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Sabbath (SAB�bath). The seventh day of the week. The Sabbath dawns or begins at sunset the end of the sixth day (see Luke 23:54 and Marshall 1986:255). Wherever the word Sabbath is found in the New Testament it refers to the traditional Sabbath of the Hebrew Scriptures or to one of the annual Holy Days. sacrament (SAC�ra�ment). In Christian theology one of the solemn religious ordinances enjoined by Jesus Christ, the head of the Christian church, to be observed by his followers. In general Protestants apply the term sacrament to baptism and the Lord's Supper, especially the latter. The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches have five other sacraments, e.g., confirmation, penance, holy orders, matrimony, and extreme unction. As sacrament denotes an oath or vow, the word has been applied by way of emphasis to the Lord's Supper, where the most sacred vows are renewed by Christians in commemorating the death of their Redeemer. Sadducees. The Sadducees, who arose from the faction of the priestly sons of Zadok that aligned themselves with the Hasmoneans, became the sect of the Sadducees (Acts 5:17 NKJV) or the party of the Sadducees (Acts 5:17 RSV). The Sadducees, drawing from the upper classes�mainly priestly families and lay families with whom the priests had intermarried�constituted the pro-Roman and pro-Greek establishment of Roman Judea, with reactionary leanings bent on maintaining their control of the vassal Jewish state. The Pharisees were constantly at odds with this priestly aristocratic establishment power group. Politically right-wing reactionaries, the Sadducees were seen by the Pharisees as decadent. In turn, the Sadducees rejected many of the Pharisees� doctrines which they saw as unjustified innovations. Josephus, who was more than a little biased, wrote:
The Sadducees were politically astute realists. They not only held control over the priesthood, but indulged the Romans and the Greeks, and resisted any change that would threaten their privileged status. Josephus would have his readers believe that the Sadducees would defer often to the Pharisees for otherwise the public would not put up with them (Josephus Antiquities 18.1.4; Whiston 1957:531). This priestly aristocratic party, who were pragmatic Hellenized Jews held in contempt and resisted by the Pharisees, readily aligned themselves with their Roman masters�for the Sadducees comprised a classic collaborating elite. The priests, who were largely Sadducees, were Hellenistic and assumed Greek names. In fact, in the writings of Josephus not a single one of the first-century high priests bore a Hebrew name. Of the Sadducees, the Herod ians comprised a group of supporters of the ruling family of Herod and constituted the pro-Herodian party. Sanhedrin (SAN�he�drin). The highest court and supreme council of the ancient Jewish nation in the post-exilic period, having religious and civil functions; it was composed of seventy members, presided over by the high priest, abolished with the destruction of Jerusalem in CE 70. sarcophagus (Sar�coph�a�gus) From the Greek sarkofa`gos, eating flesh. A stone coffin or chest-shaped tomb of lapis Assius which quickly consumed the flesh of bodies deposited in it. This stone is a species of limestone used among the ancient Greeks for making coffins. savanna (sa�VAN�na). An environment consisting of open grasslands where food resources tend to be spread out over large areas. scarab (SCAR�ab). A seal made in the form of the Egyptian beetle Scarabaeus sacer used in ancient Egypt as a talisman, ornament, and symbol of resurrection. science (SCI�ence). The study of physical phenomena through description, experimentation, identification, investigation, observation, and theoretical explanation. scientific theory (SCI�en�TIF�ic THE�o�ry). An attempt to explain a set of empirical events, particularly when assumptions exist as to how to bridge gaps in available knowledge about underlying factors. Theories vary widely in their organization and scope, from the simplest of hunches, through testable hypotheses of various sorts that deal with specific empirical predictions, to large-scale systems of deductively related “laws” (statements of reliable relationships between empirical variables). Scientific theory constitutes the attempt to explain the observable of a specific domain of investigation through use of the scientific method. Scriptures (SCRIP�tures). In the first century CE a reference to the Hebrew Scriptures. In contemporary parlance The Holy Bible or to either of its two major divisions. Writing to the church at Rome ca. CE 56 the apostle Paul, in reference to the Hebrew Scriptures, said "For whatever was written [in the Hebrew Scriptures] in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4 NASB). A decade later he wrote to the evangelist Timothy that "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16–17 NASB). secondary use (SEC�ond�ARY use). A use following the original and primary use. sect (sect). Unlike today’s disparaging connotation, in its first-century CE Jewish context this meant a faction of the Jews, e.g., Ebionite Judaism, Essene Judaism, Pharisaic Judaism, Sadducean Judaism, and the like.. section (SEC�tion). The two-dimensional face of a balk. Seleucids (se�LEU�cids. A Macedonian dynasty 312-64 BCE, founded by Seleucus I a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, that ruled much of southwestern Asia. Septuagint (SEP�tu�a�gint). In the first century CE the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, normally referred to as the LXX, enjoyed wide use by Greek-speaking Jews throughout the Hellenistic world. The LXX came to be utilized extensively in the Greek-speaking congregations of the Church of God. Most of the quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures in the Christian Scriptures, that is, in the New Testament, are from the LXX. A niche, found in all synagogues, whether of Christian or of Jewish origin, provided a location for the Holy Scrolls of Scripture. seriation (SER�i�A�tion). The ordering of items by morphology—typological sequences of objects, particularly pottery, established by comparative studies of stratified assemblages from various sites in a certain region. sex (sex). The biological state of being a male or a female. sexual preference (SEX�u�al PREF�er�ence). An individual's preference for a sexual partner of the same sex (homosexuality), opposite sex (heterosexuality), or bisexual (bisexuality). sherd (sherd) or shard. Fragment of a ceramic vessel also known as a potsherd.. Shabbat (shab�BAT). The weekly Sabbath. Shavuoth (sha�VU�oth) or Shabhu’oth (pronounce shaw�BOO�oth). Shavuoth, meaning "weeks," refers to the feast of Pentecost [Greek: pentekoste (pen�tay�kos�TAY) a holyday with particular significance for Jews and the early church. Hellenistic Jews and the apostles in their writings refer to Shavuoth as Pentecost. Pentecost, which means count fifty in Greek, was a High Sabbath falling exactly seven weeks and one day from the Temple offering of the "wave-sheaf" the wave-sheaf offering, consisting of an omer of flower made from freshly cut barley from the new crop in a special Temple service. The priestly offering of the wave sheaf was on the morning of the first day of the week (Sunday morning) following the first weekly Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread. In Herodian times Shavuoth always fell on the first day of the week (Saturday night to Sunday night). The Pharisees disagreed with the priests on which day to observe as Shavuoth preferring the fixed date of Silvan 6. Following the injunction of Leviticus 23:11, 15 the priests insisted on a literal discharge of the scriptural directive on the day after the first weekly Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Prior to the C.E. 70 destruction of the Second Temple the Sadducees and the priests regularly fixed the date of Pentecost by counting from this weekly Sabbath rather than from the first high Sabbath. According to the Mishna the priests of the Boethus family, who were Sadducees, always counted from the weekly Sabbath and not from the first high Sabbath. The Mishna reads:
However, the Pharisees argued that the date of Shavuoth, that is Pentecost, should be set by counting from the High Sabbath and not from the weekly Sabbath. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, and the dissolution of the priesthood, Pharisaic Judaism redefined the meaning of Shavuoth proclaiming Silvan 6, a fixed date, as the anniversary of the giving of the Law— The Torah—at Mt. Sinai, determined from the date of the High Sabbath, as Shavuoth. Rabbinic halachah, thought, and arguments notwithstanding Silvan 6 is not the day specified in the written Torah for Shavuoth. Emerging Pharisaic Judaism, which made the Torah the center of their Judaism, distanced itself from Judeo-Christianity by redirecting its emphasis regarding the Feast of Weeks away from the barley harvest and toward the Torah. They began to claim that the Law was given on Silvan 6. shofar (SHO�far). Anciently a ram’s horn used to sound the call to worship and to serve as a signaling device by the Hebrews in battle. Now sounded in synagogues on the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. In the New Testament the sound of the shofar, or trumpet, is symbolic of the archangel’s resurrection call of the qehal'el at Jesus Christ’s return (I Thessalonians 4:16; I Corinthians 15:52; cf., Revelation 11:15). Sion. See Zion. Small Council (small COUN�cil). An elite group of Sadducees that was like an executive committee of the Sanhedrin also referred to as the Council of the Elders. society (so�CI�e�ty). A highly interactive population, whose subgroups share more or less common patterns of behavior, residing within a specific region. sociocultural anthropology (SO�ci�o�CUL�tur�al AN�thro�POL�o�gy). A core subfield of anthropology dedicated to the scientific study of human culture and society in contemporary and historically recent human populations or the analytic study of culture and society. sociocultural system (SO�ci�o�CUL�tur�al SYS�tem). The merging of the concepts of society and culture into a holistic systems view of human populations and their social phenomena. A sociocultural system is a complex cultural structure consisting of a definable population within a more or less determinable locus, or territory, characterized by shared, interrelated ways of life including beliefs, norms, values, and technologies, transmitted to different degrees within the population, through various subgroups, from generation to generation solar year (SO�lar year). The time it takes the earth to make one orbit about the sun. special revelation (SPE�cial REV�e�LA�tion). In Christian theology, God's disclosure or manifestation to humans of the knowledge of God's nature and will. square (square). Immediate subdivision unit of an area, regardless of its size and shape. Although squares can vary considerably in size, they are usually five or six meters on a side. Squares are designated by Arabic numbers; thus Square 1, Square 2, and the like. stele (STE�le), pl. stelae). A monument consisting of a free-standing upright slab, or pillar, usually with an inscription. stoa (STO�a). A portico in Greek and Roman architecture. St. Mary of Mt. Sion (saint mary of mount SI�on). In the 12th century Crusaders built a church, which they named St. Mary of Mt. Sion, honoring the tradition that Jesus' mother Mary lived on Mt. Sion after the Resurrection and also died there, on the south part of the ruins of the Hagia Sion basilica. stratification (STRAT�i�fi�CA�tion). The successive or superimposed layers, either natural or the result of human activity, making up the surface of the earth. stratigraphy (stra�TI�graphy). The study of the arrangement of rock and/or soil layers together with the study of their origin, the order of their deposition, and their functional and chronological relationships to one another. stratum (STRA�tum), plural, strata. Subdivision of the period, based on stratigraphic evidence of a major cultural break, connected with a series of loci or layers, and supported by ceramic, architectural, and object data. Often radical changes, such as destruction layers, mark a stratum at its beginning and end. structures (STRUC�tures). Generally buildings such as houses and temples, granaries, city walls, patterns of features such as postholes indicating a larger structure. subsistence level (sub�SIS�tence LEV�el). The minimum resources, e.g., food, shelter, water, necessary to support human life. symbols (SYM�bols). Arbitrary units of meaning that can stand for different concrete or abstract phenomena. Symbols expand language through substitution. synagogue (SYN�a�GOGUE). A synagogue, in the sense of a meeting house, referred to the place of assembly where the immediate religious community would meet or convene meetings. Jews and the early Church of God met in synagogues as gathering places. The normal gathering places, or meeting locations, of local Christian congregations were synagogues not churches. The writers of the New Testament generally used the word synagogue with respect to its meaning as a meeting place, e.g., “in the synagogues” (Acts 9:20 NASB), “the chief seats in the synagogues” (Matthew 23:6 NASB), “they went into the synagogue and sat down” (Acts 13:14NASB). They did not refer to their community as a “synagogue” in the sense of an assembly or congregation. Rather, Judeo-Christians met in synagogues but saw themselves as the new elect people of God or assembly of God. New Testament writers did not use the word synagogue to describe their assembly. Nevertheless, they did use synagogue in reference to various Jewish and opposing “christian” sects (Revelation 2:9). The notion of a gathering place suggests that the synagogue served as a central social center for the congregation and presumably represented a symbol of belonging. As a meeting house, or a community center, the synagogue not only accommodated weekly Sabbath activities, but provided a place for wedding feasts and other functions as well. Synagogues, constructed of stone, often had stone benches fixed along the walls. Moreover, during the first century men and women were not segregated in the synagogues nor were they separated in the Jerusalem Temple. Shmuel Safrai, who argues that not only were women the religious equals of men in regular attendance in the synagogue but there was no separation of the sexes in the first-century synagogue, suggests that segregation in the synagogue arose due to the influence of Islam (Safrai 1993:3-6). Archaeological evidence suggests that the first century CE synagogue always faced east, or southeast, as did the entrance to the Temple. Later this practice was incorporated into Jewish Law. After the separation of Jews, Judeo-Christians, and Christian Gentiles, the meeting places of Christian congregations lost the sense of synagogue. synchronic (syn�CHRO�nic). Within a set time as opposed to over time (see diachronic). syncretism (SYN�cret�ism). A blending of indigenous beliefs with those of outside groups. See religious syncretism.
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