Jairus
A ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum, whose only daughter Jesus restored to life ( Mark 5:22 ; Luke 8:41 ). Entering into the chamber of death, accompanied by Peter and James and John and the father and mother of the maiden, he went forward to the bed whereon the corpse lay, and said, Talitha cumi, i.e., “Maid, arise,” and immediately the spirit of the maiden came to her again, and she arose straightway; and “at once to strengthen that life which had come back to her, and to prove that she was indeed no ghost, but had returned to the realities of a mortal existence, he commanded to give her something to eat” ( Mark 5:43 ).
Jesus
(1.) Joshua, the son of Nun ( Acts 7:45 ; Heb. 4:8 ; R.V., “Joshua”). (2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus ( Col. 4:11 ). Je’sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish him from others so called, he is spoken of as “Jesus of Nazareth” ( John 18:7 ), and “Jesus the son of Joseph” ( John 6:42 ). This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was originally Hoshea ( Num. 13:8 , 16 ), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua ( Num. 13:16 ; 1 Chr. 7:27 ), or Joshua. After the Exile it assumed the form Jeshua, whence the Greek form Jesus. It was given to our Lord to denote the object of his mission, to save ( Matt. 1:21 ). The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods, (1) that of his private life, till he was about thirty years of age; and (2) that of his public life, which lasted about three years. In the “fulness of time” he was born at Bethlehem, in the reign of the emperor Augustus, of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter ( Matt. 1:1 ; Luke 3:23 ; comp. John 7:42 ). His birth was announced to the shepherds ( Luke 2:8-20 ). Wise men from the east came to Bethlehem to see him who was born “King of the Jews,” bringing gifts with them ( Matt. 2:1-12 ). Herod’s cruel jealousy led to Joseph’s flight into Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus, where they tarried till the death of this king ( Matt. 2:13-23 ), when they returned and settled in Nazareth, in Lower Galilee (2:23; comp. Luke 4:16 ; John 1:46 , etc.). At the age of twelve years he went up to Jerusalem to the Passover with his parents. There, in the temple, “in the midst of the doctors,” all that heard him were “astonished at his understanding and answers” ( Luke 2:41 , etc.). Eighteen years pass, of which we have no record beyond this, that he returned to Nazareth and “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” ( Luke 2:52 ). He entered on his public ministry when he was about thirty years of age. It is generally reckoned to have extended to about three years. “Each of these years had peculiar features of its own. (1.) The first year may be called the year of obscurity, both because the records of it which we possess are very scanty, and because he seems during it to have been only slowly emerging into public notice. It was spent for the most part in Judea. (2.) The second year was the year of public favour, during which the country had become thoroughly aware of him; his activity was incessant, and his frame rang through the length and breadth of the land. It was almost wholly passed in Galilee. (3.) The third was the year of opposition, when the public favour ebbed away. His enemies multiplied and assailed him with more and more pertinacity, and at last he fell a victim to their hatred. The first six months of this final year were passed in Galilee, and the last six in other parts of the land.”, Stalker’s Life of Jesus Christ, p. 45. The only reliable sources of information regarding the life of Christ on earth are the Gospels, which present in historical detail the words and the work of Christ in so many different aspects. (See CHIRST .)
John
(1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John ( Acts 4:6 ). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He is designated by this name in the acts of the Apostles (12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37). (3.) THE APOSTLE, brother of James the “Greater” ( Matt. 4:21 ; 10:2 ; Mark 1:19 ; 3:17 ; 10:35 ). He was one, probably the younger, of the sons of Zebedee ( Matt. 4:21 ) and Salome ( Matt. 27:56 ; comp. Mark 15:40 ), and was born at Bethsaida. His father was apparently a man of some wealth (comp. Mark 1:20 ; Luke 5:3 ; John 19:27 ). He was doubtless trained in all that constituted the ordinary education of Jewish youth. When he grew up he followed the occupation of a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee. When John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness of Judea, John, with many others, gathered round him, and was deeply influenced by his teaching. There he heard the announcement, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and forthwith, on the invitation of Jesus, became a disciple and ranked among his followers ( John 1:36 , 37 ) for a time. He and his brother then returned to their former avocation, for how long is uncertain. Jesus again called them ( Matt. 4 : 21; Luke 5:1-11 ), and now they left all and permanently attached themselves to the company of his disciples. He became one of the innermost circle ( Mark 5:37 ; Matt. 17:1 ; 26:37 ; Mark 13:3 ). He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. In zeal and intensity of character he was a “Boanerges” ( Mark 3:17 ). This spirit once and again broke out ( Matt. 20:20-24 ; Mark 10:35-41 ; Luke 9:49 , 54 ). At the betrayal he and Peter follow Christ afar off, while the others betake themselves to hasty flight ( John 18:15 ). At the trial he follows Christ into the council chamber, and thence to the praetorium (18:16, 19, 28) and to the place of crucifixion (19:26, 27). To him and Peter, Mary first conveys tidings of the resurrection (20:2), and they are the first to go and see what her strange words mean. After the resurrection he and Peter again return to the Sea of Galilee, where the Lord reveals himself to them (21:1, 7). We find Peter and John frequently after this together ( Acts 3:1 ; 4:13 ). John remained apparently in Jerusalem as the leader of the church there ( Acts 15:6 ; Gal. 2:9 ). His subsequent history is unrecorded. He was not there, however, at the time of Paul’s last visit ( Acts 21:15-40 ). He appears to have retired to Ephesus, but at what time is unknown. The seven churches of Asia were the objects of his special care ( Rev. 1:11 ). He suffered under persecution, and was banished to Patmos (1:9); whence he again returned to Ephesus, where he died, probably about A.D. 98, having outlived all or nearly all the friends and companions even of his maturer years. There are many interesting traditions regarding John during his residence at Ephesus, but these cannot claim the character of historical truth.
John, First Epistle of
The fourth of the catholic or “general” epistles. It was evidently written by John the evangelist, and probably also at Ephesus, and when the writer was in advanced age. The purpose of the apostle (1:1-4) is to declare the Word of Life to those to whom he writes, in order that they might be united in fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. He shows that the means of union with God are, (1) on the part of Christ, his atoning work (1:7; 2:2; 3:5; 4:10, 14; 5:11, 12) and his advocacy (2:1); and (2), on the part of man, holiness (1:6), obedience (2:3), purity (3:3), faith (3:23; 4:3; 5:5), and love (2:7, 8; 3:14; 4:7; 5:1).
John, Gospel of
The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its genuineness, but without success. The design of John in writing this Gospel is stated by himself ( John 20:31 ). It was at one time supposed that he wrote for the purpose of supplying the omissions of the synoptical, i.e., of the first three, Gospels, but there is no evidence for this. “There is here no history of Jesus and his teaching after the manner of the other evangelists. But there is in historical form a representation of the Christian faith in relation to the person of Christ as its central point; and in this representation there is a picture on the one hand of the antagonism of the world to the truth revealed in him, and on the other of the spiritual blessedness of the few who yield themselves to him as the Light of life” (Reuss). After the prologue (1:1-5), the historical part of the book begins with verse 6, and consists of two parts. The first part (1:6-ch. 12) contains the history of our Lord’s public ministry from the time of his introduction to it by John the Baptist to its close. The second part (ch. 13-21) presents our Lord in the retirement of private life and in his intercourse with his immediate followers (13-17), and gives an account of his sufferings and of his appearances to the disciples after his resurrection (18-21). The peculiarities of this Gospel are the place it gives (1) to the mystical relation of the Son to the Father, and (2) of the Redeemer to believers; (3) the announcement of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter; (4) the prominence given to love as an element in the Christian character. It was obviously addressed primarily to Christians. It was probably written at Ephesus, which, after the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), became the centre of Christian life and activity in the East, about A.D. 90.
John the Baptist
The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia ( 1 Chr. 24:10 ), and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron ( Luke 1:5 ). The mission of John was the subject of prophecy ( Matt. 3:3 ; Isa. 40:3 ; Mal. 3:1 ). His birth, which took place six months before that of Jesus, was foretold by an angel. Zacharias, deprived of the power of speech as a token of God’s truth and a reproof of his own incredulity with reference to the birth of his son, had the power of speech restored to him on the occasion of his circumcision ( Luke 1:64 ). After this no more is recorded of him for thirty years than what is mentioned in Luke 1:80 . John was a Nazarite from his birth ( Luke 1:15 ; Num. 6:1-12 ). He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judah lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea ( Matt. 3:1-12 ). At length he came forth into public life, and great multitudes from “every quarter” were attracted to him. The sum of his preaching was the necessity of repentance. He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees as a “generation of vipers,” and warned them of the folly of trusting to external privileges ( Luke 3:8 ). “As a preacher, John was eminently practical and discriminating. Self-love and covetousness were the prevalent sins of the people at large. On them, therefore, he enjoined charity and consideration for others. The publicans he cautioned against extortion, the soldiers against crime and plunder.” His doctrine and manner of life roused the entire south of Palestine, and the people from all parts flocked to the place where he was, on the banks of the Jordan. There he baptized thousands unto repentance. The fame of John reached the ears of Jesus in Nazareth ( Matt. 3:5 ), and he came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John, on the special ground that it became him to “fulfil all righteousness” (3:15). John’s special office ceased with the baptism of Jesus, who must now “increase” as the King come to his kingdom. He continued, however, for a while to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. He pointed him out to his disciples, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God.” His public ministry was suddenly (after about six months probably) brought to a close by his being cast into prison by Herod, whom he had reproved for the sin of having taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip ( Luke 3:19 ). He was shut up in the castle of Machaerus (q.v.), a fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, and here he was beheaded. His disciples, having consigned the headless body to the grave, went and told Jesus all that had occurred ( Matt. 14:3-12 ). John’s death occurred apparently just before the third Passover of our Lord’s ministry. Our Lord himself testified regarding him that he was a “burning and a shining light” ( John 5:35 ).
Jordan
Heb. Yarden, “the descender;” Arab. Nahr-esh-Sheriah, “the watering-place” the chief river of Palestine. It flows from north to south down a deep valley in the centre of the country. The name descender is significant of the fact that there is along its whole course a descent to its banks; or it may simply denote the rapidity with which it “descends” to the Dead Sea. It originates in the snows of Hermon, which feed its perennial fountains. Two sources are generally spoken of. (1.) From the western base of a hill on which once stood the city of Dan, the northern border-city of Palestine, there gushes forth a considerable fountain called the Leddan, which is the largest fountain in Syria and the principal source of the Jordan. (2.) Beside the ruins of Banias, the ancient Caesarea Philippi and the yet more ancient Panium, is a lofty cliff of limestone, at the base of which is a fountain. This is the other source of the Jordan, and has always been regarded by the Jews as its true source. It rushes down to the plain in a foaming torrent, and joins the Leddan about 5 miles south of Dan (Tell-el-Kady). (3.) But besides these two historical fountains there is a third, called the Hasbany, which rises in the bottom of a valley at the western base of Hermon, 12 miles north of Tell-el-Kady. It joins the main stream about a mile below the junction of the Leddan and the Banias. The river thus formed is at this point about 45 feet wide, and flows in a channel from 12 to 20 feet below the plain. After this it flows, “with a swift current and a much-twisted course,” through a marshy plain for some 6 miles, when it falls into the Lake Huleh, “the waters of Merom” (q.v.). During this part of its course the Jordan has descended about 1,100 feet. At Banias it is 1,080 feet above sea-level. Flowing from the southern extremity of Lake Huleh, here almost on a level with the sea, it flows for 2 miles “through a waste of islets and papyrus,” and then for 9 miles through a narrow gorge in a foaming torrent onward to the Sea of Galilee (q.v.). “In the whole valley of the Jordan from the Lake Huleh to the Sea of Galilee there is not a single settled inhabitant. Along the whole eastern bank of the river and the lakes, from the base of Hermon to the ravine of Hieromax, a region of great fertility, 30 miles long by 7 or 8 wide, there are only some three inhabited villages. The western bank is almost as desolate. Ruins are numerous enough. Every mile or two is an old site of town or village, now well nigh hid beneath a dense jungle of thorns and thistles. The words of Scripture here recur to us with peculiar force: ‘I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation...And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it...And your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate’ ( Lev. 26:31-34 ).”, Dr. Porter’s Handbook. From the Sea of Galilee, at the level of 682 feet below the Mediterranean, the river flows through a long, low plain called “the region of Jordan” ( Matt. 3:5 ), and by the modern Arabs the Ghor, or “sunken plain.” This section is properly the Jordan of Scripture. Down through the midst of the “plain of Jordan” there winds a ravine varying in breadth from 200 yards to half a mile, and in depth from 40 to 150 feet. Through it the Jordan flows in a rapid, rugged, tortuous course down to the Dead Sea. The whole distance from the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is in a straight line about 65 miles, but following the windings of the river about 200 miles, during which it falls 618 feet. The total length of the Jordan from Banias is about 104 miles in a straight line, during which it falls 2,380 feet. There are two considerable affluents which enter the river between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, both from the east. (1.) The Wady Mandhur, called the Yarmuk by the Rabbins and the Hieromax by the Greeks. It formed the boundary between Bashan and Gilead. It drains the plateau of the Hauran. (2.) The Jabbok or Wady Zerka, formerly the northern boundary of Ammon. It enters the Jordan about 20 miles north of Jericho. The first historical notice of the Jordan is in the account of the separation of Abraham and Lot ( Gen. 13:10 ). “Lot beheld the plain of Jordan as the garden of the Lord.” Jacob crossed and recrossed “this Jordan” (32:10). The Israelites passed over it as “on dry ground” ( Josh. 3:17 ; Ps. 114:3 ). Twice afterwards its waters were miraculously divided at the same spot by Elijah and Elisha ( 2 Kings 2:8 , 14 ). The Jordan is mentioned in the Old Testament about one hundred and eighty times, and in the New Testament fifteen times. The chief events in gospel history connected with it are (1) John the Baptist’s ministry, when “there went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and were baptized of him in Jordan” ( Matt. 3:6 ). (2.) Jesus also “was baptized of John in Jordan” ( Mark 1:9 ).
Joseph
Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 30:23 , 24 ), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add [Heb. yoseph] to me another son” ( Gen. 30:24 ). He was a child of probably six years of age when his father returned from Haran to Canaan and took up his residence in the old patriarchal town of Hebron. “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age,” and he “made him a long garment with sleeves” ( Gen. 37:3 , R.V. marg.), i.e., a garment long and full, such as was worn by the children of nobles. This seems to be the correct rendering of the words. The phrase, however, may also be rendered, “a coat of many pieces”, i.e., a patchwork of many small pieces of divers colours. When he was about seventeen years old Joseph incurred the jealous hatred of his brothers ( Gen. 37:4 ). They “hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.” Their anger was increased when he told them his dreams (37:11). Jacob desiring to hear tidings of his sons, who had gone to Shechem with their flocks, some 60 miles from Hebron, sent Joseph as his messenger to make inquiry regarding them. Joseph found that they had left Shechem for Dothan, whither he followed them. As soon as they saw him coming they began to plot against him, and would have killed him had not Reuben interposed. They ultimately sold him to a company of Ishmaelite merchants for twenty pieces (shekels) of silver (about $2, 10s.), ten pieces less than the current value of a slave, for “they cared little what they had for him, if so be they were rid of him.” These merchants were going down with a varied assortment of merchandise to the Egyptian market, and thither they conveyed him, and ultimately sold him as a slave to Potiphar, an “officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard” ( Gen. 37:36 ). “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake,” and Potiphar made him overseer over his house. At length a false charge having been brought against him by Potiphar’s wife, he was at once cast into the state prison (39; 40), where he remained for at least two years. After a while the “chief of the cupbearers” and the “chief of the bakers” of Pharaoh’s household were cast into the same prison (40:2). Each of these new prisoners dreamed a dream in the same night, which Joseph interpreted, the event occurring as he had said. This led to Joseph’s being remembered subsequently by the chief butler when Pharaoh also dreamed. At his suggestion Joseph was brought from prison to interpret the king’s dreams. Pharaoh was well pleased with Joseph’s wisdom in interpreting his dreams, and with his counsel with reference to the events then predicted; and he set him over all the land of Egypt ( Gen. 41:46 ), and gave him the name of Zaphnath-paaneah. He was married to Asenath, the daughter of the priest of On, and thus became a member of the priestly class. Joseph was now about thirty years of age. As Joseph had interpreted, seven years of plenty came, during which he stored up great abundance of corn in granaries built for the purpose. These years were followed by seven years of famine “over all the face of the earth,” when “all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn” ( Gen. 41:56 , 57 ; 47:13, 14). Thus “Joseph gathered up all the money that was in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought.” Afterwards all the cattle and all the land, and at last the Egyptians themselves, became the property of Pharaoh. During this period of famine Joseph’s brethren also came down to Egypt to buy corn. The history of his dealings with them, and of the manner in which he at length made himself known to them, is one of the most interesting narratives that can be read ( Gen. 42 -45). Joseph directed his brethren to return and bring Jacob and his family to the land of Egypt, saying, “I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land is yours.” Accordingly Jacob and his family, to the number of threescore and ten souls, together with “all that they had,” went down to Egypt. They were settled in the land of Goshen, where Joseph met his father, and “fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while” ( Gen. 46:29 ). The excavations of Dr. Naville have shown the land of Goshen to be the Wady Tumilat, between Ismailia and Zagazig. In Goshen (Egyptian Qosem) they had pasture for their flocks, were near the Asiatic frontier of Egypt, and were out of the way of the Egyptian people. An inscription speaks of it as a district given up to the wandering shepherds of Asia. Jacob at length died, and in fulfilment of a promise which he had exacted, Joseph went up to Canaan to bury his father in “the field of Ephron the Hittite” ( Gen. 47:29-31 ; 50:1-14 ). This was the last recorded act of Joseph, who again returned to Egypt. “The ‘Story of the Two Brothers,’ an Egyptian romance written for the son of the Pharaoh of the Oppression, contains an episode very similar to the Biblical account of Joseph’s treatment by Potiphar’s wife. Potiphar and Potipherah are the Egyptian Pa-tu-pa-Ra, ‘the gift of the sun-god.’ The name given to Joseph, Zaphnath-paaneah, is probably the Egyptian Zaf-nti-pa-ankh, ‘nourisher of the living one,’ i.e., of the Pharaoh. There are many instances in the inscriptions of foreigners in Egypt receiving Egyptian names, and rising to the highest offices of state.” By his wife Asenath, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim ( Gen. 41:50 ). Joseph having obtained a promise from his brethren that when the time should come that God would “bring them unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,” they would carry up his bones out of Egypt, at length died, at the age of one hundred and ten years; and “they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin” ( Gen. 50:26 ). This promise was faithfully observed. Their descendants, long after, when the Exodus came, carried the body about with them during their forty years’ wanderings, and at length buried it in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor ( Josh. 24:32 ; comp. Gen. 33:19 ). With the death of Joseph the patriarchal age of the history of Israel came to a close. The Pharaoh of Joseph’s elevation was probably Apepi, or Apopis, the last of the Hyksos kings. Some, however, think that Joseph came to Egypt in the reign of Thothmes III. (see PHARAOH ), long after the expulsion of the Hyksos. The name Joseph denotes the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in Deut. 33:13-17 ; the kingdom of Israel in Ezek. 37:16 , 19 , Amos 5:6 ; and the whole covenant people of Israel in Ps. 81:4 . (2.) One of the sons of Asaph, head of the first division of sacred musicians ( 1 Chr. 25:2 , 9 ). (3.) The son of Judah, and father of Semei ( Luke 3:26 ). Other two of the same name in the ancestry of Christ are also mentioned (3:24, 30). (4.) The foster-father of our Lord ( Matt. 1:16 ; Luke 3:23 ). He lived at Nazareth in Galilee ( Luke 2:4 ). He is called a “just man.” He was by trade a carpenter ( Matt. 13:55 ). He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that he died before Jesus entered on his public ministry. This is concluded from the fact that Mary only was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. His name does not appear in connection with the scenes of the crucifixion along with that of Mary (q.v.), John 19:25 . (5.) A native of Arimathea, probably the Ramah of the Old Testament ( 1 Sam. 1:19 ), a man of wealth, and a member of the Sanhedrim ( Matt. 27:57 ; Luke 23:50 ), an “honourable counsellor, who waited for the kingdom of God.” As soon as he heard the tidings of Christ’s death, he “went in boldly” (lit. “having summoned courage, he went”) “unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.” Pilate having ascertained from the centurion that the death had really taken place, granted Joseph’s request, who immediately, having purchased fine linen ( Mark 15:46 ), proceeded to Golgotha to take the body down from the cross. There, assisted by Nicodemus, he took down the body and wrapped it in the fine linen, sprinkling it with the myrrh and aloes which Nicodemus had brought ( John 19:39 ), and then conveyed the body to the new tomb hewn by Joseph himself out of a rock in his garden hard by. There they laid it, in the presence of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, and other women, and rolled a great stone to the entrance, and departed ( Luke 23:53 , 55 ). This was done in haste, “for the Sabbath was drawing on” (comp. Isa. 53:9 ). (6.) Surnamed Barsabas ( Acts 1:23 ); also called Justus. He was one of those who “companied with the apostles all the time that the Lord Jesus went out and in among them” ( Acts 1:21 ), and was one of the candidates for the place of Judas.
Joshua
Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Saviour. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, the successor of Moses as the leader of Israel. He is called Jehoshua in Num. 13:16 (A.V.), and Jesus in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 (R.V., Joshua). He was born in Egypt, and was probably of the age of Caleb, with whom he is generally associated. He shared in all the events of the Exodus, and held the place of commander of the host of the Israelites at their great battle against the Amalekites in Rephidim ( Ex. 17:8-16 ). He became Moses’ minister or servant, and accompanied him part of the way when he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the two tables ( Ex. 32:17 ). He was also one of the twelve who were sent on by Moses to explore the land of Canaan ( Num. 13:16 , 17 ), and only he and Caleb gave an encouraging report. Under the direction of God, Moses, before his death, invested Joshua in a public and solemn manner with authority over the people as his successor ( Deut. 31:23 ). The people were encamped at Shittim when he assumed the command ( Josh. 1:1 ); and crossing the Jordan, they encamped at Gilgal, where, having circumcised the people, he kept the Passover, and was visited by the Captain of the Lord’s host, who spoke to him encouraging words (1:1-9). Now began the wars of conquest which Joshua carried on for many years, the record of which is in the book which bears his name. Six nations and thirty-one kings were conquered by him ( Josh. 11:18-23 ; 12:24 ). Having thus subdued the Canaanites, Joshua divided the land among the tribes, Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim being assigned to himself as his own inheritance. (See SHILOH ; PRIEST .) His work being done, he died, at the age of one hundred and ten years, twenty-five years after having crossed the Jordan. He was buried in his own city of Timnath-serah ( Josh. 24 ); and “the light of Israel for the time faded away.” Joshua has been regarded as a type of Christ ( Heb. 4:8 ) in the following particulars: (1) In the name common to both; (2) Joshua brings the people into the possession of the Promised Land, as Jesus brings his people to the heavenly Canaan; and (3) as Joshua succeeded Moses, so the Gospel succeeds the Law. The character of Joshua is thus well sketched by Edersheim:, “Born a slave in Egypt, he must have been about forty years old at the time of the Exodus. Attached to the person of Moses, he led Israel in the first decisive battle against Amalek ( Ex. 17:9 , 13 ), while Moses in the prayer of faith held up to heaven the God-given ‘rod.’ It was no doubt on that occasion that his name was changed from Oshea, ‘help,’ to Jehoshua, ‘Jehovah is help’ ( Num. 13:16 ). And this name is the key to his life and work. Alike in bringing the people into Canaan, in his wars, and in the distribution of the land among the tribes, from the miraculous crossing of Jordan and taking of Jericho to his last address, he was the embodiment of his new name, ‘Jehovah is help.’ To this outward calling his character also corresponded. It is marked by singleness of purpose, directness, and decision...He sets an object before him, and unswervingly follows it” (Bible Hist., iii. 103)
Judas
The Graecized form of Judah. (1.) The patriarch ( Matt. 1:2 , 3 ). (2.) Son of Simon ( John 6:71 ; 13:2 , 26 ), surnamed Iscariot, i.e., a man of Kerioth ( Josh. 15:25 ). His name is uniformly the last in the list of the apostles, as given in the synoptic (i.e., the first three) Gospels. The evil of his nature probably gradually unfolded itself till “Satan entered into him” ( John 13:27 ), and he betrayed our Lord (18:3). Afterwards he owned his sin with “an exceeding bitter cry,” and cast the money he had received as the wages of his iniquity down on the floor of the sanctuary, and “departed and went and hanged himself” ( Matt. 27:5 ). He perished in his guilt, and “went unto his own place” ( Acts 1:25 ). The statement in Acts 1:18 that he “fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out,” is in no way contrary to that in Matt. 27:5 . The sucide first hanged himself, perhaps over the valley of Hinnom, “and the rope giving way, or the branch to which he hung breaking, he fell down headlong on his face, and was crushed and mangled on the rocky pavement below.” Why such a man was chosen to be an apostle we know not, but it is written that “Jesus knew from the beginning who should betray him” ( John 6:64 ). Nor can any answer be satisfactorily given to the question as to the motives that led Judas to betray his Master. “Of the motives that have been assigned we need not care to fix on any one as that which simply led him on. Crime is, for the most part, the result of a hundred motives rushing with bewildering fury through the mind of the criminal.” (3.) A Jew of Damascus ( Acts 9:11 ), to whose house Ananias was sent. The street called “Straight” in which it was situated is identified with the modern “street of bazaars,” where is still pointed out the so-called “house of Judas.” (4.) A Christian teacher, surnamed Barsabas. He was sent from Jerusalem to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas with the decision of the council ( Acts 15:22 , 27 , 32 ). He was a “prophet” and a “chief man among the brethren.”
Judgment, The final
The sentence that will be passed on our actions at the last day ( Matt. 25 ; Rom. 14:10 , 11 ; 2 Cor. 5:10 ; 2 Thess. 1:7-10 ). The judge is Jesus Christ, as mediator. All judgment is committed to him ( Acts 17:31 ; John 5:22 , 27 ; Rev. 1:7 ). “It pertains to him as mediator to complete and publicly manifest the salvation of his people and the overthrow of his enemies, together with the glorious righteousness of his work in both respects.” The persons to be judged are, (1) the whole race of Adam without a single exception ( Matt. 25:31-46 ; 1 Cor. 15:51 , 52 ; Rev. 20:11-15 ); and (2) the fallen angels (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 1 :6). The rule of judgment is the standard of God’s law as revealed to men, the heathen by the law as written on their hearts ( Luke 12:47 , 48 ; Rom. 2:12-16 ); the Jew who “sinned in the law shall be judged by the law” ( Rom. 2:12 ); the Christian enjoying the light of revelation, by the will of God as made known to him ( Matt. 11:20-24 ; John 3:19 ). Then the secrets of all hearts will be brought to light ( 1 Cor. 4:5 ; Luke 8:17 ; 12:2 , 3 ) to vindicate the justice of the sentence pronounced. The time of the judgment will be after the resurrection ( Heb. 9:27 ; Acts 17:31 ). As the Scriptures represent the final judgment “as certain [ Eccl. 11:9 ], universal [ 2 Cor. 5:10 ], righteous [ Rom. 2:5 ], decisive [ 1 Cor. 15:52 ], and eternal as to its consequences [ Heb. 6:2 ], let us be concerned for the welfare of our immortal interests, flee to the refuge set before us, improve our precious time, depend on the merits of the Redeemer, and adhere to the dictates of the divine word, that we may be found of him in peace.”
Justification
A forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law ( Rom. 5:1-10 ). It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ ( Rom. 10:3-9 ). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ’s righteousness ( 2 Cor. 5:21 ; Rom. 4:6-8 ). The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a “condition,” not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and his righteousness ( Rom. 1:17 ; 3:25 , 26 ; 4:20 , 22 ; Phil. 3:8-11 ; Gal. 2:16 ). The act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the same time our sanctification (q.v.); and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness ( Rom. 6:2-7 ). Good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (6:14; 7:6). (See GALATIANS, EPISTLE TO .)
Justus
(1.) Another name for Joseph, surnamed Barsabas. He and Matthias are mentioned only in Acts 1:23 . “They must have been among the earliest disciples of Jesus, and must have been faithful to the end; they must have been well known and esteemed among the brethren. What became of them afterwards, and what work they did, are entirely unknown” (Lindsay’s Acts of the Apostles). (2.) A Jewish proselyte at Corinth, in whose house, next door to the synagogue, Paul held meetings and preached after he left the synagogue ( Acts 18:7 ). (3.) A Jewish Christian, called Jesus, Paul’s only fellow-labourer at Rome, where he wrote his Epistle to the Colossians ( Col. 4:11 ).