Covenant
A binding relationship expressed through promises, obligations and signs.
RESEARCH GLOSSARY
WORDS READERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO GUESS
Definitions distinguish textual terms, historical categories and interpretive methods.Diaspora
A people living dispersed outside an ancestral homeland; use carefully and identify the period and population meant.
Exile
Forced removal or displacement; Israelite and Judahite exiles must be dated and distinguished.
Masoretic Text
The medieval Jewish scribal tradition that preserves the consonantal text with vocalization and notes; manuscript dates and readings should be specified.
Septuagint
Ancient Greek translations of Hebrew Scriptures, produced across time rather than as one single-session translation.
Tetragrammaton
A scholarly label for the four-letter divine name יהוה.
Theophoric name
A personal name containing an element that refers to a deity; Hebrew examples may preserve Yah or Yahu.
Transliteration
Representing letters or sounds from one writing system in another; it is not the same as translating meaning.
Textual variant
A difference among manuscript witnesses. A variant must be described with the actual witnesses and reading involved.
Typology
A reading in which an earlier person, event or pattern is treated as anticipating a later one; it must be labeled as interpretation.