Dictionary of the Bible by Browning W. R. F.;

Author:Browning, W. R. F.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2009-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

L

L A symbol frequently used to designate matter contained only in the gospel according to Luke, such as the *parables (e.g. 10: 29–37) and accounts of the appearances of the Risen Jesus in and around Jerusalem (24). The *infancy narratives (Luke 1–2), though peculiar to this gospel, are not always included as L material on the ground that they seem derived by the evangelist from another source.

Laban Father of *Rachel who required *Jacob to do fourteen years of agricultural work as the price for Jacob to marry her (Gen. 29: 1–30). His rapacious greed received a set-back when Jacob and Rachel fled secretly to *Canaan taking with them not only the *teraphim—household images that conveyed rights of *inheritance—but also Rachel’s elder sister *Leah, whom Laban had tricked Jacob into marrying first.

labour Human labour is regarded in the OT as sharing in the divine purpose (Exod. 20: 8; 34: 21) because God’s work was described in Gen. 1 as creative. Jesus ‘worked’ (John 5: 17) by healing on a *Sabbath, which he justifies on the ground that God continued to maintain the universe even during the prescribed Sabbath day of rest: the obligation to rest can be set aside to enable Jesus to do God’s work. Paul worked for his living (Acts 18: 3), and exhorted his converts not to be idle (1 Thess. 4: 11).

On the other hand, work is part of the penalty for *sin (Gen. 3: 17), and much labour described in the *Bible was arduous and unrewarding. For some of it the Hebrews used slaves (Exod. 21: 2–6) and captured *foreigners (Josh. 9: 3–27); and slaves are frequently mentioned in the Roman period by the NT, e.g. the epistle to Philemon. Women had heavy manual work such as fetching water (Gen. 24: 15; John 4: 7) but could also aspire to be entrepreneurs (Acts 16: 14).

Lachish A large city 48 km. (30 miles) SW of Jerusalem, much fought over, which has yielded important discoveries to archaeologists. It was captured by *Joshua (Josh. 10: 31 f.), rebuilt by *Rehoboam according to the Chronicler (2 Chron. 11: 5 ff.), captured and destroyed by the *Assyrians in 701 BCE (2 Kgs. 18: 14; 19: 8), and after having been rebuilt destroyed again by the *Babylonians (588 BCE; Jer. 34: 7). After the Exile some of those returning settled in Lachish (Neh. 11: 30).

Among the archaeological finds at Lachish are the ‘Lachish Letters’, fragments of correspondence to the military commander at Lachish, written in black ink on potsherds in elegant Hebrew. They can be very accurately dated and they contain information about conditions in this fortified city and Judah during the time when the Babylonians were attacking both it and Jerusalem (Jer. 34: 7).

lacuna Latin, ‘hole’. The term used by textual critics and others where there is a gap in a sentence in a MS as a result of damage.

Lagrange, Marie Josèphe (1865–1938) French NT scholar, Dominican priest; he maintained the principles of a conservative historical criticism during an era of

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