Reference

Bible dictionary

3,964 entries on the people, places and words of the Bible, each linked to the passages it cites.

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3rd edition (1897). Public domain; text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. A nineteenth-century Protestant reference: its dates, archaeology and judgements reflect the scholarship of its time and are not Imago Dei's editorial position.

• Maachah

  Oppression, a small Syrian kingdom near Geshur, east of the Hauran, the district of Batanea (Josh.

• Maaleh-acrabbim

  Ascent of the scorpions;

• Maarath

  Desolation, a place in the mountains of Judah (Josh.

• Maaseiah

  The work of Jehovah.

• Maasiai

  Work of Jehovah, one of the priests resident at Jerusalem at the Captivity (1 Chr.

• Maath

  Small, a person named in our Lord's ancestry (Luke 3:26).

• Maaziah

  Strength or consolation of Jehovah.

• Maccabees

  This word does not occur in Scripture.

• Maccabees, Books of the

  There were originally five books of the Maccabees.

• Macedonia

  In New Testament times, was a Roman province lying north of Greece.

• Machaerus

  The Black Fortress, was built by Herod the Great in the gorge of Callirhoe, one of the wadies 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, as a frontier ra

• Machbanai

  Clad with a mantle, or bond of the Lord, one of the Gadite heroes who joined David in the wilderness (1 Chr.

• Machir

  Sold.

• Machpelah

  Portion;

• Madai

  Middle land, the third "son" of Japheth (Gen.

• Madmannah

  Dunghill, the modern el-Minyay, 15 miles south-south-west of Gaza (Josh.

• Madmen

  Ibid., a Moabite town threatened with the sword of the Babylonians (Jer.

• Madmenah

  Ibid., a town in Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem, towards the north (Isa.

• Madness

  This word is used in its proper sense in Deut.

• Madon

  Strife, a Canaanitish city in the north of Palestine (Josh.

• Magdala

  A tower, a town in Galilee, mentioned only in Matt.

• Magdalene

  A surname derived from Magdala, the place of her nativity, given to one of the Marys of the Gospels to distinguish her from the other Marys

• Magic

  The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg.

• Magicians

  Heb.

• Magistrate

  A public civil officer invested with authority.

• Magog

  Region of Gog, the second of the "sons" of Japheth (Gen.

• Magor-missabib

  Fear on every side, (Jer.

• Mahalaleel

  Praise of God.

• Mahalath

  A lute;

• Mahalath Leannoth Maschil

  This word leannoth seems to point to some kind of instrument unknown (Ps.

• Mahalath Maschil

  In the title of Ps.

• Mahanaim

  Two camps, a place near the Jabbok, beyond Jordan, where Jacob was met by the "angels of God," and where he divided his retinue into "two ho

• Mahaneh-dan

  Judg.

• Mahath

  Grasping.

• Mahazioth

  Visions, a Kohathite Levite, chief of the twenty-third course of musicians (1 Chr.

• Maher-shalal-hash-baz

  Plunder speedeth;

• Mahlah

  Disease, one of the five daughters of Zelophehad (Num.

• Mahlon

  Sickly, the elder of Elimelech the Bethlehemite's two sons by Naomi.

• Mahol

  Dance, the father of four sons (1 Kings 4:31) who were inferior in wisdom only to Solomon.

• Mail, Coat of

  "a corselet of scales," a cuirass formed of pieces of metal overlapping each other, like fish-scales (1 Sam.

• Main-sail

  (Gr.

• Makheloth

  Assemblies, a station of the Israelites in the desert (Num.

• Makkedah

  Herdsman's place, one of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh.

• Maktesh

  Mortar, a place in or near Jerusalem inhabited by silver merchants (Zeph.

• Malachi

  Messenger or angel, the last of the minor prophets, and the writer of the last book of the Old Testament canon (Mal.

• Malachi, Prophecies of

  The contents of the book are comprised in four chapters.

• Malcam

  (2 Sam.

• Malchiah

  Jehovah's king.

• Malchi-shua

  King of help, one of the four sons of Saul (1 Chr.

• Malchus

  Reigning, the personal servant or slave of the high priest Caiaphas.

• Mallothi

  My fulness, a Kohathite Levite, one of the sons of Heman the Levite (1 Chr.

• Mallows

  Occurs only in Job 30:4 (R.V., "saltwort").

• Malluch

  Reigned over, or reigning.

• Mammon

  A Chaldee or Syriac word meaning "wealth" or "riches" (Luke 16:9-11);

• Mamre

  Manliness.

• Man

  (1.) Heb.

• Manaen

  Consoler, a Christian teacher at Antioch.

• Manasseh

  Who makes to forget.

• Mandrakes

  Hebrew dudaim;

• Maneh

  Portion (Ezek.

• Manger

  (Luke 2:7, 12, 16), the name (Gr.

• Manna

  Heb.

• Manoah

  Rest, a Danite, the father of Samson (Judg.

• Man of sin

  A designation of Antichrist given in 2 Thess.

• Manslayer

  One who was guilty of accidental homicide, and was entitled to flee to a city of refuge (Num.

• Mantle

  (1.) Heb.

• Maoch

  Compressed, the father of Achish, king of Gath (1 Sam.

• Maon

  Habitation, a town in the tribe of Judah, about 7 miles south of Hebron, which gave its name to the wilderness, the district round the conic

• Mara

  Bitter;

• Marah

  Bitterness, a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites (Ex.

• Maralah

  Trembling, a place on the southern boundary of Zebulun (Josh.

• Maranatha

  (1 Cor.

• Marble

  As a mineral, consists of carbonate of lime, its texture varying from the highly crystalline to the compact.

• Marcheshvan

  The post-biblical name of the month which was the eighth of the sacred and the second of the civil year of the Jews.

• Marcus

  Col.

• Mareshah

  Possession, a city in the plain of Judah (John.

• Mark

  The evangelist;

• Market-place

  Any place of public resort, and hence a public place or broad street (Matt.

• Mark, Gospel according to

  It is the current and apparently well-founded tradition that Mark derived his information mainly from the discourses of Peter.

• Maroth

  Bitterness;

• Marriage

  Was instituted in Paradise when man was in innocence (Gen.

• Marriage-feasts

  (John 2:1-11) "lasted usually for a whole week;

• Mars Hill

  The Areopagus or rocky hill in Athens, north-west of the Acropolis, where the Athenian supreme tribunal and court of morals was held.

• Martha

  Bitterness, the sister of Lazarus and Mary, and probably the eldest of the family, who all resided at Bethany (Luke 10:38, 40, 41;

• Martyr

  One who bears witness of the truth, and suffers death in the cause of Christ (Acts 22:20;

• Mary

  Hebrew Miriam.

• Maschil

  Instructing, occurs in the title of thirteen Psalms (32, 42, 44, etc.).

• Mash

  (= Meshech 1 Chr.

• Mashal

  Entreaty, a levitical town in the tribe of Asher (1 Chr.

• Mason

  An artificer in stone.

• Masrekah

  Vineyard of noble vines, a place in Idumea, the native place of Samlah, one of the Edomitish kings (Gen.

• Massa

  A lifting up, gift, one of the sons of Ishmael, the founder of an Arabian tribe (Gen.

• Massah

  Trial, temptation, a name given to the place where the Israelites, by their murmuring for want of water, provoked Jehovah to anger against t

• Mattan

  Gift.

• Mattanah

  A gift, a station of the Israelites (Num.

• Mattaniah

  Gift of Jehovah.

• Mattathias

  Ibid.

• Matthan

  Gift, one of our Lord's ancestry (Matt.

• Matthat

  Gift of God.

• Matthew

  Gift of God, a common Jewish name after the Exile.

• Matthew, Gospel according to

  The author of this book was beyond a doubt the Matthew, an apostle of our Lord, whose name it bears.

• Matthias

  Gift of God.

• Mattithiah

  Gift of Jehovah.

• Mattock

  (1.) Heb.

• Maul

  An old name for a mallet, the rendering of the Hebrew mephits (Prov.

• Mazzaroth

  Prognostications, found only Job 38:32, probably meaning "the twelve signs" (of the zodiac), as in the margin (comp.

• Meadow

  (1.) Heb.

• Meah

  An hundred, a tower in Jersalem on the east wall (Neh.

• Meals

  Are at the present day "eaten from a round table little higher than a stool, guests sitting cross-legged on mats or small carpets in a circl

• Mearah

  A cave, a place in the northern boundary of Palestine (Josh.

• Measure

  Several words are so rendered in the Authorized Version.

• Meat-offering

  (Heb.

• Mebunnai

  Construction, building of Jehovah, one of David's bodyguard (2 Sam.

• Medad

  Love, one of the elders nominated to assist Moses in the government of the people.

• Medan

  Contention, the third son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen.

• Mede

  (Heb.

• Medeba

  Waters of quiet, an ancient Moabite town (Num.

• Media

  Heb.

• Mediator

  One who intervenes between two persons who are at variance, with a view to reconcile them.

• Meekness

  A calm temper of mind, not easily provoked (James 3:13).

• Megiddo

  Place of troops, originally one of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh.

• Mehetabeel

  Whose benefactor is God, the father of Delaiah, and grandfather of Shemaiah, who joined Sanballat against Nehemiah (Neh.

• Mehetabel

  Wife of Hadad, one of the kings of Edom (Gen.

• Mehujael

  Smitten by God, the son of Irad, and father of Methusael (Gen.

• Mehuman

  Faithful, one of the eunchs whom Ahasuerus (Xerxes) commanded to bring in Vashti (Esther 1:10).

• Mehunims

  Habitations, (2 Chr.

• Me-jarkon

  Waters of yellowness, or clear waters, a river in the tribe of Dan (Josh.

• Mekonah

  A base or foundation, a town in the south of Judah (Neh.

• Melchi

  My king.

• Melchizedek

  King of righteousness, the king of Salem (q.v.).

• Melea

  Fulness, the son of Menan and father of Eliakim, in the genealogy of our Lord (Luke 3:31).

• Melech

  King, the second of Micah's four sons (1 Chr.

• Melita

  (Acts 27:28), an island in the Mediterranean, the modern Malta.

• Melons

  Only in Num.

• Melzar

  Probably a Persian word meaning master of wine, i.e., chief butler;

• Memphis

  Only in Hos.

• Memucan

  Dignified, one of the royal counsellors at the court of Ahasuerus, by whose suggestion Vashti was divorced (Esther 1:14, 16, 21).

• Menahem

  Conforting, the son of Gadi, and successor of Shallum, king of Israel, whom he slew.

• Mene

  (Dan.

• Meni

  Isa.

• Meonenim

  (Judg.

• Mephaath

  Splendour, a Levitical city (Josh.

• Mephibosheth

  Exterminator of shame;

• Merab

  Increase, the eldest of Saul's two daughters (1 Sam.

• Meraiah

  Resistance, a chief priest, a contemporary of the high priest Joiakim (Neh.

• Meraioth

  Rebellions.

• Merari

  Sad;

• Merarites

  The descendants of Merari (Num.

• Merathaim

  Double rebellion, probably a symbolical name given to Babylon (Jer.

• Merchant

  The Hebrew word so rendered is from a root meaning "to travel about," "to migrate," and hence "a traveller." In the East, in ancient times,

• Mercurius

  The Hermes (i.e., "the speaker") of the Greeks (Acts 14:12), a heathen God represented as the constant attendant of Jupiter, and the god of

• Mercy

  Compassion for the miserable.

• Mercy-seat

  (Heb.

• Mered

  Rebellion, one of the sons of Ezra, of the tribe of Judah (1 Chr.

• Meremoth

  Exaltations, heights, a priest who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Neh.

• Meribah

  Quarrel or strife.

• Merib-baal

  Contender with Baal, (1 Chr.

• Merodach

  Death;

• Merodach-baladan

  Merodach has given a son, (Isa.

• Merom

  Height, a lake in Northern Palestine through which the Jordan flows.

• Meronothite

  A name given to Jehdeiah, the herdsman of the royal asses in the time of David and Solomon (1 Chr.

• Meroz

  A plain in the north of Palestine, the inhabitants of which were severely condemned because they came not to help Barak against Sisera (Judg

• Mesha

  Middle district, Vulgate, Messa.

• Meshach

  The title given to Mishael, one of the three Hebrew youths who were under training at the Babylonian court for the rank of Magi (Dan.

• Meshech

  Drawing out, the sixth son of Japheth (Gen.

• Meshelemiah

  Friendship of Jehovah, a Levite of the family of the Korhites, called also Shelemiah (1 Chr.

• Meshillemoth

  Requitals.

• Meshullam

  Befriended.

• Meshullemeth

  Friend, the wife of Manasseh, and the mother of Amon (2 Kings 21:19), Kings of Judah.

• Mesopotamia

  The country between the two rivers (Heb.

• Mess

  A portion of food given to a guest (Gen.

• Messenger

  (Heb.

• Messiah

  (Heb.

• Metheg-ammah

  Bridle of the mother, a figurative name for a chief city, as in 2 Sam.

• Methusael

  Champion of El;

• Methuselah

  Man of the dart, the son of Enoch, and grandfather of Noah.

• Mezahab

  Water of gold, the father of Matred (Gen.

• Miamin

  =Mijamin, from the right hand.

• Mibhar

  Choice, a Hagarene, one of David's warriors (1 Chr.

• Mibsam

  Fragrance.

• Mibzar

  Fortress, one of the Edomitish "dukes" descended from Esau (Gen.

• Micah

  A shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? (1.) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Judg.

• Micah, Book of

  The sixth in order of the so-called minor prophets.

• Micaiah

  Who is like Jehovah?, the son of Imlah, a faithful prophet of Samaria (1 Kings 22:8-28).

• Micha

  (1.) 2 Sam.

• Michael

  Who is like God? (1.) The title given to one of the chief angels (Dan.

• Michaiah

  (1.) The queen-mother of King Abijah (2 Chr.

• Michal

  Rivulet, or who as God?, the younger of Saul's two daughters by his wife Ahinoam (1 Sam.

• Michmash

  Something hidden, a town of Benjamin (Ezra 2:27), east of Bethel and south of Migron, on the road to Jerusalem (Isa.

• Michmethah

  Hiding-place, a town in the northern border of Ephraim and Manasseh, and not far west of Jordan (Josh.

• Michri

  Prize of Jehovah, a Benjamite, the father of Uzzi (1 Chr.

• Michtam

  Writing;

• Middin

  Measures, one of the six cities "in the wilderness," on the west of the Dead Sea, mentioned along with En-gedi (Josh.

• Midian

  Strife, the fourth son of Abraham by Keturah, the father of the Midianites (Gen.

• Midianite

  An Arabian tribe descended from Midian.

• Midwife

  The two midwives mentioned in Ex.

• Migdal-Edar

  Tower of the flock, a place 2 miles south of Jerusalem, near the Bethlehem road (Gen.

• Migdal-el

  Tower of God, a fortified city of Naphtali (Josh.

• Migdal-gad

  Tower of fortune, a town in the plains of Judah, probably the modern el-Mejdel, a little to the north-east of Ascalon (Josh.

• Migdol

  Tower.

• Migron

  Precipice or landslip, a place between Aiath and Michmash (Isa.

• Mikloth

  Staves.

• Milaiai

  Eloquent, a Levitical musician (Neh.

• Mildew

  (the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning "to be yellow," yellowness), the result of cutting east winds blighting and thus rendering the grain

• Mile

  (from Lat.

• Miletus

  (Miletum, 2 Tim.

• Milk

  (1.) Hebrew halabh, "new milk", milk in its fresh state (Judg.

• Mill

  For grinding corn, mentioned as used in the time of Abraham (Gen.

• Millennium

  A thousand years;

• Millet

  (Heb.

• Millo

  (Heb.

• Mincing

  (Heb.

• Mine

  The process of mining is described in Job 28:1-11.

• Minister

  One who serves, as distinguished from the master.

• Minni

  Only in Jer.

• Minnith

  Distribution, an Ammonitish town (Judg.

• Minstrel

  (Matt.

• Mint

  (Gr.

• Miracle

  An event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use of means capab

• Miriam

  Their rebellion.

• Misdeem

  (Deut.

• Misgab

  Height, a town of Moab, or simply, the height=the citadel, some fortress so called;

• Mishael

  Who is like God! (1.) A Levite;

• Mishal

  A city of the tribe of Asher (Josh.

• Misham

  Their cleansing or their beholding, a Benjamite, one of the sons of Elpaal (1 Chr.

• Misheal

  (Josh.

• Mishma

  Hearing.

• Mishmannah

  Fatness, one of the Gadite heroes who gathered to David at Ziklag (1 Chr.

• Misrephoth-maim

  Burning of waters, supposed to be salt-pans, or lime-kilns, or glass-factories, a place to which Joshua pursued a party of Canaanites after

• Mite

  Contraction of minute, from the Latin minutum, the translation of the Greek word lepton, the very smallest bronze of copper coin (Luke 12:59

• Mithcah

  Sweetness, one of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness (Num.

• Mithredath

  Given by Mithra, or dedicated to Mithra, i.e., the sun, the Hebrew form of the Greek name Mithridates.

• Mitre

  (Heb.

• Mitylene

  The chief city of the island of Lesbos, on its east coast, in the AEgean Sea.

• Mixed multitude

  (Ex.

• Mizar

  Smallness, a summit on the eastern ridge of Lebanon, near which David lay after escaping from Absalom (Ps.

• Mizpah

  Or Miz'peh, watch-tower;

• Mizpar

  Number, one of the Jews who accompanied Zerubbabel from Babylon (Ezra 2:2);

• Mizraim

  The dual form of matzor, meaning a "mound" or "fortress," the name of a people descended from Ham (Gen.

• Mizzah

  Despair, one of the four sons of Reuel, the son of Esau (Gen.

• Mnason

  Reminding, or remembrancer, a Christian of Jerusalem with whom Paul lodged (Acts 21:16).

• Moab

  The seed of the father, or, according to others, the desirable land, the eldest son of Lot (Gen.

• Moabite

  The designation of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Gen.

• Moabite Stone

  A basalt stone, bearing an inscription by King Mesha, which was discovered at Dibon by Klein, a German missionary at Jerusalem, in 1868.

• Moladah

  Birth, a city in the south of Judah which fell to Simeon (Josh.

• Mole

  Heb.

• Moloch

  King, the name of the national god of the Ammonites, to whom children were sacrificed by fire.

• Money

  Of uncoined money the first notice we have is in the history of Abraham (Gen.

• Money-changer

  (Matt.

• Month

  Among the Egyptians the month of thirty days each was in use long before the time of the Exodus, and formed the basis of their calculations.

• Moon

  Heb.

• Mordecai

  The son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin.

• Moreh

  An archer, teacher;

• Moreh, the Hill of

  Probably identical with "little Hermon," the modern Jebel ed-Duhy, or perhaps one of the lower spurs of this mountain.

• Moresheth-gath

  Possession of the wine-press, the birthplace of the prophet Micah (1:14), who is called the "Morasthite" (Jer.

• Moriah

  The chosen of Jehovah.

• Mortar

  (Heb.

• Mosera

  A bond, one of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness (Deut.

• Moseroth

  Bonds, one of the stations in the wilderness (Num.

• Moses

  Drawn (or Egypt.

• Mote

  (Gr.

• Moth

  Heb.

• Mouldy

  Of the Gibeonites it is said that "all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy" (Josh.

• Mount

  Palestine is a hilly country (Deut.

• Mount of beatitudes

  See [422]SERMON.

• Mount of corruption

  (2 Kings 23:13;

• Mount of the Amalekites

  A place near Pirathon (q.v.), in the tribe of Ephraim (Judg.

• Mount of the Amorites

  The range of hills which rises abruptly in the wilderness of et-Tih ("the wandering"), mentioned Deut.

• Mount of the congregation

  Only in Isa.

• Mount of the valley

  (Josh.

• Mourn

  Frequent references are found in Scripture to, (1.) Mourning for the dead.

• Mouse

  Heb.

• Mowing

  (Heb.

• Moza

  A going forth.

• Mozah

  An issuing of water, a city of Benjamin (Josh.

• Mufflers

  (Isa.

• Mulberry

  Heb.

• Mule

  (Heb.

• Murder

  Wilful murder was distinguished from accidental homicide, and was invariably visited with capital punishment (Num.

• Murmuring

  Of the Hebrews in the wilderness, called forth the displeasure of God, which was only averted by the earnest prayer of Moses (Num.

• Murrain

  Heb.

• Mushi

  Receding, the second of the two sons of Merari (Ex.

• Music

  Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen.

• Musician, Chief

  (Heb.

• Music, Instrumental

  Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments.

• Mustard

  A plant of the genus sinapis, a pod-bearing, shrub-like plant, growing wild, and also cultivated in gardens.

• Muth-labben

  Occurring only in the title of Psalm 9.

• Muzzle

  Grain in the East is usually thrashed by the sheaves being spread out on a floor, over which oxen and cattle are driven to and fro, till the

• Myra

  One of the chief towns of Lycia, in Asia Minor, about 2 1/2 miles from the coast (Acts 27:5).

• Myrrh

  Heb.

• Myrtle

  (Isa.

• Mysia

  A province in the north-west of Asia Minor.

• Mystery

  The calling of the Gentiles into the Christian Church, so designated (Eph.