outside Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified. The name probably points to the shape of the rise or to a place of executions; «Calvary» and «Golgotha» are the same spot, in different languages.

Jehovah-Jireh (Hebrew YHWH-Yireh) means «the Lord provides» or «the Lord sees»: it is the name Abraham gives to Mount Moriah after God provides him a ram in place of Isaac (Gen 22:14). The verb ra'ah («to see») is the same that, in the causative, says «to make see, to provide».

Evangelist (Greek euangelistes) means «announcer of the good news», from euangelion, «good news» (eu, «well» + angello, «to announce»). In the New Testament it denotes an office of the early Church (Eph 4:11; Acts 21:8). Only later does it designate the four authors of the Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John — depicted by the symbols of the Tetramorph.

The attributes of God are the ways in which Scripture and tradition describe his being: omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, eternity, immutability, holiness, love. The Bible states them first of all as action (Exod 34:6-7, the «13 middot»: «merciful and gracious»). Orthodox theology reads them by the apophatic way: God is known more by what he is NOT.

Tabernacle translates the Hebrew mishkan, «dwelling», from the root shakhan «to dwell» — the same root as Shekhinah, the presence of God. It is the mobile tent of Exodus 25-40, also called ohel mo'ed, «tent of meeting», where YHWH dwells in the midst of Israel. The Septuagint calls it skene; John 1:14 alludes to it: the Word «pitched his tent» among us.

HaShem (Hebrew הַשֵּׁם) means «the Name»: it is the circumlocution by which Judaism refers to God in ordinary speech, so as not to pronounce either the tetragrammaton YHWH or, outside of prayer, even Adonai itself. It is the highest degree of reverence toward the revealed Name. It connects to the Greek Kyrios of the Septuagint and to «hallowed be your Name» in the Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:9).

The disciple (Greek mathetes, «one who learns») is one who follows a teacher to learn; the apostle (Greek apostolos, «sent one») is one who is sent with an authority in another's name. The Twelve are first disciples, then chosen and «sent» as apostles (Luke 6:13). Every apostle was a disciple; not every disciple is an apostle.

El Ro'i (Hebrew אֵל רֳאִי) means «the God who sees me» or «the God of seeing». It is the name that Hagar, an Egyptian slave fleeing in the desert, gives to God after the angel has found her (Gen 16:13). From the root ra'ah, «to see». It is the only divine name coined by a woman in the Bible.

YHWH-Nissi (Hebrew יְהוָה נִסִּי, «the Lord is my banner») is the name Moses gives to the altar after the victory over Amalek (Exod 17:15). Nes means «banner, standard, rallying signal»: the victory comes not from weapons but from the Lord, around whom Israel gathers as around an ensign.

The komboskini (Greek κομβοσκοίνι, Russian chotki) is the knotted wool cord used in the Orthodox Church to mark out the Jesus Prayer: «Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner». It often has 33 or 100 knots. It is a tool of the monastic tradition for praying unceasingly (1Thess 5:17), not an obligation.

YHWH-Rofeekha (popularly rendered «Jehovah Rapha») means «I am YHWH who heals you»: the phrase God speaks after the bitter waters of Marah (Exod 15:26). From the Hebrew root rafa, «to heal, to restore», it binds healing to the listening and obedience of the covenant. Psalm 103:3 takes it up; the New Testament reads it in Christ (Matt 8:17).

Mitzvot (singular mitzvah) means «commandments, precepts»: from the Hebrew root tzavah, «to command». They indicate the concrete acts by which Israel lives the covenant with God — the doing, not only the believing. The tradition counts them as 613 (248 positive, 365 negative), according to a count attributed to Rabbi Simlai. The Gospel inherits this logic: «If you love me, you will keep my commandments» (John 14:15).

Baruch HaShem (Hebrew בָּרוּךְ הַשֵּׁם, «blessed be the Name [of God]») is a Hebrew formula of gratitude used every day: it amounts to «thank God, may God be praised». Barukh comes from the root b-r-k (to bless) and HaShem, «the Name», replaces the tetragrammaton YHWH out of reverence. It is acknowledging God as the source of every good.

Raca (Aramaic רֵקָא, reqa, «empty, stupid, good-for-nothing») is a contemptuous insult that Jesus quotes in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:22): «whoever says to his brother raca will be liable to the council». It is not just any swear word: it denies the other any value. Jesus reads in it a form of murdering the brother with words.

Predestination translates the Greek proorízo, «to fix/delimit beforehand». In the New Testament (Rom 8:29-30; Eph 1:5,11) it indicates the design by which God calls to salvation. The Orthodox reading reads it from foreknowledge: God foreknows human freedom without pre-determining it, in a synergy between grace and free response. It is therefore not determinism.

Koinonia (Greek κοινωνία, from koinós «common») means «communion, participation, sharing». In the New Testament it indicates the shared life of believers (Acts 2:42), participation in the body and blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:16) and even the collection for the poor (2 Cor 8-9). It is not a feeling of friendship, but a real participation in one and the same thing.

Selah (Hebrew סֶלָה) is a liturgical-musical term that occurs 74 times in the Hebrew Bible — 71 in the Psalms and 3 in Habakkuk 3. It most likely marks a pause or an instrumental interlude between strophes; its exact sense remains uncertain. The Septuagint renders it διάψαλμα, «interlude».

Hallelujah (Hebrew הַלְלוּ־יָהּ, hallelú-Yah) means «praise Yah»: a plural imperative (hallelú, «praise») joined to the abbreviated form of the divine Name (Yah, from YHWH). It occurs above all in the Psalms (the collections 113-118 and 146-150) and four times in Revelation 19. It is not an exclamation, but a liturgical summons to praise.

Agape (Greek ἀγάπη) is self-giving love, the love of gift, which Greek distinguishes from eros (desire) and philia (mutual affection). The Septuagint chose it to translate the Hebrew ahava and to render chesed, the faithful love of the covenant; the New Testament makes it the name of God's love (1 John 4:8) and the summit of 1 Corinthians 13.

Adonai (Hebrew אֲדֹנָי, «my Lord») is the name with which Jewish tradition pronounces the tetragrammaton YHWH, held to be unpronounceable: where the text writes YHWH one reads «Adonai». The Septuagint renders it with Kyrios, «Lord» — hence the «Lord» of almost every Bible. It is a reverent substitution of the Name, not a different name.

El Shaddai (Hebrew אֵל שַׁדַּי) is the name by which God reveals himself to the patriarchs (Gen 17:1). Translated «God Almighty» (Greek pantokrator), but the etymology of Shaddai is uncertain: perhaps «God of the mountain», or linked to «mighty», or to «breast» (the God who nourishes and blesses). It is the God of the blessings of fertility, before the revelation of the Name YHWH to Moses.

Metanoia (Greek μετάνοια) means «change of mind, of mentality»: conversion as a reorientation of the whole person toward God. It translates the Hebrew teshuvà, «return». It is not «penance» (penitential works) nor «remorse» (the Greek metaméleia): not to feel sorrow, but to change direction and return.

Maranatha is an Aramaic word preserved in Greek by Paul (1 Corinthians 16:22) and in the Didache. Depending on how it is divided, it means «marana tha» — «Our Lord, come!» (an invocation) — or «maran atha» — «our Lord has come / is here» (a confession). The same sequence of letters carries two senses: prayer and profession of faith.

Kyrie eleison (Greek Κύριε ἐλέησον) means «Lord, have mercy». Kyrios («Lord») is the word with which the Septuagint renders the divine Name; eleison (from eleos, mercy) translates the Hebrew chesed and rachamim. It is the most ancient and most repeated Christian liturgical invocation, heir to the biblical cry of supplication.

Vespers (from the Latin vesperae, «evening») is the evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. Centered on Psalm 141 («let my prayer rise like incense») and on the Magnificat, it inherits the Temple's evening offering. In the East it does not close the day: it opens it, according to the biblical reckoning by which evening precedes morning.

Torah and Talmud are neither rivals nor synonyms. Torah (Hebrew תּוֹרָה, «teaching, direction» — not «law») is the first five books of the Bible and, more broadly, revelation itself. The Talmud (from «study») is the Oral Law put in writing: the Mishnah (the norm) plus the Gemara (the discussion). The Torah is the revealed text; the Talmud is its transmission and interpretation.