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Ap Abt – Armageddon
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Ap Abt
Ap abt a, ARABS. — In the present article ws have to do not with the part played by the Arabs in history, or with the geography of the Arabian peninsula, but only with the emergence of the Arab name and people in Bible times.
‘Arab (for which we should have expected rather’ SrSb) is scarcely at first a proper name, but stands merely for ‘waste,’ ‘desolation.’ So in (which may really belong to Isaiah himself, but should perhaps be ascribed to a later hand): ‘Bivouac in the copse (made up of thorn-bushes, something like an Italian macchia], in the waste, ye caravans of Dedan.’ In this passage the title massd ba’rab, which in any case is late and wanting in the ancient Gr. version, incorrectly takes ‘arab as a proper name [we need not stop to notice the false interpretation of this word adopted by the LXX here and in other passages]. More commonly the word used for’ waste’ is the fern. form ‘arabah (e.g. Is , etc.), which, preceded by the art. (.hd-‘ArdbHh), stands for the deep gorge which, commencing to the north of the Dead Sea and including the latter, stretches to the Red Sea ( etc.). Whether’ araftl in and means simply an inhabitant of the desert, or should be taken as a proper name, is uncertain; but at bottom this distinction has no importance, for the two notions of ‘Bedouin’ (BadavM, which also =‘inhabitant of the desert’) and ‘Arab’ were pretty much identical in the mind of civilized peoples. It may be noted that here the Massoretes appear to assume the appellative sense, since they point ‘arabl, whereas for’ Arab ‘they use the form more akin to Aramaic than Hebrew, ‘arM ( ). The plural’ arblm in Nehemiah 21 22 and Qerg, from ‘arM’im (Kethibh of the last passage) may also be justified from the standpoint of Hebrew usage. The form in can hardly be original ; it is due to attraction from the following metii’im. ‘Arab is certainly a gentilic name In we’eih kol malice ‘Arab of [the following words we~eth kol malki ha-‘ereb, which are wanting in the LXX, are of course a pure dittography; for, although the Massoretes, for the sake of distinction, point in the second instance hd-‘ereb, this has no value] and in Ezk . In these passages ‘Arab can hardly be taken as the name of a single clan quite distinct from Dedan and the rest. The prophetic authors do not speak with the exactness of a prose narrator, and in point of fact were perhaps not very well Informed about the various branches of the Bedouins, of whose territory the Israelite peasant and townsman thought only with a shudder. It is possible, indeed, that the rise of the name’ Arab’ among the Hebrews (c. B.C. 700) is connected with the circumstance that the ancient clans of Ishmael, Midian, Amalek, etc., had by that time disappeared or at least lost all significance. In the desert there goes on a constant, if for the most part a slow, interchange in the rise and fall of tribes and tribal names. A brave tribe may be weakened by famine or defeat ; it may be compelled to migrate or to adopt a settled mode of life, and thus its name becomes lost among a peasant population; or it may become otherwise broken up and its fragments attached to other tribes, so that small clans by assimilating foreign elements become great tribes. So it was millenniums ago; so it is still.
The Assyrian sources name the Arabs as early as the 9th cent. B.C. (see the passages cited by Bezold in his Catalogue, vol. v. 1964). King Darius i., in his inscriptions, enumerates ArabSya among the countries subject to him. The name always follows Babylonia, Assyria (which as a province included Mesopotamia proper and also probably N. Syria), and precedes Egypt. "We shall have to understand by this name the great desert region not only of Syria, but also of Mesopotamia as well as the peninsula of Sinai. About this same time at the latest the name of the Arabs became known also to the Greeks. iBschylus (Persce, 316) names an Arab as fighting in the battle of Salamis, and his contemporary, from whom Herodotus borrowed his description of the host of Xerxes, enumerated Arab archers as forming part of the latter (Herod, vii. 69). But while ^schylus (Prom. 422) has quite fabulous nations about the dwelling-places of the Arabs, Herodotus is well acquainted with them. His account of the situation of the Arabian peninsula is approximately correct, but he has specially in view those Arabs who inhabit the region lying between Syria and Egypt, i.e. the desert lands with whose inhabitants the ancient Israelites had frequeht relations, peaceful or warlike. Xenophon appears to use the term ‘Arabia’ in essentially the same sense as King Darius. He too gives this name to the desert to the east of the Euphrates, the desert which separates Babylonia from Mesopotamia proper (Anab. vii. viii. 25), — the same region which was still called ‘Arab by the later Syrians. This tract of country, so far as we can learn, has always been peopled by Arab tribes.
In the 5th cent. b.o. we find, in the above-cited passages from the Memoirs of Nehemiah, repeated mention of an Arabian — Geshem or Gashmu, whose real name may have been GushamS — who gave Nehemiah no little trouble. About this time, perhaps, the Arab tribe of Nabataeans had already pressed their way from the south and driven the Edomites from their ancient seats. Towards the end of the 4th cent, they were firmly established at least in the ancient Edomite capital, Petra; and they gradually extended their dominion widely. The First Book of Maccabees clearly distinguishes the Nabataeans from other Arabs, whereas the Second Book simply calls them ‘Arabs’ (2 Maccabees 5:8). as do also other Greek and Latin writers. The Nabatsean kingdom counted, indeed, for so much with Westerns that they could regard it as ‘the Arabs’ par excellence. The Apostle Paul (). like profane writers, reckons the Sinaitic peninsula, which was part of the Nabataean kingdom, as belonging to Arabia. Again, the part of Arabia to which he withdrew after his conversion () must have been a desert region not far from Damascus, which then also was under the sway of the king of the Nabataeans. By the ‘Arabians’ mentioned in . in connexion with the miracle of Pentecost, the author probably meant Jews from the same kingdom, which, it is true, had in his time (7) become the Roman province of Arabia (a.d. 105),
We do not know whether the name ‘Arab originated with the Arabs themselves or was first applied to them by outsiders. In any case, it first extended itself gradually over the northern regions and the great peninsula. Uncivilized and much divided peoples recognize their national unity only with difficulty, whereas this is more readily perceived by their neighbours. In the first case a man knows only his own tribe, and regards even the neighbouring tribe, which speaks the same language, as strange. But the wide wanderings of the Arab nomads, due to the nature of their country, brought them readily into contact with peoples of other language and other customs, and this could awaken in them the consciousness of their own nationality. Perhaps the recognition of Arab unity was favoured also by the trading journeys of the civilized Arabs of the south and of other parts of Arabia. But be that as it may, the ancient Arab epitaph of Namara to the S.E. of Damascus, dating from the year a.d. 328, concerns Maralqais,’ king of all Arabs.’ And from the oldest documents of classical Arabic that have come down to us it is a sure inference that at that time (i.e. in the 6th cent, a.d.) ‘Arab had been for an inconceivably long period known as their national designation. But the close connexion between this common name and the meaning’ desert’ still reveals itself in the circumstance that the plural form ‘Arab (later more freq.’ Urban) stands especially for the Bedouins as opposed to Arabs who live in towns, and that afterwards in common speech, as had been the case even in the Sabsean Inscriptions, ‘Arab is often used simply for’ Bedouin,’ ‘inhabitant of the desert.’
Th. Noldeke.
Arad
1. A city in the Negeb, the king of which provoked Israel () and was slain by Joshua (). In its vicinity the Kenites settled (). It is probably Tell ‘Arad, 16 miles S. of Hebron. 2. A Benjamite (). W. Ewinq.
Aradus
Aradus (1 Maccabees 15:23). See Arvad.
Arah
1. In the genealogy of Asher (). 2. His family returned with Zerubbabel (. . 1 Esdras 5:10.).
Aram
1. A grandson of Nahor (). 2. An Asherite (). 3. AV of . . See Arni, Ram.
Aram, Aram
Aram, aram fflANS (often in AV and RV ‘Syrians ‘). — A number of scattered but kindred tribes which made their appearance in the Euphrates valley about B.C. 1300 and rapidly pushed westward. Their chief habitat stretched from Harran, east of the Euphrates, south-westward to the Hauran. The north-eastern part of this region was called’ Aram of the rivers’ (Aram-naharaim, , title). The Aramaeans are first mentioned by Shalmaneser i. of Assyria about B.C. 1300 {WAl iii. 4, No. 1). About the same time their name occurs in an inscription of Rameses ii. (cf. MQUer, Asien und Europa, 222, 234). Tiglath-pileser i. (c. b.c. 1110) mentions Ararateans (KIB i. 33) as dwelling east of the Euphrates, and in this same region they were later (885-824) conquered by Ashurnazirpal and Shalmaneser ii. Many of them continued to live in the Euphrates valley, where their language spread to such an extent that, in the reign of Sennacherib, Aramaic glosses begin to make their appearance on Babylonian contracts. In Nippur many similar documents from the Persian period have been found. They indicate that the use of Aramaic was spreading among the common people of Babylonia. It probably came into general use here, as the Babylonian Talmud is written in it.
The Aramseans pushed into the West in large numbers shortly after b.c. 1300. In course of time they occupied Damascus and a part of the country to the south as far as the Hauran, some of them mingling with tribes still farther to the south and becoming the Ammonites, Moabites, and Israelites. A part of the Aramaeans also displaced the Hittites in Hamath. Damascus became the leading Arameean State (cf. and ). but other independent Aramsean kingdoms were Aram-Geshur, and Aiam-Maacah in the Hauran to the north of Bashan; Aram-Zobah, farther north towards Damascus; and Aram-Rehob, near the town of Dan (, ). conjecturally identified with Banias (Moore, Com. on Judges, 399).
King David married a daughter of the king of Geshur, and she became the mother of Absalom (). who afterwards fled thither (). Damascus was conquered by David (). who also made Zobab, Rehob, and Maacah tributary (ch. 10). Zobah is mentioned by Ashurbanipal three centuries later as Subiti.
After the death of David, Damascus regained its independence. In the reigns of Baasha and Asa it was an ally now of Israel and now of Judah (). During the century from Ahab to Jehoash of Israd, Damascus and Israel were frequently at war, and Damascus held much of Israel’s trans-Jordanic territory. After this the Aramaean kingdom became weaker, but in the reign of Ahaz it made an attempt on Judah (). It was finally subdued by Tiglath-pileser m. of Assyria in b.c. 732.
The Aramaeans continued to form the basis of population in the region from Aleppo to the Euphrates and beyond. Early in the Christian era this region became Christian, and in that Aramaic dialect called Syriac a large Christian literature exists.
George A. Barton.
Aramitess
A feminine form which occurs in both AV and RV of . for the elsewhere frequent term Syrian.
Ara
Ara m-GESHUR, ARAM-MAACAH, ARAU- KAHARAHI, ARAM-REHOB, ARAM-ZOBAH. —See Aram.
Aran
Son of Dishan the Horite (, ). a descendant of Esau. The name denotes ‘a wild goat,’ and Dishan ‘an antelope’ or ‘gazelle’; while Seir the ancestor is ‘the he-goat.’
Ararat
Ararat (. [||Isa 37), ) is the Hebrew form of the Assyrian Urartu, which on the monuments from the 9th cent, downwards designates a kingdom in the N. of thelater Armenia. Theextension of the name naturally varied with the political limits of this State; but properly it seems to have denoted a small district on the middle Araxes, of which the native name Ayraral is thought to be preserved in the Alarodioi of Herodotus (iii. 94, vii. 79). Jerome describes it as ‘a level region of Armenia, through which the Araxes flows, of incredible fertility, at the foot of the Taurus range, which extends thus far.’ The Araxes (or Aras), on its way to the Caspian Sea, forms a great elbow to the S. ; and at the upper part of this, on the right (or S.W.) bank of the river, the lofty snowclad summit of Massis (called by the Persians the ‘mountain of Noah’) rises to a height of nearly 17,000 ft. above sea-level. This is the traditional landing-place of the ark; and, through a misunderstanding of (‘in [one of) the mountains of Ararat ‘), the name was transferred from the surrounding district to the two peaks of this mountain. Great Ararat and Little Ararat, — the latter about 7 m. distant and 4000 ft. lower.
Whether this is the site contemplated by the writer in Genesis (P) is not quite certain. ‘The Syrian and Mohammedan tradition places itat JebelJudi, a striking mountain considerably S. oi Lake Van, commanding a wide view over the Atesopotamian plain. It is just possible that this might be included among the ‘mountains of Ararat’ in the wider sense of the term. This seems the view of Josephus (Ant. i. iii. 5, 6), who is unconscious of any discrepancy between ‘Armenia’ and the ‘Kordytean’ mountain of Berosus. His statement about relics of the ark being shown in his time appeara to be borrowed from Berosiis, and applies to wiatever mountain that writer had in mind — possibly Jebel Jddt I ‘The Targums and Peshitta, however, which are infiuencedbythis tradition, read XardS (Kurdistan), in verbal agreement with Berosus. The cuneiform Flood-legend puts it much farther S., at the ‘mountain of Nisir,’ probably in one of the ranges E. of the Tigris and S. of ‘the Lesser Zab. This, of course, is quite beyond any imaginable extension of the name Ararat. Assuming, therefore, tnatthe Biblical and Babylonian narratives have a common origin, the landing-place of the ark would seem to have been pushed gradually northward, the natural tendency of such a tradition being to attach itself to the highest mountain known at the time. On this principle the ultimate selection of the imposing Mount Massis would be almost inevitable; and it is probable that this is the view of . although the alternative hypothesis that Jebel JOdi is meant has still some claim to be considered. The suggestion of Noldeke, that Ararat is a late substitution for Kardt^ in the original text of Genesis, has nothing to recommend it. J. Skinner.
Abartte
( RV). See Hararite, No. 2.
ABATHES, formerly called Mithridates, was king of Cappadocia b.c. 163-130. In b.c. 139 the Romans wrote letters to Arathes and certain other eastern sovereigns in favour of the Jews (1 Maccabees 15:22).
Araunah
Araunah (; called in . Oman). — A Jebusite who owned a threshing-floor on Mount Moriah. This spot was indicated by the prophet Gad as the place where an altar should be erected to J", because the plague, which followed David’s numbering of the people, had been stayed. David bought the threshing-floor and oxen for SO shekels of silver. The price paid is given in as 600 shekels of gold — a characteristic deviation from the earlier account.
Abba
Abba is named ‘the father of the Anak’ in (so read also 21", of. 15"). This means simply that he was the founder of the city which bore his name; that is Kiriath-arba, later Hebron (wh. see), where was a chief seat of the Anakim. J. F. McCuhdy.
Arbathite
Arbathite (). ‘A naltive of Beth-arabah,’ a town in the wilderness of Judah (, ).
Arbatta
Arbatta (AV Arbattis), 1 Maccabees 5. A district in Palestine. The situation is doubtful. It may be a corruption for Akrabattis — the toparchy of Samaria near ‘Akrabeh E. of Shechem.
Arbela
The discrepancy between 1 Maccabees 9 and Jos. Ant. XII. xi. 1, our only authorities, makes uncertain the route of Bacchides in his march on Jerusalem. Josephus makes him pitch his camp at Arbela in Galilee: 1 Mac. brings him ‘by the way that leadeth to Gilgal,’ to ‘Mesaloth which is in Arbela.’ His course thence points to JUfUia as Gilgal, about 5 miles N. of Blr ez- Zeit, where the battle was fought with Judas. Uesaloth might then be sought in Meselieh, about 3 miles S.E. of Dothan. But no name resembling Arbela, either of town or district, is found in the neighbourhood; although Eusebius ( Onomasticon) seems to have known an Arbela not far from Lejjun. On the other hand, Arbela in Galilee survives in the modern Irbil or Irbid, a ruin on the S. lip of the gorge, Wady Hamam, which breaks westward troin Gennesaret. There is, however, no trace of a Mesaloth here, unless indeed Robinson’s ingenious suggestion is right, that it may be the Heb. mesUllth, referring to the famous caverned cliffs in the gorge, whence Bacchides extirpated the refugees.
W. EWINQ.
Arbite
The LXX () apparently reads ‘the Archite,’ cf. and ‘Hushai the Arohite,’ ; but a place ‘Arab, in the S. of Judah, is mentioned . In the parallel passage we find’ the son of Ezbai,’ a reading which is supported by several MSS of the LXX in 2 Sam. I.e., and is probably correct.
AEB0NAI(Jth2^). — A torrent apparently near Cilicia. It cannot be represented by the modern Nahr Ibrahim, since the ancient name of that river was the Adonis.
Arch
It is usually stated that the Hebrews were unacquainted with the architectural principle of the arch, but in view of the extreme antiquity of the arch in Babylonian mason work, as e.g. at Nippur, of the discovery of early arches by recent explorers, and of the vaulted roofs of later Jewish tombs, this view is now seen to be erroneous, although the arch is not mentioned in Scripture. The word ‘arch’ does, indeed, occur in the EV of : but this is a mistake for ‘porch,’ ‘porches.’ See Temple. A. R. S. Kennedy.
Archangel
See Angel.
ARCHELA0S.— . See Herod, No. 2.
Archer
See Ahmouh, Armt.
Archevites
‘The people of Erech’ (wh. see). Some of the inhabitants of Erech were deported as colonists to Samaria by king Ashurbanipal (668-626). Their name is mentioned in along with dwellers in Babylon; and the deportation of Archevites most probably indicates that Erech sided with Babylon in the revolt of Samas-sum-ukin against the Assyr. king.
Archippus
Archippus (Philem ) was evidently a member of the household of Philemon of Colossae, probably his son. He shared his spirit, since St. Paul, referring doubtless to his aid in missionary operations in those parts, styles him ‘our fellow-soldier.’ He had been entrusted with some important office in the Church, whether at ColossEe, or, as Lightfoot, in view of the preceding context, more probably supposes, at the neighbouring town of Laodicea; and, considering the spiritual atmosphere of the place (). one is not surprised that the Apostle should have thought it needful to exhort him to zeal in his ministry.
David Smith.
Archite
The native of a town [in read ‘the Archites,’ not ‘Archi’ as in AV] situated on the north border of Benjamin, possibly the modern ‘Ain ‘Arii:, west of Bethel. Hushai, David’s friend (2 8 153’), belonged to this town.
Architecture
The Hebrews never developed a native style of architecture. The genius of the people lay elsewhere. Alike in civil, religious, and funerary architecture, they were content to follow alien models. David’s palace in his new capital was probably the first building since the conquest which gave scope for architectural display, and in this case workmen, plans, and decorative materials were all Phoenician (). The palace and temple of Solomon were likewise the work of Phoenician architects, and the former doubtless supplied the model for the more ambitious private buildings under the monarchy. Late Egyptian influence has been traced in the tombs of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, but the prevailing Influence from the beginning of the 3rd cent, onwards was undoubtedly Greek (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:14. 2 Maccabees 4:12). The many magnificent buildings of Herod, for example, including the colonnades and gates of the Temple, were entirely built in the prevailing Grseco- Roman style. When the excavations at Gezer, — where Mr. Macalister claims to have discovered, with much else of architectural interest, the palace of Simon MaccabsBus (1 Maccabees 13:48). — Taanach, and Megiddo are finished and the results published in final form, and still more when other historical sites, such as Samaria (cf. , ). ghall have been similarly laid bare, it may be possible to write a history of Palestinian, including pre-Israelite or Amorite architecture, but that day is not yet. See, further. Fortification, Palace, Temple, Tomb. a. R. S. Kennedy.
Archives
The ‘house of the archives’ ( RV; AV ‘rolls’) was a part of the ‘treasure house’ (5") of the Persian kings at Babylon, in which important State documents were preserved.
Arcturus
See Stars.
Ard
Benjamin’s son in . but his grandson in = (Addar). Patronymic Ardites ().
Ardat
(2 Esdras 9:26 AV Ardath). ‘A field’ in an unknown situation.
Ardites
. See Ard.
Ardon
A son of Caleb ().
Areli
A son of Gad (, ). Patronymic Arelites ().
Areopagus
This is a compound name, which means ‘Hill of Ares,’ that is. Hill sacred to (or connected with) Ares, the Greek god of war, who corresponded to the Latin Mars. The hill referred to is a bare, shapeless mass of rock in Athens, about 380 feet high. It is due west of the Acropolis, and separated from it only by a ridge. From the earliest times known to us this hill was associated with murder trials, and a court known as the ‘Council from the Areopagus’ met on or near it to try such cases. In the account in Acts (17"- it is not the hill, but the ‘Council’ itself that is referred to, the name of the hill being often used for the Council which met there. In Roman times the Council had power to appoint lecturers at Athens, and St. Paul appears before them to have his aptitude tested. The proceedings were audible to the surrounding crowd. St. Paul’s claim was rejected, and only one member of the Council, Dionysius ‘the Areopagite’ (.17"), was convinced by his teaching. A. Souter.
Ares
Ares (1 Esdras 5:10). 756 of his descendants returned with Zerub.: they correspond to the 775 () or 652 () children of Arah.
ARETAS, — This is the dynastic name (Aram. Chareihath) of several kings of the Nabatsean Arabs whose capital was Petra (Sela), and whose language for purposes of writing and commerce was an Aramaic dialect, as is seen from the existing inscriptions. (Cooke, N. Semitic Inscr. p. 214 B.). The first of the line is mentioned in 2 Maccabees 5:8; the fourth (whose personal name was jEneas) in . where his ‘ethnarch’ is said to have ‘guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to take’ St. Paul; but the Apostle escaped. This was within three years after his conversion ( f.; ff.). There is a difficulty here, for Damascus was ordinarily in the Roman province of Syria. Aretas in. had held it in B.C. 85; the Roman coins of Damascus end a.d. 34 and begin again a.d. 62-3. It has been supposed that the Nabatseans held the city during this interval. Yet before the death of Tiberius (a.d. 37) there could hardly have been any regular occupancy by them, as Vitellius, propraetor of Syria, was sent by that emperor to punish Aretas iv. for the vengeance that the latter had taken on Herod Antipas for divorcing his sister in favour of Herodias. It has therefore been thought that a.d. 37 is the earliest possible date for St. Paul’s escape; and this will somewhat modify our view of Pauline chronology (see art. Paul the Apostle, § 4). Yet the allusion in f. does not necessarily imply anything like a permanent tenure of Damascus by Aretas’ ethnarch. A temporary occupancy may well have taken place in Aretas’ war against Herod Antipas or afterwards; and it would be unsafe to build any chronological theory on this passage. The reign of Aretas iv. lasted from b.c. 9 to a.d. 40-, inscriptions (at el-Hejra) and coins are dated in his 48th year (Cooke, I.e.). A. J. Maclean.
Argob
1. Argob and Arieh were guards of Pekahiah (). who fell by the hands of Pekah along with their master. 2, A district in the kingdom of Og, abounding in strong cities and unwalled towns. It was subdued by ‘Jair son of Manasseh,’ and became the possession of his tribe (, . etc.). It is called ‘the Argob’ (). This, together with the fact that chebel, ‘measured area,’ always precedes the name, seems to indicate a definitely marked district. This would apply admirably to the great lava field of el-Leja, N.W. of Jebel Hauran. Within this forbidding tract the present writer collected the names of 71 ruined sites. Had Gesenius rightly translated ‘a heap of stones,’ the identification would be almost certain. But the name seems to mean ‘arable land’ (re!7c6=‘clod,’ ). Argob must therefore be sought elsewhere. The W. slopes of the mountain (now Jebel ed- Druze) would always form a clearly defined district. They abound in ruins of antiquity; while the rich soil, now turned to good account by the Druzes, would amply justify the name of Argob. W. Ewing.
Aridai
(). The ninth of Haman’s sons, put to death by the Jews.
Aridatha
(). The sixth son of Haman, put to death by the Jews.
Arieh
(‘the lion’). Mentioned with Argob in a very obscure passage ().
Ariel
1. One of Ezra’s chief men (). 2. The name of a Moabite (according to EV of , ) whose two sons were slain by Benaiah. 3. A name of uncertain meaning, perhaps = ‘God’s altar-hearth,’ given to Jerusalem by Isaiah ( ff.). It has recently been proposed to read XJri^el (‘city of God ‘) as a paronomasia or play of words on Uru-saiim, the earliest recorded form of the name’ Jerusalem.’
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Arimath
Arimath aiA (. . , ). — A place known only in connexion with Joseph. It was probably near Lydda.
Arioch
1 . The king of EUasar (). . It has been suggested by Schrader that Arioch is the transcription of Eri-a-ku, the Sumerian writing of the name Rim- Sin of the king of Larsa, son of Kudur-Mabug, an Elamite, who ruled Southern Babylonia till conquered by Hammurabi. See Chedorlaomer. 2. The captain of the king’s guard in the time of Nebuchadrezzar (Dn 2"). 3. King of the Elym^ans (Jth
C. H. W. Johns.
Arisai
(). The eighth son of Haman, put to death by the Jews.
Aristarchus
The name of one of St. Paul’s companions in travel. He was ‘a Macedonian of Thessalonica’ ( ). and a convert from Judaism ( f.). From Troas, Aristarchus accompanied St. Paul on his departure for Jerusalem at the close of the third missionary journey () he also embarked with the Apostle on his voyage to Rome (). In he is called St. Paul’s ‘fellow-prisoner’ (cf. Philemon 23, where Epaphras, not Aristarchus, is styled ‘my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus’). The expression probably refers not to a spiritual captivity, but either to a short imprisonment arising out of the turmoil described in . or to a voluntary sharing of the Apostle’s captivity by Aristarchus and Epaphras.
J. G. Tabker.
Aristobulus
1. The name of a son and of a grandson of Herod the Great. The grandson lived as a private individual at Rome, and was a friend of the Emperor Claudius; those greeted by St. Paul in were probably some of his slaves. It he was then dead, they might have become members of the Imperial household, but would still retain Aristobulus’ name. 2. The teacher of Ptolemy (2 Maccabees 1:10). A. J. Maclean.
Arius
Arius (1 Maccabees 12:7, 20). A king of Sparta, grandson and successor of Cleomenes 11. His reign lasted from B.C. 309 to B.C. 265, and he was contemporary with the high priest Onias i., the successor of Jaddua. Friendly letters were interchanged between Arius and Onlas (probably about b.c. 300); and Jonathan Maccabteus refers to these communications in a letter which he sent by his ambassadors to Sparta (c. b.c. 144), 1 Maccabees 12 AV Darius in v. 7 is due to corrupt text.
Ark
This word, from Lat. area, ‘a chest,’ is the rendering of two Hebrew words, of which one {febhah, probably a loan-word) is applied both to the basket of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was exposed, and to the ark built by Noah (see DELnoE). The other (‘orSn, the native word for box or chest, f.), is used tor a mummy-case or coffin (). and in particular for the sacred ark of the Hebrews.
Ark of the Covenant. — 1. Names of the ark. — Apart from the simple designation ‘the ark’ found in all periods of Heb. literature, the names of the ark, more than twenty in number, fall into three groups, which are characteristic (a) of the oldest literary sources, viz. Samuel and the prophetical narratives of the Hexateuch ; (6) of Deuteronomy and the writers influenced by Dt. ; and (c) of the Priests’ Code and subsequent writings. In (o) we find chiefly ‘the ark of J",’ doubtless the oldest name of all, and ‘the ark of God’; in (6) the characteristic title is ‘the ark of the covenant’ — alone or with the additions ‘of J",’ ‘of God,’ etc. — a contraction for ‘the ark or chest containing the tables of the covenant’ (). and therefore practically ‘the ark of the Decalogue’ ; in (c) the same conception of the ark prevails (see below), but as the Decalogue is by P termed ‘the testimony,’ the ark becomes ‘the ark of the testimony.’ All other designations are expansions of one or other of the above.
2. History of the ark. — The oldest Pentateuch sources (J, E) are now silent as to the origin of the ark, but since the author of had one or both of these before him, it may be assumed that its construction was there also assigned to Moses in obedience to a Divine command . It certainly played an important part in the wanderings ( ). and in the conquest of Canaan ( ff. f.). and finally found a resting-place in the temple of Shiloh under the care of a priestly family claiming descent from Moses (). After its capture by the Philistines and subsequent restoration, it remained at Kiriath-jearim (). until removed by David, first to the house of Obed-edom, and thereafter to a specially erected tent in his new capital ( ff.). Its final home was the inner sanctuary of the Temple of Solomon ( ff.). Strangely enough, there is no further mention of the ark in the historical books. Whether it was among ‘the treasures of the house of the Lord’ carried off by Shishak (c. B.C. 930), or whether it was still in its place in the days of Jeremiah ( f.) and was ultimately destroyed by the soldiers of Nebuchadrezzar (587 B.C.), it is impossible to say. There was no ark in the Temples of Zerubbabel and Herod.
3. The significance of the ark. — In attempting a solution of this difficult problem, we must, as in the foregoing section, leave out of account the late theoretical conception of the ark to be found in the Priests’ Code (see Tabernacle), and confine our attention to the oldest sources. In these the ark — a simple chest of acacia wood, according to — is associated chiefly with the operations of war, in which it is the representative of J", the God of the armies of Israel. Its presence on the field of battle is the warrant of victory ( ff.; cf. ). as Its absence is the explanation of defeat (). Its issue to and return from battle are those of J" Himself ( f.). So closely, indeed, is the ark identified with the personal presence of J" in the oldest narratives (see, besides the above, . ). that one is tempted to identify it with that mysterious ‘presence’ of J" which, as a fuller manifestation of the Deity than even the ‘angel of J",’ was Israel’s supreme guide in the wilderness wanderings ( compared with : . and . where read ‘neither a messenger nor an angel, but his presence delivered them’). The ark was thus a substitute for that still more complete Presence (EV ‘face’) which no man can see and live.
Under the prophetic teaching Israel gradually outgrew this naive and primitive, not to say fetish-like, conception, and in the 7th cent, we first find the ark spoken of as the receptacle for the tables of the Decalogue ( ff.). Apart from other difficulties attending this tradition, it is quite inadequate to explain the extreme reverence and, to us, superstitious dread with which the afk is regarded in the narratives of Samuel. Hence many modern scholars are of opinion that the stone tables of the Deuteronomio tradition have taken the place of actual fetish stones, a view which it is impossible to reconcile with the lofty teaching of the founder of Israel’s religion. A. R. S. Kennedy.
Arkite
Arkite is used (, ) tor the people of Arka, a town and district of Phcenicia about 12 miles north of Tripolis. It was taken by Tlglath-pileser iii. in B.C. 738. As the birthplace of the Emperor Alexander Severus, it was later called Caesarea Libani. It Is probably mentioned, under the form Irkata, in the Amarna Letters. J. F. McCukdt.
Arm
Part of the insignia of royalty amongst Oriental peoples was a bracelet worn on the arm (2 S !">; cf. W. R. Smith’s reading of where, agreeing with Wellhausen, he would substitute ‘bracelet’ for ‘testimony’ l O TJC^ Sl l n.]). The importance attached to the functions discharged by this organ are incidentally referred to by Job in his solemn repudiation of conscious wrong-doing (‘Let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone’ Sl22). The heart was said to be situated ‘between the arms,’ and, therefore, in the murder of Joram, the deadly aim of Jehu resulted in the instantaneous death of the former (). It is interesting to recall here the means by which Jeremiah escaped the vengeance of his political enemies, especially as the narrative reveals the affection inspired by the prophet amongst some of the courtiers (). A note of vividness is introduced into the narratives telling of St. Paul’s method of bespeaking attention from a crowd which he was anxious to address ( , cf. ). There is in the Gospels no more beautiful picture than the two presented by St. Mark, in which the tenderness of Jesus to little children is emphasized. In each of them is pointed out the startling method by which His teaching was often enforced objectively on His hearers’ attention ( . cf. ).
Besides this literal use, there is also an extensive employment of the word in a metaphorical or a spiritual sense. Sometimes we find it used to denote the strength of the ungodly and their power to commit acts of cruel tyranny on God’s people (cf . . , f. ; cf. ‘arm of flesh,’ . ). Sometimes the word expresses the might of God’s ceaseless activity either on behalf of His chosen (, , , ), or in breaking the power of His enemies (. . ), or again in upholding the movements and harmony of His creation, ruling in justice with unswerving sternness ( f.: . . ). The doom pronounced on the house of Eli contains this word to express the removal of that latent vitality which shows itself in prolonged hereditary strength and activity (. cf. Zee ).
The cognate verb is also used not only literally, to furnish arms for the purposes of war (. , ). but also in a spiritual sense, to procure and make use of those graces and helps which are meant as weapons, offensive and defensive, of the soul against sin (, cf. ). J. R. Willis.
Armageddon
See Har-Magedon. ARMENIA.— See Ararat. ARMLET.— See Ornaments, § 4. ARMONI.— Son of Saul by Rizpah ().