Adam, City Of – Ador; Adora

Adam, City Of

('adham, "red" or BDB "made"): A city in the middle of the Jordan valley near ZARETHAN (Joshua 3:16), which see. The name probably survives at the Damieh Ford, near the mouth of the Jabbok twenty miles above Jericho. An Arabian historian asserts that about 1265 AD the Jordan was here blocked by a land slide. The inner gorge of the Jordan is here narrow with high banks which would facilitate such an obstruction as permitted the waters to "pile up" above to Adam and run out below, permitting Joshua's host to cross on dry land (SWP, II, 15; Wright, SCOTH, 130-34).

George Frederick Wright

Adamah

ad'-a-ma ('adhamah; Adami): A fortified city in the territory of Naphtali, named between Chinnereth and Ramah (Joshua 19:36). It is probably identical with the modern 'Admah, a ruin on the plateau about 10 miles North of Beisan.

Adamant

ad'-a-mant (shamir (Ezekiel 3:9; Zechariah 7:12)): In the passages cited and in Jeremiah 17:1, where it is rendered "diamond" the word shamir evidently refers to a hard stone. The word adamant ("unconquerable") is used in the early Greek writers for a hard metal, perhaps steel, later for a metal-like gold and later for the diamond. The Hebrew shamir, the Greek adamas (from which word "diamond" as well as "adamant" is derived) and the English adamant occur regularly in figurative expressions. All three are equally indefinite. Adamant may therefore be considered a good translation for shamir, though the Septuagint does not use adamas in the passages cited. There is a possible etymological identification of shamir with the Greek smyris (smeris or smiris), emery, a granular form of corundum well known to the ancients and used by them for polishing and engraving precious stones. Corundum in all its forms, including the sapphire and ruby, is in the scale of hardness next to the diamond. In English Versions of the Bible Isaiah 5:6; Isaiah 7:23–25; Isaiah 9:18; Isaiah 10:17; Isaiah 27:4; Isaiah 32:13, shamir is translated "brier". See also STONES, PRECIOUS.

Alfred Ely Day

Adami

ad'-a-mi; a-da'-mi: Mentioned in the King James Version as a separate name, where the Revised Version (British and American) has ADAMI-NEKEB, which see (Joshua 19:33).

Adami-Nekeb

ad'-a-mi ne'-keb 'adhami ha-neqebh, "the ground of the piercing," (that is of the pass, or defile): A place mentioned in indicating the border of Naphtali (Joshua 19:33). In the King James Version, Adami and Nekeb are given as separate names, and it is an open question which view of the matter is correct. Most of the Greek texts give the names as two. The Vulgate has "Adami quae est Neceb." The Jerusalem Talmud gives two names, though instead of Hannekeb or Nekeb it has Siyadathah (Meg 1 1, or Neubauer's Geog du Talmud, 225). In the list of places conquered by Thothmes III of Egypt occurs the name NQBU (Tomkins, Rec of Past, new series, V, 47), which seems to be the same with Neqeb.

The list of names for the border of Naphtali (Joshua 19:33,Joshua 19:34) has no name in common with the list of cities (Joshua 19:35–38) unless Adami and Adamah are the same. The PE Survey maps locate Adamah at Damieh, about seven miles northwest of the exit of the Jordan from the Lake of Galilee, and Adami at Khurbet Adamah, five or six miles south of the exit. Conder, Tomkins and others place Adami at Damieh, and identify Nekeb by its Talmudic name in the neighboring ruin Seiyadeh. Conder says (art. "Nekeb," HDB) that the "pass" implied in the name Nekeb "is probably one leading from the eastern precipices near Tiberias."

Willis J. Beecher

Adan

a'-dan. See ADDAN.

Adar (1)

a-'dar ('adhar, meaning uncertain): The Babylonian name of the twelfth month of the year. Used in the Bible only in Ezra 6:15 and eight times in Esther. At first the author in Esther defines Adar as the twelfth month, but afterward omits the numeral. In order to maintain the relation of the year to the seasons it was customary to add a second Adar, as often as was needed, as an intercalary month.

Adar (2)

a'-dar: In the King James Version (Joshua 15:3) for ADDAR, which see.

Adarsa

a-dar'-sa. See ADASA.

Adasa

ad'-a-sa (Adasa; the King James Version Adarsa): A town less than four miles from Beth-horon (30 furlongs Ant, XII, x, 5; 1 Macc 7:40) and a day's journey from Gazara (1 Macc 7:45), where Judas Maccabee defeated and killed Nicanor, a general of Demetrius (1 Macc 7:40 ff). The ruin of Adaseh near Gibeon (SWP, III, XVII).

Adbeel

ad'-be-el ('adhbe'el, "God's discipline," possibly): The third of the twelve sons of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13; 1 Chronicles 1:29). The name appears in the Assyrian records as that of a north Arabian tribe residing somewhere Southwest of the Dead Sea.

Add

(1) epidiatassomai, "to add to," "to arrange in addition": Found only in Galatians 3:15, which may thus be paraphrased: "To take a familiar illustration: even a man's will, when ratified, no third party may annul or supplement" (Dummelow, in the place cited.).

(2) epitithemi, "to put upon," "If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues" (Revelation 22:18). The book is not to be falsified by addition or excision (see BOOK) by the interpolation of unauthorized doctrines or the neglect of essential ones (compare Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32).

See also IMPART; SUPPLY.

M. O. Evans

Addan

ad'-an ('addan; in Ne 'addon; connected in some way with the name of the god Addu): A name mentioned in the list of the returning exiles (Ezra 2:59, duplicated in Nehemiah 7:61). It is one of several names of Babylonian localities from which came men who were unable to declare their genealogy as Israelites.

Addar

ad'-ar ('addar, "glorious"): See ARD

(1) A grandson of Benjamin, sometimes counted as one of his sons (1 Chronicles 8:3).

(2) A town on the southern border of Judah (Joshua 15:3, the King James Version "Adar"). The same as Hazar-addar (Numbers 34:4).

Adder

ad'-er (`akhshubh (Psalms 140:3); pethen (Psalms 58:4); tsiph`oni (Proverbs 23:32); shephiphon (Genesis 49:17); tsepha` (King James Version margin; Isaiah 14:29)): This word is used for several Hebrew originals. In each case a poisonous serpent is clearly indicated by the context. It is impossible to tell in any case just what species is meant, but it must be remembered that the English word adder is used very ambiguously. It is from the Anglo-Saxon noedre, a snake or serpent, and is the common English name for Vipera berus, L, the common viper, which is found throughout Europe and northern Asia, though not in Bible lands; but the word "adder" is also used for various snakes, both poisonous and non-poisonous, found in different parts of the world. In America, for instance, both the poisonous moccasin (Ancistrodon) and the harmless hog-nosed snakes (Heterodon) are called adders.

See SERPENT.

Alfred Ely Day

Addi

ad'-i (Addi; Addei): An ancestor of Joseph, the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus; fourth from Zerubbabel in the ascending genealogical series (Luke 3:28).

Addict

a-dikt': Found only in the King James Version of 1 Corinthians 16:15, for Greek tasso. The house of Stephanus is said to be "addicted to the ministry of the saints," i.e. they have so "arranged" their affairs as to make of this service a prime object; the Revised Version (British and American) "set themselves to minister."

Addo

ad'-o (Codex Alexandrinus, Addo; Codex Vaticanus, Eddein) = Iddo (Ezra 5:1; Ezra 6:14): The father (Zechariah 1:1,Zechariah 1:7 grandfather) of Zechariah the prophet (1 Esdras 6:1).

Addon

ad'-on.

See ADDAN.

Addus

ad'-us (Addous): The descendants of Addus (sons of Solomon's servants) returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (1 Esdras 5:34). Omitted in Ezra 2:1–70 and Nehemiah 7:1–73.

Ader

a'-der: Used in 1 Chronicles 8:15 the King James Version for EDER, which see.

Adiabene

a-di-a-be'-ne (Adiabene): A state lying on the east of the Tigris, on the greater and lesser rivers Zab, in the territory of ancient Assyria. For the half-century terminating with the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, Adiabene is especially interesting by reason of the careers of its king, Izates, and his mother Helena, who became Jews. They had their part in the Jewish-Roman wars, and in various ways were typical of the existing situation. (See Ant, XX, 2-5; BJ, II, xvi, 4; xix. 2; V, iv, 2; vi. 1; xi. 5; VI, vi, 4.) Somewhat later Adiabene was absorbed into the Roman Empire and became one of the six provinces which formed the larger province of Assyria, though Pliny and Ammianus sometimes call the large province by the name Adiabene.

Willis J. Beecher

Adida

ad'-i-da (Adida). A town of the Benjamin tribe near Lod and Ono located upon a hill facing the "plain country" of Judea, rebuilt and fortified by Simon Maccabee (1 Macc 12:38), who later encamped here to meet the army of Tryphon (1 Macc 13:13; Ant, XIII, vi, 5). It was also here that Aretas, king of Arabia, met Alexander Janneus in battle and defeated him (Ant., XIII, xv, 2). Perhaps the El-Haditheh of today located about three miles east of Lydda or Lod. See HADID.

Adiel

ad'-i-el (`adhi'el, "ornament of God"):

(1) One of the "princes" of the tribe of Simeon, who, in the days of Hezekiah, smote the aborigines of Gedor and captured the valley (1 Chronicles 4:36 ff).

(2) Father of Maasai, one of the priests who dwelt in Jerusalem after the return from the Exile (1 Chronicles 9:12).

(3) Father of Azmaveth who was over David's treasures (1 Chronicles 27:25).

Adin

a'-din (`adhin, "adorned"): The name of a family, "the sons of Adin" (Ezra 2:15; Ezra 8:6; Nehemiah 7:20; Nehemiah 10:16; 1 Esdras 5:14; 8:32), mentioned among the returning exiles. The list in Ezra 2:1–70 is placed in the midst of the narrative concerning Zerubbabel, but its title and Its contents show that it also includes the later Jewish immigrants into Palestine. The list in Nehemiah 7:1–73 is a duplicate of that in Ezr, but with variations; most of the variations are naturally accounted for by supposing that one copy was made later than the other and was brought up to date. In Ezr and 1 Esdras the number of the sons of Adin is said to be 454; in Ne it is 655. The 50 males, led by Ebed the son of Jonathan, who came with Ezr, may or may not have been included in the numbers just mentioned. Among the names of those who sealed the covenant along with Ne are 44 that are placed under the caption "the chiefs of the people" (Nehemiah 10:14–26), and nearly half of these are the family names of the list in Ezra 2:1–70 and Nehemiah 7:1–73. It is natural to infer that in these cases a family sealed the covenant collectively through some representative. In that case the Adin here mentioned is the same that is mentioned in the other places. See also ADINU.

Willis J. Beecher

Adina

ad'-i-na, a-di'-na (`adhina', "adorned"). "Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him" (1 Chronicles 11:42). This is in that part of the list of David's mighty men in which the Chronicler supplements the list given in 2 Samuel.

Adino

ad'-i-no, a-di'-no (`adhino, "his adorned one"): The senior of David's "mighty men." "Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite, against eight hundred slain at one time" (2 Samuel 23:8). This very exact rendering makes it evident even to an English reader that the text is imperfect. Ginsburg offers a corrected form taken substantially from the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 11:11: "Jashobeam a son of a Hachmonite, chief of the captains; he lifted up his spear." This is plausible, and is very generally accepted, and eliminates the names Adino and Eznite, which do not occur elsewhere in the Bible. Some of the facts are against this. The Septuagint has the names Adino and Eznite. The Latin finds no proper names in the passage, but so translates the words as to presuppose the Hebrew text as we have it. It may be a case for suspended judgment.

The texts concerning David's mighty men are fragmentary both in Samuel and in Chronicles. If they were more complete they would perhaps make it clear that the three seniors were comrades of David at Pas-dammim, Ephes- dammim (1 Chronicles 11:13; 1 Samuel 17:1); and that we have in them additional details concerning that battle. The record says that on the death of Goliath the Philistines fled and the Israelites pursued (1 Samuel 17:52 ff), but it is not improbable that during the retreat portions of the Philistine force rallied, so that there was strenuous fighting.

Willis J. Beecher

Adinu; Adin

ad'-i-nu, ad'-in (Adinou, 1 Esdras 5:14; Adin, 1 Esdras 8:32): Compare Adin (Ezra 2:15; Ezra 8:6; Nehemiah 7:20; Nehemiah 10:16). The descendants of Adin (leaders of the nation) returned with their families to Jerusalem: one party being with Zerubbabel (454 members 1 Esdras 5:14), a second party with Ezra (250 members 1 Esdras 8:32).

Adinus

ad'-i-nus. See IADINUS (Apocrypha).

Adithaim

ad-i-tha'-im (`adhithayim "double ornament, passage, or prey"): A city in "the lowland" (Shephelah, not as the King James Version "valley") of Judah (Joshua 15:36). Site unknown, but possibly same as ADIDA (which see).

Adjuration

ad-ju-ra'-shun: The act of requiring or taking a solemn oath. In a time of military peril Saul adjured the people ('alah, "to take oath") and they took oath by saying "Amen" (1 Samuel 14:24). When Joshua pronounced a ban on Jericho (Joshua 6:26) he completed it with an oath (shabha`, "to cause to swear"). Often used in the sense of a solemn charge without the administration of an oath (1 Kings 22:16; 2 Chronicles 18:15; Song of Songs 2:7; Song of Songs 5:8,Song of Songs 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). With reference to the withholding of testimony, see Leviticus 5:1 and Proverbs 29:24. The high priest sought to put Jesus under oath (exorkizo, "to force to an oath," Matthew 26:63). Adjure also means to solemnly implore (horkizo) as when the man with an unclean spirit appealed to Jesus: "I adjure thee by God, torment me not" (Mark 5:7); or seven sons of Sceva, exorcists, sought in the name of Jesus to expel demons (Acts 19:13).

(1) The exacting of an oath has, from time immemorial, been a customary procedure in conferring civil and ecclesiastical office and in taking legal testimony. Though often allowed to become painfully trivial and a travesty on its inherent solemnity, the taking of an official oath or the swearing of witnesses is still considered essential to the moral integrity of government, secular or spiritual. False sweating, under solemn oath, constitutes the guilt and heinousness of perjury. The universality of oath-taking is humanity's tribute, whether pagan or Christian, to the sacredness of truth.

(2) Civilized nations administer oaths under three heads: political, ecclesiastical, legal. The sovereign of England receives the crown only as he or she responds affirmatively to the solemn adjuration of the archbishop or bishop: "Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern," etc., closing with the affirmation, "So help me God." A fundamental conviction of civilized nations was expressed by Lycurgus: "An oath is the bond that keeps the state together." It is the most solemn appeal to the inviolability of the human conscience, and the sacredness of a vow as witnessed both by God and men. See also OATH.

Dwight M. Pratt

Adlai

ad'-la-i, ad'-li (`adhlay; Septuagint Adli and Adai, "lax, weary"): The father of Shaphat, an overseer of David's herds in the lowlands (1 Chronicles 27:29).

Admah

ad'-ma ('adhmah): From a root signifying red; one of the Cities of the Plain (Ciccar) (Genesis 10:19; Genesis 14:2,Genesis 14:8; Deuteronomy 29:23; Hosea 11:8) upon which Abraham and Lot looked from the heights of Bethel; destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah. Conder tentatively identifies it with the City of Adam referred to in Joshua 3:16, and thinks that perhaps the name may be preserved in that of Damieh Ford, near the mouth of the river Jabbok; but that point could not have been in view from Bethel.

See VALE OF SIDDIM.

Admatha

ad'-ma-tha, ad-ma'-tha ('adhmatha'): One of "the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom" (Esther 1:14); compare 2 Kings 25:19; Ezra 7:14. The Septuagint gives only three names.

Admin

ad'-min. See ARNI.

Administer; Administration

ad-min'-is-ter ad-min-is-tra'-shun diakoneo, diakonia: Terms used in the King James Version in 1 Corinthians 12:5; 2 Corinthians 8:19,2 Corinthians 8:20; 2 Corinthians 9:12 respectively, and replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by "minister" and "ministration." The root idea of both words is "service," hence to supply, or conduct or attend to anything; the performance of official duty, the conduct of affairs, the various forms of spiritual or social service. "Minister," used either of an act or of an office, is the term that best represents the apostolic thought and ideal.

Dwight M. Pratt

Admiration

ad-mi-ra'-shun (thauma, "a marvel" or "wonder"; thaumazo, "to wonder"): A term thrice used in the King James Version in the New Testament, to express a wonder that includes approval, high esteem; replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by three renderings better suited to convey the various kinds of surprise, wonder, admiration, expressed, by this fertile word: namely, in 2 Thessalonians 1:10, "to be admired," reads in the Revised Version (British and American) "to be marveled at"; in Jude 1:16 "having men's persons in admiration" is rendered "showing respect of persons"; in Revelation 17:6 "wondered with great admiration" is replaced by "with a great wonder." The Greek original is used frequently in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels, to express marvel and wonder at the supernatural works of Jesus.

Dwight M. Pratt

Adna

ad'-na (`adhna', "pleasure"; Aidaine):

(1) An Israelite in Ezra's time who, having married a foreign wife, divorced her. He belonged to Pahath-moab (Ezra 10:30).

(2) A priest of the family of Harum, during the high-priesthood of Joiakim son of Jethua (Nehemiah 12:12–15).

Adnah

ad'-na (`adhnach, "pleasure"; Edna):

(1) A warrior of the tribe of Manasseh, who deserted Saul and joined David's forces at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:20,1 Chronicles 12:21)

(2) An officer of high rank, perhaps the commander-in-chief of Jehoshaphat's army (2 Chronicles 17:14). Here the spelling in Hebrew is `adhnah.

Ado

a-doo': Found only in Mark 5:39 King James Version: "Why make ye this ado and weep?" Here "make ado" is used to translate the Greek verb thorubeomai (compare Matthew 9:23 the King James Version, where it is likewise rendered "making a noise"). "Ado" as a substantive is Old English for "trouble" or "fuss," used only in the sing.; and in the early English versions it combined well with the verb "make," as here, to translate the Greek word rendered elsewhere "causing an uproar," or "tumult," "making a noise," etc. (see Acts 17:5; Acts 20:10). Compare Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III, 4, "We'll keep no great ado;--a friend or two."

George B. Eager

Adonai

a-do'-ni, ad-o-na'-i ('adhonay): A Divine name, translated "Lord," and signifying, from its derivation, "sovereignty." Its vowels are found in the Massoretic Text with the unpronounceable tetragrammaton YHWH; and when the Hebrew reader came to these letters, he always substituted in pronunciation the word " 'adhonay." Its vowels combined with the tetragrammaton form the word "Yahweh (Yahweh)."

See GOD, NAMES OF.

Adoni-Zedek

a-do-ni-ze'-dek ('adhonitsedheq, "lord of righteousness"): King of Jerusalem at the time of the conquest of Canaan (Joshua 10:1). When he heard of the fall of Ai and the submission of the Gibeonites, he entered into a league with four other kings to resist Joshua and Israel, and to punish Gibeon (Joshua 10:3,Joshua 10:4), but was overthrown by Joshua in a memorable battle (Joshua 10:12–14). Adoni-zedek and his four allies were shut up in a cave, while the battle lasted, and afterward were taken out by Joshua's order, put to death and hanged on trees (Joshua 10:22–27). It is noticeable that the name is almost the equivalent of Melchizedek, malkitsedheq, "king of righteousness," who was ruler of Jerusalem in the time of Abraham.

Edward Mack

Adonibezek

a-do-ni-be'-zek ('adhonibhezeq "lord of Bezek"): Lord of a town, Bezek, in southern Palestine, whom the tribes of Judah and Simeon overthrew. Adonibezek fled when his men were defeated, but was captured, and was punished for his cruelty in cutting off the thumbs and great toes of seventy kings by a similar mutilation. Being brought to Jerusalem, he died there (Judges 1:5–7). This not to be confused with Adonizedek, as in the Septuagint. This is quite another name.

Adonijah

ad-o-ni'-ja ('adhoniyahu or 'adhoniyah, "my lord is Yahweh"):

(1) The son of David and Haggith, the forth of David's sons, born in Hebron after David became king of Judah, principally known for his attempt to become king instead of Solomon (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Chronicles 3:2; 1 Kings 1:1–53,1 Kings 2:1–46). The record gives no details concerning Chileab, the son of David and Abigail. Leaving him out, Adonijah was the oldest living son of David, after the death of Amnon and Absalom.

In treating the record it has been needlessly obscured by neglecting or distorting the time data. It says that the rebellion of Absalom broke out "at an end of forty years" (2 Samuel 15:7). The natural meaning is not forty years after the last-mentioned preceding date, but at the close of the fortieth calendar year of the reign of David. Since David reigned 40 1/2 years (2 Samuel 5:4,2 Samuel 5:5), the close of his fortieth calendar year was the beginning of has last year. That the date intended was at the beginning of a vernal year is confirmed by the references to the season (2 Samuel 17:19,2 Samuel 17:28). Instead of giving this number Josephus says that 4 years had elapsed since the last preceding date, which is very likely correct.

Many considerations show that the outbreak cannot have occurred much earlier than the fortieth year of David; for Amnon and Absalom were born after David's reign began, and were men with establishments of their own before Amnon's offense against Tamar, and after that the record, if we accept the numeral of Josephus, accounts for 2 plus 3 plus 2 plus 4, that is, for 11 years (2 Samuel 13:23,2 Samuel 13:38; 2 Samuel 14:28; Ant, VII, ix, 1). In the year following David's fortieth year there was ample room for the rebellions of Absalom and of Sheba, the illness of David, the attempt of Adonijah, and the beginning of the reign of Solomon. All things confirm the number forty as giving the date of the outbreak. The common assumption that the forty is to be reduced to four, on the basis of the number in Josephus, is contrary to the evidence.

On this view of the chronology all the events fall into line. David's idea of making Solomon king was connected with his temple-building idea. This is implied in Kings, and presented somewhat in full in Chronicles. The preparations described in Chronicles (1 Chronicles 22:1–29:30) seem to have culminated in David's fortieth year (1 Chronicles 26:31). David's policy was not altogether popular with the nation. His assembly (1 Chronicles 28:1) is mostly made up of sarim and other appointed officials, the hereditary Israelite "princes" and "elders" being conspicuous by their absence. The outbreak under Absalom was mainly a matter of skillful manipulation; the hearts of the people were really with David. And yet the party of Absalom was distinctly a legitimist party. It believed in the succession of the eldest son, and it objected to many things in the temple-building policy. Joab and Abiathar and others sympathized with this party, but they remained with David out of personal loyalty to him.

The Absalom campaign began early in the calendar year. There is no reason to think that it lasted more than a few weeks. Later in the year a few weeks are enough time to allow for the campaign against Sheba. Joab must have been more or less alienated from David by David's appointment of Amasa to supersede him. Then came David's serious illness. Abishag was brought in, not to "attend upon David during has declining years," but to put her vitality at has disposal during a few weeks. Joab and Abiathar did not believe that David would ever do business again. Their personal loyalty to him no longer restrained them from following their own ideas, even though these were contrary to his wishes.

The narrative does not represent that Nathan and Bathsheba influenced David to interfere in behalf of Solomon; it represents that they succeeded in arousing him from has torpor, so that he carried out his own wishes and intentions. Perhaps resting in bed had done something for him. The treatment by Abishag had not been unsuccessful. And now a supreme appeal to his mind proved sufficient to arouse him. He became himself again, and acted with has usual vigor and wisdom.

Adonijah is described as a handsome and showy man, but his conduct does not give us a high opinion of his capabilities. He had no real command of the respect of the guests who shouted "Live King Adonijah." When they heard that Solomon had been crowned, they "were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way." Adonijah made has submission, but afterward attempted to engage in intrigues, and was put to death.

(2) One of the Levites sent out by Jehoshaphat, in his third year, with the Book of the Law, to give instruction in Judah (2 Chronicles 17:8).

(3) One of the names given, under the heading "the chiefs of the people," of those who sealed the covenant along with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:16).

Willis J. Beecher

Adonikam

ad-o-ni'-kam ('adhoniqam, "my lord has risen up"): The name of a family of the returning exiles (Ezra 2:13; Nehemiah 7:18). "The sons of Adonikam," men and women and children, numbered 666 according to the list as given in Ezr, but 667 according to the copy in Neh. Either included among these or in addition to them was the contingent that came with Ezr, "Ehphalet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 males" (Ezra 8:13).

Adoniram

ad-o-ni'-ram ('adhoniram, "my lord is exalted"): An official of Solomon (1 Kings 4:6; 1 Kings 5:14). Near the close of the reign of David, and at the opening of the reign of Rehoboam, the same office was held by Adoram (2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Kings 12:18).

The name Adoram seems to be a contraction of Adoniram, and doubtless the same person held the office in all the three reigns. The name also appears as Hadoram (2 Chronicles 10:18). In the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) the office is variantly described as "over the tribute," which is misleading, and "over the levy," which is correct, though obscure. In the American Standard Revised Version it is uniformly "over the men subject to taskwork." Adoniram was at the head of the department of forced labor for the government. The record is to the effect that peoples conquered by Israel, except the Canaanites, were to be spared, subject to the obligation to forced labor on the public works (Deuteronomy 20:11); that this law was actually extended to the Canaanites (Joshua 16:10; Joshua 17:13; Judges 1:28 ff); that David, in his preparations for the temple, organized and handed over to Solomon a service of forced labor (1 Chronicles 22:2,1 Chronicles 22:15, etc.); that under Solomon this service was elaborately maintained (1 Kings 5:13 1 Kings 9:15 2 Chronicles 8:7 ff).

It was not for the temple only, but for all Solomon's numerous building enterprises. In theory men of Israelite blood were free from this burden, but practically they found it a burden and a grievance. At the accession of Rehoboam they protested against it (1 Kings 12:1–33; 2 Chronicles 10:1–19). Nothing in the account is more indicative of Rehoboam's utter lack of good judgment than his sending his veteran superintendent of the forced labor department to confer with the people. The murder of Adoniram, and the ignominious flight of Rehoboam, were natural consequences.

Willis J. Beecher

Adonis

a-do'-nis: A name for the Babylonian god TAMMUZ, which see. The word occurs only in the English Revised Version, margin of Isaiah 17:10, where for "pleasant plants" is read "plantings of Adonis." The the American Standard Revised Version rightly omits this marginal suggestion.

Adoption

a-dop'-shun (huiothesia, "placing as a son"): I. THE GENERAL LEGAL IDEA

1. In the Old Testament 2. Greek 3. Roman

II. PAUL'S DOCTRINE

1. In Galatians as Liberty 2. In Romans as Deliverance from Debt

III. THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE

1. In Relation to Justification 2. In Relation to Sanctification 3. In Relation to Regeneration

IV. AS GOD'S ACT

1. Divine Fatherhood 2. Its Cosmic Range This term appears first in New Testament, and only in the epistles of Paul (Galatians 4:5; Romans 8:15,Romans 8:23; Romans 9:4; Ephesians 1:5) who may have coined it out of a familiar Greek phrase of identical meaning. It indicated generally the legal process by which a man might bring into his family, and endow with the status and privileges of a son, one who was not by nature his son or of his kindred.

I. The General Legal Idea.

The custom prevailed among Greeks, Romans and other ancient peoples, but it does not appear in Jewish law.

1. In the Old Testament:

Three cases of adoption are mentioned: of Moses (Exodus 2:10), Genubath (1 Kings 11:20) and Esther (Esther 2:7,Esther 2:15), but it is remarkable that they all occur outside of Palestine--in Egypt and Persia, where the practice of adoption prevailed. Likewise the idea appears in the New Testament only in the epistles of Paul, which were addressed to churches outside Palestine. The motive and initiative of adoption always lay with the adoptive father, who thus supplied his lack of natural offspring and satisfied the claims of affection and religion, and the desire to exercise paternal authority or to perpetuate his family. The process and conditions of adoption varied with different peoples. Among oriental nations it was extended to slaves (as Moses) who thereby gained their freedom, but in Greece and Rome it was, with rare exceptions, limited to citizens.

2. Greek:

In Greece a man might during his lifetime, or by will, to take effect after his death, adopt any male citizen into the privileges of his son, but with the invariable condition that the adopted son accepted the legal obligations and religious duties of a real son.

3. Roman:

In Rome the unique nature of paternal authority (patria potestas), by which a son was held in his father's power, almost as a slave was owned by his master, gave a peculiar character to the process of adoption. For the adoption of a person free from paternal authority (sui juris), the process and effect were practically the same in Rome as in Greece (adrogatio). In a more specific sense, adoption proper (adoptio) was the process by which a person was transferred from his natural father's power into that of his adoptive father, and it consisted in a fictitious sale of the son, and his surrender by the natural to the adoptive father.

II. Paul's Doctrine.

As a Roman citizen the apostle would naturally know of the Roman custom, but in the cosmopolitan city of Tarsus, and again on his travels, he would become equally familiar with the corresponding customs of other nations. He employed the idea metaphorically much in the manner of Christ's parables, and, as in their case, there is danger of pressing the analogy too far in its details. It is not clear that he had any specific form of adoption in mind when illustrating his teaching by the general idea. Under this figure he teaches that God, by the manifestation of His grace in Christ, brings men into the relation of sons to Himself, and communicates to them the experience of sonship.

1. In Galatians as Liberty:

In Galatians, Paul emphasizes especially the liberty enjoyed by those who live by faith, in contrast to the bondage under which men are held, who guide their lives by legal ceremonies and ordinances, as the Galatians were prone to do (Galatians 5:1). The contrast between law and faith is first set forth on the field of history, as a contrast between both the pre-Christian and the Christian economies (Galatians 3:23,Galatians 3:24), although in another passage he carries the idea of adoption back into the covenant relation of God with Israel (Romans 9:4). But here the historical antithesis is reproduced in the contrast between men who now choose to live under law and those who live by faith. Three figures seem to commingle in the description of man's condition under legal bondage--that of a slave, that of a minor under guardians appointed by his father's will, and that of a Roman son under the patria potestas (Galatians 4:1–3). The process of liberation is first of all one of redemption or buying out (Greek exagorasei) (Galatians 4:5). This term in itself applies equally well to the slave who is redeemed from bondage, and the Roman son whose adoptive father buys him out of the authority of his natural father. But in the latter case the condition of the son is not materially altered by the process: he only exchanges one paternal authority for another. If Paul for a moment thought of the process in terms of ordinary Roman adoption, the resulting condition of the son he conceives in terms of the more free and gracious Greek or Jewish family life. Or he may have thought of the rarer case of adoption from conditions of slavery into the status of sonship. The redemption is only a precondition of adoption, which follows upon faith, and is accompanied by the sending of "the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father," and then all bondage is done away (Galatians 4:5–7).

2. In Romans as Deliverance from Debt:

In Romans 8:12–17 the idea of obligation or debt is coupled with that of liberty. Man is thought of as at one time under the authority and power of the flesh (Romans 8:5), but when the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in him, he is no longer a debtor to the flesh but to the Spirit (Romans 8:12,Romans 8:13), and debt or obligation to the Spirit is itself liberty. As in Galatians, man thus passes from a state of bondage into a state of sonship which is also a state of liberty. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these (and these only) are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). The spirit of adoption or sonship stands in diametrical opposition to the spirit of bondage (Romans 8:15). And the Spirit to which we are debtors and by which we are led, at once awakens and confirms the experience of sonship within us (Romans 8:16). In both places, Paul conveys under this figure, the idea of man as passing from a state of alienation from God and of bondage under law and sin, into that relation with God of mutual confidence and love, of unity of thought and will, which should characterize the ideal family, and in which all restraint, compulsion and fear have passed away.

III. The Christian Experience.

As a fact of Christian experience, the adoption is the recognition and affirmation by man of his sonship toward God. It follows upon faith in Christ, by which man becomes so united with Christ that his filial spirit enters into him, and takes possession of his consciousness, so that he knows and greets God as Christ does (compare Mark 14:36).

1. In Relation to Justification: It is an aspect of the same experience that Paul describes elsewhere, under another legal metaphor, as justification by faith. According to the latter, God declares the sinner righteous and treats him as such, admits into to the experience of forgiveness, reconciliation and peace (Romans 5:1). In all this the relation of father and son is undoubtedly involved, but in adoption it is emphatically expressed. It is not only that the prodigal son is welcomed home, glad to confess that he is not worthy to be called a son, and willing to be made as one of the hired servants, but he is embraced and restored to be a son as before. The point of each metaphor is, that justification is the act of a merciful Judge setting the prisoner free, but adoption is the act of a generous father, taking a son to his bosom and endowing him with liberty, favor and a heritage.

2. In Relation to Sanctification:

Besides, justification is the beginning of a process which needs for its completion a progressive course of sanctification by the aid of the Holy Spirit, but adoption is coextensive with sanctification. The sons of God are those led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14); and the same spirit of God gives the experience of sonship. Sanctification describes the process of general cleansing and growth as an abstract process, but adoption includes it as a concrete relation to God, as loyalty, obedience, and fellowship with an ever-loving Father.

3. In Relation to Regeneration:

Some have identified adoption with regeneration, and therefore many Fathers and Roman Catholic theologians have identified it with baptismal regeneration, thereby excluding the essential fact of conscious sonship. The new birth and adoption are certainly aspects of the same totality of experience, but they belong to different systems of thought, and to identify them is to invite confusion. The new birth defines especially the origin and moral quality of the Christian experience as an abstract fact, but adoption expresses a concrete relation of man to God. Nor does Paul here raise the question of man's natural and original condition. It is pressing the analogy too far to infer from this doctrine of adoption that man is by nature not God's son. It would contradict Paul's teaching elsewhere (e.g. Acts 17:28), and he should not be convicted of inconsistency on the application of a metaphor. He conceives man outside Christ as morally an alien and a stranger from God, and the change wrought by faith in Christ makes him morally a son and conscious of his sonship; but naturally he is always a potential son because God is always a real father.

IV. As God's Act.

Adoption as God's act is an eternal process of His gracious love, for He "fore-ordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will" (Ephesians 1:5).

1. Divine Fatherhood:

The motive and impulse of Fatherhood which result in adoption were eternally real and active in God. In some sense He had bestowed the adoption upon Israel (Romans 9:4). "Israel is my son, my first-born" (Exodus 4:22; compare Deuteronomy 14:1; Deuteronomy 32:6; Jeremiah 31:9; Hosea 11:1). God could not reveal Himself at all without revealing something of His Fatherhood, but the whole revelation was as yet partial and prophetic. When "God sent forth his Son" to redeem them that were under the law," it became possible for men to receive the adoption; for to those who are willing to receive it, He sent the Spirit of the eternal Son to testify in their hearts that they are sons of God, and to give them confidence and utterance to enable them to call God their Father (Galatians 4:5,Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:15).

2. Its Cosmic Range:

But this experience also is incomplete, and looks forward to a fuller adoption in the response, not only of man's spirit, but of the whole creation, including man's body, to the Fatherhood of God (Romans 8:23). Every filial spirit now groans, because it finds itself imprisoned in a body subjected to vanity, but it awaits a redemption of the body, perhaps in the resurrection, or in some final consummation, when the whole material creation shall be transformed into a fitting environment for the sons of God, the creation itself delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:21). Then will adoption be complete, when man's whole personality shall be in harmony with the spirit of sonship, and the whole universe favorable to its perseverance in a state of blessedness.

See CHILDREN OF GOD.

LITERATURE:

Lightfoot, Galatians; Sanday, Romans; Lidgett, Fatherhood of God; Ritschl, Justification and Reconciliation.

T. Rees

Ador; Adora

a'-dor, a-do'-ra (Adora): In Idumaea, mentioned in Ant, XIII, ix, 1 as one of the cities captured by Hyrcanus, and referred to in 1 Macc 13:20.

See ADORAIM.