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Olives, Mount ofAid to Bible Understanding
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these unfit for worship. (2 Ki. 23:13) In the first century C.E., Jesus Christ often met with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, located on or in the vicinity of the Mount of Olives. (Matt. 26:30, 36; John 18:1, 2) When at Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples customarily spent the night at Bethany on the E slope of the Mount of Olives, undoubtedly in the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. (Matt. 21:17; Mark 11:11; Luke 21:37; John 11:1) Apparently from Bethphage, near Bethany, Jesus, seated on the colt of an ass, commenced his triumphal ride over the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. (Matt. 21:1, 2; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29) And it was on the Mount of Olives that he explained to his disciples what the ‘sign of his presence’ would be. (Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:3) Finally, after his resurrection, Jesus ascended from there into the heavens.—Acts 1:9-12.
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OlympasAid to Bible Understanding
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OLYMPAS
(O·lymʹpas).
A Christian at Rome to whom the apostle Paul sent greetings.—Rom. 16:15.
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OmarAid to Bible Understanding
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OMAR
(Oʹmar) [eloquent].
Second-listed son of Esau’s firstborn Eliphaz; a shiek of Edom.—Gen. 36:10, 11, 15; 1 Chron. 1:36.
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OmegaAid to Bible Understanding
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OMEGA
[Ω, ω] (o·meʹga, meaning “great o”).
The twenty-fourth and last letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the long form of the letter “o.” However, the distinction between the long and the short was evidently disappearing at the time of the koi·neʹ Greek, thus making this sound close to that of oʹmi·kron.
Numerically, o·meʹga, when accented (ω΄), denotes 800, and, with the subscript (,ω), 800,000.
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OmenAid to Bible Understanding
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OMEN
Anything viewed as giving some indication about the future; a situation or occurrence thought of as portending good or evil. (Gen. 30:27; Num. 24:1) Looking for omens, as a form of divination, was specifically prohibited by God’s law to Israel. (Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:10) But apostates like Judean King Manasseh did look for omens. (2 Ki. 17:17; 21:6) Since this practice is condemned in the Scriptures, evidently faithful Joseph’s comment about use of his silver cup to read omens was merely part of a ruse. (Gen. 44:5, 15) By making it, Joseph represented himself, not as one having faith in Jehovah, but as an administrator of a land where false worship prevailed. He thus gave no hint of having anything in common with his brothers and kept his true identity concealed from them.—See DIVINATION.
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OmerAid to Bible Understanding
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OMER
(oʹmer).
A dry measure amounting to one-tenth of an ephah. (Ex. 16:16, 18, 22, 32, 33, 36) The ephah measure is calculated at .62 bushel (22 liters) on the basis of archaeological evidence concerning the capacity of the corresponding liquid-measure bath. (Compare Ezekiel 45:10, 11.) An omer measure would therefore equal two dry quarts (2.2 liters).
A comparison of the Hebrew text of Exodus 29:40 and Numbers 28:5 reveals that a ‘tenth part’ means a tenth of an ephah, or an omer. This provides a basis for rendering the Hebrew ‘tenth part’ as “tenth of an ephah.”—Num. 15:4, AT, JP, NW, Ro.
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OmikronAid to Bible Understanding
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OMIKRON
[Ο, ο] (omʹi·kron, meaning “little o”).
The fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It is one of the two letters denoting an “o” sound and has the short sound of “o” as in “not.”—See OMEGA.
As the numeral, accented oʹmi·kron (ο΄) signifies seventy, with the subscript (,ο), 70,000.
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OmriAid to Bible Understanding
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OMRI
(Omʹri).
1. Fifth listed among the nine sons or descendants of Becher, a son of Benjamin.—1 Chron. 7:6, 8.
2. Prince of the tribe of Issachar during David’s reign; son of Michael.—1 Chron. 27:18, 22.
3. Sixth king of the northern ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. Nothing of Omri’s ancestry is recorded, not even the name of his father or tribe. Omri founded the third dynasty of Israel (those of Jeroboam and Baasha preceded), his son Ahab and grandsons Ahaziah and Jehoram succeeding him, all four totaling some forty-six years (951-905 B.C.E.) on the throne. (See chart, pp. 340-342.) Omri’s granddaughter Athaliah ruled six years on the throne of Judah. (2 Ki. 8:26; 11:1-3; 2 Chron. 22:2) Jehu, who wiped out the house of Ahab and established the next dynasty of Israel, is called a “son [that is, successor] of Omri” on the black obelisk of Shalmaneser III. In fact, the Assyrians continued calling Israel “the land of Omri” and Israel’s kings “the house of Omri” long after his descendants had ceased ruling—a tribute to his power.
Omri came to the throne, not by inheritance, but by the sword. He had been chief of Israel’s army under King Elah (and perhaps under his predecessor Baasha) when Zimri, chief of half the chariots, overthrew Elah, took the kingship for himself and wiped out the house and friends of Baasha. As soon as this was reported to the Israelite army, at the time camped against the Philistines at Gibbethon, “all Israel,” doubtless the tribal heads “in the camp,” made Omri their king. At once they withdrew from Gibbethon and stormed Zimri’s capital Tirzah. Zimri, seeing the hopelessness of his cause, burned down the king’s house over himself, tragically ending his seven-day rule.—1 Ki. 16:8-20.
But a new rival to Omri presented himself—Tibni the son of Ginath. The Populace remained divided for four years, during which time civil war presumably raged until Omri’s supporters defeated Tibni’s, securing undisputed rule for Omri. Zimri had died in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah (951). (1 Ki. 16:15-18) Finally, in the thirty-first year of Asa (947), Tibni died in some unstated way, leaving Omri eight years of sole rule, down to the thirty-eighth
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