ôr´fan : This word occurs once only in the Old Testament ( Lamentations 5:3 , where it stands for יתום , yāthōm , elsewhere rendered "fatherless," and in the Septuagint always ὀρφανός , orphanós ); in the Apocrypha it occurs 3 times (2 Esdras 2:20; Tobit 1:8; 2 Macc 8:28). There is no clear case where it means the loss of both parents. The Scriptures devote considerable attention to the widow and orphan, and the idea is that the child is fatherless. It is not found in the King James Version of the New Testament; but the Greek word orphanos occurs twice, John 14:18 (the King James Version "comfortless," the Revised Version (British and American) "desolate," margin "orphans") and James 1:27 ("fatherless"). See FATHERLESS .
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
WikipediaThe ISBE is a classic Bible reference compiled from nearly 10,000 entries written by over 200 different Bible scholars and teachers. In addition to the encyclopedia articles, all of the major words of the Bible are represented and defined.
The historical, cultural, and linguistic information in the ISBE can be of great value in Bible study and research.
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