Abraham's Bosom – Access

Abraham's Bosom

booz'-um (kolpos Abraam; kolpoi Abraam): Figurative. The expression occurs in Luke 16:22,Luke 16:23, in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, to denote the place of repose to which Lazarus was carried after his death. The figure is suggested by the practice of the guest at a feast reclining on the breast of his neighbor. Thus, John leaned on the breast of Jesus at supper (John 21:20). The rabbis divided the state after death (Sheol) into a place for the righteous and a place for the wicked (see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; SHEOL); but it is doubtful whether the figure of Jesus quite corresponds with this idea. "Abraham's bosom" is not spoken of as in "Hades," but rather as distinguished from it (Luke 16:23)--a place of blessedness by itself. There Abraham receives, as at a feast, the truly faithful, and admits them to closest intimacy. It may be regarded as equivalent to the "Paradise" of Luke 23:43. See HADES; PARADISE.

James Orr

Abraham, Book Of

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE.

Abram

a'-bram. See ABRAHAM.

Abrech

a'-brek: Transliteration of the Hebrew 'abhrekh, in Genesis 41:43 the Revised Version, margin, of which both the origin and meaning are uncertain. It was the salutation which the Egyptians addressed to Joseph, when he was made second to Pharaoh, and appeared in his official chariot.

(1) The explanations based upon Hebrew derivation are unsatisfactory, whether as the King James Version "bow the knee," from barakh (hiphil imperative) or marginal "tender father," or "father of a king" of the Targum. The form as Hiphil Imperative instead of habhrekh, is indefensible, while the other two derivations are fanciful.

(2) The surmises of Egyptologists are almost without number, and none are conclusive. Skinner in his Commentary on Genesis selects "attention!" after Spiegelberg, as best. Speaker's Commentary suggests "rejoice thou" from ab-nek. BDB gives preference to the Coptic a-bor-k, "prostrate thyself."

(3) The most satisfying parallel is the Assyrian abarakku, meaning "grand vizier" or "friend of a king," as suggested by Fried. Delitzsch; for Babylonian laws and customs were dominant in western Asia, and the Hyksos, through whom such titles would have been carried into Egypt, were ruling there at that time. Edward Mack

Abroad

a-brod: An idiomatic rendering of aphiketo (literally, "arrived"), "come abroad" is used in Romans 16:19 to indicate a report that has been most widely diffused (literally, "did reach unto all"). Similar idiomatic translations of the King James Version have been replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by those more literal, as in Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; Mark 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 1:8. Used also in other idiomatic renderings, as "spread abroad" diaphemizo, Mark 1:45; "noised abroad" dialaleo, Luke 1:65; "scattered abroad," John 11:52; Acts 8:1, etc.; in all these cases for the pervasive meaning of the Greek preposition in composition. In Genesis 15:5, chuts means "outside."

H. E. Jacobs

Abroad, Scattered

See DISPERSION.

Abronah

a-bro'-na, the King James Version Ebronah (`abhronah): One of the stations of Israel in the wilderness on the march from Sinai to Kadesh--the station next before that at Ezion-geber on the eastern arm of the Red Sea (Numbers 33:34,Numbers 33:35).

Absalom (1)

ab'-sa-lom ('abhshalom, "father is peace," written also Abishalom, 1 Kings 15:2,1 Kings 15:10): David's third son by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, a small territory between Hermon and Bashan.

1. A General Favorite:

Absalom was born at Hebron (2 Samuel 3:3), and moved at an early age, with the transfer of the capital, to Jerusalem, where he spent most of his life. He was a great favorite of his father and of the people as well. His charming manners, his personal beauty, his insinuating ways, together with his love of pomp and royal pretensions, captivated the hearts of the people from the beginning. He lived in great style, drove in a magnificent chariot and had fifty men run before him. Such magnificence produced the desired effect upon the hearts of the young aristocrats of the royal city (2 Samuel 15:1 ff).

2. In Exile:

When Amnon, his half-brother, ravished his sister Tamar, and David shut his eyes to the grave crime and neglected to administer proper punishment, Absalom became justly enraged, and quietly nourished his anger, but after the lapse of two years carried out a successful plan to avenge his sister's wrongs. He made a great feast for the king's sons at Baalhazor, to which, among others, Amnon came, only to meet his death at the hands of Absalom's servants (2 Samuel 13:1 ff). To avoid punishment he now fled to the court of his maternal grandfather in Geshur, where he remained three years, or until David, his father, had relented and condoned the murderous act of his impetuous, plotting son. At the end of three years (2 Samuel 13:38) we find Absalom once more in Jerusalem. It was, however, two years later before he was admitted to the royal presence (2 Samuel 14:28).

3. Rebels against His Father:

Absalom, again reinstated, lost no opportunity to regain lost prestige, and having his mind made up to succeed his father upon the throne, he forgot the son in the politician. Full of insinuations and rich in promises, especially to the disgruntled and to those having grievances, imaginary or real, it was but natural that he should have a following. His purpose was clear, namely, to alienate as many as possible from the king, and thus neutralize his influence in the selection of a successor, for he fully realized that the court party, under the influence of Bathsheba, was intent upon having Solomon as the next ruler. By much flattery Absalom stole the hearts of many men in Israel (2 Samuel 15:6). How long a period elapsed between his return from Geshur and his open rebellion against his father David is a question which cannot be answered with any degree of certainty. Most authorities regard the forty years of 2 Samuel 15:7 as an error and following the Syriac and some editions of the Septuagint, suggest four as the correct text. Whether forty or four, he obtained permission from the king to visit Hebron, the ancient capital, on pretense of paying a vow made by him while at Geshur in case of his safe return to Jerusalem. With two hundred men he repairs to Hebron. Previous to the feast spies had been sent throughout all the tribes of Israel to stir up the discontented and to assemble them under Absalom's flag at Hebron. Very large numbers obeyed the call, among them Ahithophel, one of David's shrewdest counselors (15:7 ff).

4. David's Flight:

Reports of the conspiracy at Hebron soon reached the ears of David, who now became thoroughly frightened and lost no time in leaving Jerusalem. Under the protection of his most loyal bodyguard he fled to Gilead beyond Jordan. David was kindly received at Mahanaim, where he remained till after the death of his disloyal son. Zadok and Abiathar, two leading priests, were intent upon sharing the fortunes of David; they went so far as to carry the Ark of the Covenant with them out of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 15:24). David, however, forced the priests and Levites to take it back to its place in the city and there remain as its guardians. This was a prudent stroke, for these two great priests in Jerusalem acted as intermediaries, and through their sons and some influential women kept up constant communications with David's army in Gilead (2 Samuel 15:24 ff). Hushai, too, was sent back to Jerusalem, where he falsely professed allegiance to Absalom, who by thins time had entered the royal city and had assumed control of the government (2 Samuel 15:32 ff). Hushai, the priests and a few people less conspicuous performed their part well, for the counsel of Ahithophel, who advised immediate action and advance upon the king's forces, while everything was in a panic, was thwarted (2 Samuel 17:1 ff); nay more, spies were constantly kept in contact with David's headquarters to inform the king of Absalom's plans (2 Samuel 17:15 ff). This delay was fatal to the rebel son. Had he acted upon the shrewd counsel of Ahithophel, David's army might have been conquered at the outset.

5. Absalom's Death and Burial:

When at length Absalom's forces under the generalship of Amasa (2 Samuel 17:25) reached Gilead, ample time had been given to David to organize his army, which he divided into three divisions under the efficient command of three veteran generals: Joab, Abishai and Ittai (2 Samuel 18:1 ff). A great battle was fought in the forests of Ephraim. Here the rebel army was utterly routed. No fewer than 20,000 were killed outright, and a still greater number becoming entangled in the thick forest, perished that day (2 Samuel 18:7 ff). Among the latter was Absalom himself, for while riding upon his mule, his head was caught in the boughs of a great oak or terebinth, probably in a forked branch. "He was taken up between heaven and earth; and the mule that was under him went on" (2 Samuel 18:9). In this position he was found by a soldier who at once ran to inform Joab. The latter without a moment's hesitation, notwithstanding David's positive orders, thrust three darts into the heart of Absalom. To make his death certain and encouraged by the action of their general, ten of Joab's young men "compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him" (2 Samuel 18:15). He was buried in a great pit, close to the spot where he was killed. A great pile of stones was heaped over his body (2 Samuel 18:17), in accordance with the custom of dishonoring rebels and great criminals by burying them under great piles of stone (Joshua 7:26; Joshua 8:29). Thomson reforms us that Syrian people to this day cast stones upon the graves of murderers and outlaws (LB, II, 61).

6. David's Lament:

The death of Absalom was a source of great grief to the fond and aged father, who forgot the ruler and the king in the tenderhearted parent. His lament at the gate of Mahanaim, though very brief, is a classic, and expresses in tender language the feelings of parents for wayward children in all ages of the world (2 Samuel 18:33).

Little is known of Absalom's family life, but we read in 2 Samuel 14:27 that he had three sons and one daughter. From the language of 18:18, it is inferred that the sons died at an early age.

7. Absalom's Tomb:

As Absalom had no son to perpetuate his memory "he reared up for himself a pillar" or a monument in the King's dale, which according to Josephus was two furlongs from Jerusalem (Ant., VII, x, 3). Nothing is known with certainty about this monument. One of the several tombs on the east side of the Kidron passes under the name of Absalom's tomb. This fine piece of masonry with its graceful cupola and Ionic pillars must be of comparatively recent origin, probably not earlier than the Roman period.

W. W. Davies

Absalom (2)

(Apocrypha) (Codex Vaticanus, Abessalomos and Abessalom; Codex Alexandrinus, Absalomos, the King James Version Absalon):

(1) Father of Mattathias, a captain of the Jewish army (1 Macc 11:70; Ant, XIII, v, 7).

(2) Father of Jonathan who was sent by Simon Maccabee to take possession of Joppa; perhaps identical with Absalom (1) (1 Macc 13:11; Ant, XIII, vi, 4).

(3) One of two envoys of the Jews, mentioned in a letter sent by Lysias to the Jewish nation (2 Macc 11:17).

Absalon

ab'-sa-lon. See ABSALOM (in the Apocrypha).

Absolution

ab-so-lu'-shun (translation of verbs luo, "loose," etc., and aphiemi, "release," "give up," etc.): Not a Biblical, but an ecclesiastical term, used to designate the official act described in Matthew 16:19: "Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven," and Matthew 18:18: "What things soever ye shall loose," etc., and interpreted by John 20:23: "Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them" (see KEYS, POWER OF THE). The Roman church regards this as the act of a properly ordained priest, by which, in the sacrament of Penance, he frees from sin one who has confessed and made promise of satisfaction. Protestants regard the promise as given not to any order within the church, but to the congregation of believers, exercising its prerogative through the Christian ministry, as its ordinary executive. They differ as to whether the act be only declarative or collative. Luther regarded it as both declarative and collative, since the Word always brings that which it offers. The absolution differs from the general promise of the gospel by individualizing the promise. What the gospel, as read and preached, declares in general, the absolution applies personally. See also FORGIVENESS.

H. E. Jacobs

Abstinence

abs'-ti-nens: Abstinence as a form of asceticism reaches back into remote antiquity, and is found among most ancient peoples. It may be defined as a self-discipline which consists in the habitual renunciation, in whole or in part, of the enjoyments of the flesh, with a view to the cultivation of the life of the spirit. In its most extreme forms, it bids men to stifle and suppress their physical wants, rather than to subordinate them in the interest of a higher end or purpose, the underlying idea being that the body is the foe of the spirit, and that the progressive extirpation of the natural desires and inclinations by means of fasting, celibacy, voluntary poverty, etc., is "the way of perfection."

This article will be concerned chiefly with abstinence from food, as dealt with in the Bible. (For other aspects of the subject, see TEMPERANCE; CLEAN; UNCLEANNESS; MEAT, etc.). Thus limited, abstinence may be either public or private, partial or entire.

1. Public Fasts:

Only one such fast is spoken of as having been instituted and commanded by the Law of Moses, that of the Day of Atonement. This is called "the Fast" in Acts 27:9 (compare Ant, XIV, iv, 3; Philo, Vit Mos, II, 4; Schurer, HJP, I, i, 322).

Four annual fasts were later observed by the Jews in commemoration of the dark days of Jerusalem--the day of the beginning of Nebuchadrezzar's siege in the tenth month, the day of the capture of the city in the fourth month, the day of its destruction in the fifth month and the day of Gedaliah's murder in the seventh month. These are all referred to in Zechariah 8:19. See FAST.

It might reasonably be thought that such solemn anniversaries, once instituted, would have been kept up with sincerity by the Jews, at least for many years. But Isaiah illustrates how soon even the most outraged feelings of piety or patriotism may grow cold and formal. `Wherefore have we fasted and thou seest not?' the exiled Jews cry in their captivity. `We have humbled our souls, and thou takest no notice.' Yahweh's swift answer follows: `Because your fasting is a mere form! Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and oppress all your laborers' (compare Isaiah 58:3; Expositor's Bible, at the place). That is to say, so formal has your fasting grown that your ordinary selfish, cruel life goes on just the same. Then Yahweh makes inquest: "Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? Then shalt thou call, and Yahweh will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am" (Isaiah 58:5–9). The passage, as George Adam Smith says, fills the earliest, if not the highest place in the glorious succession of Scriptures exalting practical love, to which belong Isaiah 61:1–11; Matthew 25:1–46; 1 Corinthians 13:1–13. The high import is that in God's view character grows rich and life joyful, not by fasts or formal observances, but by acts of unselfish service inspired by a heart of love. These fasts later fell into utter disuse, but they were revived after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

Occasional public fasts were proclaimed in Israel, as among other peoples, in seasons of drought or public calamity. It appears according to Jewish accounts, that it was customary to hold them on the second and fifth days of the week, for the reason that Moses was believed to have gone up to Mt. Sinai on the fifth day of the week (Thursday) and to have come down on the second (Monday) (compare Didache, 8; Apostolical Constitutions, VIII, 23).

2. Private Fasts:

In addition to these public solemnities, individuals were in the habit of imposing extra fasts upon themselves (e.g. Judith 8:6; Luke 2:37); and there were some among the Pharisees who fasted on the second and fifth days of the week all the year round (Luke 18:12; see Lightfoot, at the place). Tacitus alludes to the "frequent fasts" of the Jews (History, V, 4), and Josephus tells of the spread of fasting among the Gentiles (Against Apion, II, 40; compare Tertullian, ad Nat, i.13). There is abundant evidence that many religious teachers laid down rules concerning fasting for their disciples (compare Mark 2:18; Matthew 9:14; Luke 5:33).

3. Degrees of Strictness in Abstinence:

Individuals and sects differ greatly in the degrees of strictness with which they observe fasts. In some fasts among the Jews abstinence from food and drink was observed simply from sunrise to sunset, and washing and anointing were permitted. In others of a stricter sort, the fast lasted from one sunset till the stars appeared after the next, and, not only food and drink, but washing, anointing, and every kind of agreeable activity and even salutations, were prohibited (Schurer, II, ii, 119; Edersheim, Life and Times, I, 663). Such fasting was generally practiced in the most austere and ostentatious manner, and, among the Pharisees, formed a part of their most pretentious externalism. On this point the testimony of Matthew 6:16 is confirmed by the Mishna.

4. Abstinence among Different Kinds of Ascetics:

There arose among the Jews various kinds of ascetics and they may be roughly divided into three classes.

(1) The Essenes.

These lived together in colonies, shared all things in common and practiced voluntary poverty. The stricter among them also eschewed marriage. They were indifferent, Philo says, alike to money, pleasure, and worldly position. They ate no animal flesh, drank no wine, and used no oil for anointing. The objects of sense were to them "unholy," and to gratify the natural craving was "sin." They do not seem to come distinctly into view in the New Testament. See ESSENES.

(2) The Hermit Ascetics.

These fled away from human society with its temptations and allurements into the wilderness, and lived there a life of rigid self-discipline. Josephus (Vita, 2) gives us a notable example of this class in Banus, who "lived in the desert, clothed himself with the leaves of trees, ate nothing save the natural produce of the soil, and bathed day and night in cold water for purity's sake." John the Baptist was a hermit of an entirely different type. He also dwelt in the desert, wore a rough garment of camel's hair and subsisted on "locusts and wild honey." But his asceticism was rather an incident of his environment and vocation than an end in itself (see "Asceticism," DCG). In the fragments of his sermons which are preserved in the Gospels there is no trace of any exhortation to ascetic exercises, though John's disciples practiced fasting (Mark 2:18). (3) The Moderate Ascetics.

There were many pious Jews, men and women, who practiced asceticism of a less formal kind. The asceticism of the Pharisees was of a kind which naturally resulted from their legal and ceremonial conception of religion. It expressed itself chiefly, as we have seen, in ostentatious fasting and externalism. But there were not a few humble, devout souls in Israel who, like Anna, the prophetess, served God "with fastings and supplications night and day" (Luke 2:37), seeking by a true self-discipline to draw near unto God (of Acts 13:2,Acts 13:3; Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 5:5).

5. Abstinence as Viewed in the Talmud:

Some of the rabbis roundly condemned abstinence, or asceticism in any form, as a principle of life. "Why must the Nazirite bring a sin offering at the end of his term?" (Numbers 6:13,Numbers 6:14) asks Eliezer ha-Kappar (Siphra', at the place); and gives answer, "Because he sinned against his own person by his vow of abstaining from wine"; and he concludes, "Whoever undergoes fasting or other penances for no special reason commits a wrong." "Man in the life to come will have to account for every enjoyment offered him that was refused without sufficient cause" (Rabh, in Yer. Kid., 4). In Maimonides (Ha-Yadh ha-

Chazaqah, De`oth 3 1) the monastic principle of abstinence in regard to marriage, eating meat, or drinking wine, or in regard to any other personal enjoyment or comfort, is condemned as "contrary to the spirit of Judaism," and "the golden middle-way of moderation" is advocated.

But, on the other hand, abstinence is often considered by the rabbis meritorious and praiseworthy as a voluntary means of self-discipline. "I partook of a Nazirite meal only once," says Simon the Just, "when I met with a handsome youth from the south who had taken a vow. When I asked the reason he said: `I saw the Evil Spirit pursue me as I beheld my face reflected in water, and I swore that these long curls shall be cut off and offered as a sacrifice to Yahweh'; whereupon I kissed him upon his forehead and blessed him, saying, May there be many Nazirites like thee in Israel!" (Nazir, 4b). "Be holy" was accordingly interpreted, "Exercise abstinence in order to arrive at purity and holiness" (`Ab. Zarah, 20b; Siphra', Kedhoshim). "Abstain from everything evil and from whatever is like unto it" is a rule found in the Talmud (Chullin, 44b), as also in the Didache (3 1)--a saying evidently based on Job 31:1, "Abstain from the lusts of the flesh and the world." The Mosaic laws concerning diet are all said by Rabh to be "for the purification of Israel" (Le R. 13)--"to train the Jew in self-discipline."

6. The Attitude of Jesus to Fasting:

The question of crowning interest and significance to us is, What attitude did Jesus take toward fasting, or asceticism? The answer is to be sought in the light, first of His practice, and, secondly, of His teaching.

(1) His Practice.

Jesus has even been accounted "the Founder and Example of the ascetic life" (Clem. Alex., Strom, III, 6). By questionable emphasis upon His "forty days'" fast, His abstinence from marriage and His voluntary poverty, some have reached the conclusion that complete renunciation of the things of the present was "the way of perfection according to the Saviour."

A fuller and more appreciative study of Jesus' life and spirit must bring us to a different conclusion. Certainly His mode of life is sharply differentiated in the Gospels, not only from that of the Pharisees, but also from that of John the Baptist. Indeed, He exhibited nothing of the asceticism of those illustrious Christian saints, Bernard and John of the Cross, or even of Francis, who "of all ascetics approached most nearly to the spirit of the Master." Jesus did not flee from the world, or eschew the amenities of social life. He contributed to the joyousness of a marriage feast, accepted the hospitality of rich and poor, permitted a vase of very precious ointment to be broken and poured upon His feet, welcomed the society of women, showed tender love to children, and clearly enjoyed the domestic life of the home in Bethany. There is no evidence that He imposed upon Himself any unnecessary austerities. The "forty days' " fast (not mentioned in Mk, the oldest authority) is not an exception to this rule, as it was rather a necessity imposed by His situation in the wilderness than a self-imposed observance of a law of fasting (compare Christ's words concerning John the Baptist: "John came neither eating nor drinking", see the article on "Asceticism," DCG). At any rate, He is not here an example of the traditional asceticism. He stands forth throughout the Gospels "as the living type and embodiment of self-denial," yet the marks of the ascetic are not found in Him. His mode of life was, indeed, so non-ascetic as to bring upon Him the reproach of being "a gluttonous man and a winebibber" (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34).

(2) His Teaching.

Beyond question, it was, from first to last, "instinct with the spirit of self-denial" "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself," is an ever-recurring refrain of His teaching "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," is ever His categorical imperative (Matthew 6:33 the King James Version; Luke 12:31). This is to Him the summum bonum--all desires and strivings which have not this as their goal must be suppressed or sacrificed (compare Matthew 13:44–46, Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21; Luke 9:59,Luke 9:60, Luke 14:26 with Matthew 5:29,Matthew 5:30, Mark 9:43–47, Matthew 16:24 f; Mark 8:34 f; Luke 9:23 f; and Luke 14:33). In short, if any man find that the gratification of any desire of the higher or lower self will impede or distract him in the performance of his duties as a subject of the Kingdom, he must forego such gratification, if he would be a disciple of Christ. "If it cause thee to stumble," is always the condition, implied or expressed, which justifies abstinence from any particular good.

According to the record, Jesus alluded to fasting only twice in His teaching. In Matthew 6:16–18, where voluntary fasting is presupposed as a religious exercise of His disciples, He warns them against making it the occasion of a parade of piety: "Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father who is in secret." In short, He sanctions fasting only as a genuine expression of a devout and contrite frame of mind.

In Matthew 9:14–17 (parallel Mark 2:18–22; Luke 5:33–39) in reply to the question of the disciples of John and of the Pharisees, Jesus refuses to enjoin fasting. He says fasting, as a recognized sign of mourning, would be inconsistent with the joy which "the sons of the bridechamber" naturally feel while "the bridegroom is with them." But, he adds, suggesting the true reason for fasting, that the days of bereavement will come, and then the outward expression of sorrow will be appropriate. Here, as in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sanctions fasting, without enjoining it, as a form through which emotion may spontaneously seek expression. His teaching on the subject may be summarized in the one word, subordination (DCG).

To the form of fasting He attaches little importance, as is seen in the succeeding parables of the Old Garment and the Old Wine-skins. It will not do, He says, to graft the new liberty of the gospel on the body of old observances, and, yet more, to try to force the new system of life into the ancient molds. The new piety must manifest itself in new forms of its own making (Matthew 9:16,Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:21,Mark 2:22, Luke 5:36,Luke 5:38). Yet Jesus shows sympathy with the prejudices of the conservatives who cling to the customs of their fathers: "No man having drunk old vane desireth new; for he saith, The old is good." But to the question, Was Jesus an ascetic? we are bound to reply, No.

"Asceticism," as Harnack says, "has no place in the gospel at all; what it asks is that we should struggle against Mammon, against care, against selfishness; what it demands and disengages is love--the love that serves and is self-sacrificing, and whoever encumbers Jesus' message with any other kind of asceticism fails to understand it" (What is Christianity? 88).

7. The Practice and Teaching of the Apostles:

On the whole, unquestionably, the practice and teachings of the apostles and early Christians were in harmony with the example and teaching of the Master. But a tendency, partly innate, partly transmitted from Jewish legalism, and partly pagan, showed itself among their successors and gave rise to the Vita Religiosa and Dualism which found their fullest expression in Monasticism.

It is worthy of note that the alleged words of Jesus: `But this kind goeth not out save by prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29; Matthew 17:21 the King James Version), are corruptions of the text. (Compare Tobit 12:8; Sirach 34:26; Luke 2:37). The Oxyrhynchus fragment (disc. 1897) contains a logion with the words legei Iesous, ean me nesteuete ton kosmon, ou me heurete ten basileian tou theou: "Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the Kingdom of God," but the "fasting" here is clearly metaphorical.

LITERATURE.

Bingham, Antiquities, W. Bright, Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life (1898), J. O. Hannay, The Spirit and Origin of Christian Monasticism (1902), and The Wisdom of the Desert (1904); Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ, Migne, Dictionnaire d' Ascetisme, and Encyclopedia Theol., XLV, XLVI, 45, 46; Jewish Encyclopedia, and Bible Dictionaries at the place.

George B. Eager

Abubus

a-bu'-bus (Aboubos): The father of Ptolemy, who deceitfully slew Simon Maccabee and his sons at Dok near Jericho (1 Macc 16:11,15).

Abundance; Abundant

a-bun'-dans, a-bun'-dant. See ABOUND.

Abuse

a-buz': "To dishonor," "to make mock of," "to insult," etc.

(1) Translated in the Old Testament from `alal, "to do harm," "to defile" (Judges 19:25), "to make mock of" (1 Samuel 31:4).

(2) Translated in the New Testament from arsenokoites, literally, "one who lies with a male," "a sodomite" (1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10; the King James Version "for them that defile themselves with mankind").

(3) In the King James Version 1 Corinthians 7:31 "as not abusing it," from katachraomai, "to abuse," i.e. misuse; the Revised Version (British and American) "using it to the full," also 1 Corinthians 9:18.

Abyss

a-bis', (he abussos): In classical Greek the word is always an adjective, and is used

(1) literally, "very deep," "bottomless";

(2) figuratively, "unfathomable," "boundless." "Abyss" does not occur in the King James Version but the Revised Version (British and American) so transliterates abussos in each case. The the King James Version renders the Greek by "the deep" in two passages (Luke 8:31; Romans 10:7). In Revelation the King James Version renders by "the bottomless pit" (Revelation 9:1,Revelation 9:2,Revelation 9:11; Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:1,Revelation 20:3). In the Septuagint abussos is the rendering of the Hebrew word tehom. According to primitive Semitic cosmogony the earth was supposed to rest on a vast body of water which was the source of all springs of water and rivers (Genesis 1:2; Deuteronomy 8:7; Psalms 24:2; Psalms 136:6). This subterranean ocean is sometimes described as "the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 5:8). According to Job 41:32 tehom is the home of the leviathan in which he plows his hoary path of foam. The Septuagint never uses abussos as a rendering of sheol (= Sheol = Hades) and probably tehom never meant the "abode of the dead" which was the ordinary meaning of Sheol. In Psalms 71:20 tehom is used figuratively, and denotes "many and sore troubles" through which the psalmist has passed (compare Jonah 2:5). But in the New Testament the word abussos means the "abode of demons." In Luke 8:31 the King James Version renders "into the deep" (Weymouth and The Twentieth Century New Testament = "into the bottomless pit"). The demons do not wish to be sent to their place of punishment before their destined time. Mark simply says "out of the country" (Luke 5:10). In Romans 10:7 the word is equivalent to Hades, the abode of the dead. In Revelation (where the King James Version renders invariably "the bottomless pit") abussos denotes the abode of evil spirits, but not the place of final punishment; it is therefore to be distinguished from the "lake of fire and brimstone" where the beast and the false prophet are, and into which the Devil is to be finally cast (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10).

See also ASTRONOMY, sec. III, 7.

Thomas Lewis

Abyssinia

ab-i-sin'-i-a. See ETHIOPIA.

Acacia

a-ka'-sha (shiTTah, the shittah tree of the King James Version, Isaiah 41:19, and `atse-shiTTah, acacia wood; shittah wood the King James Version, Exodus 25:5,Exodus 25:10,Exodus 25:13; Exodus 26:15,Exodus 26:26; Exodus 27:1,Exodus 27:6; Deuteronomy 10:3.): ShiTTah (= shinTah) is equivalent to the Arabic sant which is now the name of the Acacia Nilotica (NO, Leguminosae), but no doubt the name once included other species of desert acacias. If one particular species is indicated in the Old Testament it is probably the Acacia Seyal--the Arabic Seyyal--which yields the well-known gum- arabic This tree, which has finely leaves ular flowers, grows to a height of twenty feet or more, and its stem may sometimes reach two feet in thickness. The tree often assumes a characteristic umbrella-like form. The wood is close-grained and is not readily attacked by insects. It would be well suited for such purposes as described, the construction of the ark of the covenant, the altar and boarding of the tabernacle. Even today these trees survive in considerable numbers around `Ain Jidy and in the valleys to the south.

E. W. G. Masterman

Acatan

ak'-a-tan. See AKATAN (Apocrypha).

Accaba

ak'-a-ba, ak-a'-ba (B, Akkaba; A, Gaba; the King James Version Agaba) = Hagab (Ezra 2:46); see also HAGABA (Nehemiah 7:48): The descendants of Accaba (temple-servants) returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (1 Esdras 5:30).

Accad; Accadians

ak'-ad, ak-a'-di-ans. See BABYLONIA.

Accaron

ak'-a-ron (Akkaron): Mentioned in 1 Macc 10:89 the King James Version; a town of the Philistines, known as Ekron (`eqron) in Old Testament, which King Alexander gave to Jonathan Maccabeus as a reward for successful military service in western Palestine. It is also mentioned in the days of the Crusades. See EKRON.

Accept; Acceptable; Acceptation

ak-sept', ak-sep'-ta-b'-l, ak-sep-ta'-shun: "To receive with favor," "to take pleasure in"; "well-pleasing"; "the act of receiving."

Accept, used

(1) of sacrifice, "accept thy burnt-sacrifice" (dashen, "accept as fat," i.e. receive favorably; Psalms 20:3);

(2) of persons, "Yahweh accept Job" (Job 42:9, nasa', "to lift up," "take," "receive");

(3) of works, "a the work of his hands" (Deuteronomy 33:11 ratsah, "to delight in").

In New Testament

(1) of favors, "We accept .... with all thankfulness" (apodechomai, Acts 24:3);

(2) of personal appeal, "He accept our exhortation" (2 Corinthians 8:17);

(3) of God's Impartiality (lambano, "to take," "receive"); "accepteth not man's person" (Galatians 2:6).

Acceptable, used

(1) of justice (bachar, "choose select"), "more accept .... than sacrifice" (Proverbs 21:3);

(2) of words (chephets, "delight in," "sought .... accept words") (Ecclesiastes 12:10);

(3) of times (ratson, "delight," "approbation"; dektos, "receivable") "acceptable year of the Lord" (Isaiah 61:2 (King James Version); Luke 4:19);

(4) of spiritual sacrifice (euprosdektos, "well received"), "acceptable to God" (1 Peter 2:5);

(5) of patient endurance (charis, "grace," "favor") "This is acceptable with God" (1 Peter 2:20). Acceptation, used twice to indicate the trustworthiness of the gospel of Christ's saving grace: "worthy of all acceptation." (1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Timothy 4:9).

These words are full of the abundant grace of God and are rich in comfort to believers. That which makes man, in word, work and character, acceptable to God; and renders It possible for God to accept him, his service and sacrifice, is the fullness of the Divine mercy and grace and forgiveness. He "chose us" and made us, as adopted sons, the heirs of His grace "which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6; compare the King James Version).

Dwight M. Pratt

Acceptance

ak-sep'-tans: A rendering of the Hebrew retson, "delight," found only in Isaiah 60:7. It pictures God's delight in His redeemed people in the Messianic era, when their gifts, in joyful and profuse abundance, "shall come up with acceptance on mine altar." With "accepted" and other kindred words it implies redeeming grace as the basis of Divine favor. It is the "living, holy sacrifice" that is "acceptable to God" (Romans 12:1; compare Titus 3:4–6).

Access

ak'-ses (prosagoge, "a leading to or toward," "approach"): Thrice used in the New Testament to indicate the acceptable way of approach to God and of admission to His favor. Jesus said, "I am the way" (John 14:6). His blood is the "new and living way" (Hebrews 10:20). Only through Him have we "access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Romans 5:2); "Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18 the King James Version); "in whom we have .... access in confidence, through our faith in him" (Ephesians 3:12).

The goal of redemption is life in God, "unto the Father." The means of redemption is the cross of Christ, "in whom we have our redemption through his blood" (Ephesians 1:7). The agent in redemption is the Holy Spirit, "by one Spirit," "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13). The human instrumentality, faith. The whole process of approach to, and abiding fellowship with, God is summed up in this brief sentence Access to the Father, through Christ, by the Spirit, by faith.

Dwight M. Pratt