Search the Dictionary

A sect of Jews who adhere closely to the letter of the Scriptures, rejecting the oral law, and allowing the Talmud no binding authority; -- opposed to the Rabbinists.

Ceremonially clean, according to Jewish law; --applied to food, esp. to meat of animals slaughtered according to the requirements of Jewish law. Opposed to tref. Hence, designating a shop, store, house, etc., where such food is sold or used.

A large brazen vessel placed in the court of the Jewish tabernacle where the officiating priests washed their hands and feet.

The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament. What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the pro…

lower classes, or the rabble; idle and lawless; bad; vicious. [Archaic] Chaucer. But the Jews, which believed not, . . . took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, . . . and assaulted the house of Jason. Acts xvii. 5. Too lewd to work, and ready for any kind of mischief. Southey .

s the senses, and is also costly, or difficult to obtain; an expensive rarity; as, silks, jewels, and rare fruits are luxuries; in some countries ice is a great luxury. He cut the side of a rock for a garden, and, by laying on it earth, furnished out a kind of luxury for a hermit. Addison.

The name given in later times to the Asmonæans, a family of Jewish patriots, who headed a religious revolt in the reign of Antiochus IV., 168-161 B. C., which led to a period of freedom for Israel. Schaff-Herzog.

er, neither wholly good nor evil, the Creator of the world and of man, and the God of the Jewish dispensation. Brande & C.

A Jewish critical work on the text of the Hebrew Scriptures, composed by several learned rabbis of the school of Tiberias, in the eighth and ninth centuries. [Written also Masorah, Massora, and Massorah.]

A cake of unleavened bread eaten by the Jews at the feast of the Passover.

In Russia, severe oppressive laws against Jews, which have given occasion for great persecution; -- so called because they received the assent of the czar in May, 1882, and because likened to the Prussian May laws (see Kulturkampf).

lands the grass is but short, yet it mends garden herbs and fruit. Mortimer. You mend the jewel by the wearing it. Shak.

An alloy consisting of copper, nickel, tungsten, and aluminium; -- used by jewelers.

A collection or digest of Jewish traditions and explanations of Scripture, forming the text of the Talmud. [Written also Mischna.]

Having a true natural luster without being cut; -- applied by jewelers to a precious stone.

Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed. The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world. Bp. Wilkins.

In a national manner or way; as a nation. "The jews ... being nationally espoused to God by covenant." South.

A Jew bound by a vow to lave the hair uncut, to abstain from wine and strong drink, and to practice extraordinary purity of life and devotion, the obligation being for life, or for a certain time. The word is also used adjectively.

new moon is first seen; the first day of the lunar month, which was a holy day among the Jews. 2 Kings iv. 23. -- New Red Sandstone (Geol.), an old name for the formation immediately above the coal measures or strata, now divided into the Permian and Trias. See Sandstone. -- New style. See Style. -- New testament.…

The first month of the jewish ecclesiastical year, formerly answering nearly to the month of April, now to March, of the Christian calendar. See Abib.