jacinth (ja'sinth), a precious stone, probably the sapphire (Rev. 21:20); hence, the color of a sapphire; blue (Rev. 9:17).

Jah (ja), a shortened form of Jehovah (Ps. 68:4).

jangling (jang'-gling), meaningless discussion or chatter: I Tim. 1:6.

Jannes and Jambres (jan'ez/jam'brez), the two Egyptian magicians who attempted to thwart the work of Moses: II Tim. 3:8. A reference to Ex. 7:11; 8:7; 9:11, etc. where they are unnamed. They do appear, however, in post-Biblical Judaic writings.

Jasher, Book of (jash'ar), a book, probably a collection of poetry, relating events that took place earlier in Israel: Josh. 10:13; II Sam. 1:18.

jasper (jas'par), a precious stone, probably an opaque green variety of quartz: Ex. 28:20; Ezek. 28:13; Rev. 21:18.

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jealous (jel'as), 1. resentfully suspicious of a rival or a rival's influence: Num. 5: 14. 2. demanding exclusive loyalty; unwilling to tolerate the worship of other gods: said of God in His desire to maintain a distinctive and pure relationship between Himself and His people: Ex. 20:5; Josh. 24:19. 3. watchful or solicitous in guarding or keeping: I Kings 19:10,14; Joel 2:18.

jealousy offering, a variety of the meal the offering, (actually, an instance of trial by ordeal) in which a husband was brought to the altar along with his wife whom he suspected of infidelity (Num. 5: 14-31): a handful of barley meal was burned on the altar while the priest performed an elaborate ceremony with the accused woman giving her the opportunity of proving her innocence. The ceremony included her drinking of the bitter water which would inflict upon her a disease of intense suffering as a curse of God, if she was not innocent.

Jehoshaphat, valley of (ji-hos'a-fat), according to Jewish tradition, the place where God will pass final judgment on mankind at the end of the world; scene of the Last Judgment (Joel 3:2,12): it is identified by some as the valley of Kidron, but most scholars believe the reference to be purely symbolic since Jehoshaphat literally translated from the Hebrew means "God judges" or "has judged."

Jehovah (ji-ho'va), a name given to God in the Old Testament: it is a medieval and modern transliteration of what was an attempt to vocalize the ancient Hebrew sacred name for God: the name was written with unpronounceable four consonants, JHVH or JHWH, because the Lord's name was considered too sacred to utter; therefore, it became the custom to substitute the word Adonai, meaning "the Lord." Adonai was often written beneath JHVH or JHWH and after a time, the vowels of Adonai were inserted between the consonants (the first a becoming an e) of the sacred name producing the modem reconstruction of Jehovah (Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18).

jeopard (jep'ard), to jeopardize; risk loss, damage, or failure of: Judg. 5: 18.

jod (yod, yood), the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: it appears at the beginning of the tenth section of Psalm 119.

joining (join'ing), a clamp, as for holding together two pieces of wood, metal, etc. I Chr. 22:3.

Jonath-elem-rechokim ( jo'nath.,e'lem-re-ho'kim), The Dove of Far-off Terebinths: probably the title or first line of a well-known melody to the tune of which Psalm 56 was to be sung.

jot (jot), the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet (iota) or, if the language was Aramaic, the smallest letter of the Aramaic
and Hebrew alphabets (yodh): used to emphasize the point that even the most minute portion of the Hebrew law is to be observed (Matt. 5:18).

joy (joi), n. the feeling of pleasure and happiness that exists when there is a healthy relationship between God and man; spiritual happiness that a righteous man finds through his belief in God: this joy exists only because of the anticipation of a greater, or fuller, joy in the kingdom of heaven (Rom. 14:17). Aside from this ultimate joy, the word is used to relate other less exalted emotions, as the happiness found in nature (Ps- 96:11), the thrills derived from victory in battle (I Sam. 18:6), the ecstasies of feasting (I Chr. 12:40), and others, all of which come from doing God's work or seeing it carried out and rejoicing in the furthering of the kingdom of God. God also is spoken of as experiencing this feeling as he watches his people living righteous, upright lives and walking in the ways of truth (Neh. 8:10; Luke 15:7). -v. to be full of joy; rejoice (Ps. 21: 1; Phil. 2:17,18).

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jubile (joo'bal-e), a year-long celebration held every fifty years in which all bondmen were freed; ancestral belongings were repossessed by those forced to give them up due to poverty or debt; mortgaged lands, except lots in walled cities, were restored to the original owners, and land was left fallow (Lev. 25:8-17): the word "jubile," now spelled jubilee, comes ultimately from the Hebrew word for ram or ram's horn which was used as a trumpet to proclaim the beginning of this year on the day of atonement.

judge (juj), 1. a governing leader of the Israelites between the time of Joshua and the reign of Samuel (over four centuries):
see The Book of Judges. A judge was a tribal leader and hero who led his people in wars of liberation against foreign oppressors and who was therefore looked upon as doing God's work and was deemed worthy of ruling his tribe and sustaining the rights of its members. 2. a civil magistrate with the authority to hear and decide cases of law and to administer justice in general: Deut. 17:9,12; 25:2. 3. God, the supreme arbiter of the affairs of mankind: Gen. 18:25; Heb. 12:23.

judgment (juj'mant), 1. an order or sentence given by a judge or law court; legal decision: II Kings 25:6. 2. the power of comparing and deciding; ability to tell right from wrong; good sense: Provo 13:23; Matt. 7:2. 3. sound reason; rightfulness; justice: Ex. 23:2,6; Matt. 23:23. 4. the just and righteous commandments (of God): Ex. 12:12; John 5:30. See also judgment, day of.

 judgment, day of, the day when the present world will come to an end and the I dead will rise from their graves and be judged by God; time when all sin will be punished and all goodness will be rewarded: Matt. 12:36; Mark 6:11, Also variously referred to as that day (Isa. 11:10), the day (Ezek. 7:7), the day of the Lord (Amos 5:18).

 judgment hall, the official headquarters of the ruler of a Roman province; especially the palace residence of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem: John 18:28,33; 19:9. 2) the palace of King Herod at Caesarea: Acts 23:35.

judgment seat, the seat in which a governor, king, or other official sat when hearing and deciding legal judgments: Matt. 27:19 John 19:13; Acts 18:12; 25:17; Figuratively, the bench of Jesus before which all men must appear to be judged: Rom. 14:10; II Cor. 5:10.

juniper (joo'na-par), a shrub with small leaves, slender branches, and flowers of yellow, purple, or white (1 Kings 19:4,5;
Job 30:4): not the evergreen shrub of the pine family that we now call "juniper," but rather the plant now called "broom."

Jupiter (joo'pa-tar), the Roman god believed to rule over all other gods and all people: Acts 14:12,13. The Greeks called this god Zeus.

justification (jus-ta-fi-ka'shan), the divine act by which sinful man is forgiven, declared righteous, and freed through faith,  from the penalty of his sin: although he is unworthy because of his transgression of God's law he is accepted by God as worthy of being saved because he has shown himself to be a believer and because Christ, as his substitute, has borne his guilt on the cross: thus, the process of his salvation has begun: Rom. 4:25; 5:16,18.

justle (jus'al), to move rapidly; hurry; rush: Nah. 2:4. In the single passage in which this word appears the notion is that the chariots are "moving rapidly back and forth."

 

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