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[German Version] According to the biblical account, the history of the relations between Israel and Egypt begins with the ascent of Jacob's son Joseph in Egypt and the subsequent immigration of the whole clan of Jacob, whose enslavement was ended with an Exodus under the leadership of Moses as a fundamental act of deliverance. This recollection of a process no longer reconstructable historically in detail nonetheless has support from extra-biblical information concerning the expulsion from Egypt o…

[German Version] (םימִּתֻּ/םירִוּא), a pair of Hebrew words still without etymological or semasiological explanation, denoting objects usually appearing in passages bearing on the paraphernalia and function of the Levitical priests. According to Exod 28:30 (cf. Lev 8:8), the Urim and Thummim were to be kept in a repository forming part of vestments of the high priest Aaron (probably a kind of pectoral or br…

[German Version] לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים/ leḍem happānîm, “Bread of the Presence (of God)” or “showbread” (Luther: Schaubrot) a term for a kind of sacrificial bread that was presented on a table in the sanctuary as in the “ tabernacle” (Sinai/Sinai traditions; Wilderness wanderings/Wilderness tradi…

[German Version] I. The Term – II. Tradition History – III. Historical Background – IV. Liturgical Application I. The Term Exodus is the Latinized form of the Greek term ἔξοδος/ éxodos (“departure”) for the second book of Moses, which is essentially devoted to a spectrum of traditions concerning Israel's stay in Egypt, its departure under the leadership of Moses, and its sojourn in the wilderness (Wilderness wa…

[German Version] (פּוּט), according to Gen 10:6 (P; cf. 1 Chr 18), one of the four sons of Ham, the ancestral father of the Hamite peoples, in what appears to be a traditional order: Cush (Ethiopia), Egypt, Put (without further genealogy), and Canaan (Nah 3:9 substitutes Libya). The groupings with Libya (Nah 3:9), with Cush and Lud (Jer 46:9; Ezek 30:5), with Persia and Cush (Ezek 38:5) or Persia and Lud (Ezek 27:10) all clearly suggest a military role for the people of Put (e.g. as mercenaries empl…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Voluntary promises to do something, either materially or ideally, in order to obtain the support of a divinity or ¶ some other metaphysical effects, are known as vows. Intended as an agreement in partnership with the gods ( do ut das, not always strictly), they are found worldwide as prominent forms of expressing partnership with the divine. They are to be distinguished from texts accompanying thankofferings for earlier gifts (notably in the Lat. ex voto…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Philosophy – V. Dogmatics – VI. Sociology, Ethics – VII. Practical Theology I. Religious Studies In the context of their understanding of God and related obligations, human beings make connections of solidarity and feel, with more or less intensity, that they are members of the same community. Religion brings people closer together and creates social ties: the umma of the Muslims, Christian brotherhood and ecumeni…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament– IV. Church History – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Art History – VIII. Practical Theology – IX. Judaism – X. Islam I. Religious Studies Religious conceptions include numinous intermediary beings of the most varied types and origins that mediate between the divin…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Ancient Near East and Israel – III. Judaism – IV. Greece and Rome – V. New Testament – VI. Church History – VII. Dogmatics – VIII. Ethics – IX. Philosophy I. Religious Studies History is a major aspect of the study of religion. Apart from its roots in the Enlightenment idea of tolerance, it owes its scholarly development to the historicism of the 19th century. As a result, the expression history of religions ( Religionsgeschichte, histoire des religions, storia delle religioni) has remained dominant in continental Europe, in contrast to the fuzzy religious studies or study of religion(s). This philological and historical approach to the world of religions, as in other areas of social stu…

[German Version] I. History of Religion (Ancient Near East and Antiquity) – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Iconography – VI. Practical Theology – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam I. History of Religion (Ancient Near East and Antiquity) The term “demon” as used in European language groups derives from the Greek (δαίμων/ daímōn), where it initially also referred simply to gods (ϑεοί/ theoí; cf. Homer Iliad 1.122) without either positive or negative connotations. The exclusively “negative” charge associate…

[English Version] , auf Luther zurückgehende Wiedergabe des hebr. לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים/laeḥaem happānîm, »Brot des Angesichts (Gottes)«, eine Bez. für eine Art Opferbrot, das auf einem Tisch im Heiligtum präsentiert wurde, wie er zur »Stiftshütte« (Ex 24,23–30 P; vgl. auch Hebr 9,2) und zum visionären Tempel Ezechiels (Ez 41,22) gehört. Auch die Sch. als »hl. Brot« im Heiligtum von Nob (1Sam 21,5–7; vgl. Mt 12,4 parr.) und v.a. im salomonischen Tempel (1Kön 7,48) entsprechen wohl dem Brotopfer im äg. Totenkult…

[English Version] (אוּרֽים/תֻּמִּים), etym. und semasiologisch noch nicht geklärtes hebr. Ausdruckspaar zur Bez. von Gegenständen, die mehrheitlich im Kontext von Angaben zur levitisch-priesterlichen Ausstattung und Funktion begegnen. Nach Ex 28,30 (vgl. Lev 8,8) sollen U. und T. in einem zum Ornat des Hohepriesters Aaron gehörigen Behältnis (wohl eine Art Pektoral) verwahrt und »am Herzen« getragen werden. Sie wurden von P (Pentateuch)…

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