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NU« YUWHV
DR. WILLIAM SMITH'S
DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE;
COMPRISING ITS
ANTIQUITIES, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, AND NATURAL HISTORY.
REVISED AND EDITED BY
PROFESSOR H. B. HACKETT, D. D.
WITH THE COOPERATION OF
EZRA ABBOT, LL. D.
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN OF HARVARD COLLEGE.
VOLUME I. A TO GENNESARET, LAND OF.
BOSTON: HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY.
2Dl)e Hit)er0iDe pre00, CambriOgc.
1883.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1868, by
HuRD AND Houghton,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern Dis'rict of New York.
RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
BTEREOTYPEU AND PRINTED BT
H. O. HOUOUTUN AND COMPANY.
PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.
The reputation of Dr. William Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible " is now toe weU established to need any special' commendation. It contains, by universal con- sent, the fruit of the ripest Biblical scholarship of England, and constitutes a library of itself (superseding the use of many books otherwise necessary) for the study and illustration of the Scriptures. As a whole, it is unquestionably superior to any simi- lar Lexicon in our language, and cannot fail to maintain this rank for a long period to come. In this American edition, the Publishers reprint the entire work, lolthout abridgment or change, except the correction of typographical errors, or an occa- sional verbal inaccuracy, and of mistakes in quotation and reference.
At the same time, the reprinting of this Dictionary, after the lapse of several years since its first publication, and of a still longer time since the preparation of many of the articles, affords an opportunity to give to it some new features, required by the progressive nature of Biblical science, and adapting it more perfectly to the wants of students of the Bible in our own country. Among the characteristics in which the American edition differs from the English, are the following : —
1. The contents of the Appendix, embracing one hundred and sixteen pages, and treating of subjects overlooked or imperfectly handled in the first volume, have been inserted in their proper places in the body of the work.
2. The numerous Scripture references, on the accuracy of which he value of a Bible Dictionary so much depends, have all been verified anew. The corrections found necessary in these references, and silently made, amount to more than a thou- sand. Many other mistakes in quotation and reference have been corrected during the revision of the work.
3. The system of cross-references from one article to another, so indispensable for enabhng us to know what the Dictionary contains on related but separated subjects, has been carried much further in this edition than in the English.
4. The signification of the Hebrew and, to some extent, of the Greek names of persons and places has been given in English, according to the best authorities (Simonis, Gesenius, Dietrich, Fiirst, Pape) on this intricate subject. We have such definitions occasionally in the original work, but on no consistent plan. The Scrip- ture names reveal to us a striking peculiarity of the oriental mind, and often throw light on the personal history and the geography of the Bible.
6. The accentuation of proper names has required adjustment. Dr. Smith's " Concise Dictionary of the Bible" differs here widely from the larger work ; and in both, forms perfectly analogous are differently accented, in many instances, without apparent reason. In the present edition, this subject has received careful attention ; and in respect to that large class of names whose pronunciation cannot be regarded as settled by usage, an attempt has been made to secure greater consistency by the application of fixed principles.
6. The English edition, at the beginning of each article devoted to a proper name, professes to give " the corresponding forms in the Hebrew, Greek, and Vul- gate, together with the variations in the two great manuscripts of the Septuagint, which are often curious and worthy of notice." But this flan has been very imper- fectly carried out so far as relates to the forms in the Septuagint and Vulgate, specially in the first volume. The readings of the Vatican manuscript are very
(iii)
iv PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION
rarely given where tliey differ from those of the Roman edition of 1587, — a case which frequently occurs, though this edition is, to a great extent, founded on that manuscript ; and those of tlie Alexandrine manuscript are often ignored. The present edition of the Dictionary seeks to supply these defects ; and not only have the readings of the Roman text (as given by Tischendorf ) been carefully noted, with the variations of the Vatican and Alexandrine manuscripts as edited by Mai and Baber, but also those of the two other leading editions of the Septuagint, the Coinplutensian and the Aldine, and of the Codex Sinaiticus, whenever the forms given in them accord more nearly with the Hebrew, or on other accounts seem worthy of notice. To these last two editions, in the Apocrypha especially, we must often look for the explanation of the peculiar spelling of many proper names in the common English version. Many deviations of the later editions of this vei-sion from the first edition (1611), important as affecting the orthography of Hebrew propef names, have also been detected and pointed out.
7. The amount of Scripture illustration derived from a knowledge of Eastern customs and traditions, as made known to us so much more fully at the present day by missionaries and travellers in the lands of the Bible, has been largely increased. More frequent remarks also have been made on difficult texts of Scripture, for the most part in connection with some leading word in them, with which the texts are naturally associated.
8. The obsolete words and phrases in the language of the English Bible, or those which, though not obsolete, have changed their meaning, have been explained, so as to supply, to some extent, the place of a glossary on that subject. Such explana- tions will be found under the head of such words, or in connection with the subjects to which they relate.
9. On various topics omitted in the English work, but required by Dr. Smith's plan, new articles have been inserted in the American edition, with additions to others which seem not fully to represent our present knowledge or the state of critical opin- ion on the subjects discussed. The bibliographical references have been greatly increased, and care has been taken to mention the new works of value, or new editions of works in geography, philology, history, and exegesis, in our own or other languages, which have appeared since the original articles were written. Further, all the new wood-cuts in the Abridged English edition, illustrating some of the most important subjects in geography and archaeology, but not contained in the Una- bridged edition, are inserted in the present work. Many additional views of Scripture scenes and places have been introduced from other more recent publica- tions, or engraved from photographs.
10. Fuller recognition h;is been made of the names and works of American schol- ars, both as an act of justice to them as co-workers with those of other lands in thia department of study, and still more as due to American readers. It must be useful certainly to our own students to be referred to books within their reach, as well as to those which they are unable to consult, and to books also which more justly represent our own tendencies of thought and modes of statement, than can be true of tlinse prepared for other and foreign communities. References are made not only to books of American writers, but to valuable articles in our Periodicals, which discuss questions of theological and Biblical interest.
In adtlition to tlie aid of Mr. Abbot (who has had sjjccial charge of the proof- reading, the orthoepy, and the verification of jefcrenccs to the original texts and itncient vei"sions of the Bible, and has also given particular attention to the bibli- ugraphy), the editor has had the coiiperation of euiinent American scholars, as will be seen by the list of names subjoined to that of tlie writers in the English edition It is proper to add that the Arif'oic words in the Dictionary have been revised b} the Rev. Dr. Van Dyck, one of the translatore of the modern Arabic Bible, or b) Professor Salisbury, of Yale College.
H. B. IIACKETT.
Newton Ckntrf, Deceinher 20, 186*.
PEEFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.
The present work is designed to render the same service in the study of the .Bibl« IS the Dictionaries of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Biography, and Geography have done in the study of the classical writers of antiquity. Within the last few years Biblical studies have received a fresh impulse ; and the researches of modern scholars, as well as the discoveries of modern travellers, have thrown new and unex- pected light upon the history and geography of the East. It has, therefore, been thought that a new Dictionary of the Bible, founded on a fresh examination of the original documents, and embodying the results of the most recent researches and dls- covei'ies, would prove a valuable addition to the literature of the country. It has been the aim of the Editor and Contributors to present the information in such a form as to meet the Avants, not only of theological students, but also of that larger class of persons who, without pursuing theology as a profession, are anxious to study the Bible with the aid of the latest investigations of the best scholars. Accordingly, while the requirements of the learned have always been kept in view, quotations from the ancient languages have been sparingly introduced, and generally in paren- theses, so as not to Interrupt the continuous perusal of the work. It is confidently believed that ihe articles will be found both intelligible and interesting even to those who have no knowledge of the learned languages ; and that such pei-sons will expe- rience no difficulty in reading the book through from beginning to end.
The scope and object of the work may be briefly defined. It Is a Dictionary of the Bible, and not of Theoloriy. It is intended to elucidate the antiquities, biogra- phy, geography, and natural history of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Apocrypha ; but not to explain systems of theology, or discuss points of controversial divinity. It has seemed, however, necessary in a " Dictlonaiy of the Bible," to give a full account of the Book, both as a whole and in its separate parts. Accordingly, articles are inserted not only upon the general subject, such as " Bible," " Apocry- pha," and " Canon," and upon the chief ancient versions, as " Septuagint " and " Vulgate," but also upon ea-.-h of the separate books. These articles are natu- rally some of the most Important in the work, and occupy considerable space, aa will be seen by referring to " Genesis," " Isaiah," and " Job."
The Editor believes that the work will be found, upon examination, to be far more complete in the subjects which it professes to treat than any of its predeces- sors. No other dictionary has yet attempted to give a complete list of the proper names occurring in the Old and New Testaments, to say nothing of those in the Apocrypha. The present work is intended to contain every Jiame, and, in the case of minor names, references to every passage in the Bible in Avhich each occurs. It is true that many of the names are those of comparatively obscure persons and ' places ; but this is no reason for their omission. On the contrary, it is precisely for uch articles that a dictionary is most needed. An account of the more important persons and places occupies a prominent position in historical and geographical works ; but of the less conspicuous names no information can be obtained in ordinary Dooks of reference. Accordingly many names, which have been either entirely emitted or cursorily treated in other dictionaries, have had considerable space de« rot«d to them j the result being that much curious and sometimes important knowt
V)
vi PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.
edge Las been elicited respecting subjects of which little or nothing was previouslj known. Instances may be seen by referring to the articles " Ishmael, son of Netha niah," " Jareb," " Jcdidiah," " Jehosheba."
In the alphabetical arrangement the orthography of the Authorized Version has been invariably followed. Indeed the work might be described as a Dictionary of the Bible, according to the Authorized Version. But at the commencement of each article devoted to a proper name, the corresponding forms in the Hebrew, Greek, and Vulo-ate are given, together with the variations in the two great manuscripts of the Scptuagint, which are often curious and well worthy of notice. All inaccura- cies in the Authorized Version are likewise carefully noted.
In the composition and distribution of the articles three points have been espe- cially kept in view — the insertion of copious references to the ancient writers and to the best modern authorities, as much brevity as was consistent with the propei elucidation of the subjects, and facility of reference. To attain the latter object an explanation is given, even at the risk of some repetition, under every word to which a reader is likely to refer, since it is one of the great drawbacks in the use of a dictionary to be referred constantly from one heading to another, and frequently not to find at last the Information that is wanted.
Many names in the Bible occur also in the classical writers, and are therefore in- cluded in the Classical Dictionaries already published. But they have in all cases been written anew for this work, and from a Biblical point of view. No one would expect in a Dictionary of the Bible a complete history of Alexandria, or a detailed life of Alexander the Great, simply because they are mentioned in ^ few passages of the Sacred Writers. Such subjects properly belong to Dictionaries of Classical Geof^raphy and Biography, and are only introduced here so far as they throw light upon Jewish history, and the Jewish character and foith. The same remark applies to all similar articles, which, far from being a repetition of those contained in the preceding dictionaries, are supplementary to them, affording the Biblical information which they did not profess to give. In like manner it would obviously be out of place to present such an account of the plants and animals mentioned In the Scrip- tures, as would be appropriate in systematic treatises on Botany or Zoology. All that can be reasonably required, or indeed is of any real service, is to identify the plants and animals with known species or varieties, to discuss the difficulties which occur in each subject, and to explain all allusions to it by the aid of modem science.
In a work written by various persons, each responsible for his own contributions, differences of opinion must naturally occur. Such differences, however, are both fewer and of less Importance than might have been expected from the nature of the subject ; and in some difficult questions — such, for instance, as that of the " Brethren of our Lord " — the Editor, instead of endeavoring to obtain uniformity, has consid- ered it an advantage to the reader to have the arguments stated from different points of view.
An attempt has been made to insure, as far as practicable, uniformity of reference to the most Important books. In the case of two works of cons* ant occurrence in the geographical articles, it may be convenient to mention that all references to Dr. Robinson's " Biblical Researches " and to Professor Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine,' have been uniformly made to the second edition of the former work (London, 1856, 3 vols.), and to the fourth edition of the latter (London, 1857).
The Editor cannot conclude this brief explanation without expressing his obliga- tions to the writers of the various articles. Their names are a sufficient guarantee . for the value of their contributions; but the warm interest they have taken in the book, and the unwearied pains tliey have bestowed upon their separate department* demand from the Editor his grateful thanks. Tliere is, however, one writer to whom he owes a more special acknowledgment. Mr. George Grove of Sydenham, Sesidcu contributing the articles to which his initial is attached, has rendered tbfl Editor important assistance in writing the majority of the articles on the more ob
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. vii
Bcure emes in the first volume, in the correction of the proofe, and in the revision of the 'hole book. The Editor has also to express his obligations to Mr. "William Aldis AVright, Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge, and to the Rev. Charles P. Phinn of Chichester, for their valuable assistance in the correction of the proofs, aa well as to Mr. E. Stanley Poole, for the revision of the Arabic words. Mr. Aldia Wright has likewise written in the second and third volumes the more obscure aames to which no initials are attached.
It is intended to publish shortly an Atlas of Biblical Geography, which, It is be* Eeved, will form a valuable supplement to the Dictionary.
WILLIAM SMITH LoDOH, November, 18P3.
WRITERS IN THE ENGLISH EDITION.
H. A. Very Rev. Henry Alford, D. D., Dean of Canterbury.
H. B. Rev. Henry Bailey, B. D., Warden of St. Augustine's College, Can
terbury ; late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. H. B. Rev. HoRATius Bonar, D. D., Kelso, N. B. ; Author of " The Land
of Promise." [The geographical articles, signed H. B., are written by Dr. Bonar : those on other subject*, signed H. B., are written by Mr. Bailey.]
A. B. Rev. Alfred Barry, B. D., Principal of Cheltenham College ; late
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
W. L. B. Rev. William Latham Bevan, M. A., Vicar of Hay, Brecknock- shire.
J. W. B. Rev. Joseph Williams Blakesley, B. D., Canon of Canterbury ; late Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge.
T. E. B. Rev. Thomas Edward Brown, M. A., Vice-Principal of King Wil- liam's College, Isle of Man ; late Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
R. W. B. Ven. Robert William Browne, M. A., Archdeacon of Bath, and Canon of Wells.
E. H. B. Right Rev. Edward Harold Browne, D. D., Lord Bishop of Ely. W. T. B. Rev. William Thomas Bullock, M. A., Assistant Secretary of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. S. C. Rev. Samuel Clark, M. A., Vicar of Bredwardine with Brobury,
Herefordshire.
F. C. C. Rev. Frederic Charles Cook, M. A., Chaplain in Ordinary to the
Queen.
G. E. L. C. Right Rev. George Edward Lynch Cotton, D. D., late Lord Bishop
of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India. J. LI. D. Rev. John Llewfxyn Davies, M. A., Rector of Christ Church,
Marylebone ; late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. G. E. D. Prof. George Edward Day, D. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn.
E. D. Emanuel Deutsch, M. R. A. S., British Museum.
W. D. Rev. William Drake, M. A., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen.
£. P E. Rev. Edward Paroissien Eddrup, M. A., Principal of the Theolog- ical College, Salisbury.
C< J. E. Right Rev. Charles John Ellicott, D. D., Lord Bishop of Glouces- ter and Bristol.
F. W. F. Rev. Frederick William Farrar, M. A., Assistant Master of Hap*
row School ; late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
J. F. James Fergusson, F. R. S., F. R. A. S., Fellow of the Royal Insti-
tute of British Architects.
E. S. Ff Edward Salusbury Ffoulkes, M. A., late Fellow of Jesus College. Oxford.
VV. F Right Rev. William Fitzgerald, D. D., Lord Bishop of Killaloe.
(iii
LIST OF WRITERS.
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W. H.
J. S. H.
E. H.
W. B. J.
A. H. L. S. L.
J. B. L.
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Rev. Francis Garden, M. A., Subdean of Her Majest/B Chapelj
Royal. Rev. F. William Gotch, LL. D., President of the Baptist College,
Bristol ; late Hebrew Examiner In the University of London. George Grove, Crystal Palace, Sydenham. Prof. Horatio Balcu Hackett, D. D., LL. D., Theological Institti-
tion, Newton, Mass. Rev. Ernest Haavkins, B. D., Secretary of the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Rev. Henry Hayman, B. D., Head Master of the Grammar School,
Cheltenham ; late Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. Ven. Lord Arthur Charles Hervey, M. A., Archdeacon of Sud- bury, and Rector of Ickworth. Rev. James Augustus Hessey, D. C L., Head Master of Merchant
Taylors' School. Joseph Dalton Hooker, M. D., F. R. S., Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew. Rev. James John Hornby, M. A., Fellow of Brasenose College, Ox- ford ; Principal of Bishop Cosin's Hall. Rev. William Houghton, M. A., F. L. S., Rector of Preston on the
Weald Moors, Salop. Rev. John Saul Howson, D. D., Principal of the Collegiate Institu- tion, Liverpool. Rev. Edgar Huxtable, M. A., Subdean of Wells. Rev. William Basil Jones, M. A., Prebendary of York and of St
David's ; late Fellow and Tutor of University College, Oxford. Austen Henry Layard, D. C. L., M. P. Rev. Stanley Leathes, M. A., M. R. S. L., Hebrew Lecturer in
King's College, London. Rev. Joseph Barber Lightfoot, D. D., Hulsean Professor of Divinity,
and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Rev. D. W. Marks, Professor of Hebrew in University College, London. Rev. Frederick Meyrick, M. A., late Fellow and Tutor of Trinity
College, Oxford. Prof Jules Oppert, of Paris. Rev. Edward Redman Orger, M. A., Fellow and Tutor of St.
Augustine's College, Canterbury. Ven. Thomas Johnson Ormerod, M. A., Archdeacon of Suffolk;
late Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. Rev. John James Stewart Perowne, B. D., Vice-Principal of St
David's College, Lampeter. Rev. Thomas Thomason Perowne, B. D., Fellow and Tutor of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Rev. Henry Wright Phillott, M. A., Rector of Staunton-on-Wye,
Herefordshire ; late Student of Christ Church, Oxford. Rev. Edward Hayes Plumptre, M. A., Professor of Divinity in
King's College, London. Edward Stanley Poole, M. R A. S., South Kensington Museum. Reginald Stuart Poole, British Museum. Rev. J. Leslie Porter, M. A., Professor of Sacred Literature, Assem-
LIST OF WRITERS.
bl/s College, Belfast ; Author of " Handbook of Syria and Palestine,* and " Five Years in Damascus." C P. Rev. Charles Pritchard, M. A., F. R. S., Hon. Secretary of the
Royal Astronomical Society ; late Fellow of St. John's College, Cam- bridge.
G. R Rev. George Rawlinson, M. A., Camden Professor of Ancient His-
tory, Oxford.
11. J. R. Rev. Henry John Rose, B. D., Rural Dean, and Rector of Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire.
W. S. Rev. Wtlliam Selwyn, D. D., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen ;
Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, Cambridge ; Canon of Ely.
A. P. S. Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D. D., Regius Professor of Ecclesia*
tical History, and Canon of Christ Chui-ch, Oxford ; Chaplain to Hia Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
C. E. S. Prof. Calvin Ellis Stowe, D. D., Hartford, Conn.
J. P. T. Rev. Joseph Parrish Thompson, D. D., New York.
W. T. Most Rev. William Thomson, D. D., Lord Archbishop of York.
S. P. T. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, LL. D., Author of " An Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament," &c.
H. B. T Rev. Henry Baker Tristram, M. A., F. L. S., Master of Greathara Hospital.
J. F. T. Rev. Joseph Francis Thrupp, M. A., Vicar of Barrington ; late Fel- low of Trinity College, Cambridge.
E. T. Hon. Edward T. B. Twisleton, M. A., late Fellow of Balliol College.
Oxford.
E. V. Rev. Edmund Venables, M. A., Bonchurch, Isle of Wight.
B. F. W. Rev. Brooke Foss Westcott, M. A., Assistant Master of Harrow
School ; late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
C. W. Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D. D., Canon of Westminster.
W. A. W. William Aldis Wright, M. A., Librarian of Trinity College, Cam bridge.
WRITERS IN THE AMERICAN EDITION.
Ezra Abbot, LL. D., Assistant Librarian of Harvard College,
Cambridge, Mass. Prof. Samuel Colcord Bartlett, D. D., Theol. Sem., Chicago, 111. Rev. Thomas Jefferson Conant, D. D., Brooklyn, N. Y. Prof. George Edward Day, D. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn Prof. George Park Fisher, D. D., Y'ale College, New Haven, Conn Prof. Frederic Gardiner, D. D., Middletown, Conn. D. R. G. Rev. Daniel Raynes Goodwin, D. D., Provost of the Univensity ol
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. B.. Prof. Horatio Balch Hackett, D. D., LL. D., Theological Institn
tion, Newton, Mass. J. H. Prof. James Hadley, LL. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn.
F. W H. Rev. Frederick Whitmore Holland, F. R. G. S., London. A. H ^ Prof. Alvah Hovey, D. D., Theological Institution, Newton, Mass.
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LIST OF WRITERS.
KAMF.S.
Prof. AsAHEL Clark Kexduick, D. D., University of Rochester, N. "Y Prof. Charles Marsh Mead, Ph. D., Theol. Sem., Andover, Mass. Prof. Edwards Amasa Park, D. D., Theol. Seminary, Andover, Mass. Rev. William Edwards Park, Lawrence, Mass. Prof. Andrew Prestox Peabody, D. D., LL. D., Harvard College,
Cambridge, Mass. Rev. George E. Post, M. D., Tripoli, SjTia. R. Prof. Rensselaer David Ciianceford Robbins, Middlebury Col- lege, Vt. Rev. Philip Schaff, D. D., New York. Prof. Henry Boynton Smith, D. D., LL. D., Union Theological
Seminary, New York. Rev. Calvix Ellis Stowe, D. D., Hartford, Conn. Prof. Daniel Smith Talcott, D. D., Theol. Seminary, Bangor, Me. Prof. Joseph Henry Thayer, M. A., Theol. Seminary, Andover, Mass. Rev. Joseph Parrish Thompson, D. D., New York. C. V. A. V. Rev. Cornelius V. A. Van Dyck, D. D., Beirut, Syria. W. H. W. Rev. William Hayes Ward, M. A., New York. W. F. W. Prof. William Fairfield Warren, D. D., Boston Theological Sem- inary, Boston, Mass. S. W. Rev. Samuel Wolcott, D. D., Cleveland, Ohio.
T. D. W. President Theodore Dwight Woolsey, D. D., LL. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn.
%* The new portions in the present edition are indicated by a star (*), the edi- torial additions being distinguished by the initials M. and A, Whatever is enclosed in brackets is also, with unimportant exceptions, editorial. This remark, however, does not apply to the cross-references in brackets, most of which belong to the origi- nal work, though a large number have been added to this edition.
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ABBREVIATIONS.
Aid. Tlie Aldine edition of the Scptuagint, 1518.
Alex. The Codex Alexandrinus (5th cent.), edited by Babcr, 1816-28.
A. V. The nuthorize.d (common) English version of the Bible.
Comp. The Scptuagint as printed in the Complutcnsian Polyglott, 1514-17, published
1522. FA. The Codex Friderico-Augustanus (4th cent.),' published by Tischendorf in
1846. Rom. The Roman edition of the Scptuagint, 1587. The readings of the Scptuagint
for which no authority is specified are also from this source. Sin. The Codex Sinaiticus (4th cent.), publislicd by Tischendorf in 1862. This
and FA. arc parts of the same manuscript. Vat. The Codex Vaticanus 1209 (4th cent.), according to Mai's edition, published
by Vcrccllonc in 1857. " Vat. H." denotes readings of the MS. (dilTering
from Mai), given in Holmes and Parsons's edition of tiic Scptuagint, 1798.
1827. " Vat.' " distinguishes the primary reading of the MS. from *' Vat."''"
or " 2. m.," the alteration of a later reviser.
DICTIONARY
OF
BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, AND NATURAL HISTORY.
I'AIiAR. [Addan.]
AAOaON Ci'l'lL!?:? [perh. = flin, moun-
fuineer, Ges. ; or from "IHS, enlightened, Fiirst] : "
Aupdv : Aaron), the son of Amrara (□"ISJ^,
kindred of the Highest) and Jochebed ("T^^"^^! whose glory is Jehovah), and the elder hrother of Moses and Miriam (Num. xxvi. 59, xxxiii. 39). He was a Levite, and, ;is the first-born, woidd Laturally be the priest of tlie household, even before any special appouitment by God. Of his eai-ly history we know nothing, although, by the way in which he is first mentioned in Ex. iv. 14, as " Aaron the Levite," it would seein as if he had been already to some extent a leader in his tribe. jUI that is definitely recorded of him at this time is, that, in the same passage, he is described as one »' who could speak well." Judging from the acts of his lil'e, we should suppose him to have been, like many eloquent men, a man of impulsive and comparatively unstable character, leaning almost wholly on his brother; incapable of tliat endurance of loneliness and temptation, which is an element of real greatness ; but at the same time earnest in his devotion to God and man, and therefore capable of sacrifice and of discipline by trial.
His first office was to be the " Prophet," i. e. (according to the proper meaning of the word), the interpreter and " Mouth " (Ex. iv. IG) of his brotli- er, who was "slow of speech;" and accordingly he was not only the organ of communication with the Israelites and with Pharaoh (Ex. iv. 30, vii. 2), but also the actual uistrument of working most of the miracles of the Exodus. (See Ex. vii. 19, &c.) Thus also on the way to Mount Sinai, during the battle with Amalek, Aaron is mentioned with Hur, as stajnng up the weary hands of Moses, when they were hfted up for the wctory of Israel (not in pra^-er, as is sometimes explained, but) to bear the rod of God (see Ex. xvii. 9). Thryugh all this period, he is only mentioned as dependent upon his brother, and deriving all his authority from him. The contrast between them is even more strongly marked on the airival at Sinai. Moses at once acts as the mediator (Gal. iii. 19) for the people, to come near to God for them, and to
« • Dietrich suggests (Ges. Heb. Handwb. 6te Aufl.)
ich, or fluent, like "IDIS. ^ H-
AARON
speak His words to them. Aaron only approaches with Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel, by special command, near enough to se« God's glory, but not so as to enter His immediate presence. Left then, on JMoses' departm-e, to guide the people, he is tried for a moment on his o\vn responsibility and he fails, not from any direct unbelief on his own part, but from a weak inability to withstand the demand of the people for raible " gods to go before tliem." Possibly it seemed to him prudent to make an image of .Jehovah, in the well-known form of Egyptian idolatry (Apis or Mnevis), rather than to risk the total alienation of the people to folse gods ; and his weakness was re- warded by seeing a " feast of the Lord " (Ex. xxxii. 5) degraded to the lowest form of heathenish sen- suahty, and knowing, from Closes' words and deeds, that the covenant with the Lord was utterly broken. There can hardly be a stronger contrast with this weakness, and the self-con\-icted shame of his excuse, than the burning indignation of Moses, and his stern decisive measures of vengeance; although beneath these there lay an ardent affection, which went almost to the verge of presumption in prayer for the people (Ex. xxxii. 19-34), and gained for- giveness for Aaron himself (Deut. ix. 20).
It is not a little remarkable, that immediately after this great sin, and almost as though it had not occurred, God's fore-ordained purposes were carried out in Aaron's consecration to the new office of the high-priesthood. Probably the fall and the repentance from it may have made. him one " who could have compassion on the ignorant, and them who are out of the way, as being himself also com- passed with infirmity." The order of God for the consecration is found in Ex. xxix., and the record of its execution in Lev. viii. ; and the delegated char- acter of the Aaronic priesthood is clearly seen by the fact, that, in this its inauguration, the priestly office is borne by Moses, as God's truer representat- tive (see Heb. \\\.).
The form of consecration resembled other sacri- ficial ceremonies hi containing, first, a sin-offering, the form of cleansing from sin and reconciliation [SiN-OP"FEKiNo] ; a burnt-offering, the symbol of entire devotion to God of the nature so purified [Burxt-offeiung] ; and a meat-offering, the thanlrful acknowledgment and sanctifying of God's natural blessings [Me.\t-offeri.\g]. It had, how- ever, besides these, the solemn assumption of th*
2 AARON
sacred rol)es (the garliof rii,'hteousiiess), the anoint- [ iiiC (the svniliol of God's grace), and tlie offering of j tlic nun of consecration, the bloo<l of which was sprinkled on Aaron nnd his sons, aa ifpon Uie altar and vpiseLs of the ministry, in order to sanctify thcni fur the service <(f G(nl. '"lit f jrmer ceremonies rcprfiw'nted the hWsiuL's and duties of the man, the l:ittei the H()ecial consecration of the priest."
The solemnity of the oftice, and its entire de- pendence for sanctity on the ordinances of God, were vindicutetl hy the death of Nadah and Abihu, for " oflcring strange fire " on the altar, and appa- rently (see I^v. X. it, 10) for doing so in drunken recklessness. Aaron's checking his sorrow, so as at le:u>t to refniin from all outward signs of it, would l)e a severe trial to an impulsive and weak character, and a proof of his heing* lifted above himself by the office which he held.
l-'roin tJiis time the histcry of Aaron is almost entirely that of the priesthood, and its chief feature is the great rel>ellion of Korah and the l.evites against his sacerdotal dignity, united with that of I)athan and Abirani and the Keubenites against the teni])ond authority of Moses [Kokaii]. The true indication of the reality of Aaron's priesthood was not so nuich the death of Korah by the fire of the Ix)rd, as the efficacy of his offering of incense to gtay the plague, by which he was seen to be accepted as an intercessor for the people. 'Ihe blooming of his rod, which followed, was a miraculous sign, visible to all and capable of preservation, of God's choice of him and his house.
The only occasion on which his individual char- acter is seen, is one of presum[)tion, promptetl, as before, chiefly by another, and, as before, speedily rejx.'nted of. The murmuring of Aaron and Miriam against Moses clearly jiroccedcd from their trust, the one in his priesthood, the other in her prophetic insjiinition, as etpuil conunissions from God (Xum. xii. 2}. It seems to have vanished at once before the decLiration of Moses' exaltation above all proph- ecy and i)riestIioo<l, except that of One who was to come; and, if we may judge from the direction of the punishment, to have originated mainly with Miriam. On all other occasions he is spoken of as acting with Moses in the guidance of the people, jjeaning iis he seems to have done wholly on him, it is not strange that he should have shared his sin at Meribah, and its punishment [Mosk-s] (Num. xx. 10-12). As that punishment seems to have purge<l out from Moses the tendency to self-confidence, which tainted his character, so in Aaron it may have destroyed that idolatry of a stronger mind, into which a weaker one, once conquered, is apt to fall. Aaron's death seems to have followefl very speedily. It to<jk place on Mount Hor, after the transference of his robes and oftice to Klea/ar, who alone with Moses was present at his death, and p<'rforme<l his burial (Xum. xx. 28). This mount is still called U)e " Mountain of Aaron." [Molt.]
'Ilie wife of Aaron was Klisheba (Mx. vi. 2.3); and tlie two sons who sunived him, Kleazar and Itlia- mar. The high priestlnjod descendetl to the former, and to his descendants until tlie time of Kli, who, although of the house of Itlmmar, received the high pnesthood (s<'e .losejih. Aiil. v. II, §.5, viii. 1, § ;t), and tnuismittetl it to his children; with them it contiimed until the acces.sion of .S</lonion, who took
a It bi noticeable thnt the cercinonie!i of the reftora- Hon of tlio leper to liiii place, as one of (iod'ii people, utMT a utrong reMuiblauce to tbow of coDMcratioD. V. '.jfy sif. 10-82.
ABANA
it from Abiathar, and restored it to Zadok (of th« house of I'Jeazar), so ftiUilling the prophecy of 1 Sam. ii. 30. A. B.
N. B. In 1 Cbr. xxvii. 17, " Aaron " (I'^r^S) is counted m one of the " li-iOts of Israel."
AA'RONITES, THE {V~'lJ»5 : i 'Aap<i» stirps Anrim, Aitronkw.). Descendants of Aiiron, and therefore priests, who, to the number of 3700 fighting men, wil!i .Jchoiada the father of Benaiab at their head, joined David at Hebron '1 C'hr. xii. 27). I-ater on in the history (1 Chr. xxvii. 17) we find their chief was Zadok, who in the earliei narrative w:is distinguished as " a young mao mighty of valor." They must have been an im- portant family in the reign of David to be reckoned among tlie tribes of Israel. W. A. W.
AB (.2S, Jhtlier), an element in the composi- tion of- many proper names, of which Abba is a Chaldaic form, the syllable affixed giving the em- phatic force of the definite article Applied to God by .Jesus L'hrist (Mark xiv. 3G), and by St. Paul (Kom. viii. 15; Gal. iv. 6.) [Abha.] 11. W B.
AB. [.M<i.Nriis.]
AB'ACUC, 2 Esdr. i. 40. [Habakkuk.]
ABADTJON, l!ev. ix. 11. [Ai-ollvo.v.]
ABADI'AS CA/SaJ.'aj; [Aid. BoS.'os:] Ab- (li(ig). OnADiAH, the son of Jehiel (1 ICsdr. viii 35). W. A. W.
ABAG'THA (Sn^^lS. : [ZadoKed; Alex. FA. Z-q^aQaQa ; Comp. 'Affayaed :] Abijatha), one of the seven eunuchs in the Persian court of Ahasuerus (I-lsth. i. 10). In the I,XX. the names of these eunuchs are diflferent. 'Hie word contains the same root which we find in the Persian names Biytha (Esth. i. 10), Biythan (Esth. ii. 21), Big- thanu (Esth. vi. 2), and Bnyoas. Bolilen explains it from the Sanscrit bar/ncldta, " given by fortune," from 0(iy(t, fortune, the sun.
AB'ANA (n52S; & 'Afiayd; [Vat.H. (Vat.'^ Mai) Ap$ava; Alex. Nae)8ai/a; Comp. 'A/iovet:] \AbaTM), one of the "rivers (n"1~in3l of Damas- cus " (2 K. V. 12). Tlie Baracla (Xpvffo^l)6as of the Greeks) and the Aicoj are now the chief streams I of Damascus, and there can be little doubt that the I former of these represents the .Vbana and the latter I the Pharpar of tlie text. As far back as the days of PUny and Strabo the Barodu w.is, as it now is, I the chief river of the city (Kob. iii. 440), flowing through it, and su])plying most of its dwellings with water. The AimJ is further from Damascus, and a native of the place, if speaking of the two to- gether, would certiiinly, with Xa.anian, name tlie Bonula first (Porter, i. 27G). To this may lie ad- ded tlie fact that in the Arabic version of the pas- sage — the date of which has been fixed by Hiidigcr as the 11th century — A bana is. rendered by Bar-
dn, ,\3y^' Further, it seems to have escaped
notice that one branch of the Awaj — M Kiepert's map (in Hob. 185G) is to be trusted —- now bean the name of \V(tdy Baibar. There is however no reference to this in Pobinson or Porter.
The Biiriul'i rises in the Antilibanus near Zeb- ddny, at alwut 23 miles from the city, and 1149
* The Kerf, with tlie Targum Jonathan anl tb« Byriac Terflou, has Auiannh. See uiarnin of A. V
ABARIM
feet above it. lu its course it passes the site of the ancient Abila, and receives the waters of Ain~ F'ljdi, one of the largest springs in SjTia. This was long believed to be the real source of the Barada, according to the popular usage of the country, which regards the most copious fountain, uot the most distant head, as the origin of a river. We meet with other instances of the same mistake in the case of the Jordan and the Orontes [Aim] ; it is to Dr. Robinson that we are indebted for its discovery in the present case (Kob. iii. 477).
ABDIEL 3
those regions must remain to a great degree ob- scure." G.
*ABBA. The Chaldee or Aramaic appends the article instead of prefixing it as in Hebrew ; and
hence when Abba (S2S) occurs the exact 6 Trarrip follows for the sake of Greek reatlers. See Winer's L'pist. ad Galat. p. 96. Abba, as the vemacidar term (a vox solennis from childhood), was of course more expressive than any foreign word could be, and came, as it were, fii'st to the lips as the writer
After flowing through Damascus the Barada runs ' or speaker thouglit of God in the filial relation across the plain, leavmg the remarkable Assyrian I which the word designated with such fuUness ol ruin Tell es-Sabhii/eh on its left bank, till it'loses j meaning. See Usteri's Com. ilber d. Brief an die
itself in the lake or marsh Bnhret el-Klbliyeh. Mr. I'orter calculates that 14 vUlages and 150,000 souls are dependent on this important river. For the course of the Barcula see Porter, vol. i. chap, v., Jourii. of S. Ut. N. S. vUi., Rob. iii. 446, 7. Light- foot {Cent. Chor. iv.) and Gesenius [The's. 116)
quote the name ^l^^"lp as applied in the Lexicon Aruch to the Amana. G.
* Gesenius ( Tltes. p. 116) supposes Abana to be a commutation for Ajiana by an interchange of the
labials 3 and !2 : it may be a dialectic or a provin- cial difference. See also KeU's BB. der Kdnige, p. 368. Amana or Abana means " perennial " (comp.
]^;S]5 as said of water in Is. xxxiii. 16 and Jer.
XV. 18) and is especially appropriate to this ever- flowing stream. The orJy biblical allusion to the name is that in Naaman's scornful interrogation in 2 Kings V. 12 : " Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" There may be something more than pride of country in this; for the waters of Abana (Biradn), especially after the confluence of the stream from Fijeh, its most copious fountain, are remarkably fresh and sparkling, and at the present day proverbially salubrious, while those of the Jor- dan are mixed with clay and tepid, though not unfit for drinking (Richter's Walljahrten, p. 157 ; Rob. Pliys. Geo(j. p. 165). H.
AB'ARIM (so Milton accents the word), the '' mouut," or " moimtains of " (always with the def.
aiticle, C^'HI^Vri "in, or "'^IH, rhoposTh'K^-
apifi, [etc ] or iy tS iripav rov 'lopSdvov, = the mountains of the further parts, or possibly of the fords), a moxmtaui or range of higlilands on the east of the Jordan, in the land of !Moab (Deut. xxxii. 49), facing Jericho, and forming the eastern wall of the Jordan valley at that part. Its most ele- vated spot was " the Moimt Nebo, ' head ' of ' the ' Pisgah," from which Moses viewed the Prom- ised Land before his death. There is nothing to prove that the Abarim were a range or tract of any length, unless the Ije-Abarim ("heaps of A.") named in Num. xxxiii. 44, and which were on the Bouth frontier of Moab, are to be taken as belong- ing to them. But it must be remembered that a srord derived from the same root as Abarim, namely,
"IZlV, is the term commonly applied to the whole of the comitry on the east of the Jordan.
These mountams are mentioned in Num. xxvii. 12, xxxiii. 47, 48, and Deut. xxxii. 49; also prob- xbly in Jer. xxii. 20, where the word is rendered in ie A. V. "pa.ssages."
In the absence of research on the east of the 'ordan and of the Dead Sea, the topography of
Galnt. p. 148. Tholuck (on Rom. viii. 15) reminds us that Luther preferred to translate TrarTjp liebei Vater rather than V^ater merely, as the more nat- ural dictate of his cliildlike feeling toward God. Some others think that Abba passed over from the AraiuEean Christians to the Greek-speaking Chris- tians as a sort of proper name, and had merely that force as combined with 6 iraTTjp, To main- tain this \iew, Meyer has to say (on Gal. iv. 6) that in Mark xiv. 36 the EvangeUst puts "Abba" into the mouth of Jesus as he prayed in the garden in anticipation of a usage which began to exist at a later period. H.
ABT)A (S^^V [servant, a Chaldee form]:
Avddiv ; [Vat. Ecppa; Alex. Aj35a>; Comp. 'A)3- 5a:] Abda). 1. Father of Adoniram (1 K. iv. 6.) 2. ['Ico;3i5/3 ; Comp. 'A/SSias.] Son of Shammua (Neh. xi. 17), called Obadiah in 1 Chr. ix. 16.
ABTDEEL (bS^Ill? : [om. Aid. Rom. Alex. FA.'; Comp. 'AySSe^A.:] Abdeel), father of Shele- miah (Jer. xxxvi. 26). [A. V. ed. 1611 reads Ab- d(el.]
ABDI ('^■^^V \.my servant] : 'Afiai ; [^'at. Aj3S€i:] Alex. A)35i: Abdi). 1. A Merarite [Me- it.VRi], and ancestor of Ethan the singer (1 Chr. vi. 44).
2. CA)3Si.) The father of Kish, a INIerarite Le- nte in the reign of Hezekiah (2 Chr. xxix. 12). From a comparison of this passage with 1 Chr. vi. 44 it would appear either that ancestral name.i were repeated in Le\itical famiUes, or that they be- came themselves the names of famiUes, and not of individuals.
3. CA/SSt'a ; FA. A&Seia.) One of the Bene- Elam [sons of Elam] in the time of Ezra, who had married a foreign wife (I'lzr. x. 26). W. A. W.
ABDI'AS {Abdias). The prophet Obadlui (2 Esdr. i. 39). W. A. W.
ABTDIEL (bS'''^37 [se^-vant of God] : 'A$ 5ir)\; [Vat. A/3Se7jA.:] Abdiel), son of Guni (1 Chr. V. 15).
* The casual notice here is all that is known to us of this Abdiel from the Bible. The celebrity which the name has acquired arises chiefly from Milton's use of it as applied to that only on< among the hosts of Satan, of whom he could say : —
" Among the faithless, faithful only he ; "
a * For a concise statement of the somewhat per plexed relation of Abarim, Nebo, and Pisgah to each other, the reader maj' consult Dr. Robiusou's Physical Geography of Palestine, p. 62. Kurtz {Gesch. des A. B.) h;i8 a section (ii. § 88) on the " Gobirge Ab.irim." See also Raumer's Palastina, and Ritter's Enlkumle on Abarim. Additional informatiof , the result of latei discoveries, will be found under Neoo. H
4 ABDON
and whom (referring to the etj-mology) he repre- leuts as receiving the lofty praise -^ " Servant of God, well doue ; well hast thou fought." The name corresponds to the Arabic Abdallali. Set' Wilkinson's Personal Names in the Bible (London, 1805), p. 2'J7. H.
AB'DON (fT^^V {sei-vile}: 'A^ddy, [in Jndg., Alex. Aa^Swfj., Aa^Scay--] Abdon). 1. A judge of Israel (Judg. xii. 13, 15), perhaps the game person as IJcdan in 1 Sam. xii. 11.
2. [Vat. A/SoSo)!/.] Son of Shashak (1 Chr. viii. 23).
3. I'irst-born son of Jehiel, son of Gibeon [ratii- er, father of Gibeon, i. e. the city or people of tjibeon] (1 Chr. viii. 30, ix. 35, 30).
4. ['AfiS6u; Vat. AfiSoSo/j. ; Alex. AfiSuv.] Sou of Micah, a contemporary of Josiah (2 Chr. isxiv. 20), called Achbor in 2 Kings xxii. 12.
AB'DOX (I'l'^^V [seii-ile]: 'A^Uv, Aafi- $wv, 'PaPiid), a city m the tribe of Asher, given to the Gei-shonites (Josh. xxi. 30; 1 Chr. vi. 74). No place of this name appears in the list of the towns of Asher (Josh. xix. 24-31); but instead we
find (28) ^I^V, "Hebron,"" which is the same
word, with the change frequent in Hebrew of ~i
for ~T. Indeed many MSS. have Abdon in Josh, xix. 28 (Ges. p. !l80: Winer, s. v.); but, on the other hand, all tlie ancient versions retain the 11, except the Vatican LXX. which has 'EA/Scif (Alex. 'Axpav ['i'"^ S" Comp. ; 17 MSS. have Efiptcy])-
ABED'NEGO ('l^ri^^? : 'A^Sipayci: Ab- (Jeiiayo), i. e. gtrvunt of Nego,^ perhaps the same as Sebu, which was tlie Chaldtean name of the planet Mercury, worshipped as the scribe and interpreter of the gods ((jeseu.). Abednego was the Chal- d;tan name given to Azariah, one of the three friends of Daniel, miraculously saved from the burning fiery fui-nace (Dan. iii.). [Azaki.mi, No. 24.] K. W. B.
A'BEL (^3S= meadow,<: according to Ge- seniiis, who derives it from a root signifying mois- ture like that of grass: see, however, in favor of a lilierent meaning {lamentatioii], the arguments of Lengerke, Ktnaan, i. 358, and Hengstenberg, /'( H^ ii. 319); the name of several places in I'alestine: —
1. A'BKLr-BETH-MA'AOIIAH (HDl^tt n"*!!! S
[house of oppi-cmon: 2 S. 'A^(\ koX Beflyuoxa <^r ^(pfjiaxa- (AlfX. Br)6fxaxa) '■ Abeln el Bethi/iaacliu :
1 K. T] 'A/36\ o'kou Maaxd- Abeldomus ^faacha:
2 K. i) 'A)3eA Koi t] ©a/uaaxc^; Alex, n KafitK- Bepfiaaxa- Abel domus -'/.]), a town of some im- ])ortance {n6Kis koI ixi]Tp6no\is, " a city and a mo- ther in Israel,"' 2 SaTii. xx. I'J), in the extreme north of I'iilestine; named with Dan, Cinneroth, Kedesli ; and as such falling an early prey to the invading
A^EL
kings of S}Tia (1 K. xv. 20) and Assjria (2 K. x*. 2'J). In the parsUIel passage, 2 Chr. xvi. 4, the nam*
is changed to Abel Maim, C^^ S = Abel on the waters. Here Sheba was overtaken and besieged by Joab (2 Sam. xx. 14, 15); and the city was saved by the exercise on the part of one of its in- habitants of that sagacity for which it was jtroverb- ial (18). In verses 14 and 18 it is simply Abel, and in 14 Abel is apparently distinguished from Ueth-maachah.'' If the derivation of Gesenius be . the correct one, the situation of Abel was probably in the Ard el-IIuleh, the marshy meadow country which drains into the Sea of Jlcrom, whether at Abil (Kobinson, iii. 372), or more to the south (Stanley, S. and P. p. 390, note). Eusebius and Jerome place it between I'aneas and Damascus; but this has not been identified.
2. A'bei^jia'im (2^Q ''•t?^ • 'A/3€\jwit»' • Abehnaim), 2 Chr. xvi. 4. [Abel, 1.]
3. .Vbei^mizka'im (Mi/zraim), C^H^tt S, ac- cording to the etymology of the text, the mouiiiing of Jujypt, TtivOos Alyinrroxj [Planctus Alfjypti], (this meaning, however, requires a different point- ing, ^5^^ for ^5^) • ^^^ name given by the Ca- naanites to the floor of Atad, at which Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians made their mourning
for Jacob (Gen. 1. 11). It was beyond ("15^ = on the east of ) Jordan, though placed by Jerome at 15eth-Ilogla (now Aln-Hajki), near the river, on its icesl bank.« [Atau.]
4. A'bel.-shit'tim (with the article ^ZS
:2''L2ti''n: [BeAo-a ; Alex. BeXffaTTtfx ; Comp. 'AfieXaarin '• Abehatim]), the meadow of the acacias, in the "plains" (n2~l^=the deserts) of Moat); on the low level of the Jordan valley, as contradistinguished from the cultivated "fields" on the upper level of the table-land. Here — their Ixst resting-place before crossing the Jordan — Is- rael " pitched from Hethjesiniotli unto A. Shittim," Num. xxxiii. 4'J. The place is most frequently mentioned by its shorter name of Shittim. [Shit- tim.] In the days of Josephus it wiis still known as Abila, — the town embosomed in palms,'" (oirou vvv ir6\is iffTlv 'A/SiAtj, (poiVLK6(pvrov 5" i(n\ rb Xoplov, Aiil. iv. 8, § 1 ), 00 stadia from the river (v. 1, ^ 1). The towi and the palms have disappeared; but the acacia-groves, denoted by the name Shit- tim, still remain, " marking with a luie of verdure
" The Ain is hero rendered bv II. The II in thf well-known Ilfl>ron represents Ch. El.sewhcro (as Uiiai, (i(iiiiorruli) Ain is rendered by O in the Author- ized Version.
(> • A '■ dragon " waa worshipped with Bel at Bnby- loD, and Dietrich (Oca. Hfb. Handwb. 18C3) thinks well of R.Jdiger's comparison of Nego with the Sanskr. na^/i, " serpent." II.
c It i« in favor of Gesonlus' interpretation tliat the Chaldeo Turguni alwavH renders Abel liv MIs/ior, which In later Hebrew lost its 8poci.-il dignidcnncc, and was V4«l for a level spot or plain genorallj'.
</ • It is certjiin from 2 Sam. xx. 14, that they rvere different, and no doubt the fuller name signified Abe\ near Beth-Maaehah (Ilengstenberg, Pnil. ii. 819; Robinson, iii. 372). See Oes. Htb. Gr. § 116, 6 a, for this mode of expretwing local proximity. Sec Thomson's LaniJ iiiid Book-, i. 327, for a descrijition of Abel. II.
e • The Biblical text knows nothing of any connec- tion between Abcl-Mi/.niim and Beth-IIogla. ^^'lIether " beyond the Jordan " denotes the east or tlic weel side, depends on the position of the S|H'aker, like our Trans-iitlantio, whether used on one side of the water or the other. Ag:iin.«t the supposition of Kitto and Others, that .Ioiieph"H funeral e.«oort, with the bcxly of Jacob, travelled through the Oitsit Dc.<ert, by the way of the Dead Sea and Moab, in going to Cauiuin, inRt«nd of the direct cour.sc through I'hilistia, see Thom.son'a Lan^i ami Book, ii. 3-%. 11.
/ It wiLS amongst these palms, according to Jo.ie- plius, that Deuteronomy was delivered by Mofws. Sm the passage above dt«d.
ABEL
ihe upper terraces of the Jordan valley '' (Stanley, S. ami P. p. 2S)8).
5. A'bel-j[eho'lah (Mec/iolah, iT^in^ S, meadow of the dance: ['A/86A/i€ovA.a; Alex. Ba- treXfieovXa '■ AiielmeJndd.] ), named with Beth-shean (Scythopolis) and Jokneam (1 K. iv. 12), and therefore in the nortliern part of the Jordan valley (Eus. iv Tca avKwui)- The routed Bedouin host fled from Gideon (Judg. vii. 22) to "the border (the 'lip' or 'brink') of Abel-meholah," and to Beth- shittah (the "house of the acacia"), both places being evidently do^vn in the Jordan vaUey. Here Elisha was found at his plough liy Elijah retunaing up the vaUey from Horeb (1 K. xix. lG-19). In Jerome's time the name had dwindled to 'A^e\fiea.
6. A'bed-cera'jiim (2"'l!p"l3 S : ['E^eXxap- fii/ji.; Ales. AySeA. a/jLireXcaviav'- Abel qiue est vineis coiisUa]), in the A. V. rendered "the plain \inary. 'Abel'] of the vineyards," a pkce eastward of Jordan, beyond Aroer; named as the point to which Jephthah's pursuit of the Bene-Ammon [sons of A.] extended (Judg. xi. 33). A /cci/U.77 ajxtre- \o<pSpos "A^eX is mentioned by Eusebius at 6 (Je- rome, 7) miles beyond Philadelphia (Ilabbah); and another, oivo<p6pos KuXov/xei/ri, more to the north, 12 miles east from Gadara. below the Hieromax. Ruins bearing the name of Abila are still found in the same position (Ritter, Syria, 1058). There were at least three places with the name of Aroer on the further side of the Jordan. [Akoeu.]
7. "The GUEAT 'Abel' [mnr(/. 'or stone,'] in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite" (1 Sam. vi. 18). By comparison with 14 and 15, it would
seem that 2 has been here exchanged for V', and
that for V^S should be read ].3S = stone. So tlie LXX. and the Chaldee Targum. Our trans- lators, by the insertion of " stone of," take a middle 30iu-se. See, however, Lengerke (358) and Herx- heimer (1 Sam. vi. 18), who hold by Abel as being the name subsequently given to the spot in refer- ence to the " mourning " (TySSri") there, ver. 19. In this case compare Gen. 1. 11. G.
A'BEL, in Hebr. HEBEL (b^^ : "a^cA: Ahel; i. e. breath, vapor, transUoriness, probably so called from the shortness of his life)," the second son of Adam, murdered by his brother Cain (Gen. iv. 1-16). Jehovah showed respect for Abel's offer- ing, but not for that of Cain, because, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. 4), Abel " by faith offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." The expression "sin," i. e. a sin-oft'ering, "Ueth at the door" (Gen. iv. 7), seems to imply that the need of sacrifices of blood to obtain forgiveness was already revealed. On account of Abel's faith, St. Augustine makes Abel the type of the new regen- erate man ; Cain that of the natural man (de Civ. Dei, XV. 1). St. Chrysostom observes that Abel Dffered the best of his flock — Cain that which was most readily procured (Horn, in Gen. xviii. 5). Jesus Christ spoke of him as the first martyr (Matt, xxiii. 35); so did the early church subse- quently. For Christian traditions see Iren. v. 67; Chrysost. Horn, in Gen. xix.; Cedren. Hist. 8. For those of the Rabbins and Mohammedans, Eisen-
« *0r, it may be from the mother's impression of She brevity and frailty of human life, which she had now begun to understand ; and in that case the child 30uld have been so named at his birth, H.
ABIASAPH 6
menger, Entdeckt. Jud. "1. 462, 832 ; Hottinger, Hist. Or. 24; Ersch & Gruber, Encyklop. s. v. ; and the Kur-dn V. The place of his murder and his grave are pointed out near Damascus (Pococke, b. ii. 108); and the neighboring peasants tell a curi- ous tradition respecting his burial (Stanley, S. ami P. p. 413).
ITie Oriental Gnosticism of the Sabseans made Abel an incarnate /Eon, and the Gnostic or Mani- chsean sect of the Abehta? in North Africa in the time of Augustine {de Hceres. 80, 87), so called themselves from a tradition -(hat Abel, though married, lived in continence. In order to avoid perpetuating original sin, they followed his example, but in order to keep up thefr sect, each married pair adopted a male and female child, who in their turn vowed to marry under the same conditions.
R. W. B.
A'BEZ (V5^, in pause V5^ : 'Pc^e'j; [.\ld. A.I8X. 'AfyUf'; Comp. 'Ae^rjs-] A.bes), a town in the possession of Issachar, named between Kishion and Kemeth, in Josh. xLx. 20, only. Gesenius mentions as a possible derivation of the name, that
the Chaldee for tin is n!J3M : [but Fiirst thuiks it may be from ^'■^^5 ^^^ hence height.] Pos- sibly, however, the word is a corruption of V*?'!?; Thebez [which see], now Tubas, a town situated not far from Engannim and Shunem, (both towns of Issachar), and which otherwise has entfrely es- caped mention in the hst in Joshua.'' G.
A'BI (^3S [/■«//)«/• = progenitor] : "'AySon; [Aid. 'Amoved; Comp. 'A;3i] : Abi), mother of king Hezekiah (2 K. xviii. 2). The name is writ- ten Abijah (n*:3S) in 2 Chr. xxix. 1. Her fa- ther's name was Zechariah, who was, perhaps, the Zechariah mentioned l)y Isaiah (viii. 2). R. W. B.
ABI'A, ABI'AH, or ABI'JAH (n*:nS =
^n*3_>^ [ichose father is Jehovah] : 'AjSta ; [in 1 Chr. vu. 8, Rom. 'AjStouS, Alex. A;8iou; Comp. Aid. 'A)8ia:] Abin). 1. Son of Becher, the son of Benjamin (1 Chr. vii. 8).
2. Wife of Hezron (1 Chr. ii. 24).
3. Second son of Samuel, wliom, together with his eldest son Joel, he made judges in Beersheba (1 Sam. viii. 2; 1 Chr. \i. 28). The. corruptness of their administration was the reason alleged by the Israelites for their demanding a king.
4. Mother of king Hezekiah. [Abi.]
R. W. B.
5. (n^3i^ : 'AlSia.: Abia, \Abias.]) Abijah or Abijam, the son of Rehoboam (1 Chr. iii. 10; Matt. i. 7).
6. Descendant of Eleazar, and chief of the eighth of the twenty-four courses of priests (Luke i. 5). He is the same as Abljah 4. W. A. W.
For other persons of this name see Abijah.
ABI-AL'BON. [Abiei,.]
ABI'ASAPH, otherwise written EBI'A- SAPH (^IDS-^nS, Ex. vi. 24, and ?1D;3S, 1 Chr. vi. 8, 2Y[(Heb.), 23, 37 (E. V.)]yix."l9: 'A^idcrap, 'APtcrd(p, 'A$td(ra(p: Abiasaph ; ac- cording to Simonis, " cujus j^atrem absiulit Dens,"
f> *Mr. Porter {Handbook, ii. 647) puts Abez in hi« list of Scripture places not yet identified. Knobel and Keil also regard the name as now lost. H.
6
A13IATHAR
with reference to the death of Koi-ah, as relat«l in Num. xvi. ; but according to Fiirst and Gesenius, father of galherirKj, i. e. the. <jatherer ; compare
flDS, Asaph, 1 Chr. vi. 39). lie was the head of one of tlie families of the Korhites (a house of the Kuhathites), but his precise genealogy is some- what uncertain. In l".x. vi. 2-1, he appears at first gight to Ije represented as one of the sons of Korah, and as tlie brothei :>f .\ssir and l-lkanah. But iji 1 Clir. vi. he appears as the son of Elkanah, the son of Assir, the son of Fvorah. The natural inference from this would l)e that in V.x. vi. 24 the expres- sion " the sons of Korah " merely means the fam- ilies into which the house of the Korhites was sulj- divided. But if so, the verse m E.xodus must be a later insertion than the time of Closes, as in Moses' lifetime the greut-graiulson of Korah could not have been the head of a family. And it is re- markable that tlie verse is quite out of its place, and apjiears improjierly to separate ver. 25 and ver. 2'i, which botli relate to the house of Aaron. If, howe\er, this inference is not correct, then the Ebi- asaph of 1 Chr. vi. is a difierent person from the Alii.asaph of Ex. vi., namely, his great-nephev/. But this does not seem probable. It appears from 1 ( hr. ix. 19, that that branch of the doscendants of Abiasaph of which Shallum was chief were por- ters, " keepers of the gates of the tabernacle " ; and from ver. .31 tliat Mattithiah, " the first-born of Shallum the Korahite, bad the set ofhce over the thinirs that were made in the pans," ajjparently in the time of David. I'Voin Xeh. xii. 25 we le.ani that .Vbiasaph's family was not extinct in the days of Xehemiah ; for tlie family of MeshuUam (which is the same as Shallum), with Talmon and Akkub, still filled the office of porters, " keeping the ward at the threshold of the gate." Other remarkable descendants of Abiasaph, according to the text of 1 Chr. vi. 33-37, were Samuel the prophet and Elkanah his father (1 Sam. i. 1), and Ileman the singer; but I'Lbi;i.saph seems to be improperly in- serted in ver. 37." The possessions of those Ko- hathites who were not descended from Aaron, con- sisting of ten cities, lay in the tribe of Ephraim, the iialf-tribe of JIanasseh, and the trib'e of Dan (.losh. xxi. 20-2G; 1 Chr. vi. Gl). The family of ILlkanah the Kohathite resided hi Mount Ephraim (1 Sam. i. 1). A. C H.
ABI'ATHAR C^iip;??:? : 'AfiiiOap : Abi- alh'ir ; l)nt the version of Santes Tagninus has tt/- alhnr, according to the Heltrew points. In Mark ii. 20, it is 'Afiiddap, According to Simonis, the name means " (cujus) prUer superstes mansil, mortua Bcil. niatre; " but according to Fiirst and Gese- nius,/"«<//«• oj' excellence, or ubumlnnce). Abi:u thar was that one of all the sons of Ahimelech the high-priest who escajicd the slaughter inflicted upon his father's house by S.aul, at the instigation of Doeg the Edoinite (see title to Ps. lib, and the psahn itself), in revenge for his having inquired of the Lord for David, and given him tlie sliew-bre.ad to eat, and the sword of Goliath the I'liilistine, a.s is related in 1 Sam. Xxii Wi- are there told that when Doeg slew in Nob on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod, " one of ,he sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitul), named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David; " and it is
« Sec The Grn'oloi^ies rtf our Lord and Saviour fesits Chris', by Liord Arthur llovcy, p. 210, and p. n4, DOt«.
ABIATHAR
added in xxiii. G, that when he did eg " he cama down with an ephod in his hand," and was thus enabled to mquire of the Lord for David (1 Sam, sxiii. 9, XXX. 7; 2 Sam. ii. 1, v. 19, &c.). The fact of David having been the unwilhng cause of the death of all Abiathar's kindred, coupled with his gi'atitude to his fiither Ahimelech for his kind- ness to him, made him a firm and steadfast friend to Abiathar all his life. Abiathar on his part was firmly attached to David. He adhered to him in his wanderings while pursued by Saul; he was witli him while he reigned in Hebron (2 Sara. ii. 1-3), the city of tlie house of Aaron (.losh. xxi. 10-13); he carried the ark before him when David brought it up to .Jerusalem (1 Chr. xv. 11 ; IK. ii. 2G); he continued faithful to him in Absalom'i rebeUion (2 S.am. xv. 24, 29, 35, 3G, xvii. 15-17, xix. 11); and " was atHicted in all wherein David was afflicted." He was also one of David's chief counsellors (1 Chr. xxvii. 34). A\'hen, however, Adonijah set himself up for David's successor on the throne in oi)position to Solomon, Abiathar, either persuaded by .Joal), or in rivalry to Zadok, or under some influence which cannot now be dis- covere<l, sided with him, and was one of his chief partisans, while Zadok was on Solomon's side. For this Abiathar was banished to his native vil- lage, An.athoth, in the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. xxi. 18), and nan-owly escaped with his hfe, which was spared i>y Solomon only on the strength of his long and faithful service to David his father. He was no longer permitted to perform the functions or enjoy the prcrogati\es of the higii-priesthood. For we are distinctly told that " Solomon thrust out Abiatliar from being priest to the Lord; " and that " Zadok the priest did the king put in th? room of Abiath.ar" (1 K. ii. 27, 35). So that it is difficult to understand the assertion in 1 K. iv. 4, that in Solomon's reign "Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; " and still more difficult in connection with ver. 2, which tells us that " Azariah the son of Zadok " was " tlie priest: " a declaration confirmed by 1 Chr. vi. 10. It is probable that Abiathar did not long survive David. He is not mentioned again, and he must have been far advanced in yeiu-a at Solomon's accession to the throne.
There are one or two other difficulties connected with Abiathar, to wbicli a brief reference nmst be made before we conclude tliis article. (1.) In 2 .Sam. viii. 17, and in the dupUcate passage 1 (,'hr. xviii. IG, and in 1 Chr. xxiv. 3, 6, 31, we have Ahimelech substituted for A/jiiithur, and Ahimelech the son of Abi'tlhttr, instead of Abiothnr the $(m vf Ahimelech. AVhcreas in 2 Sam. xx. 25, and in every other pass.age in tiie C). T., we are uniformly told that it was Al>iathar who was priest with Zadok in David's reign, and that he was the son of Ahim- elech, and that Ahimelech was the son of Ahitub. Tlie ditiiculty is increa-sed by finding Abiath.ar spoken of as the high-priest in whose time David ate the shew-iiread, in Mark ii. 20. (See Alford, (III loc.) However, the evidence in favor of David's friend being Al/iathnr the son of Ahimelech pre- ponderates so strongly, and the impossil)ility of any rational reconciliation is so clear, that one can only supjmse, witli I'locojiius of (iiiza, that the error was a clerical one originally, and was propagated from onejjassa^ic to another.'' The mention of Abi- iithiir by our Lord, in Mark ii. 20, might perhaps be accounted for, if Abiathar was the person who
b * See additinr. in/r»
U.
ABIATHAR
persuaded his father to allow David to have the bread, and if, as is probable, the loaves were Abi- athar's (Lev. xxiv. 9), aiid given by him with his own hand to David. It may also be remarked that our Lord doubtless spoke of Abiathac as
^rT3n, " the priest," the designation applied to
Ahimelech throughout 1 Sam. scxi., and equally applicable to Abiathar. The expression apxte- oevs is the Greek translation of our Lord's words. (2.) Another difficulty concerning Abiathar is to determine his position relatively to Zadok, and to account for the double high-priesthood, and for the advancement of the Une of Ithamar over that of Eleazar. A theory has been invented that Abia- thar was David's, and Zadok Saul's high-priest, but it seems to rest on no solid ground. The facts of the case are these : — Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, the sou of Phinehas, the son of Eli, was high-priest in the reign of Saul. On his death his son Abiathar became high-priest. The fii'st men- tion of Zadok is in 1 Chr. xii. 28, where he is de- scribed as " a young man mighty of valor," and is said to have jomed David while he reigned in Hebron, in company with Jehoiada, " the leader of the Aaronites." I'rom this time we read, both in the books of Samuel and Chronicles, of " Zadok and Abiathar the priests," Zadok being always named first. And yet we are told that Solomon on his accession put Zadok in the room of Abiathar. Per- haps the true state of the case was, that Abiathar was the first, and Zadok the second priest; but that from the superior strength of the house of Eleazar (of which Zadok was head), which en- abled it to furnish 16 out of the 24 courses (1 Chr. xxiv.), Zadok acquired considerable influence with David ; and that this, added to his being the heir of the elder line, and perhaps also to some of the passages being written after the line of Zadok were established in the high-priesthood, led to the pre- cedence given him over Abiathar. We have al- ready suggested the possibihty of jealousy of Zadok bemg one of the motives which inclined Abiathar to join Adonijah's faction. It is most remarkable how, first, Saul's cruel slaughter of the priests at Nob, and then the political error of the wise Abi- athar, led to the fulfillment of God's denunciation against the house of Eli, as the wi-iter of 1 K. ii. 27 leads us to observe when he says that " Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which He spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh." See also Joseph. Ant. viii. 1, §§ 3, 4.
A. C. H. * Some adhere to the text, without resorting to the supposition of a clerical error. It is deemed possible that Ahimelech and Abi.-ithar were heredi- tary names in the family, and hence, that the feither and the son could have borne these names respectively. It would thus be accounted for that Abiathar is called the son of Ahimelech in 1 Sam. xxii. 20, fiid that Ahimelech is called the son of Abiathar in 2 Sam. viii. 17. The same person consequently could be meant in Mark ii. 26, whether the one name was applied to him or the other ; and the reason why the father is mentioned by his name i^biathar, and not that of Ahimelech may be that the fonner had become, historically, more famiUar In consequence of the subsequent friendship be- tween Abiathar. the son, and David. Another ixplanation is, that Abiathar w.os for some un- 'tnown reason acting as the father's ^icar at the
ABIEZER 7
time of this transaction with David, and that the citation in Mark follows a tradition of that fact, not transmitted in the O. T. history. We havo other instances of a similar recognition of events or opuiions not recorded in the 0. T., to which the N. T. wTiters refer as apparently well known among the Jews; such as e. </. Abraham's fii'st call in Ur of the Chaldees (Acts vii. 3, compared with Gen. xii. 1); the tomb of the patriarchs at Sychem, (Acts vii. 16); the giving of the law by the agency of angels (Cial. iii. 19, Heb. ii. 2), and others. Lange's note on j\Iark ii. 26 (Bibeliverk, ii. 28), deserves to be read. For some very just and thoughtful remarks on the proper mode of deaUng with such apparent contradictions of Scriptm'e, see CummeiUary an Mark (p. 53), by Dr. J. A. Alex- ander. H A'BIB. [lIojiTHs.]
ABIT) AH and ABITDA" (2?T3SI [father <f knowledge, i. e. wist]: 'AySeiSa, ['A/8i5a; Alex. A^tpa, A0iSa'-] AOida), a son of Midian [and grandson of Abraham through his wife or concubuie Iveturah] (Gen. xxv. 4; 1 Chr. i. 33).
E. S. P.
AB'IDAN (l^'^^iS [father of the judge, Ges. ; or Ab, i. e. God, is judye, Fiirst] : 'AfitSdv, [Alex, twice Aj3ei5ai/:] Abidan\ chief of the tribe of Beiyamin at the time of the Exodus (Num. i. 11, ii. 22, vu. 60, 65, x. 24).
A'BIEL [as a Christian name in English com- monly pronounced Abi'el] ( /S'^IlS [fatlier of strenf/th, i. e. strong']: 'Afitr]K: Abiel). 1. The father of Kish, and consequently grandfather of Saul (1 Sam. ix. ] ), as well as of Abner, Saul'* commander-in-chief (1 Sam. xiv. 51). In the gen- ealogy in 1 Chr. viii. 33, ix. 39, Ner is made the father of Ivish, and the name of Abiel is omitted, but the correct genealogy according to Samuel is : — Abiel.
I Kish Ner
J, I
Saul Abner
2. One of David's 30 " mighty men " (1 Chr.
xi. 32); called in 2 Sara, xxiii. 31, Abi-albon, a
name which has the same meaning R. W. B.
ABIE'ZER (~1T3^ ''-2\^, father of helj): 'A&i- fCep, 'liQ, [Alex, m Josh., A)(ieC^P'- Abiezer,] damns Abiezer). 1. Eldest son of Gilead, and de- scendant of Machir and ^Manasseh, and apparently at one time the leading family of the ir'^^t (Josh, xm. 2, Num. xxvi. 30, where the name is given ui
the contracted form of "^.t^"*N, Jeezer). In thu
genealogies of Chronicles, Abiezer is, in the present state of the text, said to have sprung from the sister of Gilead (1 Chr. vii. 18). Originally, there- fore, the family was with the rest of the house of Gilead on the east of Jordan ; but when first met with in the history, some part at least of it had crossed the Jordan and established itself at Ophrah, a place which, though not yet identified, must have been on the hills which overlook from the south the wide plain of Esdraelon, the field of so many of the battles of Palestine (Stanley, pp. 246-7 ; Judg. vi. 34). Here, when the fortunes of his family
1 * A. v., ed. 1611, and in other early editions, readi Abida In both passages. A.
3 ABIEZRITE
irere at the lowest — " my ' thousand ' is ' the jxwr one' in Maiiasseh" (vi. 15) — was born tiie great judge Gideon, destined to raise his own iiouse to al- most royal dignity (Stanley, p. '2-20) and to achieve for his coiuitry one of the most signal deliver- ances recorded in their whole history. [Gidkon; OrmiAH.] The name occurs, in addition to the passages above quoted, in Judg. vi. 34, viii. 2.
2. One of David's " mighty men" (2 Sam. .\xiii. 27; 1 Clir. xi. 28, xxvii. 12). G.
ABIEZ'RITE ("'"iTl^n "^n^ [the father of
help] : 7raT?)p toD '^ahpi in Judg. vi. ; >a/32 'E<r5p/ in Judg. viii.; Alex, ttottj^ Afiie(pt, n. rov Ie{pi, IT. Afiis^pei'- puttr familuii l:'sii, Jamilin Kzri). [Joash, the father of Gibeon, is so termed], a de- scendant of Abiezer, or Jeezer, the son of Gilead (.ludg. vi. 11, 24, viii. 32), and thence also called JiiK/.EiuTE (Num. xxvi. 30). The I'eshito-Syriac and Tiirgum both regaid the first part of the word " Abi " as an appellative, " father of," as also the LXX. and Vulgate. W. A. W.
* " Abiezrites " (A. V.) in Judg. \\. 24, and viii. 32, stands for the collective " Abiezrite," which does not occur as plural in the Heljrew. ■ H.
ABIGAIL [3 syl, IJeb. Abiga'il], (Va^3^?.
or vri^SS [father of exuUallwi, or, ichose father rejoices]: 'Afiiyaia'- Abigail). 1. The beautiful wife of Xabal, a weidtliy owiicr of goats and slieep in Carmcl. When David's messengers were slighted by Nabal, Abigail took the blame upon her.seh', suppUed Da\id and his followers with provisions, and succeeded in appeasing his anger. Ten days after this Nabal died, and David sent for Abigail and made her his wife (1 Sam. xxv. 14, seq.). by her he had a son, called Chileab in 2 Sam. iii. 3; but Daniel, in 1 Chr. iii. 1. For Dairicl The-
nius proposes to read H'^^'^i suggested to him by the I AX. AaKov'ia (Then. Kxe'j. llaiulb. ad loc).
2. A sister of David, married to Jether the Jsh- maelite, and mother, by him, of Amasa (1 Chr. ii. 17). In 2 Sam. xvii. 2-5. she is described as the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's niotJier, and as marrying Ithra (another form of Jether) an Isrutlile.
The statement m Samuel that the mother of Amasa " was an Israelite is doubtless a transcrib- er's error. There could be no reason for recording this circumstance; Imt tlie circumstance of David's gister marrying a heatlien Ishmaelite deserved men- tion (Thenius, Jixey. Uandb. Sam. 1. c).
R. W. B.
ABIHA'IL (b^'n'^nW [father ofmifjhi,i. e.
^^'J''u\' 'A)3ix°''^' [Abihail; in Num.,] Abi- haiet). 1. I'atiier of Zuriel, chief of the Levitical family of Merari, a contemporary of Moses (Num. iii. 35).
2. Wife of Abishur (1 Chr. ii. 29).
3. ['ABix<^ia\ Aid. •A/3ixa'^A.; Comp. 'A/3i^A.] Son of Iluri, of the tribe of Gad (1 Chr. v. 14).
4. Wife of Heiioboam (2 Chr. xi. 18). She is called the daughter, i. e. a descendant, of lUiab, the elder iirotiier of David.
5. ['A/iim5a/3; < 'omp. *A;9ixa^A.] Father of Esther and uncle of Murdecai (Esth. ii. 15, ix. 29).
a • "Mother" must bo an Inndvcrtence here for ' fiither of Amnsn." The correction /.«/im«W//( for Is arliie is suggested In the margin iu Inter editions of hfcA V. H.
ABIJAH
The names of No. 2 and 4 are wxitten i^ «ome .MSS. b;'n"^2h? CAySixafa, [Aid. Alex. ■Afl;70i'o Comp. AjSiTjA.,] 1 Chr. ii. 29; 'hfityaia, lAIcx. A^iaiaK, Comp. 'A^ixa'i^,] 2 Chr. xi. 18), which Gesenius coiyectures to be a corruption of "'^N
^'^n, but which Simonis derives from a root V^n, and interprets " father of light, or splendor."
K. W. B.
ABI'HU (S^n''2Si [Ife (i. e. God) is faih. cr]: '' 'A)3iou5; [Comp. in Num. iii. and 1 Chr. x.\iv. 'A)3iou:] Abiii), the second son (Num. iii. 2) of Aaron by Khsheba (Ex. vi. 23), who with his father and his elder brother Nadab and 70 elders of Israel accompanied Moses to the summit of Sinai (Ex. xxiv. 1). Being together with Nadab guiltj of oflering strange fire (Lev. x. 1) to the Lord, i. e not the holy fire which burnt continually upon the altar of burnt-ofiering (Lev. vi. 9, 12); they were both consmned by fire from heaven, and Aaron and his surviving sons were forbidden to mount for them. [Occurs also Ex. xxiv. 9, xxviii. 1; Nxini. iii. 4, xxvi. GO, Gl; 1 Chr. vi. 3, xxiv. 1, 2.]
K. \V. B.
ABI'HUD (l^n'*2S [whose father is Jit-
ilah ; or, is renown']: A^iovS: Abiud), son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin (1 Chr. viii. 3).
ABI'JAH or ABI'JAM. 1. (n>3h»,
u:*3|:5, =^n*:;t«, wHlofJehovah.- 'A/Sm, 'A$iov, LXX.; 'AjSi'uy, Joseph.: Abiam, Abia), the son and succe:5sor of K'elioboam on the throne of Judah (1 K. xiv. 31; 2 Chr. xii. IG). He is called AbiJ,di in Chronicles, Abijam in Kings; the latter name being prol)ably an error in the MSS., since the LXX. have nothing correspondmg to it, and their fonn, 'A^iov, seems taken from Abijahu, which occurs 2 Chr. xiii. 20, 21. Indeed Gesenius says that some MSS. read Abijah in 1 K. xiv. 31. The supposition, therefore, of Lightfoot (Harm. 0. T. p. 209, Pitman's edition), that the WTiter in Kings, who t;jkes a nmcli woi-se view of Abyah's cliaracter than we find in Chronicles, altered tlie last syllable to avoid introducing the lioly Jaii into the name of a bad man, is unnecessary. But it is not fanci- ful or absurd, for changes of the kind were not un- usual: for example, after the Samaritan schism, the Jews altered the name of Shechem into Sychar (drwtk-en), as we have it in John iv. 5; and Hosea (iv. 15) changes Bethel, house of God, into Beth- avcn, house of nauyht. (See Stanley, S. cj'- P. p. 222.)
From the first book of Kings we learn tliat Abi- jah endeavored to recover the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and made war on Jeroboam. No details are given, but we are also informed that he walked in all the sins of Kehoboam (idolatry and its at- tendant innnoralities, 1 K. xiv. 23, 24), and that bis heart " was not perfect before God, as the lieart of David his father." In the second book of Chron- icles his war against Jeroboam is more minutely described, and he makes a speech to the men of Israel, reproachinii tiiem for breaking their allegi- ance to the house of I)avid, for wor8hi])])ing the
6 * In such couibinatiouK, says Fiirst {Handwb. I. 819), S^n, I't himself, refers to God, as expremiT* of the iitmost n'vercnrc, like liii among the Persians and avTOi, tKelvot, among the Ureeks. U.
ABIJAM
golden calves, and substituting luiautliorized priests for the sons of Aai'on and the Levites. He was Buccessful in battle against Jeroboam, and took the cities of ISethel, Jeshanah, and Ephrain, with tlieir dependent viUao-es It is also said that his anny consisted of ■10('.0'>0 men, and Jeroboam's of 800,- 000, of whom 500,000 fell in the action : but Ken- nicott {The Hebrew Text of the Old Test-iment Considered, p. 532) shows that our JMSS. are fre- quently incorrect as to numbers, and gives reasons for reducing these to 40,000, 80,000, and 50,000, as we actually find in the Vulgate printed at Ven- ice in 148i!, and in the old Latin version of Jose- phus; while there is perhaps some reason to thmk that the smaller numbers were in his original Greek text also. Nothing is said by the ^^Titer in Chron- icles of the sins of Abijah, but we are told that after his victory he " waxed mighty, and married fourteen wi\es," whence we may well infer that he was elated with prosperity, and like his grandfather Solomon, fell, during the last tw^o years of his Hfe, into wickedness, as described in Kings. Both rec- ords inform us that he reigned three years. His mother was called either i^Iaachah or Michaiah, which are mere variations of the same name, and in some places (1 K. xv. 2; 2 Chr. xi. 20) she is said to l)e the daughter of Absalom or Abishalom (again the same name); in one (2 Chr. tiii. 2) of Uriel of Gibeah. But it is so common for the
word r\2., daughter, to be used in the sense of
granddaughter or de^ndant, that we need not hesitate to assume that Uriel married Absalom's daughter, and that thus jMaiichah was daughter of Uriel and granddaughter of Absalom. Abijah therefore was descended from David, both on his father's and mother's side. According to Ewald's chronology the date of Abijah's accession was b. c. 008; Clinton places it in b. c. 950. The 18th year of Jeroboam coincides with the 1st and 2d of Abijah.
2. The second son of Samuel, called Abiah in our version ('A/3ia, LXX.). [Abia, Abiaii, No. 3.]
3. The son of Jeroboam I. king of Israel, in whom alone, of all the house of .leroboam, was found " some good thing toward the Loi'd God of Israel," and who was therefore the only one of his family who was suffered to go do\vn to the grave in peace. He died in his childhood, just after Jeroboam's wife had been sent in disguise to seek help for him m his sickness from the prophet Aliijah, who gave her the above answer. (1 K. xiv.)
4. A descendant of Eleazar, who gave his name to the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priests were dinded by David (1 Chr. xxiv. 10; 2 Chr. viii. 14). To the course of Abijah or Abia, belonged Zacharias the father of John the Baptist (Luke i. 5).
5. A contemporary of Nehemiah (Neh. x. 7).
G. E. L. G.
* 6. A priest who returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon (Neh. xii. 4, 17). A.
ABI'JAM. [Abijah, No. 1.]
AB'ILA. [Abilene.]
ABILE'NE.CA/SjAtjj/ij, Luke iii. 1), a tt5irar- >hy of which Abila was the capital. This Abila aiust not be confounded with Abila in Perasa, and jther SjTian cities of the same name, but was sit- iated on the eastern slope of Antilibanus, in a dis- trict fertilized by the river Barada. It is distinctly
ABILENE
9
iissociated with Lebanon by Josephus {Ant. xviii. 6, § 10, xiv 5, § 1, XX. 7, § 1; jy. .7. ii. 11, § 5) Its name probably arose from the green luxuriauct of its situation, "Abel" perhaps denoting "a grassy meadow." [See p. 4, a.] The name thus derived is quite sufficient to account for the tradi- tions of the death of Abel, wliich are associated with the spot, and wliich are localized by the tomb called Nebi Ilnbil, on a height aljove the ruins of the city. The position of tlie city is very clearly designated by the Itineraries as 18 miles from Da- mascus, and 38 (or 32) miles from Heliopolis or Baalbec {It'ui. Ant. and Tab. Petit.).
It is impossible to fix the limits of the Abilene which is mentioned by St. Luke as the tetrarchy of Ljsanias. [Lysanias.] Like otlier districts of the East, it doulttless underwent many changes both of masters and of extent, before it was finally absorbed in the province of Syria. Josephus asso ciates this neigliborhood with the name of Lysanias both before and after the time referred to by the evangeUst. For the later notices see the passage-s just cited. We there find "Abila of Lysanias," and "the tetrarchy of Lysiuiias," distinctly men- tioned in the reigns of ( laudius and CaUgula. We find also the phrase 'A/3i\a Avcraviov in Ptolemy (v. 15, § 22). The natural conclusion appears to be that this was the Lysanias of St. Luke. It is true that a chieftain liearing the same name is mentioned by Josephus in the time of Antony and Cleopatra, as ruhng in the same neighborhood {Ant. xiv. 3, § 3, XV. 4, § 1 ; 5. J. 1, 13, § 1; also Dion Cass. xlix. 32): and from the close connection of this man's father with Lebanon and Damascus {Ant. xiu. 16, § 3, xiv. 7, § 4; B. J. i. 9, § 2) it is probable that Abilene was part of his territory, and that the Lysanias of St. Luke was the son or grand- son of the former. Even if we assume (as many writers too readily assume) that the tetrarch men- tioned in the time of Claudius and Caligula is to be identified, not with the Lysanias of St. Luke but with the earher Lysanias (never called tetrarch and never positively connected with Abila) m the times of Antony and Cleopatra, there is no diffi- culty in believing that a prmce bearing this name ruled over a tetrarchy having Abila for its capital, in the 15th year of Tiberius. (See Wieseler, Chro- nologische Syiwpse der vier Evangelien, pp. 174- 183.)
The site of the chief city of Abilene has been un- doubtedly identified where the Itineraries place it ; and its remauis have been described of late years by many travellers. It stood in a remarkable gorge called the Suk. Wndy Barada, where the river breaks down through the mountain towards the plain of Damascus. Among the remains the in- scriptions are most to our purpose. One contain- ing the words Avcraviov Terpdpxov is cited by Po- cocke, but nas not been seen by any subsequent traveller. Two Latin inscriptions on the face of a rock above a fragment of Koman road (first noticed in the Quarterly Review for 1822, No. 52) were first published by Letronne {.fournal des Savans, 1827), and afterwards by Orelli {Inscr. Lat. 4997, 4998). One relates to some repairs of the road at the expense of the Abileni ; the other associates the IGth Legion with the place. (See Hogg m the Trans, of the Royal Geog. Soc. for 1851; Porter, in the Journal of Sacred Literature for July, 1853, and especially his Damascus, i. 201-273 j and Robmson, Later Bib. Res. pp. 478-484.)
J. S. H.
10 ABIMAEL
ABIM'AEL (^Sn^2S* [father of Mael]:
'A^ifiafK; [Alex. A$t/j.er]K--] Abimntl), a descend- ftnt ot'.foktan (Gen. x. 28; 1 Chr. i. 22), and prob- al)ly [as the name implies] the proj^enitor of an Arab tribe. Hochart (J'/taler/, ii. 24) conjectures that his name is preserved in that of Md\i, a place Li Arabia Aroniatifera, mentioned by Tlieophrastus {JIi%t. I'UiiU. ix. 4), and thinks that tlie Malita; are tlie same as I'tolemj's Manita; (vi. 7, p. 154), and that they were a people of the ilinoeans (for whom see Ailaisia). The name in Arabic would
probably he written JoLo yj\. E. S. P.
ABIM'ELECH [ Hebrew Abimelech ]
("T]y5tt"'3S, fatlier of the kiny, or father-king :
'AjSt/ueAex • Al>'^nidech), the name of several Phil- istine kings. It is supix)sed by many to have been a common title of their kings, like that of Pharaoh among the Kg^-jitians, and that of Ca?sar and Au- gustus among the liomans. 'Ihe name Father of the King, or I'atber King, corresiMnds to Padishah (lather King), the title of the I'ersian kings, and Atrdih (lather, pr. paternity), the title of the Khans of 15ucharia (Gesen. This.). An argument to the same effect is drawn fi-om the title of Ps. xxxiv., in which the name of Abimelech i.s given to the king, who is called Achish in 1 Sam. xxi. 11; but perhaps we ought not to attribute much his- torical value to the hiscription of the P.salm.
1. A I'hilistine, king of Gerar (Gen. xx., xxi.), who, exercising the right claimed by I'jistern princes, of collecting all the beautifid women of their dominions into their harem (Gen. xii. 15; Esth. ii. 3), sent for and took Sarah. A similar account is given of Abraham's conduct on this oc- casion, to that of his behavior towards Pharaoh [Abuaiiam].
2. Another king of Gerar in the time of Isaac, of whom a similar narrative is recorded in relation to Rebekah (Gen. xxvi. 1, seq.).
3. Son of the judge Gideon by his Shecheniite concubine (Judg. viii. 31). After his father's death he murdered all his brethren, 70 in number, with the exception of Jotham, the youngest, who con- cealed himself; and he then persuaded the She- chemites, throu'^h the influence of his mother's brethren, to elect him king. It is evident from this najrative that Shechem now became an inde- pendent state, and threw off the yoke of the con- quering Israelites (lAvald, Gesch. ii. 444). AVhen Jotham heard that Abimelech was made king, he addressed to the Shechemites his fable of the trees choosing a king (Judg. ix. 1, scq.; cf. Joseph. Ant. V. 7, § 2), which may l)e compared with the well- known fai)le of Menenius Agrippa (Liv. ii. 32). After he had reigned three years, the citizens of Shechem rebelled. He was absent at the time, but he returned and qucUcd tlie insun-ection. Shortly after he stormed and took 'I'liebez, but was ■truck on tiie head by a woman with the fragment of a mill-stone" (conip. 2 Sam. xi. 21); and lest he
a • Tlio cxpre.«.>ilon u.scd in relation to this in A. V. Jed. 1011), (UK In tlio ni^liops' bible, la " aU to brake hi.s •cull," 1. «. "broke completely," or "all to pieces." In many later eclidons '' brake" has been changed to ' break," giving the false meaning " and all this In )rdcr to break." " All to " h;i« been explained and written by some sis a. compound adverb, " all-to " = " altogetUer " (see Bobiiusou In BM. Sacra, Ti. 608),
ABISEI
should be said to have died by a woman, he bid hit armor-bearer slay him. Thus God avenged the murder of his brethren, and fulfilled the curse of Jotham.
4. ['Ax<M«'^*X' '■•^- Axe'M«^fX! ■'^'''- A/Si/i- e\fX' Adiimtltch.] Son of Abiathar the high- priest in th§ time of David (1 Clir. xviii. .0), called Abimelech in 2 Sam. viii. 17. [Aiiime- 1.1X11.] R. \V. B.
* The reading Abimelech in 1 Chr. is supjx^jrted by about 12 AISS., and by the principal ancient versions, including the SjTiac and Chaldee as well as the Sei)t. and Vulgate. See De Rossi, \'ar. Ltct. iv. 182. A.
* 5. Ps. xxxiv. title. [Aiiimelecii 2.] A.
ABIN'ADAB (-7^^^' [« f'^er noble or princely]: 'A/xiz/aSa/S ; [Comp. often 'A^iva5a)3:] Abinadiib). 1. A Levite, a native of Kirjathjea- rim, in whose house the ark remained 20 years (1 Sam. vii. 1,2; [2 Sam. vi. 3, 4;] 1 Chr. x"iii. 7).
2. Second son of ,lesse, who followed Saul to his war against the Philistines (1 Sam. svi. 8, xvii. 13; [1 Chr. ii. 13]).
3. A son of Saul, who was slain with his broth- ers at the fatal battle on Mount Gilboa (1 Sam- xxxi. 2; [1 Chr. viii. 33, ix. 39, x. 2]).
4. lather of one of the 12 chief officers of Solo- mon (1 K. iv. 11). R. \V. B.
ABINER (72''Z^<: 'A^ej/^ip; Alex. 'A;3- aivfip [rather, Afievrip] '■ 0ibntr). This form of the name Ahxkh is given in the margin of 1 Sam. xiv. 50. It coiTesponds with the Hebrew.
W. A. W.
ABIN'OAM [fhb. Abino'am] (ZrrZS [n father i/raclaiis] : 'AjSii'ee'ju ; [.Aid. Comp. some- times 'A&tvoefj.'] Abinaem), the father of Barak (Judg. iv. 0, 12; v. 1, 12). R. W. B.
ABI'RAM (Cv"'3S [father exalted ]:'A0- etpwf ■ Abiron). 1. A Reubenite, son of Eliab, wlio with Dathan and On, men of the same tribe, and Korah a Levite, organized a conspiracy against Moses and Aaron (Num. xvi.). [For details, sat Kohaii.]
2. ['A^ipdiV-, Alex. AjSeipoiv: Abiram.'] Eld- est son of Hiel, the Bethehte, who died when his father laid tlie foundations of Jericho (1 K. xvi. 34), and thus accomplished the fu^t p.art of the curse of Joshua (Josh, vi 26). R. W. B.
ABI'KON ('AjSejpttf^ : Abiron). Abiram (Ecclus. xlv. 18). W. A. W.
ABISE'I (Ahisei). Abishua, the son of Phinehas (2 F^r. i. 2). W. A. W.
but this view is now regarded by the best scholars at erroneous. lu early EnglisA, as iu Anglo-Saxon, to WHS iu common use ns an int^~asivc prefix to verbs and verbal nouii.s, somewhat likt be in modem English, but stronger. Thus,
"lie to-brac the ston, and ther flowiden watris." M'ycliffe, Ps. civ. 41.
" Mote thi wicked neoke be tt broke .' "
Chaucei Cant. Tales, 5859.
We have it in Shakespeare's "' to-pinch tlje unclean knight " {Merry Wives, iv. 4), ai.d iwrhnps the latest example in Milton's "all to-riijfled" (Comiis, 880). " All '■ is often used to strengthen the expression, but Is not essential. Si'C Itoucher's tilossitri/. art. Ali^ and Taylor's notv : Ihe (iliiss.iry to Fui-shall and M.id- den's ed. of WycUffe's Bible; Eastwood and Wrlght'o Bible \\'or</-Book, pp. 21, 22 ; and esperlally C'or»on'» 1 Vusauriu of ArcJtaic Etialish, art. to ■• A
AB1SKAG
AB'ISHAG {:i^""'~'i^ [father i. e. author tf error, misdeed, and hence said of man or wom- »n;"] 'AI3icra.y- .46/^'^), a beautiful Shunammite, taken into David's harem to comibrt him in his Bxtreme old age (1 K. i. 1-4). After David's death Adonijah induced Bathsheba, the queen- mother, to ask Solomon to give him Abishag in marriage; but this imprudent petition cost Adoni- jah his life (1 K. ii. 13, seq.). [Auomjah.]
1{. \V. B.
ABI'SHAI b [3 syl.] ("^tt^^ns; [and ^tt^3S, father of a (jift, Ges. ; or Father, i. 8. God, who exists, Fiirst] : 'A)3e(r<ra [also 'A^ead, 'A^irra, etc.] and 'A^icrai- Abis'ii), the eldest of the three Bons of Zeruiah, David's sister, and brother to Joab and Asahel (1 Chr. ii. 16). It may be owing to his seniority of birth that Abishai, first of the three brothers, appears as the devoted follower of David. Long before Joab appears on the stage Abishai had attached himself to the foi-tunes of David. He was his companion in the desperate night expedition to the camp of Saul^-and would at once have avenged and terminated his uncle's quarrel by stabbing the sleepnig king with his own spear. But David in- dignantly restrained him, and the adventurous war- riors left the camp as stealthily as they had come, carrying with them Saul's spear and the cruse of water which stood at his head (1 Sam. xx\'i. C-9). During Da\id's outlaw life among the Philistines, Abishai was probably by his side, though nothing more is heard of him till he appears mth Joab and Asahel in hot pursuit of Abner, who was beaten in the bloody figlit by the pool of Gibeon. Asahel fell by Abner's hand: at sunset the sunivors re- turned, buried theii' brother by night in the sepul- chre of theu' father at Betlilehem, and with revenge .'ti their hearts marched on to Hebron by break of day (2 Sam. ii. 18, 24, 32). In the prosecution of their vengeance, though Joab's hand struck the deadly'blow, Abishai was associated with him in the treachery, and " Joab and Abishai killed Ab- ner " (2 Sam. iii. 30). [Ab^kk.] In the war against Hanun, undertaken by David as a punish- ment for the hisult to his messengers, Abishai, as second in conmiand, was opposed to the army of the Ammonites before the gates of Kabbah, and drove them headlong before him into the city, while Joab defeated the SjTians who attempted to raise the siege (2 Sam. x. 10, 14; 1 Chr. xLs. 11, 1.5). The defeat of the Edomites in the vaUey of salt (1 Chr. x\'iii. 12), which brought them to a state of vassalage, was due to Abishai, acting perhaps under the inmiediate orders of the king (see 2 Sam. \-iii. 13), or of Joab (Ps. k. title). On the out- break of Absalom s rebeUion and the consequent flight of David, Abishai remained true to the king ; md the old warrior showed a gleam of his ancient bpirit, as fierce and relentless as in the camp of Saul, when he offered to avenge the taunts of Shimei, and urged his subsequent execution (2 Sam. xvi. 9; xix. 21). — In the battle in the wood of Ephraim Abishai commanded a third part of the army (2 Sam. xviii. 2, 5, 12), and in the absence of Amasa was summoned to assemble the troops in Jerusalem and pursue after the rebel Sheba, Joab
ABNER
1]
« * On the origin and significance of the Bible oames, .<!ee the article (.\iaer. ed.) on Njlmes. H.
6 * This fuller article from the '' Concise Diction- »ry " has been substituted here for the article of four- >e«u lines in the larger work. H.
being apparently in disgrace for the slaughter of Absalom (2 Sam. xx. 6, 10). — The last act of sei'- vice which is recorded of Abishai is his timely res- cue of David from the hands of a gigantic PhUis- tine, Ishbi-benob (2 Sam. xxi. 17). His personal prowess on this, as on another occasion, when he fought single-handed against three hundred, won for him a place as caption of the second three of David's mighty men (2 Sam. xxiii. 18 ; 1 Chr. si. 20). But in all probability this act of daring was achieved while he was the companion of DaMd'a wanderuigs as an outlaw among the Philistuies. Of the end of his chequered hfe we have no record;
ABISH'ALOM (□'"l'7tt""aS [father of patce~\: 'A^ea-aa/\wfjL' Abessnhm), father of Maa- chah, who was the wife of Kehoboam, and mother of Abijah (1 K. xv. 2, 10). He is caUed Absalom
(::''T:>t£':2ts) m 2 Chr. xi. 20, 21. This pei-son must be David's son (see LXX., 2 Sam. xiv. 27). The d:iughter of Absalom was doubtless called Ma- achah after her grandmother (2 Sam. iii. 3).
ABISHU'A (P^t^'^SS; : ['A;86(rtroi;6, "A/Skt- oue',] 'A^Ldov- Abisue. Accordmg to Sunonis, patris sulus; i. q. Soxri'iraTpos, and ScoTrorpos. Accordmg to Fiirst, father or lord of hajjpiiuss. Pater snlutis, Gesen.). 1. Son of Bela, of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chr. viii. 4).
2. Son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, and the father of Bukki, in the genealogy of the high- priests (1 Chr. vi. 4, 5, 50, 51; Ezr. vii. 4, 5). According to Josephus {Ant. viii. 1, § 3) he execu- ted the othce of high-jiriest after his father I'hine- has, and was succeeded by Eh; his descendants, till Zaduk, faUing into the rank of private i^ersons ilSiwrevaai'Tes)- His name is corrupted into '\<i)cn)Tros- Notlihig is known of Lic^.
A. C. II.
AB'ISHUR (~:iC "^SS [father of the ivnU or itpi-K/hf] 'AjSicrovp: Abisur), son of Shammai (1 Chr. ii. 28).
AB'ISUM {'A0iffai; Alex. A^iaovai ; [Aid. 'A^icovjx] ■ Abisue). Abishua, the son of Phin- ehas (1 Esdr. viii. 2). Called also Abisei.
W. A. 'W.
ABITAL (b^P'^nS [whose father is dew or pi-otectioii] : 'A^iToiK; Abital), one of David's wivea (2 Sam. iii. 4; 1 Chr. iii. 3).
ABI'TUB (2^'^''2S [father of goodness-] : 'A$iTw\; [Alex. A/SitojjS] : Abitub), son of Shaha- raim by Hushim (1 Chr. \Tii. 11).
ABI'UD CA^iouS: Abiud). Descendant ol Zorobabel, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Jlatt. i. 13). Lord A. Hervey identifies him with II(v DAiAH (1 Chr. iii. 24) and Juda (Luke iii. 26), and supposes him to have been the grandson of Zerubbabel through his daughter Shelomith.
W. M. W.
ABLUTION. [Purification.]
AB'NER ("I32S, once ^3'^2_S, father of
light : Afievvl]p ; [Ales, often Afievnp or A^aivrip] : Abner). 1. Son of Ner, who was the brother of Kish (1 Chr. ix. 36) the father of Saul. Abner therefore, was Saul's first cousin, and was made bj him commauder-in-cliief of his army (1 Sam. xiv. 51). He was the person who conducted David into Saul's presence after the death of Goliath (xvii. 57 ) ; and afterwards accompaniei" his master when he
12
ABNEK
ABOMINATION
Bought l)avit]"s life at Hacliilah (xx\i. 3-14). From j this there was indeed some pretext, uiasmucu <\3 it this tiiiie we hear no more of him tiU after the was thouj^ht dishonorable even in battle to kiD a death of Saul, when he rises into importance as the mere stripling like Asahel, and Joab and Abishai main-stay of his family. It would seem that, im- were in this case the revenijers of blood (Num. mediately after the disastrous liattle of Jlount (jil- : xxxv. 1!)), but it is also plain that Abner only killed boa, David was proclaimed kinj; of .hulah in Hebron, the youth to save his own life. This murder caused tlie old capital of that iribe, but that the rest of i the greatest sorrow and indignation to Dand ; but the comitry was altogether in the hands of the ] as the assassins were too powerfid to be punished, rhilistuics. and that five years passed iiefore any i he contented himself with showing every public to- native prince ventured to o|)])ose his claims to their ken of respect to Abner's memory, by following the power. During that time the Israelites were grad-j bier and pouring forth a simple dirge over the
ually recovering their teiritory, and at length Ab- ner proclaimed the weak and unfortunate Ishiio- sheth, Saul's son, as king of Israel in Mahanaim, beyond Jordan — at first no doubt as a place of security against the I'hilistincs, though all serious apprehension of danger from theni must have soon pixssed a\vay — and Ishbosheth was generally recog- nized except by .Judah. This view of the order of events is necessary to reconcile 2 Sam. ii. 10, where Ishbosheth is said to have reigned over Israel for two years, with ver. 11, in which we read that Da- vid was king of .ludah tor seven; and it is con- firmed by vers. 5, 0, 7, in which David's message of thanks to the men of Jabesh-gilead for burying Saul and his sons implies that no prince of Saul's house had .is yet claimed the throne, but tluit Da- vid ho[>ed that his title would be soon acknowl- edged by all Israel; while the exhortation " to be valiant" proiialjly refers t« the struggle with tlie PhiUstines, who placed the only apparent impedi- ment in the way of his recognition. War soon broke out between the two rivid kings, and a " very sore battle" was fought at (iibeon between the men of Israel under .\bncr, and the men of Judah mider Joab, son of Zeruiah, David's sister (1 C'hr. ii. 10). When the army of Ishbosheth w.as defeated, Joab's Youngest brother Asahel, who is said to have been "as light of f(K)t as a wild roe," pursued Abner, and in s])ite of wariung refu.sed to leaxe him, so that .\biier in self-defence was forced to kill him. /Vfter this the war continued, success inclining more and more to the side of David, till at la.st the im- prudence of Ishlx)sheth deprived him of the counsels and generalship of the hero, who was in truth the only support of his tottering throne. Abner had married liizpah, Saul's concubine, and this, accord- ing to the views of Oricnt;il coui'ts, might be so interpreted as to imply a design upon the throne. Thus we read of a certain Armais, who, while leit viceroy of Egypt in the absence of the king his brother, " used violence to the queen and concu- bines, and put on the diadem, and .set up to oppose his brother " (Manetho, quoted by Jo.seph. c. Apion. i. 15). (X al.so 2 Sam. xvi. 21, xx. 3, 1 K. ii. Vi- 2-5, and the ca.se of the I'seudo-Smcrdis, Herod, iii. 08. [.Vi!s.\U)m; AnoMJAii.] Kightly or wrongly, Ifihljosheth so imderstood it, though Abner might stem to have given suttieient ])rfX)f of his loyalty, and he even ventured to reproach him with it. Abner, incensed at his ingratitude, after an indignant reply, opened negotiations with David, by whom he wius nost favorably recched at Hebron. He then un- dertook to ])rocurc his recognition throughout Is- , rael; but after leaving his court for the purpose w.xs enticed back by .Joab, and treacherou.sly murdered by him and his lirother Abishai, at the g.tte of the city, partly no doubt, as .loab showed afterwards in the ciuse of Amasa, from fe.or lest so di.stinguislied * convei-t to their cause should gain too high a place ui David's favor (.loscpli. Ant. vii. 1, § 5), but os- ft)D«ibly in retaliation for Ike death of Aaahel. I'or
slain, which is thus translated by Ewald (Dichter (lis Alttn BiinJes, i. 99 : —
As a villaiu Jie.s, ought Abner to die ? Tliy hands, not fettered ; Thy feet, not bound with cliains ; As one falls before tlie malicious, feUest thou I
— {. e. " Thou didst not fall as a prisoner taken in battle, with hands and feet fettered, but by secret assassination, such as a villain meets at the hands of villains " (2 Sam. iii. 33, 34). See also Lowth, Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, xxii. G. E. L. C
2. Father of Jaasiel, chief of the Benjamites in David's reign (1 C'hr. xxvii. 21): probaWy the same as Ahnkk 1. W. A. W.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
(tJ) ^SfAvyfia rfjs tprifxiocreoos, JIatt. xxiv. l.j), mentioned by our Saviour as a sign of the ap- proaching destruction of Jerusalem, with reference to Dan. ix. 27, xi. 31, xii. 11. The Hebrew
words in these passages are respectively, C2"'^^|"ti'', C^b"r, Cttb'a V^p'^^n, and C72W V^P^" the LXX. translate tlie first word unifonnly ;35e'- \vyfjLa, and the second 4prifj.(ii(Ti<tiv (ix. 27) and fp7}fji,wcreoi)s (xi. 31, xii. 11): many MSS. however have ri(pai'tcfj,fvoi/ in xi. 31. The meaning of the
first of these words is clear : Y "^i^^' expresses any religious impurity, and in the plural number espe- ciidly iilols. Suidas defines fiSfKvyfj.a as used by the Jews irau e'lduXou Ka\ irclu tKTinrwua av- dpdirov. It is inqMrtant to observe that the ex- pression is not used of idolatry in the abstract, bu^ of idolatry adopted by the Jews themselves (2 K xxi. 2-7, xxiii. 13). Hence we must look for the fulfillment of the jjrophecy in some act of apostasy on their part; and so the Jews themselves appear to h.ave understood it, according to the traditional feeUng referred to by .Josephus {B. J. iv. C, § 3), that the temple would be destroyed iav x^V*** oiKeTai irpoiJLiavdiai rh Tffxevos. With regard to the second word ^"Cl', which has been variously translated of desolntion, of the (lisolnt'n; that (iston- i.iheth (Marginal transl. xi. 31, xii. 11), it is a par- ticiple used substantively and placed in immediate ap()Osition with the previous noun, qualifying it with an adjective sense astoitishintj, horrible ((Jeseu.
s. V. Cfilf), and thus the whole expression signi- fies a horrible abotninntiwi. What the olyect re- ferred to was, is a matter of doubt; it should lie observed, however, that in the passages in Daniel the setting up of the abomination was to be conse- quent u](on the cessation of the s.acrifice. The Jews considered the prophecy as fulfilled in the profanation of the Tenqile under Antiocbus I'.piph- anes, when the Israelites themselves erected ao idolatrous altar {&(,!ix6s, Joseph. Ant. xii. 5, § i] ufwu the sacred altar, and otlered sacrifice thereon this alt.ar is descrilie<l as fiSf\vyfia t^s iprjfxwffttM
ABRAHAM
;i Mace. i. 54, vi. 7). The prophecy, however, re- feiTed ultimately (as Josephus himself perceived, Alii. s. 11, § 7) to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Komans, aud consequently the ^SeAvyfia must describe some occurrence connected with that event. But it is not easy to find one which meets all tlie requirements of tlie case: the introduction of the Honiau standards into the Temple would not be a ^Se\ijyiJ.a, properly speakiiig, unless it could be shovTO that the Jews themselves participated in the worship of them ; moreover, this event, as well as several others which have been proposed, such as the erection of the statue of Hadrian, fail in regai-d to the tune of their occurrence, being subsequent to the destruction of the city. It appears most prob- able that the profonities of the Ze;dots constituted the abomination which was the sign of impending ruin." (Joseph. B. J. iv. 3, § 7.) W. L. B.
A^BRAHAM (2nn2S, fathe'- of a multi- tude : 'Alipad/j. '■ Abraham : originally ABRAM, U^D.i^, father of elevation: "A^pafx'- Abrum), the son of Terah, and brother of Nahor And Haran; and the progeiator, not only of the 1 lebrew nation, but of several cognate tribes. His history is re- corded to us with much detail in Scripture, as the very type of a true patriarchal life ; a life, that is, m which all authority is paternal, derived ulti- mately from God the Father of all, and religion, imperfect as yet in revelation and ritual, is based entirely on that same Fatherly relation of God to man. The natural tendency of such a religion is to the worship of tutelary gods of the family or of the tribe ; traces of such a tendency on the part of the patriarchs are found in the Scriptural History itself; and the declaration of God to Jloses (in Ex. vi. 3) plainly teaches that the fuU sense of the unity and eternity of Jehovah was not yet unfolded to them. But yet the revelation of the Lord, as the "Almighty God" (Gen. xvii. 1, xxviii. 3, xxxv. 11), and "the Judge of all the eai'th" (Gen. xviii. 25), the knowledge of His intercourse with kings of other tribes (Gen. xx. 3-7), and His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (to say nothing of the promise which extended to "all nations") must have raisetl the patriarchal religion far above this narrow idea of God, and given it the germs, at least, of future exaltation. The character of Abraham is that which is formed by such a religion, and by the mfluence of a nomad pastoral life ; free, simple, and manly; full of hospitality and family affection; truthful to all such as were bound to him by their ties, though not untamted with Eastern craft to those considered as aliens ; ready for war, but not a professed wari'ior, or one who lived by plunder ; free and childlike in religion, and gradually educated by God's hand to a conthmaUy deepening sense of its all-absorbing claims. It stands remarkably contrasted vAih. those of Isaac and Jacob.
Tlie Scriptural history of Abraham is mainly limited, as usual, to the evolution of the Gre^t Cov- enant in his hfe ; it is the history of the man him- self rather than of the external events of his hfe; and, except in one or two instances (Gen. xii. 10- 20, xiv., XX., xxi. 22-34) it does not refer to his re- 'ation with the rest of the world. To them he may inly have appeared as a chief of the hardier Chal-
ABRAHAM
13
daean race, disdaining the settled life of the more luxurious Canaanites, and fit to be hired by plun- der as a protector against the invaders of the Nortk (see Gen. xiv. 21-23). Nor is it unlikely, though we have no historical evidence of it, that his pas- sage into Canaan may have been a sign or a cause of a greater migration from Haran, and that he may have been looked upon (e. (j. by Abimelech, Gen. xxi. 22-32) as one who, from his position as well as his high character, would be able to guide such a migration for evil or for good (Ewald, Gesch. i. 409-113).
The traditions which Josephus adds to the Scrip- tural naiTative, are merely such as, after his man- ner and in accordance with the auu of his wi'itings, exalt the knowledge and wisdom of Abraliam, mak- ing him the teacher of monotheism to the Chal- dieans, and of astronomy and mathematics to the Egyptians. He quotes however Nicolaus of Da- mascus,'' as ascribing to him the conquest and gov- ernment of Damascus on his way to Canaan, and stating that the tradition of his habitation was still preserved there (Joseph. Ant. i. c. 7, !^ 2; see Gen. XV. 2).
The Arab traditions are partly ante-]Mohamme- dan, relating mainly to the Kaabah (or sacred house) of Jlecca, which Abraham and his son " Is- mail" are said to have rebuilt for the fourth time over the sacred black stone. But in great meas- ure they are taken from the Koran, which has it- self borrowed from the 0. T. and from the Bab- binical traditions. Of the latter the most remark- able is the story of his having destroyed the idols (see Jud. v. G-8) vrhich Terali not only worshipj^ed (as declared in Josh. xxiv. 2), but also mamifac- tured, and having been cast by Nimrod into a fiery furnace, which turned into a pleasant meadow. The legend is generally traced to the word (Jr
(~A>'), Abraham's birth-place, which has also the sense of " Ught " or " fii-e." But the name of Abraham appears to be commonly remembered in tradition tJirough a very large portion of Asia, and the title " el-Ivlialil," " the Friend " (of God) (see 2 Chr. XX. 7; Is. xli. 8; Jam. ii. 23) is that by which he is usually spoken of by the Arabs.
The Scriptural history of Abraliam is divided into various periods, by the various and progressive revelations of God, which he received —
(1.) With his father Terah, his wife Sarai, and nephew Lot, Abram left Ur for Haran (Charran), in obedience to a call of God (alluded to in Acts vii. 2-4). Haran, apparently the eldest brother — since Nahor, and probably also Abram,^ married hia daughter — was dead already ; and Nahor remained behmd (Gen. xi. 31). In Haran Terah died; and Abrani, now the head of the family, received a second call, and with it the promise.'' His promise
a * Lange's note (Bibelwerk, i. 342), especially aa enlarged by Dr. Schaff {Coin, on Matt. p. 424), enu- merates the principal explanations of thi.'i Ji.lirnlt ex- pression. 11.
6 Nicolaus was a contemporary and favorite of Herod the Great and Augustus. The quotiitiou is probably from an Universal History, sail to hive coatiiinel IH books.
c « Iscah " (iu Gen. xi. 29) is generally supposed tc be the same person as Sarai. That Abram calls her his " sister " is not conclusive against it ; for see xir. IG, where Lot Ls called his " brother."
d It is expressly stated in the Acts (vii. 4) that Abram quitted Uaran after his father's death. This Is supposed to be inconsistent with the statements that Terah was 70 years old at the birth of Abram (0«n. xi. 2G); that ho died at the age of 205 (Gen. xi. 32-, and that .\br.un w;m 75 yi'irs old when he left Uiran • hence it would seem to follow that Abram mi-tratcd
14
ABRAHAM
was two-fold, containing both a temporal and spir- iiiial blessinj;, the one of which was the t^'pe and earnest of the other. The temporal promise was, tliat he should hecome a great and prosperous na- tion ; the spirituid, that in him " should all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. xii. 2).
Abram appears to have entered Canaan, as Jacob afterwards di<l, along the valley of the Jabbok ; for he crossed at once into the rich plain of Jloreh, near Sicheni, and under Khal and Gerizim. There, in one of the most fertile s[>ots of the land, he re- ceived the first distinct promise of his future inher- itance (Gen. xii. 7), and built his first altar to God " The (Janaauite " (it is noticed) " was then in tlie land," and probably would view the strangers of the warUke north with no friendly eyes. Ac- cc)rdingly Abram made his second resting-place in tlie strong mountain country, the key of the various passes, between IJcthel and Ai. There he would dwell securely, till famine drove him into the richer and more culti\ated huid of I'-g.vpt.
That his history is no idad or heroic legend, is very clearly shown, not merely by the record of his deceit as to 8;irai, practiced in I'-gj^pt and repeated ailenvards, but much more by the clear description of its utter failure, and the humiliating position in which it placed him in comparison with Pharaoh, and still more with Abimelech. That be should have felt afraid of such a civilized and imposing power as Egyi)t e\eu at that time evidently was, is consistent enough with the Arab nature as it is now ; that he shoulil have sought to guard himself by deceit, esjiecially of tiiat kind which is tnie in word and false in effect, is uufortimately not at all incomi>atible with a generally religious character; but that such a story should have been framed in an ideal description of a saint or hero is inconceiv- able.
The period of his stay in Egypt is not recorded, but it is from this time that his wealth and power apjK-ar to have begun ((}en. xiii. 2). If the domin- ion of the Ilyk.sos ui JMemphis is to be referred to this p])0ch, as seems not improliable [Kcvi-r], then, since tliey were akin to the Hebrews, it is not im- possil le that Abram may have taken part in their war of conquest, and so have had another recom- mendation to the favor of I'haraoh.
On his return, the very fact of this growing wealth and importance caused the separation of Lot and his i)ortion of the tribe from Abram. Lot's departure to the rich country of Sodom implied a wish to quit the nomadic life and settle at once ; Abram, on the contrary, w;is content still to " dwell in tents" and wait for the promised time (lleb. xi. 9). Probably till now he had looked on Lot as his heir, and his sepanition from him w;us a Prov- idential [ireparation f<jr the future. From this time he took up his third resting-place at .Mamrc, or liebron, the future capital of Judah, situated in the direct line of communication with r.gypt, and opening down to the wilderness and pasture land of lieershelta. This very position, so diflerent from the mountain-fa.stness of Ai, marks the change in the tiinnliers and fKJwers of his frilie.
The hist«jry of his attack on ( hedorlaomer, which
fyom Unran in his fntlicr's lifutiiiie. Variouii explan- ftiionH biivo been given of tills difflrulty ; t)ie niodt prtibiible in, tliut the stntciiient in Clen. xi. 2<>, tliat IVrnli wiw 70 ycnm old wliru lie l>egnt hi.n thrf*; cnil- lii'U, applies only to t\w. nliliTit, llitnin, and tliut the lirthn c r hlM two youni^cr rliilJn-n b«lou|^'d to u nub- H;(iuent |>«rlr><l [Cugn^ I.><IV|
ABRAHAM
follows, gives us a specimen of the view which would be taken of him by the external world. Bj the way in which it speaks of him as " Abran? the Hebrew," " it would seem to be an older document, a fragment of Canaanitish history (as Ewald calls it), preserved and sancticned by .Moses. The inva- sion was clearly another northern immigration or foray, for the chiefs or kings were of Shinar (Baby- lonia), I'Ulasar (.\ss3Tia?), Llam (Persia), Ax. ; that it was not the first, is evident from tlie vassalage of the kings of the cities of tiie i)lain; and it ex- tended (see Gen. xiv. 5-7) far to the south over a wide tract of country. Aliram apjjears here as the head of a small confetleracy of chiefs, powerful enough to venture on a long pursuit to the head of the valley of the Jordiui, to attack with success a large force, and not only to rescue Lot, but to roll back for a time the stream of northeni immigra- tion. His high position is seen in the gratitude of the jxiople, and the dignity with which he refuses the character of a hireling; that it did not elate him above measure, is evident from his reverence to Melchizedek, in whom he recognized one whose call was equal ;uid consecrated rank superior to his own [Mi:i,ciiiz1'.i)i:k].
(II.) The second period of Al)ram's life is marked by the fresh re^■elation. which, without further unfolding the spiritual promise, completes the tem- poral one, ah-eiidy in course of fulfillment. It first announced to him that a child of his own should inherit the promise, and that his seed should be aa the "stars of hejiven." This promise, unhke the other, apjieared at his age contrary to nature, and therefore it is on this wcasion that his faith is specially noted, as accepted and "counted for right- eousness." Accordingly, he now passed mto a new position, for not only is a fuller revelation given as to the ca[)tivity of his seed in Kgypt, the time of their dehverance, and their conquest of the land, " when the iniquity of the Amorites was full," but after his solemn burnt-otiering the visible appear- ance of God in fire is vouchs.afed to him a.s a sign, and he enters into wreiKint with the Lord (Gen. XV. 18). This covenant, like the earher one with Noah (Gen. ix. 9-17), is one of free promise from God, faith only in that promise being retjuired fi'om man.
The immediate consequence was the taking of Hagar, Sarai's maid, to be a concubine of Abram (as a means for the fulfillment of the promise of seed), and the conception of Ishmael.
(HI.) Lor fourteen ye-ars after, no more is re- corded of Abram, who seems during all that period to have dwelt at Manire. Alter tiiat time, in Abram's OOth year, the hust step in the revelation of the promise is made, by the declaration that it .siiould be given to a son of Sarai ; and at the same time the temjioral and spiritual elements are dis- tinguished ; Ishmael can share only the one, Isaac is to enjoy the other. The covenant, which before was only for tenqxiral inheritance (Gen. xv. 18), b now made "everlasting," and scaled liy circum- cision. This new state is marked by the change of Abram's name to " .Vliraliam," and Sar.ii's to " Sarali," * and it was one of far grwUcr acijuaint-
u 'O TTcpanit, LXX. If this sense of the word b*
taken. It strengthens the supposition noticed. In anj riL-e, thf name l.< that aiiplli-d to llio Israelites by for elgners, or u.-<od t>y thcni of themselves only in speak ing to foreigners : see ILkbriw.
b The origlual name ^"^tn U unoertaiit in iluriva
ABRAHAM
jiice and intercourse with God. For, immediately after, we read of the Lord's appearance to Abraham in human form, attended by two angels, the minis- ters of His wrath against Sodom, of His aimounce- ment of the coming judgment to Abraham, and acceptance of his intercession for the condemned cities." The whole record stands alone in Scripture for the simple and familiar intercourse of Uod with him, contrasting strongly with the \':tguer and more awful descriptions of previous ai)pearances (see e. <j. xv. 12), and with those of later times ((ieii. xxviii. 17, xxxii. -30; Ex. iii. 6, &c.). And corresponding with this there is a perfect absence of all fear on Al)raham's part, and a cordial and reverent joy, which, more than anything else, recalls the time past when " the voice of the Lord God was heard, walking in the garden in the cool of the day."
Strangely unworthy of this exalted position as the " Friend " and intercessor with God, is the repetition of the falsehood as to Sarah in the land of the Phihstmes (Gen. xx.). It was the first time he had come in contact with that tribe or collection of tribes, which stretched along the coast almost to the borders of Egypt; a race apparently of lords nding over a conquered population, and another example of that series of immigrations which ap- pear to have taken place at this time. It seems, from Abraham's excuse for his deceit on this occa- sion, as if there had been the idea in his mind that all arms may be used against mibelievers, who, it is assumed, have no "fear of God," or sense of right. If so, the rebuke of Abimelech, by its dig- nity and its clear recognition of a God of justice, must have put him to manifest shame, and taught him that others also were servants of the Lord.
This period again, like that of the sojourn in Egypt, was one of growth m power ajid wealth, as the respect of Abimelech and his alarm for the fiiture, so natural in the chief of a race of conquer- ing invaders, very clearly shows. Abram's settle- ment at Beersheba, on the borders of the desert, near the Amalekite plunderers, shows both that he needed room, and was able to protect himself and his flocks.
The birth of Isaac crowns his happiness, and fulfills the first great promise of God; and the ex- pulsion of Ishmael, painful as it was to him, and vindictive as it seems to have been on Sarah's part, was yet a step in the education which was to teach him to give up all for the one great oI(ject. The symbohcal meaning of the act (drawn out in.GaJ.
ABRAHAM
15
tion and meaning. Oesenius renders it " nobility," from the same root aa " Sarah " ; Ewald by " quarrel-
(vrme " (from the root TT^Ci? in sense of " to fight ").
The name Sarah, rT"1l?7, is certainly " princess."
a Tnidition still points out the supposed site of this appearance of the Lord to Abraham. About a mile from Hebron is a beautiful and massive oak, which still bears Abraham's name. The residence of the oatriarch was called " the oaks of Mamre," errone- pusly translated in A. V. " the plain " of Mamre (Oen. Kin. 18, xviii. 1); but it is doubtful whether this is the e.xact spot, since the tradition in the time of Jo- sephus (-B. J. iv. 9, § 7) was attached to a terebinth. This tree no longer remains ; but there is no doubt that it stood within the ancient enclosure, which is Still called "Abraham's House." A fair was held Seneath it in the time of Constantine, and it remained lo the time of Theodosius. (Robinson, ii. 81 Pd. I8r.6; Stanley, S. ^ P. p. 143.)
"v. 21-31) coiUd not hai<; been wholly luifelt ey the patriarch himseU', so far as it involved the sense of the spiritual nature of the promise, and cari'ied out the fore-ordained will of God.
(IV.) Agau! for a long period (25 years, Joseph Jnt. i. 1.3, § 2) the history is silent: then conies the final trial and perfection of his faith in the oonmiand to offer up the child of his affections and of God's promise. The trial lay, fir'-t in the preciousness of the sacrifice, and the peifjlexity in which the command involved the fulfillment of the promise; secondly, in the strangeness of the com- mand to violate the human life, of which the sa- credness had been enforced by God's special com- mand (Gen. ix. .5, G), as well as by the feelings or a father. To these trials he rose superior by faith, that " God was able to raise Isaac even from tho dead" (Heb. xi. 19), probably through the same faith to which our Lord refers, that God had promised to be the " God of Isaac " (Gen. xvii. 19), and that he was not " a God of the dead, but of the hving." '^
It is remarkable that, in the blessing given to him now, the original spiritual promise is repeated for the fii'st time since his earliest call, and in the same words then used. But the promise that " in his seed all nations should be blessed '' would be now understood very dift'erently, and felt to be fjir above the temporal promise, in which, perhaps, at first it seemed to be absorbed. It can hardly be wTong to refer preeminently to this epoch the de- claration, that Abraham "saw the day of Christ and was glad" (.John \iii. 5G).
The history of Abraham is now all but over, though his life was prolonged for nearly 50 year.*. The only other incidents are the death and burial of Sarah, the marriage of Isaac with Rebekah, and that of Abraham with Keturah.
The death of Sarah took place at Kirjath Arba, /. e. Hebron, so that Abraham nnist have returned from Beersheba to his old and more peaceful home- In the history of her burial, the most notable points are the respect paid to the power and char- acter of Abraham, as a mighty prince, and ths exceeding modesty and courtesy of his demeanor. It is sufficiently striking that the only inheritance of his family in the land of promise should be a tomb. The sepulchral cave of JMachpelah is novi said to be concealed under the ilosque of Hebron (see Stanley, S. (j- P. p. 101). [Hebron.]
The marriage of Isaac, so far as Abraham is concerned, marks his utter refusal to ally his sop with the polluted and condemned blood of the Ca- naanites.
The marriage \vith Keturah is the strangest a.nu most unexpected event recorded in his life, Abra- ham having long ago been spoken of as an old man ; but his youth having been restored before the birth of Isaac, must have remained to him, and Isaac's
b The scene of the sacrifice is, according to oul present text, and to Josephus, the land of '' Moriah,"
or ^''T^^2, chosen by Jehovah, Ges. (comp. the name " Jehovah-JIreh "). The Samaritan Pentateuch haa "Moreh," HTID; the LXX. render the word here by 7-1)1/ iri^rjA)}!/, the phrase used for what is undoubtedly " Moreh " in xii. 6, whereas in 2 Chr. iii. they render "Moriah" by 'A/awpt'a: they therefore probably read " Moreh " also. The fact of the three days' journey from Beersheba suits Moreh better (see Stanley's S. f P. p. 251) ; other considerationa seem in favor of Mo riah. [Moriah.]
16
ABRAHAMS BOSOM
marriage having taken his son comparatively away, may have induced him to seek a wile to be the wpport of his old age. Keturah held a lower rank :han Sarah, and her children were sent away, lest they should dispute the inherit-ance of Isaac, Abra- ham having le;irnt to do voluutiU-Uy in theii' case what had been forced upon him in the case of Ish- mael.
Abniharo died at the age of 175 years, and his sons, tlie heir Isaac, and the outcast Ishniael, miited to lay him in the cave of Machi)clah by the side of Sarah.
His descendants were (1) the Israehtes; (2) a branch of the Arab tribes througli Ishmael; (3) the " children of the Kast," of whom the Jlidian- ites were the chief; (4) perhaps (as cognate tribes), the nations of Annnon and Moab (see these names) ; and through their various branches his name is known all over Asia. A. B.
* On Abraliam, see particularly Ewald, Gtsch. i. 40'J-4:3'J, 2e Aufl.; Kurtz, ihsch. des A. Bundis, 2e Aufl., i. 100-215; and Stanley, Lect. on llie Biil. (if the Jeicish Cliiirch, I'art I., I^ct. i., ii. The Jewish legends r&s]x;ctiiig him have been col- lected by Beer, Ltbcn Abndiums nnch Auffassung dcr Jiidischen iifi(/e, I^ipz. 1859 ; see also Hisen- niengcr's J-MdeckUx J udtnthum. A.
ABRAHAMS BOSOM. During the l{o- man occupation of .hula-a, at least, the practice of reclining on couches at meals was customary among the Jews. As e;ich guest leaned upon his lett arm, his neighbor next below him would naturally be descriiied as lying in his lx>som; and such a po- sition with respect to the master of the house was one of especial honor, and only occupied by his nciircst friends (John i. 18, xiii. 23). To lie in jM)raliam's bosom, then, was a metaphor in use among the .lews to denote a condition after death of perfect happiness and rest, and a position of friendship and nearness to the great founder of their race, when they shall lie down on his right hand at the banquet of Paradise, " with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of iieaven " (Matt. viii. 1 1 ). That the exjiression wis in use among the Jews is sliovni by Lightfoot (//'//•. Ilib. tn Luc. xvi. 22), who quotes a passage from the Talmud (Kiddiisliin, fol. 72), which, accorduig to his interpretation, represents Levi as saying in reference to the death of Habbi Judah, "to-day he dwclleth in .\braham"s l)Osom." The future bless- edness of the just was represented under the figure of a bantpiet, "the Ijanquet of tlie garden of l^den or Paradise." See Schoettgen, Jlor. Ilcb. in Malt. viii. 11. [Lazai{u.s.] W. A. W.
A'BRAM. [Abraham.]
ABRO'NAH (n3"-l?V [p»is(ujt], from
~27, to cro.ss over), one of the halting-places of the Israelites in the desert, innnediatcly preceding I'lzion gelier, and therefore, looking to the root, the name may jmssilily retain the trace of a foril across the head of the ILlanitic (lulf. In the A. V. it is given a.s Kbronah ('EiSpoiccf; [Vat. 5e/3pwj/o:] Ih- browi) (\uni. xxxiii. 34, 35). ■ G.
ABRO'NAS ('A)3paii/os; [Comp. 'Ap^uvdi; Aid. 'ApHovai: -l/'im/'/i']), a torrent (xtifxapl>oi), apparently near Cilicia [.lud. ii. 24 coni|)ared with 25]: if 80, it may |)ossibly be the Xidir Abraim, or Ibndiim, the ancient Adonis, which rises in the [.elranon at Afhn, and falls into the sea at Jtbtil ■'Uyblos). It has, however, l)een coiyectured (Mo-
ABSALOM
vers, Bonner Ztits. xiii. L8) that the word is a cor- ruption of "insn "^5?? = beyond the river (Eu- phrates), which has just before been mentioned; a corruption not more inconcei>al)le than many which actually exist in the LXX. The A. V. has Ab BoxAi (Jud. ii. 24). G.
AB'SALOM (Clb^bS, father of peace •
'A$ea(ra\wfj. '■ Abgaloin), third son of David by Maachah, daughter of Tahnai king of Geshur, a Sjrian district atijoiuing the north-esistern frontier of the Holy Land near the l^ke of Jlerom. He is scarcely mentioned till alter iJavid had committed the great crime which l)y its consequences embit- tered his old age, and then aj)pears as the instru- ment by whom w;is fulfilled C!od"s threat against the sinfid king, that " evQ should Ijc raised up against him out of his ovni house, and that his neighbor should he with his wives in the sight of the sun." In the latter part of David's reign, jjolygamy bore ita ordinary fruits. Not only is his sin in the case of Bathsheba traceable to it, since it naturally suggests the unlimited indulgence of the passions, but it also brought about the j)unishment of that sin, by rais- ing up jealousies and conflicting claims between the sons of difl'erent mothers, each apparently living with a sepai-ate house and estabUslmient (2 Sam. xiii. 8, xiv. 24; cf. 1 K. vii. 8, &c.). .^Vbsaloin had a sister Tamar, who was violated l)y her half- brother Amnon, Da\id'3 eldest son by Ahiuoam, the Jezreehtess. The king, though indignant at so great a crime, would not inmish Amnon because he was his first-born, as we learn from the words Nai ovK iXvnricre rh TrceC/ta ^ hixvwv tov vlov avrov, OTi 7]ya.TTa avrSv, on npcoT6TOKOs auToC f/V, which arc found in the LXX. (2 Sam. xiii. 21), though wanting in the Hebrew. The natural avenger of such an outrage would be Tamar's fidl brother Al)- salom, just as the sons of Jacob took bloody ven- geance fur their sister Dinah (Gen. xxxiv.). He brootled over the wrong for two years, and then in- vited all the ])rinces to a sheep-shearing feast at his estate in Baal-liazor, jxissibly an old Canaanitish sanctuary (as we infer from tiie prefix Baal), on the borders of Kpliraini and Benjamin. Here he or- dered his servants to murder Anmon, and then fled for safety to his l:ithcr-iii-1aw's court at Cieshur, where he remained for three years. David was over- whehned by this accumulation of family soitows, thus conqik'ted by separation from his favorite son» whom he thought it impossible to pardon or recall. But he was brought back by lui artifice of Joal), who sent a woman of Tekoah (afterwards kno\m as the birtbplare of the prophet .Amos) to en- treat the kiuii's inlerfcrn (■(• in a siq')ii sititious ca«e similar to Ai)salonrs. Having pcrsuadetl David to prevent the avenger of Mood from pursuing a young man, who, she said, had slain his brother, she adroitly applied his assent to the recall of Absalom, and urgritl him, as he had thus yielded the general ])nnciple, to "fetch home his banislied." David did so, but would not see Absalom for two more years, though he allowed him to live in Jerus-Tleiu. At htst wearied with delay, pcrtviving that hij triumph was only liiUf conqilele, and that his ex- clusion from wurt interfered with the nmbitiouu schemes which he was fonning, fancying too that sutticient exertions were not made in hLs favor, the im|>etuou3 young man sent his senants to bum a field of com near his own, belonging to Joab, thuf doing as Suwson had done (Judg. xv. 4). There-
ABSALOM
upon Joab, probably dreading some further outrage (rem his ricleace, brought liim to his father, from whom he received the kiss of recouciliatioii. Ab- salom now began at once to prepare for rebellion, urged to it partly by his own restless wickedness, partly perhaps by the fear lest I>athsheba's child should sui)plant him in the succession, to which he would feel himself entitled as of royal birth on his mother's side as well as his father's, and as being now David's eldest surviviiif; son, since we may in- fer that the second son Chileab was dead, fi'om no mention being made of him after 2 Sam. iii. 3. It is harder to account for his temporary success, and the imminent danger which befell so powerful a gov- ernment as his father's. The sin with Bathsheba had probably weakened David's moral and religious hold upon the people ; and as he grew older he may have become less attentive to individual complaints, and that personal administration of justice which was one of an eastern king's chief duties. For Ab- salom tried to supplant his father by courting pop- ularity, standing in the fixate, conversing with every iniitor, lamenting the difficulty which he would find in getting a hearing, " putting forth his hand and kissins; any man who came nigh to do him obei- sance." He also maintained a splendid retinue (xx 1), and was admired for his personal beauty and the luxuriant growth of his liair, on grounds similar to those which had made Saul acceptable (1 Sam. X. 23). It is probable, too, that the great tribe of Judah had taken some offense at David's government, perhaps froiii finding themselves com- pletely merged in one united Israel ; and that they hoped secretly for preeminence under the less wise and liberal rule of his son. Thus Al)salom selects Hebron, the old capital of Judah (now supplanted by Jerusalem), as the scene of tlie outbreak ; Amasa ills chief captain, and Ahithophei of Giloh his prin- cipal counsellor, are both of Judah, and after the rebellion was crushed we see signs of ill-feeling between Judah and the other tribes (six. 41). But whatever the causes may have been, Absalom luised the standard of re\olt at Hebron after J'orty years, as we now read in 2 Sam. xv. 7, which it seems better to consider a false reading for J'uui (the number actually given by Josephus), than to interpret of the fortieth year of David's reign (see Gerlach, in loco^ and Kvvald, Gescludite, iii. 217) The revolt was at first completely successful ; David fled from his capital over the .lordan to iMahanaim in Gilead, where Jacob had seen the " Two Hosts " of the angelic vision, and where Abner had rallied the Israelites round Saul's dynasty in the person of the unfortunate Ishbosheth. Absalom occupied Je rusalem, and by the advice of Ahithophei, who saw that for such an unnatural rebelUon war to the knife was the best security, took possession of David's harem, in which he had left ten concubines This was considered to imply a formal assumption of all his father's royal rights (cf. the conduct of Adonijah, 1 K. ii. 13 flP., and of Smerdis the Ma- gian, Herod, iii. 68), and was also a fulfillment of Natlian's prophecy (2 Sam. xii. 11). But David bad left friends who watched over his interests. The vigorous counsels of Ahithophei were afterwards rejected through the crafty advice of Hushai, who insinuated himself into Absaloru s confidence to work his ruin, and Ahithophei limself, seeing his ambitious hopes frustrated, and another preferred by the man for whose sake he had turned traitor, went hoirs to Giloh and committed suicide. At last, after being solcmnlv anointed king at Jerusa-
a
ABSALOM
17
lem (xix. 10), and lingering there far longer than waa expedient, Absalom crossed the Jordan to attack his father, who by this time had rallied round him a coiisideraljle force, whereas had Ahithophel's advice been followed, he would probably have been crushed at once. A decisive battle was fought in Gilead, in the wood of i'>phraim, so called, accordmg to Gerlach {Comm. in loco), from the great defeat of the Ephraimites (Judg. xii. -1), or perhaps from the connection of Kphraim with the trans-Jordanic half-tribe of jManasseh (Stanley, S. and P. p. 323). Here Absalom's forces were totally defeated, and as he himself was escaping, his lung hair was entangled in the branches of a terebinth, where he was left hanging while the mule on which he was riding ran away from under him. Here he was dispatched by Joab, in spite of the prohibition of . David, who, lovuig him to the last, had desired that his hfe might be spared, and when he heard of his death, lamented over him in the pathetic words, 0 my son Absnloin ! would God I had died for thee! 0 Absalom, my son, my soji! He was buried in a great pit in the forest, and the con- querors threw stones over his grave, an old proof of bitter hostihty (Josh. vii. 20)." The sacred historian contrasts this dishonored burial with the tomb which Absalom had raised in the Ki'ny's d.de (comp. Gen. xiv. 17) for the three sons whom he had lost (comp. 2 Sam. x\iii. 18, with xiv. 27), and where he probably had intended that his own re- mains should be laid. Josephus (Ant. vii. 10, § 3) mentions the pillar of Absalom as situate 2 stadia from .lerus;deni. An existing monument in the valley of Jehoshaphat just outside Jerusalem bears the name of the Tomb of Absalom; but the Ionic pillars which surround its base show that it belongs to a much Liter period, even if it be a tomb at all.
G. E. L. C.
The so-called Tomb of Absalom.
AB'SALOM CA0E(r(Td\aifios; [Comp. Alex. 'Av|/aA.a)/xos, and so Sin. 1 M. xiii. :] Absolomvs,
" * The same custom of heaping up stonos as a mark of detestation and ignominy over the gnives of perpetrators of crimes, is still observed in the lands of the Bible. For illustrations of this, see Thomson 8 Land and Bnok, ii. 2.34, and Boiiar's Missim of En- (jiiiry to the Jews, p. 318. H-
18
ABSALON
Abmlomus), the father of Mattathiaa (1 Mace. xi. rO) and Jonathan (I Mace. xiii. 11).
B. F. W.
AB'SALON ('AfieaaaKiLfx-- Abesalom). An embassador with John from the Jews to Lysiaa, 3hief governor of Coele-S^iia and I'hoenice (2 Mace. xi. 17). W. A. W.
ABU'BUS CAjSov/Sos: Abobut). Father of Ptolemeas, who was captahi of the plain of .Jericho, ind son-in-law to Simon Maccaba;us ( I Mace. xvi. 11.15). W. A. W.
* ABYSS. [Dkep, the.] H.
AC'ATAN ('AKOTai/: Eccctan). IIakkatan (1 i:sdr. viii. 38). W. A. W.
AC'CAD ("T~S [yw/z-ess according to Fiirst] : Apx^S: Acknd), one of the cities in the land of Shiuar — the others being Bahel, Freeh, and Cal- neh — which were the begiiming of Nimrod's king- dom (Gen. X. 10). A great many conjectures have been fonned as to its identification : — 1. Following the reading of the oldest version (the LXX.), the river Argiuies, mentioned by ^l^lian as in the Per- siaii part of Sittacene beyond the Tigris, has been put forward (IJochart, I'IkiI. iv. 17). Hut this is too far east. 2. Sacada, a town stated by I'tolemy to have stood at the junction of the Lycus ((ireat Zab) with the Tigris, below Nineveli ([.eclerc, in Winer). 3. A district " north of I5al)ylon " called 'AkkVjtt; (Knobel, Gtnesh, p. 108). 4. And per- haps in the absence of any remains of the name this has the greatest show of evidence in its favor, Xisi- bis, a city on the K/inl/aiir river still retaining its name (Nisibin), and situated at the X. E. part of Mesopotamia, atiout 1.50 miles east of Or/a, and midway between it and Nineveh. We have the tes- timony of Jerome ( Onoiii'islictm, Achnd), that it was the belief of the .lews of his day (fhbnei dicuiit) that Nisibis w:ls Accad ; a belief confirmed by the renderings of the Targums of .Ferusalem and Pseu- do-Jonathan (]^3^^3), and of Ephraem Sjtus;
and also by the fact that the ancient name of Ni- sibis was Acai- (IfosenmiiUer, ii. 21)), which is the
word given in the early Pesliito version i-O), and
also occurring in three MSS. of the Onomnsliam of Jerome. (See the \v>Ui to " Achad " in the edition of Jerome, Ven. 17tJ7, vol. iii. p. 127.)
The theory deduced l)y Kawlinson from the latest AssjTian researches is, that " Akkad " was the name of the "gresit primitive IIamit« race who in- habited IJabylonia from the earliest time," who originatetl the arts and sciences, and whose language was " the great parent stock from wliich the trunk stream of the Semitic tongues sprang." " In the inscriptions of Sargon the name of Akka<l is ap- plied to the .Vnnenian mountains instead of the vernacular title of Arar.it." (Kawlinson, in Ihrml- vttts, i. 319, note.) The name of the city is be- lievwl to have been discovered in the inscriptions under the form Kimi Akkad {ibid. p. 447). G.
AC'CARON. [Fkkon.]
AC'CHO OSy, hotsaruli?): 'A/cxo., "'A/c.j, Strabo; the Ptoi.kmai.s of the Maccabees and N. T.), now called -Iccrt, or more usually !)y Furojieans, Saint Jean d'Acre, the most iniptirtaiit sca-iw>rt town on the Syrian coast, aliout •'iO miles S. of Tvre. It was situated on a sliglitly prnjccting headland, at the northern extremity of that spacious kaj — the onlj inlet of any im{K)rtauce along the
ACELDAMA
whole 8ea-bo:ird of Palestine — which is formed bj the bold [tromontory of C'armel on the opposite side. This bay, though spacious (the distance from Accho to Carmel being about 8 miles), is shallow and ex- posed, and hence Accho itself docs not at all times otter safe harborage; on the opposite side of the bay, however, the roadstead of J/aiJ'a, inmiediately under Carmel, supjilies this deficiency. Inland the hills, which from Tyre southwards ])ress close upon the sea-shore, gradually recetle, leaving in the imme- diate neighborhood of Accho a plain of remarkable fertility about six miles l)road, and watered by the small river Pelus (Xn/ir Naman), which discharges itself into the sea close under the walls of the towii. To the S. F. tlie still receding height* aflbrd access to the interior in the direction of Sep- phoris. Accho, thus favoraljly placed in command of the approaches from tlie north, both by sea and land, has been justly termed the "key of Pales- tine."
In the division of Canaan among tht tribes, Accho fell to the lot of Asher, but was never wrested from its original inhabitants (.ludg. i. 31); and hence it is reckoned among the cities of Phanicia (Strab. ii. 134 ; Phn. v. 17 ; Ptol. v. 15). No further mention is made of it in the O. T. history, nor does it apjiear to have risen to much importance until after the dismemberment of the Macedonian empire, when its proximity to the frontier of Syria made it an object of frequent contention. Along with the rest of Phwnicia it fell U) the lot of Egypt, and was named Ptoleraais, after one of the I'tolemies, probably Soter, who could not have failed to see its importance to his dominions in a military point of view. In the wars that ensued between Sj-ria and I'-gyjit. it was taken by Antiochus the Great (Ptol. v. (!2), and attached to his kingdom. When the Maccabees established themselves in Juda'a, it became the base of operations against them. Simon drove his enemies back within its walls, but did not take it (1 Mace. v. 22). Subsequently, wlien Alexander lialas set up his claim to the Syrian throne, he could ofler no more tempting bait to secure the c<<- (iperation of .lonathan than the possession of Ptoli'- mais and its district (1 Mace. x. 39). On the decay of the Syrian power it w:»s one of the few cities of .ludfea which estabUshetl its inde]iendence. Al- exander Jannffius att^icked it without success. Cleopatra, whom he had summoned to his assist- ance, took it, and transferred it, with her daughter Selene, to the Syrian monarchy: under her rule it was besieged and taken by Tigranes (.loseph. Ant. xiii. 12, § 2; 13, § 2; 16, § 4). Ultimately it pa.ssed into the hands of the Kom.ins, who con- structed a military road along the coast, from Perytus to Sepphoris. pa.ssing through it. and ele- vated it to the rank of a colony, with the title Colonia Claudii Cas.iris (Phn. v. 17). The only notice of it in the X. T. is in connection with St. Paul's passiige from T>Te to Ca-saa-a (.\cts xii. 7). Few remains of antiquity are to be foiuid in the modem town. The original name has alone sur- vive<l all the changes to which the place has lieen exposed. W. L. H.
AC'COS CAKKis\ [Alex. Akx^j, Field:] ^n- aib), father of John and grandfather of Fuiwlemua the amlmss-idor fron Judas Maecabaus to Kome (1 Mace. viii. 17).
AC'COZ. [Ko/.]
ACELTDAMA {'AKtKSofii; I^chm [and
ACELDAMA
l\gch.] ([Sin.] B) 'AKeXSandx'- HaceUama); xca- ilov o3f/iOTOS, "the field of blood;" (Chald. ^j^H S^"!), the name given by the Jews of Jerusalem U) a "field" ixo^piov) near Jerusalem pm-chased by Judas with the money which he received for the betrayal of Christ, and so called from his violent death therein (Acts i. 19). This is at variance with the account of St. Matthew (xxvii. 8), accord- ing to which the " field of blood " (ayphs a'ifj.a.TOs'^ v/as purchased by the Priests with the 30 pieces of silver after they had been cast down by Judas, as a burial-place for strangers, the locality being well known at the time as " the field of the Potter," « (rhv ayphv rod Kepa/xecas)- See Alford's notes to Acts i. ly. And accordingly ecclesiastical tradition appears from the earhest times to have pointed out two distinct (though not unvarying) spots as re- ferred to in the two accounts. In Jerome's time {Omim. Achddaiiii) the " ager sanguhiis " was shown " ad australem '> plagam montis Sion." Ar- culfus (p. 4) saw the "large Ji (/-tree where Judas hanged himself," certainly in a different place from that of the " small field (Aceldama) where the bodies of pilgrims were buried" (p. 5). Saewulf (p. 42) was shown Aceldama " next" to Gethsem- ane, "at the foot of OUvet, near the sepulclires of SuTieon and Joseph" (Jacob and Zacharias). In the " Citez de Jherusalem" (Kob. ii. 5G0) the place of the suicide of Judas was shown as a stone arch, apparently inside the city, and giving its name to a street. Sir John Maundeville (p. 175) found the "eWer-tree" of Judas "fast by" the '•image of Absalom; " but the Aceldama "on the other side of Mount Sion towards the south." Maundrell's account (p. 468-9) agrees with this, and so does the large map of Schidtz, on which both sites are marked. The Aceldama still retains its ancient position, but the tree of Judas has been transferred to the " Hill of Evil Coimsel " (Stanley, S. c/ P. pp. 105, 186 ; and Barclay's JLip, 1857, and "C'iV;/," &c. pp. 75, 208).
The " field of blood " is now shown on the steep southern face of the valley or rawne of Hinnom, near its eastern end; on a narrow plateau (Salz- mann, Ettuk, p. 22), more than half way up the hill-side. Its modem name is Hak ed-clainm. It is separated by no enclosure ; a few venerable olive- trees (see Salzmann's photograph, ^^ Champ du sail;/ ") occupy part of it, and the rest is covered by a ruined square edifice — half built, half excavated — which, perhaps originally a church (Pauli, in Rittt-r, Pal. p. 464), was in JMamidrell's time (p. 468) in use as a charnel-house, and which the latest conjectures (Schultz, WUhams, and Barclay, p. 207 ) propose to identify with the tomb of Auanus (Joseph. B. J. V. 12, § 2). It was beUeved in the middle ages that the soil of this place had the power of very rapidly consuming bodies buried iu it (Sandys, p. 187), and in consequence either of this or of the sanctity of the spot, great quantities of the earth were taken away ; amongst others by the Pisan Cru-
ACELDAMA
19
o The prophecy referred to by St. Matthew, Zecha- riah (not Jeremiah) xi. 12, 13, does not in the present Itate of the Hebrew text agree with the quotation of Jie Evangelist. The Syriac Version omits the name altogether.
b Eusebius, from whom Jerome translated, has here iv ^opei'oic. This may be a clerical error, or it may »dd aacttjir to the many instances existing of the ihange of a traditional site to meet circumstances.
saders in 1218 for their Campo Santo at Pisa, and by the Empress Helena for that at Rome (Kob. i. 355; Raumer, p. 270). Besides the charnel-house above mentioned, there are several large hollows iu the ground in this immediate neighborhood which may have been caused by such excavations. The formation of the hill is cretaceous, and it is well known that chalk is always favorable to the rapid decay of animal matter. The assertion (Kraift, p. 19.3; Ritter, Pal. p. 403) that a pottery stiU exists near this spot does not seem to be borne out by other testimony.<^ G.
* There are other views on some of the points embraced in tliis article, which deserve to be men- tioned. The contradiction said to exist between jMatt. xxvii. 8 and Acts i. 19 is justly qualified m the Concise Dictionary as "apparent,"' and hence not necessarily actual. The difficulty tiu-na wholly upon a single word, namely, eKTricraTO, in Acts i. 18; and that beuig susceptible of a two- fold sense, we are at liberty certainly to choose the one which agrees with Matthew's statement, instead of the one conflicting with it. Many un- derstand iKT7\aaT0 in Acts as having a Hiphil or causative sense, as Greek verbs, especially in the middle voice, often have (Win. N. T. Gr. § 38, 3; Scheuerl. Syntax, p. 298). With this meaning, Luke in the Acts (or Peter, since it may be the latter's remark,) states that .Judas by his treachery gave occasion for the purchase of " the potter's field ' ' ; and that is precisely what ^Matthew states in saying that the priests purchased the field, smce they did it with the money furnished to them by the traitor. In hke manner we read in the Gos- pels that Jesus when crucified was put to death by the Roman soldiers; but in Acts v. 30, Peter says to the members of the Jewish Council: — " Whom (Jesus) ye slew, hanging on a tree " : ^' which all accept as meaning that the Jewish rulers were the means of procuring the Sanour's death. For other examples of this causative sense of verbs, comp. Matt. ii. 16, xxvii. 60; .John iv. 1; Acts vA. 21, xvi. 23; 1 Cor. vii. 16; 1 Tim. iv. IC, etc. As expLaining, perhaps, why Peter chose this concise mode of expression, Fritzsche's remark may be quoted : — The man (a sort of acerba irr-isio) thought to enrich himself by his crime, but only got by it a field where blood was paid for blood {Evany. Mail. p. 799). Many of the best critics, as Kuinoel, Olshausen, Tholuck {MS. notes), Ebrard ( Wissensch. Kritik, p. 543), Baumgarten, {Apostd'jesch. p. 31), Lange {Bibehoei-k, i. 409), Lechler (Der Ajwst. G'escli. p. 14), Robinson {Har- mony, p. 227), Andrews {Life of our Lord, p. 511), and others, adopt this explanation.
It does not affect the accuracy of Matthew or Luke whether "the field of blood" which they mention was the present Aceldama or not; for they aflirm nothmg as to its position bej'ond iniphing that it was a "potter's field" near Jerusalem.
c * Krafft's statement is ( Topo^rapliie Jerusaiems, p. 193) that he saw people cutting or digging up clay there {Enle stechen), and not that they worked it up on the ground. Schultz, the Prussian consul {Jerusa- lem, eine Vorlesung, p. .39), and Porter ( Giant Cities, p. 147), speak of a bed of clay in that place. See, also, WilUams's Holy City, ii. 495. There is a pottery at Jerusalem at present, for which the clay is obtained from the hiU ove' the valley of Hinnom. H.
rf *The A. V. strangely misrepresents the Greek here, as if the putting to death of Jesus was prior t« the crucifixion. Ii
20 ACELDAMA
Nor dies the existence of traditions which point Dut diftereiit spots as "the field," prove that the first Christians recognized two different accounts, /. e. a contradiction in the statements of Matthew and Luke; for the variant traditions are not old enough (tliat of iVrculf a.d. 700) to he traced to any such source. Yet it is not impossible that the potter's field which the Jews purchased may actually be the present Aceldama, which overlooks the valley of Hinnom. The receptacles for the dead which ap- peal- ui the rocks in that quarter show that the ancient .lews were accustomed to bury there.
It is usually assumed that Judas came to his miserable end on the very field which had been lx)ught with his 30 pieces of silver. It was for a twofold reason, says Liglitfoot {Ilor. Ilebr. p. 090), that the field was called Aceldama ; fii'st, because, as stated in JMatt. jtxvii. 7, it had been bought with the price of blood; and, secondly, because it was sprinkled with the man's blood who took that price. Such congruitles often m;irk the retributions of guilt. Yet it should be noted that Luke does not say in so many words that Judas " fell headlong and burst asunder " on the field purchased with his " reward of iniquity " ; but may mean that the field was called Aceldama because the fact of the trai- tor's bloody end, wliether it occurred in one place or another, was so notorious (yuiocThp iyevero • • • Siare KKrj6riuaL)- In either case there is no incon- sistency lietween the two reasons assigned by Jlat- thew and Luke for the appellation : the field could i)e called Aceldama with a double emphasis, both because it was " the price ^if blood," and because the guilty man's blood was shed there by his own hand.
Further, the giving of the 30 pieces of silver, " the price of him that was valued," for the "pot- ter's field," fulfilled an 0. T. prophecy. But why the evangelist (.Matt, xxvii. '.)) should refer this prophecy to Jeremiah, and not Zechariah (Zech. si. 12, 13), in whom the words are found, is a question not easy to answer. Possibly as the Jews (according to the Tahnudic order) placed Jeremiah at the head of the prophets, his name is cited merely as a general title of the prophetic writings. See Davidson's UiOI. Criticism, i. 330. Dr. E. Kobinson {/I<iriH.onij, p. 227) agrees with those who think Sia tov ■irpo<pr)Tov m.ay be the true reading, but certainly against the external testimony. The view of IIengstenl>erg is that though Zechariah's prophecy was directly Alessianic and that of Jere- miali ante-Messianic and national, yet they both really prophesy one truth (namely, that the people who spurn God's mercies, be they his prophets and their warnings or Christ and his Gosi)el, shall lie themselves spumed); and hence Matthew in cHi-ct quotes them both, but names Jeremiaii only iiecause he was better known, and Iiecause Zechariah incor- fwrates the older jirophecy with his own so as to give to the latter tiie effect of a previous fulfillment as a pledge for the future: the common truth taught in the two passages, and the part of " the potter " «o consi)icuous in them, being supjioscd sufficient to admonisli tiie reader of this relation of the proph- ecies to each other. See his Cliristolor/y of tlit 0. T. ii. 187 ff., § 9 (Keith's trans.). So free a critic »s (irotius {Annott. oil loc.) takes nearly the same view: — "Cum atitem hoc dictum Jerennre \ict Zach. repetitum hie rccitat Matt., ginuil ostendit 'acite, eas pocnits imminere Judwis, quas iidem |)rophetffi olim sui temporis hominiiius pra'dix- irant." For other opinions, which may be thought.
ACHAS
however, to illustrate rather than solve the diSV culty, see Dr. Schaff 's edition of Lange's Commen- tary, i. 505. H.
ACHA'IA CAxa'tt) signifies in the N. T. a Roman provuiee, which included the whole of the Pelopoimesus and the greater part of Helks proper, with the adjacent islands. This province, with that of jMacedonia, comprehended the whole of Greece : hence Achaia and Jlacedonia are frequently mentioned together in the N. T. to indicate all Greece (Acts xviii. 12, 27, vix. 21 ; Kom. xv. 26, xvi. 5 [T. K., but here 'Atrios is the true reading] ; 1 Cor. xvi. 15; 2 Cor. i. 1, ix. 2, xi. 10; 1 Thess. i. 7, 8). A narrow slip of country upon the northern coast of Peloponnesus was originally csJled Achaia, the cities of which were confederated in an ancient League, which was renewed in B.C. 280 for the purpose of resisting the Macedonians. This League siibsetpiently included several of the other Grecian states, and became the most powerful po- litical body in Greece; and hence it was natural for the Itomans to apply the name of Achaia to the Peloponnesus and the soutii of Greece, when they took Corinth and destroyed tlie League ui k.c. 146. (KaAoCcri Se ovk 'EAAoSos a\A' 'A;\a'i'os riyifi6va oi 'PwfjLoiot, StdrL ixiip(i>cravTO "EWrivas Si 'Axa"i"' T(^Te TOV 'EWrjviKou ■npoiarriKiroiv, Pans. vii. 10, § 10). Whether the Koman province of Achaia was established innnediately after the conquest of the League, or not till a later period, need not be discussed here (see Diet, vf Geoyr. i. 17). In the division of the provinces by Augus- tus between the emperor and the senate in i$.c. 27, Achaia was one of the provinces assigned to the senate, and was governed by a proconsul (Strab. xvii. p. 840; Dion. Cass. Uii. 12). Tiberius in the second year of his reign (a.d. 10) took it away from the senate, and made it an imperial province governed i)y a procurator (Tac. Ann. i. 70); but Claudius restoreil it to the senate (Suet. Clnvd. 25). This was its condition when Paul was brought be- fore Galho, who is therefore (Acts xviii. 12) cor- rectly called the "proconsul" (avQvnaros) of Achaia, which is translated in the A. V. " deputy " of Achaia. [I'or the relation of Achaia to Hellas, see GuKKCK, wlfn.]
ACHA'ICUS {'Axa-iKSi), name of a Chris- tian (1 Cor. xvi. 17, subscription No. 25).
A'CHAN (IDr, tnmhkr; written "13^ in 1
Chr. ii. 7 : "Axa" or "Axap- -Achan or Achar), an Israelite of the trilie of .ludah, who, when Jericho and all that it contained were accursed and devoted to destruction, secreted a portion of the spoil in his tent. For this sin Jehovah jjunished Israel by their defeat in their :ittack upon Ai. A\'hcn Achan confessed Iiis guilt, and the booty was discovered, he was stoned -to death with his whole family b^ the peo[)le, in a valley situated lietween Ai and Jericho, and their remains, together with his prop- erty, were burnt. Irom this e\ent the valley re- ceived the name of Achor (/. c. trmiiU) [Aciioh]. I'roni tlie similarity of the name Achan to Achar, .loshua said to .\chan, " Why hast thou troubled us'r* the Lord shall troulile thee tliis day " (Josh, vii.). In order to account for the teirible ven- geance executed ujwn the family of Achan. it is quite unnecessary to resort to tlie hypothesis that they were accomplices in his act of military insub- ordination. The sanguinary severity of tlrienta< nations, from which tlie Jewish jieople were by m
ACHAR
iieans free, has in all ages involved the children in :he punishment of the father. R. W. B.
* The name occurs Josh. vii. 1, 18, 19, 20, 24, Kxii. 20. A.
A'CHAR ("1^^: 'Axap: Achnr). A varia- tion of the name of Achan which seems to have arisen from the play upon it given in 1 Chr. ii. 7,
■« Achar, the iroubler {I'D'^V ^ucer) of Israel."
W. A. W. ACH'BOR ("1^2 PV \vwuse] : 'Axofiiip [also
'Ax<»&'ip', 'AKXofi(ip] '• Achobor). 1. Father of Baal-hanan, king of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 38, 39; 1 Chr. i. 49).
2. Son of Machaiah, a contemporary of Josiah (2 K. xxii. 12, 1-i; Jer. xxvi. 22, xxxvi. 12), called Abdon in 2 Chr. xxxiv. 20.
A'CHAZ {"Axo-C- Achaz). Ahaz, king of Judali (Matt. i. 9). W. A. W.
ACHIACH'ARUS ('Axtax^poJ' [F^- ^"^^ Sin.] AxeiX^poS) [Axeiax^P"*' Axetfcap, etc.]), i. e. ]^~inS'^nS = Postumus : Achichat-us). Chief minister, " cupbearer, and keeper of the sig- net, and steward, and overseer of the accounts " at the court of Sarchedonus or Esarhaddon, king of Nineveh, in the Apocryphal story of Tobit (Tob. i. 21, 22, ii. 10, siv. 10). He was nephew to Tobit, being the son of his brother Anael, and sflpported him in his blindness till he left Ninevelr. From the occurrence of the name of Aman in xiv. 10, it has been conjectured that Achiacharus is but the Jewish name for Mordecai, whose history suggested some points which the author of the book of Tobit worked up into his narrative; but there is no rea- son to have recourse to such a supposition, as the discrepancies are much more strongly marked than the resemblances. W. A. W.
ACHI'AS (Achins). Son of Phuiees; high- iriest and progenitor of Esdras (2 Esdr. i. 2), but omitted both m the genealogies of Ezra and 1 Es- dras. He is probably confounded with Ahijah, the son of Ahitub and grandson of Eli. W. A. W.
A'OHIM i'Axeifi, Matt. i. 14), son of Sadoc, and father of Eliud, in our Lord's genealogy; the filth in succession before Joseph the husband of Mary. The Hebrew form of the name would be
'J'^p^, Jachin (Gen. xlvi. 10; 1 Chr. xxiv. 17), which in the latter place the LXX. render 'Axifi, [Rom. ed.], or 'AxeifJ. [Vat.; Alex.Joxe"', Comp. ^laxfifJ-, Aid. 'Ax'i']- It is a short form of Je- hoiachin, the Lord loill eslnblish. The name, per- haps, indicates him as successor to Jehoiachin's throne, and expresses his parents' faith that God would, in due time,. esUtbltg/i the kingdom of Da- \'i 1, according to the promise in Is. ix. 7 (6 in the Hdb Bib.) and elsewhere. A. C. H.
A'CHIOR ('Ax'^p, i- e. ~l""1S"'nS^, the brother of liyht ; comp. Num. xxxiv. 27: Achior : •onfounded with 'Ax^dxapos, Tob. xi. 18), a gen- jral of the Ammonites in the army of Holofernes, jrho is aftenvards represent.id as becoming a prose- yte to Judaism (Jud. v., vi., xiv. ). B. F. W.
A'CHISH C''^:^?;*: A-yxow; [Alex, in IK.
\7X's; Comp. 'A/cx's, in 1 K. 'Ax'sO Achis), i Philistine king at Gath, son of Maoch, who in Ihe title to the 34th Psalm is called Abimelech
'jw^ibly corrupted from T[7Q DTS). David
ACHSAH 21
twice found a refuge with him when he fled fj-om Saul. On the first occasion, being recognized by the servants of Achish as one celebrated for hia victories over the Philistines, he was alarmed for his safety, and feigned madness (1 Sam. xxi. LO- IS). [David.] From Achish he fled to the cav« of AduUam. On the second occasion, David flev to Achish with 600 men (1 Sam. xxvii. 2), and remained at Gath a year and four months.
Whether the Achish [son of JMaachah] to .whom Shimei went in disobedience to the commands of Solomon (1 K. ii. [39,] 40), be the same person is uncertaui. R. W. B.
* In the title of the 34th Psalm, Abimelech (which see) may be the royal title, and Achish in the histoi-y the personal name, as Hengstenberg, De Wette, Lengerke remark. Fiirst {Hamlwb. s. V. ) regards Achish as Philistian and probably =: serpeni-chnriner. The name occurs also 1 Sam. sxvii. 3-12, xxviii. 1, 2, xxix. 2-9. H.
ACHFTOB i'Axnd^ [Vat. -xet-]: Achi- tob). Ahitub, the high-priest (1 Esdr. \Tii. 2; 2 Esdr. i. 1), in the genealogy of Esdras.
W. A. W.
ACH'METHA. [Ecbatajja.]
A'CHOR, VALLEY OF, ("TIDl"' p??17 : [(pdpay^ 'Axi^p,] *E/te/cax'^pi [Hos. Koi\ks 'Ax(^p'- vrtllis] Achor) = valley of trouble, ac- cording to the etymology of the text; the spot at which Achan, the "troubler of Israel," was stoned (.losh. vii. 24, 2G). On the N. boundary of Judah (xv. 7; also Is. Ixv. 10; Hos. ii. 15). It was known in the time of Jerome ( Onom. s. v. ), who describes it as north of Jericho ; but this is at vari- ance with the course of the boundary in Joshua (Keil's Joshua, p. 131). G.
* No trace of the name is found any longer. Yet Achor " was situated at all events near GUgal and the West^ordan heights " (Knobel, Josua, p. IIG). It is a valley " that runs up from Gilgal to- ward Bethel" (Thomson's Land and Book, ii. 18.5). The prophet's allusion in Hos. ii. 15 is not so much to the place as to the meanmg of the
name. " And I will give her the valley of
Achor for a door of hope," /. e. through " trouble," through afiliction and discipline, God will prepare His people for greater blessings than they would otherwise be fitted to have bestowed on them. H.
ACH'SA (np^2? : 'Ao-x^i; Alex. Ax(ro; [Comp. '0|a:] Achsa). Daughter of Caleb, or Chelubai, the son of Hezron (1 Chr. ii. 49)." [Caleb.] W. A. W
ACH'SAH (nD?V [anklet]: 'A<rxd; [Alex. Comp. in Josh., Axca: Axn), daughter of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite. Her father promised her in marriage to whoever should take Debir, the ancient name of which (according to the analogy of Kirjath-Akba, the ancient name of Hebron) was Kirjath-Sepher (or as in Josh. xv. 49, Kikjath-Sanna), the city of the book. Othniel, her father's j'ounger brother, took the city, and ac- cordingly received the hand of Achsah as his re- ward. Caleb at his daughter's request added to her dowry the upper and lower springs, which she had pleaded for as peculiarly suitable to her inher- itance in a south country (Josh. xv. 15-19. See
<t * Achsa is merely an incorrect form which in mod- ern editions of A. V. has been substituted for Achsah, the reading of the first and other early editions. A.
22 ACHSHAPH
Stanley's S. ./ P. p. Ifil). [Guixoxii.] The Btory is repf-ated in Judg. i. 11-15. Achsali is mentioned af!;ain, as l>eing tbe daughter of Caiel), in 1 Chr. ii. 4'J. But there is much confusion in the genealogy of Caleb there given. [Aciisa; Caleb.] A. C. H.
ACH'SHAPH («'|tr72S [fttscmaticm, or
mof/ic 7-Ues\ : 'A(i(p [Vat. A^eicp], Kaio^' [?] and Kficp; [Alex. Axi<p, Axcotf); Coinp. Xaadfp, 'Axio'd(p'' Aid. 'Ax'a<|>, 'Axa-dip:] Athsajih, Ax- ajJli), a city within the territory of Asher, named between lieten and Alannnelech (Josh. xix. 25); originally the seat of a Canaanite king (xi. 1, xii. 20). It is jiossibly the modern Kesnf, ruins bear- ing which name were foui;d by Kobinson (iii. 55) on the N. AV. edge of the //lUili. IJut more prob- ably the name has survived in L'haifn [on the sea, at the foot of the north side of Mount Carnielj, a town which, from its situation, must always have been too iinjxirtant to ba\c escai)ed mention in the history, as it otherwise would have done. If this suggestion is correct, tlie LXX. rendering, K6a<^, exhibits tlie name in the ])rocess of change from the ancient to the modern form. G.
ACH'ZIB (3'^T^S {fahehood]: KeCfi, [Vat.
[Comp. 'AxC^jS-l '■''■''•^'''')- ^- A city of .ludah, in the Shefelah (Ski'iiki.a). named with Keilah and Mareshah (.Tosh. xv. 44, Micah i. 14). The latter passage contains a play on the name: " The houses
of Achzib (n^TpS) shaU be a Ue (3t?S)." It
is probably the same with Ciikzib and Chczeba, which see.
2. [In .lo.sh., 'ExoC<i0; Alex. A^etcp, **AxC<«<^ (so Aid.); Comp. 'Axo^i'^S; — in Judg. 'AtrxaC' [Vat. -^fi]; Alex. AffxfSii; Aid. 'AxoCef/S; Comp. 'A(rxaC''/3.] A town belonging to Asher (Josh. xix. 2!)), from which the Canaanites were not expelled (.Uidg. i. '■il); afterwards Kcdippa (Jos. B. J. i. 1-3, § 4, 'EK-StTrTrcoi/). Josephus also (Ant. v. 1, § 22) gives the name as 'Ap/CTj . . . . t] Kal 'EkSiVous. Here was the Cftsale Ilnherti of the Crusaders (Sdnilz; Hitter, /"«/. p. 782); and it is now en-Zi/i, on the sea-sliore at the mouth of the Ndlir Ilei-'liiiril, 2 h. 20 m. X. of Akka (Robinson, iii. 028; and comp. Maundrell, p. 427). After the return from I{al)ylon, Achzib was considered by the Jews as the northernmost limit of the Holy Land. See the quotations from the Gemara in lieland (p. 544). G.
ACI'PHA ('Ax<)3o [Vat. -xet-] ; Alex. Axt<pa; [.Vld. 'A/c(*a:] A(jUl(i). Hakuimia (1 ICsdr. v. '1). W. A. W.
ACITHO ([Alex.] 'Anidtiy, [Comp. Aid. 't.KiOdi,] probably an error for 'Axitw/S [which is
the reading of Sin.]: Acliilob, i. e. n^^t^'TlS, Idjid brotlit-r), Jud. viii. 1 ; comp. 2 I'^dr. i. 1.
IJ. V. \y. ACRABATTI'NE. [Auabattim;.] ACTS OF THE APOSTLES {npd^fn i,iroffT6\a>v, Acln A/>ogt<>l<>riiiii), a second treatise (5<i'T«poy \6yos) by the author of the third (ios- [H'l, traditionally knowii an Luca.H or Luke (which leei. 'I'lic identity of the writer of lioth books is strongly shown by their great similarity in style ind idiom, and tbe usage of jiarticular words and eoni[Kiiniri forms. The theories wbicli a.ssign the jook to other authors, or divide it among several,
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
j will not stand the test of searching inquiry. Tliey j will be found enumerated in Davidson's Introd. to I the X. T. vol. ii., and Alford's prolegomena to vol. j ii. of his edition of the Greek Testament. It must 1)6 confessed to be, at first sight, somewhat surpris- ing that notices of the author are so entirely want- I ing, not only in the book itself, but also, generally, in the Epistles of St. Paul, whom he nmst have accompanied for some years on his travels. Hut our surjjrise is removed wiien we notice the haljit of the Apostle with regard to mentioning his com- panions to have been very various and uncertain, and remember that no Eijistles were, strictly speak- ing, written by him while our writer was in hia company, before his Koman imj risonment ; for he does not seem to have joined him at Corinth (Acts xviii.), where tlie two V.p[>. to the Tliess. wore written, nor to have iieen with him at ICphesus, ch. xix., whence, perhaps, the Ep. to the Gal. was written ; nor again to have wintered with him at Corinth, ch. xx. 3, at the time of his wTiting the Ep. to the Kom. and, perhaps, that to the (Jal.
The book commences with an inscription to one Theophilus, who, from bearing the a|)pellation Kod- TtffTOs, was prolialjly a man of birth and station. But its design must not be supposed to be hmited to the edification of Theophilus, whose name is pre- fixed only, as was customary then a.s now, by way of dedication. The readers were evidently intended to be the meml)ei-s of the. Christian Church, whether Jews or (Jentiles; for its contents are such as are of tbe utmost consequence to the whole church. They are The fulfillment of llie promise of the Father by the descent of the Holy SpiHt, and the results of that utitpourini/, by the disper- sion of the Gospel among Jews and (ientiks. Under these leading heads all tiie personal and subordinate details may be ranged. Innnediately after the Ascension, St. Peter, the first of the Twelve, designated by our Lord as the Kock on whom the Church was to be built, the holder of the keys of the kingdom, becomes the prime actor un- der (iod in the founding of the Church. He is the centre of the first great group of sayings and do- ings. The opening of the door to Jews (ch. ii.) and Gentiles (ch. x.) is his oflfice, and by him, in good time, is accomplished. But none of the ex- isting twelve Apostles were, humanly speaking, fitted to preach the Gos|)el to the cultivated Gen- tile world. To be by divine grace the spiritual conqueror of Asia and Europe, (Jod raise*! up an-^ other instrum^t, from among the hiL:bly-educated and zealous fliarisecs. The preparation of Saul of Tarsus for tbe work to be done, the progress, in Ills hand, of that work, his journeyings, preachings, and perils, his strijies and im|pri.sonmenfs. his testi- fying in .)enis;ilem and beini: lirouiilit to testify in Home, — tiicse are tlie subjects of the latter half of the l)ook, of wiiicli tlie great central figure is tbe Apostle Paul.
Any view which attrilmtes to the writer a.s hia chief design some collatend purp<ise wiiicii is .sen-ed by the book as it stands, or. ind(H'(l, any purpose l)eyond that of writin<; a faitliful liistury of sucb facts as seemed im|KPrtant in tiie sjiread of tbe Gos- pel, is now genendly and very ]ini|K'rly treated aa erroneous. Such a view has lieoome celelirated in modem times, a.s held by Haiir: — tiiat the jpurpos* of the writer was to conijiare the two great .\i)ostles, to show that St. Paul did not depart from tiie priu ciplfs which rc^'ulatt-d ,St. Peter, and to exalt hiic at every o|)[K)rtunity by comparison with St. PeUT
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
rbe reader need hardly be reminded how little any such purpose is l)orne out by the contents of the book itself; nay, how naturally they would follow their present sequence, without any such thought having been in the writer's mind. Doubtless many ends are answered and many results brought out by the book as its naiTative proceeds: as e. g. the rejection of the Gospel by the Jewish people every- where, and its gradual transference to the Gentiles ; and others which might be easily gathered up, and made by ingenious bj-pothesizers, such as Baur, to appeal" as if the writer were bent on each one in its turn as the chief object of hLs work.
As to the time when and place at which the book was written, we are left to gather them en- tirely from indirect notices. It seems most proba- ble that the place of writing was Kome, and the time about two years from the date of St. Paul's arrival there, as related in ch. xxviii., sub fin. Had any considerable alteration in the Apostle's circumstances taken place before the pubhcation, there can be no reason why it should hot have been noticed. And on other accounts also, this time was by far the most likely for the publication of the book. The arrival in Kome was an imixirtant period in the Aix)stle's life: the quiet which suc- ceeded it seemed to promise no immediate deter- mination of his cause. A large amount of historic material had been collected in Judaea, and during the various missionary journeys ; or, taking another and not less probable view, Nero was beginning to undergo that change for the worse which disgraced the latter portion of his reign : none could tell how soon the whole outward repose of Koman society might be shaken, and the tacit toleration which the Christians enjoyed be exchanged for bitter per- secution. If such terrors were imminent, there would surely be in the Roman Chiu-cli prophets and teachers who might tell them of the storm which was gathering, and warn them that the records lying ready for publication must be given to the faithful before its outbreak or event.
Such a priori considerations would, it is true, weigh but little against presumptive evidence fur- nished by the book itself; but arrayed, as they are, in aid of such evidence, they can\y some weight, when we find that the time naturally and fairly m- dicated in the book itself for its publication is that one of all others when we should conceive that pub- lication most likely.
This woidd give us for the publication the year G3 A. D., according to the most probable assign- ment of the date of the arrival of St. Paul at Rome.
The genuineness of the Acts of the Apostles has ever been recognized in the Church. It is men- tioned by Eusebius (//. E. iii. 2.5) among the bfioXoyovfievai 0e7at ypa<pal. It is first directly quoted in the epistle of the churches of Lyons and Yierme to those of Asia and Phrygia (.\. d. 177); then repeatedly and expressly by Irenseus, Clement of Alexandria, TertuUian, and so onwards. It was rejected by the Marcionites (cent, iii.) and Jlani- chieans (cent. iv. ) as contradicting some of their lotions. In modern Germany, Baiu- and some others have attempted to throw discredit on it, and fix its publication in the second century, mainly by assuming the hj'pothesis impugned above, that it \s an apology for St. Paul. But the view has (bund no favor, and would, ere this, have been for- gotten, had it not been for the abUity and subtlety if its chief supporter.
The text of the Acts of the Apostles is very iiill
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 23
i-f various readings; more so than any other book of the N. T. To this several reasons may have contributed. In the many backward references U Gospel history, and the many anticipations of state ments and expressions occurring in the Epistles, temptations abounded for a corrector to try his hand at assimilating, and, as he thought, reconcil- ing the various accounts. In places where eiclesi- astical order or usage was in question, insertions or omissions were made to suit the habits and \iewa of the Chiu-ch in aftertimes. 'NMiere the narrative simply related facts, any act or word apparently unworthy of the apostolic agent was modified for the sake of decorum. Where St. Paid repeats to different audiences, or the wTiter himself narrates the details of his miraculous conversion, the one passage was pieced from the other, so as to produc verbal accordance. There are in this Ixiok an un- usual numlier of those remarkable mterpolations of considerable length, which are found in the Codex Bezse (D) and its cognates. A critic of some em- inence, Bornemann, believes that the text of the Acts originally contained them all, and has been abbreviated by correctors; and he has published an edition in which they are inserted in fuU. But, while some of them bear an appearance of genuine- ness (as e. fj. that in ch. xii. 10, where, after e^e\d6pTes, is added KaTf^-qarav tovs Ittto $ad- fxovs, Kal) the greater part are unmeaning and ab- surd (e. ff. that in ch. xvi. .39, where we read after i^€\6e7v, — elTr6t'T€s, 'liyvor)aa/jiev to. Ka6' vfj.as OTi ecrre &v5pes S'lKator Kal i^ayaySvres wape- KaAicrav avrovs Aeyovres 'E/c ttjs ■nSXew? ravrris i^eXOarf firiiTOTe irci\iv avvaTpa.<p(Daiv rifuu iiri- Kpa^ovres Kaff v/xciv).
The most remarkable exegetical works and mon- ographs on the Acts, beside commentaries on tlie whole N. T. [Alford, Wordsworth, DeWettc, Clever, Lechler in Lange's Bibelwerk], are Baumgarten, A)}Ostel(jeschichte, oder ihr Entirickelunf/sr/ang der Kirche von Jenisalem bis Rom, Halle, 1852 [2d ed. 18.50, Eng. trans. Edinb. 1851; Zeller, Die Apostdf/eschichte nach ihrein Inhalt u. Ursprung krit. untersucht, Stuttg. 1854, first publ. in the Theol. Jahrb. 1819-51; and] Lekebusch, Die Com- posiiion und JinisteJninr/ der Apostelgesclnckte von Neuem untersucht, Gotha, 1854.
The former of these work is a very complete treatise on the Christian-historical development of the Church as related in the book : the latter is of more value as a critical exammation of the various theories as to its composition and authorship. [Zel- ler's is the ablest attack on its genuineness and au- thenticity.]
Valuable running historical comments on the Acts are also found in Neander's Pjianzuny u. Leitung der Cliristlichen Kirche durcli die Apostel, 4th ed., Hambui^. 1847 [Eng. trans, by Ryland in Bohn's Stand. Library, 1851, reused and cor- rected by E. G. Robinson, N. Y. 18G5]; Cony- beare and Howson's Life 'ind Epistles of St. Paul, 2d ed., Lond. 1856. Professed commentaries have been published by Mr. Humphry, I^ond. 1847, [2d ed. 1854], and Professor Hackett, Boston, U. S. 1852 [enlaifted ed. 1858, and Dr. J. A. Alex- ander, New York, 1857]. H. A.
*Add to the collateral helps Paley's flora Paul- nee; Biscoe, The History of the Acts of the Apos- tles confirmed^ etc., Ixind. 1742, new ed. Oxf. 1841 ; Meyer, J. A. G., Versuch einer Vertheidig- ung d. Gesch. Jesu u. d. Apostel nllein am griech. u. rom. Profanscribenten, 1805; Meijier, Diss, d*
24 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
Luc(e a^ioiriaria. in scribauh Aclt. AjmM. Libra, Hag. Com. 1827; IJi.ttger's Biilraijt ziir Einl. in die PauUnischvn Briifv, 1837-38; Birk.s'g lIorcB AjX)sioliccB ; Irwin's Li/e nnd Jjjis/lts of ,'-t. Paul, 2 vol., Ix)iid. 18.51; Dr. IIowsoii on the Claracter of tit. Paul (Hulsean Lectures for 18(i"2); Lange, Apost. Zdkdttr, 1853-54; Dr. Schaft"s History of (he Ajmlolic Church, N. Y. 1854, p. 191 ft".; Lechler, Das apostol. u. d. nnchajjvstnl. Zcitaller, 2d ed., 1857; Pressenst^, Ilistoire des troia pi-tmitrs siech's de I'Eglise Chrntitnne, I'aris, 1858, i. 348 ff. ; Ewald, Gtsch. d. apust. Ztitidtcrs, Gott. 1858 (litl. vi. of his Gtsch. d. Vvlkts Israel); an art. in the Christian Examiner for July, 1861, on the " Origin and Conijwsition of tlie Acts of tlie Apostles"; the Abb(5 Yidal, Saint Paid, sa vie el ses leuvres, 2 vol., Paris, 1863; Vaughan, C. A., The Chuich of the First Days, 3 vol.. Loud. 1864-65; Smith, James, Vwjdi/e and Shipwreck of St. Paul, 3d ed., I^nd. 1866; and Kloster- niann, Vindiciee Lucance, seu de Jtineraiii in Libra Aclt. asseitala Auctore, Gotting. 1866.
On the chronology, see- particularly Anger, Di- Tempunim in Aclis Apost. liatiane, Lips. 1833, and Wieseler, Chrunvloyie des apostol. Zeilallers, Gc.tt. 1848. H. and A.
* Some additional remarks will here be made upon the theory of the Tiibingen school respecting the authorship of the book of Acts. This theory proceeds upon the assumption that Peter and the rest of the original disciples of Christ were Judaiz- ers; /. e.. that they insisted uiwn the circumcision of the Gentile converts to Christianity, as an indis- pensable condition of fellowship. Consequently, according to Dr. Paur, Peter and Paul and the two branches of the church of which they were respec- ti\ely the leaders were placed in a relation of hos- tility to one another. After the death of these Apostles, various attempts were made to produce a reconciliation between the opposing parties. The book of Acts, it is claimed, is the product of one of these irenical or compromising efforts. A Paul- ine Christian in the earher part of the second cen- tury com|)Oses a lialf-fictitious history, with the de- sign to ])resent Paid in a favorable light to the .lu- daizers, and Peter in an equally favorable light to the adherents of Paul. Paul is represented as hav- ing circumcised Timothy, and as having in other points conformed to the Judai/.ing principles; whilst Peter, on the other hand, in the affair of Cornelius and on other occ.isions, and the Jerusalem Cluirch (in the narrative of ApostoUc convention, for exam- ple), are made out to agree almost with the tenets of Paul. One feature of Dr. Paur's .system was the rejection of the genuineness of all the Pauline Epistles, save the two Epistles to the Corinthians, th» Epistle to the llomans and that to tlie (Jala- tiaiis. The following remarks form the heads of a conclusive argument against the Tubingen theory .
1. Paul's general style of reference to the other Apostles, in the Ejiistles acknowleflged to be genu- ine, is inconsistent with that theory. He and they form one company, and are partakers of com- iion afflictions. See 1 Cor. iv. Ujc/., 1 Cor. xv. 5 serj. In the last pa.ssage (ver. 9) he styles him- self " the least of the Apostles." When both Ejiistles were written, he was engaged in collecting
contnbution for "the saints" at Jenisalem. riie L-wt two chapters of the Epistle fo the Pomans, which show the friendship of I'riul (ut the .lewisb Christians, arc, on quite int.ufficient grounds, de-
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
nied to be genuine by Paur. There is no reason able doubt of their genuineness.
2. Paul's account of his conference with th« Apostles at -Jerusalem ((jal. ii. 1 seq.) — the pas- sage on which liaur chietly relies for the establish- ment of his thesis — really overthrows it. 'I he "false brethren" (ver. 4) were not Apo.stles. but the faction of Judaizers. Of the Apostles Peter, James, and John, he says (ver. 9) when they " per- ceived the (/race that was tjiren unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the rif/ht hand offellouship." The sincerity of this act of fellowship is proved, if proof were needed, by the arrangement made for the contribution for the poor, to be gathered by I'aul from the Gentile Churches (ver. 10). The controversy with Peter (ver. 11 .«(-«/.) was not about a principle, but was occasioned by the circumstance that the latter did "not walk uprightly," or was false to his convictions. The circumcision of Tun- othy, as recorded in Acts, is not rendered improb- able by the refusal of Paul ((jal. ii. 3) to circuni- ci.se Titus, since Titus was a heathen by birth, and Timothy was eircumcisetl, not to comply with a demand of Judaizers, but to conciliate Jews. In the latter case, no princi])le was sacrificed; see 1 Cor. ix. 20. The right interpretation of Gal. ii. removes the objections brought to the credibility of the narrative, in Acts xv., of the Apostolic conven- tion. In the light of this interpretation, the prin- cipal objections of the Tiibingen school to the cred- ibility of the book of Acts, as a whole, vanish. Put some of the positive i>roofs of the genuineness of this book may be here briefly stated.
1. The testimony of the author, especially when we consider the form in which it is given. It is generally conceded that the third Gospel and Acti are Ijy the same author. Tliis author declarei (Luke i. 2) that he derived his information from eye-witnesses and contemporaries. The passages in Acts (xvi. 11, XX. 5-15, xxi. 1-18, xwii. 1, xxviil. 17) in which the writer speaks in tlic first person plural — the so-called "we" passages — prove him to iKue been a companion of Paul. The theory that Acts is a compilation of documents being un- tenable, we are obliged to su])pose either that the writer wa.s a ]iarticipant in the events recorded, or that he has introduced a document, retaining the pronominal peculiarity on jnirjjose to deceive the reader. This la,st hyjiothesis is advocated by Zel- ler. Pleek's theory that a document from Timo- thy is artlessly introduced without any notice to the reader, is refuted by the circumstance that, in language and style, the passages in question cor- respond with the rest of the I)Ook.
2. The moral spirit of the book is inconsistent with the ascription of it to forgery and intentional deception. See, for example, the narrative of Ana- nias and Sapiihira.
3. The relation of Acts to the Pauline Epistles proves the genuineness and credibility of the for- mer. Polli the coincidences and diversities make up this proof. It is exhil>ite<I in |Wirt in Paley's Ilonv PanlliDe. The Acts is seen to be an inde- pendent narrative.
4. An examination of the contents of the Acts will show the unten.able character of the Tiibingen hypothesis. See, for examjjle. Acts i. 21, 22, where another Ajmstle is cho.scn to fdl tip thf nuwbcr of the twilre, — a pa.ss.agc whicli an autlior such aa Paur describes would never have written. Se« also ,\cts xxi. 15 se//., especially vers. 20, 21, where the believing Jews wlio are zealous for tht
ACUA
aw are declared to be "many thousands" (fjivpi- ([56 s). See also Paul's denunciation of the Jews, A-cts xxviii. 25 seq.
The historical discrepancies which the critics find in Acts are such as, if they were made out to exist, prove no " tendency " or partisan purpose in the work, but only show that the author, hke other credible historians, is not free from inaccura- cies. The speeches are doubtless given or repro- duced in the language of Luke himself. Their his- torical credibihty is shown by Tholuck {Thtul. SlU'Uen u. Kritiktn, 18-3'J, II.).
In the defence of the Tiibingen hypothesis, see Baur, Das Christenthuni u. die christliclie Kirclit 'Jer drei ersten Jahrhunderten, 2e Ausg., 1860; also, his Paulus ; and Zeller, Die Apogttlijtscluclite. In the refutation of this hj-pothesis, see Eduard Lekebusch, Die Compositii/n u. Enistthuny der Aposlelyeschickte, 1854; Professor Hackett, Cout- mentnry on the Acts, re\ised ed. 1858 (both in the introduction and in the e.\egesis of the passages pertaining to the controversy); Meyer, Aposttli/v- schiclite ; Lightfoot, Ep. to the Gnlttiitns, Camb. 1865, Diss. iii. St. Paid and the Three, pp. 276- 346; and Fisher's Ess'iys on the Supernatural Origin of Christianity, New York, 1865.
G. P. F.
ACU'A CA/couS; [Aid. 'A/couaO Accub). AiCKUB (1 Esdr. v.* -30); comp. Ezr. ii. 45.
\y. A. w.
A'CUB {'KKov(p\ Alex. A/fou^; [Aid. 'A/coi')3:] Accusu). Bakbuk (1 Esdr. v. 31; comp. Iv.r. ii. 15). W. A. W.
AD'ADAH (i^7771? U^stiml]: 'Apovii\;
[Alex. Comp. Aid. 'A5a5a:] Adada), one of the cities in the extreme south of Judah named with Dimonah and Kedesh (.Josh. xv. 22). It is not mentioned in the Onoin'isticon of Eusebius, nor has any trace of it been yet discovered.
A'DAH (m"*, ornament, beauty: 'A5a:
Ada). 1. The first of the two wives of Lamech, fifth in descent from Cain, by whom were born to him Jabal and Jubal (Gen. iv. 19, [20, 23]).
2. A Hittitess, daughter of FAon, one (probably the first) of the three wives of Esau, mother of his first-born son EUphaz, and so the ancestress of six (or seven) of the tribes of the Edomites (Gen. xsxvi. 2, [4,] 10 ff. 15 fif.). In Gen. xxvi. 34, she is called Bashemath. F. W. G.
ADA'IAH [3 syl.] (HM^ [irhom Jehovah
cuhrns] : 'ESeia ; [^"at. ESftva ;] Alex. USiSa : Hadaia). 1. The maternal grandfather of King Josiah, and native of Boscath in the lowlands of Judah (2 K. xxii. 1).
2. ('ASal; [VdX. A^eta;] Alex. ASato: Adnia.) A Levite, of the Gershonite branch, and ancestor of Asaph (1 Chr. vi. 41). In ver. 21 he is called (ddo.
3. ('ASaia; [Vat. A)3io;] Alex. AA.aia: Adaia.) A Benjammite, son of Shunhi (1 Chr. viii. 21), ffho is apparently the same as Slieiua in ver. 13.
4. (Alex. 2a5iaj, ASoia: A'laius, Adaia.) A priest, son of Jeroham (1 Chr. ix. 12; Neh. xi. 12), fi-ho returned with 242 of his brethren from Baby- \>n.
5. ('A5a/'os: Adaia.) One of the descendants >f Bani, who had married a foreign wife after the 'eturn from Babylon (Ezr. x. 29). He is called Iedeus ia 1 Esdr. ix. 30.
ADAM 2o
6. ('A5aia; Ales. ASoios; FA. A56£a,u: Ad-ilas.) The descmdant of another Bani, who had also taken a toreign wife (Ezr. x. 39.)
7. (Alex. Axata; [Vat.] FA. AaAea" Adaia.) A man of Jud;Ui of the Une of Pharez (Neh. xi. 5).
8. (-in^li:^: 'ASia; [Vat. 'A^eta, 2. ni. A5- e(« ;] Alex. ASaia : Aila'iis. ) .Vncestor of Maaseiab , one of the captains who supported Jehoiada (2 Chr. xxui. 1). \\. A. W
ADA'LIA (S;^.1S: Bapeci; f^'at. M. Bap- ffa; Alex. FA. BopeA; Comp. 'ASaAiti:] AiJalia), a son of Haman (Esth. ix. 8).
* He was massacred by the Jews, together with nine other sons of Haman, in the palace of the Persian king at Shushan, on Hamaifs downfall and the elevation of Jlordecai to his place as chief min- ister of state (Esth. ix. 6-10). The name is Per- sian, though the father was probably im Anialek ite. H.
AD'AM (^7^' 'A5a/i: Adam), the name which is given in Scripture to the first man. The term apparently* has reference to the ground from which he was formed, which is called Adamah
(nQ"TS, Gen. ii. 7). The idea of redness of color
seems to be inherent ui either word. (Cf. Cli^
Lam. iv. 7; D"TS, red, C"TW Edam, Gen. xxv.
30
; C"7S, a ruby: Arab. i*Of) colore fi
prceditus fuit, rubrum tinxit, &c.) The generic term Adam, man, becomes, in the case of the first man, a denominative. Supposing the Hebrew lan- guage to represent accurately the primary ideaa connected with the formation of man, ii would seem that the appellation bestowed by God was gi\en to keep ahve in Adam the memory of his earthly and mort;d nature; whereas the name by which he prefeired to designate himself was Ish
(^'\*S. a man of substance or worth, Gen. ii. 23). The creation of man was the work of the sixth day. His formation was the ultimate object of the Creator. It was with reference to him that ali things were designed. He was to be the " roof and cro\vn '' of the whole fabric of the world. In the first nuie chapters of Genesis there appear to be three distinct histories relating more or less to the life of Adam. The fii'st extends from Gen. i. 1 to ii. 3, the second from ii. 4 to iv. 20, the third from v. 1 to the end of ix. The word at the commence memt of the two latter naiTatives, which is ren- dered there and elsewhere yeneratiims, may also be rendered history. The style of the second of theso records differs very consideraUy from that of the first. In the first the Deity is designated by the word Elohim ; m the second He is generally spoken of as Jehovah Elohim. The object of the first of these narratives is to record the creation ; that of the second to give an account of paradise, the orig- inal sin of man and the immediate posterity of Adam; the third contains mainly the history of Noah, referring, it would seem, to Adam and his descendants, principally in relation to that patri- arch.
The Mosaic accounts furnish us with very few materials from which to form any adequate concep- tion of the first man. He is said to have been created in the image and likeness of God, and this
26 ADAM
Ls ccnunouly interpreted to mean some super-ex- 3elleiit anil divine condition wliicli w:is lost at the Fall • apparently, ho\ve\er, without sutKcient re:ison, as the continuance of this condition is implied in the time of Noah, subsequent to the flood (Gen. ix. 6), and is asserted as a fact by St. James (iii. 9), and by St. I'aul (1 Cor. xi. 7). It more iiiobably points to the Divine pattern and archetype after which man's intelligent nature was fa.shioned ; rea- son, understanding, hnagination, volition, etc. being attributes of God ; and man alone of the animals of the earth being possessed of a spiritual nature which resembled God's nature. i\Ian, in short, was a spirit created to reflect God's righteousness and truth and love, and capable of holding direct inter- course and conununion with Him. As long as his will moved in hannony with God's will, he fulfilled the purpose of his Creator. When he refused sub- mission to flod. he broke the law of his existence and fell, introducing confusion and disorder into the economy of his nature. As much as this we m.ay learn from what St. Paul says of " the new man being renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him " (Col. iii. 10), the restoration to such a condition being the very work of the Holy Spirit of God. The name Adam was not confined to the fother of the human race, but like Iwmo was applicable to woman as well as num. so that we find it is said in Gen. v. 1,2, " This is tlie book of the ' history ' of Adam in the day that (iod created ' Adam,' in the likeness of (iod made He him, male and female created He them, and called thtir name Adam in the day when they were created."
The man Adam was placed in a garden which the Lord God had planted "eastward in Eden," for the purpose of dressing it and keeping it. It is of course hopeless to attempt to identify the sit- uation of l'>den with that of any district familiar to modern geography. There seems good ground for supposing it to have been an actual locality. It was probably near the soiu'cc of a river which subsequently divided into four streams. These are mentioned by name: Pison is supposed by some to be the Indus, (jihon is taken for the NUe, Iliddekel is called by the LXX. here, and at Dan. x. 4, Tigris, and the fourth is Euphrates; but how they should have been originally united is unintelligible. Adam was permitted to eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden but one, which was called tlie " tree of the knowledge of good and evil." What this was it is also impossible to say. Its name would seem to indicate that it had the power of bestowing tlie consciousness of the difJ'er- sreiice between good and evil; in the ignorance of which niiin's innocence and liappiiiess consisted. The jiiohibition to taste the fruit of this tree was luiorced by the menace of death. There was also another tree which was called " the tree of life." Some sui)]K)se it to have acted as a kind of med- icine, and that by the continual use of it our first parents, not created immortal, were ]iresened from death. (Abp. Whately.) While Adam was in the garden of Ivlen the be:ists of the field and the fowls of the air were brought to him to be named, and what.socver he called every living creature that was the name thereof. Thus the power of Itly designating objects of sense was possessed by the first man, a faculty which is generally considered w. indicating mature ami extensive intellectual re- lources. Upon the failure of a companion suitable for Adam among the crejitures thus brought Xo him '■0 be named, the Ixird God caused a deep sleep to
ADAM
fall upon him, and took one of his iibs from bim, which He fashioned into a woman and brought hei to the man. Prof. S. I.ee supposed the narrative of the creation of I'3ve to have been revealed to Adam in his deep sleep (Lee's Job^ Introd. p. 16). 'J'his is agreeable with the analogy of similar pas- sages, as Acts X. 10, xi. 5, xxii. 17. At this time they are both described as being naked without the consciousness of shame.
Such is the Scripture accoimt of Adam prior to the Fall. There is no narrative of any condition sui)erhuman or ci^ntrary to the ordinary laws of humanity. 'I'he first man is a true man, witli the ])Owers of a man and the innocence of a child. He is moreover spoken of by St. Paul as being " the figure, tutfos, of Him that was to come," the second Adam, Christ Jesus (Horn. v. 14). Hia human excellence, therefore, cannot have been superior to that of the Son of JIary, who was Himself the Pattern and Perfect Man. By the subtlety of the scrjient. the woman who was given to be with Adam, was beguiled into a violation of the one command which had been imposed upon them. She took of the fruit of the forbidden tree and gave it to her husband. The propriety of its name was innnediately shown in the results whicli followed : self-consciousness was the first fruits of sin; their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked." The subslquent conduct of Adam would seem to militate against the notion that he was in himself the perfection of moral ex- cellence. His cowardly attempt to clear himself by the inculpation of his helpless wife bears no marks of a high moral nature even though fallen ; it was conduct unworthy of his sons, and such as manj of them would have scorned to adopt.'' Though the curse of Adam's rebellion of necessity fell upon bim, yet the very prohibition to eat of the tree of life after his transgression, was probably a manifes- tation of Divine mercy, l)eoause the greatest male- diction of all would have been to have the gift of indestructible life superadded to a state of wretch- edness and sin. AVhen moreover we find in Prov iii. 18, that wisdom is declared to be a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and in l!ev. ii. 7, xxii. 2, 14, that the same expression is applied to the grace of Christ, we are led to conclude that this was merely a temporary prohibition ini|)osed till the (iospel dispensation should lie brought in Upon this supposition the condition of Christiajis now is as favorable as that of Adam before the Fall, and their sjiiritual state the same, with the
« * For an aniilvsis of this first .<!in of tlie race, tlie natui-e of the twiiiitafion, and its efTect"! on the niinJ of Adam, tlie render will find Auberlen's reuiiirks in- structive (Die K'lllllir/ie (}[f'inbnnin<: , i. 154 If., trans- lated in the Bibl. Sacra, xxii. 430 fT.). H.
I> * The better view of interpreters is that Adam meant to cast the hlanic of his sin not so much on Eve as on his Maker for having given to liini a womnn who.se example had led him into transgression. And in that disposition certainly he mauife.sted only a tniit of huninii clmnu-ter that hius ever distiuguishe<l his descendants, imnielv, a proneness to find the cause of sin not in their own hearts, but in Ood's relations to them lus having ordained the cirouni8tjinre.s in whirh they act, and given to them the moral nature which they iMissess. In that remonstnincc of the AjHistle .liinies (I. 18-15) ugiiiiist this self-exouliuitory spirit " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of Ood," &c., we simply hwir again the echo of Adam's defense in the garden, " The woman whom thou gnves" to be with me " (Uen. iii. 12). 11
ADAM
iin^le exception of the consciousness of si-i and the knowledge of good and evil.
Till a recent period it has been generally believed that the Scriptural narrative supposes the whole human race to have sprung fi'oui one pair. It is maintained that the O. T. assumes it in the reason assigned for the name which Adam gave his wife after the Fall, namely, r2ve, or Chavvah, i. e. a lio- ing woman, " because she was tlie motlier of all living; " and that St. Paul assumes it in his sennon at Athens when he declares that God hath made of one blood all nations of men ; and in the Epistle to the Romans, and first Epistle to the Goruithians, when he opposes Christ as the representative of re- deemed humanity, to Adam as the representative of natural, fallen, and sinful humanity. But the full consideration of this important subject will come more appropriately under the article Man.
In the middle ages discussions were raised as to the period which Adam remained in Paradise in a sinless state. To these Dante refers in the Paradiso, sxvi. 1.3'J-U2: —
"Nel monte, che si leva pii'i dall' onda, Fu' io, con vita pura e disonesta, Dalla prim' ora a quella ch' e scconda. Come il Sol muta quadra, all' ora sesta."
L'ante therefore did not suppose Adam to have been murt than seven hours in the earthly paradise. Adam is stated to have lived 930 years : so it would seem that the death which resulted from his sin was the spiritual death of alienation from God. " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die:" and accordingly we find that this spiritual death began to work immediately. The sons of Adam mentioned in Scripture are Cain, Abel and Seth. It is implied, however, that he had others. S. L.
AD'AM {WT^— earth : 1^ [Conip. Aid. 'A5-
ojui':] Adom), a city on the Jordan "beside ("I3^^2) 'Zarthan,' " in the time of Joshua (Josh. iii. 16). It is not elsewhere mentioned, nor is there any ref- erence to it in Josephus. The LXX. (both MS§.) [both in the Kom. ed. and the Ales. MS.] has eojy fiepovs KaptaOLapi/jL [Vat. Kadiaipeiv], a curious variation, in which it has been suggested (Stanley, S. 4'- P- App. § 80, note) that a trace of Adam appears in aptju, L) being changed to R according to the frequent custom of the LXX.
Note. — The A. V. here follows the Ken, which,
for D1S3 = " by Adam," the reading in the He- brew text or Chetib, has mS^ = " from Adam," an alteration which is a questionable improvement (Keil, p. 51). The accurate rendermg of the text is " rose up upon a heap, very far off, by Adam, the city that is beside Zarthan " (Stanley, <S. cf P. p. 304, note). G.
AD'AMAH (nni^< \enrih\. 'Ap/xaid; [Alex. Comp. Aid. 'ASajui':] K(kmn), one of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali, named between Chin- nereth and ha-Ramah (Josh. xix. 36). It was probably situated to the N. W. of the Sea of Gali- .ee, but no trace of it has yet been discovered.
ADAMANT ("1"*??''^ , shdmir : a^a/xdyrtvos--
ADAMANT
27
n Can the place have derived its name from the ' fat ' gr»>and " (nQ^SH) which was In this very wighborhood — " between Succoth and Zarthan " 3 K vii 4'3»?
adamas^). The word Shdmir occurs as a common noun eleven tunes in the 0. T. In eight of thesf passages it