BIBLES NET. COM
Dictionary]
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
A – Alpha, the first letter of
the Greek alphabet, as Omega is the last. These letters
occur in the text of Rev. 1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13, and are
represented by “Alpha” and “Omega”
respectively (omitted in R.V., 1:11). They mean “the
first and last.” (Comp. Heb. 12:2; Isa. 41:4; 44:6;
Rev. 1:11,17; 2:8.) In the symbols of the early Christian
Church these two letters are frequently combined with the
cross or with Christ’s monogram to denote his
divinity.
Aaron – the eldest son of Amram
and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain
the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of
strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years
before his brother Moses, and a number of years after his
sister Miriam (2:1,4; 7:7). He married Elisheba, the
daughter of Amminadab of the house of Judah (6:23; 1 Chr.
2:10), by whom he had four sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar
and Ithamar. When the time for the deliverance of Isarael
out of Egypt drew nigh, he was sent by God (Ex. 4:14,27-30)
to meet his long-absent brother, that he might co-operate
with him in all that they were required to do in bringing
about the Exodus. He was to be the “mouth” or
“prophet” of Moses, i.e., was to speak for him,
because he was a man of a ready utterance (7:1,2,9,10,19).
He was faithful to his trust, and stood by Moses in all his
interviews with Pharaoh.
When the ransomed tribes fought their first battle with
Amalek in Rephidim, Moses stood on a hill overlooking the
scene of the conflict with the rod of God in his
outstretched hand. On this occasion he was attended by
Aaron and Hur, his sister’s husband, who held up his
wearied hands till Joshua and the chosen warriors of Israel
gained the victory (17:8-13).
Afterwards, when encamped before Sinai, and when Moses at
the command of God ascended the mount to receive the tables
of the law, Aaron and his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, along
with seventy of the elders of Israel, were permitted to
accompany him part of the way, and to behold afar off the
manifestation of the glory of Israel’s God (Ex. 19:24;
24:9-11). While Moses remained on the mountain with God,
Aaron returned unto the people; and yielding through fear,
or ignorance, or instability of character, to their
clamour, made unto them a golden calf, and set it up as an
object of worship (Ex. 32:4; Ps. 106:19). On the return of
Moses to the camp, Aaron was sternly rebuked by him for the
part he had acted in this matter; but he interceded for him
before God, who forgave his sin (Deut. 9:20).
On the mount, Moses received instructions regarding the
system of worship which was to be set up among the people;
and in accordance therewith Aaron and his sons were
consecrated to the priest’s office (Lev. 8; 9). Aaron,
as high priest, held henceforth the prominent place
appertaining to that office.
When Israel had reached Hazeroth, in “the wilderness
of Paran,” Aaron joined with his sister Miriam in
murmuring against Moses, “because of the Ethiopian
woman whom he had married,” probably after the death
of Zipporah. But the Lord vindicated his servant Moses, and
punished Miriam with leprosy (Num. 12). Aaron acknowledged
his own and his sister’s guilt, and at the intercession
of Moses they were forgiven.
Twenty years after this, when the children of Israel were
encamped in the wilderness of Paran, Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram conspired against Aaron and his sons; but a fearful
judgment from God fell upon them, and they were destroyed,
and the next day thousands of the people also perished by a
fierce pestilence, the ravages of which were only stayed by
the interposition of Aaron (Num. 16). That there might be
further evidence of the divine appointment of Aaron to the
priestly office, the chiefs of the tribes were each
required to bring to Moses a rod bearing on it the name of
his tribe. And these, along with the rod of Aaron for the
tribe of Levi, were laid up overnight in the tabernacle,
and in the morning it was found that while the other rods
remained unchanged, that of Aaron “for the house of
Levi” budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds (Num.
17:1-10). This rod was afterwards preserved in the
tabernacle (Heb. 9:4) as a memorial of the divine
attestation of his appointment to the priesthood.
Aaron was implicated in the sin of his brother at Meribah
(Num. 20:8-13), and on that account was not permitted to
enter the Promised Land. When the tribes arrived at Mount
Hor, “in the edge of the land of Edom,” at the
command of God Moses led Aaron and his son Eleazar to the
top of that mountain, in the sight of all the people. There
he stripped Aaron of his priestly vestments, and put them
upon Eleazar; and there Aaron died on the top of the mount,
being 123 years old (Num. 20:23-29. Comp. Deut. 10:6;
32:50), and was “gathered unto his people.” The
people, “even all the house of Israel,” mourned
for him thirty days. Of Aaron’s sons two survived him,
Eleazar, whose family held the high-priesthood till the
time of Eli; and Ithamar, in whose family, beginning with
Eli, the high-priesthood was held till the time of Solomon.
Aaron’s other two sons had been struck dead (Lev.
10:1,2) for the daring impiety of offering “strange
fire” on the alter of incense.
The Arabs still show with veneration the traditionary site
of Aaron’s grave on one of the two summits of Mount
Hor, which is marked by a Mohammedan chapel. His name is
mentioned in the Koran, and there are found in the writings
of the rabbins many fabulous stories regarding him.
He was the first anointed priest. His descendants,
“the house of Aaron,” constituted the priesthood
in general. In the time of David they were very numerous (1
Chr. 12:27). The other branches of the tribe of Levi held
subordinate positions in connection with the sacred office.
Aaron was a type of Christ in his official character as the
high priest. His priesthood was a “shadow of heavenly
things,” and was intended to lead the people of Israel
to look forward to the time when “another priest”
would arise “after the order of Melchizedek”
(Heb. 6:20).
Aaronites – the descendants of
Aaron, and therefore priests. Jehoiada, the father of
Benaiah, led 3,700 Aaronites as “fighting men” to
the support of David at Hebron (1 Chr. 12:27). Eleazar
(Num. 3:32), and at a later period Zadok (1 Chr. 27:17),
was their chief.
Abaddon – destruction, the Hebrew
name (equivalent to the Greek Apollyon, i.e., destroyer) of
“the angel of the bottomless pit” (Rev. 9:11). It
is rendered “destruction” in Job 28:22; 31:12;
26:6; Prov. 15:11; 27:20. In the last three of these
passages the Revised Version retains the word
“Abaddon.” We may regard this word as a
personification of the idea of destruction, or as sheol,
the realm of the dead.
eunuchs in Ahasuerus’s court (Esther 1:10; 2:21).
“Amanah,” perennial), the chief river of Damascus
(2 Kings 5:12). Its modern name is Barada, the
Chrysorrhoas, or “golden stream,” of the Greeks.
It rises in a cleft of the Anti-Lebanon range, about 23
miles north-west of Damascus, and after flowing southward
for a little way parts into three smaller streams, the
central one flowing through Damascus, and the other two on
each side of the city, diffusing beauty and fertility where
otherwise there would be barrenness.
Abarim – regions beyond; i.e., on
the east of Jordan, a mountain, or rather a mountain-chain,
over against Jericho, to the east and south-east of the
Dead Sea, in the land of Moab. From “the top of
Pisgah”, i.e., Mount Nebo (q.v.), one of its summits,
Moses surveyed the Promised Land (Deut. 3:27; 32:49), and
there he died (34:1,5). The Israelites had one of their
encampments in the mountains of Abarim (Num. 33:47,48)
after crossing the Arnon.
word is found three times in the New Testament (Mark 14:36;
Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), and in each case is followed by its
Greek equivalent, which is translated “father.”
It is a term expressing warm affection and filial
confidence. It has no perfect equivalent in our language.
It has passed into European languages as an ecclesiastical
term, “abbot.”
Abda – servant. (1.) The father
of Adoniram, whom Solomon set over the tribute (1 Kings
4:6); i.e., the forced labour (R.V., “levy”).
(2.) A Levite of the family of Jeduthun (Neh. 11:17), also
called Obadiah (1 Chr. 9:16).
Abdeel – servant of God, (Jer.
36:26), the father of Shelemiah.
Abdi – my servant. (1.) 1 Chr.
6:44. (2.) 2 Chr. 29:12. (3.) Ezra 10:26.
Abdiel – servant of God, (1 Chr.
5:15), a Gadite chief.
Abdon – servile. (1.) The son of
Hillel, a Pirathonite, the tenth judge of Israel (Judg.
12:13-15). He is probably the Bedan of 1 Sam. 12:11.
(2.) The first-born of Gibeon of the tribe of Benjamin (1
Chr. 8:30; 9:36).
(3.) The son of Micah, one of those whom Josiah sent to the
prophetess Huldah to ascertain from her the meaning of the
recently discovered book of the law (2 Chr. 34:20). He is
called Achbor in 2 Kings 22:12.
(4.) One of the “sons” of Shashak (1 Chr. 8:23).
This is the name also of a Levitical town of the
Gershonites, in the tribe of Asher (Josh. 21:30; 1 Chr.
6:74). The ruins of Abdeh, some 8 miles north-east of
Accho, probably mark its site.
Abednego – servant of Nego=Nebo,
the Chaldee name given to Azariah, one of Daniel’s
three companions (Dan. 2:49). With Shadrach and Meshach, he
was delivered from the burning fiery furnace (3:12-30).
Abel – (Heb. Hebhel), a breath,
or vanity, the second son of Adam and Eve. He was put to
death by his brother Cain (Gen. 4:1-16). Guided by the
instruction of their father, the two brothers were trained
in the duty of worshipping God. “And in process of
time” (marg. “at the end of days”, i.e., on
the Sabbath) each of them offered up to God of the
first-fruits of his labours. Cain, as a husbandman, offered
the fruits of the field; Abel, as a shepherd, of the
firstlings of his flock. “The Lord had respect unto
Abel and his offering; but unto Cain and his offering he
had not respect” (Gen. 4:3-5). On this account Cain
was angry with his brother, and formed the design of
putting him to death; a design which he at length found an
opportunity of carrying into effect (Gen. 4:8,9. Comp. 1
John 3:12). There are several references to Abel in the New
Testament. Our Saviour speaks of him as
“righteous” (Matt. 23:35). “The blood of
sprinkling” is said to speak “better things than
that of Abel” (Heb. 12:24); i.e., the blood of Jesus
is the reality of which the blood of the offering made by
Abel was only the type. The comparison here is between the
sacrifice offered by Christ and that offered by Abel, and
not between the blood of Christ calling for mercy and the
blood of the murdered Abel calling for vengeance, as has
sometimes been supposed. It is also said (Heb. 11:4) that
“Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain.” This sacrifice was made “by faith;”
this faith rested in God, not only as the Creator and the
God of providence, but especially in God as the great
Redeemer, whose sacrifice was typified by the sacrifices
which, no doubt by the divine institution, were offered
from the days of Adam downward. On account of that
“faith” which looked forward to the great atoning
sacrifice, Abel’s offering was accepted of God.
Cain’s offering had no such reference, and therefore
was rejected. Abel was the first martyr, as he was the
first of our race to die.
Abel (Heb. ‘abhel), lamentation (1 Sam. 6:18), the name
given to the great stone in Joshua’s field whereon the
ark was “set down.” The Revised Version, however,
following the Targum and the LXX., reads in the Hebrew text
‘ebhen (= a stone), and accordingly translates
“unto the great stone, whereon they set down the
ark.” This reading is to be preferred.
Abel (Heb. ‘abhel), a grassy place, a meadow. This word
enters into the composition of the following words:
Abel-beth-maachah – meadow of the
house of Maachah, a city in the north of Palestine, in the
neighbourhood of Dan and Ijon, in the tribe of Naphtali. It
was a place of considerable strength and importance. It is
called a “mother in Israel”, i.e., a metropolis
(2 Sam. 20:19). It was besieged by Joab (2 Sam. 20:14), by
Benhadad (1 Kings 15:20), and by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings
15:29) about B.C. 734. It is elsewhere called Abel-maim,
meadow of the waters, (2 Chr. 16:4). Its site is occupied
by the modern Abil or Abil-el-kamh, on a rising ground to
the east of the brook Derdarah, which flows through the
plain of Huleh into the Jordan, about 6 miles to the
west-north-west of Dan.
R.V.; A. V., “plain of the vineyards”), a village
of the Ammonites, whither Jephthah pursued their
forces.
Abel-meholah – meadow of dancing,
or the dancing-meadow, the birth-place and residence of the
prophet Elisha, not far from Beth-shean (1 Kings 4:12), in
the tribe of Issachar, near where the Wady el-Maleh emerges
into the valley of the Jordan, “the rich meadow-land
which extends about 4 miles south of Beth-shean; moist and
luxuriant.” Here Elisha was found at his plough by
Elijah on his return up the Jordan valley from Horeb (1
Kings 19:16). It is now called ‘Ain Helweh.
Abel-mizraim – meadow of Egypt,
or mourning of Egypt, a place “beyond,” i.e., on
the west of Jordan, at the “threshing-floor of
Atad.” Here the Egyptians mourned seventy days for
Jacob (Gen. 50:4-11). Its site is unknown.
acacias, frequently called simply “Shittim” (Num.
25:1; Josh. 2:1; Micah 6:5), a place on the east of Jordan,
in the plain of Moab, nearly opposite Jericho. It was the
forty-second encampment of the Israelites, their last
resting-place before they crossed the Jordan (Num. 33:49;
22:1; 26:3; 31:12; comp. 25:1; 31:16).
Abez – tin, or white, a town in
the tribe of Issachar (Josh. 19:20), at the north of the
plain of Esdraelon. It is probably identified with the
ruins of el-Beida.
Abia – my father is the Lord, the
Greek form of Abijah, or Abijam (Matt. 1:7), instead of
Abiah (1 Chr. 7:8). In Luke 1:5, the name refers to the
head of the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which
David divided the priests (1 Chr. 24:10).
Abi-albon – father of strength;
i.e., “valiant”, one of David’s body-guard of
thirty mighty men (2 Sam. 23:31); called also Abiel (1 Chr.
11:32).
Abiasaph – father of gathering;
the gatherer, the youngest of the three sons of Korah the
Levite, head of a family of Korhites (Ex. 6:24); called
Ebisaph (1 Chr. 6:37).
Abiathar – father of abundance,
or my father excels, the son of Ahimelech the high priest.
He was the tenth high priest, and the fourth in descent
from Eli. When his father was slain with the priests of
Nob, he escaped, and bearing with him the ephod, he joined
David, who was then in the cave of Adullam (1 Sam.
22:20-23; 23:6). He remained with David, and became priest
of the party of which he was the leader (1 Sam. 30:7). When
David ascended the throne of Judah, Abiathar was appointed
high priest (1 Chr. 15:11; 1 Kings 2:26) and the
“king’s companion” (1 Chr. 27:34). Meanwhile
Zadok, of the house of Eleazar, had been made high priest.
These appointments continued in force till the end of
David’s reign (1 Kings 4:4). Abiathar was deposed (the
sole historical instance of the deposition of a high
priest) and banished to his home at Anathoth by Solomon,
because he took part in the attempt to raise Adonijah to
the throne. The priesthood thus passed from the house of
Ithamar (1 Sam. 2:30-36; 1 Kings 1:19; 2:26, 27). Zadok now
became sole high priest. In Mark 2:26, reference is made to
an occurrence in “the days of Abiathar the high
priest.” But from 1 Sam. 22, we learn explicitly that
this event took place when Ahimelech, the father of
Abiathar, was high priest. The apparent discrepancy is
satisfactorily explained by interpreting the words in Mark
as referring to the life-time of Abiathar, and not to the
term of his holding the office of high priest. It is not
implied in Mark that he was actual high priest at the time
referred to. Others, however, think that the loaves
belonged to Abiathar, who was at that time (Lev. 24:9) a
priest, and that he either himself gave them to David, or
persuaded his father to give them.
Abib – an ear of corn, the month
of newly-ripened grain (Ex. 13:4; 23:15); the first of the
Jewish ecclesiastical year, and the seventh of the civil
year. It began about the time of the vernal equinox, on
21st March. It was called Nisan, after the Captivity (Neh.
2:1). On the fifteenth day of the month, harvest was begun
by gathering a sheaf of barley, which was offered unto the
Lord on the sixteenth (Lev. 23:4-11).
knowledge; knowing, one of the five sons of Midian, who was
the son of Abraham by Keturah (1 Chr. 1:33), and apparently
the chief of an Arab tribe.
judge, head of the tribe of Benjamin at the Exodus (Num.
1:11; 2:22).
Abieezer – father of help; i.e.,
“helpful.” (1.) The second of the three sons of
Hammoleketh, the sister of Gilead. He was the grandson of
Manasseh (1 Chr. 7:18). From his family Gideon sprang
(Josh. 17:2; comp. Judg. 6:34; 8:2). He was also called
Jeezer (Num. 26:30).
(2.) One of David’s thirty warriors (2 Sam. 23:27;
comp. 1 Chr. 27:12).
(3.) The prince of the tribe of Dan at the Exodus (Num.
1:12).
“possessor”) of God = “pious.” (1.) The
son of Zeror and father of Ner, who was the grandfather of
Saul (1 Sam. 14:51; 1 Chr. 8:33; 9:39). In 1 Sam. 9:1, he
is called the “father,” probably meaning the
grandfather, of Kish. (2.) An Arbathite, one of David’s
warriors (1 Chr. 11:32); called also Abi-albon (2 Sam.
23:31).
descendant of Abiezer (Judg. 6:11,24; 8:32).
“leader”) of the dance, or “of joy.”
(1.) The sister of David, and wife of Jether an Ishmaelite
(1 Chr. 2:16,17). She was the mother of Amasa (2 Sam.
17:25).
(2.) The wife of the churlish Nabal, who dwelt in the
district of Carmel (1 Sam. 25:3). She showed great prudence
and delicate management at a critical period of her
husband’s life. She was “a woman of good
understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.” After
Nabal’s death she became the wife of David (1 Sam.
25:14-42), and was his companion in all his future fortunes
(1 Sam. 27:3; 30:5; 2 Sam. 2:2). By her David had a son
called Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3), elsewhere called Daniel (1
Chr. 3:1).
Abihail – father of might. (1.)
Num. 3:35. (2.) 1 Chr. 2:29. (3.) 1 Chr. 5:14.
(4.) The second wife of King Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:18), a
descendant of Eliab, David’s eldest brother.
(5.) The father of Esther and uncle of Mordecai (Esther
2:15).
“worshipper of God”, the second of the sons of
Aaron (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2; 26:60; 1 Chr. 6:3). Along with
his three brothers he was consecrated to the priest’s
office (Ex. 28:1). With his father and elder brother he
accompanied the seventy elders part of the way up the mount
with Moses (Ex. 24:1,9). On one occasion he and Nadab his
brother offered incense in their censers filled with
“strange” (i.e., common) fire, i.e., not with
fire taken from the great brazen altar (Lev. 6:9, etc.),
and for this offence they were struck dead, and were taken
out and buried without the camp (Lev. 10:1-11; comp. Num.
3:4; 26:61; 1 Chr. 24:2). It is probable that when they
committed this offence they were intoxicated, for
immediately after is given the law prohibiting the use of
wine or strong drink to the priests.
“possessor”) of renown. (1.) One of the sons of
Bela, the son of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:3); called also Ahihud
(ver. 7).
(2.) A descendant of Zerubbabel and father of Eliakim
(Matt. 1:13, “Abiud”); called also Juda (Luke
3:26), and Obadiah (1 Chr. 3:21).
“possessor or worshipper”) of Jehovah. (1.) 1
Chr. 7:8. (2.) 1 Chr. 2:24.
(3.) The second son of Samuel (1 Sam. 8:2; 1 Chr. 6:28).
His conduct, along with that of his brother, as a judge in
Beer-sheba, to which office his father had appointed him,
led to popular discontent, and ultimately provoked the
people to demand a royal form of government.
(4.) A descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, a chief of
one of the twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was
divided by David (1 Chr. 24:10). The order of Abijah was
one of those which did not return from the Captivity (Ezra
2:36-39; Neh. 7:39-42; 12:1).
(5.) The son of Rehoboam, whom he succeeded on the throne
of Judah (1 Chr. 3:10). He is also called Abijam (1 Kings
14:31; 15:1-8). He began his three years’ reign (2 Chr.
12:16; 13:1,2) with a strenuous but unsuccessful effort to
bring back the ten tribes to their allegiance. His address
to “Jeroboam and all Israel,” before encountering
them in battle, is worthy of being specially noticed (2
Chr. 13:5-12). It was a very bloody battle, no fewer than
500,000 of the army of Israel having perished on the field.
He is described as having walked “in all the sins of
his father” (1 Kings 15:3; 2 Chr. 11:20-22). It is
said in 1 Kings 15:2 that “his mother’s name was
Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom;” but in 2 Chr.
13:2 we read, “his mother’s name was Michaiah, the
daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.” The explanation is that
Maachah is just a variation of the name Michaiah, and that
Abishalom is probably the same as Absalom, the son of
David. It is probable that “Uriel of Gibeah”
married Tamar, the daughter of Absalom (2 Sam. 14:27), and
by her had Maachah. The word “daughter” in 1
Kings 15:2 will thus, as it frequently elsewhere does, mean
grand-daughter.
(6.) A son of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. On
account of his severe illness when a youth, his father sent
his wife to consult the prophet Ahijah regarding his
recovery. The prophet, though blind with old age, knew the
wife of Jeroboam as soon as she approached, and under a
divine impulse he announced to her that inasmuch as in
Abijah alone of all the house of Jeroboam there was found
“some good thing toward the Lord,” he only would
come to his grave in peace. As his mother crossed the
threshold of the door on her return, the youth died, and
“all Israel mourned for him” (1 Kings 14:1-18).
(7.) The daughter of Zechariah (2 Chr. 29:1; comp. Isa.
8:2), and afterwards the wife of Ahaz. She is also called
Abi (2 Kings 18:2).
(8.) One of the sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin (1 Chr.
7:8). “Abiah,” A.V.
Abijam – father of the sea; i.e.,
“seaman” the name always used in Kings of the
king of Judah, the son of Rehoboam, elsewhere called Abijah
(1 Kings 15:1,7,8). (See ABIJAH ¯T0000036, 5.)
lying on the east slope of the Anti-Lebanon range; so
called from its chief town, Abila (Luke 3:1), which stood
in the Suk Wady Barada, between Heliopolis (Baalbec) and
Damascus, 38 miles from the former and 18 from the latter.
Lysanias was governor or tetrarch of this province.
Abimael – father of Mael, one of
the sons or descendants of Joktan, in Northern Arabia (Gen.
10:28; 1 Chr. 1:22).
Abimelech – my father a king, or
father of a king, a common name of the Philistine kings, as
“Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian kings. (1.) The
Philistine king of Gerar in the time of Abraham (Gen.
20:1-18). By an interposition of Providence, Sarah was
delivered from his harem, and was restored to her husband
Abraham. As a mark of respect he gave to Abraham valuable
gifts, and offered him a settlement in any part of his
country; while at the same time he delicately and yet
severely rebuked him for having practised a deception upon
him in pretending that Sarah was only his sister. Among the
gifts presented by the king were a thousand pieces of
silver as a “covering of the eyes” for Sarah;
i.e., either as an atoning gift and a testimony of her
innocence in the sight of all, or rather for the purpose of
procuring a veil for Sarah to conceal her beauty, and thus
as a reproof to her for not having worn a veil which, as a
married woman, she ought to have done. A few years after
this Abimelech visited Abraham, who had removed southward
beyond his territory, and there entered into a league of
peace and friendship with him. This league was the first of
which we have any record. It was confirmed by a mutual oath
at Beer-sheba (Gen. 21:22-34).
(2.) A king of Gerar in the time of Isaac, probably the son
of the preceeding (Gen. 26:1-22). Isaac sought refuge in
his territory during a famine, and there he acted a part
with reference to his wife Rebekah similar to that of his
father Abraham with reference to Sarah. Abimelech rebuked
him for the deception, which he accidentally discovered.
Isaac settled for a while here, and prospered. Abimelech
desired him, however, to leave his territory, which Isaac
did. Abimelech afterwards visited him when he was encamped
at Beer-sheba, and expressed a desire to renew the covenant
which had been entered into between their fathers (Gen.
26:26-31).
(3.) A son of Gideon (Judg. 9:1), who was proclaimed king
after the death of his father (Judg. 8:33-9:6). One of his
first acts was to murder his brothers, seventy in number,
“on one stone,” at Ophrah. Only one named Jotham
escaped. He was an unprincipled, ambitious ruler, often
engaged in war with his own subjects. When engaged in
reducing the town of Thebez, which had revolted, he was
struck mortally on his head by a mill-stone, thrown by the
hand of a woman from the wall above. Perceiving that the
wound was mortal, he desired his armour-bearer to thrust
him through with his sword, that it might not be said he
had perished by the hand of a woman (Judg. 9:50-57).
(4.) The son of Abiathar, and high priest in the time of
David (1 Chr. 18:16). In the parallel passage, 2 Sam. 8:17,
we have the name Ahimelech, and Abiathar, the son of
Ahimelech. This most authorities consider the more correct
reading. (5.) Achish, king of Gath, in the title of Ps. 34.
(Comp. 1 Sam. 21:10-15.)
Abinadab – father of nobleness;
i.e., “noble.” (1.) A Levite of Kirjath-jearim,
in whose house the ark of the covenant was deposited after
having been brought back from the land of the Philistines
(1 Sam. 7:1). It remained there twenty years, till it was
at length removed by David (1 Sam. 7:1,2; 1 Chr. 13:7).
(2.) The second of the eight sons of Jesse (1 Sam. 16:8).
He was with Saul in the campaign against the Philistines in
which Goliath was slain (1 Sam. 17:13).
(3.) One of Saul’s sons, who peristed with his father
in the battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. 31:2; 1 Chr. 10:2).
(4.) One of Solomon’s officers, who “provided
victuals for the king and his household.” He presided,
for this purpose, over the district of Dor (1 Kings 4:11).
Abinoam – father of kindness, the
father of Barak (Judg. 4:6; 5:1).
Abiram – father of height; i.e.,
“proud.” (1.) One of the sons of Eliab, who
joined Korah in the conspiracy against Moses and Aaron. He
and all the conspirators, with their families and
possessions (except the children of Korah), were swallowed
up by an earthquake (Num. 16:1-27; 26:9; Ps. 106:17).
(2.) The eldest son of Hiel the Bethelite, who perished
prematurely in consequence of his father’s undertaking
to rebuild Jericho (1 Kings 16:34), according to the words
of Joshua (6:26).
“given to”) error, a young woman of Shunem,
distinguished for her beauty. She was chosen to minister to
David in his old age. She became his wife (1 Kings
1:3,4,15). After David’s death Adonijah persuaded
Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, to entreat the king to
permit him to marry Abishag. Solomon suspected in this
request an aspiration to the throne, and therefore caused
him to be put to death (1 Kings 2:17-25).
“desirous of”) a gift, the eldest son of Zeruiah,
David’s sister. He was the brother of Joab and Asahel
(2 Sam. 2:18; 1 Chr. 2:16). Abishai was the only one who
accompanied David when he went to the camp of Saul and took
the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster (1
Sam. 26:5-12). He had the command of one of the three
divisions of David’s army at the battle with Absalom (2
Sam. 18:2,5,12). He slew the Philistine giant Ishbi-benob,
who threatened David’s life (2 Sam. 21:15-17). He was
the chief of the second rank of the three
“mighties” (2 Sam. 23:18, 19; 1 Chr. 11:20,21);
and on one occasion withstood 300 men, and slew them with
his own spear (2 Sam. 23:18). Abishai is the name of the
Semitic chief who offers gifts to the lord of Beni-Hassan.
See illustration facing page 10.
i.e., “fortunate.” (1.) The grandson of Benjamin
(1 Chr. 8:4).
(2.) The son of Phinehas the high priest (1 Chr. 6:4,5,50;
Ezra 7:5).
i.e., “mason”, one of the two sons of Shammai of
the tribe of Judah (1 Chr. 2:28,29).
“fresh”, David’s fifth wife (2 Sam. 3:4).
Abitub – father of goodness, a
Benjamite (1 Chr. 8:11).
translation of a Hebrew word meaning smiters; probably, in
allusion to the tongue, slanderers. (Comp. Jer. 18:18.)
practised, (1.) When a person was initiated into a higher
state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the
priest’s office, they were washed with water previous
to their investiture with the priestly robes (Lev.
8:6).
(2.) Before the priests approached the altar of God, they
were required, on pain of death, to wash their hands and
their feet to cleanse them from the soil of common life
(Ex. 30:17-21). To this practice the Psalmist alludes, Ps.
26:6.
(3.) There were washings prescribed for the purpose of
cleansing from positive defilement contracted by particular
acts. Of such washings eleven different species are
prescribed in the Levitical law (Lev. 12-15).
(4.) A fourth class of ablutions is mentioned, by which a
person purified or absolved himself from the guilt of some
particular act. For example, the elders of the nearest
village where some murder was committed were required, when
the murderer was unknown, to wash their hands over the
expiatory heifer which was beheaded, and in doing so to
say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have
our eyes seen it” (Deut. 21:1-9). So also Pilate
declared himself innocent of the blood of Jesus by washing
his hands (Matt. 27:24). This act of Pilate may not,
however, have been borrowed from the custom of the Jews.
The same practice was common among the Greeks and Romans.
The Pharisees carried the practice of ablution to great
excess, thereby claiming extraordinary purity (Matt.
23:25). Mark (7:1-5) refers to the ceremonial ablutions.
The Pharisees washed their hands “oft,” more
correctly, “with the fist” (R.V.,
“diligently”), or as an old father, Theophylact,
explains it, “up to the elbow.” (Compare also
Mark 7:4; Lev. 6:28; 11: 32-36; 15:22)
Abner – father of light; i.e.,
“enlightening”, the son of Ner and uncle of Saul.
He was commander-in-chief of Saul’s army (1 Sam. 14:50;
17:55; 20:25). He first introduced David to the court of
Saul after the victory over Goliath (1 Sam. 17:57). After
the death of Saul, David was made king over Judah, and
reigned in Hebron. Among the other tribes there was a
feeling of hostility to Judah; and Abner, at the head of
Ephraim, fostered this hostility in the interest of the
house of Saul, whose son Ish-bosheth he caused to be
proclaimed king (2 Sam. 2:8). A state of war existed
between these two kings. A battle fatal to Abner, who was
the leader of Ish-boseth’s army, was fought with
David’s army under Joab at Gibeon (2 Sam. 2:12). Abner,
escaping from the field, was overtaken by Asahel, who was
“light of foot as a wild roe,” the brother of
Joab and Abishai, whom he thrust through with a back stroke
of his spear (2 Sam. 2: 18-32).
Being rebuked by Ish-bosheth for the impropriety of taking
to wife Rizpah, who had been a concubine of King Saul, he
found an excuse for going over to the side of David, whom
he now professed to regard as anointed by the Lord to reign
over all Israel. David received him favourably, and
promised that he would have command of the armies. At this
time Joab was absent from Hebron, but on his return he
found what had happened. Abner had just left the city; but
Joab by a stratagem recalled him, and meeting him at the
gate of the city on his return, thrust him through with his
sword (2 Sam. 3:27, 31-39; 4:12. Comp. 1 Kings 2:5, 32).
David lamented in pathetic words the death of Abner,
“Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man
fallen this day in Israel?” (2 Sam. 3:33-38.)
Abomination – This word is used,
(1.) To express the idea that the Egyptians considered
themselves as defiled when they ate with strangers (Gen.
43:32). The Jews subsequently followed the same practice,
holding it unlawful to eat or drink with foreigners (John
18:28; Acts 10:28; 11:3).
(2.) Every shepherd was “an abomination” unto the
Egyptians (Gen. 46:34). This aversion to shepherds, such as
the Hebrews, arose probably from the fact that Lower and
Middle Egypt had formerly been held in oppressive
subjection by a tribe of nomad shepherds (the Hyksos), who
had only recently been expelled, and partly also perhaps
from this other fact that the Egyptians detested the
lawless habits of these wandering shepherds.
(3.) Pharaoh was so moved by the fourth plague, that while
he refused the demand of Moses, he offered a compromise,
granting to the Israelites permission to hold their
festival and offer their sacrifices in Egypt. This
permission could not be accepted, because Moses said they
would have to sacrifice “the abomination of the
Egyptians” (Ex. 8:26); i.e., the cow or ox, which all
the Egyptians held as sacred, and which they regarded it as
sacrilegious to kill.
(4.) Daniel (11:31), in that section of his prophecies
which is generally interpreted as referring to the fearful
calamities that were to fall on the Jews in the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes, says, “And they shall place the
abomination that maketh desolate.” Antiochus Epiphanes
caused an altar to be erected on the altar of
burnt-offering, on which sacrifices were offered to Jupiter
Olympus. (Comp. 1 Macc. 1:57). This was the abomination of
the desolation of Jerusalem. The same language is employed
in Dan. 9:27 (comp. Matt. 24:15), where the reference is
probably to the image-crowned standards which the Romans
set up at the east gate of the temple (A.D. 70), and to
which they paid idolatrous honours. “Almost the entire
religion of the Roman camp consisted in worshipping the
ensign, swearing by the ensign, and in preferring the
ensign before all other gods.” These ensigns were an
“abomination” to the Jews, the “abomination
of desolation.”
This word is also used symbolically of sin in general (Isa.
66:3); an idol (44:19); the ceremonies of the apostate
Church of Rome (Rev. 17:4); a detestable act (Ezek. 22:11).
Abraham – father of a multitude,
son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers
Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises.
Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred
in his native country of Chaldea. He then, with his father
and his family and household, quitted the city of Ur, in
which he had hitherto dwelt, and went some 300 miles north
to Haran, where he abode fifteen years. The cause of his
migration was a call from God (Acts 7:2-4). There is no
mention of this first call in the Old Testament; it is
implied, however, in Gen. 12. While they tarried at Haran,
Terah died at the age of 205 years. Abram now received a
second and more definite call, accompanied by a promise
from God (Gen. 12:1,2); whereupon he took his departure,
taking his nephew Lot with him, “not knowing whither
he went” (Heb. 11:8). He trusted implicitly to the
guidance of Him who had called him.
Abram now, with a large household of probably a thousand
souls, entered on a migratory life, and dwelt in tents.
Passing along the valley of the Jabbok, in the land of
Canaan, he formed his first encampment at Sichem (Gen.
12:6), in the vale or oak-grove of Moreh, between Ebal on
the north and Gerizim on the south. Here he received the
great promise, “I will make of thee a great
nation,” etc. (Gen. 12:2,3,7). This promise
comprehended not only temporal but also spiritual
blessings. It implied that he was the chosen ancestor of
the great Deliverer whose coming had been long ago
predicted (Gen. 3:15). Soon after this, for some reason not
mentioned, he removed his tent to the mountain district
between Bethel, then called Luz, and Ai, towns about two
miles apart, where he built an altar to
“Jehovah.” He again moved into the southern tract
of Palestine, called by the Hebrews the Negeb; and was at
length, on account of a famine, compelled to go down into
Egypt. This took place in the time of the Hyksos, a Semitic
race which now held the Egyptians in bondage. Here occurred
that case of deception on the part of Abram which exposed
him to the rebuke of Pharaoh (Gen. 12:18). Sarai was
restored to him; and Pharaoh loaded him with presents,
recommending him to withdraw from the country. He returned
to Canaan richer than when he left it, “in cattle, in
silver, and in gold” (Gen. 12:8; 13:2. Comp. Ps.
105:13, 14). The whole party then moved northward, and
returned to their previous station near Bethel. Here
disputes arose between Lot’s shepherds and those of
Abram about water and pasturage. Abram generously gave Lot
his choice of the pasture-ground. (Comp. 1 Cor. 6:7.) He
chose the well-watered plain in which Sodom was situated,
and removed thither; and thus the uncle and nephew were
separated. Immediately after this Abram was cheered by a
repetition of the promises already made to him, and then
removed to the plain or “oak-grove” of Mamre,
which is in Hebron. He finally settled here, pitching his
tent under a famous oak or terebinth tree, called “the
oak of Mamre” (Gen. 13:18). This was his third
resting-place in the land.
Some fourteen years before this, while Abram was still in
Chaldea, Palestine had been invaded by Chedorlaomer, King
of Elam, who brought under tribute to him the five cities
in the plain to which Lot had removed. This tribute was
felt by the inhabitants of these cities to be a heavy
burden, and after twelve years they revolted. This brought
upon them the vengeance of Chedorlaomer, who had in league
with him four other kings. He ravaged the whole country,
plundering the towns, and carrying the inhabitants away as
slaves. Among those thus treated was Lot. Hearing of the
disaster that had fallen on his nephew, Abram immediately
gathered from his own household a band of 318 armed men,
and being joined by the Amoritish chiefs Mamre, Aner, and
Eshcol, he pursued after Chedorlaomer, and overtook him
near the springs of the Jordan. They attacked and routed
his army, and pursued it over the range of Anti-Libanus as
far as to Hobah, near Damascus, and then returned, bringing
back all the spoils that had been carried away. Returning
by way of Salem, i.e., Jerusalem, the king of that place,
Melchizedek, came forth to meet them with refreshments. To
him Abram presented a tenth of the spoils, in recognition
of his character as a priest of the most high God (Gen.
14:18-20).
In a recently-discovered tablet, dated in the reign of the
grandfather of Amraphel (Gen. 14:1), one of the witnesses
is called “the Amorite, the son of Abiramu,” or
Abram.
Having returned to his home at Mamre, the promises already
made to him by God were repeated and enlarged (Gen. 13:14).
“The word of the Lord” (an expression occurring
here for the first time) “came to him” (15:1). He
now understood better the future that lay before the nation
that was to spring from him. Sarai, now seventy-five years
old, in her impatience, persuaded Abram to take Hagar, her
Egyptian maid, as a concubine, intending that whatever
child might be born should be reckoned as her own. Ishmael
was accordingly thus brought up, and was regarded as the
heir of these promises (Gen. 16). When Ishmael was thirteen
years old, God again revealed yet more explicitly and fully
his gracious purpose; and in token of the sure fulfilment
of that purpose the patriarch’s name was now changed
from Abram to Abraham (Gen. 17:4,5), and the rite of
circumcision was instituted as a sign of the covenant. It
was then announced that the heir to these covenant promises
would be the son of Sarai, though she was now ninety years
old; and it was directed that his name should be Isaac. At
the same time, in commemoration of the promises,
Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah. On that memorable
day of God’s thus revealing his design, Abraham and his
son Ishmael and all the males of his house were circumcised
(Gen. 17). Three months after this, as Abraham sat in his
tent door, he saw three men approaching. They accepted his
proffered hospitality, and, seated under an oak-tree,
partook of the fare which Abraham and Sarah provided. One
of the three visitants was none other than the Lord, and
the other two were angels in the guise of men. The Lord
renewed on this occasion his promise of a son by Sarah, who
was rebuked for her unbelief. Abraham accompanied the three
as they proceeded on their journey. The two angels went on
toward Sodom; while the Lord tarried behind and talked with
Abraham, making known to him the destruction that was about
to fall on that guilty city. The patriarch interceded
earnestly in behalf of the doomed city. But as not even ten
righteous persons were found in it, for whose sake the city
would have been spared, the threatened destruction fell
upon it; and early next morning Abraham saw the smoke of
the fire that consumed it as the “smoke of a
furnace” (Gen. 19:1-28).
After fifteen years’ residence at Mamre, Abraham moved
southward, and pitched his tent among the Philistines, near
to Gerar. Here occurred that sad instance of prevarication
on his part in his relation to Abimelech the King (Gen.
20). Soon after this event, the patriarch left
the vicinity of Gerar, and moved down the fertile valley
about 25 miles to Beer-sheba. It was probably here that
Isaac was born, Abraham being now an hundred years old. A
feeling of jealousy now arose between Sarah and Hagar,
whose son, Ishmael, was no longer to be regarded as
Abraham’s heir. Sarah insisted that both Hagar and her
son should be sent away. This was done, although it was a
hard trial to Abraham (Gen. 21:12).
At this point there is a blank in the patriarch’s
history of perhaps twenty-five years. These years of peace
and happiness were spent at Beer-sheba. The next time we
see him his faith is put to a severe test by the command
that suddenly came to him to go and offer up Isaac, the
heir of all the promises, as a sacrifice on one of the
mountains of Moriah. His faith stood the test (Heb.
11:17-19). He proceeded in a spirit of unhesitating
obedience to carry out the command; and when about to slay
his son, whom he had laid on the altar, his uplifted hand
was arrested by the angel of Jehovah, and a ram, which was
entangled in a thicket near at hand, was seized and offered
in his stead. From this circumstance that place was called
Jehovah-jireh, i.e., “The Lord will provide.” The
promises made to Abraham were again confirmed (and this was
the last recorded word of God to the patriarch); and he
descended the mount with his son, and returned to his home
at Beer-sheba (Gen. 22:19), where he resided for some
years, and then moved northward to Hebron.
Some years after this Sarah died at Hebron, being 127 years
old. Abraham acquired now the needful possession of a
burying-place, the cave of Machpelah, by purchase from the
owner of it, Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23); and there he
buried Sarah. His next care was to provide a wife for
Isaac, and for this purpose he sent his steward, Eliezer,
to Haran (or Charran, Acts 7:2), where his brother Nahor
and his family resided (Gen. 11:31). The result was that
Rebekah, the daughter of Nahor’s son Bethuel, became
the wife of Isaac (Gen. 24). Abraham then himself took to
wife Keturah, who became the mother of six sons, whose
descendants were afterwards known as the “children of
the east” (Judg. 6:3), and later as
“Saracens.” At length all his wanderings came to
an end. At the age of 175 years, 100 years after he had
first entered the land of Canaan, he died, and was buried
in the old family burying-place at Machpelah (Gen.
25:7-10).
The history of Abraham made a wide and deep impression on
the ancient world, and references to it are interwoven in
the religious traditions of almost all Eastern nations. He
is called “the friend of God” (James 2:23),
“faithful Abraham” (Gal. 3:9), “the father
of us all” (Rom. 4:16).
16:22,23) refers to the custom of reclining on couches at
table, which was prevalent among the Jews, an arrangement
which brought the head of one person almost into the bosom
of the one who sat or reclined above him. To “be in
Abraham’s bosom” thus meant to enjoy happiness and
rest (Matt. 8:11; Luke 16:23) at the banquet in Paradise.
Israel’s halting-places in the desert (Num.33:34,35),
just before Ezion-gaber. In A.V., “Ebronah.”
Absalom – father of peace; i.e.,
“peaceful” David’s son by Maacah (2 Sam. 3:3;
comp. 1 Kings 1:6). He was noted for his personal beauty
and for the extra-ordinary profusion of the hair of his
head (2 Sam. 14:25,26). The first public act of his life
was the blood-revenge he executed against Amnon,
David’s eldest son, who had basely wronged
Absalom’s sister Tamar. This revenge was executed at
the time of the festivities connected with a great
sheep-shearing at Baal-hazor. David’s other sons fled
from the place in horror, and brought the tidings of the
death of Amnon to Jerusalem. Alarmed for the consequences
of the act, Absalom fled to his grandfather at Geshur, and
there abode for three years (2 Sam. 3:3; 13:23-38).
David mourned his absent son, now branded with the guilt of
fratricide. As the result of a stratagem carried out by a
woman of Tekoah, Joab received David’s sanction to
invite Absalom back to Jerusalem. He returned accordingly,
but two years elapsed before his father admitted him into
his presence (2 Sam. 14:28). Absalom was now probably the
oldest surviving son of David, and as he was of royal
descent by his mother as well as by his father, he began to
aspire to the throne. His pretensions were favoured by the
people. By many arts he gained their affection; and after
his return from Geshur (2 Sam. 15:7; marg., R.V.) he went
up to Hebron, the old capital of Judah, along with a great
body of the people, and there proclaimed himself king. The
revolt was so successful that David found it necessary to
quit Jerusalem and flee to Mahanaim, beyond Jordan; where
upon Absalom returned to Jerusalem and took possession of
the throne without opposition. Ahithophel, who had been
David’s chief counsellor, deserted him and joined
Absalom, whose chief counsellor he now became. Hushai also
joined Absalom, but only for the purpose of trying to
counteract the counsels of Ahithophel, and so to advantage
David’s cause. He was so far successful that by his
advice, which was preferred to that of Ahithophel, Absalom
delayed to march an army against his father, who thus
gained time to prepare for the defence.
Absalom at length marched out against his father, whose
army, under the command of Joab, he encountered on the
borders of the forest of Ephraim. Twenty thousand of
Absalom’s army were slain in that fatal battle, and the
rest fled. Absalom fled on a swift mule; but his long
flowing hair, or more probably his head, was caught in the
bough of an oak, and there he was left suspended till Joab
came up and pierced him through with three darts. His body
was then taken down and cast into a pit dug in the forest,
and a heap of stones was raised over his grave. When the
tidings of the result of that battle were brought to David,
as he sat impatiently at the gate of Mahanaim, and he was
told that Absalom had been slain, he gave way to the bitter
lamentation: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son
Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son,
my son!” (2 Sam. 18:33. Comp. Ex. 32:32; Rom. 9:3).
Absalom’s three sons (2 Sam. 14:27; comp. 18:18) had
all died before him, so that he left only a daughter,
Tamar, who became the grandmother of Abijah.
Acacia – (Heb. shittim) Ex. 25:5,
R.V. probably the Acacia seyal (the gum-arabic tree);
called the “shittah” tree (Isa. 41:19). Its wood
is called shittim wood (Ex. 26:15,26; 25:10,13,23,28,
etc.). This species (A. seyal) is like the hawthorn, a
gnarled and thorny tree. It yields the gum-arabic of
commerce. It is found in abundance in the Sinaitic
peninsula.
mountains, a city in the land of Shinar. It has been
identified with the mounds of Akker Kuf, some 50 miles to
the north of Babylon; but this is doubtful. It was one of
the cities of Nimrod’s kingdom (Ge 10:10). It stood
close to the Euphrates, opposite Sippara.
It is also the name of the country of which this city was
the capital, namely, northern or upper Babylonia. The
Accadians who came from the “mountains of the
east,” where the ark rested, attained to a high degree
of civilization. In the Babylonian inscriptions they are
called “the black heads” and “the black
faces,” in contrast to “the white race” of
Semitic descent. They invented the form of writing in
pictorial hieroglyphics, and also the cuneiform system, in
which they wrote many books partly on papyrus and partly on
clay. The Semitic Babylonians (“the white race”),
or, as some scholars think, first the Cushites, and
afterwards, as a second immigration, the Semites, invaded
and conquered this country; and then the Accadian language
ceased to be a spoken language, although for the sake of
its literary treasures it continued to be studied by the
educated classes of Babylonia. A large portion of the
Ninevite tablets brought to light by Oriental research
consists of interlinear or parallel translations from
Accadian into Assyrian; and thus that long-forgotten
language has been recovered by scholars. It belongs to the
class of languages called agglutinative, common to the
Tauranian race; i.e., it consists of words “glued
together,” without declension of conjugation. These
tablets in a remarkable manner illustrate ancient history.
Among other notable records, they contain an account of the
Creation which closely resembles that given in the book of
Genesis, of the Sabbath as a day of rest, and of the Deluge
and its cause.
Accho – sultry or sandy, a town
and harbour of Phoenicia, in the tribe of Asher, but never
acquired by them (Judg. 1:31). It was known to the ancient
Greeks and Romans by the name of Ptolemais, from Ptolemy
the king of Egypt, who rebuilt it about B.C. 100. Here Paul
landed on his last journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:7). During
the crusades of the Middle Ages it was called Acra; and
subsequently, on account of its being occupied by the
Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, it was called St. Jean
d’Acre, or simply Acre.
“accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10. Comp. Job
1:6; Zech. 3:1), as seeking to uphold his influence among
men by bringing false charges against Christians, with the
view of weakening their influence and injuring the cause
with which they are identified. He was regarded by the Jews
as the accuser of men before God, laying to their charge
the violations of the law of which they were guilty, and
demanding their punishment. The same Greek word, rendered
“accuser,” is found in John 8:10 (but omitted in
the Revised Version); Acts 23:30, 35; 24:8; 25:16, 18, in
all of which places it is used of one who brings a charge
against another.
Jews gave in their proper tongue, i.e., in Aramaic, to the
field which was purchased with the money which had been
given to the betrayer of our Lord. The word means
“field of blood.” It was previously called
“the potter’s field” (Matt. 27:7, 8; Acts
1:19), and was appropriated as the burial-place for
strangers. It lies on a narrow level terrace on the south
face of the valley of Hinnom. Its modern name is Hak
ed-damm.
Achaia – the name originally of a
narrow strip of territory in Greece, on the north-west of
the Peloponnesus. Subsequently it was applied by the Romans
to the whole Peloponnesus, now called the Morea, and the
south of Greece. It was then one of the two provinces
(Macedonia being the other) into which they divided the
country when it fell under their dominion. It is in this
latter enlarged meaning that the name is always used in the
New Testament (Acts 18:12, 27; 19:21; Rom. 15: 26; 16:5,
etc.). It was at the time when Luke wrote the Acts of the
Apostles under the proconsular form of government; hence
the appropriate title given to Gallio as the
“deputy,” i.e., proconsul, of Achaia (Acts
18:12).
Achaichus – (1 Cor. 16:17), one
of the members of the church of Corinth who, with
Fortunatus and Stephanas, visited Paul while he was at
Ephesus, for the purpose of consulting him on the affairs
of the church. These three probably were the bearers of the
letter from Corinth to the apostle to which he alludes in 1
Cor. 7:1.
Achan – called also Achar, i.e.,
one who troubles (1 Chr. 2:7), in commemoration of his
crime, which brought upon him an awful destruction (Josh.
7:1). On the occasion of the fall of Jericho, he seized,
contrary to the divine command, an ingot of gold, a
quantity of silver, and a costly Babylonish garment, which
he hid in his tent. Joshua was convinced that the defeat
which the Israelites afterwards sustained before Ai was a
proof of the divine displeasure on account of some crime,
and he at once adopted means by the use of the lot for
discovering the criminal. It was then found that Achan was
guilty, and he was stoned to death in the valley of Achor.
He and all that belonged to him were then consumed by fire,
and a heap of stones was raised over the ashes.
Achbor – gnawing = mouse. (1.) An
Edomitish king (Gen. 36:38; 1 Chr. 1:49).
(2.) One of Josiah’s officers sent to the prophetess
Huldah to inquire regarding the newly-discovered book of
the law (2 Kings 22:12, 14). He is also called Abdon (2
Chr. 34:20).
Achish – angry, perhaps only a
general title of royalty applicable to the Philistine
kings. (1.) The king with whom David sought refuge when he
fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15). He is called Abimelech in
the superscription of Ps. 34. It was probably this same
king to whom David a second time repaired at the head of a
band of 600 warriors, and who assigned him Ziklag, whence
he carried on war against the surrounding tribes (1 Sam.
27:5-12). Achish had great confidence in the valour and
fidelity of David (1 Sam. 28:1,2), but at the instigation
of his courtiers did not permit him to go up to battle
along with the Philistine hosts (1 Sam. 29:2-11). David
remained with Achish a year and four months. (2.) Another
king of Gath, probably grandson of the foregoing, to whom
the two servants of Shimei fled. This led Shimei to go to
Gath in pursuit of them, and the consequence was that
Solomon put him to death (1 Kings 2:39-46).
Ecbatana by classical writers, the capital of northern
Media. Here was the palace which was the residence of the
old Median monarchs, and of Cyrus and Cambyses. In the time
of Ezra, the Persian kings resided usually at Susa of
Babylon. But Cyrus held his court at Achmetha; and Ezra,
writing a century after, correctly mentions the place where
the decree of Cyrus was found.
Achor – trouble, a valley near
Jericho, so called in consequence of the trouble which the
sin of Achan caused Israel (Josh. 7:24,26). The expression
“valley of Achor” probably became proverbial for
that which caused trouble, and when Isaiah (Isa. 65:10)
refers to it he uses it in this sense: “The valley of
Achor, a place for herds to lie down in;” i.e., that
which had been a source of calamity would become a source
of blessing. Hosea also (Hos. 2:15) uses the expression in
the same sense: “The valley of Achor for a door of
hope;” i.e., trouble would be turned into joy, despair
into hope. This valley has been identified with the Wady
Kelt.
daughter (1 Chr. 2:49). She was offered in marriage to the
man who would lead an attack on the city of Debir, or
Kirjath-sepher. This was done by Othniel (q.v.), who
accordingly obtained her as his wife (Josh. 15:16-19; Judg.
1:9-15).
Achshaph – fascination, a royal
city of the Canaanites, in the north of Palestine (Josh.
11:1; 12:20; 19:25). It was in the eastern boundary of the
tribe of Asher, and is identified with the modern ruined
village of Kesaf or Yasif, N.E. of Accho.
Achzib – falsehood. (1.) A town
in the Shephelah, or plain country of Judah (Josh. 15:44);
probably the same as Chezib of Gen. 38:5 = Ain Kezbeh.
(2.) A Phoenician city (the Gr. Ecdippa), always retained
in their possession though assigned to the tribe of Asher
(Josh. 19:29; Judg. 1:31). It is identified with the modern
es-Zib, on the Mediterranean, about 8 miles north of Accho.
Acre – is the translation of a
word (tse’med), which properly means a yoke, and
denotes a space of ground that may be ploughed by a yoke of
oxen in a day. It is about an acre of our measure (Isa.
5:10; 1 Sam. 14:14).
Acts of the Apostles – the title
now given to the fifth and last of the historical books of
the New Testament. The author styles it a
“treatise” (1:1). It was early called “The
Acts,” “The Gospel of the Holy Ghost,” and
“The Gospel of the Resurrection.” It contains
properly no account of any of the apostles except Peter and
Paul. John is noticed only three times; and all that is
recorded of James, the son of Zebedee, is his execution by
Herod. It is properly therefore not the history of the
“Acts of the Apostles,” a title which was given
to the book at a later date, but of “Acts of
Apostles,” or more correctly, of “Some Acts of
Certain Apostles.”
As regards its authorship, it was certainly the work of
Luke, the “beloved physician” (comp. Luke 1:1-4;
Acts 1:1). This is the uniform tradition of antiquity,
although the writer nowhere makes mention of himself by
name. The style and idiom of the Gospel of Luke and of the
Acts, and the usage of words and phrases common to both,
strengthen this opinion. The writer first appears in the
narrative in 16:11, and then disappears till Paul’s
return to Philippi two years afterwards, when he and Paul
left that place together (20:6), and the two seem
henceforth to have been constant companions to the end. He
was certainly with Paul at Rome (28; Col. 4:14). Thus he
wrote a great portion of that history from personal
observation. For what lay beyond his own experience he had
the instruction of Paul. If, as is very probable, 2 Tim.
was written during Paul’s second imprisonment at Rome,
Luke was with him then as his faithful companion to the
last (2 Tim. 4:11). Of his subsequent history we have no
certain information.
The design of Luke’s Gospel was to give an exhibition
of the character and work of Christ as seen in his history
till he was taken up from his disciples into heaven; and of
the Acts, as its sequel, to give an illustration of the
power and working of the gospel when preached among all
nations, “beginning at Jerusalem.” The opening
sentences of the Acts are just an expansion and an
explanation of the closing words of the Gospel. In this
book we have just a continuation of the history of the
church after Christ’s ascension. Luke here carries on
the history in the same spirit in which he had commenced
it. It is only a book of beginnings, a history of the
founding of churches, the initial steps in the formation of
the Christian society in the different places visited by
the apostles. It records a cycle of “representative
events.”
All through the narrative we see the ever-present,
all-controlling power of the ever-living Saviour. He
worketh all and in all in spreading abroad his truth among
men by his Spirit and through the instrumentality of his
apostles.
The time of the writing of this history may be gathered
from the fact that the narrative extends down to the close
of the second year of Paul’s first imprisonment at
Rome. It could not therefore have been written earlier than
A.D. 61 or 62, nor later than about the end of A.D. 63.
Paul was probably put to death during his second
imprisonment, about A.D. 64, or, as some think, 66.
The place where the book was written was probably Rome, to
which Luke accompanied Paul.
The key to the contents of the book is in 1:8, “Ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth.” After referring to what had been recorded in a
“former treatise” of the sayings and doings of
Jesus Christ before his ascension, the author proceeds to
give an account of the circumstances connected with that
event, and then records the leading facts with reference to
the spread and triumphs of Christianity over the world
during a period of about thirty years. The record begins
with Pentecost (A.D. 33) and ends with Paul’s first
imprisonment (A.D. 63 or 64). The whole contents of the
book may be divided into these three parts:
(1.) Chaps. 1-12, describing the first twelve years of the
Christian church. This section has been entitled “From
Jerusalem to Antioch.” It contains the history of the
planting and extension of the church among the Jews by the
ministry of Peter.
(2.) Chaps. 13-21, Paul’s missionary journeys, giving
the history of the extension and planting of the church
among the Gentiles.
(3.) Chaps. 21-28, Paul at Rome, and the events which led
to this. Chaps. 13-28 have been entitled “From Antioch
to Rome.”
In this book it is worthy of note that no mention is made
of the writing by Paul of any of his epistles. This may be
accounted for by the fact that the writer confined himself
to a history of the planting of the church, and not to that
of its training or edification. The relation, however,
between this history and the epistles of Paul is of such a
kind, i.e., brings to light so many undesigned
coincidences, as to prove the genuineness and authenticity
of both, as is so ably shown by Paley in his Horae
Paulinae. “No ancient work affords so many tests
of veracity; for no other has such numerous points of
contact in all directions with contemporary history,
politics, and topography, whether Jewish, or Greek, or
PAUL.)
Adah – ornament. (1.) The first
of Lamech’s two wives, and the mother of Jabal and
Jubal (Gen. 4:19, 20, 23).
(2.) The first of Esau’s three wives, the daughter of
Elon the Hittite (Gen. 36:2,4), called also Bashemath
(26:34).
Adam – red, a Babylonian word,
the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the
Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to
the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent history
and that of his descendants are detailed in the first book
of Moses (Gen. 1:27-ch. 5). “God created man [Heb.,
Adam] in his own image, in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.”
Adam was absolutely the first man whom God created. He was
formed out of the dust of the earth (and hence his name),
and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and
gave him dominion over all the lower creatures (Gen. 1:26;
2:7). He was placed after his creation in the Garden of
Eden, to cultivate it, and to enjoy its fruits under this
one prohibition: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
The first recorded act of Adam was his giving names to the
beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, which God
brought to him for this end. Thereafter the Lord caused a
deep sleep to fall upon him, and while in an unconscious
state took one of his ribs, and closed up his flesh again;
and of this rib he made a woman, whom he presented to him
when he awoke. Adam received her as his wife, and said,
“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of
Man.” He called her Eve, because she was the mother of
all living.
Being induced by the tempter in the form of a serpent to
eat the forbidden fruit, Eve persuaded Adam, and he also
did eat. Thus man fell, and brought upon himself and his
posterity all the sad consequences of his transgression.
The narrative of the Fall comprehends in it the great
promise of a Deliverer (Gen. 3:15), the “first
gospel” message to man. They were expelled from Eden,
and at the east of the garden God placed a flame, which
turned every way, to prevent access to the tree of life
(Gen. 3). How long they were in Paradise is matter of mere
conjecture.
Shortly after their expulsion Eve brought forth her
first-born, and called him Cain. Although we have the names
of only three of Adam’s sons, viz., Cain, Abel, and
Seth, yet it is obvious that he had several sons and
daughters (Gen. 5:4). He died aged 930 years.
Adam and Eve were the progenitors of the whole human race.
Evidences of varied kinds are abundant in proving the unity
of the human race. The investigations of science,
altogether independent of historical evidence, lead to the
conclusion that God “hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
earth” (Acts 17:26. Comp. Rom. 5:12-12; 1 Cor.
15:22-49).
Adamah – red earth, a fortified
city of Naphtali, probably the modern Damieh, on the west
side of the sea of Tiberias (Josh. 19:33, 36).
Adamant – (Heb. shamir), Ezek.
3:9. The Greek word adamas means diamond. This stone is not
referred to, but corundum or some kind of hard steel. It is
an emblem of firmness in resisting adversaries of the truth
(Zech. 7:12), and of hard-heartedness against the truth
(Jer. 17:1).
Adam, a type – The apostle Paul
speaks of Adam as “the figure of him who was to
come.” On this account our Lord is sometimes called
the second Adam. This typical relation is described in Rom.
5:14-19.
Adam, the city of – is referred
to in Josh. 3:16. It stood “beside Zarethan,” on
the west bank of Jordan (1 Kings 4:12). At this city the
flow of the water was arrested and rose up “upon an
heap” at the time of the Israelites’ passing over
(Josh. 3:16).
Adar – large, the sixth month of
the civil and the twelfth of the ecclesiastical year of the
Jews (Esther 3:7, 13; 8:12; 9:1, 15, 17, 19, 21). It
included the days extending from the new moon of our March
to the new moon of April. The name was first used after the
Captivity. When the season was backward, and the lambs not
yet of a paschal size, or the barley not forward enough for
abib, then a month called Veadar, i.e., a second Adar, was
intercalated.
third of the twelve sons of Ishmael, and head of an Arabian
tribe (Gen. 25:13; 1 Chr. 1:29).
Addar – ample, splendid, son of
Bela (1 Chr. 8:3); called also “Ard” (Gen.
46:21)
Adder – (Ps. 140:3; Rom. 3:13,
“asp”) is the rendering of, (1.) Akshub
(“coiling” or “lying in wait”),
properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage. (2.)
Pethen (“twisting”), a viper or venomous serpent
identified with the cobra (Naja haje) (Ps. 58:4; 91:13);
elsewhere “asp.” (3.) Tziphoni
(“hissing”) (Prov. 23:32); elsewhere rendered
“cockatrice,” Isa. 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer. 8:17,
as it is here in the margin of the Authorized Version. The
Revised Version has “basilisk.” This may have
been the yellow viper, the Daboia xanthina, the largest and
most dangerous of the vipers of Palestine. (4.) Shephiphon
(“creeping”), occurring only in Gen. 49:17, the
small speckled venomous snake, the “horned
snake,” or cerastes. Dan is compared to this serpent,
which springs from its hiding-place on the passer-by.
Addi – ornament, (Luke 3:28), the
son of Cosam, and father of Melchi, one of the progenitors
of Christ.
Addon – low, one of the persons
named in Neh. 7:61 who could not “shew their
father’s house” on the return from captivity.
This, with similar instances (ver. 63), indicates the
importance the Jews attached to their genealogies.
Adiel – ornament of God. (1.) The
father of Azmaveth, who was treasurer under David and
Solomon (1 Chr. 27:25). (2.) A family head of the tribe of
Simeon (1 Chr. 4:36). (3.) A priest (1 Chr. 9:12).
Adin – effeminate. (1.) Ezra 8:6.
(2.) Neh. 10:16.
David’s warriors (1 Chr. 11:42), a Reubenite.
David’s mighty men (2 Sam. 23:8).
whereby one person imposes on another the obligation of
speaking or acting as if under an oath (1 Sam. 14:24; Josh.
6:26; 1 Kings 22:16).
We have in the New Testament a striking example of this
(Matt. 26:63; Mark 5:7), where the high priest calls upon
Christ to avow his true character. It would seem that in
such a case the person so adjured could not refuse to give
an answer.
The word “adjure”, i.e., cause to swear is used
with reference to the casting out of demons (Acts 19:13).
Admah – earth, one of the five
cities of the vale of Siddim (Gen. 10:19). It was destroyed
along with Sodom and Gomorrah (19:24; Deut. 29:23). It is
supposed by some to be the same as the Adam of Josh. 3:16,
the name of which still lingers in Damieh, the ford of
Jordan.
Adnah – delight. (1.) A chief of
the tribe of Manasseh who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr.
12:20). (2.) A general under Jehoshaphat, chief over
300,000 men (2 Chr. 17:14).
Canaanitish king who, having subdued seventy of the chiefs
that were around him, made an attack against the armies of
Judah and Simeon, but was defeated and brought as a captive
to Jerusalem, where his thumbs and great toes were cut off.
He confessed that God had requited him for his like cruelty
to the seventy kings whom he had subdued (Judg. 1:4-7;
comp. 1 Sam. 15:33).
Adonijah – my Lord is Jehovah.
(1.) The fourth son of David (2 Sam. 3:4). After the death
of his elder brothers, Amnon and Absalom, he became
heir-apparent to the throne. But Solomon, a younger
brother, was preferred to him. Adonijah, however, when his
father was dying, caused himself to be proclaimed king. But
Nathan and Bathsheba induced David to give orders that
Solomon should at once be proclaimed and admitted to the
throne. Adonijah fled and took refuge at the altar, and
received pardon for his conduct from Solomon on the
condition that he showed himself “a worthy man”
(1 Kings 1:5-53). He afterwards made a second attempt to
gain the throne, but was seized and put to death (1 Kings
2:13-25).
(2.) A Levite sent with the princes to teach the book of
the law to the inhabitants of Judah (2 Chr. 17:8).
(3.) One of the “chiefs of the people” after the
Captivity (Neh. 10:16).
Adonikam – whom the Lord sets up,
one of those “which came with Zerubbabel” (Ezra
2:13). His “children,” or retainers, to the
number of 666, came up to Jerusalem (8:13).
12:18), the son of Abda, was “over the tribute,”
i.e., the levy or forced labour. He was stoned to death by
the people of Israel (1 Kings 4:6; 5:14)
Adoni-zedec – lord of justice or
righteousness, was king in Jerusalem at the time when the
Israelites invaded Palestine (Josh. 10:1,3). He formed a
confederacy with the other Canaanitish kings against the
Israelites, but was utterly routed by Joshua when he was
engaged in besieging the Gibeonites. The history of this
victory and of the treatment of the five confederated kings
is recorded in Josh. 10:1-27. (Comp. Deut. 21:23). Among
the Tell Amarna tablets (see EGYPT ¯T0001137) are some
very interesting letters from Adoni-zedec to the King of
Egypt. These illustrate in a very remarkable manner the
history recorded in Josh. 10, and indeed throw light on the
wars of conquest generally, so that they may be read as a
kind of commentary on the book of Joshua. Here the
conquering career of the Abiri (i.e., Hebrews) is
graphically described: “Behold, I say that the land of
the king my lord is ruined”, “The wars are mighty
against me”, “The Hebrew chiefs plunder all the
king’s lands”, “Behold, I the chief of the
Amorites am breaking to pieces.” Then he implores the
king of Egypt to send soldiers to help him, directing that
the army should come by sea to Ascalon or Gaza, and thence
march to Wru-sa-lim (Jerusalem) by the valley of Elah.
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