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UNBELIEF — a lack of belief or faith in God. Unbelief doesn’t prevent God from being faithful (Rom. 3:3, NKJV), but it does affect the person’s ability to receive the benefits of that faithfulness (Mark 9:23–24, NKJV).
UNCIRCUMCISED — a man who has not gone through the Jewish rite of circumcision. This word is also used to describe a person who is not Jewish (Gentile) (Exod. 12:48), or a person who is spiritually impure because they refuse to listen to and obey God (Acts 7:51). The real issue isn’t about actual circumcision; it is about having faith in Christ (1 Cor. 7:18–19).
UNCLEAN, UNCLEANNESS — defiled; foul; unfit; dirty.“Unclean” refers to foods that are unfit to eat and to a person’s spiritual impurity. The Old Testament says an item is either clean and helpful or unclean and unacceptable (not useful) (Lev. 10:10; 11:47). The priest was supposed to teach the people the difference (Ezek. 44:23).
UNDEFILED — unstained; unsoiled; not tainted with evil; also clean; pure; faultless. The word “undefiled” is used to describe Christ as sinless (Heb. 7:26, NKJV). It is also used in reference to sex between a man and his wife (Heb. 13:4, NKJV).
UNFAITHFUL — deceitful; a person who acts like they are doing what they should, but they really aren’t (Prov. 25:19).
UNGODLY — wicked; lost (from God) (Rom. 5:6, NKJV).
UNHOLY — wicked; evil (2 Tim. 3:2, NKJV).
UNITY — oneness; harmony; agreement. The church experienced unity on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1). The church is a group of many different people; the combination of faith, hope, and love that forms a bond between them is unity (Eph. 4:3, 13, NKJV).
UNLEAVENED BREAD — bread baked from unfermented dough, or dough without yeast (Gen. 19:3; Josh. 5:11; 1 Sam. 28:24). Unleavened bread was the flat bread used in the Passover celebration and the priestly rituals (Lev. 23:4–8). The tradition of eating unleavened bread goes back to the time of the Exodus, when the Hebrews left Egypt in such a hurry that they had no time to wait for the dough to rise before baking it (Exod. 12:8, 15–20, 34, 39; 13:6–7).
UNLEAVENED BREAD, FEAST OF —also called Passover. This feast was celebrated to remind the Israelites of their deliverance (Exod. 12).
UNPARDONABLE SIN — blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31–32, NKJV; Mark 3:29, NKJV).
UNRIGHTEOUS — unacceptable to God (Isa. 55:7, NKJV).
UNSEARCHABLE — beyond understanding; unable to find an answer (Job 5:9, NKJV).
UNWITTINGLY — unknowingly (Heb. 13:2, NKJV); by accident (Josh. 20:3, KJV).
UPPER ROOM — a place where Jesus met with His disciples before the crucifixion (Mark 14:15, NKJV). (See Lord’s Supper.)
UR — a large city in southern Mesopotamia where Abraham was from. This city is now the country of Iraq.
URIAH [u-ri´-ah] (the Lord is my light) — the name of three men in the Old Testament:
1. A Hittite married to Bathsheba and one of David’s best soldiers (2 Sam. 11:3–26; 12:9–10, 15; 1 Kings 15:5; Matt. 1:6; Urias, KJV).
2. The son of Koz, the father of Meremoth and a priest who helped rebuild the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.
3. A priest who was one of two faithful witnesses to a scroll written by the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 8:2).
URIM AND THUMMIM [u´-rim, thum´mem] — stones carried by the high priests that were used to help them make important decisions.
USURY — the interest paid on borrowed money.
UTTER — when used as a verb, it means to speak (Matt. 13:35, NKJV); when used as an adjective, it means complete or total (1 Kings 20:42, NKJV).
UTTERANCE — spoken words (Acts 2:4, NKJV).
UZZA, UZZAH [uz´-zah] (strength) — the name of five men in the Old Testament:
1. A man who died because he touched the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam. 6:3–8; 1 Chron. 13:7–11).
2. A person who allowed Manasseh and Amon (Manasseh’s son), who were both kings of Judah, to be buried in his garden (2 Kings 21:18, 26).
3. A Levite of the family of Merari (1 Chron. 6:29).
4. A descendant of Ehud mentioned in the family tree of King Saul (1 Chron. 8:7).
5. An ancestor of a family of Nethinim (temple servants) who returned with Zerubbabel from the Captivity (Ezra 2:49; Neh. 7:51).
UZZIAH [uz-zi´-ah] (the Lord is my strength) — the son of Amaziah and Jecholiah, the ninth king of Judah, and the father of Jotham (2 Chron. 26). He was also called Azariah (2 Kings 14:21; 15:1–7). Uzziah became king at the age of sixteen and was king for fifty-two years. That was longer than any other king before him. In the beginning, he was a good king and did what God wanted him to do. After he stopped obeying God, he got leprosy (a skin disease) and died.
Ruins of ancient Ur on the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia—the city from which Abraham migrated (Gen. 11:31).