The

Lexham Glossary of Theology

Douglas Mangum

LexhamPress.com

Abiezrites — One of the clans of the tribe of Manasseh, named for their ancestor Abiezer (Josh 17:2; Judg 6:11, 8:2).

abomination of desolation — The pagan altar built in the Jerusalem temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 168 BC (Dan 11:31; 12:11). The Gospels use the phrase to point to (a) future antichrist(s) figure in the end times (Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14).

Abrahamic covenant — The covenant God made with Abraham, in which he promised to give Abraham the land of Canaan and nations of descendants. God also promised that Abraham’s descendants would bless the world (Gen 12:1–5; 17:19).

absolute — A grammatical construction in which a word or clause stands independent of other elements in the sentence. The absolute state is the base form of a Hebrew noun when it is not in construct state with another noun. For example, shanah, “year” (absolute) versus shenath, “year of” (construct).

accentuation — A system of symbols developed by the Masoretic scribes to mark clauses and stressed syllables in the Masoretic Text.

accession year — The period of time between the start of a king’s reign and the start of the next calendar year. The accession year might only last a few months if the king’s reign began late in the year. A king's reign may be counted by the non-accession year system, where the years of the king’s reign are counted from the day he actually begins to reign.

accommodation — The idea that God communicates with humankind in ways that make his message understandable to humans.

accusative case — A morphological noun category that primarily serves to indicate the direct object.

Achaemenid period — Another name for the Persian period, the time when the Persian Empire dominated the Middle East (late sixth century BC to late fourth century BC).

acropolis — The central citadel in a Greek city built atop the highest hill in the area. The Acropolis in Athens is known as the Acropolis, though there are many such structures throughout Greece.

acrostic — A method of structuring a piece of literature in which the first letter of each line spells out a message or follows the alphabet.

Adar — The Babylonian name for the twelfth month in the lunar calendar used by the Jews.

adiaphora — A term meaning "indifferent things" which is used to refer to things that are nonessential to the faith.

adoptionism — A teaching in the early church period that claimed that Jesus became God’s Son through adoption during His earthly life (whether at His baptism, resurrection, or ascension) and denies the preexistence of Jesus. The early church condemned Adoptionism, though it was revived in 8th-century Spain.