Assessor – Assurbanipal

Assessor

a-ses'-er: Lit. one who sits by another, an assistant; among the ancients especially an assistant to the king (compare "The assessor of his throne," Dryden, Milton's P.L., Book vi), or to the judge (see Dryden, Virgil's Aeneid, vi.583). Later it came to mean one who assesses people or property for purposes of taxation.

(1) Royal officials in Israel have the general title sarim, "princes," and this general title included the officer who was "over the tribute," who seems to have had charge of the assessment, as well as the collection of taxes. In the days of the later monarchy "the governor of the royal household," "the royal steward and high chamberlain," seems to have held some such important position (Isaiah 22:15; Isaiah 36:3,Isaiah 36:22).

(2) The early kings do not seem to have subjected the people to heavy taxes, but we find much in the prophets about the injustice and extortion practiced by these officials on the poor of the land (compare Amos 2:6,Amos 2:7; Isaiah 5:8; Jeremiah 5:28; Micah 3:11). Special taxes seem to have been imposed to meet emergencies (compare 2 Kings 23:35), but it is not clear that anything of the nature of a regular land tax, or property tax, existed in early times; though something of the kind may be referred to in the reward promised by Saul to the slayer of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:25) and the tenth mentioned in 1 Samuel 8:15–17. The kings of Judah, it would seem, made free use of the temple treasures.

(3) Later the Roman government "farmed out" the taxes of the provinces. The publicans, or tax-gatherers of the Gospels, seem to have been agents of the imperial procurator of Judea, instead of direct agents of the great Roman financial companies, who ordinarily let out the business of the collection of the taxes to officers of their own.

During the Empire there was ample imperial machinery provided for the regular collection of the taxes, and the emperor appointed a procurator in each province whose business it was to supervise the collection of revenue. Some Jews found the business profitable, but these were objects of detestation to their countrymen. See PUBLICAN.

George B. Eager

Asshur; Assur

ash'-oor, as'-oor. See ASSYRIA.

Asshurim

a-shoo'-rim ('ashshurim): Mentioned among the sons of Dedan, son of Jokshah, son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:3).

Assidaeans

as-i-de'-ans. See HASIDAEANS (Apocrypha).

Assiduous

a-sid'-u-us: Occurs only in The Wisdom of Solomon 8:18 the Revised Version (British and American), "In assiduous communing with her is understanding," i.e. "in continued exercise of fellowship." The idea expressed in the adjective is contained in the prepositional prefix, sun of the original suggumnasia, giving the verb intensive force.

Assign

a-sin (nathan, "to give," or "grant," i.e. apportion): Used (Joshua 20:8) of Moses setting apart Bezer as one of the three cities of refuge on the East of the Jordan (compare Deuteronomy 4:41–43); also of Joab's stationing Uriah in a place of mortal peril in battle (2 Samuel 11:16).

Assir

as'-er (accir, "captive"):

(1) A Levite of the family of Korah (Exodus 6:24; 1 Chronicles 6:22).

(2) A son of Ebiasaph and grandson of Assir. Samuel was descended from him (1 Chronicles 6:23).

(3) A son of Jeconiah, king of Judah, according to the King James Version and the Revised Version, margin and the American Revised Version, margin. It is a question whether the Assir of this passage (1 Chronicles 3:17) is not a common adjective modifying Jeconiah. The the American Standard Revised Version and the Revised Version (British and American) render it "the captive." It is to be noticed, however, that there is no definite article in the Hebrew.

Associate

a-so'-shi-at: Only in Isaiah 8:9 the King James Version, where the Hebrew ro`u, is variously interpreted, according to differences of opinion as to the verb whence it comes. The Revised Version (British and American) "make an uproar"; the Revised Version, margin "break"; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) "Congregamini"; Septuagint gnote ("know ye"); Luther: seid boese ("be wicked").

Assos

as'-os (Assos): An ancient city of Mysia in the Roman province of Asia, at which, according to Acts 20:13, Paul and Luke rested while on their way from Troas to Mitylene. Standing upon a conical-shaped rock on the southern coast of the Troad, it occupied one of the finest sites in Asia. The rock is about 700 ft. high; its sides are covered with terraces, both natural and artificial, and so steep is it that Stratoricus wrote of it: "If you wish to hasten your death, try and climb Assos." The view from the summit is extensive and magnificent.

The city, which is very ancient, is said to have been rounded by the Aeolians, and to have always been singularly Greek. As early as the 5th century BC it struck its own coins, and its coinage system continued until 235 AD. One of its early rulers or tyrants was Hermeas, a eunuch, once a slave, who gave his niece in marriage to Aristotle. There the great Greek philosopher lived three years, from 348 to 345 BC. During the time of the kings of Pergamus, the city bore the name of Apollonia. To the Byzantines it was known as Machramion, and at present the town, which has dwindled in importance under Turkish rule, is called Bekhram, a Turkish corruption of the Byzantine name.

The ruins of Assos are among the most imposing in Asia Minor, and yet they have long served as a quarry; from its public buildings the stones for the Constantinople docks were taken. The Turkish sultan Murad II presented the many beautiful bas-reliefs of the Doric temple of Athene to the French government, which are now preserved in the Louvre. The ruins were carefully explored and partially excavated in 1882-83 by Mr. Clarke for the Archaeological Institute of America, and the entire plan of the ancient city is clear. Upon the very summit of the hill stood the temple of Athena which is said to have been erected about 470 BC. Among its ruins Clarke found eight other bas-reliefs which are now in the Boston Museum and which possess a special interest because of their connection between the art of the Orient and of Greece.

Upon the several natural terraces of the hill which have been enlarged by artificial means, stood the many public buildings, as the gymnasium, the public treasury, the baths, the market place and theater, of which but little now remains. The city was surrounded by a double wall which in places is still well preserved. The inner wall of dressed stones laid without mortar, and filled with loose stones, is 8 ft. thick, and the larger outer wall was protected with towers at intervals of 60 ft. The ancient road leading to Troas was well paved. The harbor from which Paul sailed has now been filled up and is covered with gardens, but at its side is the modern harbor protected by an artificial mole, about which are clustered the few houses bearing the name of Bekhram. Upon the summit of the hill, by the ruins of the temple, are cisterns, a Turkish fortress and a Byzantine church which has been converted into a mosque. Without the city walls is a necropolis. Its many sarcophagi of all ages and sizes and shapes are made of the native trachyte stone which, so the ancients believed, possessed the quality of consuming the bodies buried in it. The stone is the famous "Lapis Assius," or the flesh-eating, hence the word sarcophagus. In former times wheat was raised extensively in the fields about Assos, but now valonia, or acorn cups, form the chief article for export.

E. J. Banks

Assuage

a-swaj' (the King James Version Asswage) :Lit,. "sweeten," "soften down"; then, "mitigate," "abate"; used of "flood," Genesis 8:1 ("subside"); of grief, Job 16:5,Job 16:6 ("restrain"); also applied to any strong emotion; not used in the New Testament.

Assumption Of Moses

a-sump'-shun. See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE.

Assur

as'-ur. See ASUR.

Assurance

a-shoor'-ans:

A term exceptionally rich in spiritual meaning. It signifies the joyous, unwavering confidence of an intelligent faith; the security of a fearless trust. The original words have to do with the heart of vital religion. baTach, "trust"; 'aman, "to prop," "to support," hence to confide in, to trust. Jesus repeatedly used this word "amen" to express the trustworthiness and abiding certainty of his sayings. pistis, "faith"; plerophoria, "full assurance." The confidence of faith is based, not on "works of righteousness which we have done" (compare Titus 3:4,Titus 3:5 the King James Version) but on the highpriesthood and atoning sacrifice of Christ.

(Hebrews 10:21,Hebrews 10:22; compare Hebrews 10:19, "boldness to enter .... by the blood of Jesus," the King James Version). Assurance is the soul's apprehension of its complete emancipation from the power of evil and from consequent judgment, through the atoning grace of Christ. It is the exact opposite of self-confidence, being a joyous appropriation and experience of the fullness of Christ--a glad sense of security, freedom and eternal life in Him. This doctrine is of immeasurable importance to the life of the church and of the individual believer, as a life of spiritual doubt and uncertainty contradicts the ideal of liberty in Christ Jesus which is the natural and necessary fruitage of "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit .... shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Paul unhesitatingly said, "I know" (2 Timothy 1:12)--a word which, oft-repeated in 1 Jn, furnishes the groundwork of glad assurance that runs through the entire epistle. For the classic passage on "full assurance" see Colossians 2:1–10.

Dwight M. Pratt

Assurbanipal

as-ur-ba'-ni-pal. See ASHURBANIPAL.