League
A treaty or confederacy. The Jews were forbidden to enter into an alliance of any kind (1) with the Canaanites (Ex. 23:32, 33; 34:12-16); (2) with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8, 14; ...
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
Easton's Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, M. G. Easton, 1897.
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116 entries
Leah
Weary, the eldest daughter of Laban, and sister of Rachel (Gen. 29:16). Jacob took her to wife through a deceit of her father (Gen. 29:23). She was “tender-eyed” (17). She bore ...
Leannoth
For answering; i.e., in singing, occurs in the title to Ps. 88. The title “Mahalath (q.v.) Leannoth” may be rendered “concerning sickness, to be sung” i.e., perhaps, to be sung ...
Leasing
(Ps. 4:2; 5:6) an Old English word meaning lies, or lying, as the Hebrew word kazabh is generally rendered.
Leather
A girdle of, worn by Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) and John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4). Leather was employed both for clothing (Num. 31:20; Heb. 11:37) and for writing upon. The trade of a ...
Leaven
(1.) Heb. seor (Ex. 12:15, 19; 13:7; Lev. 2:11), the remnant of dough from the preceding baking which had fermented and become acid.(2.) Heb. hamets, properly “ferment.” In Num....
Lebanon
White, “the white mountain of Syria,” is the loftiest and most celebrated mountain range in Syria. It is a branch running southward from the Caucasus, and at its lower end forki...
Lebbaeus
Courageous, a surname of Judas (Jude), one of the twelve (Matt. 10:3), called also Thaddaeus, not to be confounded with the Judas who was the brother of our Lord.
Lebonah
Frankincense, a town near Shiloh, on the north side of Bethel (Judg. 21:19). It has been identified with el-Lubban, to the south of Nablus.
Leek
(Heb. hatsir; the Allium porrum), rendered “grass” in 1 Kings 18:5, 2 Kings 19:26, Job 40:15, etc.; “herb” in Job 8:12; “hay” in Prov. 27:25, and Isa. 15:6; “leeks” only in Num....
Lees
(Heb. shemarim), from a word meaning to keep or preserve. It was applied to “lees” from the custom of allowing wine to stand on the lees that it might thereby be better preserve...
Left hand
Among the Hebrews, denoted the north (Job 23:9; Gen. 14:15), the face of the person being supposed to be toward the east.
Left-handed
(Judg. 3:15; 20:16), one unable to use the right hand skilfully, and who therefore uses the left; and also one who uses the left as well as the right, ambidexter. Such a conditi...
Legion
A regiment of the Roman army, the number of men composing which differed at different times. It originally consisted of three thousand men, but in the time of Christ consisted o...
Lehi
A jawbone, a place in the tribe of Judah where Samson achieved a victory over the Philistines (Judg. 15:9, 14, 16), slaying a thousand of them with the jawbone of an ass. The wo...
Lemuel
Dedicated to God, a king whom his mother instructed (Prov. 31:1-9). Nothing is certainly known concerning him. The rabbis identified him with Solomon.
Lentiles
(Heb. ‘adashim), a species of vetch (Gen. 25:34; 2 Sam. 23:11), common in Syria under the name addas. The red pottage made by Jacob was of lentils (Gen. 25:29-34). They were amo...
Leopard
(Heb. namer, so called because spotted, Cant. 4:8), was that great spotted feline which anciently infested the mountains of Syria, more appropriately called a panther (Felis par...
Leprosy
(Heb. tsara’ath, a “smiting,” a “stroke,” because the disease was regarded as a direct providential infliction). This name is from the Greek lepra, by which the Greek physicians...
Letter
In Rom. 2:27, 29 means the outward form. The “oldness of the letter” (7:6) is a phrase which denotes the old way of literal outward obedience to the law as a system of mere exte...
Leummim
Peoples; nations, the last mentioned of the three sons of Dedan, and head of an Arabian tribe (Gen. 25:3).
Levi
Adhesion. (1.) The third son of Jacob by Leah. The origin of the name is found in Leah’s words (Gen. 29:34), “This time will my husband be joined [Heb. yillaveh] unto me.” He is...
Leviathan
A transliterated Hebrew word (livyathan), meaning “twisted,” “coiled.” In Job 3:8, Revised Version, and marg. of Authorized Version, it denotes the dragon which, according to Ea...
Levirate Law
From Latin levir, “a husband’s brother,” the name of an ancient custom ordained by Moses, by which, when an Israelite died without issue, his surviving brother was required to m...
Levite
A descendant of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:25; Lev. 25:32; Num. 35:2; Josh. 21:3, 41). This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was se...
Leviticus
The third book of the Pentateuch; so called in the Vulgate, after the LXX., because it treats chiefly of the Levitical service.In the first section of the book (1-17), which exh...
Levy
(1 Kings 4:6, R.V.; 5:13), forced service. The service of tributaries was often thus exacted by kings. Solomon raised a “great levy” of 30,000 men, about two per cent. of the po...