Hallel [Heb.,=praise], in Judaism, Psalms 113 to 118, sung every morning of Hanukkah, at the Passover service, and at the morning service of most major Jewish holidays as an expression of joy ...

Barabbas [Aram.,=son of the father], bandit held in jail at the time of Jesus' arrest. Pontius Pilate, who, according to the Gospels, annually released a prisoner at Passover, offered to relea...

Agnus Dei [Lat.], the Lamb of God, i.e., Jesus. The lamb of the Passover sacrifice is said to prefigure the crucifixion. Isaiah calls the expected Messiah the Lamb of God, and Jesus is met by ...

Shavuot [Heb.,=weeks], Jewish feast celebrated on the 6th of the month of Sivan (usually some time in May) in Israel and on the sixth and seventh days in the Diaspora. Originally an agricultur...

Pentecost [Gr.,=fiftieth], important Jewish and Christian feast. The Jewish feast of Pentecost, in Hebrew Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, one of the three pilgrimage festivals, arose as the celeb...

Gamaliel of Jabneh, fl. A.D. 100, Jewish scholar; grandson of the Gamaliel who, according to tradition, taught St. Paul the law. A Palestinian Tanna, he succeeded Johanan ben Zakkai as head of...

Last Supper, in the New Testament, meal taken by Jesus and his disciples on the eve of the passion. Jesus broke bread and passed a cup of wine among the disciples, identifying himself with the...

Levites, a religious caste among the ancient Hebrews, descended from Jacob's son Levi and figuring prominently in the Bible. There were three divisions of Levites—Kohathites, Merarites, and Ge...

Tansy, perennial herb (Tanacetum vulgare) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native to Europe but naturalized in North America. It was long cultivated for its ornamental foliage and clus...

Plagues of Egypt, in the Bible, the plagues and other troubles brought on Egypt by God through the hands of Moses, because Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go out of Egypt. The accou...