Letter stands in only two passages of the Bible in its narrow sense of an alphabetical character (γράμμα, in the plural, Lu 23:38; and prob. Ga 6:11, πηλίκοις γράμμασι; A. V. "how large a letter," rather in what a bold hand); elsewhere it is used (for סֵפֶר, a book; γραμμα, either sing. or plur.; but more definitely for the later Heb. אַגֶּרֶת [Chald. אגּרָא, נַשׁתּוָן: [Chald. id. also פַּתגָּם; ἐπιστολή ) in the sense of an epistle (q.v.). SEE ALPHABET; SEE WRITING.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More