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Birthday

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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Concordances
Nave Topical Bible
• Birthday
Thompson Chain Reference
• Birthdays
Dictionaries
Hastings' BibleDictionary
• Birthday
Hastings' NT Dictionary
• Birthday
King James Dictionary
• Birthday
Smith Bible Dictionary
• Birthday
Vines' Expository Dictionary
• Birthday
Webster Dictionary
• Birthday
Encyclopedias
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
• Birthday
Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia
• Birthdays
McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
• Birthday
• Birthday (2)
The Jewish Encyclopedia
• Birthday
Lexicons
• γενέθλια , γενέθλιος , γενέσια
• יום , יום
• יָלַד , לֵדָה

Birthday. The custom of observing birthdays is very ancient, Genesis 40:20; Jeremiah 20:15, and in Job 1:4, etc., we read that Job's sons "feasted every one his day." In Persia, birthdays were celebrated with peculiar honors and banquets, and in Egypt, those of the king were kept with great pomp.

It is very probable that, in Matthew 14:6, the feast to commemorate Herod's accession is intended, for we know that such feasts were common, and were called "the day of the king." Hosea 7:5.