mithridate

Pronounced: MITH-ruh-date, noun

Notes: This word made me think of “mithril”, the fictional metal invented by J. R. R. Tolkien

---

Yesterday’s word

The word bema is

• a platform for speaking
• an area around the altar in a place of worship

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Greek word bema (step; platform), which comes from bainein (to go). I had a vague idea of the meaning from listening to Bible teaching: it says, concerning believers, that they “must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”. The word “judgment seat” is our our word bema; in context, it refers to the Greek athletic contests (the Isthmian games) in which judges carefully watched the contestants to ensure that they obeyed all the rules of the contest. The lawful winner was led by a judge to a platform called bema, where he received a laurel wreath. In completeness, bema is also used in the gospels and Acts to refer to the platform where a Roman ruler sat to make decisions or pass judgment.