A – Abi (1)

A

See ALEPH; ALPHABET.

Aalar

a'-a-lar. See ALTAR.

Aaron

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

1. Family:

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

2. Becomes Moses' Assistant:

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

3. An Elder:

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

4. High Priest:

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

5. Rebels Against Moses:

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

6. Further History:

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

7. Priestly Succession:

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

Edward Mack

Aaron's Rod

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

Edward Mack

Aaronites

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

Ab (1)

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

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

Willis J. Beecher

Ab (2)

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

Abacuc

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

Abaddon

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abadias

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

Abagarus

a-bag'-a-rus. See ABGARUS.

Abagtha

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

Abanah

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

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

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

C. H. Thomson

Abarim

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

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

Willis J. Beecher

Abase

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

Frank E. Hirsch

Abate

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

Abba

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

J. E. Harry

Abda

ab'-da (`abhda', perhaps, by abbreviation, "servant of Yahweh"):

(1) The father of Adoniram, King Solomon's superintendent of forced labor (1 Kings 4:6).

(2) A Levite mentioned in the statistical note in (Nehemiah 11:17). This "Abda the son of Shammua" is in the partly duplicate passage in (1 Chronicles 9:16) called "Obadiah the son of Shemaiah."

Abdeel

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

Abdi

ab'-di (`abhdi, probably by abbreviation "servant of Yahweh"):

(1) A Levite, father of Kishi and grandfather of King David's singer Ethan (1 Chronicles 6:44; compare 1 Chronicles 15:17). This makes Abdi a contemporary of Saul the king.

(2) A Levite, father of the Kish who was in service at the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:12). Some mistakenly identify this Abdi with the former.

(3) A man who in Ezra's time had married a foreign wife (Ezra 10:26). Not a Levite, but "of the sons of Elam."

Abdias

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

Abdiel

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

Abdon (1)

ab'-don (`abhdon, perhaps "service"; Abdon):

(1) A judge of Israel for eight years (Judges 12:13–15). The account says that he was the son of Hillel the Pirathonite, and that he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim. No mention is made of great public services rendered by him, but it is said that he had seventy well-mounted sons and grandsons. So far as we can judge, he was placed in office as a wealthy elderly man, and performed the routine duties acceptably. Very likely his two next predecessors Ibzan and Elon were men of the same type. An effort has been made to identify Abdon with the Bedan mentioned in 1 Samuel 12:11, but the identification is precarious.

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

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

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

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

Willis J. Beecher

Abdon (2)

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

Abed-Nego

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

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

R. Dick Wilson

Abel (1)

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

1. A Shepherd:

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

2. A Worshipper:

"In process of time," the two brothers came in a solemn manner to sacrifice unto Yahweh, in order to express their gratitude to Him whose tenants they were in the land (Genesis 4:3,Genesis 4:4. See SACRIFICE).

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

3. A Righteous Man:

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

4. A Martyr:

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

5. A Type:

The first two brothers in history stand as the types and representatives of the two main and enduring divisions of mankind, and bear witness to the absolute antithesis and eternal enmity between good and evil.

M. O. Evans

Abel (2)

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

Abel-Beth-Maacah

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

In 2Sa it is spoken of as the city, far to the north, where Joab besieged Sheba, the son of Bichri. In 2Ki it is mentioned, along with Ijon and other places, as a city in Naphtali captured by Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria. The capture appears also in the records of Tiglath-pileser. In 1Ki it is mentioned with Ijon and Da and "all the land of Naphtali" as being smitten by Benhadad of Damascus in the time of Baasha. In the account in Chronicles parallel to this last (2 Chronicles 16:4) the cities mentioned are Ijon, Dan, Abel- maim. Abel-maim is either another name for Abel-beth-maacah, or the name of another place in the same vicinity.

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

Abel-Cheramim

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

Abel-Maim

a'-bel-ma'-im ('abhel mayim, "meadow of water"). See ABEL-BETH-MAACAH.

Abel-Meholah

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

Abel-meholah is also mentioned in connection with the jurisdiction of Baana, one of Solomon's twelve commissary officers (1 Kings 4:12) as below Jezreel, with Beth-shean and Zarethan in the same list. Jerome and Eusebius speak of Abel-meholah as a tract of country and a town in the Jordan valley, about ten Roman miles South of Beth-shean. At just that point the name seems to be perpetuated in that of the Wady Malib, and Abel-meholah is commonly located near where that Wady, or the neighboring Wady Helweh, comes down into the Jordan valley.

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

Abel-Mizraim

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

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

Abel-Shittim

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

For many weeks before crossing the Jordan, Israel was encamped in the vicinity of the Jordan valley, North of the Dead Sea, East of the river. The notices in the Bible, supplemented by those in Josephus and Eusebius and Jerome, indicate that the camping region was many miles in extent, the southern limit being Beth-jeshimoth, toward the Dead Sea, while Abel of the Acacias was the northern limit and the headquarters. The headquarters are often spoken of as East of the Jordan at Jericho (e.g. Numbers 22:1; Numbers 26:3,Numbers 26:63). During the stay there occurred the Balaam incident (Numbers 22:1–24:25), and the harlotry with Moab and Midian (Numbers 25:1–18) and the war with Midian (Numbers 31:1–54), in both of which Phinehas distinguished himself. It was from the Acacias that Joshua sent out the spies, and that Israel afterward moved down to the river for the crossing. Micah aptly calls upon Yahweh's people to remember all that happened to them from the time when they reached the Acacias to the time when Yahweh had brought them safely across the river to Gilgal.

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

Willis J. Beecher

Abez

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

Abgar; Abgarus; Abagarus

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

A. L. Breslich

Abhor

ab-hor': "To cast away," "reject," "despise," "defy," "contemn," "loathe," etc.

(1) Translated in the Old Testament from the following Hebrew words amongst others: (ba'ash), "to be or to become stinking" (1 Samuel 27:12; 2 Samuel 16:21); (ga`al), "to cast away as unclean," "to loathe"; compare Ezekiel 16:5 the King James Version; (quts), "to loathe," "to fear" (Exodus 1:12 m; 1 Kings 11:25; Isaiah 7:16); (shaqats), "to detest" (Psalms 22:24); (ta'abh), (ta`abh), "to contemn" (Deuteronomy 23:7); (dera'on), "an object of contempt," "an abhorring" (Isaiah 66:24; Daniel 12:2 margin).

(2) Translated in the New Testament from the following Greek words: bdelussomai, which is derived from bdeo, "to stink" (Romans 2:22); apostugeo, derived from stugeo, "to hate," "to shrink from" (Romans 12:9).

A. L. Breslich

Abi (1)

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