The New Testament was written in Greek, so I must be even more cautious when dealing with the meanings of English or Latin terms derived from the Greek biblical texts. At the time of the New Testament writings, Alexandria had a larger Jewish population than Jerusalem. Greek was spoken by more Jews than Hebrew. How did the early followers of Jesus Christ understand themselves and their symbolic activities? Why did all these early Jewish followers of Jesus write in Greek, instead of Hebrew?
derived
Papyrus and paper
Papyrus usually refers to a document written on sheets joined together side by side. Papyrus was like thick paper, so that people could write on it. The papyrus sheets came from the inner bark of the papyrus plant. Normally, they would roll these parchments into a scroll. This was the early form of a book. The Greek origins come for this word for papyrus, βύβλος was similar to the Greek word for a book. Thus, the English term ‘paper’ is derived from papyrus.
Yahweh’s army (Isa 13:2-13:3)
“On a bare hill
Raise a signal.
Cry aloud to them.
Wave the hand
For them to enter
The gates of the nobles.
I myself have commanded
My consecrated ones.
I have summoned
My warriors,
My proudly exulting ones,
To execute my anger.”
Now Yahweh speaks to Isaiah in his vision. Yahweh was on a hill. He gave a signal to give a loud cry. He waved his hand for them to enter through the gates of the nobles. Interesting enough, the name of Babylon was derived from the term “gate of God.” Yahweh commanded his consecrated ones, his proud exulting warriors, to execute his anger. This appears to be a reference to the Persian soldiers in the 6th century BCE when they were to enter into Babylon through one of the gates. This was not an Israelite army, but a foreign army that Yahweh sent to attack Babylon.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 