A

A — Abstinence

A

A - See ALEPH; ALPHABET. ISBE A.2

Aalar

Aalar - a'-a-lar. ISBE Aalar.2

See ALTAR. ISBE Aalar.3

Aaron

Aaron - ar'-un, sometimes pronounced ar'on ('aharon--Septuagint Aaron, meaning uncertain: Gesenius suggests "mountaineer"; Furst, "enlightened"; others give "rich," "fluent." Cheyne mentions Redslob's "ingenious conjecture" of ha-'aron--"the ark"--with its mythical, priestly significance, Encyclopedia Biblica under the word): ISBE Aaron.2

1. Family: Probably eldest son of Amram (Exodus 6:20), and according to the uniform genealogical lists (Exodus 6:16-20; 1 Chronicles 6:1-3), the fourth from Levi. This however is not certainly fixed, since there are frequent omissions from the Hebrew lists of names which are not prominent in the line of descent. For the corresponding period from Levi to Aaron the Judah list has six names (Ruth 4:18-20; 1 Chronicles 2:1-55). Levi and his family were zealous, even to violence (Genesis 34:25; Exodus 32:26), for the national honor and religion, and Aaron no doubt inherited his full portion of this spirit. His mother's name was Jochebed, who was also of the Levitical family (Exodus 6:20). Miriam, his sister, was several years older, since she was set to watch the novel cradle of the infant brother Moses, at whose birth Aaron was three years old (Exodus 7:7). ISBE Aaron.3

2. Becomes Moses' Assistant: When Moses fled from Egypt, Aaron remained to share the hardships of his people, and possibly to render them some service; for we are told that Moses entreated of God his brother's cooperation in his mission to Pharaoh and to Israel, and that Aaron went out to meet his returning brother, as the time of deliverance drew near (Exodus 4:27). While Moses, whose great gifts lay along other lines, was slow of speech (Exodus 4:10), Aaron was a ready spokesman, and became his brother's representative, being called his "mouth" (Exodus 4:16) and his "prophet" (Exodus 7:1). After their meeting in the wilderness the two brothers returned together to Egypt on the hazardous mission to which Yahweh had called them (Exodus 4:27-31). At first they appealed to their own nation, recalling the ancient promises and declaring the imminent deliverance, Aaron being the spokesman. But the heart of the people, hopeless by reason of the hard bondage and heavy with the care of material things, did not incline to them. The two brothers then forced the issue by appealing directly to Pharaoh himself, Aaron still speaking for his brother (Exodus 6:10-13). He also performed, at Moses' direction, the miracles which confounded Pharaoh and his magicians. With Hur, he held up Moses hands, in order that the `rod of God might be lifted up,' during the fight with Amalek (Exodus 17:10, 12). ISBE Aaron.4

3. An Elder: Aaron next comes into prominence when at Sinai he is one of the elders and representatives of his tribe to approach nearer to the Mount than the people in general were allowed to do, and to see the manifested glory of God (Exodus 24:1, 9-10). A few days later, when Moses, attended by his "minister" Joshua, went up into the mountain, Aaron exercised some kind of headship over the people in his absence. Despairing of seeing again their leader, who had disappeared into the mystery of communion with the invisible God, they appealed to Aaron to prepare them more tangible gods, and to lead them back to Egypt (Exodus 32:1-35). Aaron never appears as the strong, heroic character which his brother was; and here at Sinai he revealed his weaker nature, yielding to the demands of the people and permitting the making of the golden bullock. That he must however have yielded reluctantly, is evident from the ready zeal of his tribesmen, whose leader he was, to stay and to avenge the apostasy by rushing to arms and falling mightily upon the idolaters at the call of Moses (Exodus 32:26-28). ISBE Aaron.5

4. High Priest: In connection with the planning and erection of the tabernacle ("the Tent"), Aaron and his sons being chosen for the official priesthood, elaborate and symbolical vestments were prepared for them (Exodus 28:1-43); and after the erection and dedication of the tabernacle, he and his sons were formally inducted into the sacred office (Leviticus 8:1-36). It appears that Aaron alone was anointed with the holy oil (Leviticus 8:12), but his sons were included with him in the duty of caring for sacrificial rites and things. They served in receiving and presenting the various offerings, and could enter and serve in the first chamber of the tabernacle; but Aaron alone, the high priest, the Mediator of the Old Covenant, could enter into the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year, on the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:12-14). ISBE Aaron.6

5. Rebels Against Moses: After the departure of Israel from Sinai, Aaron joined his sister Miriam in a protest against the authority of Moses (Numbers 12:1-16), which they asserted to be self-assumed. For this rebellion Miriam was smitten with leprosy, but was made whole again, when, at the pleading of Aaron, Moses interceded with God for her. The sacred office of Aaron, requiring physical, moral and ceremonial cleanness of the strictest order, seems to have made him immune from this form of punishment. Somewhat later (Numbers 16:1-50) he himself, along with Moses, became the object of a revolt of his own tribe in conspiracy with leaders of Dan and Reuben. This rebellion was subdued and the authority of Moses and Aaron vindicated by the miraculous overthrow of the rebels. As they were being destroyed by the plague, Aaron, at Moses' command, rushed into their midst with the lighted censer, and the destruction was stayed. The Divine will in choosing Aaron and his family to the priesthood was then fully attested by the miraculous budding of his rod, when, together with rods representing the other tribes, it was placed and left overnight in the sanctuary (Numbers 17:1-13). ISBE Aaron.7

See AARON'S ROD. ISBE Aaron.8

6. Further History: After this event Aaron does not come prominently into view until the time of his death, near the close of the Wilderness period. Because of the impatience, or unbelief, of Moses and Aaron at Meribah (Numbers 20:12), the two brothers are prohibited from entering Canaan; and shortly after the last camp at Kadesh was broken, as the people journeyed eastward to the plains of Moab, Aaron died on Mount Hor. In three passages this event is recorded: the more detailed account in Numbers 20:1-29, a second incidental record in the list of stations of the wanderings in the wilderness (Numbers 33:38-39), and a third casual reference (Deuteronomy 10:6) in an address of Moses. These are not in the least contradictory or inharmonious. The dramatic scene is fully presented in Numbers 20:1-29: Moses, Aaron and Eleazar go up to Mount Hor in the people's sight; Aaron is divested of his robes of office, which are formally put upon his eldest living son; Aaron dies before the Lord in the Mount at the age of 123, and is given burial by his two mourning relatives, who then return to the camp without the first and great high priest; when the people understand that he is no more, they show both grief and love by thirty days of mourning. The passage in Numbers 33:1-56 records the event of his death just after the list of stations in the general vicinity of Mount Hor; while Moses in Deuteronomy 10:1-22 states from which of these stations, namely, Moserah, that remarkable funeral procession made its way to Mount Hor. In the records we find, not contradiction and perplexity, but simplicity and unity. It is not within the view of this article to present modern displacements and rearrangements of the Aaronic history; it is concerned with the records as they are, and as they contain the faith of the Old Testament writers in the origin in Aaron of their priestly order. ISBE Aaron.9

7. Priestly Succession: Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, and sister of Nahshon, prince of the tribe of Judah, who bore him four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sacrilegious act and consequent judicial death of Nadab and Abihu are recorded in Leviticus 10:1-20. Eleazar and Ithamar were more pious and reverent; and from them descended the long line of priests to whom was committed the ceremonial law of Israel, the succession changing from one branch to the other with certain crises in the nation. At his death Aaron was succeeded by his oldest living son, Eleazar (Numbers 20:28; Deuteronomy 10:6). ISBE Aaron.10

Edward Mack ISBE Aaron.11

Aaronites

Aaronites - ar'-on-its (le-'aharon, literally, "belonging to Aaron"): A word used in the King James Version, but not in the revised versions, to translate the proper name Aaron in two instances where it. denotes a family and not merely a person (1 Chronicles 12:27; 27:17). It is equivalent to the phrases "sons of Aaron," "house of Aaron," frequently used in the Old Testament. According to the books of Josh and Chronicles the "sons of Aaron," were distinguished from the other Levites from the time of Joshua (e.g. Joshua 21:4, 10, 13; 1 Chronicles 6:54). ISBE Aaronites.2

Aaron's Rod

Aaron's Rod - (Numbers 17:1-13 and Hebrews 9:4): Immediately after the incidents connected with the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram against the leadership of Moses and the priestly primacy of Aaron (Numbers 16:1-50), it became necessary to indicate and emphasize the Divine appointment of Aaron. Therefore, at the command of Yahweh, Moses directs that twelve almond rods, one for each tribe with the prince's name engraved thereon, be placed within the Tent of the Testimony. When Moses entered the tent the following day, he found that Aaron's rod had budded, blossomed and borne fruit, "the three stages of vegetable life being thus simultaneously visible." When the miraculous sign was seen by the people, they accepted it as final; nor was there ever again any question of Aaron's priestly right. The rod was kept "before the testimony" in the sanctuary ever after as a token of the Divine will (Numbers 17:10). The writer of Hebrews, probably following a later Jewish tradition, mentions the rod as kept in the Holy of Holies within the ark (Hebrews 9:4; compare 1 Kings 8:9). ISBE Aaron's Rod.2

See PRIEST,III . ISBE Aaron's Rod.3

Edward Mack ISBE Aaron's Rod.4

Ab (1)

Ab (1) - ('abh, the Hebrew and Aramaic word for "father"): It is a very common word in the Old Testament; this article notes only certain uses of it. It is used both in the singular and in the plural to denote a grandfather or more remote ancestors (e.g. Jeremiah 35:16, 15). The father of a people or tribe is its founder, not, as is frequently assumed, its progenitor. In this sense Abraham is father to the Israelites (see, for example, Genesis 17:11-14, 27), Isaac and Jacob and the heads of families being fathers in the same modified sense. The cases of Ishmael, Moab, etc., are similar. The traditional originator of a craft is the father of those who practice the craft (e.g. Genesis 4:20-21, 22). Sennacherib uses the term "my fathers" of his predecessors on the throne of Assyria, though these were not his ancestors (2 Kings 19:12). The term is used to express worth and affection irrespective of blood relation (e.g. 2 Kings 13:14). A ruler or leader is spoken of as a father. God is father. A frequent use of the word is that in the composition of proper names, e.g. Abinadab, "my father is noble." ISBE Ab (1).2

See ABI. ISBE Ab (1).3

The Aramaic word in its definite form is used three times in the New Testament (Mark 4:6), the phrase being in each case "Abba Father," addressed to God. In this phrase the word "Father" is added, apparently, not as a mere translation, nor to indicate that Abba is thought of as a proper name of Deity, but as a term of pleading and of endearment. ISBE Ab (1).4

See also ABBA. ISBE Ab (1).5

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Ab (1).6

Ab (2)

Ab (2) - ('abh): The name of the fifth month in the Hebrew calendar, the month beginning in our July. The name does not appear in the Bible, but Josephus gives it to the month in which Aaron died (Ant., IV, iv, 6; compare Numbers 33:38). ISBE Ab (2).2

Abacuc

Abacuc - ab'-a-kuk (Latin Abacuc): The form given the name of the prophet Habakkuk in 2 Esdras 1:40. ISBE Abacuc.2

Abaddon

Abaddon - a-bad'-on ('abhaddon, "ruin," "perdition," "destruction"): Though "destruction" is commonly used in translating 'abhaddon, the stem idea is intransitive rather than passive--the idea of perishing, going to ruin, being in a ruined state, rather than that of being ruined, being destroyed. ISBE Abaddon.2

The word occurs six times in the Old Testament, always as a place name in the sense in which Sheol is a place name. It denotes, in certain aspects, the world of the dead as constructed in the Hebrew imagination. It is a common mistake to understand such expressions in a too mechanical way. Like ourselves, the men of the earlier ages had to use picture language when they spoke of the conditions that existed after death, however their picturing of the matter may have differed from ours. In three instances Abaddon is parallel with Sheol (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11; 27:20). In one instance it is parallel with death, in one with the grave and in the remaining instance the parallel phrase is "root out all mine increase" (Job 28:22; Psalms 88:11; Job 31:12). In this last passage the place idea comes nearer to vanishing in an abstract conception than in the other passages. ISBE Abaddon.3

Abaddon belongs to the realm of the mysterious. Only God understands it (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11). It is the world of the dead in its utterly dismal, destructive, dreadful aspect, not in those more cheerful aspects in which activities are conceived of as in progress there. In Abaddon there are no declarations of God's lovingkindness (Psalms 88:11). ISBE Abaddon.4

In a slight degree the Old Testament presentations personalize Abaddon. It is a synonym for insatiableness (Proverbs 27:20). It has possibilities of information mediate between those of "all living" and those of God (Job 28:22). ISBE Abaddon.5

In the New Testament the word occurs once (Revelation 9:11), the personalization becoming sharp. Abaddon is here not the world of the dead, but the angel who reigns over it. The Greek equivalent of his name is given as Apollyon. Under this name Bunyan presents him in the Pilgrim's Progress, and Christendom has doubtless been more interested in this presentation of the matter than in any other. ISBE Abaddon.6

In some treatments Abaddon is connected with the evil spirit Asmodeus of Tobit (e.g. 3:8), and with the destroyer mentioned in The Wisdom of Solomon (18:25; compare 22), and through these with a large body of rabbinical folklore; but these efforts are simply groundless. ISBE Abaddon.7

See APOLLYON. ISBE Abaddon.8

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abaddon.9

Abadias

Abadias - ab-a-di'-as (Greek Abadias): Mentioned in 1 Esdras 8:35 as the son of Jezelus, of the sons of Joab, returned with Ezra from the captivity; and in Ezra 8:9 called "Obadiah the son of Jehiel." ISBE Abadias.2

Abagarus

Abagarus - a-bag'-a-rus. ISBE Abagarus.2

See ABGARUS . ISBE Abagarus.3

Abagtha

Abagtha - a-bag'-tha ('abhaghetha', perhaps meaning "fortunate one"): One of the seven eunuchs, or "chamberlains," of Xerxes mentioned in Esther 1:10. The name is Persian, and is one of the many Persian marks in the Book of Esther. ISBE Abagtha.2

Abanah

Abanah - ab'-a-na, a-ba'-na ('abhanah (Kethibh, Septuagint, Vulgate)), or AMANA a-ma'-na ('amanah (Qere, Peshitta, Targum); the King James Version Abana (American Standard Revised Version, margin Amana), the Revised Version (British and American) ABANAH (Revised Version, margin Amanah)): Mentioned in 2 Kings 5:12, along with the PHARPAR (which see), as one of the principal rivers of Damascus. The reading Amana (meaning possibly the "constant," or perennial stream) is on the whole preferable. Both forms of the name may have been in use, as the interchange of an aspirated b (bh = v) and m is not without parallel (compare Evil-merodach = Amilmarduk). ISBE Abanah.2

The Abanah is identified with the Chrysorrhoas ("golden stream") of the Greeks, the modern Nahr Barada (the "cold"), which rises in the Anti-Lebanon, one of its sources, the Ain Barada, being near the village of Zebedani, and flows in a southerly and then southeasterly direction toward Damascus. A few miles southeast of Suk Wady Barada (the ancient Abila; see ABILENE) the volume of the stream is more than doubled by a torrent of clear, cold water from the beautifully situated spring `Ain Fijeh (Greek pege, "fountain"), after which it flows through a picturesque gorge till it reaches Damascus, whose many fountains and gardens it supplies liberally with water. In the neighborhood of Damascus a number of streams branch off from the parent river, and spread out like an opening fan on the surrounding plain. The Barada, along with the streams which it feeds, loses itself in the marshes of the Meadow Lakes about 18 miles East of the city. ISBE Abanah.3

The water of the Barada, though not perfectly wholesome in the city itself, is for the most part clear and cool; its course is picturesque, and its value to Damascus, as the source alike of fertility and of charm, is inestimable. ISBE Abanah.4

C. H. Thomson ISBE Abanah.5

Abarim

Abarim - ab'-a-rim, a-ba'-rim (`abharim): The stem idea is that of going across a space or a dividing line, or for example a river. It is the same stem that appears in the familiar phrase "beyond Jordan," used to denote the region East of the Jordan, and Hellenized in the name Peraea. This fact affords the most natural explanation of the phrases `the mountains of the Abarim' (Numbers 33:47-48); `this mountain-country of the Abarim' (Numbers 27:12; Deuteronomy 32:49); Iye-abarim, which means "Heaps of the Abarim," or "Mounds of the Abarim" (Numbers 21:11; 33:44). In Numbers 33:45 this station is called simply Iyim, "Mounds." It is to be distinguished from the place of the same name in southern Judah (Joshua 15:29). The name Abarim, without the article, occurs in Jer (Joshua 22:20 the Revised Version (British and American), where the King James Version translates "the passages"), where it seems to be the name of a region, on the same footing with the names Lebanon and Bashan, doubtless the region referred to in Nu and Deuteronomy. There is no reason for changing the vowels in Ezekiel 39:11, in order to make that another occurrence of the same name. ISBE Abarim.2

When the people of Abraham lived in Canaan, before they went to Egypt to sojourn, they spoke of the region east of the Jordan as "beyond Jordan." Looking across the Jordan and the Dead Sea they designated the mountain country they saw there as "the Beyond mountains." They continued to use these geographical terms when they came out of Egypt. We have no means of knowing to how extensive a region they applied the name. The passages speak of the mountain country of Abarim where Moses died, including Nebo, as situated back from the river Jordan in its lowest reaches; and of the Mounds of the Abarim as farther to the southeast, so that the Israelites passed them when making their detour around the agricultural parts of Edom, before they crossed the Arnon. Whether the name Abarim should be applied to the parts of the eastern hill country farther to the north is a question on which we lack evidence. ISBE Abarim.3

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abarim.4

Abase

Abase - a-bas': The English rendition of shaphel (Job 40:11; Ezekiel 21:26), and of its derivative shephal (Daniel 4:37) = "bring down," "debase," "humble"; of `anah (Isaiah 31:4) = "abase self," "afflict," "chasten self," "deal harshly with," etc.; and of tapeinoo = "to depress"; figure "to humiliate" (in condition or heart): "abase," "bring low," "humble self" (Philippians 4:12). The word is always employed to indicate what should be done to or by him who nurtures a spirit and exhibits a demeanor contrary to the laudable humility which is a natural fruit of religion. Such a person is warned that the most extravagant audacity will not daunt Yahweh nor abate His vengeance (Isaiah 31:4), and good men are exhorted to employ their powers to bring him low (Job 40:11; Ezekiel 21:26). If men are not able to curb the arrogant, God is (Daniel 4:37); and He has so constituted the world, that sinful arrogance must fall (Matthew 23:12 the King James Version; Luke 14:11 the King James Version; Luke 18:14 the King James Version). ISBE Abase.2

Frank E. Hirsch ISBE Abase.3

Abate

Abate - a-bat': Used six times in Old Testament for five different Hebrew words, signifying "to diminish," "reduce," "assuage"; of the Flood (Genesis 8:8); of strength (Deuteronomy 34:7); of pecuniary value (Leviticus 27:18); of wrath (Judges 8:3); of fire (Numbers 11:2). ISBE Abate.2

Abba

Abba - ab'-a (abba, 'abba', Hebraic-Chaldaic, "Father"): In Jewish and old-Christian prayers, a name by which God was addressed, then in oriental churches a title of bishops and patriarchs. So Jesus addresses God in prayer (Matthew 11:25-26; 39, 42; Luke 10:21; 22:42; 23:34; John 11:41; 12:27; John 17:24-25). In Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15, and Galatians 4:6 ho pater, is appended even in direct address, in an emphatic sense. Servants were not permitted to use the appellation in addressing the head of the house. See Delitzsch on Romans 8:15; compare G. Dalman, Gram. des jud.-palast. Aramaisch, etc., section 40, c. 3. ISBE Abba.2

J. E. Harry ISBE Abba.3

Abda

Abda - ab'-da (`abhda', perhaps, by abbreviation, "servant of Yahweh"): (1) The father of Adoniram, King Solomon's superintendent of forced labor (1 Kings 4:6). (2) A Levite mentioned in the statistical note in Neh (11:17). This "Abda the son of Shammua" is in the partly duplicate passage in 1 Ch (9:16) called "Obadiah the son of Shemaiah." ISBE Abda.2

Abdeel

Abdeel - ab'-de-el (`abhdeel, "servant of God"): The father of Shelemiah, one of the officers whom King Jehoiakim commanded to arrest Baruch, the scribe, and Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 36:26). ISBE Abdeel.2

Abdi

Abdi - ab'-di (`abhdi, probably by abbreviation "servant of Yahweh"): (1) A Levite, father of Kishi and grandfather of King David's singer Ethan (1 Chronicles 6:44; compare 1 Chronicles 15:17). This makes Abdi a contemporary of Saul the king. (2) A Levite, father of the Kish who was in service at the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:12). Some mistakenly identify this Abdi with the former. (3) A man who in Ezra's time had married a foreign wife (Ezra 10:26). Not a Levite, but "of the sons of Elam." ISBE Abdi.2

Abdias

Abdias - ab-di'-as (2 Esdras 1:39 = Obadiah): One of the Minor Prophets. Mentioned with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Minor Prophets who shall be given as leaders to the "nation from the east" which is to overthrow Israel (compare OBADIAH). ISBE Abdias.2

Abdiel

Abdiel - ab'-di-el (`abhdi'el, "servant of God"): A Gadite who lived in Gilead or in Bashan, and whose name was reckoned in genealogies of the time of Jotham, king of Judah, or of Jeroboam II, king of Israel (1 Chronicles 5:15-17). ISBE Abdiel.2

Abdon (1)

Abdon (1) - ab'-don (`abhdon, perhaps "service"; Abdon): ISBE Abdon (1).2

(1) A judge of Israel for eight years (Judges 12:13-15). The account says that he was the son of Hillel the Pirathonite, and that he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim. No mention is made of great public services rendered by him, but it is said that he had seventy well-mounted sons and grandsons. So far as we can judge, he was placed in office as a wealthy elderly man, and performed the routine duties acceptably. Very likely his two next predecessors Ibzan and Elon were men of the same type. ISBE Abdon (1).3

An effort has been made to identify Abdon with the Bedan mentioned in 1 Samuel 12:11, but the identification is precarious. ISBE Abdon (1).4

A certain importance attaches to Abdon from the fact that he is the last judge mentioned in the continuous account (Judges 2:6 through Judges 13:1) in the Book of Jgs. After the account of him follows the statement that Israel was delivered into the hands of the Philistines forty years, and with that statement the continuous account closes and the series of personal stories begins--the stories of Samson, of Micah and his Levite, of the Benjamite civil war, followed in our English Bibles by the stories of Ruth and of the childhood of Samuel. With the close of this last story (1 Samuel 4:18) the narrative of public affairs is resumed, at a point when Israel is making a desperate effort, at the close of the forty years of Eli, to throw off the Philistine yoke. A large part of one's views of the history of the period of the Judges will depend on the way in which he combines these events. My own view is that the forty years of Judges 13:1 and of 1 Samuel 4:18 are the same; that at the death of Abdon the Philistines asserted themselves as overlords of Israel; that it was a part of their policy to suppress nationality in Israel; that they abolished the office of judge, and changed the high-priesthood to another family, making Eli high priest; that Eli was sufficiently competent so that many of the functions of national judge drifted into his hands. It should be noted that the regaining of independence was signalized by the reestablishment of the office of judge, with Samuel as incumbent (1 Samuel 7:6 and context). This view takes into the account that the narrative concerning Samson is detachable, like the narratives that follow, Samson belonging to an earlier period. ISBE Abdon (1).5

See SAMSON. ISBE Abdon (1).6

(2) The son of Jeiel and his wife Maacah (1 Chronicles 8:30; 9:36). Jeiel is described as the "father of Gibeon," perhaps the founder of the Israelirish community there. This Abdon is described as brother to Ner, the grandfather of King Saul. ISBE Abdon (1).7

(3) One of the messengers sent by King Josiah to Huldah the prophetess (2 Chronicles 34:20); called Achbor in 2 Kings 22:12. ISBE Abdon (1).8

(4) One of many men of Benjamin mentioned as dwelling in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 8:23), possibly in Nehemiah's time, though the date is not clear. ISBE Abdon (1).9

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abdon (1).10

Abdon (2)

Abdon (2) - ab'-don (`abhdon, perhaps "service"): One of the four Levitical cities in the tribe of Asher (Joshua 21:30; 1 Chronicles 6:74). Probably the same with Ebron (in the King James Version "Hebron") in Joshua 19:28, where some copies have the reading Abdon. Now called Abdeh, a few miles from the Mediterranean and about fifteen miles south of Tyre. ISBE Abdon (2).2

Abed-nego

Abed-nego - a-bed'-ne-go (Hebrew and Aramaic `abhedh neghgo; Daniel 3:29, `abhedh negho'): According to many, the nego is an intentional corruption of Nebo, the name of a Babylonian god, arising from the desire of the Hebrew scribes to avoid the giving of a heathen name to a hero of their faith. The name, according to this view, would mean "servant of Nebo." Inasmuch as `abhedh is a translation of the Babylonian `arad, it seems ore probable that nego also must be a translation of some Babylonian word. The goddess Ishtar is by the Babylonians called "the morning star" and "the perfect light" (nigittu gitmaltu). The morning star is called by the Arameans nogah, "the shining one," a word derived from the root negah, the equivalent of the Babylonian nagu, "to shine." Abed-nego, according to this interpretation, would be the translation of Arad-Ishtar, a not uncommon name among the Assyrians and Babylonians. Canon Johns gives this as the name of more than thirty Assyrians, who are mentioned on the tablets cited by him in Vol. III of his great work entitled Assyrian Deeds and Documents. It means "servant of Ishtar." ISBE Abed-nego.2

Abed-nego was one of the three companions of Daniel, and was the name imposed upon the Hebrew Azariah by Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:7). Having refused, along with his friends, to eat the provisions of the king's table, he was fed and flourished upon pulse and water. Having successfully passed his examinations and escaped the death with which the wise men of Babylon were threatened, he was appointed at the request of Daniel along with his companions over the affairs of the province of Babylon (Daniel 2:1-49). Having refused to bow down to the image which Nebuehadnezzar had set up, he was cast into the burning fiery furnace, and after his triumphant delivery he was caused by the king to prosper in the province of Babylon (Daniel 3:1-30). The three friends are referred to by name in 1 Maccabees 2:59, and by implication in Hebrews 11:33-34. ISBE Abed-nego.3

R. Dick Wilson ISBE Abed-nego.4

Abel (1)

Abel (1) - a'-bel (hebhel; Abel; Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek Habel; etymology uncertain. Some translation "a breath," "vapor," "transitoriness," which are suggestive of his brief existence and tragic end; others take it to be a variant of Jabal, yabhal, "shepherd" or "herdman," Genesis 4:20. Compare Assyrian ablu and Babylonian abil, "son"): The second son of Adam and Eve. The absence of the verb harah (Genesis 4:2; compare verse Genesis 1:1-31) has been taken to imply, perhaps truly, that Cain and Abel were twins. ISBE Abel (1).2

1. A Shepherd: "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground," thus representing the two fundamental pursuits of civilized life, the two earliest subdivisions of the human race. On the Hebrew tradition of the superiority of the pastoral over agricultural and city life, see The Expositor T, V, 351 ff. The narrative may possibly bear witness to the primitive idea that pastoral life was more pleasing to Yahweh than husbandry. ISBE Abel (1).3

2. A Worshipper: "In process of time," the two brothers came in a solemn manner to sacrifice unto Yahweh, in order to express their gratitude to Him whose tenants they were in the land (Genesis 4:3-4. See SACRIFICE). How Yahweh signified His acceptance of the one offering and rejection of the other, we are not told. That it was due to the difference in the material of the sacrifice or in their manner of offering was probably the belief among the early Israelites, who regarded animal offerings as superior to cereal offerings. Both kinds, however, were fully in accord with Hebrew law and custom. It has been suggested that the Septuagint rendering of Genesis 4:7 makes Cain's offense a ritual one, the offering not being "correctly" made or rightly divided, and hence rejected as irregular. "If thou makest a proper offering, but dost not cut in pieces rightly, art thou not in fault? Be still!" The Septuagint evidently took the rebuke to turn upon Cain's neglect to prepare his offering according to strict ceremonial requirements. dieles (Septuagint in the place cited.), however, implies nathach (nattach), and would only apply to animal sacrifices. Compare Exodus 29:17; Leviticus 8:20; Judges 19:29; 1 Kings 18:23; and see COUCH. ISBE Abel (1).4

3. A Righteous Man: The true reason for the Divine preference is doubtless to be found in the disposition of the brothers (see CAIN). Well-doing consisted not in the outward offering (Genesis 4:7) but in the right state of mind and feeling. The acceptability depends on the inner motives and moral characters of the offerers. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent (abundant, pleiona) sacrifice than Cain" (Hebrews 11:4). The "more abundant sacrifice," Westcott thinks, "suggests the deeper gratitude of Abel, and shows a fuller sense of the claims of God" to the best. Cain's "works (the collective expression of his inner life) were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:12). "It would be an outrage if the gods looked to gifts and sacrifices and not to the soul" (Alcibiades II.149E.150A). Cain's heart was no longer pure; it had a criminal propensity, springing from envy and jealousy, which rendered both his offering and person unacceptable. His evil works and hatred of his brother culminated in the act of murder, specifically evoked by the opposite character of Abel's works and the acceptance of his offering. The evil man cannot endure the sight of goodness in another. ISBE Abel (1).5

4. A Martyr: Abel ranks as the first martyr (Matthew 23:35), whose blood cried for vengeance (Genesis 4:10; compare Revelation 6:9-10) and brought despair (Genesis 4:13), whereas that of Jesus appeals to God for forgiveness and speaks peace (Hebrews 12:24) and is preferred before Abel's. ISBE Abel (1).6

5. A Type: The first two brothers in history stand as the types and representatives of the two main and enduring divisions of mankind, and bear witness to the absolute antithesis and eternal enmity between good and evil. ISBE Abel (1).7

M. O. Evans ISBE Abel (1).8

Abel (2)

Abel (2) - a'-bel ('abhel, "meadow"): A word used in several compound names of places. It appears by itself as the name of a city concerned in the rebellion of Sheba (2 Samuel 20:14; compare 1 Samuel 6:18), though it is there probably an abridgment of the name Abel-beth-maacah. In 1 Samuel 6:18, where the Hebrew has "the great meadow," and the Greek "the great stone," the King James Version translates "the great stone of Abel." ISBE Abel (2).2

Abel-beth-maacah

Abel-beth-maacah - a'-bel-beth-ma'-a-ka ('abhel beth ma`akhah, "the meadow of the house of Maacah"): The name appears in this form in 1 Kings 15:20 and 2 Kings 15:29. In 2 Samuel 20:15 (Hebrew) it is Abel-beth-hammaacah (Maacah with the article). In 20:14 it appears as Beth-maacah, and in 20:14 and 18 as Abel. ISBE Abel-beth-maacah.2

In 2 Sam it is spoken of as the city, far to the north, where Joab besieged Sheba, the son of Bichri. In 2 Ki it is mentioned, along with Ijon and other places, as a city in Naphtali captured by Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria. The capture appears also in the records of Tiglath-pileser. In 1 Ki it is mentioned with Ijon and Dan and "all the land of Naphtali" as being smitten by Benhadad of Damascus in the time of Baasha. ISBE Abel-beth-maacah.3

In the account in Chronicles parallel to this last (2 Chronicles 16:4) the cities mentioned are Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim. Abel-maim is either another name for Abel-beth-maacah, or the name of another place in the same vicinity. ISBE Abel-beth-maacah.4

The prevailing identification of Abel-beth-maacah is with Abil, a few miles West of Dan, on a height overlooking the Jordan near its sources. The adjacent region is rich agriculturally, and the scenery and the water supply are especially fine. Abel-maim, "meadow of water," is not an inapt designation for it. ISBE Abel-beth-maacah.5

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abel-beth-maacah.6

Abel-cheramim

Abel-cheramim - a'-bel-ker'-a-mim ('abhel keramim, "meadow of vineyards"): A city mentioned in the Revised Version (British and American) in Judges 11:33, along with Aroer, Minnith, and "twenty cities," in summarizing Jephthah's campaign against the Ammonites. The King James Version translates "the plain of the vineyards." The site has not been identified, though Eusebius and Jerome speak of it as in their time a village about seven Roman miles from the Ammonite city of Rabbah. ISBE Abel-cheramim.2

Abel-maim

Abel-maim - a'-bel-ma'-im ('abhel mayim, "meadow of water"). ISBE Abel-maim.2

See ABEL-BETH-MAACAH. ISBE Abel-maim.3

Abel-meholah

Abel-meholah - a'-bel-me-ho'-lah ('abhel meholah, "meadow of dancing"): The residence of Elisha the prophet (1 Kings 19:16). When Gideon and his 300 broke their pitchers in the camp of Midian, the Midianites in their first panic fled down the valley of Jezreel and the Jordan "toward Zererah" (Judges 7:22). Zererah (Zeredah) is Zarethan (2 Chronicles 4:17; compare 1 Kings 7:46), separated from Succoth by the clay ground where Solomon made castings for the temple. The wing of the Midianites whom Gideon pursued crossed the Jordan at Succoth (Judges 8:4 ff). This would indicate that Abel-meholah was thought of as a tract of country with a "border," West of the Jordan, some miles South of Beth-shean, in the territory either of Issachar or West Manasseh. ISBE Abel-meholah.2

Abel-meholah is also mentioned in connection with the jurisdiction of Baana, one of Solomon's twelve commissary officers (1 Kings 4:12) as below Jezreel, with Beth-shean and Zarethan in the same list. ISBE Abel-meholah.3

Jerome and Eusebius speak of Abel-meholah as a tract of country and a town in the Jordan valley, about ten Roman miles South of Beth-shean. At just that point the name seems to be perpetuated in that of the Wady Malib, and Abel-meholah is commonly located near where that Wady, or the neighboring Wady Helweh, comes down into the Jordan valley. ISBE Abel-meholah.4

Presumably Adriel the Meholathite (1 Samuel 18:19; 2 Samuel 21:8) was a resident of Abel-meholah. ISBE Abel-meholah.5

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abel-meholah.6

Abel-mizraim

Abel-mizraim - a'-bel-miz'-ra-im ('abhel mitsrayim, "meadow of Egypt"): A name given to "the threshing floor of Atad," East of the Jordan and North of the Dead Sea, because Joseph and his funeral party from Egypt there held their mourning over Jacob (Genesis 50:11). The name is a pun. The Canaanite residents saw the 'ebhel, "the mourning," and therefore that place was called 'abhel mitsrayim. ISBE Abel-mizraim.2

It is remarkable that the funeral should have taken this circuitous route, instead of going directly from Egypt to Hebron. Possibly a reason may be found as we obtain additional details in Egyptian history. The explanations which consist in changing the text, or in substituting the North Arabian Mutsri for Mitsrayim, are unsatisfactory. ISBE Abel-mizraim.3

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abel-mizraim.4

Abel-shittim

Abel-shittim - a'-bel-shit'-tim ('abhel ha-shiTTim, "the meadow of the Acacias"): The name appears only in Numbers 33:49; but the name Shittim is used to denote the same locality (Numbers 25:1; Joshua 2:1; 3:1; Micah 6:5). The name always has the article, and the best expression of it in English would be "the Acacias." `The valley of the Acacias' (Joel 3:18 (4:18)) is, apparently, a different locality. ISBE Abel-shittim.2

For many weeks before crossing the Jordan, Israel was encamped in the vicinity of the Jordan valley, North of the Dead Sea, East of the river. The notices in the Bible, supplemented by those in Josephus and Eusebius and Jerome, indicate that the camping region was many miles in extent, the southern limit being Beth-jeshimoth, toward the Dead Sea, while Abel of the Acacias was the northern limit and the headquarters. The headquarters are often spoken of as East of the Jordan at Jericho (e.g. Numbers 22:1; 3, 63). During the stay there occurred the Balaam incident (Numbers 22:1-41 through Numbers 24:1-25), and the harlotry with Moab and Midian (Numbers 25:1-18) and the war with Midian (Numbers 31:1-54), in both of which Phinehas distinguished himself. It was from the Acacias that Joshua sent out the spies, and that Israel afterward moved down to the river for the crossing. Micah aptly calls upon Yahweh's people to remember all that happened to them from the time when they reached the Acacias to the time when Yahweh had brought them safely across the river to Gilgal. ISBE Abel-shittim.3

Josephus is correct in saying that Abel of the Acacias is the place from which the Deuteronomic law purports to have been given. In his time the name survived as Abila, a not very important town situated there. He says that it was "sixty furlongs from Abila to the Jordan," that is a little more than seven English miles (Ant., IV, viii, 1 and V, i, 1; BJ, IV, vii, 6). There seems to be a consensus for locating the site at Kefrein, near where the wady of that name comes down into the Jordan valley. ISBE Abel-shittim.4

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abel-shittim.5

Abez

Abez - a'-bez: Used in the King James Version (Joshua 19:20) for EBEZ, which see. ISBE Abez.2

Abgar; Abgarus; Abagarus

Abgar; Abgarus; Abagarus - ab'-gar, ab-ga'-rus, a-bag'-a-rus (Abgaros): Written also Agbarus and Augarus. A king of Edessa. A name common to several kings (toparchs) of Edessa, Mesopotamia. One of these, Abgar, a son of Uchomo, the seventeenth (14th?) of twenty kings, according to the legend (Historia Ecclesiastica, i.13) sent a letter to Jesus, professing belief in His Messiahship and asking Him to come and heal him from an incurable disease (leprosy?), inviting Him at the same time to take refuge from His enemies in his city, "which is enough for us both." Jesus answering the letter blessed him, because he had believed on Him without having seen Him, and promised to send one of His disciples after He had risen from the dead. The apostle Thomas sent Judas Thaddeus, one of the Seventy, who healed him (Cod. Apocrypha New Testament). ISBE Abgar; Abgarus; Abagarus.2

A. L. Breslich ISBE Abgar; Abgarus; Abagarus.3

Abhor

Abhor - ab-hor': "To cast away," "reject," "despise," "defy," "contemn," "loathe," etc. (1) Translated in the Old Testament from the following Hebrew words amongst others: (ba'ash), "to be or to become stinking" (1 Samuel 27:12; 2 Samuel 16:21); (ga`al), "to cast away as unclean," "to loathe"; compare Ezekiel 16:5 the King James Version; (quts), "to loathe," "to fear" (Exodus 1:12 m; 1 Kings 11:25; Isaiah 7:16); (shaqats), "to detest" (Psalms 22:24); (ta'abh), (ta`abh), "to contemn" (Deuteronomy 23:7); (dera'on), "an object of contempt," "an abhorring" (Isaiah 66:24; Daniel 12:2 margin). (2) Translated in the New Testament from the following Greek words: bdelussomai, which is derived from bdeo, "to stink" (Romans 2:22); apostugeo, derived from stugeo, "to hate," "to shrink from" (Romans 12:9). ISBE Abhor.2

A. L. Breslich ISBE Abhor.3

Abi (1)

Abi (1) - a'-bi ('abhi): The name of the mother of King Hezekiah, as given in 2 Kings 18:2. Most naturally explained as a contraction of Abijah ("Yahweh is a father," or "is my father"), found in the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 29:1. The spelling in the oldest translations seems to indicate that 'abhi is not a copyist's error, but a genuine contracted form. She is spoken of as the daughter of Zechariah, and was of course the wife of Ahaz. ISBE Abi (1).2

Abi (2)

Abi (2) - a'-bi, in the composition of names ('abhi, "father"): The Hebrew words 'abh, "father," and 'ach, "brother," are used in the forming of names, both at the beginning and at the end of words, e.g. Abram ("exalted one"), Joah ("Yahweh is brother"), Ahab ("father's brother"). At the beginning of a word, however, the modified forms 'abhi and 'achi are the ones commonly used, e.g. Ahimelech ("king's brother") and Abimelech (by the same analogy "king's father"). ISBE Abi (2).2

These forms have characteristics which complicate the question of their use in proper names. Especially since the publication in 1896 of Studies in Hebrew Proper Names, by G. Buchanan Gray, the attention of scholars has been called to this matter, without the reaching of any perfect consensus of opinion. ISBE Abi (2).3

The word 'abhi may be a nominative with an archaic ending ("father"), or in the construct state ("father-of"), or the form with the suffix ("my father"). Hence a proper name constructed with it may supposedly be either a clause or a sentence; if it is a sentence, either of the two words may be either subject or predicate. That is to say, the name Abimelech may supposedly mean either "father of a king," or "a king is father," or "a father is king," or "my father is king," or "a king is my father." Further, the clause "father of a king" may have as many variations of meaning as there are varieties of the grammatical genitive. Further still, it is claimed that either the word father or the word king may, in a name, be a designation of a deity. This gives a very large number of supposable meanings from which, in any case, to select the intended meaning. ISBE Abi (2).4

The older scholarship regarded all these names as construct clauses. For example, Abidan is "father of a judge." It explained different instances as being different varieties of the genitive construction; for instance, Abihail, "father of might," means mighty father. The woman's name Abigail, "father of exultation," denotes one whose father is exultant. Abishai, "father of Jesse," denotes one to whom Jesse is father, and so with Abihud, "father of Judah," Abiel, "father of God," Abijah, "father of Yahweh." See the cases in detail in Gesenius' Lexicon. ISBE Abi (2).5

The more recent scholarship regards most or all of the instances as sentences. In some cases it regards the second element in a name as a verb or adjective instead of a noun; but that is not important, inasmuch as in Hebrew the genitive construction might persist, even with the verb or adjective. But in the five instances last given the explanation, "my father is exultation," "is Jesse," "is Judah," "is God," "is Yahweh," certainly gives the meaning in a more natural way than by explaining these names as construct clauses. ISBE Abi (2).6

There is sharp conflict over the question whether we ought to regard the suffix pronoun as present in these names--whether the five instances should not rather be translated Yahweh is father, God is father, Judah is father, Jesse is father, exultation is father. The question is raised whether the same rule prevails when the second word is a name or a designation of Deity as prevails in other cases. Should we explain one instance as meaning "my father is Jesse," and another as "God is father"? ISBE Abi (2).7

A satisfactory discussion of this is possible only under a comprehensive study of Bible names. The argument is more or less complicated by the fact that each scholar looks to see what bearing it may have on the critical theories he holds. In the Hebrew Lexicon of Dr. Francis Brown the explanations exclude the construct theory; in most of the instances they treat a name as a sentence with "my father" as the subject; when the second part of the name is a designation of Deity they commonly make that the subject, and either exclude the pronoun or give it as an alternative. For most persons the safe method is to remember that the final decision is not yet reached, and to consider each name by itself, counting the explanation of it an open question. ISBE Abi (2).8

See NAMES, PROPER. ISBE Abi (2).9

The investigations concerning Semitic proper names, both in and out of the Bible, have interesting theological bearings. It has always been recognized that words for father and brother, when combined in proper names with Yah, Yahu, El, Baal, or other proper names of a Deity, indicated some relation of the person named, or of his tribe, with the Deity. It is now held, though with many differences of opinion, that in the forming of proper names many other words, e.g. the words for king, lord, strength, beauty, and others, are also used as designations of Deity or of some particular Deity; and that the words father, brother, and the like may have the same use. To a certain extent the proper names are so many propositions in theology. It is technically possible to go very far in inferring that the people who formed such names thought of Deity or of some particular Deity as the father, the kinsman, the ruler, the champion, the strength, the glory of the tribe or of the individual. In particular one might infer the existence of a widely diffused doctrine of the fatherhood of God. It is doubtless superfluous to add that at present one ought to be very cautious in drawing or accepting inferences in this part of the field of human study. ISBE Abi (2).10

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abi (2).11

Abia; Abiah

Abia; Abiah - a-bi'-a, a-bi'-ah: Variants for ABIJAH; which see. ISBE Abia; Abiah.2

Abi-albon

Abi-albon - ab-i-al'-bon, abi-al'-bon ('abhi `alebhon, meaning not known. Gesenius infers from the Arabic a stem which would give the meaning "father of strength," and this is at worst not quite so groundless as the conjectures which explain `alebhon as a textual misreading for 'el or ba`al): Abi-albon the Arbathite was one of David's listed heroes (2 Samuel 23:31), called Abiel the Arbathite in 1 Chronicles 11:32. Presumably he was from Beth-arabah (Joshua 15:6, 61; 18:22). ISBE Abi-albon.2

Abiasaph

Abiasaph - a-bi'-a-saf, ab-i-a'-saf ('abhi-'acaph, "my father has gathered"): A descendant of Kohath the son of Levi (Exodus 6:24; 1 Chronicles 6:23, 37 (8,22); 9:19). In Chronicles the name is 'ebh-yacaph, which seems to be a mere variant spelling. The Samaritan version has the same form in Exodus. The list in Exodus terminates with Abiasaph, who is to be regarded as the contemporary of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. The two lists in 1 Chronicles 6:1-81 lead up to the prophet Samuel and the singing companies which David is said to have organized. The list in 1 Chronicles 9:1-44 leads up to the Korahite porters of the time of Nehemiah. Apparently all the lists intentionally omit names, just names enough being given in each to indicate the line. ISBE Abiasaph.2

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abiasaph.3

Abiathar

Abiathar - a-bi'-a-thar, ab-i-a'-thar ('ebhyathar, "father of super-excellence," or, "the super-excellent one is father." With changed phraseology these are the explanations commonly given, though "a father remains" would be more in accord with the ordinary use of the stem yathar. The pious Abiathar was still conscious that he had a Father, even after the butchery of his human relatives): ISBE Abiathar.2

1. The Biblical Account: The Scriptures represent that Abiathar was descended from Phinehas the son of Eli, and through him from Ithamar the son of Aaron; that he was the son of Ahimelech the head priest at Nob who, with his associates, was put to death by King Saul for alleged conspiracy with David; that he had two sons, Ahimelech and Jonathan, the former of whom was, in Abiathar's lifetime, prominent in the priestly service (1 Samuel 21:1-9; 22:7 ff; 2 Samuel 8:17; 15:27 ff; 1 Chronicles 18:16; 3, 6, 31). ISBE Abiathar.3

See AHIMELECH; AHITUB. ISBE Abiathar.4

Abiathar escaped from the massacre of the priests at Nob, and fled to David, carrying the ephod with him. This was a great accession to David's strength. Public feeling in Israel was outraged by the slaughter of the priests, and turned strongly against Saul. The heir of the priesthood, and in his care the holy ephod, were now with David, and the fact gave to his cause prestige, and a certain character of legitimacy. David also felt bitterly his having been the unwilling cause of the death of Abiathar's relatives, and this made his heart warm toward his friend. Presumably, also, there was a deep religious sympathy between them. ISBE Abiathar.5

Abiathar seems to have been at once recognized as David's priest, the medium of consultation with Yahweh through the ephod (1 Samuel 22:20-23; 6, 9; 1 Samuel 30:7-8). He was at the head of the priesthood, along with Zadok (1 Chronicles 15:11), when David, after his conquests (1 Chronicles 13:5; compare 2 Samuel 6:1-23), brought the ark to Jerusalem. The two men are mentioned together as high priests eight times in the narrative of the rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel 15:24 ff), and are so mentioned in the last list of David's heads of departments (2 Samuel 20:25). Abiathar joined with Adonijah in his attempt to seize the throne (1 Kings 1:7-42), and was for this deposed from the priesthood, though he was treated with consideration on account of his early comradeship with David (1 Kings 2:26-27). Possibly he remained high priest emeritus, as Zadok and Abiathar still appear as priests in the lists of the heads of departments for Solomon's reign (1 Kings 4:4). Particularly apt is the passage in Psalms 55:12-14, if one regards it as referring to the relations of David and Abiathar in the time of Adonijah. ISBE Abiathar.6

There are two additional facts which, in view of the close relations between David and Abiathar, must be regarded as significant. One is that Zadok, Abiathar's junior, is uniformly mentioned first, in all the many passages in which the two are mentioned together, and is treated as the one who is especially responsible. Turn to the narrative, and see how marked this is. The other similarly significant fact is that in certain especially responsible matters (1 Chronicles 24:1-31; 18:16; 2 Samuel 8:17) the interests of the line of Ithamar are represented, not by Abiathar, but by his son Ahimelech. There must have been something in the character of Abiathar to account for these facts, as well as for his deserting David for Adonijah. To sketch his character might be a work for the imagination rather than for critical inference; but it seems clear that though he was a man worthy of the friendship of David, he yet had weaknesses or misfortunes that partially incapacitated him. ISBE Abiathar.7

The characteristic priestly function of Abiathar is thus expressed by Solomon: "Because thou barest the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father" (1 Kings 2:26). By its tense the verb denotes not a habitual act, but the function of ark-bearing, taken as a whole. Zadok and Abiathar, as high priests, had charge of the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:11). We are not told whether it was again moved during the reign of David. Necessarily the priestly superintendence of the ark implies that of the sacrifices and services that were connected with the ark. The details in Kings indicate the existence of much of the ceremonial described in the Pentateuch, while numerous additional Pentateuchal details are mentioned in Ch. ISBE Abiathar.8

A priestly function much emphasized is that of obtaining answers from God through the ephod (1 Samuel 23:6, 9; 30:7). The word ephod (see 1 Samuel 2:18; 2 Samuel 6:14) does not necessarily denote the priestly vestment with the Urim and Thummim (e.g. Leviticus 8:7-8), but if anyone denies that this was the ephod of the priest Abiathar, the burden of proof rests upon him. This is not the place for inquiring as to the method of obtaining divine revelations through the ephod. ISBE Abiathar.9

Abiathar's landed estate was at Anathoth in Benjamin (1 Kings 2:26), one of the cities assigned to the sons of Aaron (Joshua 21:18). ISBE Abiathar.10

Apart from the men who are expressly said to be descendants of Aaron, this part of the narrative mentions priests three times. David's sons were priests (2 Samuel 8:18). This is of a piece with David's carrying the ark on a new cart (2 Samuel 6:1-23), before he had been taught by the death of Uzza. "And also Ira the Jairite was priest to the king" (2 Samuel 20:26 the English Revised Version). "And Zabud the son of Nathan was priest, friend of the king" (1 Kings 4:5 the English Revised Version). These instances seem to indicate that David and Solomon had each a private chaplain. As to the descent and function of these two "priests" we have not a word of information, and it is illegitimate to imagine details concerning them which bring them into conflict with the rest of the record. ISBE Abiathar.11

2. Critical Opinions Concerning Abiathar: No one will dispute that the account thus far given is that of the Bible record as it stands. Critics of certain schools, however, do not accept the facts as thus recorded. If a person is committed to the tradition that the Deuteronomic and the priestly ideas of the Pentateuch first originated some centuries later than Abiathar, and if he makes that tradition the standard by which to test his critical conclusions, he must of course regard the Biblical account of Abiathar as unhistorical. Either the record disproves the tradition or the tradition disproves the record. There is no third alternative. The men who accept the current critical theories understand this, and they have two ways of defending theories against the record. In some instances they use devices for discrediting the record; in other instances they resort to harmonizing hypotheses, changing the record so as to make it agree with theory. Without here discussing these matters, we must barely note some of their bearings in the case of Abiathar. ISBE Abiathar.12

For example, to get rid of the testimony of Jesus (Mark 2:26) to the effect that Abiathar was high priest and that the sanctuary at Nob was "the house of God," it is affirmed that either Jesus or the evangelist is here mistaken. The proof alleged for this is that Abiathar's service as priest did not begin till at least a few days later than the incident referred to. This is merely finical, though it is an argument that is sometimes used by some scholars. ISBE Abiathar.13

Men affirm that the statements of the record as to the descent of the line of Eli from Ithamar are untrue; that on the contrary we must conjecture that Abiathar claimed descent from Eleazar, his line being the alleged senior line of that family; that the senior line became extinct at his death, Zadok being of a junior line, if indeed he inherited any of the blood of Aaron. In making such affirmations as these, men deny the Bible statements as resting on insufficient evidence, and substitute for them other statements which, confessedly, rest on no evidence at all. ISBE Abiathar.14

All such procedure is incorrect. Many are suspicious of statements found in the Books of Chronicles; that gives them no right to use their suspicions as if they were perceptions of fact. Supposably one may think the record unsatisfactory, and may be within his rights in thinking so, but that does not authorize him to change the record except on the basis of evidence of some kind. If we treat the record of the times of Abiathar as fairness demands that a record be treated in a court of justice, or a scientific investigation, or a business proposition, or a medical case, we will accept the facts substantially as they are found in Samuel and Kings and Chronicles and Mk. ISBE Abiathar.15

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abiathar.16

Abib

Abib - a'-bib ('abhibh, young ear of barley or other grain, Exodus 9:31; Leviticus 2:14): The first month of the Israelite year, called Nisan in Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7, is Abib in Exodus 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; compare Deuteronomy 16:1. Abib is not properly a name of a month, but part of a descriptive phrase, "the month of young ears of grain." This may indicate the Israelite way of determining the new year (Exodus 12:2), the year beginning with the new moon nearest or next preceding this stage of the growth of the barley. The year thus indicated was practically the same with the old Babylonian year, and presumably came in with Abraham. The Pentateuchal laws do not introduce it, though they define it, perhaps to distinguish it from the Egyptian wandering year. ISBE Abib.2

See CALENDAR. ISBE Abib.3

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abib.4

Abida

Abida - a-bi'-da ('abhidha`, "father of knowledge," or "my father knows"): A son of Midian and grandson of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:4; 1 Chronicles 1:33). Abidah in the King James Version in Gen. ISBE Abida.2

Abidah

Abidah - a-bi'-dah: Used in the King James Version in Genesis 25:4 for ABIDA, which see. ISBE Abidah.2

Abidan

Abidan - a-bi'-dan ('abhidhan, "father is judge"): Abidan, son of Gideoni, was a "prince" of the children of Benjamin (Numbers 2:22; 10:24). He was chosen to represent his tribe at the census in the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 1:11). When, on the erection, anointing and sanctification of the Tabernacle, the heads of Israel offered, Abidan offered on the ninth day (Numbers 7:60, 65). ISBE Abidan.2

Abide

Abide - a-bid': Old English word signifying progressively to "await," "remain," "lodge," "sojourn," "dwell," "continue," "endure"; represented richly in Old Testament (King James Version) by 12 Hebrew and in New Testament by as many Greek words. In the Revised Version (British and American) displaced often by words meaning "to sojourn," "dwell," "encamp." The Hebrew and Greek originals in most frequent use are yashabh, "to dwell"; meno, "to remain." "Abide (sit or tarry) ye here" (Genesis 22:5); "The earth abide (continueth) forever" (Ecclesiastes 1:4); "Who can abide (bear or endure) the day?" (Malachi 3:2); "Afflictions abide (await) me" (Acts 20:23). The past tense abode, in frequent use, has the same meaning. "His bow abide (remained) in strength" (Genesis 49:24); "There he abide" (dwelt) (John 10:40). ISBE Abide.2

Abode, as a noun (Greek mone) twice in New Testament: "make our abide with him" (John 14:23); "mansions," the Revised Version, margin "abiding-places" John 14:2). The soul of the true disciple and heaven are dwelling-places of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. ISBE Abide.3

Dwight M. Pratt ISBE Abide.4

Abiel

Abiel - a'-bi-el, ab'-yel, a-bi'-el ('abhi'el, "my father is God," or "God is father"): ISBE Abiel.2

(1) A descendant of Benjamin the son of Jacob. Father of Kish the father of King Saul, and also, apparently, the father of Ner the father of Saul's general, Abner (1 Samuel 9:1; 14:51). ISBE Abiel.3

(2) One of David's mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:32), called ABI-ALBON, which see, in 2 Samuel 23:31. ISBE Abiel.4

Abiezer

Abiezer - ab-i-e'-zer, a-bi-e'-zer ('abhi`ezer, "father of help," or "my father is help." Iezer, Iezerite (in the King James Version Jeezer, Jeezerite), is Abiezer with the letter beth omitted): ISBE Abiezer.2

(1) A descendant of Joseph the son of Jacob, and head of one of the families of Manasseh that settled West of the Jordan (Numbers 26:30; Joshua 17:1-6; 1 Chronicles 7:14-19). As he was great uncle to Zelophehad's daughters, who brought a case before Moses (Numbers 36:1-13), he must have been an old man at the time of the conquest. He was the son of Gilead the son of Machir, in the sense of being a more remote descendant, for Machir had sons before the death of Joseph (Genesis 50:23). The Machir that possessed Gilead and Bashan because he was "a man of war" was the Manassite family of Machir, with Jair as its great general (Joshua 17:1; Joshua 13:30-31; Numbers 32:39-41; Deuteronomy 3:12-15). To Abiezer and other sons of Gilead territory was assigned West of the Jordan. ISBE Abiezer.3

In later generations the name survived as that of the family to which Gideon belonged, and perhaps also of the region which they occupied (Judges 6:34; 8:2). They are also called Abiezrites (Judges 6:11, 24; 8:32). The region was West of Shechem, with Ophrah for its principal city. ISBE Abiezer.4

(2) One of David's mighty men, "the Anathothite" (2 Samuel 23:27; 1 Chronicles 11:28), who was also one of David s month-by-month captains, his month being the ninth (1 Chronicles 27:12). ISBE Abiezer.5

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abiezer.6

Abiezrite

Abiezrite - ab-i-ez'-rit, a-bi-ez'-rit: The Gentile adjective of ABIEZER, which see. ISBE Abiezrite.2

Abigail; Abigal

Abigail; Abigal - ab'-i-gal, ab'-i-gal ('abhighayil, or 'abhighal, three times, or 'abhughayil, once, or 'abhighayil, once; "father," or "cause of joy"): ISBE Abigail; Abigal.2

(1) The wife of Nabal, a rich shepherd of southern Judea, whose home was Maon (1 Samuel 25:2-3); shortly after Nabal's death she became the wife of David. Nabal grazed his flocks in or along the Southern Wilderness, where David and his men protected them from marauding tribes, so that not a sheep was lost. When Nabal was sheep-shearing and feasting at Carmel (in Judea), David sent messengers requesting provisions for himself and men. But Nabal, who was a churlish fellow, answered the messengers insultingly and sent them away empty-handed. David, angered by such mean ingratitude, gathered his 400 warriors and set out to destroy Nabal and all he had (1 Samuel 25:22). Meanwhile Abigail, a woman "of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance" (1 Samuel 25:3), heard of the rebuff given the men of David by her husband; and fearing what vengeance David in his wrath might work, she gathered a considerable present of food (1 Samuel 25:18), and hastened to meet the approaching soldiers. Her beautiful and prudent words, as also her fair face, so won David that he desisted from his vengeful purpose and accepted her gift (1 Samuel 25:32-35). When Abigail told Nabal of his narrow escape, he was stricken with fear, and died ten days afterward. Shortly after this David took Abigail to be his wife, although about the same time, probably a little before, he had also taken Ahinoam (1 Samuel 25:43); and these two were with him in Gath (1 Samuel 27:3). After David became king in Hebron, Abigail bore him his second son, Chileab (2 Samuel 3:3) or Daniel, as he is called in 1 Chronicles 3:1. ISBE Abigail; Abigal.3

(2) Sister of David and mother of Amasa, at one time commander of David's army (1 Chronicles 2:16-17; Abigal 2 Samuel 17:25). In the first passage she is called David's sister, along with Zeruiah; while in the second she is called the "daughter of Nahash." Several explanations of this connection with Nahash have been suggested, any one of which would be sufficient to remove contradiction: (1) That Nahash was another name of Jesse, as in Isaiah 14:29, mish-shoresh nachash yetse' (Qimchi); (2) That Nahash was the wife of Jesse and by him mother of Abigail, which is least probable; (3) That Nahash, the father of Abigail and Zeruiah, having died, his widow became the wife of Jesse, and bore sons to him; (4) That the text of 2 Samuel 17:25 has been corrupted, "daughter of Nahash" having crept into the text. At all events she was the sister of David by the same mother. ISBE Abigail; Abigal.4

Edward Mack ISBE Abigail; Abigal.5

Abihail

Abihail - ab'-i-hal ('abhichayil; in some manuscripts 'abhihayil, when feminine, but best reading is the former: "father, or cause, of strength"): Five persons in the Old Testament are called by this name: (1) A Levite and the father of Zuriel, who in the Wilderness was head of the house of Merari, Levi's youngest son (Numbers 3:35); (2) The wife of Abishur, a man of the tribe of Judah, in the line of Hazron and Jerahmeel (1 Chronicles 2:29); (3) One of the heads of the tribe of Gad, who dwelt in Gilead of Bashan (1 Chronicles 5:14); (4) Either a wife of Rehoboam, king of Judah, or mother of his wife Mahalath, according to the interpretation of the text (2 Chronicles 11:18); probably the latter view is correct, since there is no conjunction in the text, and since (2 Chronicles 11:19) contemplates only one wife as already mentioned. This being true, she was the wife of Jerimath, a son of David, and daughter of Eliab, David's eldest brother. It is interesting to note this frequent intermarriage in the Davidic house; (5) Father of Queen Esther, who became wife of Xerxes (Biblical Ahasuerus) king of Persia, after the removal of the former queen, Vashti, (Esther 2:15; 9:29). He was uncle of Mordecai. ISBE Abihail.2

Edward Mack ISBE Abihail.3

Abihu

Abihu - a-bi'-hu ('abhihu', "father he is," or "my father he is"): Second son of Aaron, the high priest (Exodus 6:23). With his older brother Nadab he "died before Yahweh," when the two "offered strange fire" (Leviticus 10:1-2). It may be inferred from the emphatic prohibition of wine or strong drink, laid upon the priests immediately after this tragedy, that the two brothers were going to their priestly functions in an intoxicated condition (Leviticus 10:8-11). Their death is mentioned three times in subsequent records (Numbers 3:4; 26:61; 1 Chronicles 24:2). ISBE Abihu.2

Abihud

Abihud - a-bi'-hud ('abhihudh, "father of majesty," or "my father is majesty," though some regard the second part as the proper name Judah): The son of Bela the oldest son of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:3). ISBE Abihud.2

Abijah

Abijah - a-bi'-ja ('abhiyah or 'abhiyahu (2 Chronicles 13:20-21), "my father is Yahweh," or "Yahweh is father"): The name of six or more men and two women in the Old Testament. ISBE Abijah.2

(1) The seventh son of Becher the son of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 7:8). ISBE Abijah.3

(2) The second son of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Chronicles 6:28 (1 Chronicles 6:13)). ISBE Abijah.4

(3) The eighth among "the holy captains and captains of God" appointed by lot by David in connection with the priestly courses (1 Chronicles 24:10). Compare "Zacharias of the course of Abijah" (Luke 1:5). ISBE Abijah.5

(4) A son of Jeroboam I of Israel (1 Kings 14:1-18). The narrative describes his sickness and his mother's visit to the prophet Ahijah. He is spoken of as the one member of the house of Jeroboam in whom there was "found some good thing toward Yahweh." With his death the hope of the dynasty perished. ISBE Abijah.6

(5) The son and successor of Rehoboam king of Judah (1 Chronicles 3:10; 2 Chronicles 11:20 through 2 Chronicles 14:1). As to the variant name Abijam (1 Kings 14:3115:1; 1 Kings 15:7-8) see ABIJAM. ISBE Abijah.7

The statements concerning Abijah's mother afford great opportunity for a person who is interested in finding discrepancies in the Bible narrative. She is said to have been Maacah the daughter of Absalom (1 Kings 15:2; 2 Chronicles 11:20-21, 22). As more than 50 years elapsed between the adolescence of Absalom and the accession of Rehoboam, the suggestion at once emerges that she may have been Absalom's daughter in the sense of being his granddaughter. But Maacha the daughter of Absalom was the mother of Asa, Abijam's son and successor (1 Kings 15:10, 13; 2 Chronicles 15:16). Further we are explicitly told that Absalom had three sons and one daughter (2 Samuel 14:27). It is inferred that the three sons died young, inasmuch as Absalom before his death built him a monument because he had no son (2 Samuel 18:18). The daughter was distinguished for her beauty, but her name was Tamar, not Maacah. Finally, the narrative tells us that the name of Abijah's mother was "Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah" (2 Chronicles 13:2). ISBE Abijah.8

It is less difficult to combine all these statements into a consistent account than it would be to combine some pairs of them if taken by themselves. When all put together they make a luminous narrative, needing no help from conjectural theories of discrepant sources or textual errors. It is natural to understand that Tamar the daughter of Absalom married Uriel of Gibeah; that their daughter was Maacah, named for her great-grandmother (2 Samuel 3:3; 1 Chronicles 3:2); that Micaiah is a variant of Maacah, as Abijah is of Abijam. Maacah married Rehoboam, the parties being second cousins on the father's side; if they had been first cousins perhaps they would not have married. Very likely Solomon, through the marriage, hoped to conciliate an influential party in Israel which still held the name of Absalom in esteem; perhaps also he hoped to supplement the moderate abilities of Rehoboam by the great abilities of his wife. She was a brilliant woman, and Rehoboam's favorite (2 Chronicles 11:21). On Abijah's accession she held at court the influential position of king's mother; and she was so strong that she continued to hold it, when, after a brief reign, Abijah was succeeded by Asa; though it was a position from which Asa had the authority to depose her (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chronicles 15:16). ISBE Abijah.9

The account in Chronicles deals mainly with a decisive victory which, it says, Abijah gained over northern Israel (2 Chronicles 13:1-22), he having 400,000 men and Jeroboam 800,000, of whom 500,000 were slain. It is clear that these numbers are artificial, and were so intended, whatever may be the key to their meaning. Abijah's speech before the battle presents the same view of the religious situation which is presented in Kings and Amos and Hosea, though with fuller priestly details. The orthodoxy of Abijah on this one occasion is not in conflict with the representation in Kings that he followed mainly the evil ways of his father Rehoboam. In Chronicles coarse luxury and the multiplying of wives are attributed to both father and son. ISBE Abijah.10

(6) A priest of Nehemiah's time, who sealed the covenant (Nehemiah 10:7). Conjecturally the same with the one mentioned in Nehemiah 12:4, 17. ISBE Abijah.11

(7) The wife of Judah's grandson Hezron, to whom was traced the origin of Tekoa (1 Chronicles 2:24). ISBE Abijah.12

(8) The mother of King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:1), called Abi in 2 Ki. ISBE Abijah.13

See ABI. ISBE Abijah.14

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abijah.15

Abijam

Abijam - a-bi'-jam ('abhiyam, "father of sea," or, "father of west"). The name given in Kings (1 Kings 14:3115:1; 1 Kings 15:7-8) to the son of Rehoboam who succeeded him as king of Judah. ISBE Abijam.2

See ABIJAH. ISBE Abijam.3

The name has puzzled scholars. Some have proposed, by adding one letter, to change it into "father of his people." Others have observed that the Greek rendering in Kings is Abeiou. Either the Hebrew copy used by the Greek translator read 'abhiyahu, Abijah, or else the translator substituted the form of the name which was to him more familiar. A few existing copies of the Hebrew have the reading Abijah, and Matthew 1:7 presupposes that as the Old Testament reading. So they infer that Abijam in Ki is an erroneous reading for Abijah. This seems at present to be the prevailing view, and it is plausible. It would be more convincing, however, if the name occurred but once in the passage in Kings, instead of occurring five times. It is improbable that a scribe would repeat the same error five times within a few sentences, while a translator, if he changed the name once, would of course change it the other four times. ISBE Abijam.4

Exploration has revealed the fact that the whole region near the eastern end of the Mediterranean was known as "the west." "Father of the west" is not an inapt name for Rehoboam to give to the boy who, he expects, will inherit the kingdom of Solomon and David. The effect of the secession of the ten tribes was to make that name a burlesque, and one does not wonder that it was superseded by Abijah, "My father is Yahweh." ISBE Abijam.5

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abijam.6

Abila

Abila - ab'-i-la. ISBE Abila.2

See ABILENE. ISBE Abila.3

Abilene

Abilene - a-bi-le'-ne (Abeilene, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus; Abilene, Codex Sinaiticus): Mentioned in Luke 3:1 as the tetrarchy of Lysanias at the time when John the Baptist began his ministry. The district derived its name from Abila, its chief town, which was situated, according to the Itinerarium Antonini, 18 Roman miles from Damascus on the way to Heliopolis (Baalbec). This places it in the neighborhood of the village of Suk Wady Barada (see ABANAH), near which there are considerable ancient remains, with an inscription in Greek stating that a "freedman of Lysanias the tetrarch" made wall and built a temple, and another in Latin recording the repair of the road "at the expense of the Abilenians." The memory of the ancient name probably survives in the Moslem legend which places the tomb of Abel in a neighboring height where there are ruins of a temple. Josephus calls this Abila, he Lusaniou, literally, "the Abilene of Lysanius," thus distinguishing it from other towns of the same name, and as late as the time of Ptolemy (circa 170 AD) the name of Lysanias was associated with it. ISBE Abilene.2

The territory of Abilene was part of the Iturean Kingdom, which was broken up when its king, Lysanias, was put to death by M. Antonius, circa 35 BC. The circumstances in which Abilene became distinct tetrarchy are altogether obscure, and nothing further is known of the tetrarch Lysanias (Ant., XIX, v, 1; XX, ii, 1). In 37 AD the tetrarchy, along with other territories, was granted to Agrippa I, after whose death in 44 AD it was administered by procurators until 53 AD, when Claudius conferred it again, along with neighboring territories, upon Agrippa II. On Agrippa's death, toward the close of the 1st century, his kingdom was incorporated in the province of Syria. ISBE Abilene.3

See LYSANIAS. ISBE Abilene.4

C. H. Thomson ISBE Abilene.5

Ability

Ability - a-bil'-i-ti (dunamis, or ischus): Variously used of resources, material, mental and spiritual; e.g. of wealth, "gave after their ability" (Ezra 2:69); of mental endowment, "ability to stand in the king's palace" (Daniel 1:4); of talents and character, "several ability" (Matthew 25:15); of spiritual strength, "minister, as of the ability which God giveth" (the King James Version 1 Peter 4:11). It thus may signify either possessions, native capacity, or gifts of the Holy Spirit. ISBE Ability.2

Abimael

Abimael - a-bim'-a-el, ab-i-ma'-el ('abhima'el, "my father is God," or "God is father"): The ninth of the thirteen sons of Joktan, who was descendant of Shem, and son of Eber, and brother of Peleg in whose days the earth was divided (Genesis 10:25-29; 1 Chronicles 1:19-23). Like some of the other names in this list, the name is linguistically south Arabian, and the tribes indicated are south Arabians. On the Arabic elements in Hebrew proper names see Halevy, Melanges d'epigraphie et d'archeologie semitiques;ZDMG , especially early in 1883; D. H. Muller, Epigraphie Denkmaler aus Arabien; Glaser, Skizze der Gesch. und Geog. Arabiens; and by index Hommel, Ancient Hebrew Tradition; and Gray, Hebrew Proper Names; and F. Giesebrecht, Die alttestamentliche Schatzung des Gottesnamens. ISBE Abimael.2

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abimael.3

Abimelech

Abimelech - a-bim'-e-lek ('abhimelekh, "father of a king"): A name borne by five Old Testament persons. ISBE Abimelech.2

(1) The name of two kings of Philistia; the first was a contemporary of Abraham, the second, probably son of the former, was king in the days of Isaac. It is quite possible that Abimelech was the royal title rather than the personal name, since in the title of Psalms 34:1-22 we find it applied to the king of Gath, elsewhere known by his personal name, Achish (1 Samuel 27:2-3). Shortly after the destruction of Sodom Abraham journeyed with his herds and flocks into the extreme Southeast country of Palestine (Genesis 20:1-18). While sojourning at Gerar, the city of Abimelech, king of the Philistine country, he made believe that Sarah was his sister (Genesis 20:2), and Abimelech took her, intending to make her one of his wives. But God rebuked him in a dream, besides sending barrenness on the women of his household (Genesis 20:3, 17). After Abimelech had reproved Abraham most justly for the deception, he dealt generously with him, loading him with presents and granting him the liberty of the land (Genesis 20:14-15). When contention had arisen between the servants of the two men over the wells of water the two men made a covenant at a well, which took its name, Beersheba, from this fact of covenantmaking (Genesis 21:31-32). ISBE Abimelech.3

(2) Nearly a century later than the events connected with the first Abimelech, as outlined above, a second Abimelech, king of the Philistines, is mentioned in relations with Isaac (Genesis 26:1-35), who in time of grievous famine went down from his home, probably at Hebron, to Gerar. Fearing for his life because of his beautiful wife, Rebekah, he called her his sister, just as Abraham had done with reference to Sarah. Neither Abimelech nor any of his people took Rebekah to wife--quite a variation from the Abrahamic incident; but when the falsehood was detected, he upbraided Isaac for what might have happened, continuing nevertheless to treat him most graciously. Isaac continued to dwell in the vicinity of Gerar, until contention between his herdsmen and those of Abimelech became too violent; then he moved away by stages, reopening the wells digged (dug) by his father (Genesis 26:18-22). Finally, a covenant was made between Abimelech and Isaac at Beersheba, just ,as had been made between Abraham and the first Abimelech (Genesis 26:26-33). The two kings of Philistia were probably father and son. ISBE Abimelech.4

(3) The title of Psalms 34:1-22 mentions another Abimelech, who in all probability is the same as Achish king of Gath (1 Samuel 21:10 through 1 Samuel 22:1); with whom David sought refuge when fleeing from Saul, and with whom he was dwelling at the time of the Philistine invasion of Israel, which cost Saul his kingdom and his life (1 Samuel 27:1-12). It appears from this that Abimelech was the royal title, and not the personal name of the Philistine kings. ISBE Abimelech.5

(4) A son of Gideon (Judges 9:1-57) who aspired to be king after the death of his father, and did rule three years (Judges 9:22). He first won the support of the members of his mother's family and their recommendation of himself to all Israel (Judges 9:3-4). He then murdered all the sons of his father, seventy in number, at Ophrah, the family home in the tribe of Manasseh, Jotham the youngest son alone escaping (Judges 9:5). After this Abimelech was made ruler by an assembly of the people at Shechem. An insurrection led by Gaal the son of Ebed having broken out in Shechem, Abimelech, although he succeeded in capturing that city, was wounded to death by a mill-stone, which a woman dropped from the wall upon his head, while he was storming the citadel of Thebez, into which the defeated rebels had retreated, after that city also had been taken (Judges 9:50-53). Finding that he was mortally wounded and in order to avoid the shame of death at a woman's hand, he required his armor-bearer to kill him with his sword (Judges 9:54). His cruel treatment of the Shechemites (Judges 9:46-49), when they took refuge from him in their strong tower, was a just judgment for their acquiescence in his crimes (Judges 9:20, 57); while his own miserable death was retribution for his bloody deeds (Judges 9:56). ISBE Abimelech.6

(5) A priest in the days of David; a descendant of Ithamar and Eli, and son of Abiathar (1 Chronicles 18:16). In the Septuagint and in 1 Chronicles 24:1-31 he is called Ahimelech; but is not to be confused with Ahimelech, the father of Abiathar, and therefore his grandfather. He shared with Zadok, of the line of Ithamar, the priestly office in the reign of David (1 Chronicles 24:31). ISBE Abimelech.7

Edward Mack ISBE Abimelech.8

Abinadab

Abinadab - a-bin'-a-dab ('abhinadhabh, "father of willingness," or, "my father is willing." This is according to the ordinary usage of the second word in the name--"willing" rather than "munificent" or "noble"): ISBE Abinadab.2

(1) The man in whose house the men of Kiriath-jearim placed the ark, after its return from the land of the Philistines, his house being either in Gibeah of Benjamin or "in the hill" (1 Samuel 7:1; 2 Samuel 6:3-4). To account for the ambiguity note that gibh`ah means hill, and that the place-name Gibeah ordinarily has the definite article. It is natural to think that Abinadab was himself a man of Kiriath-jearim, though the account does not explicitly say so. The record is that the men of Kiriath-jearim were summoned to take charge of the ark at a time when no one else dared to have it (1 Samuel 6:20-21); and the implication seems to be that they had no option to refuse. Possibly this was due to their being Gibeonites, and hereditary "bondmen" of "the house of my God" (Joshua 9:17, 23). However this may be, they "sanctified" Abinadab's son Eleazar to have charge of the ark. According to the Hebrew and some of the Greek copies, the ark was in Gibeah in the middle of the reign of King Saul (1 Samuel 14:18). ISBE Abinadab.3

About a century later, according to the Bible numbers, David went with great pomp to Kiriath-jearim, otherwise known as Baalah or Baale-judah, to bring the ark from Kiriath-jearim, out of the house of Abinadab in the hill (or, in Gibeah), and place it in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 13:1-14; 2 Samuel 6:1-23). The new cart was driven by two descendants of Abinadab. There may or may not have been another Abinadab then living, the head of the house. ISBE Abinadab.4

(2) The second of the eight sons of Jesse, one of the three who were in Saul's army when Goliath gave his challenge (1 Samuel 16:8; 17:13; 1 Chronicles 2:13). ISBE Abinadab.5

(3) One of the sons of King Saul (1 Chronicles 8:33; 9:39; 10:2; 1 Samuel 31:2). He died in the battle of Gilboa, along with his father and brothers. ISBE Abinadab.6

(4) In 1 Kings 4:11 the King James Version has "the son of Abinadab," where the Revised Version (British and American) has BEN-ABINADAB, which see. ISBE Abinadab.7

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abinadab.8

Abinoam

Abinoam - a-bin'-o-am, ab-i-no'-am ('abhino`am, "father of pleasantness," or, "my father is pleasantness"): A man of Kedesh-naphtali, the father of Barak who defeated the army of Jabin and Sisera (Judges 4:6, 12; 1, 12). ISBE Abinoam.2

Abiram

Abiram - a-bi'-ram ('abhiram, "exalted father," or, "my father is an exalted one"): ISBE Abiram.2

(1) The son of Eliab the son of Pallu the son of Reuben (Numbers 26:5 ff; Deuteronomy 11:6). In company with his brother Dathan and Korah the Levite and others, he disputed the authority of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (Numbers 16:1-50 through Numbers 17:1-13; Numbers 26:1-65; Deuteronomy 11:6; Psalms 106:17). Two hundred and fifty followers of Korah perished by fire at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Dathan and Abiram refused to come to the tent of meeting, at the summons of Moses; and the earth opened where their tents were, and swallowed them and their families and their goods. ISBE Abiram.3

See KORAH. ISBE Abiram.4

(2) The firstborn son of Hiel the Bethelite, who rebuilt Jericho in the time of Ahab (1 Kings 16:34; compare Joshua 6:26). This incident has recently acquired a new interest owing to discoveries made at Gezer and Megiddo concerning foundation sacrifices as in ancient times offered in Palestine. One should not be too positive in making statements concerning this, but the following is a possible interpretation of the record. The curse pronounced by Joshua on the man who should rebuild Jericho was of a piece with the other details, Jericho being treated exceptionally, as a city placed under the ban. The language of Joshua's curse is capable of being translated: `Cursed be the man before Yahweh who shall .... build .... Jericho; (who) shall lay its foundation in his firstborn, and set up its gates in his youngest.' According to this interpretation the death of the builder's eldest and youngest sons is not spoken of as the penalty involved in the curse, but as an existing horrible custom, mentioned in order to give solemnity to the diction of the curse. The writer in Kings cites the language of the curse by Joshua. The context in which he mentions the affair suggests that he regards Hiel's conduct as exceptionally flagrant in its wickedness. Hiel, in defiance of Yahweh, not only built the city, but in building it revived the horrible old Canaanite custom, making his first-born son a foundation sacrifice, and his youngest son a sacrifice at the completion of the work. ISBE Abiram.5

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abiram.6

Abiron

Abiron - a-bi'-ron (Abeiron): ISBE Abiron.2

(1) The Septuagint form (Ecclesiasticus 45:18 the King James Version) of Abiram, one of the sons of Eliab, who, with his brother Dathan, and with one of the same tribe, joined the conspiracy against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16:1, 12, 24-25, 27; 26:9; Deuteronomy 11:6; Psalms 106:17). ISBE Abiron.3

(2) The eldest son of Hiel, the Bethelite, who died prematurely, thus fulfilling the doom pronounced on the posterity of him who should undertake to rebuild Jericho (1 Kings 16:34). ISBE Abiron.4

See ABIRAM. ISBE Abiron.5

Abisei

Abisei - ab-i-se'-i. ISBE Abisei.2

See ABISSEI. ISBE Abisei.3

Abishag

Abishag - ab'-i-shag, a-bi'-shag ('abhishagh, apparently, "father of wandering," that is, "cause of wandering," or "my father wanders"): The Shunammite woman who became nurse to King David (1 Kings 1:1-533-1 Kings 4:1-34, 15; 1 Kings 2:17, 21-22). She was chosen for the service with great care on account of her youth and beauty and physical vigor. She ministered to the king, that is, waited on him as personal attendant and nurse. She also "cherished" him in his feebleness--gave to him through physical contact the advantage of her superabundant vitality. This was a mode of medical treatment recommended by the servants of the king, and it appears to have been not wholly unsuccessful. She had an intimate knowledge of the condition of David, and was present at the interview of Bathsheba with David which resulted in the placing of Solomon on the throne. If that act had been questioned she would have been a most important witness. By reason of this and of her personal charms, she might become a strong helper to any rival of Solomon who should intrigue to supplant him. Adonijah sought Abishag in marriage. On the basis of this and of such other evidence as may supposably have been in his possession, Solomon put Adonijah to death as an intriguer. ISBE Abishag.2

Willis J. Beecher ISBE Abishag.3

Abishai

Abishai - ab'-i-shi, a-bi'-shi ('abhishai, in Ch 'abhshai; meaning is doubtful, probably "my father is Jesse," BDB): Son of Zeruiah, David's sister, and one of the three famous brothers, of whom Joab and Asahel were the other two (2 Samuel 2:18). He was chief of the second group of three among David's "mighty men" (2 Samuel 23:18). He first appears with David, who was in the Wilderness of Ziph, to escape Saul. When David called for a volunteer to go down into Saul's camp by night, Abishai responded, and counseled the killing of Saul when they came upon the sleeping king (1 Samuel 26:6-9). In the skirmish between the men of Ishbosheth and the men of David at Gibeon, in which Asahel was killed by Abner, Abishai was present (2 Samuel 2:18, 24). He was with and aided Joab in the cruel and indefensible murder of Abner, in revenge for their brother Asahel (2 Samuel 3:30). In David's campaign against the allied Ammonites and Syrians, Abishai led the attack upon the Ammonites, while Joab met the Syrians; the battle was a great victory for Israel (2 Samuel 10:10-14). He was always faithful to David, and remained with him, as he fled from Absalom. When Shimei, of the house of Saul, cursed the fleeing king, Abishai characteristically wished to kill him at once (2 Samuel 16:8-9); and when the king returned victorious Abishai advised the rejection of Shimei's penitence, and his immediate execution (2 Samuel 19:21). In the battle with Absalom's army at Mahanaim Abishai led one division of David's army, Joab and Ittai commanding the other two (2 Samuel 18:2). With Joab he put down the revolt against David of Sheba, a man of Benjamin (2 Samuel 20:6, 10), at which Joab treacherously slew Amasa his cousin and rival, as he had likewise murdered Abner, Abishai no doubt being party to the crime. In a battle with the Philistines late in his life, David was faint, being now an old man, and was in danger of death at the hands of the Philistine giant Ishbihenob when Abishai came to his rescue and killed the giant (2 Samuel 21:17). In the list of David's heroes (2 Samuel 23:1-39) Abishai's right to leadership of the "second three" is based upon his overthrowing three hundred men with his spear (2 Samuel 23:18). He does not appear in the struggle of Adonijah against Solomon, in which Joab was the leader, and therefore is supposed to have died before that time. ISBE Abishai.2

He was an impetuous, courageous man, but less cunning than his more famous brother Joab, although just as cruel and relentless toward rival or foe. David understood and feared their hardness and cruelty. Abishai's best trait was his unswerving loyalty to his kinsman, David. ISBE Abishai.3

Edward Mack ISBE Abishai.4

Abishalom

Abishalom - a-bish'-a-lom: Variant of ABSALOM, which see. ISBE Abishalom.2

Abishua

Abishua - a-bish'-u-a, abi-shoo'-a ('abhishua`, uncertain, perhaps "father of wealth," or "my father is wealth"): ISBE Abishua.2

(1) A son of Bela the son of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:4). ISBE Abishua.3

(2) The son of Phinehas, who was grandson to Aaron (1 Chronicles 6:4-5, 50; Ezra 7:5). ISBE Abishua.4

Abishur

Abishur - a-bi'-shur ('abhishur, "my father is a wall"): Great-grandson of Jerahmeel and Atarah, Jerahmeel being great-grandson of Judah. Abishur was son of Shammai, and was the husband of Abihail, and the father of sons (1 Chronicles 2:28-29). ISBE Abishur.2

Abissei

Abissei - a-bis'-e-i (King James Version Abisei): An ancestor of Ezra (2 Esdras 1:2) = Abisue (1 Esdras 8:2) and Abishua (1 Chronicles 6:4 ff; Ezra 7:5). ISBE Abissei.2

Abisue

Abisue - a-bis'-u-e (Codex Vaticanus, Abisai; Codex Alexandrinus, Abisouai; the King James Version Abisum = Abishua (1 Chronicles 6:4 ff; Ezra 7:5) and Abissei (2 Esdras 1:2)): An ancestor of Ezra (1 Esdras 8:2). ISBE Abisue.2

Abisum

Abisum - ab'-i-sum. ISBE Abisum.2

See ABISUE (Apocrypha). ISBE Abisum.3

Abital

Abital - ab'-i-tal, a-bi'-tal ('abhiTal, "my father is dew"): One of the wives of King David. In the duplicated list (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Chronicles 3:3) in which the sons born to David in Hebron are mentioned and numbered, the fifth is said to be Shephatiah the son of Abital. ISBE Abital.2

Abitub

Abitub - ab'-i-tub, a-bi'-tub ('abhiTubh, "father of goodness," or, "my father is goodness"): In the King James Version Ahitub. A descendant of Benjamin and son of Shaharaim and Hushim, born in the field of Moab (1 Chronicles 8:11). ISBE Abitub.2

Abiud

Abiud - a-bi'-ud ('Abioud, perhaps "my father is majesty"; see ABIHUD): Mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:13 and not elsewhere) as the son of Zerubbabel. ISBE Abiud.2

See GENEALOGY. ISBE Abiud.3

Abject

Abject - ab'-jekt: Only as a noun, and but once (Psalms 35:15) for nekheh, literally, "smitten ones," i.e. "men of the lowest grade" (Hengstenberg, Delitzsch), "the rabble," defined by the succeeding clause as those of such inferior station that they were unknown. ISBE Abject.2

Able

Able - a'-b'-l: The Greek dunamai, "to have power," may refer either to inherent strength, or to the absence of external obstacles, or to what may be allowable or permitted. The Greek ischuo, as in Luke 13:24; John 21:6, refers always to the first of the above meanings. The use of the word as an adjective in the King James Version of 2 Corinthians 3:6, is misleading, and has been properly changed in the Revised Version (British and American) into "sufficient as ministers," i.e. "hath fitted us to be ministers." ISBE Able.2

Ablution

Ablution - ab-lu'-shun: The rite of ablution for religious purification seems to have been practiced in some form in all lands and at all times. The priests of Egypt punctiliously practiced it (Herodotus ii.37). The Greeks were warned "never with unwashed hands to pour out the black wine at morn to Zeus" (Hesiod, Opera et Dies v.722; compare Homer, Iliad vi.266; Od. iv.759). The Romans also observed it (Virgil, Aeneid ii.217); as did and do Orientals in general (compare Koran, Sura 5:8, etc.). ISBE Ablution.2

Ablutions for actual or ritual purification form quite a feature of the Jewish life and ceremonial. No one was allowed to enter a holy place or to approach God by prayer or sacrifice without having first performed the rite of ablution, or "sanctification," as it was sometimes called (Exodus 19:10; 1 Samuel 16:5; 2 Chronicles 29:5; compare Josephus, Ant,XIV , xi, 2 Chronicles 5:1-14). ISBE Ablution.3

Three kinds of washing are recognized in Biblical and rabbinical law: (1) washing of the hands, (2) washing of the hands and feet, and (3) immersion of the whole body in water. (1 and 2 = Greek nipto; 3 = Greek louo). ISBE Ablution.4

Something more than an echo of a universal practice is found in the Scriptures. The rabbis claimed to find support for ceremonial hand-washing in Leviticus 15:11. David's words, "I will wash my hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Yahweh" (Psalms 26:6; compare Psalms 73:13), are regarded by them as warranting the inference that ablution of the hands was prerequisite to any holy act. This is the form of ablution, accordingly, which is most universally and scrupulously practiced by Jews. Before any meal of which bread forms a part, as before prayer, or any act of worship, the hands must be solemnly washed in pure water; as also after any unclean bodily function, or contact with any unclean thing. Such handwashings probably arose naturally from the fact that the ancients ate with their fingers, and so were first for physical cleansing only; but they came to be ceremonial and singularly binding. The Talmud abundantly shows that eating with unwashed hands came to be reckoned a matter of highest importance--"tantamount to committing an act of unchastity, or other gross crime." Akiba, when in prison, went without water given him to quench his thirst, rather than neglect the rite of ablution (`Er. 216). Only in extreme cases, according to the Mishna, as on a battlefield, might people dispense with it. Simeon, the Essene, "the Saint" (Toseph. Kelim i.6), on entering the holy place without having washed his hands, claiming that he was holier than the high priest because of his ascetic life, was excommunicated, as undermining the authority of the Elders (compare `Eduy. 5 6). ISBE Ablution.5

Washing of the hands and feet is prescribed by the Law only for those about to perform priestly functions (compare Koran, Sura 5 8, in contrast: "When ye prepare yourselves for prayer, wash your faces and hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles"; Hughes, Dict. of Islam). For example, whenever Moses or Aaron or any subordinate priest desired to enter the sanctuary (Tabernacle) or approach the altar, he was required to wash his hands and feet from the layer which stood between the Tabernacle and the altar (Exodus 30:19; 40:31). The same rule held in the Temple at Jerusalem. The washing of the whole body, however, is the form of ablution most specifically and exactingly required by the Law. The cases in which the immersion of the whole body is commanded, either for purification or consecration, are very numerous. For example, the Law prescribed that no leper or other unclean person of the seed of Aaron should eat of holy flesh until he had washed his whole body in water (Leviticus 22:4-6); that anyone coming in contact with a person having an unclean issue, or with any article used by such a one, should wash his whole body (Leviticus 15:5-10); that a sufferer from an unclean issue (Leviticus 15:16, 18); a menstruous woman (2 Samuel 11:2, 4), and anyone who touched a menstruous woman, or anything used by her, should likewise immerse the whole person in water (Leviticus 15:19-27): that the high priest who ministered on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:24-28), the priest who tended the red heifer (Numbers 19:7-8, 19), and every priest at his installation (Exodus 29:4; 40:12) should wash his whole body in water. Compare `divers baptisms' (immersions) in Hebrews 9:10, and see Broadus on Matthew 15:2-20 with footnote. (For another view on bathing see Kennedy inHDB , I, 257 v.) ISBE Ablution.6

Bathing in the modern and non-religious sense is rarely mentioned in the Scriptures (Exodus 2:5 Pharaoh's daughter; 2 Samuel 11:2 the Revised Version (British and American) Bathsheba, and the interesting case 1 Kings 22:38). Public baths are first met with in the Greek period--included in the "place of exercise" (1 Maccabees 1:14), and remains of such buildings from the Roman period are numerous. Recently a remarkable series of bath-chambers have been discovered at Gezer, in Palestine, in connection with a building which is supposed to be the palace built by Simon Maccabeus (Kennedy (illust. in PEFS, 1905, 294 f)). ISBE Ablution.7

The rite of ablution was observed among early Christians also. Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, X, 4.40) tells of Christian churches being supplied with fountains or basins of water, after the Jewish custom of providing the laver for the use of the priests. The Apostolical Constitutions (VIII.32) have the rule: "Let all the faithful .... when they rise from sleep, before they go to work, pray, after having washed themselves" nipsamenoi. ISBE Ablution.8

The attitude of Jesus toward the rabbinical law of ablution is significant. Mk (7:3) prepares the way for his record of it by explaining, `The Pharisees and all the Jews eat not except they wash their hands to the wrist (pugme). (See LTJM ,II , 11). According to Matthew 15:1-20 and Mark 7:1-23 Pharisees and Scribes that had come from Jerusalem (i.e. the strictest) had seen some of Jesus' disciples eat bread with unwashed hands, and they asked Him: "Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread." Jesus' answer was to the Jews, even to His own disciples, in the highest degree surprising, paradoxical, revolutionary (compare Matthew 12:8). They could not but see that it applied not merely to hand-washing, but to the whole matter of clean and unclean food; and this to them was one of the most vital parts of the Law (compare Acts 10:14). Jesus saw that the masses of the Jews, no less than the Pharisees, while scrupulous about ceremonial purity, were careless of inward purity. So here, as in the Sermon on the Mount, and with reference to the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1 ff), He would lead them into the deeper and truer significance of the Law, and thus prepare the way for setting aside not only the traditions of the eiders that made void the commandments of God, but even the prescribed ceremonies of the Law themselves, if need be, that the Law in its higher principles and meanings might be "fulfilled." Here He proclaims a principle that goes to the heart of the whole matter of true religion in saying: "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites" (Mark 7:6-13)--you who make great pretense of devotion to God, and insist strenuously on the externals of His service, while at heart you do not love Him, making the word of God of none effect for the sake of your tradition! ISBE Ablution.9

LITERATURE. ISBE Ablution.10

For list of older authorities see McClintock and Strong, Cyclopedia; Nowack, Biblische Archaeologie,II , 275-99; and Spitzer, Ueber Baden und Bader bei den alten Hebraern, 1884. ISBE Ablution.11

George B. Eager ISBE Ablution.12

Abner

Abner - ab'-ner ('abhner; in 1 Samuel 14:50 the Hebrew has the fuller form, 'abhiner, Abiner; compare Abiram by the side of Abram; meaning, "my father is a lamp"): Captain of the host under Saul and Ishbosheth (Eshbaal). He was Saul's cousin; Ner the father of Abner and Kish the father of Saul being brothers, the sons of Abiel (1 Samuel 14:50 f). In 1 Chronicles 8:33; 9:39 the text appears to be faulty; read: And Ner begat Abner, and Kish begat Saul. According to 1 Chronicles 27:21 Abner had a son by the name of Jaasiel. ISBE Abner.2

Abner was to Saul what Joab was to David. Despite the many wars waged by Saul, we hear little of Abner during Saul's lifetime. Not even in the account' of the battle of Gilboa is mention made of him. Yet both his high office and his kinship to the king must have brought the two men in close contact. On festive occasions it was the custom of Abner to sit at table by the king's side (1 Samuel 20:25). It was Abner who introduced the young David fresh from his triumph over Goliath to the king's court (so according to the account in 1 Samuel 17:57). We find Abner accompanying the king in his pursuit of David (1 Samuel 26:5 ff). Abner is rebuked by David for his negligence in keeping watch over his master (ibid., 15). ISBE Abner.3

Upon the death of Saul, Abner took up the cause of the young heir to the throne, Ishbosheth, whom he forthwith removed from the neighborhood of David to Mahanaim in the East-Jordanic country. There he proclaimed him king over all Israel. By the pool of Gibeon he and his men met Joab and the servants of David. Twelve men on each side engaged in combat which ended disastrously for Abner who fled. He was pursued by Asahel, Joab's brother, whom Abner slew. Though Joab and his brother Abishai sought to avenge their brother's death on the spot, a truce was effected; Abner was permitted to go his way after three hundred and threescore of his men had fallen. Joab naturally watched his opportunity. Abner and his master soon had a quarrel over Saul's concubine, Rizpah, with whom Abner was intimate. It was certainly an act of treason which Ishbosheth was bound to resent. The disgruntled general made overtures to David; he won over the tribe of Benjamin. With twenty men of them he came to Hebron and arranged with the king of Judah that he would bring over to his side all Israel. He was scarcely gone when Joab learned of the affair; without the knowledge of David he recalled him to Hebron where he slew him, "for the blood of Asahel his brother." David mourned sincerely the death of Abner. "Know ye not," he addressed his servants, "that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?" He followed the bier in person. Of the royal lament over Abner a fragment is quoted: ISBE Abner.4

"Should Abner die as a fool dieth? ISBE Abner.5

Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: ISBE Abner.6

As a man falleth before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall." ISBE Abner.7

(See 2 Samuel 3:6-38.) The death of Abner, while it thus cannot in any wise be laid at the door of David, nevertheless served his purposes well. The backbone of the opposition to David was broken, and he was soon proclaimed as king by all Israel. ISBE Abner.8

Max L. Margolis ISBE Abner.9

Abode

Abode - a-bod'. ISBE Abode.2

See ABIDE. ISBE Abode.3

Abolish

Abolish - a-bol'-ish (chathath, "to be broken down," "made void," "My righteousness shall not be abolished" (Isaiah 51:6), i.e. as shown in God's faithfulness to His promises; machah, "to erase," "blot out," "that your works may be abolished" (Ezekiel 6:6) katargeo, "to render inoperative," "bring to nought," "make of no effect," "when he shall have abolished all rule" (1 Corinthians 15:24), every power opposed to God's kingdom; "having abolished in his flesh the enmity" (Ephesians 2:15)): By His death, Christ did away with the race separation due to historic ordinances and ceremonial laws (as of circumcision and uncircumcision); through the cross He wrought the reconciliation, and secured that common access to the Father by which the union is maintained. ISBE Abolish.2

"Our Saviour Christ Jesus .... abolished death" (2 Timothy 1:10). Men still die, "it is appointed unto men" (Hebrews 9:27), but the fear of death as having power to terminate or affect our personal existence and our union with God, as a dreadful stepping out into the unknown and unknowable (into Sheol of the impenetrable gloom), and as introducing us to a final and irreversible judgment, has been removed. Christ has taken out of it its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55 f) and all its hurtful power (Hebrews 2:14); has shown it to be under His control (Revelation 1:18), brought to light the incorruptible life beyond, and declared the ultimate destruction of death (1 Corinthians 15:26; compare Revelation 20:14). The Greek (katargeitai) indicates that the process of destruction was then going on. ISBE Abolish.3

M. O. Evans ISBE Abolish.4

Abomination

Abomination - a-bom-i-na'-shun (piggul, to`ebhah, sheqets (shiqquts)): Three distinct Hebrew words are rendered in the English Bible by "abomination," or "abominable thing," referring (except in Genesis 43:32; 46:34) to things or practices abhorrent to Yahweh, and opposed to the ritual or moral requirements of His religion. It would be well if these words could be distinguished in translation, as they denote different degrees of abhorrence or loathsomeness. ISBE Abomination.2

The word most used for this idea by the Hebrews and indicating the highest degree of abomination is to`ebhah, meaning primarily that which offends the religious sense of a people. When it is said, for example, "The Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians," this is the word used; the significance being that the Hebrews were repugnant to the Egyptians as foreigners, as of an inferior caste, and especially as shepherds (Genesis 46:34). ISBE Abomination.3

The feeling of the Egyptians for the Greeks was likewise one of repugnance. Herodotus (ii.41) says the Egyptians would not kiss a Greek on the mouth, or use his dish, or taste meat cut with the knife of a Greek. ISBE Abomination.4

Among the objects described in the Old Testament as "abominations" in this sense are heathen gods, such as Ashtoreth (Astarte), Chemosh, Milcom, the "abominations" of the Zidonians (Phoenicians), Moabites, and Ammonites, respectively (2 Kings 23:13), and everything connected with the worship of such gods. When Pharaoh, remonstrating against the departure of the children of Israel, exhorted them to offer sacrifices to their God in Egypt, Moses said: "Shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians (i.e. the animals worshipped by them which were taboo, to`ebhah, to the Israelites) before their eyes, and will they not stone us?" (Exodus 8:26). ISBE Abomination.5

It is to be noted that, not only the heathen idol itself, but anything offered to or associated with the idol, all the paraphernalia of the forbidden cult, was called an "abomination," for it "is an abomination to Yahweh thy God" (Deuteronomy 7:25-26). The Deuteronomic writer here adds, in terms quite significant of the point of view and the spirit of the whole law: `Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thy house and thus become a thing set apart (cherem = tabooed) like unto it; thou shalt utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is a thing set apart' (tabooed). To`ebhah is even used as synonymous with "idol" or heathen deity, as in Isaiah 44:19; Deuteronomy 32:16; 2 Kings 23:13; and especially Exodus 8:22 ff. ISBE Abomination.6

Everything akin to magic or divination is likewise an abomination to`ebhah; as are sexual transgressions (Deuteronomy 22:5; 23:18; 24:4), especially incest and other unnatural offenses: "For all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you" (Leviticus 18:27; compare Ezekiel 8:15). It is to be noted, however, that the word takes on in the later usage a higher ethical and spiritual meaning: as where "divers measures, a great and a small," are forbidden (Deuteronomy 25:14-16); and in Proverbs where "lying lips" (Deuteronomy 12:22), "the proud in heart" (Deuteronomy 16:5), "the way of the wicked" (Deuteronomy 15:9), "evil devices" (Deuteronomy 15:23), and "he that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous" (Deuteronomy 17:15), are said to be an abomination in God's sight. At last prophet and sage are found to unite in declaring that any sacrifice, however free from physical blemish, if offered without purity of motive, is an abomination: `Bring no more an oblation of falsehood--an incense of abomination it is to me' (Isaiah 1:13; compare Jeremiah 7:10). "The sacrifice of the wicked" and the prayer of him "that turneth away his ear from hearing the law," are equally an abomination (see Proverbs 15:8; 21:27; 28:9). ISBE Abomination.7

Another word rendered "abomination" in the King James Version is sheqets or shiqquts. It expresses generally a somewhat less degree of horror or religious aversion than [to`ebhah], but sometimes seems to stand about on a level with it in meaning. In Deuteronomy 14:3, for example, we have the command, "Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing," as introductory to the laws prohibiting the use of the unclean animals (see CLEAN; UNCLEANNESS), and the word there used is [to`ebhah]. But in Leviticus 11:10-13, 20, 23, 41-42; Isaiah 66:17; and in Ezekiel 8:10 sheqets is the word used and likewise applied to the prohibited animals; as also in Leviticus 11:43 sheqets is used when it is commanded, "Ye shall not make yourselves abominable." Then sheqets is often used parallel to or together with to`ebhah of that which should be held as detestable, as for instance, of idols and idolatrous practices (see especially Deuteronomy 29:17; Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 4:1; 13:27; 16:18; Ezekiel 11:18-21; Ezekiel 20:7-8). It is used exactly as [to`ebhah] is used as applied to Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, which is spoken of as the detestable thing sheqets of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5). Still even in such cases to`ebhah seems to be the stronger word and to express that which is in the highest degree abhorrent. ISBE Abomination.8

The other word used to express a somewhat kindred idea of abhorrence and translated "abomination" in the King James Version is piggul; but it is used in the Hebrew Bible only of sacrificial flesh that has become stale, putrid, tainted (see Leviticus 7:18; 19:7; Ezekiel 4:14; Isaiah 65:4). Driver maintains that it occurs only as a "technical term for such state sacrificial flesh as has not been eaten within the prescribed time," and, accordingly, he would everywhere render it specifically "refuse meat." Compare lechem megho'al, "the loaths ome bread" (from ga'al, "to loathe") Malachi 1:7. A chief interest in the subject for Christians grows out of the use of the term in the expression "abomination of desolation" (Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14), which see. ISBE Abomination.9

See also ABHOR. ISBE Abomination.10

LITERATURE. ISBE Abomination.11

Commentators at the place Rabbinical literature in point. Driver; Weiss; Gratz, Gesch. der Juden, IV, note 15. ISBE Abomination.12

George B. Eager ISBE Abomination.13

Abomination of Desolation

Abomination of Desolation - des-o-la'-shun: The Hebrew root for abomination is shaqats, "to be filthy," "to loathe," "to abhor," from which is derived shiqquts, "filthy," especially "idolatrous." This word is used to describe specific forms of idolatrous worship that were specially abhorrent, as of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5, 7); of the Moabites (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13). When Daniel undertook to specify an abomination so surpassingly disgusting to the sense of morality and decency, and so aggressive against everything that was godly as to drive all from its presence and leave its abode desolate, he chose this as the strongest among the several synonyms, adding the qualification "that maketh desolate" (Daniel 11:31; 12:11), Septuagint bdel-ug-ma er-e-mo-se-os. The same noun, though in the plural, occurs in Deuteronomy 29:17; 2 Kings 23:24; Isaiah 66:3; Jeremiah 4:1; 7:30; 13:27; 32:34; Ezekiel 20:7-8, 30; Daniel 9:27; Hosea 9:10; Zechariah 9:7. The New Testament equivalent of the noun is bdel-ug-ma = "detestable," i.e. (specially) "idolatrous." Alluding to Daniel, Christ spoke of the "abomination of desolation" (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14). ISBE Abomination of Desolation.2

1. The Historical Background: Since the invasion of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the Jewish people, both of the Northern and of the Southern kingdom, had been without political independence. From the Chaldeans the rulership of Judea had been transferred to the Persians, and from the Persians, after an interval of 200 years, to Alexander the Great. From the beginning of the Persian sovereignty, the Jews had been permitted to organize anew their religious and political commonwealth, thus establishing a state under the rulership of priests, for the high priest was not only the highest functionary of the cult, but also the chief magistrate in so far as these prerogatives were not exercised by the king of the conquering nation. Ezra had given a new significance to the Torah by having it read to the whole congregation of Israel and by his vigorous enforcement of the law of separation from the Gentiles. His emphasis of the law introduced the period of legalism and finical interpretation of the letter which called forth some of the bitterest invectives of our Saviour. Specialists of the law known as "scribes" devoted themselves to its study and subtle interpretation, and the pious beheld the highest moral accomplishment in the extremely conscientious observance of every precept. But in opposition to this class, there were those who, influenced by the Hellenistic culture, introduced by the conquests of Alexander the Great, were inclined to a more "liberal" policy. Thus, two opposing parties were developed: the Hellenistic, and the party of the Pious, or the Chasidim, chacidhim (Hasidaeans, 1 Maccabees 2:42; 7:13), who held fast to the strict ideal of the scribes. The former gradually came into ascendancy. Judea was rapidly becoming Hellenistic in all phases of its political, social and religious life, and the "Pious" were dwindling to a small minority sect. This was the situation when Antiochus Epiphanes set out to suppress the last vestige of the Jewish cult by the application of brute force. ISBE Abomination of Desolation.3

2. Antiochus Epiphanes: Antiochus IV, son of Antiochus the Great, became the successor of his brother, Seleucus IV, who had been murdered by his minister, Heliodorus, as king of Syria (175-164 BC). He was by nature a despot; eccentric and unreliable; sometimes a spendthrift in his liberality, fraternizing in an affected manner with those of lower station; sometimes cruel and tyrannical, as witness his aggressions against Judea. Polybius (26 10) tells us that his eccentric ideas caused some to speak of him as a man of pure motive and humble character, while others hinted at insanity. The epithet Epiphanes is an abbreviation of theos epiphanes, which is the designation given himself by Antiochus on his coins, and means "the god who appears or reveals himself." Egyptian writers translate the inscription, "God which comes forth," namely, like the burning sun, Horos, on the horizon, thus identifying the king with the triumphal, appearing god. When Antiochus Epiphanes arose to the throne, Onias III, as high priest, was the leader of the old orthodox party in Judea; the head of the Hellenists was his own brother Jesus, or, as he preferred to designate himself, Jason, this being the Greek form of his name and indicating the trend of his mind. Jason promised the king large sums of money for the transfer of the office of high priest from his brother to himself and the privilege of erecting a gymnasium and a temple to Phallus, and for the granting of the privilege "to enroll the inhabitants of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch." Antiochus gladly agreed to everything. Onias was removed, Jason became high priest, and henceforth the process of Hellenizing Judea was pushed energetically. The Jewish cult was not attacked, but the "legal institutions were set aside, and illegal practices were introduced" (2 Maccabees 4:11). A gymnasium was erected outside the castle; the youth of Jerusalem exercised themselves in the gymnastic art of the Greeks, and even priests left their services at the altar to take part in the contest of the palaestra. The disregard of Jewish custom went so far that many artificially removed the traces of circumcision from their bodies, and with characteristic liberality, Jason even sent a contribution to the sacrifices in honor of Heracles on the occasion of the quadrennial festivities in Tyre. ISBE Abomination of Desolation.4

3. The Suppression of the Jewish Cult: Under these conditions it is not surprising that Antiochus should have had both the inclination and the courage to undertake the total eradication of the Jewish religion and the establishment of Greek polytheism in its stead. The observance of all Jewish laws, especially those relating to the Sabbath and to circumcision, were forbidden under pain of death. The Jewish cult was set aside, and in all cities of Judea, sacrifices must be brought to the pagan deities. Representatives of the crown everywhere enforced the edict. Once a month a search was instituted, and whoever had secreted a copy of the Law or had observed the rite of circumcision was condemned to death. In Jerusalem on the 15th of Chislev of the year 145 aet Sel, i.e. in December 168 BC, a pagan altar was built on the Great Altar of Burnt Sacrifices, and on the 25th of Chislev, sacrifice was brought on this altar for the first time (1 Maccabees 1:54, 59). This evidently was the "abomination of desolation." The sacrifice, according to 2macc was brought to the Olympian Zeus, to whom the temple of Jerusalem had been dedicated. At the feast of Dionysus, the Jews were obliged to march in the Bacchanalian procession, crowned with laurel leaves. Christ applies the phrase to what was to take place at the advance of the Romans against Jerusalem. They who would behold the "abomination of desolation" standing in the holy place, He bids flee to the mountains, which probably refers to the advance of the Roman army into the city and temple, carrying standards which bore images of the Roman gods and were the objects of pagan worship. ISBE Abomination of Desolation.5

Frank E. Hirsch ISBE Abomination of Desolation.6

Abomination, Birds of

Abomination, Birds of - Leviticus 11:13-19: "And these ye shall have in abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the osprey, and the kite, and the falcon after its kind, every raven after its kind, and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, and the horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture, and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat." Deuteronomy 14:12-18 gives the glede in addition. ISBE Abomination, Birds of.2

Each of these birds is treated in order in this work. There are two reasons why Moses pronounced them an abomination for food. Either they had rank, offensive, tough flesh, or they were connected with religious superstition. The eagle, gier-eagle, osprey, kite, glede, falcon, raven, night-hawk, sea-mew, hawk, little owl, cormorant, great owl, horned owl, pelican and vulture were offensive because they were birds of prey or ate carrion or fish until their flesh partook of the odor of their food. Young ostriches have sweet, tender flesh and the eggs are edible also. In putting these birds among the abominations Moses must have been thinking of grown specimens. (Ostriches live to a remarkable age and on account of the distances they cover, and their speed in locomotion, their muscles become almost as hard as bone.) There is a trace of his early Egyptian training when he placed the stork and the heron on this list. These birds, and the crane as well, abounded in all countries known at that time and were used for food according to the superstitions of different nations. These three were closely related to the ibis which was sacred in Egypt and it is probable that they were protected by Moses for this reason, since they were eaten by other nations at that time and cranes are used for food today by natives of our southeastern coast states and are to be found in the markets of our western coast. The veneration for the stork that exists throughout the civilized world today had its origin in Palestine. Noting the devotion of mated pairs and their tender care for the young the Hebrews named the bird chacidhah, which means kindness. Carried down the history of ages with additions by other nations, this undoubtedly accounts for the story now universal, that the stork delivers newly-born children to their homes; so the bird is loved and protected. One ancient Roman writer, Cornelius Nepos, recorded that in his time both crane and storks were eaten; storks were liked the better. Later, Pliny wrote that no one would touch a stork, but everyone was fond of crane. In Thessaly it was a capital crime to kill a stork. This change from regarding the stork as a delicacy to its protection by a death penalty merely indicates the hold the characteristics of the bird had taken on people as it became better known, and also the spread of the regard in which it was held throughout Palestine. The hoopoe (which see) was offensive to Moses on account of extremely filthy nesting habits, but was considered a great delicacy when captured in migration by residents of southern Europe. ISBE Abomination, Birds of.3

See also ABOMINATION; BIRDS, UNCLEAN. ISBE Abomination, Birds of.4

Gene Stratton-Porter ISBE Abomination, Birds of.5

Abound; Abundance; Abundant; Abundantly

Abound; Abundance; Abundant; Abundantly - a-bound', a-bun'-dans, a-bun'-dant, a-bun'-dant-li: These words represent in the English Versions of the Bible a considerable variety of different words in the Hebrew and Greek original. In the Old Testament they most frequently stand for some form of the stem rabh, signifying "to cast together," "to increase." In Proverbs 8:24 the primary idea is "to be heavy" (root: kabhadh); in Deuteronomy 33:19 and Job 22:11 it is "to overflow" shapha`; in Job 36:31 it is "to plait together," "to augment," "to multiply" (makhbir from ka-bhar); in Isaiah 47:9 it is "strength" `otsmah; in 1 Kings 18:41 it is "tumult," "crowd" hamon; in Ecclesiastes 5:12 it is "to fill to satiety" (Revised Version (British and American) "fulness"); in Isaiah 15:7 it is "excellence" yithrah and in Isaiah 66:11 "a full breast" ziz; in Jeremiah 33:6 it is "copiousness" (`athereth from `athar). In several passages (e.g. Ezekiel 16:49; Psalms 105:30; Isaiah 56:12) the Revised Version (British and American) gives other and better renderings than the King James Version. In the New Testament perissos, perisseuo, perisseia, etc., are the usual words for "abundant," "abound," "abundance," etc. (the adjective signifies "exceeding some number or measure"). A slight formal difference of conception may be noted in pleonazo, which suggests that the abundance has resulted from augmentation. In Romans 5:20 the two words stand in the closest connection: `Where sin abounded (by its increase) grace abounded more exceedingly (was rich beyond measure).' In Mark 12:44; Luke 21:4; 2 Corinthians 8:20; 12:7; Revelation 18:3 the Revised Version (British and American) gives improved renderings instead of "abundance," and in Titus 3:6 and 2 Peter 1:11 instead of "abundantly." ISBE Abound; Abundance; Abundant; Abundantly.2

J. R. Van Pelt ISBE Abound; Abundance; Abundant; Abundantly.3

About

About - a-bout': The use of this word as a preposition, in the sense of "around," is confined to the Old Testament. In the New Testament, generally an adverb, for Greek hos or "hosei." The Revised Version (British and American) adopts it in several idiomatic translations of mello, referring to what is about to be, i.e. on the point of occurring, or immediately impending, amending the King James Version, in Acts 5:35; 27:2; Revelation 12:4, etc. ISBE About.2

Abraham

Abraham - a'-bra-ham: ISBE Abraham.2

I. NAME ISBE Abraham.3

1. Various Forms ISBE Abraham.4

2. Etymology ISBE Abraham.5

3. Association ISBE Abraham.6

II. KINDRED ISBE Abraham.7

III. CAREER ISBE Abraham.8

1. Period of Wandering ISBE Abraham.9

2. Period of Residence at Hebron ISBE Abraham.10

3. Period of Residence in the Negeb ISBE Abraham.11

IV. CONDITIONS OF LIFE ISBE Abraham.12

1. Economic Conditions ISBE Abraham.13

2. Social Conditions ISBE Abraham.14

3. Political Conditions ISBE Abraham.15

4. Cultural Conditions ISBE Abraham.16

V. CHARACTER ISBE Abraham.17

1. Religious Beliefs ISBE Abraham.18

2. Morality ISBE Abraham.19

3. Personal Traits ISBE Abraham.20

VI. SIGNIFICANCE IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGION ISBE Abraham.21

1. In the Old Testament ISBE Abraham.22

2. In the New Testament ISBE Abraham.23

3. In Jewish Tradition ISBE Abraham.24

4. In the Koran ISBE Abraham.25

VII. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE STORY OTHER THAN THE HISTORICAL ISBE Abraham.26

1. The Allegorical Interpretation ISBE Abraham.27

2. The Personification Theory ISBE Abraham.28

3. The Mythical Theory ISBE Abraham.29

4. The "Saga" Theory ISBE Abraham.30

I. Name. 1. Various Forms: In the Old Testament, when applied, to the patriarch, the name appears as 'abhram, up to Genesis 17:5; thereafter always as 'abhraham. Two other persons are named 'abhiram. The identity of this name with 'abhram cannot be doubted in view of the variation between 'abhiner and 'abhner, 'abhishalom and 'abhshalom, etc. Abraham also appears in the list at Karnak of places conquered by Sheshonk I: 'brm (no. 72) represents 'abram, with which Spiegelberg (Aegypt. Randglossen zum Altes Testament, 14) proposes to connect the preceding name (so that the whole would read "the field of Abram." Outside of Palestine this name (Abiramu) has come to light just where from the Biblical tradition we should expect to find it, namely, in Babylonia (e.g. in a contract of the reign of Apil-Sin, second predecessor of Hammurabi; also for the aunt (!) of Esarhaddon 680-669 BC). Ungnad has recently found it, among documents from Dilbat dating from the Hammurabi dynasty, in the forms A-ba-am-ra-ma, A-ba-am-ra-am, as well as A-ba-ra-ma. ISBE Abraham.31

2. Etymology: Until this latest discovery of the apparently full, historical form of the Babylonian equivalent, the best that could be done with the etymology was to make the first constituent "father of" (construct -i rather than suffix -i), and the second constituent "Ram," a proper name or an abbreviation of a name. (Yet observe above its use in Assyria for a woman; compare ABISHAG; ABIGAIL). Some were inclined rather to concede that the second element was a mystery, like the second element in the majority of names beginning with 'abh and 'ach, "father" and "brother." But the full cuneiform writing of the name, with the case-ending am, indicates that the noun "father" is in the accusative, governed by the verb which furnishes the second component, and that this verb therefore is probably ramu (= Hebrew racham) "to love," etc.; so that the name would mean something like "he loves the (his) father." (So Ungnad, also Ranke in Gressmann's article "Sage und Geschichte in den Patriarchenerzahlungen," ZATW (1910), 3.) Analogy proves that this is in the Babylonian fashion of the period, and that judging from the various writings of this and similar names, its pronunciation was not far from 'abh-ram. ISBE Abraham.32

3. Association: While the name is thus not "Hebrew" in origin, it made itself thoroughly at home among the Hebrews, and to their ears conveyed associations quite different from its etymological signification. "Popular etymology" here as so often doubtless led the Hebrew to hear in 'abh-ram, "exalted father," a designation consonant with the patriarch's national and religious significance. In the form 'abh-raham his ear caught the echo of some root (perhaps r-h-m; compare Arabic ruham, "multitude") still more suggestive of the patriarch's extensive progeny, the reason ("for") that accompanies the change of name Genesis 17:5 being intended only as a verbal echo of the sense in the sound. This longer and commoner form is possibly a dialectical variation of the shorter form, a variation for which there are analogies in comparative Semitic grammar. It is, however, possible also that the two forms are different names, and that 'abh-raham is etymologically, and not merely by association of sound, "father of a multitude" (as above). (Another theory, based on South-Arabic orthography, in Hommel, Altisraelitische Ueberlieferung, 177.) ISBE Abraham.33

II. Kindred. Genesis 11:27, which introduces Abraham, contains the heading, "These are the generations of Terah." All the story of Abraham is contained within the section of Genesis so entitled. Through Terah Abraham's ancestry is traced back to Shem, and he is thus related to Mesopotamian and Arabian families that belonged to the "Semitic" race. He is further connected with this race geographically by his birthplace, which is given as 'ur-kasdim (see UR), and by the place of his pre-Canaanitish residence, Haran in the Aramean region. The purely Semitic ancestry of his descendants through Isaac is indicated by his marriage with his own half-sister (Genesis 20:12), and still further emphasized by the choice for his daughter-in-law of Rebekah, descended from both of his brothers, Nahor and Haran (Genesis 11:29; 22:22 f). Both the beginning and the end of the residence in Haran are left chronologically undetermined, for the new beginning of the narrative at Genesis 12:1 is not intended by the writer to indicate chronological sequence, though it has been so understood, e.g. by Stephen (Acts 7:4). All that is definite in point of time is that an Aramean period of residence intervened between the Babylonian origin and the Palestinian career of Abraham. It is left to a comparison of the Biblical data with one another and with the data of archaeology, to fix the opening of Abraham's career in Palestine not far from the middle of the 20th century BC. ISBE Abraham.34

III. Career. Briefiy summed up, that career was as follows. ISBE Abraham.35

1. Period of Wandering: Abraham, endowed with Yahweh's promise of limitless blessing, leaves Haran with Lot his nephew and all their establishment, and enters Canaan. Successive stages of the slow journey southward are indicated by the mention of Shechem, Bethel and the Negeb (South-country). Driven by famine into Egypt, Abraham finds hospitable reception, though at the price of his wife's honor, whom the Pharaoh treats in a manner characteristic of an Egyptian monarch. (Gressmann, op. cit., quotes from Meyer, Geschichte des Alterthums, 12, 142, the passage from a magic formula in the pyramid of Unas, a Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty: "Then he (namely, the Pharaoh) takes away the wives from their husbands whither he will if desire seize his heart.") Retracing the path to Canaan with an augmented train, at Bethel Abraham and Lot find it necessary to part company. Lot and his dependents choose for residence the great Jordan Depression; Abraham follows the backbone of the land southward to Hebron, where he settles, not in the city, but before its gates "by the great trees" (Septuagint sing., "oak") of Mamre. ISBE Abraham.36

2. Period of Residence at Hebron: Affiliation between Abraham and the local chieftains is strengthened by a brief campaign, in which all unite their available forces for the rescue of Lot from an Elamite king and his confederates from Babylonia. The pursuit leads them as far as the Lebanon region. On the return they are met by Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of 'el `elyon, and blessed by him in his priestly capacity, which Abraham recognizes by presenting him with a tithe of the spoils. Abraham's anxiety for a son to be the bearer of the divine promises conferred upon a "seed" yet unborn should have been relieved by the solemn renewal thereof in a formal covenant, with precise specifications of God's gracious purpose. But human desire cannot wait upon divine wisdom, and the Egyptian woman Hagar bears to Abraham a son, Ishmael, whose existence from its inception proves a source of moral evil within the patriarchal household. The sign of circumcision and the change of names are given in confirmation of the covenant still unrealized, together with specification of the time and the person that should begin its realization. The theophany that symbolized outwardly this climax of the Divine favor serves also for an intercessory colloquy, in which Abraham is granted the deliverance of Lot in the impending overthrow of Sodom. Lot and his family, saved thus by human fidelity and Divine clemency, exhibit in the moral traits shown in their escape and subsequent life the degeneration naturally to be expected from their corrupt environment. Moabites and Ammonites are traced in their origin to these cousins of Jacob and Esau. ISBE Abraham.37

3. Period of Residence in the Negeb: Removal to the South-country did not mean permanent residence in a single spot, but rather a succession of more or less temporary resting-places. The first of these was in the district of Gerar, with whose king, Abimelech, Abraham and his wife had an experience similar to the earlier one with the Pharaoh. The birth of Isaac was followed by the expulsion of Ishmael and his mother, and the sealing of peaceful relations with the neighbors by covenant at Beersheba. Even the birth of Isaac, however, did not end the discipline of Abraham's faith in the promise, for a Divine command to sacrifice the life of this son was accepted bona fide, and only the sudden interposition of a Divine prohibition prevented its obedient execution. The death of Sarah became the occasion for Abraham's acquisition of the first permanent holding of Palestine soil, the nucleus of his promised inheritance, and at the same time suggested the probable approach of his own death. This thought led to immediate provision for a future seed to inherit through Isaac, a provision realized in Isaac's marriage with Rebekah, grand-daughter of Abraham's brother Nahor and of Milcah the sister of Lot. But a numerous progeny not associated with the promise grew up in Abraham's household, children of Keturah, a woman who appears to have had the rank of wife after Sarah's death, and of other women unnamed, who were his concubines. Though this last period was passed in the Negeb, Abraham was interred at Hebron in his purchased possession, the spot with which Semitic tradition has continued to associate him to this day. ISBE Abraham.38

IV. Conditions of Life. The life of Abraham in its outward features may be considered under the following topics: economic, social, political and cultural conditions. ISBE Abraham.39

1. Economic Conditions: Abraham's manner of life may best be described by the adjective "semi-nomadic," and illustrated by the somewhat similar conditions prevailing today in those border-communities of the East that fringe the Syrian and Arabian deserts. Residence is in tents, wealth consists of flocks, herds and slaves, and there is no ownership of ground, only at most a proprietorship in well or tomb. All this in common with the nomad. But there is a relative, or rather, intermittent fixity of habitation, unlike the pure Bedouin, a limited amount of agriculture, and finally a sense of divergence from the Ishmael type--all of which tend to assimilate the seminomadic Abraham to the fixed Canaanitish population about him. As might naturally be expected, such a condition is an unstable equilibrium, which tends, in the family of Abraham as in the history of all border-tribes of the desert, to settle back one way or the other, now into the city-life of Lot, now into the desert-life of Ishmael. ISBE Abraham.40

2. Social Conditions: The head of a family, under these conditions, becomes at the same time the chief of a tribe, that live together under patriarchal rule though they by no means share without exception the tie of kinship. The family relations depicted in Gen conform to and are illuminated by the social features of Code of Hammurabi. (See K. D. Macmillan, article "Marriage among the Early Babylonians and Hebrews," Princeton Theological Review, April, 1908.) There is one legal wife, Sarah, who, because persistently childless, obtains the coveted offspring by giving her own maid to Abraham for that purpose (compare Code of Hammurabi, sections 144, 146). The son thus borne, Ishmael, is Abraham's legal son and heir. When Isaac is later borne by Sarah, the elder son is disinherited by divine command (Genesis 21:10-12) against Abraham's wish which represented the prevailing law and custom (Code of Hammurabi, sections 168 f). The "maid-servants" mentioned in the inventories of Abraham's wealth (Genesis 12:16; 24:35) doubtless furnished the "concubines" mentioned in Genesis 25:6 as having borne sons to him. Both mothers and children were slaves, but had the right to freedom, though not to inheritance, on the death of the father (Code of Hammurabi, section 171). After Sarah's death another woman seems to have succeeded to the position of legal wife, though if so the sons she bore were disinherited like Ishmael (Genesis 25:5). In addition to the children so begotten by Abraham the "men of his house" (Genesis 17:27) consisted of two classes, the "home-born" slaves (Genesis 14:14; 17:12 f,Genesis 23:1-20, 20) and the "purchased" slaves (ibid.). The extent of the patriarchal tribe may be surmised from the number (318) of men among them capable of bearing arms, near the beginning of Abraham's career, yet after his separation from Lot, and recruited seemingly from the "home-born" class exclusively (Genesis 14:14). Over this entire establishment Abraham ruled with a power more, rather than less, absolute than that exhibited in detail in the Code of Hammurabi: more absolute, because Abraham was independent of any permanent superior authority, and so combined in his own person the powers of the Babylonian paterfamilias and of the Canaanite city-king. Social relations outside of the family-tribe may best be considered under the next heading. ISBE Abraham.41

3. Political Conditions: It is natural that the chieftain of so considerable an organism should appear an attractive ally and a formidable foe to any of the smaller political units of his environment. That Canaan was at the time composed of just such inconsiderable units, namely, city-states with petty kings, and scattered fragments of older populations, is abundantly clear from the Biblical tradition and verified from other sources. Egypt was the only great power with which Abraham came into political contact after leaving the East. In the section of Genesis which describes this contact with the Pharaoh Abraham is suitably represented as playing no political role, but as profiting by his stay in Egypt only through an incidental social relation: when this terminates he is promptly ejected. The role of conqueror of Chedorlaomer, the Elamite invader, would be quite out of keeping with Abraham's political status elsewhere, if we were compelled by the narrative in Genesis 14:1-24 to suppose a pitched battle between the forces of Abraham and those of the united Babylonian armies. What that chapter requires is in fact no more than a midnight surprise, by Abraham's band (including the forces of confederate chieftains), of a rear-guard or baggage-train of the Babylonians inadequately manned and picketed ("Slaughter" is quite too strong a rendering of the original hakkoth, "smiting," Genesis 14:17) Respect shown Abraham by the kings of Salem (Genesis 14:18), of Sodom (Genesis 14:21) and of Gerar (Genesis 20:14-16) was no more than might be expected from their relative degrees of political importance, although a moral precedence, assumed in the tradition, may well have contributed to this respect. ISBE Abraham.42

4. Cultural Conditions: Recent archaeological research has revolutionized our conception of the degree of culture which Abraham could have possessed and therefore presumably did possess. The high plane which literature had attained in both Babylonia and Egypt by 2000 BC is sufficient witness to the opportunities open to the man of birth and wealth in that day for the interchange of lofty thought. And, without having recourse to Abraham's youth in Babylonia, we may assert even for the scenes of Abraham's maturer life the presence of the same culture, on the basis of a variety of facts, the testimony of which converges in this point, that Canaan in the second millennium BC was at the center of the intellectual life of the East and cannot have failed to afford, to such of its inhabitants as chose to avail themselves of it, every opportunity for enjoying the fruits of others' culture and for recording the substance of their own thoughts, emotions and activities ISBE Abraham.43

V. Character. Abraham's inward life may be considered under the rubrics of religion, ethics and personal traits. ISBE Abraham.44

1. Religious Beliefs: The religion of Abraham centered in his faith in one God, who, because believed by him to be possessor of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:22; 24:3), sovereign judge of the nations (Genesis 15:14) of all the earth (Genesis 18:25), disposer of the forces of Nature (Genesis 18:14; 19:24; 20:17 f), exalted (Genesis 14:22) and eternal (Genesis 21:33), was for Abraham at least the only God. So far as the Biblical tradition goes, Abraham's monotheism was not aggressive (otherwise in later Jewish tradition), and it is theoretically possible to attribute to him a merely "monarchical" or "henotheistic" type of monotheism, which would admit the coexistence with his deity, say, of the "gods which (his) fathers served" (Joshua 24:14), or the identity with his deity of the supreme god of some Canaanite neighbor (Genesis 14:18). Yet this distinction of types of monotheism does not really belong to the sphere of religion as such, but rather to that of speculative philosophical thought. As religion, monotheism is just monotheism, and it asserts itself in corollaries drawn by the intellect only so far as the scope of the monotheist's intellectual life applies it. For Abraham Yahweh not only was alone God; He was also his personal God in a closeness of fellowship (Genesis 24:40; 48:15) that has made him for three religions the type of the pious man (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23, note the Arabic name of Hebron El-Khalil, i.e. the friend (viz of God)) To Yahweh Abraham attributed the moral attributes of Justice (Genesis 18:25), righteousness (Genesis 18:19), faithfulness (Genesis 24:27), wisdom (Genesis 20:6), goodness (Genesis 19:19), mercy (Genesis 20:6). These qualities were expected of men, and their contraries in men were punished by Yahweh (Genesis 18:19; 20:11). He manifested Himself in dreams (Genesis 20:3), visions (Genesis 15:1) and theophanies (Genesis 18:1), including the voice or apparition of the Divine mal'akh or messenger ("angel") (Genesis 16:7; 22:11) On man's part, in addition to obedience to Yahweh's moral requirements and special commands, the expression of his religious nature was expected in sacrifice. This bringing of offerings to the deity was diligently practiced by Abraham, as indicated by the mention of his erection of an altar at each successive residence. Alongside of this act of sacrifice there is sometimes mention of a "calling upon the name" of Yahweh (compare 1 Kings 18:24; Psalms 116:13 f). This publication of his faith, doubtless in the presence of Canaanites, had its counterpart also in the public regard in which he was held as a "prophet" or spokesman for God (Genesis 20:7). His mediation showed itself also in intercessory prayer (Genesis 17:20 for Ishmael; Genesis 18:23-32; compare Genesis 19:29 for Lot; Genesis 20:17 for Abimelech), which was but a phase of his general practice of prayer. The usual accompaniment of sacrifice, a professional priesthood, does not occur in Abraham's family, yet he recognizes priestly prerogative in the person of Melchizedek, priest-king of Salem (Genesis 14:20). Religious sanction of course surrounds the taking of oaths (Genesis 14:22; 24:3) and the sealing of covenants (Genesis 21:23). Other customs associated with religion are circumcision (Genesis 17:10-14), given to Abraham as the sign of the perpetual covenant; tithing (Genesis 14:20), recognized as the priest's due; and child-sacrifice (Genesis 22:2, 12), enjoined upon Abraham only to be expressly forbidden, approved for its spirit but interdicted in its practice. ISBE Abraham.45

2. Morality: As already indicated, the ethical attributes of God were regarded by Abraham as the ethical requirement of man. This in theory. In the sphere of applied ethics and casuistry Abraham's practice, at least, fell short of this ideal, even in the few incidents of his life preserved to us. It is clear that these lapses from virtue were offensive to the moral sense of Abraham's biographer, but we are left in the dark as to Abraham's sense of moral obliquity. (The "dust and ashes" of Genesis 18:27 has no moral implication.) The demands of candor and honor are not satisfactorily met, certainly not in the matter of Sarah's relationship to him (Genesis 12:11-13; 20:2; compare Genesis 11:1-32-Genesis 13:1-18), perhaps not in the matter of Isaac's intended sacrifice (Genesis 22:5, 8). To impose our own monogamous standard of marriage upon the patriarch would be unfair, in view of the different standard of his age and land. It is to his credit that no such scandals are recorded in his life and family as blacken the record of Lot (Genesis 19:30-38), Reuben (Genesis 35:22) and Judah (Genesis 38:15-18). Similarly, Abraham's story shows only regard for life and property, both in respecting the rights of others and in expecting the same from them--the antipodes of Ishmael's character (Genesis 16:12). ISBE Abraham.46

3. Personal Traits: Outside, the bounds of strictly ethical requirement, Abraham's personality displayed certain characteristics that not only mark him out distinctly among the figures of history, but do him great credit as a singularly symmetrical and attractive character. Of his trust and reverence enough has been said under the head of religion. But this love that is "the fulfilling of the law," manifested in such piety toward God, showed itself toward men in exceptional generosity (Genesis 13:9; 14:23; 9, 13; 24:10; 25:6), fidelity (Genesis 14:14, 24; 17:18; Genesis 18:23-32; 19:27; 21:11; 23:2), hospitality (Genesis 18:2-8; 21:8) and compassion (Genesis 16:6 and Genesis 21:14 when rightly understood, Genesis 18:23-32). A solid self-respect (Genesis 14:23; 16:6; 21:25; 9, 13, 16; 24:4) and real courage (Genesis 14:14-16) were, however, marred by the cowardice that sacrificed Sarah to purchase personal safety where he had reason to regard life as insecure (Genesis 20:11). ISBE Abraham.47

VI. Significance in the History of Religion. Abraham is a significant figure throughout the Bible, and plays an important role in extra-Biblical Jewish tradition and in the Mohammedan religion. ISBE Abraham.48

1. In the Old Testament: It is naturally as progenitor of the people of Israel, "the seed of Abraham," as they are often termed, that Abraham stands out most prominently in the Old Testament books. Sometimes the contrast between him as an individual and his numerous progeny serves to point a lesson (Isaiah 51:2; Ezekiel 33:24; perhaps Malachi 2:10; compare 15). "The God of Abraham" serves as a designation of Yahweh from the time of Isaac to the latest period; it is by this title that Moses identifies the God who has sent him with the ancestral deity of the children of Israel (Exodus 3:15). Men remembered in those later times that this God appeared to Abraham in theophany (Exodus 6:3), and, when he was still among his people who worshipped other gods (Joshua 24:3) chose him (Nehemiah 9:7), led him, redeemed him (Isaiah 29:22) and made him the recipient of those special blessings (Micah 7:20) which were pledged by covenant and oath (so every larger historical book, also the historical Psalms 105:9), notably the inheritance of the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 6:10) Nor was Abraham's religious personality forgotten by his posterity: he was remembered by them as God's friend (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8), His servant, the very recollection of whom by God would offset the horror with which the sins of his descendants inspired Yahweh (Deuteronomy 9:27). ISBE Abraham.49

2. In the New Testament: When we pass to the New Testament we are astonished at the wealth and variety of allusion to Abraham. As in the Old Testament, his position of ancestor lends him much of his significance, not only as ancestor of Israel (Acts 13:26), but specifically as ancestor, now of the Levitical priesthood (Hebrews 7:5), now of the Messiah (Matthew 1:1), now, by the peculiarly Christian doctrine of the unity of believers in Christ, of Christian believers (Galatians 3:16, 29). All that Abraham the ancestor received through Divine election, by the covenant made with him, is inherited by his seed and passes under the collective names of the promise (Romans 4:13), the blessing (Galatians 3:14), mercy (Luke 1:54), the oath (Luke 1:73), the covenant (Acts 3:25). The way in which Abraham responded to this peculiar goodness of God makes him the type of the Christian believer. Though so far in the past that he was used as a measure of antiquity (John 8:58), he is declared to have "seen" Messiah's "day" (John 8:56). It is his faith in the Divine promise, which, just because it was for him peculiarly unsupported by any evidence of the senses, becomes the type of the faith that leads to justification (Romans 4:3), and therefore in this sense again he is the "father" of Christians, as believers (Romans 4:11). For that promise to Abraham was, after all, a "preaching beforehand" of the Christian gospel, in that it embraced "all the families of the earth" (Galatians 3:8). Of this exalted honor, James reminds us, Abraham proved himself worthy, not by an inoperative faith, but by "works" that evidenced his righteousness (James 2:21; compare John 8:39). The obedience that faith wrought in him is what is especially praised by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:8, 17). In accordance with this high estimate of the patriarch's piety, we read of his eternal felicity, not only in the current conceptions of the Jews (parable, Luke 16:1-31), but also in the express assertion of our Lord (Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:28). Incidental historical allusions to the events of Abraham's life are frequent in the New Testament, but do not add anything to this estimate of his religious significance. ISBE Abraham.50

3. In Jewish Tradition: Outside the Scriptures we have abundant evidence of the way that Abraham was regarded by his posterity in the Jewish nation. The oldest of these witnesses, Ecclesiasticus, contains none of the accretions of the later Abraham-legends. Its praise of Abraham is confined to the same three great facts that appealed to the canonical writers, namely, his glory as Israel's ancestor, his election to be recipient of the covenant, and his piety (including perhaps a tinge of "nomism") even under severe testing (Ecclesiasticus 44:19-21). The Improbable and often unworthy and even grotesque features of Abraham's career and character in the later rabbinical midrashim are of no religious significance, beyond the evidence they afford of the way Abraham's unique position and piety were cherished by the Jews. ISBE Abraham.51

4. In the Koran: To Mohammed Abraham is of importance in several ways. He is mentioned in no less than 188 verses of the Koran, more than any other character except Moses. He is one of the series of prophets sent by God. He is the common ancestor of the Arab and the Jew. He plays the same role of religious reformer over against his idolatrous kinsmen as Mohammed himself played. He builds the first pure temple for God's worship (at Mecca!). As in the Bible so in the Koran Abraham is the recipient of the Divine covenant for himself and for his posterity, and exhibits in his character the appropriate virtues of one so highly favored: faith, righteousness, purity of heart, gratitude, fidelity, compassion. He receives marked tokens of the Divine favor in the shape of deliverance, guidance, visions, angelic messengers (no theophanies for Mohammed!), miracles, assurance of resurrection and entrance into paradise. He is called "Imam of the peoples" (2 118) ISBE Abraham.52

VII. Interpretations of the Story Other than the Historical. ISBE Abraham.53

There are writers in both ancient and modern times who have, from various standpoints, interpreted the person and career of Abraham otherwise than as what it purports to be, namely, the real experiences of a human person named Abraham. These various views may be classified according to the motive or impulse which they believe to have led to the creation of this story in the mind of its author or authors. ISBE Abraham.54

1. The Allegorical Interpretation: Philo's tract on Abraham bears as alternative titles, "On the Life of the Wise Man Made Perfect by Instruction, or, On the Unwritten Law." Abraham's life is not for him a history that serves to illustrate these things, but an allegory by which these things are embodied. Paul's use of the Sarah-Hagar episode in Galatians 4:21-31 belongs to this type of exposition (compare allegoroumena, Galatians 4:24), of which there are also a few other instances in his epistles; yet to infer from this that Paul shared Philo's general attitude toward the patriarchal narrative would be unwarranted, since his use of this method is incidental, exceptional, and merely corroborative of points already established by sound reason. "Luther compares it to a painting which decorates a house already built" (Schaff, "Galatians," Excursus). ISBE Abraham.55

2. The Personification Theory: As to Philo Abraham is the personification of a certain type of humanity, so to some modern writers he is the personification of the Hebrew nation or of a tribe belonging to the Hebrew group. This view, which is indeed very widely held with respect to the patriarchal figures in general, furnishes so many more difficulties in its specific application to Abraham than to the others, that it has been rejected in Abraham's case even by some who have adopted it for figures like Isaac, Ishmael and Jacob. Thus Meyer (Die Israeliten und ihre Nachbarstamme, 250; compare also note on p. 251), speaking of his earlier opinion, acknowledges that, at the time when he "regarded the assertion of Stade as proved that Jacob and Isaac were tribes," even then he "still recognized Abraham as a mythical figure and originally a god." A similar differentiation of Abraham from the rest is true of most of the other adherents of the views about to be mentioned. Hence also Wellhausen says (Prolegomena 6, 317): "Only Abraham is certainly no name of a people, like Isaac and Lot; he is rather ambiguous anyway. We dare not of course on that account hold him in this connection as an historical personage; rather than that he might be a free creation of unconscious fiction. He is probably the youngest figure in this company and appears to have been only at a relatively late date put before his son Isaac." ISBE Abraham.56

3. The Mythical Theory: Urged popularly by Noldeke (Im neuen Reich (1871), I, 508 ff) and taken up by other scholars, especially in the case of Abraham, the view gained general currency among those who denied the historicity of Gen, that the patriarchs were old deities. From this relatively high estate, it was held, they had fallen to the plane of mere mortals (though with remnants of the hero or even demigod here and there visible) on which they appear in Gen. A new phase of this mythical theory has been developed in the elaboration by Winckler and others of their astral-theology of the Babylonian world, in which the worship of Abraham as the moon-god by the Semites of Palestine plays a part. Abraham's traditional origin connects him with Ur and Haran, leading centers of the moon-cult. Apart from this fact the arguments relied upon to establish this identification of Abraham with Sin may be judged by the following samples: "When further the consort of Abraham bears the name Sarah, and one of the women among his closest relations the name Milcah, this gives food for thought, since these names correspond precisely with the titles of the female deities worshipped at Haran alongside the moongod Sin. Above all, however, the number 318, that appears in Genesis 14:14 in connection with the figure of Abraham, is convincing because this number, which surely has no historical value, can only be satisfactorily explained from the circle of ideas of the moon-religion, since in the lunar year of 354 days there are just 318 days on which the moon is visible--deducting Genesis 36:1-43 days, or three for each of the twelve months, on which the moon is invisible" (Baentsch, Monotheismus, 60 f). In spite of this assurance, however, nothing could exceed the scorn with which these combinations and conjectures of Winckler, A. Jeremias and others of this school are received by those who in fact differ from them with respect to Abraham in little save the answer to the question, what deity was Abraham (see e.g. Meyer, op. cit., 252 f, 256 f). ISBE Abraham.57

4. The "Saga" Theory: Gunkel (Genesis, Introduction), in insisting upon the resemblance of the patriarchal narrative to the "sagas" of other primitive peoples, draws attention both to the human traits of figures like Abraham, and to the very early origin of the material embodied in our present book of Genesis. First as stories orally circulated, then as stories committed to writing, and finally as a number of collections or groups of such stories formed into a cycle, the Abraham-narratives, like the Jacob-narratives and the Joseph-narratives , grew through a long and complex literary history. Gressmann (op. cit, 9-34) amends Gunkel's results, in applying to them the principles of primitive literary development laid down by Professor Wundt in his Volkerpsychologie. He holds that the kernel of the Abraham-narratives is a series of fairy-stories, of international diffusion and unknown origin, which have been given "a local habitation and a name" by attaching to them the (ex hypothesi) then common name of Abraham (similarly Lot, etc.) and associating them with the country nearest to the wilderness of Judea, the home of their authors, namely, about Hebron and the Dead Sea. A high antiquity (1300-1100 BC) is asserted for these stories, their astonishing accuracy in details wherever they can be tested by extra-Biblical tradition is conceded, as also the probability that, "though many riddles still remain unsolved, yet many other traditions will be cleared up by new discoveries" of archaeology. ISBE Abraham.58

J. Oscar Boyd ISBE Abraham.59

Abraham, Book of

Abraham, Book of - See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. ISBE Abraham, Book of.2

Abraham's Bosom

Abraham's Bosom - booz'-um (kolpos Abraam; kolpoi Abraam): Figurative. The expression occurs in Luke 16:22-23, in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, to denote the place of repose to which Lazarus was carried after his death. The figure is suggested by the practice of the guest at a feast reclining on the breast of his neighbor. Thus, John leaned on the breast of Jesus at supper (John 21:20). The rabbis divided the state after death (Sheol) into a place for the righteous and a place for the wicked (see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; SHEOL); but it is doubtful whether the figure of Jesus quite corresponds with this idea. "Abraham's bosom" is not spoken of as in "Hades," but rather as distinguished from it (Luke 16:23)--a place of blessedness by itself. There Abraham receives, as at a feast, the truly faithful, and admits them to closest intimacy. It may be regarded as equivalent to the "Paradise" of Luke 23:43. ISBE Abraham's Bosom.2

See HADES; PARADISE. ISBE Abraham's Bosom.3

James Orr ISBE Abraham's Bosom.4

Abram

Abram - a'-bram. ISBE Abram.2

See ABRAHAM. ISBE Abram.3

Abrech

Abrech - a'-brek: Transliteration of the Hebrew 'abhrekh, in Genesis 41:43 the Revised Version, margin, of which both the origin and meaning are uncertain. It was the salutation which the Egyptians addressed to Joseph, when he was made second to Pharaoh, and appeared in his official chariot. ISBE Abrech.2

(1) The explanations based upon Hebrew derivation are unsatisfactory, whether as the King James Version "bow the knee," from barakh (hiphil imperative) or marginal "tender father," or "father of a king" of the Targum. The form as Hiphil Imperative instead of habhrekh, is indefensible, while the other two derivations are fanciful. ISBE Abrech.3

(2) The surmises of Egyptologists are almost without number, and none are conclusive. Skinner in his Commentary on Genesis selects "attention!" after Spiegelberg, as best. Speaker's Commentary suggests "rejoice thou" from ab-nek. BDB gives preference to the Coptic a-bor-k, "prostrate thyself." ISBE Abrech.4

(3) The most satisfying parallel is the Assyrian abarakku, meaning "grand vizier" or "friend of a king," as suggested by Fried. Delitzsch; for Babylonian laws and customs were dominant in western Asia, and the Hyksos, through whom such titles would have been carried into Egypt, were ruling there at that time. ISBE Abrech.5

Edward Mack ISBE Abrech.6

Abroad

Abroad - a-brod: An idiomatic rendering of aphiketo (literally, "arrived"), "come abroad" is used in Romans 16:19 to indicate a report that has been most widely diffused (literally, "did reach unto all"). Similar idiomatic translations of the King James Version have been replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by those more literal, as in Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; Mark 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 1:8. Used also in other idiomatic renderings, as "spread abroad" diaphemizo, Mark 1:45; "noised abroad" dialaleo, Luke 1:65; "scattered abroad," John 11:52; Acts 8:1, etc.; in all these cases for the pervasive meaning of the Greek preposition in composition. In Genesis 15:5, chuts means "outside." ISBE Abroad.2

H. E. Jacobs ISBE Abroad.3

Abroad, Scattered

Abroad, Scattered - See DISPERSION. ISBE Abroad, Scattered.2

Abronah

Abronah - a-bro'-na, the King James Version Ebronah (`abhronah): One of the stations of Israel in the wilderness on the march from Sinai to Kadesh--the station next before that at Ezion-geber on the eastern arm of the Red Sea (Numbers 33:34-35). ISBE Abronah.2

Absalom (1)

Absalom (1) - ab'-sa-lom ('abhshalom, "father is peace," written also Abishalom, 1 Kings 15:2, 10): David's third son by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, a small territory between Hermon and Bashan. ISBE Absalom (1).2

1. A General Favorite: Absalom was born at Hebron (2 Samuel 3:3), and moved at an early age, with the transfer of the capital, to Jerusalem, where he spent most of his life. He was a great favorite of his father and of the people as well. His charming manners, his personal beauty, his insinuating ways, together with his love of pomp and royal pretensions, captivated the hearts of the people from the beginning. He lived in great style, drove in a magnificent chariot and had fifty men run before him. Such magnificence produced the desired effect upon the hearts of the young aristocrats of the royal city (2 Samuel 15:1 ff). ISBE Absalom (1).3

2. In Exile: When Amnon, his half-brother, ravished his sister Tamar, and David shut his eyes to the grave crime and neglected to administer proper punishment, Absalom became justly enraged, and quietly nourished his anger, but after the lapse of two years carried out a successful plan to avenge his sister's wrongs. He made a great feast for the king's sons at Baalhazor, to which, among others, Amnon came, only to meet his death at the hands of Absalom's servants (2 Samuel 13:1 ff). To avoid punishment he now fled to the court of his maternal grandfather in Geshur, where he remained three years, or until David, his father, had relented and condoned the murderous act of his impetuous, plotting son. At the end of three years (2 Samuel 13:38) we find Absalom once more in Jerusalem. It was, however, two years later before he was admitted to the royal presence (2 Samuel 14:28). ISBE Absalom (1).4

3. Rebels against His Father: Absalom, again reinstated, lost no opportunity to regain lost prestige, and having his mind made up to succeed his father upon the throne, he forgot the son in the politician. Full of insinuations and rich in promises, especially to the disgruntled and to those having grievances, imaginary or real, it was but natural that he should have a following. His purpose was clear, namely, to alienate as many as possible from the king, and thus neutralize his influence in the selection of a successor, for he fully realized that the court party, under the influence of Bathsheba, was intent upon having Solomon as the next ruler. By much flattery Absalom stole the hearts of many men in Israel (2 Samuel 15:6). How long a period elapsed between his return from Geshur and his open rebellion against his father David is a question which cannot be answered with any degree of certainty. Most authorities regard the forty years of 2 Samuel 15:7 as an error and following the Syriac and some editions of the Septuagint, suggest four as the correct text. Whether forty or four, he obtained permission from the king to visit Hebron, the ancient capital, on pretense of paying a vow made by him while at Geshur in case of his safe return to Jerusalem. With two hundred men he repairs to Hebron. Previous to the feast spies had been sent throughout all the tribes of Israel to stir up the discontented and to assemble them under Absalom's flag at Hebron. Very large numbers obeyed the call, among them Ahithophel, one of David's shrewdest counselors (2 Samuel 15:7 ff). ISBE Absalom (1).5

4. David's Flight: Reports of the conspiracy at Hebron soon reached the ears of David, who now became thoroughly frightened and lost no time in leaving Jerusalem. Under the protection of his most loyal bodyguard he fled to Gilead beyond Jordan. David was kindly received at Mahanaim, where he remained till after the death of his disloyal son. Zadok and Abiathar, two leading priests, were intent upon sharing the fortunes of David; they went so far as to carry the Ark of the Covenant with them out of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 15:24). David, however, forced the priests and Levites to take it back to its place in the city and there remain as its guardians. This was a prudent stroke, for these two great priests in Jerusalem acted as intermediaries, and through their sons and some influential women kept up constant communications with David's army in Gilead (2 Samuel 15:24 ff). Hushai, too, was sent back to Jerusalem, where he falsely professed allegiance to Absalom, who by thins time had entered the royal city and had assumed control of the government (2 Samuel 15:32 ff). Hushai, the priests and a few people less conspicuous performed their part well, for the counsel of Ahithophel, who advised immediate action and advance upon the king's forces, while everything was in a panic, was thwarted (2 Samuel 17:1 ff); nay more, spies were constantly kept in contact with David's headquarters to inform the king of Absalom's plans (2 Samuel 17:15 ff). This delay was fatal to the rebel son. Had he acted upon the shrewd counsel of Ahithophel, David's army might have been conquered at the outset. ISBE Absalom (1).6

5. Absalom's Death and Burial: When at length Absalom's forces under the generalship of Amasa (2 Samuel 17:25) reached Gilead, ample time had been given to David to organize his army, which he divided into three divisions under the efficient command of three veteran generals: Joab, Abishai and Ittai (2 Samuel 18:1 ff). A great battle was fought in the forests of Ephraim. Here the rebel army was utterly routed. No fewer than 20,000 were killed outright, and a still greater number becoming entangled in the thick forest, perished that day (2 Samuel 18:7 f). Among the latter was Absalom himself, for while riding upon his mule, his head was caught in the boughs of a great oak or terebinth, probably in a forked branch. "He was taken up between heaven and earth; and the mule that was under him went on" (2 Samuel 18:9). In this position he was found by a soldier who at once ran to inform Joab. The latter without a moment's hesitation, notwithstanding David's positive orders, thrust three darts into the heart of Absalom. To make his death certain and encouraged by the action of their general, ten of Joab's young men "compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him" (2 Samuel 18:15). He was buried in a great pit, close to the spot where he was killed. A great pile of stones was heaped over his body (2 Samuel 18:17), in accordance with the custom of dishonoring rebels and great criminals by burying them under great piles of stone (Joshua 7:26; 8:29). Thomson reforms us that Syrian people to this day cast stones upon the graves of murderers and outlaws (LB, II, 61). ISBE Absalom (1).7

6. David's Lament: The death of Absalom was a source of great grief to the fond and aged father, who forgot the ruler and the king in the tenderhearted parent. His lament at the gate of Mahanaim, though very brief, is a classic, and expresses in tender language the feelings of parents for wayward children in all ages of the world (2 Samuel 18:33). ISBE Absalom (1).8

Little is known of Absalom's family life, but we read in 2 Samuel 14:27 that he had three sons and one daughter. From the language of 2 Samuel 18:18, it is inferred that the sons died at an early age. ISBE Absalom (1).9

7. Absalom's Tomb: As Absalom had no son to perpetuate his memory "he reared up for himself a pillar" or a monument in the King's dale, which according to Josephus was two furlongs from Jerusalem (Ant., VII, x, 3). Nothing is known with certainty about this monument. One of the several tombs on the east side of the Kidron passes under the name of Absalom's tomb. This fine piece of masonry with its graceful cupola and Ionic pillars must be of comparatively recent origin, probably not earlier than the Roman period. ISBE Absalom (1).10

W. W. Davies ISBE Absalom (1).11

Absalom (2)

Absalom (2) - (Apocrypha) (Codex Vaticanus, Abessalomos and Abessalom; Codex Alexandrinus, Absalomos, the King James Version Absalon): ISBE Absalom (2).2

(1) Father of Mattathias, a captain of the Jewish army (1 Maccabees 11:70; Ant, XIII, v, 7). ISBE Absalom (2).3

(2) Father of Jonathan who was sent by Simon Maccabee to take possession of Joppa; perhaps identical with Absalom (1) (1 Maccabees 13:11; Ant, XIII, vi, 4). ISBE Absalom (2).4

(3) One of two envoys of the Jews, mentioned in a letter sent by Lysias to the Jewish nation (2 Maccabees 11:17). ISBE Absalom (2).5

Absalon

Absalon - ab'-sa-lon. ISBE Absalon.2

See ABSALOM(in the Apocrypha). ISBE Absalon.3

Absolution

Absolution - ab-so-lu'-shun (translation of verbs luo, "loose," etc., and aphiemi, "release," "give up," etc.): Not a Biblical, but an ecclesiastical term, used to designate the official act described in Matthew 16:19: "Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven," and Matthew 18:18: "What things soever ye shall loose," etc., and interpreted by John 20:23: "Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them" (see KEYS,POWER OF THE ). The Roman church regards this as the act of a properly ordained priest, by which, in the sacrament of Penance, he frees from sin one who has confessed and made promise of satisfaction. Protestants regard the promise as given not to any order within the church, but to the congregation of believers, exercising its prerogative through the Christian ministry, as its ordinary executive. They differ as to whether the act be only declarative or collative. Luther regarded it as both declarative and collative, since the Word always brings that which it offers. The absolution differs from the general promise of the gospel by individualizing the promise. What the gospel, as read and preached, declares in general, the absolution applies personally. ISBE Absolution.2

See also FORGIVENESS. ISBE Absolution.3

H. E. Jacobs ISBE Absolution.4

Abstinence

Abstinence - abs'-ti-nens: Abstinence as a form of asceticism reaches back into remote antiquity, and is found among most ancient peoples. It may be defined as a self-discipline which consists in the habitual renunciation, in whole or in part, of the enjoyments of the flesh, with a view to the cultivation of the life of the spirit. In its most extreme forms, it bids men to stifle and suppress their physical wants, rather than to subordinate them in the interest of a higher end or purpose, the underlying idea being that the body is the foe of the spirit, and that the progressive extirpation of the natural desires and inclinations by means of fasting, celibacy, voluntary poverty, etc., is "the way of perfection." ISBE Abstinence.2

This article will be concerned chiefly with abstinence from food, as dealt with in the Bible. (For other aspects of the subject, see TEMPERANCE; CLEAN; UNCLEANNESS; MEAT, etc.). Thus limited, abstinence may be either public or private, partial or entire. ISBE Abstinence.3

1. Public Fasts: Only one such fast is spoken of as having been instituted and commanded by the Law of Moses, that of the Day of Atonement. This is called "the Fast" in Acts 27:9 (compare Ant,XIV , iv, 3; Philo, Vit Mos,II , 4; Schurer,HJP , I, i, 322). ISBE Abstinence.4

Four annual fasts were later observed by the Jews in commemoration of the dark days of Jerusalem--the day of the beginning of Nebuchadrezzar's siege in the tenth month, the day of the capture of the city in the fourth month, the day of its destruction in the fifth month and the day of Gedaliah's murder in the seventh month. These are all referred to in Zechariah 8:19. ISBE Abstinence.5

See FAST. ISBE Abstinence.6

It might reasonably be thought that such solemn anniversaries, once instituted, would have been kept up with sincerity by the Jews, at least for many years. But Isaiah illustrates how soon even the most outraged feelings of piety or patriotism may grow cold and formal. `Wherefore have we fasted and thou seest not?' the exiled Jews cry in their captivity. `We have humbled our souls, and thou takest no notice.' Yahweh's swift answer follows: `Because your fasting is a mere form! Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and oppress all your laborers' (compare Isaiah 58:3; Expositor's Bible, at the place). That is to say, so formal has your fasting grown that your ordinary selfish, cruel life goes on just the same. Then Yahweh makes inquest: "Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? Then shalt thou call, and Yahweh will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am" (Isaiah 58:5-9). The passage, as George Adam Smith says, fills the earliest, if not the highest place in the glorious succession of Scriptures exalting practical love, to which belong Isaiah 61:1-11; Matthew 25:1-46; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. The high import is that in God's view character grows rich and life joyful, not by fasts or formal observances, but by acts of unselfish service inspired by a heart of love. ISBE Abstinence.7

These fasts later fell into utter disuse, but they were revived after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. ISBE Abstinence.8

Occasional public fasts were proclaimed in Israel, as among other peoples, in seasons of drought or public calamity. It appears according to Jewish accounts, that it was customary to hold them on the second and fifth days of the week, for the reason that Moses was believed to have gone up to Mt. Sinai on the fifth day of the week (Thursday) and to have come down on the second (Monday) (compare Didache, 8; Apostolical Constitutions,VIII , 23). ISBE Abstinence.9

2. Private Fasts: In addition to these public solemnities, individuals were in the habit of imposing extra fasts upon themselves (e.g. Judith 8:6; Luke 2:37); and there were some among the Pharisees who fasted on the second and fifth days of the week all the year round (Luke 18:12; see Lightfoot, at the place). ISBE Abstinence.10

Tacitus alludes to the "frequent fasts" of the Jews (History, V, 4), and Josephus tells of the spread of fasting among the Gentiles (Against Apion, II, 40; compare Tertullian, ad Nat, i.13). There is abundant evidence that many religious teachers laid down rules concerning fasting for their disciples (compare Mark 2:18; Matthew 9:14; Luke 5:33). ISBE Abstinence.11

3. Degrees of Strictness in Abstinence: Individuals and sects differ greatly in the degrees of strictness with which they observe fasts. In some fasts among the Jews abstinence from food and drink was observed simply from sunrise to sunset, and washing and anointing were permitted. In others of a stricter sort, the fast lasted from one sunset till the stars appeared after the next, and, not only food and drink, but washing, anointing, and every kind of agreeable activity and even salutations, were prohibited (Schurer, II, ii, 119; Edersheim, Life and Times, I, 663). Such fasting was generally practiced in the most austere and ostentatious manner, and, among the Pharisees, formed a part of their most pretentious externalism. On this point the testimony of Matthew 6:16 is confirmed by the Mishna. ISBE Abstinence.12

4. Abstinence among Different Kinds of Ascetics: There arose among the Jews various kinds of ascetics and they may be roughly divided into three classes. ISBE Abstinence.13

(1) The Essenes. These lived together in colonies, shared all things in common and practiced voluntary poverty. The stricter among them also eschewed marriage. They were indifferent, Philo says, alike to money, pleasure, and worldly position. They ate no animal flesh, drank no wine, and used no oil for anointing. The objects of sense were to them "unholy," and to gratify the natural craving was "sin." They do not seem to come distinctly into view in the New Testament. ISBE Abstinence.14

See ESSENES. ISBE Abstinence.15

(2) The Hermit Ascetics. These fled away from human society with its temptations and allurements into the wilderness, and lived there a life of rigid self-discipline. Josephus (Vita, 2) gives us a notable example of this class in Banus, who "lived in the desert, clothed himself with the leaves of trees, ate nothing save the natural produce of the soil, and bathed day and night in cold water for purity's sake." John the Baptist was a hermit of an entirely different type. He also dwelt in the desert, wore a rough garment of camel's hair and subsisted on "locusts and wild honey." But his asceticism was rather an incident of his environment and vocation than an end in itself (see "Asceticism,"DCG ). In the fragments of his sermons which are preserved in the Gospels there is no trace of any exhortation to ascetic exercises, though John's disciples practiced fasting (Mark 2:18). ISBE Abstinence.16

(3) The Moderate Ascetics. There were many pious Jews, men and women, who practiced asceticism of a less formal kind. The asceticism of the Pharisees was of a kind which naturally resulted from their legal and ceremonial conception of religion. It expressed itself chiefly, as we have seen, in ostentatious fasting and externalism. But there were not a few humble, devout souls in Israel who, like Anna, the prophetess, served God "with fastings and supplications night and day" (Luke 2:37), seeking by a true self-discipline to draw near unto God (of Acts 13:2-3; 14:23; 1 Timothy 5:5). ISBE Abstinence.17

5. Abstinence as Viewed in the Talmud: Some of the rabbis roundly condemned abstinence, or asceticism in any form, as a principle of life. "Why must the Nazirite bring a sin offering at the end of his term?" (Numbers 6:13-14) asks Eliezer ha-Kappar (Siphra', at the place); and gives answer, "Because he sinned against his own person by his vow of abstaining from wine"; and he concludes, "Whoever undergoes fasting or other penances for no special reason commits a wrong." "Man in the life to come will have to account for every enjoyment offered him that was refused without sufficient cause" (Rabh, in Yer. Kid., 4). In Maimonides (Ha-Yadh ha-Chazaqah, De`oth 3 1) the monastic principle of abstinence in regard to marriage, eating meat, or drinking wine, or in regard to any other personal enjoyment or comfort, is condemned as "contrary to the spirit of Judaism," and "the golden middle-way of moderation" is advocated. ISBE Abstinence.18

But, on the other hand, abstinence is often considered by the rabbis meritorious and praiseworthy as a voluntary means of self-discipline. "I partook of a Nazirite meal only once," says Simon the Just, "when I met with a handsome youth from the south who had taken a vow. When I asked the reason he said: `I saw the Evil Spirit pursue me as I beheld my face reflected in water, and I swore that these long curls shall be cut off and offered as a sacrifice to Yahweh'; whereupon I kissed him upon his forehead and blessed him, saying, May there be many Nazirites like thee in Israel!" (Nazir, 4b). "Be holy" was accordingly interpreted, "Exercise abstinence in order to arrive at purity and holiness" (`Ab. Zarah, 20b; Siphra', Kedhoshim). "Abstain from everything evil and from whatever is like unto it" is a rule found in the Talmud (Chullin, 44b), as also in the Didache (3 1)--a saying evidently based on Job 31:1, "Abstain from the lusts of the flesh and the world." The Mosaic laws concerning diet are all said by Rabh to be "for the purification of Israel" (Lev R. 13)--"to train the Jew in self-discipline." ISBE Abstinence.19

6. The Attitude of Jesus to Fasting: The question of crowning interest and significance to us is, What attitude did Jesus take toward fasting, or asceticism? The answer is to be sought in the light, first of His practice, and, secondly, of His teaching. ISBE Abstinence.20

(1) His Practice. Jesus has even been accounted "the Founder and Example of the ascetic life" (Clem. Alex., Strom, III, 6). By questionable emphasis upon His "forty days'" fast, His abstinence from marriage and His voluntary poverty, some have reached the conclusion that complete renunciation of the things of the present was "the way of perfection according to the Saviour." ISBE Abstinence.21

A fuller and more appreciative study of Jesus' life and spirit must bring us to a different conclusion. Certainly His mode of life is sharply differentiated in the Gospels, not only from that of the ISBE Abstinence.22

Pharisees, but also from that of John the Baptist. Indeed, He exhibited nothing of the asceticism of those illustrious Christian saints, Bernard and John of the Cross, or even of Francis, who "of all ascetics approached most nearly to the spirit of the Master." Jesus did not flee from the world, or eschew the amenities of social life. He contributed to the joyousness of a marriage feast, accepted the hospitality of rich and poor, permitted a vase of very precious ointment to be broken and poured upon His feet, welcomed the society of women, showed tender love to children, and clearly enjoyed the domestic life of the home in Bethany. There is no evidence that He imposed upon Himself any unnecessary austerities. The "forty days' " fast (not mentioned in Mk, the oldest authority) is not an exception to this rule, as it was rather a necessity imposed by His situation in the wilderness than a self-imposed observance of a law of fasting (compare Christ's words concerning John the Baptist: "John came neither eating nor drinking", see the article on "Asceticism,"DCG ). At any rate, He is not here an example of the traditional asceticism. He stands forth throughout the Gospels "as the living type and embodiment of self-denial," yet the marks of the ascetic are not found in Him. His mode of life was, indeed, so non-ascetic as to bring upon Him the reproach of being "a gluttonous man and a winebibber" (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). ISBE Abstinence.23

(2) His Teaching. Beyond question, it was, from first to last, "instinct with the spirit of self-denial" "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself," is an ever-recurring refrain of His teaching "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," is ever His categorical imperative (Matthew 6:33 the King James Version; Luke 12:31). This is to Him the summum bonum--all desires and strivings which have not this as their goal must be suppressed or sacrificed (compare Matthew 13:44-46; 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 9:59-60; 14:26 with Matthew 5:29-30; Mark 9:43-47; Matthew 16:24 f; Mark 8:34 f; Luke 9:23 f; and Luke 14:33). In short, if any man find that the gratification of any desire of the higher or lower self will impede or distract him in the performance of his duties as a subject of the Kingdom, he must forego such gratification, if he would be a disciple of Christ. "If it cause thee to stumble," is always the condition, implied or expressed, which justifies abstinence from any particular good. ISBE Abstinence.24

According to the record, Jesus alluded to fasting only twice in His teaching. In Matthew 6:16-18, where voluntary fasting is presupposed as a religious exercise of His disciples, He warns them against making it the occasion of a parade of piety: "Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father who is in secret." In short, He sanctions fasting only as a genuine expression of a devout and contrite frame of mind. ISBE Abstinence.25

In Matthew 9:14-17 (parallel Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39) in reply to the question of the disciples of John and of the Pharisees, Jesus refuses to enjoin fasting. He says fasting, as a recognized sign of mourning, would be inconsistent with the joy which "the sons of the bridechamber" naturally feel while "the bridegroom is with them." But, he adds, suggesting the true reason for fasting, that the days of bereavement will come, and then the outward expression of sorrow will be appropriate. Here, as in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sanctions fasting, without enjoining it, as a form through which emotion may spontaneously seek expression. His teaching on the subject may be summarized in the one word, subordination (DCG). ISBE Abstinence.26

To the form of fasting He attaches little importance, as is seen in the succeeding parables of the Old Garment and the Old Wine-skins. It will not do, He says, to graft the new liberty of the gospel on the body of old observances, and, yet more, to try to force the new system of life into the ancient molds. The new piety must manifest itself in new forms of its own making (Matthew 9:16-17; Mark 2:21-22; Luke 5:36, 38). Yet Jesus shows sympathy with the prejudices of the conservatives who cling to the customs of their fathers: "No man having drunk old vane desireth new; for he saith, The old is good." But to the question, Was Jesus an ascetic? we are bound to reply, No. ISBE Abstinence.27

"Asceticism," as Harnack says, "has no place in the gospel at all; what it asks is that we should struggle against Mammon, against care, against selfishness; what it demands and disengages is love--the love that serves and is self-sacrificing, and whoever encumbers Jesus' message with any other kind of asceticism fails to understand it" (What is Christianity? 88). ISBE Abstinence.28

7. The Practice and Teaching of the Apostles: On the whole, unquestionably, the practice and teachings of the apostles and early Christians were in harmony with the example and teaching of the Master. But a tendency, partly innate, partly transmitted from Jewish legalism, and partly pagan, showed itself among their successors and gave rise to the Vita Religiosa and Dualism which found their fullest expression in Monasticism. ISBE Abstinence.29

It is worthy of note that the alleged words of Jesus: `But this kind goeth not out save by prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29; Matthew 17:21 the King James Version), are corruptions of the text. (Compare Tobit 12:8; Sirach 34:26; Luke 2:37). The Oxyrhynchus fragment (disc. 1897) contains a logion with the words legei Iesous, ean me nesteuete ton kosmon, ou me heurete ten basileian tou theou: "Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the Kingdom of God," but the "fasting" here is clearly metaphorical. ISBE Abstinence.30

LITERATURE. ISBE Abstinence.31

Bingham, Antiquities, W. Bright, Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life (1898), J. O. Hannay, The Spirit and Origin of Christian Monasticism (1902), and The Wisdom of the Desert (1904); Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ, Migne, Dictionnaire d' Ascetisme, and Encyclopedia Theol., XLV, XLVI, 45, 46; Jewish Encyclopedia, and Bible Dictionaries at the place. ISBE Abstinence.32

George B. Eager ISBE Abstinence.33