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Translation	Verse	Text
King James	Nu 21:6	And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

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Word	Easton Dictionary - Definition
BIT	the curb put into the mouths of horses to restrain them. The Hebrew word (metheg) so rendered in Ps. 32:9 is elsewhere translated "bridle" (2 Kings 19:28; Prov. 26:3; Isa. 37:29). Bits were generally made of bronze or iron, but sometimes also of gold or silver. In James 3:3 the Authorized Version translates the Greek word by "bits," but the Revised Version by "bridles."

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Word	American Tract Society - Definition
ISRAEL	Who prevails with God, a name given to Jacob, after having wrestled with the Angel-Jehovah at Penuel. Ge 32:1,2,28,30 Ho 12:3. See JACOB. By the name Israel is sometimes understood all the posterity of Israel, the seed of Jacob, 1Co 10:18; sometimes all true believers, his spiritual seed, Ro 9:6; and sometimes the kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes, as distinct from the kingdom of Judah.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

ISRAEL

the name conferred on Jacob after the great prayer-struggle at Peniel (Gen. 32:28), because "as a prince he had power with God and prevailed." (See JACOB.) This is the common name given to Jacob's descendants. The whole people of the twelve tribes are called "Israelites," the "children of Israel" (Josh. 3:17; 7:25; Judg. 8:27; Jer. 3:21), and the "house of Israel" (Ex. 16:31; 40:38).

This name Israel is sometimes used emphatically for the true Israel (Ps. 73:1: Isa. 45:17; 49:3; John 1:47; Rom. 9:6; 11:26).

After the death of Saul the ten tribes arrogated to themselves this name, as if they were the whole nation (2 Sam. 2:9, 10, 17, 28; 3:10, 17; 19:40-43), and the kings of the ten tribes were called "kings of Israel," while the kings of the two tribes were called "kings of Judah."

After the Exile the name Israel was assumed as designating the entire nation.

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Word	American Tract Society - Definition
LORD	This name belongs to God by preeminence; and in this sense ought never to be given to any creature. Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, the Son of God, and equal with the Father, is often called Lord in Scripture, especially in the writing of Paul. The word LORD, in the English Bible, when printed in small capitals, stands always for JEHOVAH in the Hebrew. See JEHOVAH.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

LORD

There are various Hebrew and Greek words so rendered.

(1.) Heb. Jehovah, has been rendered in the English Bible LORD, printed in small capitals. This is the proper name of the God of the Hebrews. The form "Jehovah" is retained only in Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; 26:4, both in the Authorized and the Revised Version.

(2.) Heb. 'adon, means one possessed of absolute control. It denotes a master, as of slaves (Gen. 24:14, 27), or a ruler of his subjects (45:8), or a husband, as lord of his wife (18:12).

The old plural form of this Hebrew word is 'adonai. From a superstitious reverence for the name "Jehovah," the Jews, in reading their Scriptures, whenever that name occurred, always pronounced it 'Adonai.

(3.) Greek kurios, a supreme master, etc. In the LXX. this is invariably used for "Jehovah" and "'Adonai."

(4.) Heb. ba'al, a master, as having domination. This word is applied to human relations, as that of husband, to persons skilled in some art or profession, and to heathen deities. "The men of Shechem," literally "the baals of Shechem" (Judg. 9:2, 3). These were the Israelite inhabitants who had reduced the Canaanites to a condition of vassalage (Josh. 16:10; 17:13).

(5.) Heb. seren, applied exclusively to the "lords of the Philistines" (Judg. 3:3). The LXX. render it by satrapies. At this period the Philistines were not, as at a later period (1 Sam. 21:10), under a kingly government. (See Josh. 13:3; 1 Sam. 6:18.) There were five such lordships, viz., Gath, Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron.

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

SERPENTS

These reptiles, unclean among the Hebrews, Le 11:10,41, are widely diffused through the world, but are most numerous and venomous in tropical climates. About one-sixth part of all that are known to be poisonous. These are distinguished by having two hollow poisonfangs in the upper jaw, and are usually of slower motion than most snakes. Venomous serpents were abundant in Egypt and Arabia, and seven different kinds are mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, some of which are identified with existing species. See ADDER, ASP, COCKATRICE, and VIPER.

The serpents mentioned in Nu 21:1-35 Isa 14:29 30:6, and by whom multitudes of the Israelites were destroyed in the desert north of the Gulf of Akabah, were probably called "fiery" and "flying" with reference to the agonizing heat caused by their poison, and the rapidity of their darting motion. Herodotus indeed speaks of winged serpents as appearing every spring on the Arabian border of Egypt; but he did not see them, nor are there any to be met with in modern times. The serpent of brass, made and erected on a pole by Moses, had no healing virtue in itself, but was a test of the penitence and faith of the people. The author of Ecclesiasticus says of the Israelites, "They were troubled for a small season that they might be admonished, having a sign of salvation to put them in remembrance of the commandment of thy law. For he that turned towards it was not saved by the thing that he saw, but by thee, that art the Savior of all." Our Savior himself shows that the brazen serpent was a type of Him, Joh 3:14,15. The believing view of Christ is salvation to the soul infected by the fatal poison of sin. Respecting the brazen serpent, see NEHUSHTAN. Hezekiah destroyed a true and most sacred relic; Rome, on the contrary, fabricates false relics and adores them. See CHARMERS.

Interpreters have largely speculated concerning the nature of the serpent that tempted Eve. Some have thought that serpents originally had feet and speech; but there is no probability that this creature was ever otherwise than it now is. Its subtle, crafty malignity is often alluded to the Scriptures, Ge 3:1 Mt 10:16 22:33. Besides, it cannot be doubted but that by the serpent we are to understand the devil, who employed the serpent as a vehicle to seduce the first woman, Ge 3:13 2Co 11:3 Re 12:9.

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