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Elijah ben Solomon
(Encyclopedia)Elijah ben Solomon, 1720–97, Jewish scholar, called the Gaon of Vilna, b. Lithuania. A leading Jewish scholar of his time, he opposed the spread of Hasidism in Lithuania and Poland because he feared...Jahve
(Encyclopedia)Jahve, Jahveh, or Jahweh yäˈvā, –wā [key], modern reconstructions of the ancient Hebrew name of God (Yahweh), which is traditionally not pronounced. ...Jephthah
(Encyclopedia)Jephthah jĕfˈthə [key], in the Book of Judges, a Hebrew raider, son of Gilead and a judge of Israel. He vowed if victorious over the Ammonites to sacrifice the first of his household to meet him on...Pentateuch
(Encyclopedia)Pentateuch pĕnˈtətyo͞ok [key] [Gr.,=five books], first five books of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Bible these books are called the Torah. ...Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce
(Encyclopedia)Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce, 1571–1631, English antiquarian. The Cottonian collection of books, manuscripts, coins, and antiquities became a part of the British Museum when it was founded in 1753. Cott...sociolinguistics
(Encyclopedia)sociolinguistics, the study of language as it affects and is affected by social relations. Sociolinguistics encompasses a broad range of concerns, including bilingualism, pidgin and creole languages, ...Nephilim
(Encyclopedia)Nephilim nēfĭlˈĭm [key], in the Bible, Hebrew word of no known meaning, denoting peoples of gigantic stature with superhuman strength. The term is translated as “giants” in the Authorized Vers...Münster, Sebastian
(Encyclopedia)Münster, Sebastian sābäsˈtyänˌ münˈstər [key], 1489–1552, German scholar and geographer. He was a Franciscan monk but after the Reformation became a Protestant and taught at Heidelberg and ...Ahasuerus
(Encyclopedia)Ahasuerus āhăsˌyo͞oēˈrəs [key], Hebrew form of the name Xerxes, as used in the Bible. The Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther is probably Xerxes I. That in the Book of Tobit may be Cyaxares I, dest...Jespersen, Otto
(Encyclopedia)Jespersen, Otto ŏˈtō yĕsˈpərsən [key], 1860–1943, Danish philologist. Professor of English language and literature at the Univ. of Copenhagen and later rector there, Jespersen first earned a ...Browse by Subject
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