Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "bema" [be•ma]

  • Judaism The platform from which services are conducted in a synagogue. Also called almemar. (noun)
  • Eastern Orthodox Church The area of a church in which the altar is located; the sanctuary. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "bema" in a sentence
  • "The word altar (sometimes spelled oltar) is used in the Old Slavonic and Russian languages to denote the entire space surrounding what we know as the altar, which is included behind the iconostasis, and is the equivalent of the Greek word bema."
  • "Microphones now dangle discretely over the pews, so the congregation can hear each other sing; the bema , or stage, has been lowered and the front rows made movable, so that the clergy can feel closer to the congregation."
  • "Bouyer drew attention to early Syrian church architecture, where the "Liturgy of the Word" was conducted on the bema, a raised platform in the centre of the nave."
Words like "bema"