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Ahab – Alleluia
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Ahab
1. Son of Omri, and the most noted member of his dynasty, king of Israel from about 875 to about 853 B.C. The account of him in our Book of Kings is drawn from two separate sources, one of which views him more favourably than the other. From the secular point of view he was an able and energetic prince; from the religious point of view he was a dangerous innovator, and a patron of foreign gods. His alliance with the Phoenicians was cemented by hisimarriage with Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre (). who was also, if we may trust .josephus, priest of Astarte. At a later date Ahab entered into alliance with Judah, giving his daughter Athaliah in marriage to Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat (). His wealth is indicated by the ivory palace which he built ( ).
The reign of Ahab was marked by frequent wars with the Syrian kingdom of Damascus. Benhadad, the king of that country, was so successful that he claimed suzerainty over Israel — a clafm which Ahab was at first disposed to admit ( ff.). But when Benhadad went so far as to threaten Samaria with indiscriminate plunder, Ahab resisted. In two campaigns he defeated the invaders, even taking their haughty leader prisoner. Contrary to the advice of the prophetic party, he treated his captive magnanimously, and concluded an alliance with him, stipulating only that the cities formerly taken from Israel should be restored. The alliance was one for trade and commerce, each party having bazaars assigned him in the capital of the other (). It is not improbable also that common measures of defence were planned against the Assyrians, who were showing hostile intentions in the region of the Lebanon. In the battle of Karkar, which was fought against these invaders
B 17 in the year 854, Ahab was present with ten thousand troops. This we learn from the Assyrian inscriptions.
The religious innovation for which Ahab is held responsible by the Hebrew writers, was the introduction of the Phoenician Baal as one of the gods of Israel. It is clear that Ahab had no idea of displacing Jahweh altogether, for he gave his children names which indicated his devotion to Him. But to please his wife he allowed her to introduce and foster the worship of her own divinities. Her thought was that with the religion of her own country she would introduce its more advanced civilization. The champion of Jahweh’s exclusive right to the worship of Israel was Elijah. This prophet, by his bold challenge to the priests of Baal, roused the anger of Jezebel, and was obliged to flee the country (1 K 17-19). Other prophets do not seem to have been disturbed, for we find them at the court of Ahab in the last year of his life (). These, however, were subservient to the crown, while Elijah was not only a protestant against religious changes, but the champion of the common people, whose rights were so signally violated in the case of Naboth.
Ahab died fighting for his people. The Syrian war had again broken out — apparently because Benhadad had not kept his agreement. Ahab therefore tried to recover Ramoth-gilead, being assisted by Jehoshaphat of Judah. In the first encounter Ahab was slain, his reputationforcourage being vindicated by thedirection of his adversary to his soldiers — ‘Fight neither with small nor with great, but only with the king of Israel’ ().
2. A false prophet ‘roasted in the fire’ by the king of Babylon ( f.). H. P. Smith.
Aharah
See Ahiram.
Aharhel
A descendant of Judah ().
Ahasbai
Father of EUphelet (). and a member of the family of Maacah, settled at Beth-maacah (20"), or a native of the Syrian kingdom of Maacah (10«-
Ahasuerus
(old Pers. KhshayarsM). ‘rhe Persian king (B.C. 485-465) known to Greek history as Xerxes. Complaints against the Jews were addressed to him (). It is he who figures in the Book of Esther; erroneously makes him father of Darius the Mede, confusing the latter with Darius Hystaspis, the father of Xerxes. The Ahasuerus of Tobit 14:15 is Cyaxares.
J. Taylor.
Ahava
Ahava was a settlement in Babylonia lying along a stream of the same name, probably a large canal near the Euphrates. None of the conjectures as to the exact locality can be verified. It was here that Ezra mustered his people before their departure for Jerusalem (, . ai). Some district north or north-west of Babylon, near the northern boundary of Babylonia, is most probable. J. F. McCurdy.
AHAZ, son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah, came to the throne about B.C. 734. The only notable event of his reign,’ so far as we know, was the invasion made by his northern neighbours, Pekah of Israel and Rezln of Damascus. These two kings had made an • alliance against the Assyrians, and were trying to compel Ahaz to join the coalition. His refusal so exasperated them that they planned Ms deposition and the appointment of a creature of their own to the throne. Ahaz did not venture to take the field, but shut himself up in Jerusalem and strengthened its fortifications. It was perhaps at this time of need that he sacrificed his son as a burnt-offering to Jahweh. Isaiah tried to encourage the faint-hearted king, pointing out that his enemies had no prospect of success or even of long existence. But Ahaz had more faith in political measures than in the prophetic word. He sent a message to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, submitting himself unreservedly to him. The embassy carried substantial evidence of vassalage in the shape of all the gold and silver from the palace treasury and from the Temple (, ).
Tiglath-pileser was already on the march, and at once laid siege to Damascus, thus freeing Jerusalem from its enemies. Two years later the Assyrian king entered Damascus, and was visited there by Ahaz. The result of the visit was the construction of a new altar for the Temple at Jerusalem, and apparently the introduction of Assyrian divinities ( ff.). H. P. Smith.
Ahaziah
Two kings of this name are mentioned in the OT, one in each of the Israelite kingdoms.
1. Ahazlah of Israel was the son of Ahab, and ruled after him only two years or parts of years. He is said to have been a worshipper of Baal, that is, to have continued the religious policy of his father. By a fall from a window of his palace he was seriously injured, and, after lingering awhile, died from the accident. The Moabites, who had been subject to Israel, took this opportunity to revolt. Ahaziah is accused of sending messengers to inquire of the celebrated oracle at Ekron, and is said unexpectedly to have received his answer from Elijah ().
2. Ahaziah of Judah was son of Jehoram and grandson of Jehoshaphat. Under the influence of his mother, who was a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, it is not surprising to read that he walked in the ways of Ahab. All that we know of him is that he continued the league with Israel, and that, going to visit his uncle Jehoram in Jezreel, he was involved in his fate at the revolt of Jehu (). H. P. Smith.
AHBAN,— A Judahite, son of Abishur ().
Aher
(‘another’). A Benjamite ().
Ahi
(‘brother’). !. A Gadite (). 2. An Asherite (). But the reading is in neither case free from doubt.
Ahiah
See Ahijah.
Ahiam
One of David’s heroes ().
Ahian
(‘fraternal’). A Manassite, described as ‘son of Shemida’ () but the name is scarcely that of an individual ; note in the context Abiezer and Shechem, and cf. ff.
Ahiezer
(‘brother is help’). 1. Son of Ammishaddai, one of the tribal princes who represented Dan at the census and on certain other occasions ( , (p)). 2. The chief of the Benjamite archers who joined David at Ziklag ().
Ahihud
(‘brotheris majesty’). 1. The prince of the tribe of Asher ( (P)). 2. A Benjamite (, ).
Ahuah
1. , (AV Ahiah), a priest, son of Ahitub, who had charge of the oracular ephod and consulted it for Saul [read ‘ephod’ for ‘ark’ at v.’*]. Ahijah is probably to be identified with Ahimelech (21>). 2. . one of Solomon’s secretaries, who conducted the king’s correspondence and wrote out his decrees. His father Shlsha seems to have held the same office under David. 3. f. . . a prophet of Shiloh, who foretold the division of the kingdom and the elevation of Jeroboam. Subsequently he predicted .the death of Jeroboam’s son (I K ff.). 4. I K IS"", father of Baasha. 5. has an Ahijah, son of Jerahmeel, but is hopelessly corrupt. The LXX gets rid of the name. 6. (AV Ahiah), son of Ehud, a Benjamite: at Ahoah, but LXX Ahijah, 7. 1 Ch . one of David’s heroes, from Palon, an unknown locality: perhaps Giloh should be read, seeing that Palon has already been mentioned (). 8. . a Levite, overseer of the Temple treasures. But we ought probably to substitute the words, ‘their brethren.’ 9. (RV Ahiah), a layman who joined Nehemiah in signing the covenant. J. Taylok.
Ahikam
One of the deputation sent by king Josiah to Huldah the prophetess (, . ). Later he used his influence to protect Jeremiah from the violence of the populace during the reign of Jehoiakim ().
Ahilud
1. Father of Jehoshaphat, the chronicler under David and Solomon ( . . Ch ). 2. Father of Baana, one of Solomon’s twelve commissariat ofiicers ().
Ahimaaz
1. Saul’s father-in-law (). 2. Son of Zadok. He and Jonathan were stationed outside Jerusalem to learn Absalom’s plans; after an adventurous journey they succeeded in warning David (, ). Ahimaaz was eager to carry the tidings of Absalom’s defeat; but Joab preferred to send by an Ethiopian slave the unwelcome news of the prince’s death. Obtaining leave to follow, Ahimaaz outstripped this man, was recognized by the watchman through the style of his running, but left the Ethiopian to disclose the worst (). It may be the same person who appears later as Solomon’s son-in-law and commissioner in Naphtali (). J. Taylor.
Ahuvian
1. One of the sons of Anak, at Hebron () the three clans, of which this was one, were either destroyed by Judah (). or expelled by the clan Caleb (). 2. A family of Levites who had charge of that gate of the Temple through which the king entered (1 Oh f.). J. Taylor.
Ahimelech
1. Son of Ahitub, and grandson of Phinehas. He either succeeded his brother Ahijah in the priesthood, or more probably was the same person under another name (, ). por his fate see DoEQ. In and the names of ADiathar and Ahimelech have been transposed. 2. A Hittite, who joined David when a fugitive ().
Ahimoth
A Kohathite Levite ().
Ahinada
Ahinada p . — Son of Iddo, one of the 12 commissariat ofiicers appointed by Solomon ().
Ahtwoam
1. Daughter of Ahimaaz and wife of Saul (). 2. A Jezreelitess whom David married after Michal had been taken from him. She was the mother of David’s firstborn, Amnon ( , . ).
Ahio
1. Son of Abinadab (No. 3), and brother of Uzzah. He helped to drive the cart on which the ark was placed when removed from Abinadab’s house (, . ). 2. A son of Jeiel, and brother of Kish, the father of Saul ( ). 3. A Benjamite ().
Ahira
Prince of Naphtali, named at the census and on certain other occasions ( , (P)).
Ahiram
The eponym of a Benjamite family — the Ahiramites, (P). The name occurs in the corrupt forms Ehi in (P), and Aharah in .
AHI8AHACH.— A Danite, father of OhoUab ( (P)).
Ahishahar
A Benjamite ().
Ahishar
Superintendent of Solomon’s household ().
Ahithophel
David’s counsellor (. 1 Ch 2783), whose advice was deemed infallible (). Being Bathsheba’s grandfather, he had been alienated by David’s criminal conduct (l is ). and readily joined Absalom (). Ahithophel advised the prince to take possession of the royal harem, thus declaring his father’s deposition, and begged for a body of men with whom he might at once overtake and destroy the fugitive monarch (). Hushai thwarted this move (). Disgusted at the collapse of his influence, and foreseeing that this lack of enterprise meant the failure of the insurrection, Ahithophel withdrew, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself ().
J. Taylor.
Ahitob
Ahitob (1 Esdras 8:2). An ancestor of Ezra, son of Amarias and father of Sadduk. See Ahitub, No. 3.
Ahitub
1. Son of Phinehas and grandson of Ell, the father of Ahimeleoh or Ahijah, the priest who was put to death by Saul ( , ). 2. Ace. to ( = ) the father, ace. to . the grandfather, of Zadok the priest who was eontemporary with David and Solomon. It is very doubtful, however, whether the name Ahitub here is not due to a copyist’s error. The text of should probably run: ‘and Zadok and Abiathar the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub.’ 3. Even more doubt attaches to another Ahitub, father of another Zadok (, ; cf. 1 Esdras 8:2, 2 Es !•). 4. An ancestor of Judith, Judith 8:1.
Ahlab
A city of Asher (). The site has been identified with the later Gush Halab or Giscala, now el- Jish in Upper Galilee; but this is, of course, uncertain.
Ahlai
1. The daughter (?) of Sheshan (. cf. v.M). 2. The father of Zabad, one of David’s mighty men ().
Ahoah
Son of Bela, a Benjamite (). See Ahijah (6) . The patronymic Ahohite occurs in .
AHOLAH, AHOUAB, AHOUBAH, ABOLIBAMAH. — The forms in AV of the correct RV Oholah, Oholiab, Oholibah, Oholibamah (wh. see).
Ahumai
A descendant of Judah ().
Ahuzzam
A man of Judah ().
Ahuzzath
‘The friend’ of Ahimelech, the Philistine of Gerar, mentioned on the occasion when the latter made a league with Isaac at Beersheba (). The position of ‘king’s friend’ may possibly have been an official one, and the title a technical one (cf. . 1 Ch 27). . The rendering of the LXX gives a different conception, that of ‘pronubus,’ or friend of the bridegroom.
Ahzai
A priest (Neh lli’)=Jahzerah ().
AI. — 1. A place between which and Bethel Abraham was stationed before () and after () his sojourn in Egypt. The repulse of the Israelite attempt on the city () led to the exposure of the crime of Achan; when that was expiated, the city was captured and destroyed () by a ruse. It never reappears in history, though it continued to be inhabited: it is the Aiath in Isaiah’s description of the march of the Assyrian (lOM), and the Afja of . In ‘Azzah. enumerated among the cities of Ephraim, is in many MSS ‘Ayyah, which is another form of the name. This, however, cannot in any case be the same place, which was within the tribe of Benjamin (. where Awim is possibly a corruption for the name of this city). After the Exile, Ai and Bethel between them supplied a contingent of 223 to the number that returned (). and the city was once more settled by Benjamites (). That the city was insignificant is definitely stated in . and indicated by the fact that in the list of captured cities it is almost the only one of which the situation is specified (). Its capture, however, made a deep impression on the Canaanltes ( ). As to its identification, the only indication to guide us is its proximity to Bethel (agreed by all to be Beitin), on the east of that place (as follows from ). Various sites have been proposed — Turmus ‘Aya (which contains an element resembling the name, but the situation is impossible) ; Khurbet Hayan (which also has a similar name, but the antiquities of the place are not known to be old enough); Deir Diwan (which is in the right place, but also possibly not an old enough site); and et- Tell (a mound whose name has the same meaning as the word Ai 1’ heap ‘]. Possibly this last is the most likely site.
2. A wholly distinct place, mentioned in a prophecy against the Ammonites, (perh. a clerical error for Ar). R. A. S. Macalistbk.
Atait
1 Son of Zibeon (, ). 2. Father of Rizpah, Saul’s concubine ( ).
AIATH, ; AUA, . See Ai, No. 1.
Aualon
1. A city allotted to, but not occupied by, Dan (. ). We find it in the hands of Rehoboam () later the Philistines took it (). It may be the modern Yaio, 3 miles N.E. of Latmn, 14 miles from Jerusalem. 2. An unknown town in Zebulun (). W. Ewing.
AIJELETH HASH-SHAHAR, (title).— See Psalms.
Ain
1. A town in the neighbourhood of Riblah (), probably the modern el-‘Ain near the source of the Orontes. 2. A town in Judah (). or Simeon (), where Ain and Rimmon should be taken together. It is probably Umm, er-Ramamln, to the N. of Beersheba. W. Ewing.
Ain
The sixteenth letter of the Heb. alphabet, and so used to introduce the sixteenth part of
Akan
A descendant of Esau () called in Jakan.
Akatan
Akatan (1 Esdras 8:38). Father of Joannes, who returned with Ezra; called Hakkatan in .
Akeldama
(AV Aceldama). The name of the ‘potter’s field’ (), purchased for the burial of strangers with the blood-money returned by Judas (Mt ). The traditional site is at the E. side of the Wady er-Rababi (the so-called ‘Valley of Hinnom’) on the S. side of the valley. It is still known as Hakk ed-Dumm (‘field of blood’), which represents the old name in sound and meaning. The identification fias not been traced earlier than the Crusaders, who erected here a charnel-house, the ruins of which still remain — a vault about 70 feet long and 20 feet wide (internal dimensions) erected over and covering the entrance to some of the ancient rock-cut tombs which abound in the valley. The skulls and bones which once thickly strewed the fioor of this charnel-house have all been removed to a modern Greek monastery adjacent. There is no evidence recoverable connecting this site with the work of potters. R. A. S. Macalistee.
Akkad
Akkad (ACGAD), AKKADIASS. —Akkadiu) is the Semitic equivalent of the Sumerian Agadd, the capital of the founder of the first Semitic empire. It was probably in consequence of this that it gave its name to Northern Babylonia, the Semitic language of which came to be known as Akkadu or ‘Akkadian.’ In the early days of cuneiform decipherment ‘Akkadian’ was the name usually applied to the non-Semitic language of primitive Babylonia, but some cuneiform texts published by Bezold in 1889 (ZA p. 434) showed that this was called by the Babylonians themselves ‘the language of Sumer’ or Southern Babylonia, while a text recently published by Messerschmidt (. Orient. Ltztg. 1905, p. 268) states that Akkadu was the name of the Semitic ‘translation.’ When Babylonia became a united monarchy, its rulers took the title of ‘kings of Sumer and Akkad’ in Semitic, ‘Kengl and Uri’ in Sumerian, where Uri seems to have signified ‘the upper region.’ In Accad is the city, not the country to which it gave its name. A. H. Sayce.
Aeeos
Aeeos (AV Accoz), 1 Esdras 5:38. See Hakkoz.
Akkub
1. A son of Elioenai (). 2. A Levite, one of the porters at the E. gate of the Temple; the eponym of a family that returned from the Exile (. . i i" ) called in 1 Esdras 6 Dacubi. 3. The name of a family of Nethinim () ; called in 1 Esdras 5:30 Acud. 4. A Levite who helped to expound the Law () ; called in 1 Esdras 9:48 Jacubus.
Akrabattine
Akrabattine (1 Maccabees 5:3). The region in Idumsea near Akrabbim.
Akrabbim
Akrabbim (less correctly Acrabbim AV, ‘Scorpion Pass’). — The name given to an ascent on the south side of the Dead Sea, a very barren region.
Alabaster
See Jewels and PRECions Stones.
ALAMOTH, (title), . See Psalms.
Albeit
Albeit is a contraction tor ‘all be it,’ and means ‘although it be.’ It occurs in . Philem ", and in the Apocrypha.
Alcimtts
Alcimtts (the Greeli for ‘valiant,’ suggested by the Hebrew Ellakim, ‘God sets up’) was son or nephew of Jose ben-Joeser, pupil to Antigonus of Socho (b.c. 190). Antiochus v. (Eupator), king of Syria, appointed him high priest (b.c. 162). Either because he was not of high priestly family (though of the stock of Aaron, 1 Maccabees 7:14). or, more probably, from his Hellenizing tendencies, his appointment was stoutly opposed by Judas Maccabseus, and received but scanty recognition at Jerusalem. Demetrius Soter, cousin and successor to Antiochus, in response to Alcimus’s solicitations, reinstated him by the means of Nicanor, the Syrian general. He now received, moreover, considerable local support from the Hellenizing party. It was not, however, till the defeat and death of Judas at Elasa that he was in a position to commence his Hellenizing measures, and shortly afterwards he died of paralysis (B.C. 160). A. W. Streane.
Alcove
RVm () for RV ‘pavilion,’ AV ‘tent.’ See Pavilioit.
Alema
(1 Maccabees 5:26). A city in Gilead; site unknown.
Alemeth
1. A son of Becher the Benjamite (). 2. A descendant of Saul ( ).
Aleph
First letter of Heb. alphabet, and so used to introduce the first part of .
Alexander
1. Son of Simon of Cyrene; like his brother Rufus, evidently a well-known man ( only). 2. One of the high-priestly family (). 3. The would-be spokesman of the Jews in the riot at Ephesus, which endangered them as well as the Christians () not improbably the same as the coppersmith () who did St. Paul ‘much evil,’ and who was probably an Ephesian Jew; possibly the same as the Alexander of (see HvMEN^ns), in which case we may regard him as an apostate Christian who had relapsed into Judaism. A. J. Maclean.
Alexander the Great
A Jewish tradition, reported by Josephus and the Talmud, relates that whilst the renowned Macedonian conqueror was besieging Tyre (B.C. 333), rival embassies from the Jews and the Samaritans solicited his protection. At the close of the siege he set out for Jerusalem, and was met outside by the entire population, with the high priest at their head. Recognizing the latter as the person who had appeared to him in a dream and promised him victory, the king prostrated himself. He then entered the city, offered sacrifice, was shown the passages in Daniel relating to himself, granted the people unmolested use of their customs, promised to befriend their eastern settlements, and welcomed Jews to his army (,Ant. xi. viii.). The objections to this story are: (1) that although there are references to Alexander and his successors in Daniel (24off. 77 g6. 8. 21 1131), tjiey were not written till the 2nd cent. B.C.; and (2) that the accounts given by Arrian and Curtius do not mention these events. It is also most likely that when Josephus declares that Alexander gave to the Jews in Alexandria equal privileges with the Macedonians (c. Ap. ii. 4), he is anticipating by some years what happened under the Ptolemys.
The deep impression made by Alexander’s successes is evinced by the numerous legends connected with his name in later Jewish literature. But his real importance to the Biblical student consists in this — he brought the Jews into contact with Greek literature and life.
J. Tatlob.
Alexabder Balas
A low-born youth called Balas, living in Smyrna, was put forward by the enemies of Demetrius i. as son of Antiochus iv., king of Syria. In their struggle for the throne the rivals sought to outbid each other for the support of Jonathan Maccabaeus, who elected to side with Alexander, and was appointed high priest by him (b.c. 153). Jonathan defeated Apollonius, one of the generals of Demetrius, and received still further honours (1 Maccabees 10). But Alexander Balas cared more for sensual pleasures than for kingly duties : his father-in-law Ptolemy turned against him, and Alexander, fleeing to Arabia, was assassinated there (1 Maccabees 11:17). J. Taylor.
Alexandria
Alexandria was founded (b.c. 332) by Alexander the Great after his conquest of Egypt. Recognizing the inconvenience caused by the want of a harbour for 600 miles along the shore, he selected as the site of a new port the village of Rhacotis, lying on a strip of land between Lake Mareotis and the sea. This he united to the little island of Pharos by a huge mole about a mile long, and thus he formed two splendid havens, which speedily became the commercial meeting-place of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The city was laid out in shape like the outspread cloak of a Macedonian soldier; in circumference about 15 miles: and it was divided into quarters by a magnificent street nearly 5 miles long, and 100 feet wide, running from E. to W., and crossed by another of somewhat lesser dimensions from N. to S. One of these quarters (Soma, ‘the body ‘) received the corpse of Alexander, and preserved it embalmed in the Royal Mausoleum. The Ptolemys, who succeeded to the Egyptian portion of Alexander’s divided empire, made Alexandria their capital, and by their extensive building operations rendered the city famous for the magnificence and beauty of its public edifices. Besides the Royal Palace, the Royal Mausoleum, the Temple of Neptune, the Great Theatre, the Gymnasium, and the vast Necropolis, Alexandria possessed three other structures for which it was celebrated.(1) The Museum, which was not a place where collections were laid out for instruction, but a spot where the fine arts, science, and literature were studied. The Museum of Alexandria became in course of time practically the centre of the intellectual life of the world. It answered very largely to what we associate with the idea of a great modern university. It had its staff of State-paid professors, its professorial dining-hall, its shaded cloisters, where eager students from all parts of the world walked to and fro, listening to lectures from men like Euclid, Eratosthenes, and Hipparchus. (2) The Library, which was the greatest treasure of the city, was founded by the first Ptolemy. His successors increased the number of volumes till the collection embraced upwards of 700,000 MSS, in which were inscribed the intellectual efforts of Greece, Rome, Asia Minor, Palestine, and even India. The value of this unrivalled collection was immense. The Library was in two portions; and, in the siege of Alexandria by Julius Caesar, the part stored in the Museum was burned; a loss, however, which was largely made up by the presentation to Cleopatra, by Mark Antony, of the Royal Library of Pergamum. The other portion was stored in the Serapeum, which in 1895 was discovered to have been situated where’ Pompey’s Pillar’ now stands. History is undecided as to whether this celebrated Library was destroyed in a.d. 391 by Bishop Theophilus or by the Caliph Omar in a.d. 641. (3) The third structure which attracted the attention of the world to Alexandria was the Pharos (Lighthouse), erected by Ptol. II. Philadelphus.on the island which had been joined to the mainland by Alexander. Rising in storeys of decreasing dimensions to a height of 450-490 ft., adorned with white marble columns, balustrades, and statues, it was justly reckoned one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World.’ Though it was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 1303, it has nevertheless exercised a permanent infiuence on mankind. The idea of humanity to the mariner which it embodied was accepted by almost every civilized nation, and the thousands of lighthouses throughout the world to-day can all be traced to the gracious thoughtfulness which was displayed in the costly erection of this first Pharos.
In its times of greatest prosperity, Alexandria tiad a population of between 800,000 and 1,000,000. Trade, amusement, and learning attracted to it inhabitants from every quarter. It was an amalgam of East and West. The alertness and versatility of the Greek were here united with the gravity, conservativeness, and dreaminess of the Oriental. Alexandria became, next to Rome, the largest and most splendid city in the world. Amongst its polyglot community, the Jews formed no inconsiderable portion. Jewish colonists had settled in Egypt in large numbers after the destruction of Jerusalem (). and during the Persian period their numbers greatly increased. The Ptolemys, with one exception, favoured them, and assigned a special quarter of the city to them. More than an eighth of the population of Egypt was Jewish. Their business instincts brought to them the bulk of the trade of the country. They practically controlled the vast export of wheat. Some had great ships with which they traded over all the Mediterranean. St. Paul twice sailed in a ship of Alexandria ( ). The Jews were under their own governor or ‘Alabarch,’ and observed their own domestic and religious customs. Their great central synagogue was an immense and most imposing structure, where all the trade guilds sat together, and the 70 elders were accommodated in 70 splendidly bejewelled chairs of state.
It was in Alexandria that one of the most important events in the history of religion took place, when. the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into the Greek tongue. The legendary tales narrated by Josephus regarding the accomplishment of this task may be dismissed as baseless. But it is undisputed that during the reigns of the earlier LagidEe (somewhere between B.C. 250 and 132) the ‘Septuagint’ made its appearance. It is certainly not the product of a syndicate of translators working harmoniously, as Jewish tradition asserted. The work is of very unequal merit, the Pentateuch being the best done, while some of the later books are wretchedly translated. The translation was regarded by the Jews with mingled feelings, — execrated by one section as the grossest desecration of the holy oracles, extolled by another section as the means by which the beauties of the Law and the Prophets could be appreciated for the first time by the Greek-speaking Gentile world. The LXX became, under God’s providence, a most valuable preparation for the truths of Christianity. It familiarized the heathen nations with the God of righteousness as He had been revealed to the Jewish race. It paved the way for the gospel. It formed the Bible of the early Church. In the Eastern Church to-day it is the only orthodox text of the OT.
The wars of the Ptolemys with the Seieucidae at Antioch are described in . Ptolemy ii. Philaddphus left his mark on Palestine in the cities of Philadelphia ( = Rabbath-ammon, ), Ptolemais ( = Aceo, ). Philoteria, etc. Under Ptolemy iii. Euergetes i. (B.C. 247-222) the famous ‘stele of Canopus’ was inscribed. With Ptolemy iv. Philopatar the dynasty began to decline, and his oppressions of the Jews (largely mythical) are narrated in 3 Maccabees. Under Ptolemy V. Epiphanes the Alexandrian supremacy over Palestine was exchanged for that of Antiochus in. the Great (). In his reign the celebrated ‘Rosetta stone’ was erected. The ten succeeding Ptolemys were distinguished for almost nothing but their effeminacy, folly, luxury, and cruelty. The city increased in wealth, but sank more and more in political power. Julius Caesar stormed Alexandria in B.C. 47, and after a brief spell of false splendour under Cleopatra, it fell after the battle of Actium into the hands of the Romans, and its fortunes were henceforth merged with those of the Empire.
But while its political power was thus passing away. It was developing an intellectual greatness destined to exercise a profound influence through succeeding centuries. Among its Jewish population there had arisen a new school which sought to amalgamate Hebrew tradition and Greek philosophy, and to make the OT yield up Platonic and Stoic doctrines. This attempted fusion of Hebraism and Hellenism was begun by Aristobulus, and reached its climax in Philo, a contemporary of Jesus Christ. The Jews found in the Gentile writings many beautiful and excellent thoughts. They could logically defend their own proud claim to be the sole depositaries and custodians of Divine truth only by asserting that every rich and luminous Greek expression was borrowed from their Scriptures. Plato and Pythagoras, they declared, were deeply in debt to Moses. The Greeks were merely reproducers of Hebrew ethics, and Hebrew religious and moral conceptions. The next step was to re-write their own Scriptures in terms of Greek philosophy, and the most simple way of doing this was by an elaborate system of allegory. Philo carried the allegorizing of the OT to such an extent that he was able to deduce all the spurious philosophy he required from the most matter-of-fact narratives of the patriarchs and their wives. But it was a false issue. It was based on a logical figment, and Philo’s voluminous works, gifted and learned though he was, merely reveal that there was no hope either for Greek philosophy or for Hebrew religious development along these lines. The results of the allegorical method of interpretation, however, were seen in Christian Church history. We read of a ‘synagogue of the Alexandrians’ in Jerusalem, furiously hostile to St. Stephen with his plain declaration of facts (). Apollos of Alexandria () needed to be ‘more accurately instructed’ in Christian doctrine, though we have no direct evidence that he was a disciple of Philo. The Ep. to the Hebrews shows traces of Alexandrian influence, and there are evidences that St. Paul was not unfamiliar with Alexandrian hermeneutics and terminology (cf. ). But there is no proof that St. Paul ever visited Alexandria. He seems to have refrained from going thither because the gospel had already reached the city (cf. ). Eusebius credits St. Mark with the introduction of Christianity into Egypt. In the 2nd and 3rd cents. Alexandria was the intellectual capital of Christendom. The Alexandrian school of theology was made lustrous by the names of Pantaenus, Clement, and especially Origen, who, while continuing the allegorical tradition, strove to show that Christian doctrine enshrined and realized the dreams and yearnings of Greek philosophy. The evil tendencies of the method found expression in the teachings of the Alexandrian heretics, Basilides and Valentinian. Alexandria became more and more the stronghold of the Christian faith. Here Athanasius defended contra mundum the true Divinity of Christ in the Nieene controversy, and the city’s influence on Christian theology has been profound. In A.D. 641, Alexandria fell before Amrou; in the 7th cent, it began to decline. The creation of Cairo was another blow, and the discovery in 1497 of the new route to the East via the Cape of Good Hope almost destroyed its trade. At the beginning of the 19th cent. Alexandria was a mere village. To-day it is again a large and flourishing city, with a rapidly increasing population of over 200,000, and its port is one of the busiest on the Mediterranean shore. G. A. Frank Knight.
Algum
See Almug.
Aliah
A ‘duke’ of Edom () called in Alvah.
Alian
A descendant of Esau () called in Alvan.
Alien
See Nations, Stranger.
Allammelech
A town of Asher, probably near Acco (). Site unidentifled.
Allab
Allab (1 Esdras 5:36). One of the leaders of those Jews who could not show their pedigree as Israelites at the return from captivity under Zerubbabel. The name seems to correspond to Immer in . . one of the places from which these Jews returned. In 1 Es ‘Cherub, Addan, and Immer’ appear as ‘Gharaathalan leading them and Allar.’
Allegory
See Parable.
Alleluia
See Hallelujah.
ALLEMETH, AV Alemeth.l Ch 6«»; Almon, . A Levltical city of Benjamin. It is the present ‘Almit on the hills N. of Anathoth.
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.