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Ascension – Asriel
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Ascension
The fact of our Lord’s Ascension is treated very scantily in the Synoptic Gospels. From Mt. it is entirely omitted. In the appendix to Mk. the words in which it is stated are rather the formula of a creed than the narrative of an event (). Lk. is somewhat more circumstantial, and, though the chronology is uncertain, mentions the journey to the neighbourhood of Bethany and the disappearance of Christ in the act of blessing, together with the return of the disciples to Jerusalem (). The narrative, meagre as it is, is not Inconsistent with, and may even presuppose, the events recorded at greater length in Acts (l»-‘2). Here we learn that the scene was more precisely the Mount of Olives () that the final conversation, to which allusion is possibly made in . concerned the promise of the Holy Spirit () ; and that the Ascension, so far as it was an event and therefore a subject of testimony, took the lorm of the uplifting of the bodily form of Jesus from the earth till it disappeared In a cloud (). Whether this experience involved more than the separation of Christ from immediate contact with the earth, and included His gradual recession into the upper air, there is nothing directly to show. The general form of the narrative recalls the Transfiguration ())). The words of the’ two men in white apparel’ () suggest that the final Impression was that of disappearance above the heads of the onlookers (). It will be noticed that, while the Markan appendix and Luke, unless the latter narrative is interpolated, blend fact and figure ( ‘received up [fact] into heaven [partly fact, partly figure], and sat down at the right hand of God [figure]‘; ’ he parted from them [fact], and was carried up into heaven [partly fact, partly figure; but see RVm], ‘as must necessarily be the case where the doctrine of the Ascension is concerned; Acts, on the other hand, which purports to describe an event, rigidly keeps within the limits of testimony.
There are certain anticipations of the Ascension in the Gospels which must be regarded as part of their witness to it. Thus Lk. introduces the account of our Lord’s last journey to Jerusalem with the words ‘when the days were being fulfilled that he should be received up’ ( RVm). It is probable that the Ascension is here delicately blended with the Crucifixion, as apparently by Christ Himself in . Again, the word exodos in Luke’s account of the Transfiguration, rendered in the text of RV ‘decease,’ but marg. ‘departure,’ seems to have the same double reference (). Our Lord’s predictions of the Second Coming ‘on the clouds’ ( ; cf. . ) almost necessarily Imply the Ascension. The Fourth Gospel, while in its accustomed manner omitting the story of the Ascension, probably regarded as known, introduces definite references to it on the part of Christ both before and after the Resurrection ( , etc.). And if we compare statements in the Epistles (. ) with the Ascension narrative, it is scarcely possible to doubt that the writers accepted the historic fact as the basis of their teaching. To this must be added all those passages which speak of Jesus as exalted to the right hand or throne of God (. . etc.), and as returning to earth in the glory of the Father (. . etc.). In connexion with the Session, St. Peter, after mentioning the Resurrection, uses the expression ‘having gone his way into heaven’ (, cf. ). Nor can we omit such considerations as arise out of the fact of the Resurrection itself, which are satisfied only by an event that puts a definite period to the earthly manifestation of the incarnate Christ.
From what has been said it will appear that the Ascension stands on a somewhat different level from the Resurrection as an attested fact. Like the Virgin-birth, it did not form a part of the primitive preaching, nor does it belong to the evidences of Christianity. The fragment of what is thought to be a primitive hymn quoted in somewhat curiously places ‘preached among the nations’ before ‘received up in glory.’ But it is nevertheless a fact which came within the experience of the Apostles, and can therefore claim a measure of historical testimony. The Resurrection is itself the strongest witness to the reality of the Ascension, as of the Virgin-birth, nor would either in the nature of the case have been capable of winning its way to acceptance apart from the central faith that Jesus actually rose from the dead. But neither the fact itself nor its importance to the Christian believer depends upon the production of evidence for its occurrence. It will not be seriously disputed by those who accept the Apostolic gospel. On the other hand, the fact that the Ascension was accepted in the primitive Church as the event which put a term to the earthly manifestation of Christ brings out the Resurrection in striking relief as in the full sense of the word a fact of history. It is the Ascension, represented as it is in Scripture not only historically but mystically, and not the Resurrection, which might be viewed as an apotheosis or idealization of Jesus. That ‘Jesus is now living at the right hand of God’ (Harnack) is not a sufficient account of the Christian belief in the Resurrection in view of the Ascension narrative, which, even if Keim and others are right in regarding it as a materialization of the doctrine of the eternal Session as set forth in the Epistles, becomes necessary only when the Resurrection is accepted in the most literal sense.
The Ascension is the point of contact between the man Jesus Christ of the Gospels and the mystical Christ of the Epistles, preserving the historical character of the former and the universality of the latter in true continuity. It enabled the disciples to identify the gift of Pentecost with the promise of the Holy Spirit, which had been specially connected with the withdrawal of Jesus from bodily sight and His return to the Father (, cf. ). An eternal character is thus given to the sacrifice of the death of Christ, which becomes efficacious through the exaltation of His crucified and risen manhood (, ) J. G. Simpson.
ASCENSION OF ISAIAH. See Apoc. Lit., p. 41
Ascent of Blood
Ascent of blood (, RV ‘ascent of Adummim’). — The steep road from Jericho to Jerusalem, so called, according to Jerome, from the deeds of the brigands who infested t (cf . ) ; but see Adummim,
David Smith.
Aseas
Aseas (1 Esdras 9). One of the sons of Annas who agreed to put away his ‘strange’ wife; called Isshijah, .
Asebebias
(AV Asebebia). A Levite who accompanied Ezra to Jerusalem (1 Esdras 8:47).
Asebias
(AV Asebia). A Levite who returned with Ezra (1 Esdras 8:48).
Asenath
Daughter of Potl-phera, priest of On, wife of Joseph and mother of Ephraim and Manasseh ( ). The name, like the other Egyptian names in the story of Joseph, is of a well-known late type, prevalent from about B.C. 9S0; it should probably be vocalized Asneit or Esneit, meaning ‘belonging to Neit.’ Neit was the goddess of Sals, and her name was especially popular in names from the 26th (Saite) Dyn., c. B.C. 664, and onwards for some two centuries. _ Aaenath is the heroine of a remarkable Jewish and Christian romance, in which she renounces her false gods before her marriage with Joseph; it can be traced back to the 5th cent. A.D., and is probably a good deal earlier.
F. Li,. Griffith.
Ash
See Fm.
Ashan
Ashan ( , ). Perhaps the same as Cor-ashan (wh. see). It was a town of Judah, near Libnah and Rimmon, belonging to Simeon, and not far from Debir. The site is doubtful.
Asharelah
(AV Asarelah). An Asaphite (1 Cb 25^=), called in vM jesharelah.
Ashbea
Ashbea occurs in an obscure passage ( ‘house of A.’) where it is uncertain whether it is the name of a place or of a man.
Ashbel
(‘man of Baal’ ). ^The second son of Benjamin (; cf. Gn. 46. ). In Ashbelite, inhabitant of Ashbel, occurs.
Ashdod
(‘fortress’; Greek Azotus). A city in the Philistine PentapoUs; not captured by Joshua (). and a refuge for the unslaughtered Anakim () theoretically assigned to the tribe of Judah (). Hither the Philistines brought the ark, and sent It thence to Gath, on account of an outbreak probably of bubonic plague (). Uzziah attacked the city, destroyed its walls, and established settlements near it (). The Ashdodites joined with Sanballat in opposing Nehemiah’s restoration of Jerusalem (Neh ). yet some of the Jews of the period married wives from Ashdod, and their children spolce in its dialect (, ). It was captured by Sargon’s commander-in-chief (). Jeremiah, Amos, Zephaniah, and Zechariah speak denunciations against it. It was again captured by Judas Maccabzeus (1 Maccabees 5:68). and again by Jonathan (10:84). The solitary reference to it in the NT is the record of Philip’s departure thither after the baptism of the Ethiopian (). It is identified with the modern Bsdud, a village about two-thirds of the way from Jaffa to ‘Askalan, and some 3 miles from the sea. It is on the slope of a hill, and at its entrance are the remains of a large mediaeval khan. There are fragments of ancient buildings to be found here and there in the modern walls.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Asheb
1. A town on the S. border of Manasseh (). Site unknown. 2. Tobit 1:2, No. 1.
Asheb
The eighth son of Jacob, by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid. Leah, joyful over his birth, named him ‘Happy’ (). This ‘popular etymology’ dominates J’s thought in the ‘Blessing of Jacob’ () and in the ‘Blessing of Moses’ (). Asher’s territory was especially fertile and fitted to promote prosperity. Whether this fact operated in its naming, or whether the name was originally that of a divinity of a militant Canaanite clan mentioned frequently in the Tell el-Amarna letters as the MSri abd-Ashirti (‘Sons of the servant of Asherah’), or whether the Canaanite tribe ‘Asaru, known from the inscriptions of the Egyptian king Seti i. (14th cent.), gave the name to the tribe, it is impossible to say. The two last theories imply an amalgamation of original inhabitants with a Hebrew clan or tribe, which, probably prior to the entrance of the southern tribes, had found its way into the North. A predominance of the Gentile element thus introduced would account, in a measure at least, for the non-participation of the Asherites in the war against Sisera, although they are said to have sent a contingent to the support of Gideon in his war with the Midianites ( ). and, according to the Chronicler, went 40,000 strong to Hebron to aid David in his struggle for the kingship (). According to the earliest writing extant in the OT, viz., the Song of Deborah, the other northern tribes, Zebulun to the south and Naphtali to the east of it, flung themselves with fierce abandon against the army of Sisera, while’ Asher sat still at the haven of the sea’ ( f.). According to P’s census, there were 41,500 males ‘twenty years old and upward’ at Sinai, and when they arrived in the plains of Moab they had increased to 53,400 ( ).
P gives also the territorial boundaries, including the names of 22 cities and their dependent villages, the majority of which are unidentified (; ct. , . and J). Asher’s territory was gained by settlement, not by conquest ( f.). The tribe played an unimportant r61e in Israel. It is not mentioned in ff.: , where the tribes are enumerated together with their respective leaders under David. For the genealogies see , . ff.: See also Tribes of Israel. James A. Craig.
Asherah
In RV Asherah (plur. Asherim, more rarely Asheroth) appears as the tr. of a Hebrew substantive which AV, following the LXX and Vulgate, had mistakenly rendered grove. By OT writers the word is used in three distinct applications.
1. The goddess Asherah. — In several places Asherah must be recognized as the name of a Canaanite deity. Thus in we read of the prophets of Baal and of Asherah, in ( = ) of an abominable image,’ and in of ‘a graven image’ of Asherah, also of the sacrificial vessels used in her worship (). while speaks of the BaaUm and the Asheroth. These references, it must be allowed, are not all of equal value for the critical historian and some of our foremost authorities have hitherto declined to admit the existence of a Canaanite goddess Asherah, regarding the name as a mere literary personification of the asherah or sacred pole (see § 3), or as due to a confusion with Astarte (cf. with ).
In the last few years, however, a variety of monumental evidence has come to light (see Lagrange, iltudes sur les religions semitiques 2 (1905), 119 ff.) — the latest from the soil of Palestine itself in a cuneiform tablet found at Taanach — showing that a goddess Ashirat or Asherah was worshipped from a remote antiquity by the Western Semites. There need be no hesitation, therefore, in accepting the above passages as evidence of her worship in OT times, even within the Temple itself.
The relation, as to name, history, and attributes, of this early Canaanite goddess to the powerful Semitic deity named Ishtar by the Babylonians, and Ashtart (OT ‘Ashtoreth’) by the Phoenicians, is still obscure (see KA T ‘, Index; Lagrange, op. cit.). The latter in any case gradually displaced the former in Canaan.
2. An image of Asherah. — The graven image of Asherah set up by Manasseh in the Temple (), when destroyed by Josiah, is simply termed the asherah (). Like the idols described by the prophet of the Exile ( ff.). it evidently consisted of a core of wood overlaid with precious metal, since it could be at once burned and ‘stamped to powder’ (cf. for the corresponding image of Maacah), and was periodically decorated with woven hangings (Luc. ‘tunics’) by the women votaries of Asherah (). There is therefore good warrant for seeing in the asherah which Ahab set up in the temple of Baal at Samaria (cf. with ) according to the emended text of the latter passage it was burned by Jehu but was soon restored () — something of greater consequence than a mere post or pole. It must have been a celebrated image of the goddess.
3. A symbol of Asherah. — In the remaining passages of OT the asherah is the name of a prominent, if not indispensable, object associated with the altar and the mazzebah (see Pillar) in the worship of the Canaanite high places. It was made of wood (). and could be planted in the ground (). plucked up or cut down (. ). and burned with fire (). Accordingly the asherah is now held to have been a wooden post or pole having symbolical significance in the Canaanite cults. How far it resembled the similar emblems figured in representations of Babylonian and Phoenician rites can only be conjectured.
When the Hebrews occupied Canaan, the local sanctuaries became seats of the worship of J", at which the adjuncts of sacred pole and pilla’r continued as before. The disastrous results of this incorporation of heathen elements led to the denunciation of the asherahs by the prophetic exponents of Israel’s religion (, . f.: and esp. ff. ). and to their ultimate abolition ( ff.).
4. Significance of the asherah. — The theory at present most in favour among OT scholars finds in the asherahs or sacred poles the substitutes of the sacred trees universally revered by the early Semites. This theory, however, is not only improbable in view of the tact that the asherahs are found beside or under such sacred trees (, , ). but has been discredited by the proved existence of the goddess Asherah. In the earliest period of the Semitic occupation of Canaan (c. B.C. 2500-2000), this deity probably shared with Baal (cf. etc.) the chief worship of the immigrants, particularly as the goddess of fertility, in which aspect her place was later usurped by Astarte. In this early aniconic age, the wooden post was her symbol, as the stone pillar was of Baal. Bearing her name, it passed by gradual stages into the complete eikBn or anthropomorphic image of the deity as in Samaria and Jerusalem. A. R. S. Kennedy.
Ashes
Ashes on the head formed one of the ordinary tokens of raourningf or the dead (see Mourning Customs as of private () and national humiliation (. 1 Maccabees 3:47). The penitent and the afflicted might also sit (. ) or even wallow in ashes (. ). In , ^e must, with RV, read ‘headband’ (wh. see) for ‘ashes.’
In a figurative sense the term ‘ashes’ Is often used to signify evanescence, worthlessness, insignificance (. ). ‘Proverbs of ashes’ ( RV) is Job’s equivalent for the modern ‘rot.’ For the use of ashes in the priestly ritual see Red Heifeh.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Ashhur
(AV Ashur). The ‘father’ of Tekoa (1 Ch 2« 45).
ASm nTA. — A god whose form of worship is unknown, and who has been identified with the Phoenician Eshraun and the Babylonian Tashmitu. As Hamath, the god’s seat of worship (). was occupied by the Hittites, the deity was probably non-Semitic. N. Koenig.
Ashkelon
(Greek Ascalon). A city of the Philistine Pentapolis. It is mentioned several times in the Tell el-Amarna correspondence. According to Jos 138, it was left uneonquered; but the interpolated passage, . enumerates it among the places captured by Israel. It is doubtful whether Samson took the spoil with which he paid his wages () from this city, which is two days’ journey from Timnath, or from a similarly styled village, much nearer at hand, now possibly represented in name by Khurbet ‘Askalan, near Tell Zakariya. It is referred to in the story of the return of the ark (). and in David’s lament (). and with the other Philistine cities is made an object of denunciation by various prophets. Here Jonathan Maccabaeus was honourably received (1 Mac ). and it was the birthplace of Herod the Great. It was captured by the Crusaders, but recaptured by the Muslims after the battle of Hattiu. Extensive remains of ancient buildings still exist on the site, which retains the name of ‘Askalan: numerous fragments of statues etc., are found by the natives from time to time.
R. A. S. Macausteb.
Ashkenaz
Ashkenaz in () appears as a son of Gomer (wh. see), which means apparently that the name represents a people akin to the Cimmerians, an Indo-European people who made trouble for the Assyrians in and about Armenia in the later days of their empire, in the 7th cent. B.C. In Ashkenaz is coupled with Ararat and Minnl. The view now generally accepted by scholars is that Ashkenaz in the Hebrew text is a slight misreading for AshkHz, an important tribe akin to the Cimmerians who had to do with Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, the last great kings of Assyria, the name appearing in the inscriptions as Ashguz. Further, it is probable that the Skythoi, ‘Scythians,’ represent the same people and word.
J. F. MCCURDT.
Ashnah
Two unknown sites of towns in Judah ( and ).
Ashpenaz
The chief of Nebuchadrezzar’s eunuchs ().
Ashiaroth
This city (pi. of Ashtorelh [wh. see)), originally held by Og, king of Bashan (Dt i*, , ). later captured by the Israelites and by them awarded to the Gershonites (, ‘dwelling [or temple] of Ashtoreth’; cf. 1 Ch. . which reads Ashtaroth), might, without contradicting Biblical records, be identified with Ashteroth-karnaim (wh. see). However, a statement found in Eusebius’ Onomasticon favours the view that the names designate two localities. Eusebius relates that there were at his time two villages of the same name, separated by a distance of 9 miles, lying between Adara (Edrei) and Abila; viz., (1) Ashtaroth, the ancient city of Og, 6 miles from Abila, and (2) Karnaim Ashtaroth,
57 a village in the corner of Bashan, where Job’s village is shown (cf. Book of Jubilees 29). Eusebius’ Karnaim Ashtaroth evidently lay in the corner or angle formed by the rivers Nahr er-Bukkad and Shan’at d-Manadireh, in which vicinity tradition places Uz, Job’s fatheriand. At long. 36° E., lat. 32° 50’ N., on the Bashan plateau, stands Tell (‘hill’) ‘Ashtara, whose strategical value, as shown by the ruins, was recognized in the Middle Ages. Its base is watered by the Moyel en-NeW, Ayyub (‘stream of the prophet Job ‘). Following this rivulet’s course for 2i miles N.N.E., passing through the Hammam AyyUb (‘Job’s bath’), is found its source, a spring said to have welled forth when Job in his impatience stamped upon the ground. In the immediate vicinity towards the S., Job’s grave Is shown. Furthermore, upon the hill at whose base these two places are situated lies the village of Sa’diyeh or Sheikh Sa’d, whose mosque contains the Sakhret AyyUb, a large basalt boulder against which Job is said to have leant while receiving his friends. Indeed, i of a mile S. of Sa dlyeh at el-Merkez, another grave (modern) of Job is shown, and a Der (‘monastery’) Ayyubt according to tradition built by the Ghassanide Amr i., is known to have existed. Eusebius’ Ashtaroth must then have been in the proximity of Muzerib, 9i miles S. of Sa’diyeh, and 8 miles N.W. of Adara, almost the distance of the Onomasticon. Even Tell Ash’ari, 4J miles S. of Tell ‘Ashtara, protected on the one side by the Yarmuk, on the second by a chasm, and showing evidences of having been fortified by a triple wall on the third, is admirably situated for a royal stronghold.
None of these modern place-names, with the exception of Tell ‘Ashtara, is linguistically related to the ‘Ashtaroth and ‘Ashteroth-karnaim of the Bible and the Onomasticon. The description of ‘Ashteroth-karnaim (2 Maccabees 12:21 f.: cf. 1 Maccabees 5) as a place hard to besiege and difficult of access because of numerous passes leading to it, in whose territory a temple was situated, is applicable to Sa’diyeh or to Tell ‘AshtarB, or even to Tdl Ash’ari, whose double peak at the S. summit is partly responsible for the translation of the name’ Ashtaroth of (near) the double peak’ (see Ashtobbth). The similarity of name between Tell ‘Ashtara and ‘Ashteroth-karnaim, even though Tdl ‘Ashtara does not lie directly between Adara and Abila, and lacks, with the other places, narrow passes, would favour the identification of ‘Ashteroth-karnaim with Tell ‘Ashtara, and hence, according to the distances of Eusebius, the location of ‘Ashtaroth near Muzerib. However, until the ancient name of Muzerib is known, and the various sites excavated, a definite determination of the location of these cities, and even of the difference between them, must remain impossible. N. Koeniq.
Ashteroth-karnaim
The scene of Chedorlaomer’s defeat of the Rephaim (). It is perhaps mentioned in (EV ‘Have we not taken to us horns (Karnaim) by our own strength?’). It is identical with Camion or Camain, after whose capture, in b.c. 164, Judas Maccabaeus destroyed the temple of Atargatis (wh. see), whither the inhabitants had fled for refuge (2 Maccabees 12:21 f.: cf. 1 Maccabees 5:43 f.). For interpretation of name see Ashtoheth, and for location, Ashtaboth.
N. Koenig.
Ashtoreth
This deity, especially known as the Sidonian goddess for whom Solomon erected a shrine, later destroyed by Josiah (, . ). was worshipped by all Semitic nations. In her temple at Ashkelon, the Philistines hung the armour of Saul (). In Bashan, the cities Ashtaroth or Be-eshterah and Ashteroth-karnaim presumably derived their names from the fact that various Ashtoreth-cults were located there. At Ashteroth-karnaim (‘horned Ashtaroth’) one might even be justified in supposing from the name that ‘Ashtoreth was represented with the horns of a cow or a ram. Mesha, king of Moab, dedicated his prisoners to a composite goddess’ Ashtar-Chemosh. Indeed, her existence in S. Arabia is evidenced by the probably equivalent male god ‘Athtar. In Abyssinia, she was called Astar; in Assyria and Babylonia, Ishtar (used also in the pi. ishtaraii to denote’ goddesses,’ cf. ‘Ashtaroih, lOS ) in Syria.’ Athar, and in Phoenicia, ‘Astart, whence the Hebrew’ Ashtoreth, with the vowels of bosheth (‘shameful thing’) substituted for the original. See Molech, Baal.
The character of this goddess, concerning which the OT makes no direct statement, is most clearly depicted in the Assyro-Babylonian literature. Here she appears as the goddess of fertility, productiveness, and love on the one hand, and of war, death, and decay on the other, a personification of the earth as it passes through the summer and winter seasons. To her the sixth month, Elul, the height of the summer, is sacred. In this month, through her powers, the ripening of vegetable hfe takes place, represented by Tammuz, whose coming is heralded by Ishtar’s festival in Ab, the fifth month. From this period of the year, the crops and verdure gradually decay, and finally disappear in the winter. Thus, since Ishtar has failed to sustain the life which her powers had created, popular belief made her the cause of death and decay. She therefore became a destructive goddess, who visited with disease those who disobeyed her commands, and even a goddess of war (cf. ). However, filled with remorse, because she had destroyed the vegetable life ( = Tammuz, the consort of her youth), she sets out to the lower world in search of healing waters to revive Tammuz. During this quest (winter) the propagation of all life ceases. Successful in her search, she brings forth the new verdure, and once more assumes the rflle of a merciful goddess, to whom all life is due.
At a later period, when all gods had obtained a fixed position to each other and the necessity of assigning an abode to them was felt, the gods were identified with the heavenly bodies. Thus Ishtar was given the planet Venus, whose appearance at certain seasons as morning-star and at other times as evening-star paralleled the growth and decay of nature. Hence, in accordance with one theological school of the Babylonians, which considered Sin (moon) the ruler of the luminaries of the night, Ishtar was also known as the ‘daughter of Sin.’ By others she was designated as ‘daughter of Anu (lord of heaven),’ and even as the ‘sister of Shamash (sun),’ since, as the evening-star Venus disappears in the west, and reappears in the east to be called the morning-star.
The cults of this goddess were extant at various localities of Babylonia and Assyria. At some of these, both phases of her character were worshipped, side by side, with equality; at others, more importance was attached to one of her aspects. Thus at Uruk (Erech) in her temple E-Anna (‘house of heaven’) she was both a goddess of fertility and a martial deity in whose service were Kizreti, Ukhati, and Kharimati, the priestesses of Ishtar. At Agade, Calah, and Babylon greater stress seems to have been laid upon the milder aspect, and it is doubtless with the worship of this side of Ishtar’s nature that the religious prostitution mentioned by Greek writers was connected (Hdt. i. 199 ; Strab. XVI. i. 20; Ep. Jerem. Luc. de Dea Syr. 6 f.). Among the Assyrians, three Ishtars, viz., Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Kidmuru (temple at Nineveh), and Ishtar of Arbela, were especially worshipped. This warrior-nation naturally dwelt upon the martial aspect of the deity almost to the exclusion of her milder side as a mother-goddess, and accorded to her a position next to Ashur, their national god. Indeed, Ishtar was even designated as his wife, and since he ruled over the Igigi (spirits of heaven), so she was said to be ‘mighty over the Anunnaki’ (spirits of the earth).
Thus Ishtar is the goddess whom Ashur-nazir-pal (B.C. 1800) aptly calls ‘queen of the gods, into whose hands are delivered the commands of the great gods, lady of Nineveh, daughter of Sin, sister of Shamash, who rules all kingdoms, who determines decrees, the goddess of the universe, lady of heaven and earth, who hears petitions, heeds sighs; the merciful goddess who loves justice.’ Equally does Esarhaddon’s claim, that it was ‘Ishtar, the lady of onslaught and battle,’ who stood at his side and broke his enemies’ bows, apply to this deity— a goddess, to whom the penitent in the anguish of his soul prays — ‘BesMes thee there is no guiding deity. I implore thee to look upon me and hear my aighs. Proclaim peace, and may thy soul be appeased. How long, O my Lady, till thy countenance be turned
towards me. Like doves, I lament, I satiate myself with sighs.’
N. KOENIG.
Ashurbanipal
Son and successor of Esarhaddon on the throne of Assyria, b.c. 668-626. He is usually identified with Asnappar, Ezr. 4’°. He Included Manasseh of Judah among his tributaries, and kept an Assyrian garrison at Gezer. See Assyria, Osnappar.
C. H. W. Johns.
Ashurites
One of the tribes over whom Ishbosheth ruled (). The name is clearly corrupt, for neither the Assyrians (,Asshur) nor the Arabian tribe AsshuTim () can be intended. The Pesh. and Vulg. read ‘the Geshurites,’ whose territory bordered on that of Gilead ( ). and who might therefore be suitably included here. It has been urged, however, against this view, that Geshur was an independent kingdom at this time (cf. ), so that Ishbosheth could not have exercised control over it. We should probably read hO-AshSri ‘the Asherites,’ i.e. the tribe of Asher (cf. ).
Ashvath
An Asherite ().
Asia
In the NT this word invariably means the Roman province Asia, which embraced roughly the western third of the peninsula which we call Asia Minor. It was bounded on the N.E. by the province of Bithynia, on the E. by the province of Galatia, on the S. by the province of Lyoia, and had been ceded to the Romans by the will of the Pergamenian king Attains ni. in B.C. 133. The following ethnic districts were in this province — Mysia, Lydia, Western Phrygia, and Caria. The province was the richest, and, with the one exception of Africa, its equal, the most important in the Roman Empire. It was governed by a proconsul of the higher grade, with three Jeffaii under him. Ephesus, Pergamum, and Smyrna were its principal cities. St. Paul’s preaching in Ephesus was the most powerful cause of the spread of the gospel in this province, and the Epistle ‘to the Ephesians’ is probably a circular letter to all the churches in it. Seven are enumerated in Rev 1-3, which is post-Pauline. A. Soutee.
Asiarch
The form of the word is parallel with Lyciarch, Bithyniarch, etc., but the signification is by no means certain. The title of Asiarch could be held in conjunction with any civil office, and with the high priesthood of a particular city, but the high priest of Asia and the Asiarch were probably not identical; for there was only one high priest of Asia at a time, but there were a number of Asiarchs, as shows, even in one city. The honour lasted one year, but re-election was possible. It was held in connexion with the Koinon (Council) of the province, the main duty of which was to regulate the worship of Rome and of the Emperor; and the Asiarchs were probably the deputies to the Council elected by the towns. A. Souter.
Asibias
Asibias (1 Esdras 9:26). One of the sons of Phoros or Parosh who agreed to put away his ‘strange’ wife; answering to Malchijah (2) in .
Asiel
1, Grandfather of Jehu a Simeonlte ‘prince’ (). 2. One of five writers employed by Ezra to transcribe the Law (2 Esdras 14:24). 3. (AV Asael) An ancestor of Tobit (Tobit 1:1).
Asipha
Asipha (1 Esdras 5:29). His sons were among the Temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel; called Hasupha, . .
ASMOD^TTS, the ‘evil demon’ of Tobit 3. 6. 8, appears freely in the Talmud as Ashmedai, which popular etymology connected with shamad, ‘to destroy.’ It is fairly certain, however, that it is the Avestan Alsma daSva, ‘fury demon,’ conspicuous from the earliest to the latest parts of the Parsi scriptures. It would seem that the Book of Tobit is really a Median folk-story, adapted for edification by a Jew, with sundry uncomprehended features of the original left unchanged. For these see ‘Zoroastrianism’ in Hastings’ DB, § 4. In the Talmud Ashmedai is king of the Shedin, demons supposed to be mortal, and of either sex.
James Hope Modlton.
Asnah
The head of a family of Nethinim which returned with Zerubbabel (. 1 Esdras 5:31).
Asnapper
See Osnappah.
Asou
Asou (1 Esdras 9). His soils were among those who put away their ‘strange’ wives; called Hashum, .
Asp
See Serpent.
Aspalathus
(Sirach 24:15). The name of an aromatic associated with cinnamon in the passage cited, but impossible to identify. It is probable that there were two or more plants, and more than one vegetable product, known by this name.
Aspatha
(). The third son of Raman, put to death by the Jews.
Asphalt
See Bitumen.
Asphar
Asphar (1 Maccabees 9:33). A pool in the desert of Tekoa, or Jeshimon, where Jonathan and Simon the Maccabees encamped. The site is not known with certainty, although it may plausibly be identified with the mod. Blr SelhUb, a reservoir 6 miles W.S.W. of Engedi.
Aspharasus
Aspharasus (1 Esdras 5:8). One of the leaders of the return under Zerubbabel, called Mispar, . and Uispereth, .
Asriel
(in AV of Ashriel). A Manassite (. ; In the latter the patronymic Asrielite occurs).
James Hastings (ed.), with John A. Selbie and John C. Lambert, Dictionary of the Bible (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909). Public domain. Scan of Cornell University Library’s copy from the Internet Archive; text from its OCR, with the Bible references read again from the page images.