Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

451 results found

Gerar

(Encyclopedia)Gerar gēˈrär [key], in the Bible, city-state of Canaan, SE of Gaza. Abraham and Isaac sojourned there. Its identification is controversial; the most likely site is Tel Haror. ...

Ishmael

(Encyclopedia)Ishmael ĭshˈmāĕl [key] [Heb.,=God hears], in the Bible. 1 Son of Abraham and Hagar; ancestor of 12 tribes in N Arabia. Through Sara's jealousy he and his mother were sent into the desert, where th...

Kuyper, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Kuyper, Abraham äˈbrähäm koiˈpər [key], 1837–1920, Dutch political figure and Calvinist theologian. After holding important pastorates, he became interested in politics and engaged in politica...

Lincoln, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Lincoln, Abraham lĭngˈkən [key], 1809–65, 16th President of the United States (1861–65). As time passed Lincoln became more and more the object of adulation; a full-blown “Lincoln legend”...

Mapu, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Mapu, Abraham mäˈpo͞o [key], 1808–67, Lithuanian novelist who wrote in Hebrew. For many years an impoverished, itinerant schoolmaster, Mapu gained financial security when he was appointed teacher...

Goldfaden, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Goldfaden, Abraham gōldfädˈən [key], 1840–1908, Hebrew and Yiddish playwright, b. Starokonstantinov, Russia. He was the first important Yiddish playwright and a leading figure in Yiddish theater...

Geiger, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Geiger, Abraham gīˈgər [key], 1810–74, German rabbi, Semitic scholar and Orientalist, theologian, and foremost exponent of the Reform movement in Judaism. When he received his doctorate (1833) fr...

Flexner, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Flexner, Abraham, 1866–1959, American educator, b. Louisville, Ky., grad. Johns Hopkins, 1886. After 19 years as a secondary school teacher and principal, he took graduate work at Harvard and at the...

Jacobi, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Jacobi, Abraham jəkōˈbē [key], 1830–1919, American pediatrician, founder of pediatrics in the United States, b. Westphalia, Germany, M.D. Bonn, 1851. He was imprisoned for participating in the R...

Duquesne, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Duquesne, Abraham äbrä-ämˈ dükĕnˈ [key], 1610–88, French naval officer. In the Fronde outbreaks, he suppressed a revolt at Bordeaux (1650). As commander of the new French fleet, he distinguis...

Browse by Subject