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英文名字 |
查詢經文 |
代表經文 |
Nave's Topical Bible |
ISBE |
Easton |
HBND |
SDB |
| 西萊雅 |
SERAIAH |
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代表
撒下8:17 王下25:18 耶25:24 王下25:23 耶40:8 代上4:13 代上4:14 代上4:35 拉2:2 尼11:11 耶36:26 耶51:59 耶51:60 耶51:61
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ISBE
se-ra-ya, se-ri-a (serayahu, "Yah hath prevailed"; Septuagint Saraias, or Saraia):
(1) Secretary of David (2 Sam 8:17); in 2 Sam 20:25 he is called Sheva; in 1 Ki 4:3 the name appears as Shisha. This last or Shasha would be restored elsewhere by some critics; others prefer the form Shavsha, which is found in 1 Ch 18:16.
(2) A high priest in the reign of Zedekiah; executed with other prominent captives at Riblah by order of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Ki 25:18,21; Jer 52:24,27). Mentioned in the list of high priests (1 Ch 6:14). Ezra claims descent from him (Ezr 7:1 (3)).
See AZARAIAS; SARAIAS.
(3) The son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and one of the heroic band of men who saved themselves from the fury of Nebuchadnezzar when he stormed Jerusalem. They repaired to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, but killed him on account of his allegiance to the Chaldeans (2 Ki 25:23,25).
(4) Son of Kenaz, and younger brother of Othniel, and father of Joab, the chief of Ge-harashim (1 Ch 4:13,14).
(5) Grandfather of Jehu, of the tribe of Simeon (1 Ch 4:35).
(6) A priest, the third in the list of those who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:2; Neh 7:7, here called Azariah; 12:1), and third also (if the same person is meant) in the record of those who sealed the covenant binding all Jews not to take foreign wives (Neh 10:2). As the son of Hilkiah, and consequently a direct descendant of the priestly family, he became governor of the temple when it was rebuilt (Neh 11:11). He is mentioned (under the name Azariah) also in 1 Ch 9:11. Neh 12:2 adds that "in the days of Joiakim" the head of Seraiahs house was Meraiah.
(7) Son of Azriel, one of those whom Jehoiakim commanded to imprison Jeremiah and Baruch, the son of Neriah (Jer 36:26).
(8) The son of Neriah, who went into exile with Zedekiah. He was also called Sar Menuchah ("prince of repose"). The Targum renders Sar Menuchah by Rabh Tiqrabhta, "prince of battle, and Septuagint by archon doron, "prince of gifts," reading Minchah for Menuchah. At the request of Jeremiah he carried with him in his exile the passages containing the prophets warning of the fall of Babylon, written in a book which he was bidden to bind to a stone and cast into the Euphrates, to symbolize the fall of Babylon (Jer 51:59-64).
Horace J. Wolf
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Easton
soldier of Jehovah. (1.) The father of Joab (1 Chr. 4:13, 14). (2.) The grandfather of Jehu (1 Chr. 4:35). (3.) One of David's scribes or secretaries (2 Sam. 8:17). (4.) A Netophathite (Jer. 40:8), a chief priest of the time of Zedekiah. He was carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, and there put to death (2 Kings 25:18, 23). (5.) Ezra 2:2. (6.) Father of Ezra the scribe (7:1). (7.) A ruler of the temple (Neh. 11:11). (8.) A priest of the days of Jehoiakim (Neh. 12:1, 12). (9.) The son of Neriah. When Zedekiah made a journey to Babylon to do homage to Nebuchadnezzar, Seraiah had charge of the royal gifts to be presented on that occasion. Jeremiah took advantage of the occasion, and sent with Seraiah a word of cheer to the exiles in Babylon, and an announcement of the doom in store for that guilty city. The roll containing this message (Jer. 50:1-8) Seraiah was to read to the exiles, and then, after fixing a stone to it, was to throw it into the Euphrates, uttering, as it sank, the prayer recorded in Jer. 51:59-64. Babylon was at this time in the height of its glory, the greatest and most powerful monarchy in the world. Scarcely seventy years elapsed when the words of the prophet were all fulfilled. Jer. 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, "Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain," instead of "was a quiet prince," as in the Authorized Version.
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SBD
The kings scribe or secretary in the reign of David. ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ) (B.C. 1043.) The high priest in the reign of Zedekiah. ( 2 Kings 25:18 ; 1 Chronicles 6:14 ; Jeremiah 52:24 ) (B.C. 594.) The son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite. ( 2 Kings 25:23 ; Jeremiah 40:8 ) The son of Kenaz and brother of Othniel. ( 1 Chronicles 4:13 1 Chronicles 4:14 ) Ancestor of Jehu a Simeonite chieftain. ( 1 Chronicles 4:35 ) One of the children of the province who returned with Zerubbabel. ( Ezra 2:2 ) (B.C. 536.) One of the ancestors of Ezra the scribe. ( Ezra 7:1 ) A priest, or priestly family, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. ( Nehemiah 10:2 ) A priest, the son of Hilkiah. ( Nehemiah 11:11 ) The head of a priestly house which went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. ( Nehemiah 12:12 ) The son of Neriah and brother of Baruch. ( Jeremiah 51:59 Jeremiah 51:61 ) He went with Zedekiah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (B.C. 594.) Perhaps he was an officer who took charge of the royal caravan on its march, and fixed the places where it should halt.
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SAMGAR-NEBO |
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ISBE
sam-gar-ne-bo (camgar nebho, a Babylonian name): An officer of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who, according to the Massoretic Text of Jer 39:3, took his seat with other nobles in the middle gate of Jerusalem after the Chaldean army had taken the city. Schrader (COT, ii, 109) holds that the name is a Hebraized form of the Assyrian Sumgirnabu ("be gracious, Nebo"), but Giesebrecht (Comm., 211) conjectures for Samgar a corruption of Sar-mag (Sar-magh), equivalent to Rab-mag (rab-magh), which implies virtual dittography. The number of variant readings exhibited by the Septuagint seems to confirm the belief that the text is corrupt. Nebo (nabu) is there joined with the following Sarsechim to agree with Nebushazban of Jer 39:13. If the name Samgar-nebo is correct, the first Nergal-sharezer "should perhaps be dropped; we would then read: "Samgar-nebo the Sarsechim, Nebushazban the Rab-saris (compare 39:13) and Nergal-sharezer the Rab-mag" (Sayce).
See RAB-MAG; RAB-SARIS.
Horace J. Wolf
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Easton
be gracious, O Nebo! or a cup-bearer of Nebo, probably the title of Nergal-sharezer, one of the princes of Babylon (Jer. 39:3).
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SBD
(sword of Nebo ), one of the princes or generals of the king of Babylon. ( Jeremiah 39:3 )
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THEUDAS |
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ISBE
thu-das (Theudas, a contraction of Theodorus, "the gift of God"): Theudas is referred to by Gamaliel in his speech before the Sanhedrin, when he advised them as to the position they should adopt in regard to the apostles (Acts 5:36). The failure of the rebellion of Theudas was quoted by Gamaliel on this occasion as typical of the natural end of such movements as were inspired "not of God, but of men." A rising under one Theudas is also described by Josephus (Ant., XX, v, 1), but this occurred at a later date (according to Josephus about 44 or 45 AD) than the speech of Gamaliel (before 37 AD). Of theories put forward in explanation of the apparent anachronism in Gameliels speech, the two most in favor are (1) that as there were many insurrections during the period in question, the two writers refer to different Theudases; (2) that the reference to Theudas in the narrative of Acts was inserted by a later reviser, whose historical knowledge was inaccurate (Weiss; compare also Knowling, The Expositors Greek Testament, II, 157-59).
C. M. Kerr
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Easton
thanksgiving, referred to by Gamaliel in his speech before the council at Jerusalem (Acts 5:36). He headed an insurrection against the Roman authority. Beyond this nothing is known of him.
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SBD
(God-given ), the name of an insurgent mentioned in Gamaliels speech before the Jewish council, ( Acts 6:35-39 ) at the time of the arraignment of the apostles. He appeared, according to Lukes account, at the head of about four hundred men. He was probably one of the insurrectionary chiefs or fanatics by whom the land was overrun in the last year of Herods reign. Josephus speaks of a Theudas who played a similar part in the time of Claudius, about A.D. 44; but the Theudas mentioned by St. Luke must be a different person from the one spoken of by Josephus.
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DIONYSIUS |
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ISBE
di-o-nish-i-us (Dionusios, surnamed "the Areopagite"): One of the few Athenians converted by Paul (Acts 17:34). We know nothing further about him (see AREOPAGUS). According to one account he was the first bishop of the church at Athens; according to another he suffered martyrdom in that city under Domitian. We are even told that he migrated to Rome and was sent to Paris, where he was beheaded on Montmartre (Mount of the Martyr). The patron saint of France is Denys; compare the French "Denys dHalicarnasse" (Dionysius of Halicarnassus). The mystical writings which were circulated in the Middle Ages and are still extant, are pronounced by the best authorities to be forgeries, and date from a period not earlier than the 5th century.
J. E. Harry
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Easton
the Areopagite, one of Paul's converts at Athens (Acts 17:34).
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SBD
(devoted to Dionysus , i.e., Bacchus ) the Areopagite, ( Acts 17:34 ) an eminent Athenian, converted to Christianity by the preaching of St. Paul. (A.D. 52.) He is said to have been first bishop of Athens. The writings which were once attributed to him are now confessed to be the production of some neo-Platonists of the sixth century.
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DIOTREPHES |
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ISBE
di-ot-re-fez (Diotrephes): A person mentioned in 3 Jn 1:9,10 as contentiously resisting the writers authority and forbidding others from exercising the Christian hospitality which he himself refused to show. The words "who loveth to have the preeminence, among them" may indicate that he was a church official, abusing his position.chief stars in the constellation of the Twins. Some 4,000 years BC they served as pointers to mark the beginning of the new year by setting together with the first new moon of springtime. The constellation of the Twins was supposed to be especially favorable to sailors, hence, ships were often placed under the protection of the twin gods.
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Easton
Jove-nourished, rebuked by John for his pride (3 John 1:9). He was a Judaizer, prating against John and his fellow-labourers "with malicious words" (7).
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HDBN
nourished by Jupiter
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SBD
(nourished by Jove ), a Christian mentioned in ( 3 John 1:9 ) but of whom nothing is known.
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DEUEL |
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代表
民1:14 民7:42 民7:43 民7:44 民7:45 民7:46 民7:47 民10:20
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ISBE
du-el, de-u-el de`uel, "knowledge of God"): A Gadite, the father of Eliasaph, the representative of the tribe of Gad in the census-taking (Nu 1:14), in making the offering of the tribe at the dedication of the altar (Nu 7:42,47), and as leader of the host of the tribe of the children of Gad in the wilderness (Nu 10:20). Called Reuel in Nu 2:14, daleth (d) being confused with resh (r).
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HDBN
the knowledge of God
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SBD
or De-uel (invocation of God ), father of Eliasaph, the "captain" of the tribe of Gad at the time of the numbering of the people at Sinai. ( Numbers 1:14 ; Numbers 7:42 Numbers 7:47 ; 10:20 ) (B.C. 1491.) The same man is mentioned again in ( Numbers 2:14 ) but here the name appears as Ruel.
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NAAMAN |
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王下5:1 代上8:3 代上8:4 代上8:7 王下5:1 王下5:2 王下5:3 王下5:4 王下5:5 王下5:6 王下5:7 王下5:8 王下5:9 王下5:10 王下5:11 王下5:12 王下5:13 王下5:14 王下5:15 王下5:16 王下5:17 王下5:18 王下5:19
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ISBE
na-a-man (na`aman, "pleasantness"; Septuagint: Codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus Naiman; so Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek in the New Testament; Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Neeman) :
(1) A successful Syrian general, high in the confidence and esteem of the king of Syria, and honored by his fellow-countrymen as their deliverer (2 Ki 5:1-27). Afflicted with leprosy, he heard from a Hebrew slave-maid in his household of the wonder-working powers of an Israelite prophet. Sent by his master with a letter couched in somewhat peremptory terms to the king of Israel, he came to Samaria for healing. The king of Israel was filled with suspicion and alarm by the demands of the letter, and rent his clothes; but Elisha the prophet intervened, and sent word to Naaman that he must bathe himself seven times in the Jordan. He at first haughtily resented the humiliation and declined the cure; but on the remonstrance of his attendants he yielded and obtained cleansing. At once he returned to Samaria, testified his gratitude by the offer of large gifts to the prophet, confessed his faith in Elishas God, and sought leave to take home with him enough of the soil of Canaan for the erection of an altar to Yahweh.
The narrative is throughout consistent and natural, admirably and accurately depicting the condition of the two kingdoms at the time. The character of Naaman is at once attractive and manly. His impulsive patriotic preference for the streams of his own land does not lessen the readers esteem for him, and the favorable impression is deepened by his hearty gratitude and kindness.
The Israelite king is most probably Jehoram, son of Ahab, and the Syrian monarch Ben-hadad II. Josephus (Ant., VIII, xv, 5) identifies Naaman with the man who drew his bow at a venture, and gave Ahab his death wound (1 Ki 22:34). There is one reference to Naaman in the New Testament. In Lk 4:27, Jesus, rebuking Jewish exclusiveness, mentions "Naaman the Syrian."
(2) A son of Benjamin (Gen 46:21,6). Fuller and more precise is the description of Nu 26:38,40, where he is said to be a son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin (see also 1 Ch 8:3 f).
John A. Lees
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Easton
pleasantness, a Syrian, the commander of the armies of Benhadad II. in the time of Joram, king of Israel. He was afflicted with leprosy; and when the little Hebrew slave-girl that waited on his wife told her of a prophet in Samaria who could cure her master, he obtained a letter from Benhadad and proceeded with it to Joram. The king of Israel suspected in this some evil design against him, and rent his clothes. Elisha the prophet hearing of this, sent for Naaman, and the strange interview which took place is recorded in 2 Kings 5. The narrative contains all that is known of the Syrian commander. He was cured of his leprosy by dipping himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of Elisha. His cure is alluded to by our Lord (Luke 4:27).
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SBD
(pleasantness ). "Naaman the Syrian." ( Luke 4:27 ) Naaman was commander-in-chief of the army of Syria, and was nearest to the person of the king, Ben-hadad II., whom he accompanied officially and supported when he went to worship in the temple of Rimmon, ( 2 Kings 5:18 ) at Damascus, the capital. (B.C. 885.) A Jewish tradition at least as old as the time of Josephus, and which may very well be a genuine one identifies him with the archer whose arrow, whether at random or not, struck Ahab with his mortal wound, and thus "gave deliverance to Syria." The expression in ( 2 Kings 5:1 ) is remarkable --"because that by him Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria." The most natural explanation perhaps is that Naaman in delivering his country, had killed one who was the enemy of Jehovah not less than he was of Syria. Whatever the particular exploit referred to was, it had given Naaman a great position at the court of Ben-hadad. Naaman was afflicted with a leprosy of the white kind which had hitherto defied cure. A little Israelitish captive maiden tells him of the fame and skill of Elisha, and he is cured by him by following his simple directions to bathe in the Jordan seven times. See ( 2 Kings 5:14 ) His first business after his cure is to thank his benefactor and gratefully acknowledge the power of the God of Israel, and promise "henceforth to offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord." How long Naaman lived to continue a worshipper of Jehovah while assisting officially at the worship of Rimmon we are not told; ("but his memory is perpetuated by a leper hospital which occupies the traditional site of his house in Damascus, on the banks of the Abana." --Schaff.) One of the family of Benjamin who came down to Egypt with Jacob as read in ( Genesis 46:21 ) He was the son of Bela, and head of the family of the Naamites. ( Numbers 26:40 ; 1 Chronicles 8:3 1 Chronicles 8:4 ) (B.C. 1706.)
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ADIN |
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ISBE
a-din (`adhin, "adorned"): The name of a family, "the sons of Adin" (Ezr 2:15; 8:6; Neh 7:20; 10:16; 1 Esdras 5:14; 8:32), mentioned among the returning exiles. The list in Ezr 2 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 Israel. The list in Neh 7 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 Neh 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 Neh are 44 that are placed under the caption "the chiefs of the people" (Neh 10:14-26), and nearly half of these are the family names of the list in Ezr 2 and Neh 7. 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
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Easton
effeminate. (1.) Ezra 8:6. (2.) Neh. 10:16.
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SBD
(dainty, delicate ), ancestor of a family who returned form Babylon with Zerubbabel, to the number of 454, ( Ezra 2:15 ) or 655 according to the parallel list in ( Nehemiah 7:20 ) (B.C. 536.) They joined with Nehemiah in a covenant to separate themselves from the heathen. ( Nehemiah 10:16 ) (B.C. 410.)
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ANER |
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創14:13 創14:14 創14:15 創14:16 創14:17 創14:18 創14:19 創14:20 創14:21 創14:22 創14:23 創14:24
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Easton
a boy. (1.) A Canaanitish chief who joined his forces with those of Abraham in pursuit of Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:13,24). (2.) A city of Manasseh given to the Levites of Kohath's family (1 Chr. 6:70).
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HDBN
answer; song; affliction
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SBD
(boy ), a city of Manasseh, west of Jordan, with "suburbs," given to the Kohathites. ( 1 Chronicles 6:70 )
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ATHALIAH |
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代上8:26 王下8:18 王下11:1 王下11:2 王下11:3 王下11:4 王下11:5 王下11:6 王下11:7 王下11:8 王下11:9 王下11:10 王下11:11 王下11:12 王下11:13 王下11:14 王下11:15 王下11:16 王下11:17 王下11:18 王下11:19 王下11:20 王下11:21
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ISBE
ath-a-li-a (`athalyah; meaning uncertain, perhaps, "whom Yahweh has afflicted"; 2 Ki 8:26; 11; 2 Ch 22; 23):
1. Relationship:
(1) Daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, grand-daughter of Omri, 6th king of Israel. In her childhood the political relations of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel had, after many years of strife, become friendly, and she was married to Jehoram, eldest son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (2 Ki 8:18). The marriage was one of political expediency, and is a blot on the memory of Jehoshaphat.
2. Athaliah as Queen:
When Jehoram was 32 years of age, he succeeded to the throne, and Athaliah became queen of Judah. She inherited her mothers strength of will, and like her developed a fanatical devotion to the cult of the Zidonian Baal. Elijahs blow at the worship of Baal in Samaria shortly before her accession to power did nothing to mitigate her zeal. It probably intensified it. The first recorded act of Jehorams reign is the murder of his six younger brothers; some princes of the realm, who were known to be favorable to the ancient faith of the nation, were also destroyed (2 Ch 21:4). There can be little doubt that these deeds of blood were supported, and perhaps instigated, by Athaliah, who was a much stronger character than her husband.
3. Murder of Her Grandchildren:
After eight years of royal life, Athaliah became a widow, and her son, Ahaziah, then 22 years of age (2 Ki 8:26; not 42 as in 2 Ch 22:2), ascended his fathers throne. As queen-mother, Athaliah was now supreme in the councils of the nation, as well as in the royal palace. Within a single year, the young king fell (see JEHU), and the only persons who stood between Athaliah and the throne were her grandchildren. It is in such moments that ambition, fired by fanaticism, sees its opportunity, and the massacre of the royal seed was determined on. This was carried out: but one of them, Jehoash, a babe, escaped by the intervention of his aunt, Jehosheba (1 Ki 11:2; 2 Ch 22:11).
4. Her Usurpation:
The palace being cleared of its royal occupants, Athaliah had herself proclaimed sovereign. No other woman, before or since, sat upon the throne of David, and it is a proof of her energy and ability that, in spite of her sex, she was able to keep it for six years. From 2 Ch 24:7 we gather that a portion of the temple of Yahweh was pulled down, and the material used in the structure of a temple of Baal.
5. The Counter-Revolution:
The high priest at this time was Jehoiada, who had married the daughter of Athaliah, Jehosheba (2 Ch 22:11). His promotion to the primacy led to the undoing of the usurper, as Jehoiada proved staunchly, if secretly, true to the religion of Yahweh. For six years he and his wife concealed in their apartments, near the temple, the young child of Ahaziah. In the seventh year a counter-revolution was planned. The details are given with unusual fullness in Ki and Chronicles, the writings of which supplement one another. Thus, when the Chronicler wrote, it had become safe to give the names of five captains who led the military rising (2 Ch 23:1). With the Book of Ki before him, it was not necessary to do more than extract from the ancient records such particulars as had not hitherto appeared. This it is which has chiefly given rise to the charge of variations in the two narratives.
See JEHOASH.
6. Her Death:
At the time of her deposition, Athaliah was resident in the royal palace. When roused to a sense of danger by the acclamations which greeted the coronation ceremony, she made an attempt to stay the revolt by rushing into the temple court, alone; her guards, according to Josephus, having been prevented from following her (Ant., IX, vii, 3). A glance sufficed. It showed her the lad standing on a raised platform before the temple, holding the Book of the Law in his hand, and with the crown upon his brow. Rending her robe and shouting, "Treason! Treason!" she fled. Some were for cutting her down as she did so, but this was objected to as defiling the temple with human blood. She was, therefore, allowed to reach the door of the palace in flight. Here she fell, smitten by the avenging guards.
Athaliahs usurpation lasted for six years (2 Ki 11:3; 12:1; 2 Ch 22:12). Her 1st year synchronizes with the 1st of Jehu in Israel, and may be placed 846 BC (some put later). See CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. The statement of 2 Ki 12:1 is here understood in the sense that Jehoash began his public reign in the 7th year of Jehu, and that he reigned 40 years counting from the time of his fathers death. A modern parallel is the dating of all official records and legal documents of the time of Charles II of England from the death of Charles I.
The only other reference to Athaliah is that above alluded to in 2 Ch 24:7, where she is spoken of as "that wicked woman."
(2) A Benjamite who dwelt in Jerusalem (1 Ch 8:26,28).
(3) Father of Jeshaiah, who returned with Ezra (8:7); called Gotholias in Apocrypha (1 Esdras 8:33).
W. Shaw Caldecott
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Easton
whom God afflicts. (1.) The daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and the wife of Jehoram, king of Judah (2 Kings 8:18), who "walked in the ways of the house of Ahab" (2 Chr. 21:6), called "daughter" of Omri (2 Kings 8:26). On the death of her husband and of her son Ahaziah, she resolved to seat herself on the vacant throne. She slew all Ahaziah's children except Joash, the youngest (2 Kings 11:1,2). After a reign of six years she was put to death in an insurrection (2 Kings 11:20; 2 Chr. 21:6; 22:10-12; 23:15), stirred up among the people in connection with Josiah's being crowned as king. (2.) Ezra 8:7. (3.) 1 Chr. 8:26.
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HDBN
the time of the Lord
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SBD
(afflicted of the Lord ) daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, married Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and introduced into that kingdom the worship of Baal. (B.C. 891.) After the great revolution by which Jehu seated himself on the throne of Samaria she killed all the members of the royal family of Judah who had escaped his sword. ( 2 Kings 11:1 ) From the slaughter one infant, named Joash, the youngest son of Ahaziah, was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba wife of Jehoiada, ( 2 Chronicles 23:11 ) the high priest. ( 2 Chronicles 24:6 ) The child was brought up under Jehoiadas care, and concealed in the temple for six years, during which period Athaliah reigned over Judah. At length Jehoiada thought it time to produce the lawful king to the people, trusting to their zeal for the worship of God and their loyalty to the house of David. His plan was successful, and Athaliah was put to death.
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| 亞他拉 |
ATARAH |
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ISBE
at-a-ra, a-ta-ra (`aTarah, "crown"): One of Jerahmeels wives and mother of Onam (1 Ch 2:26).
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SBD
(a crown ) a wife of Jerahmeel, and mother of Onam. ( 1 Chronicles 2:26 )
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| 亞他雅 |
ATHAIAH |
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ISBE
a-tha-ya (athayah = "Yahweh is helper"; Athea, or Atheai): He is designated (Neh 11:4) as a descendant of Judah and the son of Uzziah. After the return from Babylon, he dwelt in Jerusalem. In 1 Ch 9:4 his name is given as Uthai.
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SBD
(whom Jehovah made ), a descendant of Pharez, the son of Judah, who dwelt at Jerusalem after the return from Babylon, ( Nehemiah 11:4 ) called UTHAI in ( 1 Chronicles 9:4 )
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| 亞伯 |
ABEL |
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代表
創4:1 創4:3 創4:4 創4:5 創4:6 創4:7 創4:8 太23:35
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Easton
(Heb. Hebhel), a breath, or vanity, the second son of Adam and Eve. He was put to death by his brother Cain (Gen. 4:1-16). Guided by the instruction of their father, the two brothers were trained in the duty of worshipping God. "And in process of time" (marg. "at the end of days", i.e., on the Sabbath) each of them offered up to God of the first-fruits of his labours. Cain, as a husbandman, offered the fruits of the field; Abel, as a shepherd, of the firstlings of his flock. "The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering; but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect" (Gen. 4:3-5). On this account Cain was angry with his brother, and formed the design of putting him to death; a design which he at length found an opportunity of carrying into effect (Gen. 4:8,9. Comp. 1 John 3:12). There are several references to Abel in the New Testament. Our Saviour speaks of him as "righteous" (Matt. 23:35). "The blood of sprinkling" is said to speak "better things than that of Abel" (Heb. 12:24); i.e., the blood of Jesus is the reality of which the blood of the offering made by Abel was only the type. The comparison here is between the sacrifice offered by Christ and that offered by Abel, and not between the blood of Christ calling for mercy and the blood of the murdered Abel calling for vengeance, as has sometimes been supposed. It is also said (Heb. 11:4) that "Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." This sacrifice was made "by faith;" this faith rested in God, not only as the Creator and the God of providence, but especially in God as the great Redeemer, whose sacrifice was typified by the sacrifices which, no doubt by the divine institution, were offered from the days of Adam downward. On account of that "faith" which looked forward to the great atoning sacrifice, Abel's offering was accepted of God. Cain's offering had no such reference, and therefore was rejected. Abel was the first martyr, as he was the first of our race to die. Abel (Heb. 'abhel), lamentation (1 Sam. 6:18), the name given to the great stone in Joshua's field whereon the ark was "set down." The Revised Version, however, following the Targum and the LXX., reads in the Hebrew text _'ebhen_ (= a stone), and accordingly translates "unto the great stone, whereon they set down the ark." This reading is to be preferred. Abel (Heb. 'abhel), a grassy place, a meadow. This word enters into the composition of the following words:
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HDBN
vanity; breath; vapor
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SBD
(i.e., breath, vapor, transitoriness , probably so called from the shortness of his life), the second son of Adam, murdered by his brother Cain, ( Genesis 4:1-16 ) he was a keeper or feeder of sheep. Our Lord spoke of Abel as the first martyr, ( Matthew 23:35 ) so did the early Church subsequently. The traditional site of his murder and his grave are pointed out near Damascus.
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| 亞伯尼歌 |
ABEDNEGO |
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代表
但1:7 但3:12 但3:13 但3:14 但3:15 但3:16 但3:17 但3:18 但3:19 但3:20 但3:21 但3:22 但3:23 但3:24 但3:25 但3:26 但3:27
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Easton
servant of Nego=Nebo, the Chaldee name given to Azariah, one of Daniel's three companions (Dan. 2:49). With Shadrach and Meshach, he was delivered from the burning fiery furnace (3:12-30).
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HDBN
servant of light; shining
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SBD
(i.e. servant of Nego, perhaps the same as Nebo ), the Chaldean name given to Azariah, one of the three friends of Daniel, miraculously save from the fiery furnace. Dan. 3. (B.C. about 600.)
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| 亞伯底 |
ABDI |
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ISBE
ab-di (`abhdi, probably by abbreviation "servant of Yahweh"): (1) A Levite, father of Kishi and grandfather of King Davids singer Ethan (1 Ch 6:44; compare 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 Ch 29:12). Some mistakenly identify this Abdi with the former. (3) A man who in Ezras time had married a foreign wife (Ezr 10:26). Not a Levite, but "of the sons of Elam."
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Easton
my servant. (1.) 1 Chr. 6:44. (2.) 2 Chr. 29:12. (3.) Ezra 10:26.
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SBD
(my servant ). A Merarite, and ancestor of Ethan the singer. ( 1 Chronicles 6:44 ) (B.C. before 1015.) The father of Kish, a Merarite, in the reign of Hezekiah. ( 2 Chronicles 29:12 ) (B.C. before 736.) One of the Bene-Elam in the time of Ezra, who had married a foreign wife. ( Ezra 10:26 ) (B.C. 659.)
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| 亞伯拉罕 |
ABRAHAM |
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代表
徒7:2 徒2:3 創12:1 創12:2 創12:3 創12:4 創12:5 書24:2 書24:3 來11:8 創12:6 創12:7 創12:8 創13:3 創13:14 創13:15 創13:16 創13:17 創13:18 創14:13 創15:1 創15:2 創15:3 創15:4 創15:5 創15:6 創15:7 創15:8 創15:9 創15:10 創15:11 創17:1 創17:2 創17:3 創17:4 創17:5 創17:6 創17:7 創17:8 創17:9 創17:10 創1
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ISBE
a-bra-ham:
I. NAME
1. Various Forms
2. Etymology
3. Association
II. KINDRED
III. CAREER
1. Period of Wandering
2. Period of Residence at Hebron
3. Period of Residence in the Negeb
IV. CONDITIONS OF LIFE
1. Economic Conditions
2. Social Conditions
3. Political Conditions
4. Cultural Conditions
V. CHARACTER
1. Religious Beliefs
2. Morality
3. Personal Traits
VI. SIGNIFICANCE IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGION
1. In the Old Testament
2. In the New Testament
3. In Jewish Tradition
4. In the Koran
VII. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE STORY OTHER THAN THE HISTORICAL
1. The Allegorical Interpretation
2. The Personification Theory
3. The Mythical Theory
4. The "Saga" Theory
I. Name.
1. Various Forms:
In the Old Testament, when applied, to the patriarch, the name appears as abhram, up to Gen 17:5; thereafter always as abhraham. Two other persons are named abhiram. The identity of this name with abhram cannot be doubted in view of the variation between abhiner and abhner, abhishalom and abhshalom, etc. Abraham also appears in the list at Karnak of places conquered by Sheshonk I: brm (no. 72) represents abram, with which Spiegelberg (Aegypt. Randglossen zum Altes Testament, 14) proposes to connect the preceding name (so that the whole would read "the field of Abram." Outside of Israel this name (Abiramu) has come to light just where from the Biblical tradition we should expect to find it, namely, in Babylonia (e.g. in a contract of the reign of Apil-Sin, second predecessor of Hammurabi; also for the aunt (!) of Esarhaddon 680-669 BC). Ungnad has recently found it, among documents from Dilbat dating from the Hammurabi dynasty, in the forms A-ba-am-ra-ma, A-ba-am-ra-am, as well as A-ba-ra-ma.
2. Etymology:
Until this latest discovery of the apparently full, historical form of the Babylonian equivalent, the best that could be done with the etymology was to make the first constituent "father of" (construct -i rather than suffix -i), and the second constituent "Ram," a proper name or an abbreviation of a name. (Yet observe above its use in Assyria for a woman; compare ABISHAG; ABIGAIL). Some were inclined rather to concede that the second element was a mystery, like the second element in the majority of names beginning with abh and ach, "father" and "brother." But the full cuneiform writing of the name, with the case-ending am, indicates that the noun "father" is in the accusative, governed by the verb which furnishes the second component, and that this verb therefore is probably ramu (= Hebrew racham) "to love," etc.; so that the name would mean something like "he loves the (his) father." (So Ungnad, also Ranke in Gressmanns article "Sage und Geschichte in den Patriarchenerzahlungen," ZATW (1910), 3.) Analogy proves that this is in the Babylonian fashion of the period, and that judging from the various writings of this and similar names, its pronunciation was not far from abh-ram.
3. Association:
While the name is thus not "Hebrew" in origin, it made itself thoroughly at home among the Hebrews, and to their ears conveyed associations quite different from its etymological signification. "Popular etymology" here as so often doubtless led the Hebrew to hear in abh-ram, "exalted father," a designation consonant with the patriarchs national and religious significance. In the form abh-raham his ear caught the echo of some root (perhaps r-h-m; compare Arabic ruham, "multitude") still more suggestive of the patriarchs extensive progeny, the reason ("for") that accompanies the change of name Gen 17:5 being intended only as a verbal echo of the sense in the sound. This longer and commoner form is possibly a dialectical variation of the shorter form, a variation for which there are analogies in comparative Semitic grammar. It is, however, possible also that the two forms are different names, and that abh-raham is etymologically, and not merely by association of sound, "father of a multitude" (as above). (Another theory, based on South-Arabic orthography, in Hommel, Altisraelitische Ueberlieferung, 177.)
II. Kindred.
Gen 11:27, which introduces Abraham, contains the heading, "These are the generations of Terah." All the story of Abraham is contained within the section of Genesis so entitled. Through Terah Abrahams ancestry is traced back to Shem, and he is thus related to Mesopotamian and Arabian families that belonged to the "Semitic" race. He is further connected with this race geographically by his birthplace, which is given as ur-kasdim (see UR), and by the place of his pre-Canaanitish residence, Haran in the Aramean region. The purely Semitic ancestry of his descendants through Isaac is indicated by his marriage with his own half-sister (Gen 20:12), and still further emphasized by the choice for his daughter-in-law of Rebekah, descended from both of his brothers, Nahor and Haran (Gen 11:29; 22:22 f). Both the beginning and the end of the residence in Haran are left chronologically undetermined, for the new beginning of the narrative at Gen 12:1 is not intended by the writer to indicate chronological sequence, though it has been so understood, e.g. by Stephen (Acts 7:4). All that is definite in point of time is that an Aramean period of residence intervened between the Babylonian origin and the Palestinian career of Abraham. It is left to a comparison of the Biblical data with one another and with the data of archaeology, to fix the opening of Abrahams career in Israel not far from the middle of the 20th century BC.
III. Career.
Briefiy summed up, that career was as follows.
1. Period of Wandering:
Abraham, endowed with Yahwehs promise of limitless blessing, leaves Haran with Lot his nephew and all their establishment, and enters Canaan. Successive stages of the slow journey southward are indicated by the mention of Shechem, Bethel and the Negeb (South-country). Driven by famine into Egypt, Abraham finds hospitable reception, though at the price of his wifes honor, whom the Pharaoh treats in a manner characteristic of an Egyptian monarch. (Gressmann, op. cit., quotes from Meyer, Geschichte des Alterthums, 12, 142, the passage from a magic formula in the pyramid of Unas, a Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty: "Then he (namely, the Pharaoh) takes away the wives from their husbands whither he will if desire seize his heart.") Retracing the path to Canaan with an augmented train, at Bethel Abraham and Lot find it necessary to part company. Lot and his dependents choose for residence the great Jordan Depression; Abraham follows the backbone of the land southward to Hebron, where he settles, not in the city, but before its gates "by the great trees" (Septuagint sing., "oak") of Mamre.
2. Period of Residence at Hebron:
Affiliation between Abraham and the local chieftains is strengthened by a brief campaign, in which all unite their available forces for the rescue of Lot from an Elamite king and his confederates from Babylonia. The pursuit leads them as far as the Lebanon region. On the return they are met by Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of el `elyon, and blessed by him in his priestly capacity, which Abraham recognizes by presenting him with a tithe of the spoils. Abrahams anxiety for a son to be the bearer of the divine promises conferred upon a "seed" yet unborn should have been relieved by the solemn renewal thereof in a formal covenant, with precise specifications of Gods gracious purpose. But human desire cannot wait upon divine wisdom, and the Egyptian woman Hagar bears to Abraham a son, Ishmael, whose existence from its inception proves a source of moral evil within the patriarchal household. The sign of circumcision and the change of names are given in confirmation of the covenant still unrealized, together with specification of the time and the person that should begin its realization. The theophany that symbolized outwardly this climax of the Divine favor serves also for an intercessory colloquy, in which Abraham is granted the deliverance of Lot in the impending overthrow of Sodom. Lot and his family, saved thus by human fidelity and Divine clemency, exhibit in the moral traits shown in their escape and subsequent life the degeneration naturally to be expected from their corrupt environment. Moabites and Ammonites are traced in their origin to these cousins of Jacob and Esau.
3. Period of Residence in the Negeb:
Removal to the South-country did not mean permanent residence in a single spot, but rather a succession of more or less temporary resting-places. The first of these was in the district of Gerar, with whose king, Abimelech, Abraham and his wife had an experience similar to the earlier one with the Pharaoh. The birth of Isaac was followed by the expulsion of Ishmael and his mother, and the sealing of peaceful relations with the neighbors by covenant at Beersheba. Even the birth of Isaac, however, did not end the discipline of Abrahams faith in the promise, for a Divine command to sacrifice the life of this son was accepted bona fide, and only the sudden interposition of a Divine prohibition prevented its obedient execution. The death of Sarah became the occasion for Abrahams acquisition of the first permanent holding of Israel soil, the nucleus of his promised inheritance, and at the same time suggested the probable approach of his own death. This thought led to immediate provision for a future seed to inherit through Isaac, a provision realized in Isaacs marriage with Rebekah, grand-daughter of Abrahams brother Nahor and of Milcah the sister of Lot. But a numerous progeny not associated with the promise grew up in Abrahams household, children of Keturah, a woman who appears to have had the rank of wife after Sarahs death, and of other women unnamed, who were his concubines. Though this last period was passed in the Negeb, Abraham was interred at Hebron in his purchased possession, the spot with which Semitic tradition has continued to associate him to this day.
IV. Conditions of Life.
The life of Abraham in its outward features may be considered under the following topics: economic, social, political and cultural conditions.
1. Economic Conditions:
Abrahams manner of life may best be described by the adjective "semi-nomadic," and illustrated by the somewhat similar conditions prevailing today in those border-communities of the East that fringe the Syrian and Arabian deserts. Residence is in tents, wealth consists of flocks, herds and slaves, and there is no ownership of ground, only at most a proprietorship in well or tomb. All this in common with the nomad. But there is a relative, or rather, intermittent fixity of habitation, unlike the pure Bedouin, a limited amount of agriculture, and finally a sense of divergence from the Ishmael type--all of which tend to assimilate the seminomadic Abraham to the fixed Canaanitish population about him. As might naturally be expected, such a condition is an unstable equilibrium, which tends, in the family of Abraham as in the history of all border-tribes of the desert, to settle back one way or the other, now into the city-life of Lot, now into the desert-life of Ishmael.
2. Social Conditions:
The head of a family, under these conditions, becomes at the same time the chief of a tribe, that live together under patriarchal rule though they by no means share without exception the tie of kinship. The family relations depicted in Gen conform to and are illuminated by the social features of Code of Hammurabi. (See K. D. Macmillan, article "Marriage among the Early Babylonians and Hebrews," Princeton Theological Review, April, 1908.) There is one legal wife, Sarah, who, because persistently childless, obtains the coveted offspring by giving her own maid to Abraham for that purpose (compare Code of Hammurabi, sections 144, 146). The son thus borne, Ishmael, is Abrahams legal son and heir. When Isaac is later borne by Sarah, the elder son is disinherited by divine command (Gen 21:10-12) against Abrahams wish which represented the prevailing law and custom (Code of Hammurabi, sections 168 f). The "maid-servants" mentioned in the inventories of Abrahams wealth (Gen 12:16; 24:35) doubtless furnished the "concubines" mentioned in Gen 25:6 as having borne sons to him. Both mothers and children were slaves, but had the right to freedom, though not to inheritance, on the death of the father (Code of Hammurabi, section 171). After Sarahs death another woman seems to have succeeded to the position of legal wife, though if so the sons she bore were disinherited like Ishmael (Gen 25:5). In addition to the children so begotten by Abraham the "men of his house" (Gen 17:27) consisted of two classes, the "home-born" slaves (Gen 14:14; 17:12 f,23,27) and the "purchased" slaves (ibid.). The extent of the patriarchal tribe may be surmised from the number (318) of men among them capable of bearing arms, near the beginning of Abrahams career, yet after his separation from Lot, and recruited seemingly from the "home-born" class exclusively (Gen 14:14). Over this entire establishment Abraham ruled with a power more, rather than less, absolute than that exhibited in detail in the Code of Hammurabi: more absolute, because Abraham was independent of any permanent superior authority, and so combined in his own person the powers of the Babylonian paterfamilias and of the Canaanite city-king. Social relations outside of the family-tribe may best be considered under the next heading.
3. Political Conditions:
It is natural that the chieftain of so considerable an organism should appear an attractive ally and a formidable foe to any of the smaller political units of his environment. That Canaan was at the time composed of just such inconsiderable units, namely, city-states with petty kings, and scattered fragments of older populations, is abundantly clear from the Biblical tradition and verified from other sources. Egypt was the only great power with which Abraham came into political contact after leaving the East. In the section of Genesis which describes this contact with the Pharaoh Abraham is suitably represented as playing no political role, but as profiting by his stay in Egypt only through an incidental social relation: when this terminates he is promptly ejected. The role of conqueror of Chedorlaomer, the Elamite invader, would be quite out of keeping with Abrahams political status elsewhere, if we were compelled by the narrative in Gen 14 to suppose a pitched battle between the forces of Abraham and those of the united Babylonian armies. What that chapter requires is in fact no more than a midnight surprise, by Abrahams band (including the forces of confederate chieftains), of a rear-guard or baggage-train of the Babylonians inadequately manned and picketed ("Slaughter" is quite too strong a rendering of the original hakkoth, "smiting," 14:17) Respect shown Abraham by the kings of Salem (14:18), of Sodom (14:21) and of Gerar (Gen 20:14-16) was no more than might be expected from their relative degrees of political importance, although a moral precedence, assumed in the tradition, may well have contributed to this respect.
4. Cultural Conditions:
Recent archaeological research has revolutionized our conception of the degree of culture which Abraham could have possessed and therefore presumably did possess. The high plane which literature had attained in both Babylonia and Egypt by 2000 BC is sufficient witness to the opportunities open to the man of birth and wealth in that day for the interchange of lofty thought. And, without having recourse to Abrahams youth in Babylonia, we may assert even for the scenes of Abrahams maturer life the presence of the same culture, on the basis of a variety of facts, the testimony of which converges in this point, that Canaan in the second millennium BC was at the center of the intellectual life of the East and cannot have failed to afford, to such of its inhabitants as chose to avail themselves of it, every opportunity for enjoying the fruits of others culture and for recording the substance of their own thoughts, emotions and activities
V. Character.
Abrahams inward life may be considered under the rubrics of religion, ethics and personal traits.
1. Religious Beliefs:
The religion of Abraham centered in his faith in one God, who, because believed by him to be possessor of heaven and earth (Gen 14:22; 24:3), sovereign judge of the nations (Gen 15:14) of all the earth (Gen 18:25), disposer of the forces of Nature (Gen 18:14; 19:24; 20:17 f), exalted (Gen 14:22) and eternal (Gen 21:33), was for Abraham at least the only God. So far as the Biblical tradition goes, Abrahams monotheism was not aggressive (otherwise in later Jewish tradition), and it is theoretically possible to attribute to him a merely "monarchical" or "henotheistic" type of monotheism, which would admit the coexistence with his deity, say, of the "gods which (his) fathers served" (Josh 24:14), or the identity with his deity of the supreme god of some Canaanite neighbor (Gen 14:18). Yet this distinction of types of monotheism does not really belong to the sphere of religion as such, but rather to that of speculative philosophical thought. As religion, monotheism is just monotheism, and it asserts itself in corollaries drawn by the intellect only so far as the scope of the monotheists intellectual life applies it. For Abraham Yahweh not only was alone God; He was also his personal God in a closeness of fellowship (Gen 24:40; 48:15) that has made him for three religions the type of the pious man (2 Ch 20:7; Isa 41:8, Jas 2:23, note the Arabic name of Hebron El-Khalil, i.e. the friend (viz of God)) To Yahweh Abraham attributed the moral attributes of Justice (Gen 18:25), righteousness (Gen 18:19), faithfulness (Gen 24:27), wisdom (Gen 20:6), goodness (Gen 19:19), mercy (Gen 20:6). These qualities were expected of men, and their contraries in men were punished by Yahweh (Gen 18:19; 20:11). He manifested Himself in dreams (Gen 20:3), visions (Gen 15:1) and theophanies (Gen 18:1), including the voice or apparition of the Divine malakh or messenger ("angel") (Gen 16:7; 22:11) On mans part, in addition to obedience to Yahwehs moral requirements and special commands, the expression of his religious nature was expected in sacrifice. This bringing of offerings to the deity was diligently practiced by Abraham, as indicated by the mention of his erection of an altar at each successive residence. Alongside of this act of sacrifice there is sometimes mention of a "calling upon the name" of Yahweh (compare 1 Ki 18:24; Ps 116:13 f). This publication of his faith, doubtless in the presence of Canaanites, had its counterpart also in the public regard in which he was held as a "prophet" or spokesman for God (Gen 20:7). His mediation showed itself also in intercessory prayer (Gen 17:20 for Ishmael; 18:23-32; compare 19:29 for Lot; 20:17 for Abimelech), which was but a phase of his general practice of prayer. The usual accompaniment of sacrifice, a professional priesthood, does not occur in Abrahams family, yet he recognizes priestly prerogative in the person of Melchizedek, priest-king of Salem (Gen 14:20). Religious sanction of course surrounds the taking of oaths (Gen 14:22; 24:3) and the sealing of covenants (Gen 21:23). Other customs associated with religion are circumcision (Gen 17:10-14), given to Abraham as the sign of the perpetual covenant; tithing (Gen 14:20), recognized as the priests due; and child-sacrifice (Gen 22:2,12), enjoined upon Abraham only to be expressly forbidden, approved for its spirit but interdicted in its practice.
2. Morality:
As already indicated, the ethical attributes of God were regarded by Abraham as the ethical requirement of man. This in theory. In the sphere of applied ethics and casuistry Abrahams practice, at least, fell short of this ideal, even in the few incidents of his life preserved to us. It is clear that these lapses from virtue were offensive to the moral sense of Abrahams biographer, but we are left in the dark as to Abrahams sense of moral obliquity. (The "dust and ashes" of Gen 18:27 has no moral implication.) The demands of candor and honor are not satisfactorily met, certainly not in the matter of Sarahs relationship to him (Gen 12:11-13; 20:2; compare 11-13), perhaps not in the matter of Isaacs intended sacrifice (Gen 22:5,8). To impose our own monogamous standard of marriage upon the patriarch would be unfair, in view of the different standard of his age and land. It is to his credit that no such scandals are recorded in his life and family as blacken the record of Lot (Gen 19:30-38), Reuben (Gen 35:22) and Judah (Gen 38:15-18). Similarly, Abrahams story shows only regard for life and property, both in respecting the rights of others and in expecting the same from them--the antipodes of Ishmaels character (Gen 16:12).
3. Personal Traits:
Outside, the bounds of strictly ethical requirement, Abrahams personality displayed certain characteristics that not only mark him out distinctly among the figures of history, but do him great credit as a singularly symmetrical and attractive character. Of his trust and reverence enough has been said under the head of religion. But this love that is "the fulfilling of the law," manifested in such piety toward God, showed itself toward men in exceptional generosity (Gen 13:9; 14:23; 23:9,13; 24:10; 25:6), fidelity (Gen 14:14,24; 17:18; 18:23-32; 19:27; 21:11; 23:2), hospitality (Gen 18:2-8; 21:8) and compassion (Gen 16:6 and 21:14 when rightly understood, 18:23-32). A solid self-respect (Gen 14:23; 16:6; 21:25; 23:9,13,16; 24:4) and real courage (Gen 14:14-16) were, however, marred by the cowardice that sacrificed Sarah to purchase personal safety where he had reason to regard life as insecure (Gen 20:11).
VI. Significance in the History of Religion.
Abraham is a significant figure throughout the Bible, and plays an important role in extra-Biblical Jewish tradition and in the Mohammedan religion.
1. In the Old Testament:
It is naturally as progenitor of the people of Israel, "the seed of Abraham," as they are often termed, that Abraham stands out most prominently in the Old Testament books. Sometimes the contrast between him as an individual and his numerous progeny serves to point a lesson (Isa 51:2; Ezek 33:24; perhaps Mal 2:10; compare 15). "The God of Abraham" serves as a designation of Yahweh from the time of Isaac to the latest period; it is by this title that Moses identifies the God who has sent him with the ancestral deity of the children of Israel (Ex 3:15). Men remembered in those later times that this God appeared to Abraham in theophany (Ex 6:3), and, when he was still among his people who worshipped other gods (Josh 24:3) chose him (Neh 9:7), led him, redeemed him (Isa 29:22) and made him the recipient of those special blessings (Mic 7:20) which were pledged by covenant and oath (so every larger historical book, also the historical Ps 105:9), notably the inheritance of the land of Canaan (Dt 6:10) Nor was Abrahams religious personality forgotten by his posterity: he was remembered by them as Gods friend (2 Ch 20:7; Isa 41:8), His servant, the very recollection of whom by God would offset the horror with which the sins of his descendants inspired Yahweh (Dt 9:27).
2. In the New Testament:
When we pass to the New Testament we are astonished at the wealth and variety of allusion to Abraham. As in the Old Testament, his position of ancestor lends him much of his significance, not only as ancestor of Israel (Acts 13:26), but specifically as ancestor, now of the Levitical priesthood (Heb 7:5), now of the Messiah (Mt 1:1), now, by the peculiarly Christian doctrine of the unity of believers in Christ, of Christian believers (Gal 3:16,29). All that Abraham the ancestor received through Divine election, by the covenant made with him, is inherited by his seed and passes under the collective names of the promise (Rom 4:13), the blessing (Gal 3:14), mercy (Lk 1:54), the oath (Lk 1:73), the covenant (Acts 3:25). The way in which Abraham responded to this peculiar goodness of God makes him the type of the Christian believer. Though so far in the past that he was used as a measure of antiquity (Jn 8:58), he is declared to have "seen" Messiahs "day" (Jn 8:56). It is his faith in the Divine promise, which, just because it was for him peculiarly unsupported by any evidence of the senses, becomes the type of the faith that leads to justification (Rom 4:3), and therefore in this sense again he is the "father" of Christians, as believers (Rom 4:11). For that promise to Abraham was, after all, a "preaching beforehand" of the Christian gospel, in that it embraced "all the families of the earth" (Gal 3:8). Of this exalted honor, James reminds us, Abraham proved himself worthy, not by an inoperative faith, but by "works" that evidenced his righteousness (Jas 2:21; compare Jn 8:39). The obedience that faith wrought in him is what is especially praised by the author of Hebrews (Heb 11:8,17). In accordance with this high estimate of the patriarchs piety, we read of his eternal felicity, not only in the current conceptions of the Jews (parable, Lk 16), but also in the express assertion of our Lord (Mt 8:11; Lk 13:28). Incidental historical allusions to the events of Abrahams life are frequent in the New Testament, but do not add anything to this estimate of his religious significance.
3. In Jewish Tradition:
Outside the Scriptures we have abundant evidence of the way that Abraham was regarded by his posterity in the Jewish nation. The oldest of these witnesses, Ecclesiasticus, contains none of the accretions of the later Abraham-legends. Its praise of Abraham is confined to the same three great facts that appealed to the canonical writers, namely, his glory as Israels ancestor, his election to be recipient of the covenant, and his piety (including perhaps a tinge of "nomism") even under severe testing (Ecclesiasticus 44:19-21). The Improbable and often unworthy and even grotesque features of Abrahams career and character in the later rabbinical midrashim are of no religious significance, beyond the evidence they afford of the way Abrahams unique position and piety were cherished by the Jews.
4. In the Koran:
To Mohammed Abraham is of importance in several ways. He is mentioned in no less than 188 verses of the Koran, more than any other character except Moses. He is one of the series of prophets sent by God. He is the common ancestor of the Arab and the Jew. He plays the same role of religious reformer over against his idolatrous kinsmen as Mohammed himself played. He builds the first pure temple for Gods worship (at Mecca!). As in the Bible so in the Koran Abraham is the recipient of the Divine covenant for himself and for his posterity, and exhibits in his character the appropriate virtues of one so highly favored: faith, righteousness, purity of heart, gratitude, fidelity, compassion. He receives marked tokens of the Divine favor in the shape of deliverance, guidance, visions, angelic messengers (no theophanies for Mohammed!), miracles, assurance of resurrection and entrance into paradise. He is called "Imam of the peoples" (2 118)
VII. Interpretations of the Story Other than the Historical.
There are writers in both ancient and modern times who have, from various standpoints, interpreted the person and career of Abraham otherwise than as what it purports to be, namely, the real experiences of a human person named Abraham. These various views may be classified according to the motive or impulse which they believe to have led to the creation of this story in the mind of its author or authors.
1. The Allegorical Interpretation:
Philos tract on Abraham bears as alternative titles, "On the Life of the Wise Man Made Perfect by Instruction, or, On the Unwritten Law." Abrahams life is not for him a history that serves to illustrate these things, but an allegory by which these things are embodied. Pauls use of the Sarah-Hagar episode in Gal 4:21-31 belongs to this type of exposition (compare allegoroumena, 4:24), of which there are also a few other instances in his epistles; yet to infer from this that Paul shared Philos general attitude toward the patriarchal narrative would be unwarranted, since his use of this method is incidental, exceptional, and merely corroborative of points already established by sound reason. "Luther compares it to a painting which decorates a house already built" (Schaff, "Galatians," Excursus).
2. The Personification Theory:
As to Philo Abraham is the personification of a certain type of humanity, so to some modern writers he is the personification of the Hebrew nation or of a tribe belonging to the Hebrew group. This view, which is indeed very widely held with respect to the patriarchal figures in general, furnishes so many more difficulties in its specific application to Abraham than to the others, that it has been rejected in Abrahams case even by some who have adopted it for figures like Isaac, Ishmael and Jacob. Thus Meyer (Die Israeliten und ihre Nachbarstamme, 250; compare also note on p. 251), speaking of his earlier opinion, acknowledges that, at the time when he "regarded the assertion of Stade as proved that Jacob and Isaac were tribes," even then he "still recognized Abraham as a mythical figure and originally a god." A similar differentiation of Abraham from the rest is true of most of the other adherents of the views about to be mentioned. Hence also Wellhausen says (Prolegomena 6, 317): "Only Abraham is certainly no name of a people, like Isaac and Lot; he is rather ambiguous anyway. We dare not of course on that account hold him in this connection as an historical personage; rather than that he might be a free creation of unconscious fiction. He is probably the youngest figure in this company and appears to have been only at a relatively late date put before his son Isaac."
3. The Mythical Theory:
Urged popularly by Noldeke (Im neuen Reich (1871), I, 508 ff) and taken up by other scholars, especially in the case of Abraham, the view gained general currency among those who denied the historicity of Gen, that the patriarchs were old deities. From this relatively high estate, it was held, they had fallen to the plane of mere mortals (though with remnants of the hero or even demigod here and there visible) on which they appear in Gen. A new phase of this mythical theory has been developed in the elaboration by Winckler and others of their astral-theology of the Babylonian world, in which the worship of Abraham as the moon-god by the Semites of Israel plays a part. Abrahams traditional origin connects him with Ur and Haran, leading centers of the moon-cult. Apart from this fact the arguments relied upon to establish this identification of Abraham with Sin may be judged by the following samples: "When further the consort of Abraham bears the name Sarah, and one of the women among his closest relations the name Milcah, this gives food for thought, since these names correspond precisely with the titles of the female deities worshipped at Haran alongside the moongod Sin. Above all, however, the number 318, that appears in Gen 14:14 in connection with the figure of Abraham, is convincing because this number, which surely has no historical value, can only be satisfactorily explained from the circle of ideas of the moon-religion, since in the lunar year of 354 days there are just 318 days on which the moon is visible--deducting 36 days, or three for each of the twelve months, on which the moon is invisible" (Baentsch, Monotheismus, 60 f). In spite of this assurance, however, nothing could exceed the scorn with which these combinations and conjectures of Winckler, A. Jeremias and others of this school are received by those who in fact differ from them with respect to Abraham in little save the answer to the question, what deity was Abraham (see e.g. Meyer, op. cit., 252 f, 256 f).
4. The "Saga" Theory:
Gunkel (Genesis, Introduction), in insisting upon the resemblance of the patriarchal narrative to the "sagas" of other primitive peoples, draws attention both to the human traits of figures like Abraham, and to the very early origin of the material embodied in our present book of Genesis. First as stories orally circulated, then as stories committed to writing, and finally as a number of collections or groups of such stories formed into a cycle, the Abraham-narratives, like the Jacob-narratives and the Joseph-narratives , grew through a long and complex literary history. Gressmann (op. cit, 9-34) amends Gunkels results, in applying to them the principles of primitive literary development laid down by Professor Wundt in his Volkerpsychologie. He holds that the kernel of the Abraham-narratives is a series of fairy-stories, of international diffusion and unknown origin, which have been given "a local habitation and a name" by attaching to them the (ex hypothesi) then common name of Abraham (similarly Lot, etc.) and associating them with the country nearest to the wilderness of Judea, the home of their authors, namely, about Hebron and the Dead Sea. A high antiquity (1300-1100 BC) is asserted for these stories, their astonishing accuracy in details wherever they can be tested by extra-Biblical tradition is conceded, as also the probability that, "though many riddles still remain unsolved, yet many other traditions will be cleared up by new discoveries" of archaeology.
J. Oscar Boyd
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Easton
father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred in his native country of Chaldea. He then, with his father and his family and household, quitted the city of Ur, in which he had hitherto dwelt, and went some 300 miles north to Haran, where he abode fifteen years. The cause of his migration was a call from God (Acts 7:2-4). There is no mention of this first call in the Old Testament; it is implied, however, in Gen. 12. While they tarried at Haran, Terah died at the age of 205 years. Abram now received a second and more definite call, accompanied by a promise from God (Gen. 12:1,2); whereupon he took his departure, taking his nephew Lot with him, "not knowing whither he went" (Heb. 11:8). He trusted implicitly to the guidance of Him who had called him. Abram now, with a large household of probably a thousand souls, entered on a migratory life, and dwelt in tents. Passing along the valley of the Jabbok, in the land of Canaan, he formed his first encampment at Sichem (Gen. 12:6), in the vale or oak-grove of Moreh, between Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south. Here he received the great promise, "I will make of thee a great nation," etc. (Gen. 12:2,3,7). This promise comprehended not only temporal but also spiritual blessings. It implied that he was the chosen ancestor of the great Deliverer whose coming had been long ago predicted (Gen. 3:15). Soon after this, for some reason not mentioned, he removed his tent to the mountain district between Bethel, then called Luz, and Ai, towns about two miles apart, where he built an altar to "Jehovah." He again moved into the southern tract of Palestine, called by the Hebrews the Negeb; and was at length, on account of a famine, compelled to go down into Egypt. This took place in the time of the Hyksos, a Semitic race which now held the Egyptians in bondage. Here occurred that case of deception on the part of Abram which exposed him to the rebuke of Pharaoh (Gen. 12:18). Sarai was restored to him; and Pharaoh loaded him with presents, recommending him to withdraw from the country. He returned to Canaan richer than when he left it, "in cattle, in silver, and in gold" (Gen. 12:8; 13:2. Comp. Ps. 105:13, 14). The whole party then moved northward, and returned to their previous station near Bethel. Here disputes arose between Lot's shepherds and those of Abram about water and pasturage. Abram generously gave Lot his choice of the pasture-ground. (Comp. 1 Cor. 6:7.) He chose the well-watered plain in which Sodom was situated, and removed thither; and thus the uncle and nephew were separated. Immediately after this Abram was cheered by a repetition of the promises already made to him, and then removed to the plain or "oak-grove" of Mamre, which is in Hebron. He finally settled here, pitching his tent under a famous oak or terebinth tree, called "the oak of Mamre" (Gen. 13:18). This was his third resting-place in the land. Some fourteen years before this, while Abram was still in Chaldea, Palestine had been invaded by Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, who brought under tribute to him the five cities in the plain to which Lot had removed. This tribute was felt by the inhabitants of these cities to be a heavy burden, and after twelve years they revolted. This brought upon them the vengeance of Chedorlaomer, who had in league with him four other kings. He ravaged the whole country, plundering the towns, and carrying the inhabitants away as slaves. Among those thus treated was Lot. Hearing of the disaster that had fallen on his nephew, Abram immediately gathered from his own household a band of 318 armed men, and being joined by the Amoritish chiefs Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol, he pursued after Chedorlaomer, and overtook him near the springs of the Jordan. They attacked and routed his army, and pursued it over the range of Anti-Libanus as far as to Hobah, near Damascus, and then returned, bringing back all the spoils that had been carried away. Returning by way of Salem, i.e., Jerusalem, the king of that place, Melchizedek, came forth to meet them with refreshments. To him Abram presented a tenth of the spoils, in recognition of his character as a priest of the most high God (Gen. 14:18-20). In a recently-discovered tablet, dated in the reign of the grandfather of Amraphel (Gen. 14:1), one of the witnesses is called "the Amorite, the son of Abiramu," or Abram. Having returned to his home at Mamre, the promises already made to him by God were repeated and enlarged (Gen. 13:14). "The word of the Lord" (an expression occurring here for the first time) "came to him" (15:1). He now understood better the future that lay before the nation that was to spring from him. Sarai, now seventy-five years old, in her impatience, persuaded Abram to take Hagar, her Egyptian maid, as a concubine, intending that whatever child might be born should be reckoned as her own. Ishmael was accordingly thus brought up, and was regarded as the heir of these promises (Gen. 16). When Ishmael was thirteen years old, God again revealed yet more explicitly and fully his gracious purpose; and in token of the sure fulfilment of that purpose the patriarch's name was now changed from Abram to Abraham (Gen. 17:4,5), and the rite of circumcision was instituted as a sign of the covenant. It was then announced that the heir to these covenant promises would be the son of Sarai, though she was now ninety years old; and it was directed that his name should be Isaac. At the same time, in commemoration of the promises, Sarai's name was changed to Sarah. On that memorable day of God's thus revealing his design, Abraham and his son Ishmael and all the males of his house were circumcised (Gen. 17). Three months after this, as Abraham sat in his tent door, he saw three men approaching. They accepted his proffered hospitality, and, seated under an oak-tree, partook of the fare which Abraham and Sarah provided. One of the three visitants was none other than the Lord, and the other two were angels in the guise of men. The Lord renewed on this occasion his promise of a son by Sarah, who was rebuked for her unbelief. Abraham accompanied the three as they proceeded on their journey. The two angels went on toward Sodom; while the Lord tarried behind and talked with Abraham, making known to him the destruction that was about to fall on that guilty city. The patriarch interceded earnestly in behalf of the doomed city. But as not even ten righteous persons were found in it, for whose sake the city would have been spared, the threatened destruction fell upon it; and early next morning Abraham saw the smoke of the fire that consumed it as the "smoke of a furnace" (Gen. 19:1-28). After fifteen years' residence at Mamre, Abraham moved southward, and pitched his tent among the Philistines, near to Gerar. Here occurred that sad instance of prevarication on his part in his relation to Abimelech the King (Gen. 20). (See ABIMELECH
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HDBN
father of a great multitude
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SBD
(father of a multitude ) was the son of Terah, and founder of the great Hebrew nation. (B.C. 1996-1822.) His family, a branch of the descendants of Shem, was settled in Ur of the Chaldees, beyond the Euphrates, where Abraham was born. Terah had two other sons, Nahor and Haran. Haran died before his father in Ur of the Chaldees, leaving a son, Lot; and Terah, taking with him Abram, with Sarai his wife and his grandson Lot, emigrated to Haran in Mesopotamia, where he died. On the death of his father, Abram, then in the 75th year of his age, with Sarai and Lot, pursued his course to the land of Canaan, whither he was directed by divine command, ( Genesis 12:5 ) when he received the general promise that he should become the founder of a great nation, and that all the families of the earth should be blessed in him. He passed through the heart of the country by the great highway to Shechem, and pitched his tent beneath the terebinth of Moreh. ( Genesis 12:6 ) Here he received in vision from Jehovah the further revelation that this was the land which his descendants should inherit. ( Genesis 12:7 ) The next halting-place of the wanderer was on a mountain between Bethel and Ai, ( Genesis 12:8 ) but the country was suffering from famine, and Abram journeyed still southward to the rich cornlands of Egypt. There, fearing that the great beauty of Sarai might tempt the powerful monarch of Egypt and expose his own life to peril, he arranged that Sarai should represent herself as his sister, which her actual relationship to him, as probably the daughter of his brother Haran, allowed her to do with some semblance of truth. But her beauty was reported to the king, and she was taken into the royal harem. The deception was discovered, and Pharaoh with some indignation dismissed Abram from the country. ( Genesis 12:10-20 ) He left Egypt with great possessions, and, accompanied by Lot, returned by the south of Palestine to his former encampment between Bethel and Ai. The increased wealth of the two kinsmen was the ultimate cause of their separation. Lot chose the fertile plain of the Jordan near Sodom, while Abram pitched his tent among the groves of Mamre, close to Hebron. ( Genesis 13:1 ) ... Lot with his family and possessions having been carried away captive by Chedorlaomer king of Elam, who had invaded Sodom, Abram pursued the conquerors and utterly routed them not far from Damascus. The captives and plunder were all recovered, and Abram was greeted on his return by the king of Sodom, and by Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who mysteriously appears upon the scene to bless the patriarch and receive from him a tenth of the spoil. ( Genesis 14:1 ) ... After this the thrice-repeated promise that his descendants should become a mighty nation and possess the land in which he was a stranger was confirmed with all the solemnity of a religious ceremony. ( Genesis 15:1 ) ... Ten years had passed since he had left his fathers house, and the fulfillment of the promise was apparently more distant than at first. At the suggestion of Sarai, who despaired of having children of her own, he took as his concubine Hagar, her Egyptian main, who bore him Ishmael in the 86th year of his age. ( Genesis 16:1 ) ... [HAGAR; ISHMAEL] But this was not the accomplishment of the promise. Thirteen years elapsed, during which Abram still dwelt in Hebron, when the covenant was renewed, and the rite of circumcision established as its sign. This most important crisis in Abrams life, when he was 99 years old, is marked by the significant change of his name to Abraham, "father of a multitude;" while his wifes from Sarai became Sarah. The promise that Sarah should have a son was repeated in the remarkable scene described in ch. 18. Three men stood before Abraham as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day. The patriarch, with true Eastern hospitality, welcomed the strangers, and bade them rest and refresh themselves. The meal ended, they foretold the birth of Isaac, and went on their way to Sodom. Abraham accompanied them, and is represented as an interlocutor in a dialogue with Jehovah, in which he pleaded in vain to avert the vengeance threatened to the devoted cities of the plain. ( Genesis 18:17-33 ) In remarkable contrast with Abrahams firm faith with regard to the magnificent fortunes of his posterity stand the incident which occurred during his temporary residence among the Philistines in Gerar, whither he had for some cause removed after the destruction of Sodom. It was almost a repetition of what took place in Egypt a few years before. At length Isaac, the long-looked for child, was born. Sarahs jealousy aroused by the mockery of Ishmael at the "great banquet" which Abram made to celebrate the weaning of her son, ( Genesis 21:9 ) demanded that, with his mother Hagar, he should be driven out. ( Genesis 21:10 ) But the severest trial of his faith was yet to come. For a long period the history is almost silent. At length he receives the strange command to take Isaac, his only son, and offer him for a burnt offering at an appointed place Abraham hesitated not to obey. His faith, hitherto unshaken, supported him in this final trial, "accounting that God was able to raise up his son, even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure." ( Hebrews 11:19 ) The sacrifice was stayed by the angel of Jehovah, the promise of spiritual blessing made for the first time, and Abraham with his son returned to Beersheba, and for a time dwelt there. ( Genesis 22:1 ) ... But we find him after a few years in his original residence at Hebron, for there Sarah died, ( Genesis 23:2 ) and was buried in the cave of Machpelah. The remaining years of Abrahams life are marked by but few incidents. After Isaacs marriage with Rebekah and his removal to Lahai-roi, Abraham took to wife Keturah, by whom he had six children, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbok and Shuah, who became the ancestors of nomadic tribes inhabiting the countries south and southeast of Palestine. Abraham lived to see the gradual accomplishment of the promise in the birth of his grandchildren Jacob and Esau, and witnessed their growth to manhood. ( Genesis 25:26 ) At the goodly age of 175 he was "gathered to his people," and laid beside Sarah in the tomb of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael. ( Genesis 25:7-10 )
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ABDEEL |
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ISBE
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 (Jer 36:26).
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Easton
servant of God, (Jer. 36:26), the father of Shelemiah.
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HDBN
a vapor; a cloud of God
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ABRAM |
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Easton
exalted father. (see ABRAHAM
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SBD
(a high father ), the earlier name of Abraham.
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ABDON |
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Easton
servile. (1.) The son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, the tenth judge of Israel (Judg. 12:13-15). He is probably the Bedan of 1 Sam. 12:11. (2.) The first-born of Gibeon of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:30; 9:36). (3.) The son of Micah, one of those whom Josiah sent to the prophetess Huldah to ascertain from her the meaning of the recently discovered book of the law (2 Chr. 34:20). He is called Achbor in 2 Kings 22:12. (4.) One of the "sons" of Shashak (1 Chr. 8:23). This is the name also of a Levitical town of the Gershonites, in the tribe of Asher (Josh. 21:30; 1 Chr. 6:74). The ruins of Abdeh, some 8 miles north-east of Accho, probably mark its site.
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HDBN
servant; cloud of judgment
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SBD
(servile ). A judge of Israel, ( Judges 12:13 Judges 12:15 ) perhaps the same person as Bedan, in ( 1 Samuel 12:11 ) (B.C. 1233-1225). Son of Shashak. ( 1 Chronicles 8:23 ) First-born son of Jehiel, son of Gideon. ( 1 Chronicles 8:30 ; 1 Chronicles 9:35 1 Chronicles 9:36 ). Son of Micah, a contemporary of Josiah, ( 2 Chronicles 34:20 ) called Achbor in ( 2 Kings 22:12 ) (B.C. 628.) A city in the tribe if Asher, given to the Gershonites, ( Joshua 21:30 ; 1 Chronicles 6:74 ) the modern Abdeh, 10 miles northeast of Accho.
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AHOAH |
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ISBE
a-ho-a (achoah, "brotherly"(?)): A son of Bela of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Ch 8:4).
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Easton
brotherly, one of the sons of Bela, the son of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:4). He is also called Ahiah (ver. 7) and Iri (1 Chr. 7:7). His descendants were called Ahohites (2 Sam. 23:9, 28).
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HDBN
a live brother; my thorn or thistle
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SBD
(brothely ), son of Bela the son of Benjamin. ( 1 Chronicles 8:4 ) In ( 1 Chronicles 8:7 ) he is called AHIAH. The patronymic, AHOHITE, is found in ( 2 Samuel 23:9 2 Samuel 23:28 ; 1 Chronicles 11:12 1 Chronicles 11:29 ; 27:4 )
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| 亞何利亞伯 |
AHOLIAB |
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代表
出31:6 出35:34 出36:1 出38:23
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ISBE
a-ho-li-ab.
See OHOLIAB.
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Easton
tent of the father, an artist of the tribe of Dan, appointed to the work of preparing materials for the tabernacle (Ex. 31:6; 35:34; 36:1, 2; 38:23).
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HDBN
the tent of the father
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AHLAI |
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ISBE
a-li (achlay "O would that!"): (1) A Son of Sheshan (1 Ch 2:31) or according to 1 Ch 2:34 a daughter of Sheshan, for here we read: "Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters." (2) The father of Zabad, a soldier in Davids army (1 Ch 11:41).
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HDBN
beseeching; sorrowing; expecting
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SBD
, or Ahla-i (ornamental ) daughter of Sheshan, whom, having no issue, he gave in marriage to his Egyptian slave Jarha. ( 1 Chronicles 2:31 1 Chronicles 2:35 ) From her were descended Zabad, one of Davids mighty men, ( 1 Chronicles 11:41 ) and Aza-riah, one of the captains of hundreds in the reign of Joash. ( 2 Chronicles 23:1 )
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| 亞們 |
AMON |
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代表
王下21:19 王下21:20 王下21:21 王下21:22 王下21:23 王下21:24 王下21:25 王下21:26 代下33:21 代下33:22 代下33:23 代下33:24 代下33:25 王上22:26 尼7:59 拉2:57
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ISBE
a-mon (amon): A name identical with that of the Egyptian local deity of Thebes (No); compare Jer 46:25. The foreign name given to a Hebrew prince is remarkable, as is also the fact that it is one of the two or three royal names of Judah not compounded with the name of Yahweh. See MANASSEH. It seems to reflect the sentiment which his fanatical father sought to make prevail that Yahweh had no longer any more claim to identification with the realm than had other deities.
(1) A king of Judah, son and successor of Manasseh; reigned two years and was assassinated in his own palace by the officials of his household. The story of his reign is told briefly in 2 Ki 21:19-26, and still more briefly, though in identical terms, so far as they go, in 2 Ch 33:21-25. His short reign was merely incidental in the history of Judah; just long enough to reveal the traits and tendencies which directly or indirectly led to his death. It was merely a weaker continuation of the regime of his idolatrous father, though without the fanaticism which gave the father positive character, and without the touch of piety which, if the Chroniclers account is correct, tempered the fathers later years.
If the assassination was the initial act of a revolution the latter was immediately suppressed by "the people of the land," who put to death the conspirators and placed Amons eight-year-old son Josiah on the throne. In the view of the present writer the motive of the affair was probably connected with the perpetuity of the Davidic dynasty, which, having survived so long according to prophetic prediction (compare 2 Sam 7:16; Ps 89:36,37), was an essential guarantee of Yahwehs favor. Manassehs foreign sympathies, however, had loosened the hold of Yahweh on the officials of his court; so that, instead of being the loyal center of devotion to Israels religious and national idea, the royal household was but a hotbed of worldly ambitions, and all the more for Manassehs prosperous reign, so long immune from any stroke of Divine judgment. It is natural that, seeing the insignificance of Amons administration, some ambitious clique, imitating the policy that had frequently succeeded in the Northern Kingdom, should strike for the throne. They had reckoned, however, without estimating the inbred Davidic loyalty of the body of the people. It was a blow at one of their most cherished tenets, committing the nation both politically and religiously to utter uncertainty. That this impulsive act of the people was in the line of the purer religious movement which was ripening in Israel does not prove that the spiritually-minded "remnant" was minded to violence and conspiracy, it merely shows what a stern and sterling fiber of loyalty still existed, seasoned and confirmed by trial below the corrupting cults and fashions of the ruling classes. In the tragedy of Amons reign, in short, we get a glimpse of the basis of sound principle that lay at the common heart of Israel.
(2) A governor of Samaria (1 Ki 22:26); the one to whom the prophet Micaiah was committed as a prisoner by King Ahab, after the prophet had disputed the predictions of the court prophets and foretold the kings death in battle.
(3) The head of the "children of Solomons servants" (Neh 7:59) who returned from captivity; reckoned along with the Nethinim, or temple slaves. Called also Ami (Ezr 2:57).
John Franklin Genung
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Easton
builder. (1.) The governor of Samaria in the time of Ahab. The prophet Micaiah was committed to his custody (1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chr. 18:25). (2.) The son of Manasseh, and fourteenth king of Judah. He restored idolatry, and set up the images which his father had cast down. Zephaniah (1:4; 3:4, 11) refers to the moral depravity prevailing in this king's reign. He was assassinated (2 Kings 21:18-26: 2 Chr. 33:20-25) by his own servants, who conspired against him. (3.) An Egyptian god, usually depicted with a human body and the head of a ram, referred to in Jer. 46:25, where the word "multitudes" in the Authorized Version is more appropriately rendered "Amon" in the Revised Version. In Nah. 3:8 the expression "populous No" of the Authorized version is rendered in the Revised Version "No-amon." Amon is identified with Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis. (4.) Neh. 7:59.
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SBD
(builder ). One of Ahabs governors. ( 1 Kings 22:26 ; 2 Chronicles 18:25 ) King of Judah, son and successor of Manasseh, reigned two years, from B.C. 642 to 640. Amon devoted himself wholly to the service of false gods, but was killed in a conspiracy, and was succeeded by his son Josiah.
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| 亞倫 |
AARON |
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ISBE
ar-un, sometimes pronounced aron (aharon--Septuagint Aaron, meaning uncertain: Gesenius suggests "mountaineer"; Furst, "enlightened"; others give "rich," "fluent." Cheyne mentions Redslobs "ingenious conjecture" of ha-aron--"the ark"--with its mythical, priestly significance, Encyclopedia Biblica under the word):
1. Family:
Probably eldest son of Amram (Ex 6:20), and according to the uniform genealogical lists (Ex 6:16-20; 1 Ch 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 Ch 2). Levi and his family were zealous, even to violence (Gen 34:25; Ex 32:26), for the national honor and religion, and Aaron no doubt inherited his full portion of this spirit. His mothers name was Jochebed, who was also of the Levitical family (Ex 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 (Ex 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 brothers 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 (Ex 4:27). While Moses, whose great gifts lay along other lines, was slow of speech (Ex 4:10), Aaron was a ready spokesman, and became his brothers representative, being called his "mouth" (Ex 4:16) and his "prophet" (Ex 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 (Ex 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 (Ex 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 (Ex 17:10,12).
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 (Ex 24:1,9,10). 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 (Ex 32). 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 (Ex 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 (Ex 28); and after the erection and dedication of the tabernacle, he and his sons were formally inducted into the sacred office (Lev 8). It appears that Aaron alone was anointed with the holy oil (Lev 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 (Lev 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 (Nu 12), 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 (Nu 16) he himself, along with Moses, became the object of a revolt of his own tribe in conspiracy with leaders of Dan 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 (Nu 17).
See AARONS 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 (Nu 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 Nu 20, a second incidental record in the list of stations of the wanderings in the wilderness (Nu 33:38,39), and a third casual reference (Dt 10:6) in an address of Moses. These are not in the least contradictory or inharmonious. The dramatic scene is fully presented in Nu 20: Moses, Aaron and Eleazar go up to Mount Hor in the peoples 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 Nu 33 records the event of his death just after the list of stations in the general vicinity of Mount Hor; while Moses in Dt 10 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 Lev 10. 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 (Nu 20:28; Dt 10:6).
Edward Mack
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Easton
the eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before his brother Moses, and a number of years after his sister Miriam (2:1,4; 7:7). He married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab of the house of Judah (6:23; 1 Chr. 2:10), by whom he had four sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. When the time for the deliverance of Isarael out of Egypt drew nigh, he was sent by God (Ex. 4:14,27-30) to meet his long-absent brother, that he might co-operate with him in all that they were required to do in bringing about the Exodus. He was to be the "mouth" or "prophet" of Moses, i.e., was to speak for him, because he was a man of a ready utterance (7:1,2,9,10,19). He was faithful to his trust, and stood by Moses in all his interviews with Pharaoh. When the ransomed tribes fought their first battle with Amalek in Rephidim, Moses stood on a hill overlooking the scene of the conflict with the rod of God in his outstretched hand. On this occasion he was attended by Aaron and Hur, his sister's husband, who held up his wearied hands till Joshua and the chosen warriors of Israel gained the victory (17:8-13). Afterwards, when encamped before Sinai, and when Moses at the command of God ascended the mount to receive the tables of the law, Aaron and his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, along with seventy of the elders of Israel, were permitted to accompany him part of the way, and to behold afar off the manifestation of the glory of Israel's God (Ex. 19:24; 24:9-11). While Moses remained on the mountain with God, Aaron returned unto the people; and yielding through fear, or ignorance, or instability of character, to their clamour, made unto them a golden calf, and set it up as an object of worship (Ex. 32:4; Ps. 106:19). On the return of Moses to the camp, Aaron was sternly rebuked by him for the part he had acted in this matter; but he interceded for him before God, who forgave his sin (Deut. 9:20). On the mount, Moses received instructions regarding the system of worship which was to be set up among the people; and in accordance therewith Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priest's office (Lev. 8; 9). Aaron, as high priest, held henceforth the prominent place appertaining to that office. When Israel had reached Hazeroth, in "the wilderness of Paran," Aaron joined with his sister Miriam in murmuring against Moses, "because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married," probably after the death of Zipporah. But the Lord vindicated his servant Moses, and punished Miriam with leprosy (Num. 12). Aaron acknowledged his own and his sister's guilt, and at the intercession of Moses they were forgiven. Twenty years after this, when the children of Israel were encamped in the wilderness of Paran, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram conspired against Aaron and his sons; but a fearful judgment from God fell upon them, and they were destroyed, and the next day thousands of the people also perished by a fierce pestilence, the ravages of which were only stayed by the interposition of Aaron (Num. 16). That there might be further evidence of the divine appointment of Aaron to the priestly office, the chiefs of the tribes were each required to bring to Moses a rod bearing on it the name of his tribe. And these, along with the rod of Aaron for the tribe of Levi, were laid up overnight in the tabernacle, and in the morning it was found that while the other rods remained unchanged, that of Aaron "for the house of Levi" budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds (Num. 17:1-10). This rod was afterwards preserved in the tabernacle (Heb. 9:4) as a memorial of the divine attestation of his appointment to the priesthood. Aaron was implicated in the sin of his brother at Meribah (Num. 20:8-13), and on that account was not permitted to enter the Promised Land. When the tribes arrived at Mount Hor, "in the edge of the land of Edom," at the command of God Moses led Aaron and his son Eleazar to the top of that mountain, in the sight of all the people. There he stripped Aaron of his priestly vestments, and put them upon Eleazar; and there Aaron died on the top of the mount, being 123 years old (Num. 20:23-29. Comp. Deut. 10:6; 32:50), and was "gathered unto his people." The people, "even all the house of Israel," mourned for him thirty days. Of Aaron's sons two survived him, Eleazar, whose family held the high-priesthood till the time of Eli; and Ithamar, in whose family, beginning with Eli, the high-priesthood was held till the time of Solomon. Aaron's other two sons had been struck dead (Lev. 10:1,2) for the daring impiety of offering "strange fire" on the alter of incense. The Arabs still show with veneration the traditionary site of Aaron's grave on one of the two summits of Mount Hor, which is marked by a Mohammedan chapel. His name is mentioned in the Koran, and there are found in the writings of the rabbins many fabulous stories regarding him. He was the first anointed priest. His descendants, "the house of Aaron," constituted the priesthood in general. In the time of David they were very numerous (1 Chr. 12:27). The other branches of the tribe of Levi held subordinate positions in connection with the sacred office. Aaron was a type of Christ in his official character as the high priest. His priesthood was a "shadow of heavenly things," and was intended to lead the people of Israel to look forward to the time when "another priest" would arise "after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 6:20). (See MOSES
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HDBN
a teacher; lofty; mountain of strength
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SBD
(a teacher, or lofty ), the son of Amram and Jochebed, and the older brother of Moses and Miriam. ( Numbers 26:59 ; 33:39 ) (B.C. 1573.) He was a Levite, and is first mentioned in ( Exodus 4:14 ) He was appointed by Jehovah to be the interpreter, ( Exodus 4:16 ) of his brother Moses, who was "slow of speech;" and accordingly he was not only the organ of communication with the Israelites and with Pharaoh, ( Exodus 4:30 ; 7:2 ) but also the actual instrument of working most of the miracles of the Exodus. ( Exodus 7:19 ) etc. On the way to Mount Sinai, during the battle with Amalek, Aaron with Hur stayed up the weary hands of Moses when they were lifted up for the victory of Israel. ( Exodus 17:9 ) He is mentioned as dependent upon his brother and deriving all his authority from him. Left, on Moses departure into Sinai, to guide the people, Aaron is tried for a moment on his own responsibility, and he fails from a weak inability to withstand the demand of the people for visible "gods to go before them," by making an image of Jehovah, in the well-known form of Egyptian idolatry (Apis or Mnevis). He repented of his sin, and Moses gained forgiveness for him. ( 9:20 ) Aaron was not consecrated by Moses to the new office of the high priesthood. ( Exodus 29:9 ) From this time the history of Aaron is almost entirely that of the priesthood, and its chief feature is the great rebellion of Korah and the Levites. Leaning, as he seems to have done, wholly on Moses, it is not strange that he should have shared his sin at Meribah and its punishment. See MOSES. ( Numbers 20:10-12 ) Aarons death seems to have followed very speedily. It took place on Mount Hor, after the transference of his robes and office to Eleazar. ( Numbers 20:28 ) This mount is still called the "Mountain of Aaron." See HOR. The wife of Aaron was Elisheba, ( Exodus 6:23 ) and the two sons who survived him, Eleazar and Ithamar. The high priesthood descended to the former, and to his descendants until the time of Eli, who, although of the house of Ithamar, received the high priesthood and transmitted it to his children; with them it continued till the accession of Solomon, who took it from Abiathar and restored it to Zadok (of the house of Eleazar). See ABIATHAR.
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ARIEL |
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ISBE
a-ri-el (ariyel or ariel, "lioness of God"): But the word occurs in Ezek 43:15,16, and is there translated in the Revised Version (British and American) "ALTAR HEARTH."
(1) According to the Revised Version (British and American) a man of Moab whose two sons were slain by Davids warrior Benaiah the son of Jehoiada (2 Sam 23:20; 1 Ch 11:22). Here the King James Version translates "two lionlike men of Moab."
(2) A name applied to Jerusalem (Isa 29:1,2,7). The many explanations of the name are interesting, but mainly conjectural.
(3) One of the members of the delegation sent by Ezra to the place Casiphia, to secure temple ministers for his expedition to Jerusalem (Ezr 8:16).
Willis J. Beecher
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Easton
the lion of God. (1.) One of the chief men sent by Ezra to procure Levites for the sanctuary (Ezra 8:16). (2.) A symbolic name for Jerusalem (Isa. 29:1, 2, 7) as "victorious under God," and in Ezek. 43:15, 16, for the altar (marg., Heb. 'ariel) of burnt offerings, the secret of Israel's lion-like strength.
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HDBN
altar; light or lion of God
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SBD
(lion of God ). One of the "chief men" who under Ezra directed the caravan which he led back from Babylon to Jerusalem. ( Ezra 8:16 ) (B.C. 459.) The word occurs also in reference to two Moabites slain by Benaiah. ( 2 Samuel 23:20 ; 1 Chronicles 11:22 ) Many regard the word as an epithet, "lion-like;" but it seems better to look upon it as a proper name, and translate "two [sons] of Ariel." A designation given by Isaiah to the city of Jerusalem. ( Isaiah 29:1 Isaiah 29:2 Isaiah 29:7 ) We must understand by it either "lion of God," as the chief city, or "hearth of God," a synonym for the altar of burnt offering. On the whole it seems most probable that, as a name given to Jerusalem, Ariel means "lion of God," whilst the word used by Ezekiel, ( Ezekiel 43:15 Ezekiel 43:16 ) means "hearth of God."
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ISBE - 國際標準聖經百科全書 (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
Easton - Easton's Bible Dictionary
HBND - Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
SBD - Smith's Bible Dictionary
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NIV
靈修
新聞
貼圖
為教會
