5.-äfe«gK#^aK ü- SäHEBSSStJiS X3v. QSS 1 ■ :* gsK S •'- .•- 1 I »>ii'.fe*&öfcäjSje&: _Wi.. ^-■•' V i?' ’ • '•■' -f ^Ä>i?^V’*s^*r,W-«S!ÄS;=-. . >'j»rf'i : • - -•.•*■-Jcl» v-. ^..v Mf» - i l ä?MS‘^»S5sl® MM— K v, ^ |fi£$t&j^SN" /Ä'tf' •»; iVrti •»/>'« V"'.,.5*v--:- Y> * ; iiß-j ;p •■• ■ • -o • • ■■--. •'• ' -,: \:V>-yf.?v‘-. •' -''-^^fc^4^';',‘. -' -'jV^.f1* ii|^«^-t?i^vtV^Vi^*V.'-^XlrV' iaV^V’^-'vTl V&V»' ................................. ^ tv> iP&Zfgiy;>\ •‘^J^*;.'**-•1Ä-5' v.- •■; ‘ '*'W&2 ^£S*'-fee«^--.^A-UV?: H* V3&&J? >; r^v* &5iifäg5s £*v*£#1^Va?*r' M5b»5y ?,i*?i:v^s a-^vväc??^ *T^llpg|^ 1111 »ffgg ^Ä^SK'XiiS' 'Vh?i es»s 3£§SS %;ir 'V-v- ^■fV'.'t. v^-> ■ - • « - - .... -. , '■ ;$;■ ■ * ' 3ÖJ >0 - :';i: . .. #4ii 'üämMß •*' : * ‘ ■ *- X JBB&SSßf&i} f; Mi i. ' ■ ■ ■- af?sx%^........... " ü' ' U jv ....... ......... avvS SsiV,^ g q&: V- ^'?r ~'1 X v.': ■;■;;' „ -' C&f&S&t Wl&ygpm tVre{i'-Y'-. ■ :i'A'Ä®-. Ar<« S '.'.y-’- “V ’lv- "■%'&':■ i«9S:';. •.' ’.r4Ä?TAHi ,>®vt'k- ' SÄfll »gtel# *»!'•: -•-' ^ t :-;s*>5«%».«» ■■. .. ’Ayi:.;i : . S^St-, nsaasfe«&s..i:i. w»!S3isw^&^*A.^5S5aKaY P'&Jbv. , v _.. • «vA^r '* • •i.-.MfÄfi^c*. ■ V^-''- •*' vir .. v.. > k0^p&$%' V .k.X'V- ' ’;•? .'• 2‘^r : .: , r:‘vV <\ r -V^' ■ . '• : .': -i. ‘.’S'» ' •X.'. ' _*. g^i*^**y ‘i ?<'/.'-i^'» yfi-y mm ^ v . ■ I ,-'\~**1 New Bible Dictionary NEW BIBLE DICTIONARY THIRD EDITION Organizing editor (first edition) J. D. Douglas Lecturer, Singapore Bible College Revision editor (second edition) N. Hillyer formerly Librarian, Tyndale House, Cambridge Revision editor (third edition) D R W. Wood Senior Editor, Inter- Varsity Press Consulting editors for the third edition: I. H. Marshall Professor of New Testament Exegesis, Unirersity of Aberdeen A. R. Millard Rankin Professor of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages. Unirersity of Liverpool J. I. Packer Professor of Theology. Regent College, Vancouver D. J. Wiseman Emeritus Professor of Assyriology, Unirersity of London INTER-VARSITY PRESS, LEICESTER, ENGLAND INTERVARSITY PRESS, DOWNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS INTER-VARSITY PRESS 38 De Montfort Street, Leicester LEI 7GP, England Published and sold in the USA and Canada by INTERVARSITY PRESS, USA 5206 Main Street, PO Box 1400, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515, USA. © The Inter-Varsity Fellowship 1962, and Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship 1982. This edition © Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, Leicester, England 1996. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval System, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or, in the UK, the Copyright Licensing Agency. Scripture cjuotations are taken mostly from the Revised Standard Version, Copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. First edition May 1962 Reprinted 1962, 1963 Reprinted (with bibliographical revision) 1965 Reprinted 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 Second edition (completely revised and reset) 1982 Reprinted 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 Third edition (with extensive bibliographical revision and some revision of articles) 1996 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data New Bible dicttonary / revision editor, D. R. W. Wood: Consulting editors, I. H. Marshall... [et al.]—3rd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8308-1439-6 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Bible—Dictionaries I. Wood, D. R. W. II. Marshall, 1. Howard BS440N42 1996 220.3—dc20 UK ISBN 0-85110-659-5 USA ISBN 0-8308-1439-6 Set in Times New Roman Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc 96-24002 CIP Inter-Varsity Press, England, is the book-publishing division of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (formerly the Inter-Varsity Fellowship), a Student movement linking Christian Unions in universities and Colleges throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For Information about local and national aciivities write to UCCF, 38 De Montfort Street, Leicester LEI 7GR Inter Varsity Press*. USA, is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship*, a Student movement active on campus at hundreds of universities, Colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For In formation about local and regional aciivities, write Public Relations Dept., InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, 6400 Schroeder Rd., PO Box 7895, Madison, Wl 53707-7895. Contents Preface (vü) How to use this Dictionary (viü) Transliteration (ix) Abbreviations (x) List of Contributors (XV) Dictionary articles 1 Index 1273 List of Animais 1295 Acknowledgments 1297 Preface We have been very greatly encouraged by the continuing and consistent demand for the New Bible Dictionary since it was first published in 1962 and revised in 1982. The major part of this reference work still Stands and has required little or no modification to maintain its Claim to be ‘New’ and up-to-date. Recent research, however, especially in the cultural and archaeological areas, needed to be incorporated. This has been done in this third edition wherever possible, subject to the limits imposed by the existing format. The opportunity has been taken to update the bibliographical entries and to make them more relevant for the reader of today. Also the work now makes reference to the New International Version of the Bible and other more recent translations in addition to the Revised Standard Version. The revised volume reflects the same evangelical viewpoint as the previous editions and continues to embody loyalty to Holy Scripture as God’s Word to humankind. The contribu-tors are drawn largely, but not exclusively, from the membership of the Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical Research, part of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (formerly Inter-Varsity Fellowship). Individual authors and revisers are responsible only for their own contri-butions and do not necessarily endorse all the opinions expressed by their colleagues; no attempt has been made to impose any rigid uniformity upon the work as a whole or to exclude the expression of different opinions within the bounds of our basic understanding of Holy Scripture. We are grateful to many academic colleagues for their helpful co-operation. In most cases the original authors of articles have been responsible for updating their entries. Where this has not been possible, other contributors have made the necessary revisions. In addition, a number of fresh entries have been written for this volume. We are indebted above all to Derek Wood for undertaking the hard task of organizing this revision; also to Philip Hillyer and Andrew Warren for their painstaking work on the bibli-ographies, to Steve Carter for patient labour on both the bibliographies and the index and to Lyn Saville for checking both manuscripts and proofs. This new edition of the New Bible Dictionary builds on the foundations laid by the editors of former editions and we gratefully acknowledge our indebtedness to J. D. Douglas, the Organizing Editor of the original work and Norman Hillyer, Revision Editor for the second edition. We remember too with gratitude the masterful work of our late colleagues R. V. G. Tasker (first edition), F. F. Bruce and Donald Guthrie (first and second editions). The patient care, consistent labour and wide understanding of these and other fellow-labourers have ensured a continuing life for a volume that is still, we believe, much needed for on-going Christian witness in the church today. Our desire and prayer is that this new edition will, like its predecessors, enable all its users, teachers and students of the Bible alike, to reach a fuller understanding of the Word of God and its message for us today. I.H.M. A.R.M. J.I.P. D.J.W. How to use this Dictionary Articles are arranged in alphabetical Order and are easily found under the headline at the top of each page. Where the reference required does not appear as an article, reference should be made to the index. Index A comprehensive index containing the significant references to each topic is to be found on p. 1273. This includes locations on maps and an index to the illustrations. Cross-references An asterisk before a word indicates that further relevant information will be .found in the article under that title and is equivalent to the abbrevia-tion ? = s f h y = g X = 1 T = t II nx 8 = d p* = m V = y yy = ng € = e V = n 4> = ph av = au C = z Z = X X = ch €V = eu V = e o = o = ps ov = ou e th TT = P CO = ö VI = yi Arabic 1 = ■ c = h j. er- = § t = g 0 = n = b •S = d = s <3 = f 0 = h O = t = d = d <3 = k J = w k = t j = r 1, = t *i = k ’■ quod vide (Lat.), which see quoted R. Rabbi LXX Septuagint (Gk. Version of OT) Rom. Roman Macc. Maccabees (Apoc.) S South, Southern mg. margin Sem. Semitic mod. modern Suppl. supplementary volume MS (MSS) manuscript(s) J. r. sub verbo (Lat.), under the word MT Massoretic text Symm. Symmachus’ Gk. tr. of OT. 2nd Cen- N North, northern tury AD n.f neue Folge (Ger.), new series Syr. Syriac n.s. new series Targ. Targum NT New Testament Theod. Theodotion’s Gk. tr. of OT. 2nd Cen- OE Old English tury AD OL Old Latin TR Textus Receptus op. cit. opere citato (Lat.), in the work cited tr. translated, translation above Turk. Turkish OT Old Testament V. (vv.) verse(s) P Priestly Narrative V./. vario lectio (Lat.), variant reading par. and parallel(s) vol. volume passim to be found at various places through- vss versions out the text Vulg. Vulgate Pent. per se Pentateuch by or in itself W West, Western List of Contributors at the time of publication of the third edition of this Dictionary. The Information given below was correct a.a.j. A. A. Jones, M.A., B.D, Ph D., formerly Head of Department of Religious Studies, Avery Hill College, London. a.c. R. A. Cole, M.Th., Ph.D., formerly Lecturer in Old Testament Language and Literature, University of Sydney, Moore College, Sydney, and Trinity College, Singapore. a.e.c. A. E. Cundall, B.A., B.D., formerly Principal, Bible College of Victoria, Australia. a.e.w. A. E. Willingale, B.A., B.D , M.Th., Romford, Essex. a.f. The late A. Flavelle, B.A., B.D., formerly Minister of Finaghy Presbyterian Church, Belfast. a.f.w. A. F. Walls, O.B.E., M.A., B.Litt., D.D., F.S.A. Scot., Director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World, and Honorary Professor in the University of Edinburgh. a.g. A. Gelston, M.A., Reader in Theology, University of Durham. a.k.c. A. K. Cragg, M.A., D.Phil., D.D., Assistant Bishop of Wakefield and formerly Vicar of Helme, Huddersfield. A R. The late A. Ross, M.A., B.D, D.D , formerly Professor of New Testament, Free Church College, Edinburgh. a.r.m. A. R. Millard, M.A., M.Phil., F.S.A., Rankin Professor of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages, University of Liverpool. a.s. The late A. Stuart, M.Sc., Dip.R.M.S., formerly Emeritus Professor of Geology, University of Exeter. a.s.w. The late A. S. Wood, B.A., Ph D., F R.Hist.S., formerly Principal, ClifTCollege, Calver, Derbyshire. a. van s. The late A. van Selms, Th.D., formerly Emeritus Professor of Semitic Languages, University of Pretoria. b. a.m. B. A. Milne, M.A., B.D., Ph.D., Senior Minister, First Baptist Church, Vancouver, B.C. b.f.c.a. The late B. F. C. Atkinson, M.A., Ph.D., formerly Under-Librarian, University of Cambridge. b.f.h. B. F. Harris, B.A., M.A., B.D., Ph.D., formerly Associate Professor of History, Macquarie University, New South Wales. b.l.s. B. L. Smith, B.D., Th.Schob, Lecturer in Biblical and Historical Theology, Sydney Missionary and Bible College. b. o.b. B. O. Banwell, B.A, M.A., formerly Lecturer in Old Testament, Rhodes University; Methodist Minister, Fort Beaufort, S. Africa. c. D.w. C. de Wit, Docteur en philologie et histoire orientales; Conservateur honoraire Musees Royaux d’Art et Histoire, Brussels; Emeritus Professor of the University of Louvain. c.f.p. The late C. F. Pfeiffer, B.A., B.D., Ph D., formerly Associate Professor of Old Testament, Gordon Divinity School, Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. c.h.d. C. H. Duncan, M.A., B.D., Ph D., Th.D., Lecturer in Philosophy, State College of Victoria, Australia; Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. c.j.d. C. J. Davey, B.Sc., M.A., Inspector of Mines, Victoria, Australia. c.j.H. The late C. J. Hemer, M.A., Ph.D., formerly Librarian and Research Fellow, Tyndale House, Cambridge. c. l.f. C. L Feinberg, A B, A M., Th.B., Th.M., Ph D., Emeritus Professor of Semitics and Old Testament and Dean of Talbot Theological Seminary, La Mirada, California. d. a.h. The late D. A. Hubbard, B.A., B.D., Th.M., Ph D., D.D., L.H.D., formerly President, Füller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. d a.Ha D. A. Hagner, B.D., Th.M., Ph D., George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament, Füller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. d.b.k. The late D. B. Knox, B.A., B.D., M.Th., D.Phil, A.L.C.D., formerly Founding Principal, George Whitefield College, Cape Town. d.f. The late D. Freeman, B.A., Th.B., Th.M., Ph D., formerly Professor, Rhode Island Junior College. d.f.p. D. F. Payne, B.A., M.A., Academic Dean, London Bible College. d.f.w D. F. Wright, M.A., Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History, New College, University of Edinburgh. d g. The late D. Guthrie, B.D., M.Th., Ph D., formerly President, London Bible College. d.g.p. D. G. Peterson, M.A., B.D., Ph D., Th.Schob, Principal of Oak Hill College, London. d.g.s. D. G. Stradling, Magdalen College, Oxford. d.h.f. D. H. Field, B.A., Vice-Principal, Oak Hill College, London. d.h.t. The late D. H. Tongue, M.A., formerly Lecturer in New Testament, Trinity College, Bristol. d.h.w. D H. Wheaton, M.A., B.D., Vicar of Christ Church, Ware; formerly Principal, Oak Hill College, London; Canon of St Alban’s Cathedral. d.j.a.c. D. J. A. Clines, M.A., Professor of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield. d.j.v.l. D. J. V. Lane, Ll.B., B.D., International Minister, Overseas Missionary Fellowship. d.j.w. D. J. Wiseman, O.B.E., M.A., D.Lit., F.B.A., F.K.A., F.S.A., Emeritus Professor of Assyriology, University of London. D.K.F. D. K. Falk, B.A., M.C.S., Ph D., Kennicott Fellow in Hebrew, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, and Junior Research Fellow in Qumran, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. d.k.i. D. K. Innes, M.A., B.D., Vicar of Doddington, Newnham and Wychling, Kent. D. o.s. D. O. Swann, B.A., B.D., formerly Minister of Ashford Evangelical Congregational Church, Middlesex. D R. de l. D. R. de Lacey, M.A., Ph.D., Computer Ofhcer, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Cambridge; formerly Lecturer in New Testament, Ridley Hall, Cambridge. d.r.h. D. R. Hall, M.A., M.Th., Superintendent Minister of the Rhyl and Prestatyn Circuit of the Methodist Church. dt. D. H. Trapneil, M.A , M.D., F.R.C.P, FR.CR., Consultant Radiologist, Westminster Hospital, London. d.w. D. Wenham, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer in New Testament, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. d.w.b. D. W. Baker, A B., M.C.S., M.Phih, Ph.D., Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Ashland Theological Seminar, Ohio. d.w.b.r. D. W. B. Robinson, A.O., M.A., Th.D., formerly Archbishop of Sydney, New South Wales. d.w.g. D. W. Gooding, M.A., Ph.D., M.I.R.A., Emeritus Professor of Old Testament Greek, The Queen’s University, Belfast. E. A.J. E. A. Judge, M.A., Professor of History, Macquarie University, New South Wales. E. E.E. E. E. Ellis, Ph D., Research Professor of Theology, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Forth Worth, Texas. Ej.y. The late E. J. Young, B.A.. Th.M., Ph.D., formerly Professor of Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. e.m.b. The late E. M. Blaiklock, O.B.E., M.A.. Litt.D., formerly Professor of Classics, University of Auckland. e.m.b.g. E. M. B. Green, M.A., B.D., Archbishops’ Advisor in Evangelism. e. m.y. E. M. Yamauchi, B.A., M.A., Ph D., Professor of History, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. f. c.f. The late F. C. Fensham, M.A., Ph D., D.D., formerly Professor in Semitic Languages, University of Stellenbosch. f.d.k. F. D. Kidner, M.A., A.R.C.M., formerly Warden, Tyndale House, Cambridge. f.f. F. Foulkes, B.A., B.D.. M.A.. M.Sc., formerly Warden of the College of St John the Evangelist, Auckland, New Zealand, and Lecturer in Biblical History and Literature, University of Auckland. f.f.b. The late F. F. Bruce, M.A., D.D., F.B.A., formerly Emeritus Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, University of Manchester. f.h.p. F. H. Palmer, M.A., formerly Diocesan Missioner and Minister of St Matthew’s Church, Walsall, West Midlands. F. N.H. F. N. Hepper, F.l.Biob, B.Sc., F.L.S., formerly Assistant Keeper, The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. f. s.f. F. S. Fitzsimmonds, B.A., B.D., M.Th., formerly Vice-Principal, Spurgeon’s College, London. g. c.d.h. The late G. C. D. Howley, formerly Consulting Editor of The IVilness. g.g.g. G. G. Garner, B.A., B.D., formerly Director, Australian Institute of Archaeology, Melbourne. G. t.D. G. 1. Davies, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer in Old Testament and Intertestamental Studies, University of Cambridge. G.i.E. G. I. Emmerson, M.A., Ph.D., Dip.Or. Lang., Lecturer, Department of Theology, University of Birmingham. g.j.w. G. J. Wenham, M.A., Ph.D., Professor o Old Testament, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. g.m. G. McFarlane, Ph.D., Lecturer in Systematic Theology, London Bible College. g.r.b.-m. G. R. Beasley-Murray, M.A.,Ph.D., D.D., D. Litt., formerly Principal of Spurgeon’s College, London. g.s.c. The late G. S. Cansdale, B.A., B.Sc., F. L.S., Former Consultant Biologist. G. s.M.w. The late G. S. M. Walker, M.A., B.D., Ph.D., formerly Lecturer in Church History, University of Leeds. g.t.m. The late G. T. Manley, M.A., sometime Fellow, Christ’s College, Cambridge. g w. G. Walters, B.A., B.D , Ph D.. Emeritus Professor of Ministry, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts. g. w.g. G. W. Grogan, B.D., M.Th., Principal Emeritus, Glasgow Bible College. h. a.g.b. H. A. G. Belben, M.A., B.D., formerly Principal, Cliff College, Calver, Derbyshire. H. D.McD. H. D. McDonald, B.A., B.D., Ph D., D.D., formerly Vice-Principal, London Bible College. h.g.m.w. H. G. M. Williamson, M.A., Ph D., D.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew, University of Oxford. h.l.e. The late H. L. Ellison, B.A., B.D., formerly Senior Tutor, Moorlands Bible College. h.m.c. H. M. Carson, B.A., B.D., formerly Minister of Knighton Evangelical Free Church, Leicester. h.r. H. N. Ridderbos, D.Theol., Emeritus Professor of New Testament, Kämpen Theological University, The Netherlands. h. w.h. H. W. Hoehner, Ph D., Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary. i. h.m. I. H. Marshall, B.A., M.A., B.D., Ph D., D.D., Professor of New Testament Exegesis, University of Aberdceen. j. a.m. J. A. Motyer, M.A., B.D., formerly Principal, Trinity College, Bristol. j.A.T. J. A. Thompson, M.A., M.Sc., B.D., B.Ed., Ph.D., formerly Reader and Chairman in Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Melbourne. j.b.j. J. B. Job, M.A., B.D., Minister in the South Bedford and Ampthill Methodist Circuit; formerly Vice-Principal of Emmanuel College, Ibadan, and Tutor in Old Testament, Cliff College, Calver, Derbyshire. j.b.p. The late J. B. Payne, Ph.D., formerly Professor of Old Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary, St Louis, Missouri. j.b.t. J. B. Torrance, M.A., B.D., Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Aberdeen. j.B.Tr. J. B. Taylor, M.A., Bishop of St Albans. j.c.c. .1 C. Connell, B.A., M.A., formerly Director of Studies and Lecturer in New Testament Exegesis, London Bible College. j.c.j.w. J. C. J. Waite, B.D., Minister of Wycliffe Independent Chapel, Sheffield; formerly Principal, South Wales Bible College. j.c.w. J. C. Whitcomb, Jr, Th.D., formerly Professor of Theology and Old Testament, Grace Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana. j.d.d. J. D. Douglas, M.A , B.D., S.T.M., Ph D., Lecturer, Singapore Bible College. j.d.g.d. J. D. G. Dünn, M.A., B.D., Ph D., D.D., Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, University of Durham. j.e.g. J. E. Goldingay, B.A., Ph.D., Principal, St John’s College, Nottingham. j.g.b. The late J. G. Baldwin, B.A., B.D., formerly Principal, Trinity College, Bristol. j.g.g.n. The late J. G. G. Norman, B.D., M.Th. j.G.MuC. J. G. McConville, M.A., B D, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. j.G.s.s.t. J. G. S. S. Thomson, B.A., M.A., B.D., Ph.D., Minister of the Church of Scotland. j.h. J. W. L. Hoad, M.A., Clinical Supervisor, Princeton, New Jersey. j.h.h. J. H. Harrop, M.A., formerly Lecturer in Classics, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. j.h.p. J. H. Paterson, M.A., Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Leicester. j.h.s. J. H. Skilton, B.A., M.A., M.Div., Ph D., D D., Emeritus and Adjunct Professor of New Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. j.h.Sr. The late J. H. Stringer, M.A., B.D., formerly Tutor, London Bible College. j.i.p. J. I. Packer, M.A., D.Phil., D.D., Professor of Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC. j.j.h. J. J. Hughes, B.A., M.Div., Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California. j.l.k. The late J. L. Kelso, B.A., Th.M., M.A., Th.D., D.D., LI D., formerly Professor of Old Testament History and Biblical Archaeology, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania. j.m. The late J. Murray, M.A., Th.M., formerly Professor of Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. j.McK J. McKeown, B.D., Ph D., Vice-Principal, Belfast Bible College. j.m.h. J. M. Houston, M.A., B.Sc., D.Phil., Chancellor, formerly Principal, Regent College, Vancouver, BC. j.n.b. J. N. Birdsall, M.A., Ph D., F.R.A.S., Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies and Textual Criticism, University of Birmingham. j.n.g. The late J. N. Geldenhuys, B.A., B.D., Th.M. j.p. J. Philip, M.A., Minister of Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh. j.p.b. The late J. P. Baker, M.A., B.D., formerly Rector of Newick, East Sussex. j.p.K. J. P. Kane, Ph D., Dip.Ed., Lecturer in Hellenistic Greek, University of Manchester. j.p.u.L. J. P. U. Lilley, M.A., A.T.I.I., Magdalen College, Oxford. j.r. J. Rea, M.A., Th.D., Professor of Old Testament, Melodyland School of Theology, Anaheim, California. j.Ru J. Rüffle, M.A., Keeper, Oriental Museum, University of Durham. j.s.w. The late J. S. Wright, M.A., formerly Principal, Tyndale Hall, Bristol; Canon of Bristol Cathedral. j.t. J. A. Thompson, B.A., M.Div., Th.M., PhD., Research Consultant, American Bible Society. j.t.w. The late J. T. Whitney, M.A., L.C.P., Ph D., formerly Head of Religious Studies, South East Essex Sixth Form College. j.w. J. Woodhead, Assistant Director, British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, University of Edinburgh. j.w.c. J. W. Charley, M.A., Priest in Charge of Great Malvern Priory, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. j.w.d. J. W. Dräne, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Stirling. j. w.m. The late J. W. Meiklejohn, M.B.E., M.A., formerly Secretary of the Inter-School Christian Fellowship in Scotland. k. a.k. K. A. Kitchen, B.A., Ph.D., formerly Personal and Brunner Professor of Egyptology, University of Liverpool. k. e.b. K. E. Brower, M.A., Ph D., Dean, Nazarene Theological College, Manchester. K.L.McK. K. L. McKay, B.A., M.A., formerly Reader in Classics, The Australian National University, Canberra. l. c.a. L. C. Allen, M.A., Ph D., DD., Professor of Old Testament, Füller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. l. m. L L Morris, M.Sc., M.Th., Ph D., formerly Principal, Ridley College, Melbourne; Canon Emeritus of St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. m. a.m. The late M. A. MacLeod, M.A., formerly Director, Christian Witness to Israel. m b. M. Beeching, B.A., B.D , M.Ed., formerly Principal Lecturer and Head of Department of Divinity, Cheshire College of Education, Alsager. m.g.k. M. G. Kline, Th.M., Ph.D., Professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Mass.; visiting Professor at Westminster West, Escondido, Califormia. m.h.c. M. H. Cressey, M.A., Principal of Westminster College, Cambridge. m.j.s. M. J. Selman, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Director of Postgraduate Studies, Spurgeon’s College, London. m.j.s.r. M. J. S. Rudwick, M.A., Ph D., Sc.D , formerly Professor of History of Science, The Free University, Amsterdam. m.r.g. The late M. R. Gordon, B.D., formerly Principal, Bible Institute of South Africa, Kalk Bay, South Africa. m.r.w.f. M. R. W. Farrer, M.A., formerly Vicar of St Paul’s Church, Cambridge. m.t. M. Turner, M.A., Ph.D., Vice-Principal (Academic) and Senior Lecturer in New Testament, London Bible College. m. t.f. M. T. Fermer, B.A., B.Sc., A.R.C.S., formerly Vicar of Loscoe, Derbyshire. n. h. N. Hillyer, B.D., S.Th., A.L.C.D., formerly Librarian, Tyndale House, Cambridge. n.h.r. The late N. H. Ridderbos, D.D., formerly Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, The Free University, Amsterdam. p.a.b. P. A. Blair, M.A., Rector of Barking, Essex. p.e. P. Ellingworth, Ph.D., Translation Consultant, United Bible Societies, Aberdeen. p.E.it. The late P. E. Hughes, M.A., B.D., Th.D., D.Litt., formerly Visiting Professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia; formerly Associate Rector of St John’s Episcopal Church, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. p.f.j. P. F. Jensen, M.A., B.D., D.Phil., Principal, Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia. p.u.D. P. H. Davids, B.A.. M.Div., Ph D., Researcher and Theological Teacher, Langley Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Langley, B.C.. Canada. p.t. P. Trebilco, Ph D., Professor of New Testament Studies, Knox Theological Hall, Dunedin, New Zealand. p.vv. The late P. Woolley, B.A., Th.M., D.D., formerly Emeritus Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. p.w.l.w. P. W. L. Walker, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer in New Testament, Wycliflfe Hall, Oxford. r.a.f. The late R. A. Finlayson, M.A., formerly Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology, Free Church College, Edinburgh. r.a.h.g. R. A. H. Gunner, B.A., M.Th., formerly Lecturer in French, Brooklands Technical College, Weybridge, Surrey. r.a.s. The late R. A. Stewart, M.A., B.D., M.Litt, formerly Church of Scotiand Minister. r.e.n. The late R. E. Nixon, M.A., formerly Principal, St John’s College, Nottingham. r h m. R. H. Mounce, B.A., B.D., Th.M., Ph.D., President, Whitworth College, Spokane, Washington State. r.j.a.s. R. J A. Sheriffs, B.A., B.D., Ph D., formerly Lecturer in Old Testament, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Cape Province. r.j.b. R. J. Bauckham, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of New Testament Studies, University of St Andrews. r.j.c. The late R. J. Coates, M.A., sometime Warden, Latimer House, Oxford. r.j.McK. R. J. McKelvey, B.A., M.Th., D.Phil., formerly Principal, Northern College, Manchester. R.j.'r. R. J. Thompson, M.A., B.D , Th.M., D. Theol., formerly Tutor, Spurgeon’s College, London, Whitley College, Melbourne and Tyndale College, Auckland, and Principal, New Zealand Baptist Theological College, Auckland. r.j.w. R. J. Way, M.A., formerly Minister of St Columba’s United Reformed Church, Leeds. r.k.h. The late R. K. Harrison, M.Th., Ph.D., D.D., formerly Professor of Old Testament, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. r.n.c. R. N. Caswell, M.A., Ph.D,, formerly Head of Religious Education, The Academical Institution, Coleraine, Northern Ireland. r.p.g. R. P. Gordon, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer in Divinity, University of Cambridge. r.p.m. R. P. Martin, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield. r.s.h. R. S. Hess, B.A., M.Div., Th.M., Ph D., Reader in Old Testament, Roehampton Institute London. r.s.w. R. S. Wallace, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D., formerly Professor, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. r.t.b. R. T. Beckwith, M.A., D.D., Librarian, Latimer House, Oxford. R TF. R. T. France, M.A., B.D., Ph.D., Rector of Wentnor, Shropshire; formerly Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. r. v.g.t. The late R. V. G. Tasker, M.A., D.D., formerly Professor of New Testament Exegesis, University of London. s. m. S. Motyer, M.A., M. Litt., Ph D., Lecturer in New Testament, London Bible College. s. s.s. S. S. Smalley, M.A., B.D., Ph.D., Dean of Chester Cathedral. t. c.m. T. C. Mitchell, M.A., formerly Keeper, Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities, British Museum. T.H.J. T. H. Jones, M.A., B.D., A.M.B.I.M., formerly Archdeacon of Loughborough. t.l. T. Longman III, B.A., M.Div., M.Phil., Ph D., Associate Professor of Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. t.r.s. T. R. Schreiner, Ph D., Professor of New Testament, Bethel Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. v. m.s. V. M. Sinton, M.A., Cert.Ed., Dip.H.E.Theol., Director of Pastoral Studies, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. w. G.p. The late W. G. Putman, B.A., B.D, formerly Methodist Minister, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. w.h.g. W. H. Gispen, D.Theol., Doctorandus Semitic Languages, Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament, The Free University, Amsterdam. w .j.c. The late W. J. Cameron, M.A., B.D., formerly Professor of New Testament Language, Literature, Exegesis and Theology, Free Church of Scotland College, Edinburgh. w.j.m. The late W J. Martin. M.A., Th .B , Ph D., formerly Head of the Department of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages. University of Liverpool. w.o. W. Osborne, M.A., M.Phil., Head of Department, Hebrew and Old Testament, The Bible College of New Zealand. w.w.w. W. W. Wessel, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of New Testament, Bethel College, St Paul, Minnesota. A AARON (Heb. 'ah“r6n). According to the geneal-ogy of Ex. 6:14ff., Aaron wasoneof the two sonsof Amram and Jochebed (the other being Moses) and third in line of descent from Levi (Levi-Kohath-Amram-Aaron); according to Ex. 7:7 he was 3 years older than Moses. Miriam, their sister, was older still, if she is Moses’ unnamed ‘sister’ of Ex. 2:4,7ff. Aaron first appears in the Exodus narrative as ‘Aaron the Levite’ who went to meet his brother Moses on the latter’s return to Egypt after the theophany at the burning bush; because of his superior eloquence he was to be Moses’ spokes-man to the Israelites and to Pharaoh (Ex. 4:14flfi). Throughout his career he was very much a lay figure alongside his dynamic brother; on the one occasion when he acted independently of Moses’ instructions he acted wrongly (Ex. 32:1-6). In add-ition to being Moses’ spokesman he also filled a thaumaturgic role: it was he who wielded the rod which became a serpent and swallowed up the rod-serpents of the Egyptian magicians (Ex. 7:8ff.) and which, when he stretched it out, turned the Nile into blood and then brought forth the successive plagues of frogs and gnats (Ex. 7:19; 8:5f, 16f). After the Crossing of the Sea of Reeds Aaron was one of Moses’ two supporters during the battle with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8fE), and ascended Mt Sinai in his Company (Ex. 19:24), together with his sons, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel; there they had a vision of the God of Israel and shared a meal in his presence (Ex. 24:9flf.). On the next occasion, however, when Moses went up Mt Sinai attended by Joshua only (Ex. 24:12fr.), Aaron was persuaded by the people to make a visible image of the divine presence and fashioned the golden bulUcalf, thus incurring Moses’ severe displeasure (Ex. 32:1 ff.). His for-mula of presentation of the bull-calf to the people, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ (Ex. 32:4), provided a precedent for Jeroboam I when he installed the golden bull-calves at Bethel and Dan (1 Ki. 12:28). In the priestly legislation of the Pentateuch Aaron is installed as high priest and his sons as priests, to minister in the wilderness tabernacle (Ex. 28:1 ff.; Lv. 8:1 ff.). Aaron isanointed with holyoiland is henceforth ‘the anointed priest’ (Lv. 4:3, etc:,cf. the oil on Aaron’s beard in Ps. 133:2). He and his sons receive special vestments, but Aaron’s aredistinctive. The headband of his turban is inscribed ‘Holy to Yahweh’ (Ex. 28:36); his scapular (ephod) incorpor-ates a breastpiece with twelve jeweis (one for each tribe) and accommodation for the Urim and Thummim, the objects with which the sacred lot wascast to ascertain Yahweh’s will for his people (Ex. 28:15ff.). The outstanding day of the year for Aaron (and for each ‘anointed priest’ who succeeded him) was the Day of Atonement (Tishri 10), when he passed through the curtain separating the outer compart- ment of the sanctuary (the holy place) from the inner (the holy of hohes) and presented the blood of an expiatory sacrifice in the latter for the sins of the people (Lv. 16:1 ff ). On this occasion he did not wear his colourful vestments of ‘glory and beauty’ but a white linen robe. Aaron’s wife was Elisheba, of the tribe of Judah. Their elder sons Nadab and Abihu died in the wilderness after using ‘unholy fire’ for the incense-offering (Lv. 10:lff.); from their two surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, rival priestly familiesTater traced their descent (1 Ch. 24:3). Despite Aaron’s Status, Moses remained Yahweh’s prophet to Israel and Israel’s prevailing intercessor with Yahweh, and this excited the envy of Aaron and Miriam (Nu. 12:1 ff.). Aaron himself (with Moses) attracted the envy of other Levitical families, whose leader was Korah (Nu. 16:1 ff.). Their doubts about Aaron’s Privileges were an-swered by the phenomenon of * Aaron’s rod. Aaron, like Moses, was debarred from entering Canaan at the end of the wilderness wanderings; he died and was buried on Mt Hör, on the Edomite border, and his functions and vestments passed to Eleazar (Nu. 20:22ff.). The priesthood in Israel came to be known comprehensively as ‘the sons of Aaron’. The ‘sons of Zadok’, who served as priests in the Jerusalem Temple from its dedication under Solomon to 171 bc (apart from the hiatus of the Babylonian exile), are incorporated into the family of Aaron, among the descendants of Eleazar, in the genealogy of T Ch. 6:1 ff. Ten years after the abolition of the Zadokite priesthood Alcimus, appointed high priest by the Seleucid authorities, was recognized by the Hasidaeans as ‘a priest of the line of Aaron’ (1 Macc. 7:12ff.), his genealogy being reckoned perhaps through Ithamar. Ben Sira pronounces Aaron’s encomium in Ecclus. 45:6ff. The men of Qumran formed a community of ‘Israel and Aaron’, i.e. of Jewish laymen and priests (CD 1:7), the priests constituting an ‘Aaronic holy of hohes’ (1QS 8:5fi, 8f), and Iooked forward to the Corning of an Aaronic (priestly) Messiah alongside the (lay) ‘Messiah of Israel’ (1QS 9:11; CD 12:23f; 20:1). In NT Aaronisnamedastheancestorof Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (Lk. 1:5), and receives incidental mention in Stephen’s retrospectof the his-tory of Israel (Acts 7:40). The writer to the Hebrews contrasts Aaron’s circumscribed and hereditary priesthood with the perfect and perpetualministryof Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 5:4; 7:11, etc.). Bibliography. R. de Vaux, Andern Israel1, 1965, pp. 345—401. f.f.b. AARON’S ROD. The rebellion of Korah and his associates (Nu. 16:1 ff.) made it clear that the sacral Status of the tribe of Levi, and the priestly Status of Aaron and his descendants within that tribe, should be publicly established. Accordingly, the leader of each of the tribes had his name written on the rod or sceptre (matteh) belonging to his tribe—Aaron’s name being written on that of the tribe of Levi—and the twelve rods were placed ‘in the tent of meeting before the testimony’ (i.e. the tables of the law contained in the ark). Next morn-ing the rod bearing Aaron’s name was found to have put forth buds, blossoms and ripe almonds— a token that he was God’s chosen priest. His rod was then put back ‘before the testimony’ as a warn-ingagainstfurtherrebellion(Nu. 17:1-11). Accord-ing to Heb. 9:4 it was kept with the ‘tables of the covenant’ inside the ark. It was apparently the same rod that was used to strike the rock in Kadesh (Nu. 20:7-11); cf. the ‘rod of God' (Ex. 4:20; 17:9). f.f.b. ABADDON. The satanic angel of the bottomless pit (Rev. 9:11) whose Greek name is given as Apol-lyon, ‘destroyer’. In Hebrew baddön means ‘(place of) destruction’, and in the OT it is used as a synonym of ’death and Sheol. (*Hell.) J.D.D. ABANA. One of two Syrian rivers mentioned by the leprous Naaman in 2 Ki. 5:12. Named Chrys-orrhoas (‘golden river’) by the Greeks, it is prob-ably identical with the modern Barada, which rises in the Anti-Lebanon mountains 29 km NW of Damascus, and then, after flowing through the city, enters a marshy lake, Bahret-el-Kibliyeh, some 29 km to the E. The fertile gardens and orch-ards which it waters may explain Naaman’s boast. J.D.D. ABARIM.A name for themountains which rise from the E shore of the Dead Sea, where the edge of the * Moabite plateau is broken up by a succession of E-W wadis: literally it means ‘the regions beyond’, i.e. beyond the Dead Sea from the point of view of Judah. At the N end of the ränge Stands Mt * Nebo, from which Mosescould look across over the land of Canaan (Nu. 27:12; Dt. 32:49). According to the itinerary in Nu. 33 the Israelites’ last encampment before they reached the Jordan valley was in these mountains (vv. 47-48). *Iye-abarim (vv. 44-45; cf. Nu. 21:1 !)must havelain near the Send of the Dead Sea. In accordance with modern translations, against av which translates‘passages’(c/.Targ.),this name should also be read in Je. 22:20, where two other mountains which overlook Canaan are mentioned. Bibuography. G. Adam Smith, The Hislorical Geography of the Holy Land !S, 1931, pp. 380-381; GTT, pp. 261,444. g.i.d. ABBA. An Aramaic word, in the emphatic state, meaning ‘father’. The word passed into Hebrew, and occurs frequently in TB, where it is used by a child to its father and also as a style of address to rabbis. The term conveyed both a sense of warm intimacy and also filial respect; but in Jewish circles it has never been a form of address to the Almighty. In the NT the word occurs 3 times, transliterated into Greek; in each instance it is a vocative, addressed to God, and the Greek equivalent is appended (Mk. 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). It appears that the double phrase was common in the Greek-speaking church, where its use may well have been liturgical. (The Lord’s Prayer in its Aramaic form probably began with ’abba.) It appears that it was Jesus who first applied the term to God, and who gave authority to his dis-ciples to do so. Paul sees in its use a Symbol of the Christian’s adoption as a son of God and his pos-session of the Spirit. Bibuography. J. Jeremias, Abba, 1966, pp. 1-67, idem, New Testament Theology, E.T. 1971, pp. 61-68; 7TWn.pp. 5ff,; 5, p. 1006; NIDNTT\, pp. 614fr. d.f.p. ABDON (Heb. ’abdön). 1. A levitical town in Asher (Jos. 21:30, speit Ebron in 19:28); Kh. ‘Abdeh (Avdon), 6 km inland from *Achzib, com-manding a way into the hills. 2. Last of the minor judges; from * Pirathon (Jdg. 12:13ff.). 3. Head of a father’s house in Benjamin (1 Ch. 8:23). 4. A Ben-jaminite ancestor of Saul (1 Ch. 8:30; 9:36). 5. A member of Josiah’s court (2 Ch. 34:20). J.P.U.L. ABEDNEGO. The name given to Azariah, com-panion of Daniel in exiie (Dn. 1:7). Made an official of a Babylonian province until deposed on refusing to bow to an image(Dn. 3:13), but restored after escaping the furnace (3:30). He is mentioned in 1 Macc. 2:59 and, by implication, in Heb. 11:33-34. The name may be an Aramaic (Chaldean?) equivalent of a Babylonian one meaning ‘servant of the shining one’, perhaps making word-play on the name of the Babylonian god Nabu (*Nebo). d.j.w. ABEL. The second son of Adam and Eve, and the brother (perhaps the twin, Gn. 4:1-2) of *Cain. The name is sometimes connected with Akkadian aplu, Sumerian ibila, ‘son’, or Akkadian ibilu, ‘camel’, but these remain conjectures. Abel was a righteous (dikaios, Mt. 23:35) man and when he, as a shepherd (Gn. 4:2), brought an offering of the firstlings of his flock, God accepted it (Gn. 4:4; Heb. 11:4). He was subsequently murdered by Cain, leaving, so far as we know, no offspring, It is clear that to Christ he was a historical person (Mt. 23:35; Lk. 11:51). Bibuography. KB, p. 227; and cf. S. Landersdorfer, Sumerisches Sprachgut int Alten Testament, 1916, pp. 67-68. t.c.m. ABEL. An element of certain place-names, chiefly in Transjordan. The traditional interpretation ‘meadow’ is not at all certain. and Baumgartner (KB, p. 7) prefers ‘brook, watercourse’, comparing Heb. ’übäl, yübäl, yäbäl. ‘Abel’ of MT of 1 Sa. 6:18 (cf. av) is probably a textual error, and 'eben = ‘stone’ should be read (cf. lxx and modern versions). In 2 Sa. 20:18 ‘Abel’ Stands for ‘Abel (of) Beth-maacah’ (vv. 14-15), and in 2 Ch. 16:4 (corrupt text?) Abel-maim seems to be the same place (cf. 1 Ki. 15:20). The exact locations of Abel-mizraim ‘beyond (or ‘beside’, with neb) the Jordan’ (Gn. 50:11) and Abel-keramim (Jdg. 11:33: somewhere in Ammon) are unknown, but see Skinner and Kidner on Gn. 50:11, and LOB, pp 243, 371 for possible sites. g.i.d. ABEL-BETH-MAACAH (Heb. äbel bet_ ma'"kä, ‘meadow of the house of oppression’). The town in N Naphtali in which Joab besieged Sheba, son of Bichri (2 Sa. 20:14); captured by the Syrians under Ben-hadad (c. 879 bc, 1 Ki. 15:20; 2 Ch. 16:4) where it is called Abel-maim. Captured by the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser III (c. 733 bc, 2 Ki. 15:29). Possibly part of the Syrian state of *Maacah. It has been identified with Teil Abil 20 km N of Lake Huleh. The use of the name Abel alone in the Egyp. Execration Texts and in 2 Sa. 20:18, as well as the use of the explicative conjunc-tion in 2 Sa. 20:14 (‘Abel, i.e. Beth-maacah’), shows that these are two alternative names rather than one consisting of three parts. d.w.b. ABEL-MEHOLAH. A town named in conjunc-tion with the flight of the Midianites from Gideon (Jdg. 7:22). It became part of Solomon’s fifth district (1 Ki. 4:12) and was Elisha’s birthplace (1 Ki. 19:16). The site is unknown, but is usually placed in the Jordan valley S of Beth-shean. D.W.B. AB1ATHAR (Heb. ’ebyätär, ‘father of excel-lence’). Son of Ahimelech and with him priest at Nob, he escaped alone from the massacre of his family by Saul to join David at Keilah, bringing with him an ephod (1 Sa. 22:20-22; 23:6, 9). He helped to take the ark to Jerusalem, where he was one of David’s counsellors (1 Ch. 15:11; 27:34). He was sent back to Jerusalem with his son Jonathan, when David fled, to act in the king’s interests against Absalom (2 Sa. 15:25fT.; 17:15). At the close of David’s reign he conspired to make Adonijah king, and was expelled from office by Solomon (1 Ki. 1-2), ending Eli’s line. High priest during David’s reign, he seems to have been senior to Zadok (1 Ki. 2:35; cf. Mk. 2:26). It is uncertain whether he had a son Ahimelech or whether the two names have been transposed in 2 Sa. 8:17; 1 Ch. 24:6. In Mk. 2:26, ‘when Abiathar was high priest’ is better rendered ‘in the passage about Abiathar’, by analogy with Mk. 12:26. A.R.M. ABIEL (Heb. ’“biel, 'God is my father’). I. Saul’s grandfather (1 Sa. 9:1 and 14:51). 2. One of David’s heroes (1 Ch. 11:32), called Abi-albon (2 Sa. 23:31), albon being a copyist’s transference from the following verse. Some Codices of lxx have Abiel here. r.a.h.g. ABIEZER (Heb. bt'ezer, ‘my father is help’). 1. A clan of Manasseh (Jos. 17:2) of which Gideon was a member (Jdg. 6:11). In Gideon’s time the clan was centred on Ophrah (Jdg. 6:11, 24), prob-ably to be identified with al-Jayibeh N of Beth-shean. A district of Abiezer is mentioned in the Samaria Ostraca (nos. 13, 28) from c. 800 bc and is located SW of Shechem (see LOB, pp. 315-327). Iezer (Nu. 26:30) is a contraction. 2. One of the thirty mighty men of David (2 Sa. 23:27; 1 Ch. 11:28) and a native of Anathoth, 4 km N of Jerusalem. He commanded the ninth division of David’s militia in the ninth month (1 Ch. 27:12). R.P.G. ABIGAIL (Heb. '"bigayil, ‘my father is joy’(?)). 1. The wife of Nabal the Carmelite or Calebite, a wealthy boor who lived in Maon, was a contrast to her husband. She realized that his veiled insult in his refusal to give gifts to David’s men, at the time of sheep-shearing, endangered the whole house-hold, and so, on her own responsibility, she took gifts of loaves, wine, sheep, com, raisins and figs. and waylaid David as he was planning his attack, thus preventing bloodshed. Her wisdom, beauty and dignity impressed him and he blessed God. When she told Nabal of her action he appreciated the narrowness of their escape, and from fright feil into an apoplectic fit and died—at the hand of God. David then married her and thus secured a new social Position and a rieh estate. With Ahi-noam, the Jezreelite, she shared David’s life at Gath. They were captured by the Amalekites near Ziklag and rescued (1 Sa. 30:18). She was the mother of Chileab (2 Sa. 3:3), or Daniel (1 Ch. 3:1), David’s second son. 2. The wife of Ithra (2 Sa. 17:25) or Jether (1 Ch. 2:17; 1 Ki. 2:5) the Ishmaelite—terms easily con-fused in Hebrew—and mother of Amasa. She was a daughter of Nahash (2 Sa. 17:25) orJesse(l Ch. 2:13-16). Modern critics dismiss * Nahash as a scribal error. M B. ABIHAIL (Heb. bihayil, ‘my father is might’). Man’s and woman’s name. 1. A Levite, father of Zuriel (Nu. 3:35). 2. The wife of Abishur (1 Ch. 2:29). 3. A Gadite living in Bashan (1 Ch. 5:14). 4. The mother of Rehoboam’s wife Mahalath, and daughter of Eliab, David’s eldest brother (2 Ch. 11:18). 5. Father of Esther and uncle of Mordecai (Est. 2:15; 9:29). ra.h.g. ABIHU (Heb. ’“bthü\ ‘my father is he’ [sc. Yahweh]). Son of Aaron, a priest. He saw God in his glory (Ex. 24:1, 9) yet acted independently of the requirements of the ritual law and was killed by holy fire (Lv. 10:1-8). a.r.m. ABIJAH (Heb. ’°b!yä, ‘my father is Yahweh’, or ‘Yahweh is father’). A name borne by several men and women in the OT. Chief among them are the second son of Samuel (1 Sa. 8:2; 1 Ch. 6:28), a des-cendant of Eleazar who gave his name to the eighth of the twenty-four courses of prlests (1 Ch. 24:10; cf. Lk. 1:5), the son of Jeroboam I (1 Ki. 14:1-18), and the son and successor of Rehoboam king of Judah (1 Ch. 3:10; 2 Ch. 11:20; 13:1). The name of the latter appears as Abijam fbiyäm, ‘father of sea’, or ‘father of west’) in 1 Ki. 14:31; 15:1, 7-8. Several Heb. mss, however, read Abijah here and this reading is supported by the lxx Abiou. Abijah reigned 3 years over Judah (1 Ki. 15:2; 2 Ch. 13:2). The accounts of his reign in Kings and Chronicles stand in marked yet reconcilable contrast to each other. In the formet he is censured for his adherence to the corrupt religious policy of his father (1 Ki. 15:3). The account in Chronicles (2 Ch. 13) is almost wholly concerned with a decisive victory with Yahweh’s help over the numerically stronger army of Jeroboam I. Abijah’s oration before the battle condemns the apostasy of the N kingdom and affirms the divine sanction attaching to the Davidic dynasty and the worship ofTered at the Temple at Jerusalem. j.c.j.w. ABILENE. A region of Anti-Lebanon, attached to the city of Abila (cf. Heb. ’äbel, ‘meadow’), on the bank of the Abana (mod. Barada), some 29 km NW of Damascus (its ruins still stand round the village of Es-Suk). Abilene belonged to the Ituraean king-dom of Ptolemy Mennaeusfc. 85-40 bc) and hisson Lysanias I (40-36 bc); it was later detached to form the tetrarchy of a younger * Lysanias, mentioned in Luke 3:1. In ad 37 it was given by the emperor Gaius to Herod Agrippa I as part of his kingdom, and in 53 by Claudius to Herod Agrippa II. Cf. Jos.. BJ2. 215, 247; Am. 18. 237; 19. 275; 20. 138. Bibliography. HJP, I, 1973, pp. 561-573. F.F.B. ABIMELECH (Heb. bimelek, ‘the (divine) king is my father’). 1. Philistine kings of Gerar bearing this name figure in episodes involving Abraham (Gn. 20:1-18) and Isaac(Gn. 26:1-33). The similar-ities between the accounts have led many to suppose that they are doublets, but Abimelech may have been a cognomen of Philistine kings (cf. Egyptian ‘Pharaoh’); there are also significant differentes in the stories (and note the relevance of Gn. 20:13 for both Abraham and Isaac). Nor need the reference to the presence of Philistines in Canaan in patriarchal days be anachronistic, for ‘Philistine’ may mean that the Gerarites were an advance party of the Sea Peoples who later settled in Palestine; of these the Philistines were to become the dominant element. In the superscription to Ps. 34 the name Abimelech is given to Achish king of Gath. 2. A son of Gideon by a Shechemite concubine (Jdg. 8:31). With the aid of his mother’s family he murdered all seventy of his brothers, with the exception of Jotham. Although he proclaimed him-self ‘king’—a title which his father had repudiated (Jdg. 8:23)—his territory cannot have extended beyond W Manasseh. After 3 years the Shechemites turned against their king and sided with Gaal. Abimelech responded vigorously and cruelly; he later died somewhat ingloriously while besieging Thebez. For the archaeological background to Jdg. 9, see G. E. Wright, Shechem, 1965, pp. 123-128. 3. A priest, the son of Abiathar (1 Ch. 18:16) ac- cording to MT, but perhaps a scribal error for A/iimelech (so rsv; cf. 2 Sa. 8:17). r.p.g. ABIRAM (Heb. birätn, ‘my father is exalted’). I. A son of Eliab, a Reubenite, who with his brother, ♦Dathan, and *Korah, a Levite, and others insti-gated a rebellion against Moses (Nu. 16). 2. The eldest son of * Hiel of Bethel whose life was lost during the rebuilding of the fortress of Jericho c. 870 bc(1 Ki. 16:34; cf. Jos. 6:26). d.w.b. ABISHAG (Heb. ’“bisag\ possibly, ‘father has wandered’). A beautiful ‘Shunammite girl brought to David to nurse him in his old age. After he died, Adonijah, his eldest son, wished to marry her, but Solomon, seeing this as an attempt to gain the throne, since apparently a king’s harem were inherited by his successor (cf. R. de Vaux, Andern Israel, 1961, p. 116), had his brother killed (1 Ki. 2:13-25). d.w.b. ABISHAI (Heb. '“bisay, ‘father of gift’ or ‘my father is Jesse’). Son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab and Asahel (2 Sa. 2:18). 2 Sa. 23:18; 1 Ch. 11:20-21 show him to be chief of ‘the three’, which must mean (as the Vulgate translates) ‘the second group of three’, next in Order to ‘the three’ of 2 Sa. 23:8-12. However, two Hebrew mss and the Syriac of 2 Sa. 23:18-19 and 1 Ch. 11:20 make him the chief of ‘the thirty’. He had an eventful career as a high officer in David’s army. g.w.g. ABNER (Heb. 'abner, but '"biner in 1 Sa. 14:50). Saul’s cousin and the commander-in-chief of his army (1 Sa. 14:50); one of the very few state offi-cials mentioned in Connection with Saul’s reign. On Saul’s death Abner secured for his remaining son Eshbaal (Ishbosheth) the allegiance of all but the Judahites (2 Sa. 2:8-10), installing him in a new Capital (Mahanaim) on the E side of the Jordan. In the ensuing struggle between the house of Saul and the house of David (cf. 2 Sa. 3:1) Abner loyally supported his protege until the latter insinuated that, by taking Saul’s concubine, Abner was him-self staking a Claim to the throne. He now began to make overtures to David, promising to unite all Israel behind their rightful king. But Joab did not trust Abner and, partly to avenge the death of his brother Asahel (2 Sa. 2:18-23), murdered him in the gate of Hebron (2 Sa. 3:27). r.p.g. ABOMINATION. Four Hebrew words are trans-lated thus. X.piggülis used of sacrificial flesh which has been left too long (Lv. 7:18, etc.). 2. siqqiis refers to idols (‘Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites’, I Ki. 11:5), and to customs derived from idolatry (Je. 16:18). 3. The related word seqes is used in much the same way, a notable extension of meaning being its application to food prohibited for Israelites as being ‘unclean’ (Lv. 11:10f.). 4. tö'ebä is the most important word of the group. This may denote that which offends anyone’s religious susceptibilities: ‘every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians’ (Gn. 46:34; so with eating with foreigners, Gn. 43:32). Or it may be used of idols (in 2 Ki. 23:13 siqqüs is used of Ashtoreth and Chemosh and tö'ebä of Milcom). It denotes practices derived from idolatry, as when Ahaz ‘burned his son as an offering, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out’ (2 Ki. 16:3), and all magic and divination (Dt. 18:9-14). But the word is not confined to heathen customs. Sac-rifice ofTered to Yahweh in the wrong spirit is ‘abomination’ (Pr. 15:8; Is. 1:13). So is sexual sin (Lv. 18:22). And the word attains a strongly eth-ical connotation when such things as ‘lying lips’ and ‘diverse weights’ are said to be an abomination to the Lord (Pr. 12:22; 20:23, cf. also 6:16ff., etc.). L.M. ABRAHAM. A descendant of Shem and son of Terah; husband of Sarah and, as father of Isaac, ancestor of the Hebrew nation and, through Ish-mael, of other Semites (Gn. 17:5; 25:10-18). His life (Gn. 11:26-25:10; summarized in Acts 7:2—8) is taken as an example of outstanding faith in God (Heb. 11:8-12) by Jew, Christian and Muslim. Assur lamath Xu' BabyTor Nip| Ashkelon Gerar^ n ßeershe rusaleni/Monah j »mje/Hebron/ Mach| »m and Gomorrj Men)phiso1 jj) Abydos' EG YPt Possible roules for Abraham's journey from Ur into Canaan. I. The name The etymology of the name Abram (Heb. ’abräm; used Gn. 11:26-17:4 and rarely else-where, e.g. 1 Ch. 1:27; Ne. 9:7) is uncertain. It probably means ‘the father is exalted’ and is a typ-ical specific early W Semitic personal name form of Ab(i)ram. After the covenant of Gn. 17:5 his name is changed to Abraham (’abrähäm) and explained as ‘father of a multitude’ of nations. Both these name forms occur in cuneiform and Egyptian texts from the 19th Century bc onwards, but not as identical persons. The lauer form, pos-sibly as populär etymology, is generally considered a dialectical variant of Abram, though a distinct new name is implied (which may incorporate an early form of Arabic rhm = ‘multitude’). II. His career Abraham was born in *Ur and moved with his wife Sarai, his father, brother Nahor, and nephew Lot to Harran (Gn. 11:26-32). At the age of 75, on his father’s death, Abraham moved on to Palestine (Canaan) near Bethel, to Mamre near Hebron, and to Beersheba. At each place he set up an altar and tent-shrine. His relations with foreigners while staying near Shechem, in Egypt, Gerar and Machpelah, portray him as a respected leader of a group with whom they dealt as with an equal. He acted as acknow-ledged leader of a coalition which rescued his nephew Lot who had been taken from Sodom by a group of ‘kings’ (Gn. 14). Stress is laid on his life, not so much as a ‘pilgrim’, but as a ‘resident-alien’ (ger) without a Capital city. He was a wealthy man with servants (14:14) and possessions (13:2), living amicably among Canaanites (12:6), Perizzites (13:7), Philistines (21:34) and Egyptians, and nego-tiating with Hittites (23). III. *Covenants In accordance with the form of early treaty- covenants, Abraham is granted a covenant-treaty by the ‘Great King’ Yahweh (15:17-21) and entered into parity-treaties with Contemporary powers. (/) The land By covenant Yahweh promised Abraham and his successors the land from the river Euphrates and SW for ever. Abraham’s faith was shown both by taking Steps to appropriate this divine land-grant from Beersheba (21:33) to Dan (14:14) by symbolic acts, or by taking it over as ‘leader’ of its multi-racial inhabitants by virtue of defeating others who had once controlled it. Yet he did not set up any Capital and had to purchase a place to bury his wife (Gn. 23). (/V) The family The same divine covenant promised and reaffirmed to him a family and nations as successors (13:16). Being childless, he first made his major-domo Eliezer of Damascus his heir (15:2). He treated his nephew like an heir, giving him a preferential share in his ‘promised’ land until Lot chose to move out-side to Sodom (13:8-13). Then, aged 86, he had a son, Ishmael, by an Egyptian concubine, Hagar, given him by his wife. They were later expelled. Then, when Abraham was 99, the promise of family, nation and law was repeated, and Yahweh gave him his change of name and the covenant-sign of male circumcision (17). Again the covenant-promise was confirmed by another theo-phany at Mamre, despite Sarah’s disbelief (18:1— 19). A year later Isaac was born. The great test of Abraham’s faith came when Yahweh ordered him to sacrifice Isaac at Moriah. He obeyed, his hand being stayed at the rnoment of slaughter when a ram was provided as a Substitute (22:1-14). Thereupon the covenant between Yahweh and Abraham was reaffirmed (vv. 15-20). Sarah died, aged 127, and was buried in a cave at cCOH Q ® cCX]|: cdZ=i-g« 1 z E cCO ■cco I CdX] S v-^-r W CD cdXil (J CCOJ: cCO cCO cCOs (Os cdXis^ cdXiis cCO*s cCO.§5 cdIX] | cCO| i cCO cCO cdXi cCO1 cCO cCZ=] (N CO cCOc Sarai [Sarah) n. 20:1 1 — cC^ls» •' c cCZ=i| als . o fö r~-U) CD -=iL cCOf? /-v '—1 2 lo O 1 o>™ — cC^|5 (0 T- -1- c .W.B. ACHOR (Heb. ‘äkör). The valley near Jericho where "Achan was executed. Jewish and Christian tradition placed it N of Jericho (Eusebius,, Onom 18, 84; J. T. Milik, Discoveries in the Judaeian Des-ert, 1962, vol. 3, p. 262), probably in the W! Nifei-ma. If so, Jos. 15:7 refers to another valtey, s of the Judah-Benjamin border; el-Buqei‘a i:s likely {GTT, pp. 137, 139, 271; L. E. Stager, RB 8II, I974 pp. 94-96; NEAEHL, pp, 267-269; see * Secacah). The W Qilt has been suggestedl oq the assumption that Jos. 7 and 15 mean thce xame place, but it suits neither. Is. 65:10; Ho. 2’.:IS are perhaps most pointed if referred to the W Nu'ei-ma. j.P'.u l. ACHSAH (Heb. ’aksä, ‘anklet’). The daugihter of Caleb who, on being married to Othniel, (Caleb’s nephew, as a reward for Othniel’s captiurc of Kiriath-sepher, encouraged him to ask Ca.leh for extra territory and herseif asked for aprings of water (Jos. 15:16-17; Jdg. 1:12—15; 1 Ch. 2:49). a. e.c. ACHSHAPH (Heb. ’aksäp). An importamt Ca-naanite city (Jos. 11:1; 12:20), mentioned in Egyp-tian lists and Papyrus Anastasi, I (ANET, p. 477): near Acco, apparently E or SE. The alternatives most favoured are Teil Keisan (W. Albright, BASOR 83, 1941, p. 33) and Khirbet Harbaj (Teil Regev) (LOB. pp. 22, etc.). Occupied by Asher (Jos. 19:25). j.p.u.l. ACHZIB. 1. A Canaanite harbour town assigned to Asher (Jos. 19:29) which they never occupied (Jdg. 1:31). Taken by Sennacherib in 701 bc (ANET, p. 287). Identified with the modern ez-Zib, 14 km N of Acco (Acre). 2. A town of Judah (Jos. 15:44) in the Shephelah. Probably the Chezib of Gn. 38:5; conquered by Sennacherib (cf. Mi. 1:14): tentatively identified as the modern Teil el-Beida (see NEAEHL, pp. 32-36). d.w.b. ACTS, BOOK OF THE. The Acts of the Apos-tles' (Gk. praxeis apostolön) is the title given, since the latter years of the 2nd Century ad, to the second volume of a history of Christian begin-nings whose first volume we know as ‘The Gospel according to Luke’. I. Outline of Contents The book takes up the story where the Gospel (the ‘first book’ of Acts 1:1) ends, with the resurrection appearances of Jesus, and goes on to record his as-cension, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the rise and early progress of the church of Jerusalem (1-5). Then it describes the dispersal of the Hellenistic members of that church which followed the execu-tion of their leader Stephen, their evangelization of more distant regions as far N as Antioch, and the beginning of the Gentile mission in that city. In the course of this narrative we have also the ac-count of Paul’s conversion and Peter’s evangelization of the plain of Sharom, culminating in the conversion of the first Gentile household in Caesarea. This section of Acts ends with Paul’s arrival in Antioch to take part in the Gentile mission there. and Peter’s departure from Jerusalem after his escape from death at the hands of Herod Agrippa 1 (6-12). From then on Paul's apostolic ministry is the main subject of Acts: wdth Barnabas he evan-gelizes Cyprus and S Galatia (13-14), takes part in the Council of Jerusalem (15), with Silas crosses to Europe and evangelizes Philippi, Thessalonica and Corinth (16-18), with other colleagues evangelizes provincial Asia from his headquarters in Ephesus (19), pays a visit to Palestine, where he is rescued from mob-violence and kept in custody for 2 years (20-26), is sent to Rome to have his case heard by the emperor at his own request, and spends 2 years there under house arrest, with complete lib-erty to make the gospel known to all who visit him (27-28). While the gospel was no doubt car-ried along all the roads which branched out from its Palestinian homeland, Acts concentrates on the road from Jerusalem to Antioch and thence to Rome. II. Origin and purpose The preface to the ‘first book’ (Lk. 1:1-4) applies equally to both parts of the work: the whole work was undertaken in Order that one * Theophilus might have a consecutive and reliable account of the rise and progress of Christianity—a subject on which he already possessed a certain amount of information. The date is not indicated precisely; Acts cannot have been written earlier than the latest event it re-cords, Paul’s spending 2 years in custody in Rome (Acts 28:30), covering probably the years 60 and 61, but how much later it was written is uncertain. If its dependence on the Antiquilies of Josephus were established, then its date could not be earlier than ad 93. but such a dependence is improbable. We might think of a time when something had happened to stimulate special interest in Christianity among responsible members of Roman society, of whom Theophilus may be regarded as a repre-sentative. One such time was the latter part of Domitian’s principate (ad 81-96), when Christianity had penetrated the imperial family. It has even been suggested that Theophilus might be a pseudonym for Domitian’s cousin, Flavius Clemens. An earlier occasion may be found in the later sixties, when the moment seemed opportune to dis-sociate Christianity from the Jewish revolt in Palestine, or even earlier in the sixties, when the leading propagator of Christianity came to Rome as a Roman Citizen to have his appeal heard by the imperial tribunal. The optimistic note on which Acts ends, with Paul proclaiming the kingdom of God in Rome without let or hindrance, might suggest a date before the outbreak of persecution in ad 64. The internal evidence for the dating of Luke is relevant here, but if it be feit that Luke, as we have it now, must be dated after ad 70, it might be con-sidered whether the ‘first book’ of Acts 1:1 could not be ‘Proto-Luke’ (so C. S. C. Williams and others). The remitting of Paul’s case to Rome would certainly make it needful for imperial offi-cials to look more seriously into the nature of Christianity than had previously been necessary; the author of Acts may well have thought it wise to provide such people with an account of the matter. The author, from the 2nd Century onwards, has been identified (rightly, in all probability) with Luke, Paul’s physician and fellow-traveller (Col. 4:14; Phm. 24; 2 Tim. 4:11). Luke was a Greek of Antioch, according to the late 2nd Century anti-Marcionite prologue to his Gospel (his Antiochene origin is also implied by the ‘western’ reading of Acts 11:28). His presence at some of the events which he records is indicated unobtrusively by the transition from the third person to the first person plural in his narrative; the three ‘we-sections’ of Acts are 16:10-17; 20:5-21:18; 27:1-28:16. Apart from the periods covered by these sections, he had ample opportunity of tracing the course of events from the first, as he had access to first-hand information from people he met from time to time, not only in Antioch but also in Asia Minor and Mac-edonia, in Jerusalem and Caesarea, and finally in Rome. Among these informants an important place should doubtless be given to his hosts in various cities, such as Philip and his daughters in Caesarea (21:8f) and Mnason, a foundation-member of the church in Jerusalem (21:16). He does not appear to have used Paul’s Epistles as a source. III. Historical character The historical trustworthiness of Luke’s account has been amply confirmed by archaeological dis-covery. While he has apologetic and theological interests, these do not detract from his detailed ac-curacy, although they control his selection and pre-sentation of the facts. He sets his narrative in the framework of Contemporary history; his pages are full of references to city magistrates, provincial governors, dient kings and the like, and these ref-erences time after time prove to be just right for the place and time in question. With a minimum of words he conveys the true local colour of the widely differing cities mentioned in his story. And his description of Paul’s voyage to Rome (27) re-mains to this day one of our most important documents on ancient seamanship. IV. Apologetic emphasis Luke is obviously concerned, in both parts of his work, to demonstrate that Christianity is not a menace to imperial law and Order. He does this particularly by citing the judgments of governors, magistrates and other authorities in various parts of the empire. ln the Gospel Pilate thrice pro-nounces Jesus not guilty of sedition (Lk. 23:4, 14, 22), and when similar charges are brought against his followers in Acts they cannot be sustained. The praetors of Philippi imprison Paul and Silas for interference with the rights of private property, but have to release them with an apology for their illegal action (16:19ff., 35ff.). The politarchs of Thessalonica, before whom Paul and his com-panions are accused of sedition against the em-peror, are content to find citizens of that place who will guarantee the missionaries’ good behaviour (17:6-9). A more significant decision is taken by Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, who dismisses the Charge of propagating an illicit religion brought against Paul by the Jewish leaders of Corinth; the practica] implication of his decision is that Christianity shares the protection assured by Roman law to Judaism (18:12ff.). At Ephesus, Paul enjoys the friendship of the *Asiarchs and is exonerated by the town clerk from the Charge of insulting the cult of Ephesian *Artemis (19:31, 35ff.). In Judaea the governor Festus and the dient king Agrippa II agree that Paul has committed no offence deserv-ing either death or imprisonment, and that in fact he might have been liberated forthwith had he not taken the jurisdiction out of their hands by appeal-ing to Caesar (26:32). It might well be asked, however, why the pro-gress of Christianity had so frequently been marked by public riots if Christians were as law-abiding as Luke maintained. His reply is that, apart from the incident at Philippi and the demon-stration stirred up by the silversmiths’ guild at Ephesus, the tumults which attended the proclam-ation of the gospel were invariably instigated by its Jewish opponents. Just as the Gospel represents the Sadducean chief priests of Jerusalem as prevailing upon Pilate to sentence Jesus to death against his better judgment, so in Acts it is Jews who are Paul’s futterest enemies in one place after another. While Acts records the steady advance of the gospel in the great Gentile centres of imperial civiliza-tion, it records at the same time its progressive rejection by the majority of the Jewish com-munities throughout the Empire. V. Theological intcrcst On the theological side, the dominating theme of Acts is the activity of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the outpouring of the Spirit, made by the risen Christ in 1:4ff., is fulfilled for Jewish disciples in ch. 2 and for Gentile believers in ch. 10. The apostles discharge their Commission in the power of the Spirit, which is manifested by supernatural signs; their converts’ acceptance of the gospel is likewise attended by visible manifestations of the Spirit’s power. The book might indeed be called ‘The Acts of the Holy Spirit’, for it is the Spirit who Controls the advance of the gospel throughout; he guides the movements of the preachers, e.g. of Philip (8:29, 39), Peter (10:19f.), Paul and his compaiions (16:6fT); he directs the church of Antioch to set Barnabas and Saul apart for the more extended Service to which he himself has called them ( 3:2); he receives pride of place in the letter conveying the decision of the Jerusalem * Council to the Gentile churches (15:28); he speaks through prophets (11:28; 20:23; 21:4, 11) as he did in OT days (1:16; 28:25); he it is in the first instance who appoints the elders of a church to take spiritual Charge of it (20:28); he is the principal witness to the truth of the gospel (5:32). The supernatural manifestations which accom-pany the spread of the gospel signify not only the Spirit’s activity but also the inauguration of the new age in which Jesus reigns as Lord and Messiah. The miraculous element, as we should expect, is more prominent in the earlier than in the later part of the book: ‘we have a steady reduction of the emphasis on the miraculous aspect of the working of the Spirit which corresponds to the development in the Pauline Epistles’ (W. L. Knox, The Acts of the Apostles, 1948, p. 91). VI. Acts in the early church Unlike most of the NT books, the two parts of Luke’s history do not appear to have been primar-ily associated with Christian churches, whether as addressed to them or as circulating within them. Martin Dibelius may be right in thinking that the work circulated through the Contemporary book trade for the benefit of the Gentile reading public for which it was intended. There may thus have been some lapse of time between the first publica-tion of the twofold work and its more general circulation in the churches as an authoritative Christian document. Early in the 2nd Century, when the four Gospel writings were collected and circulated as a fourfold group, the two parts of Luke’s history were separ-ated from each other, to pursue their several paths. While the future of Luke was assured by reason of its incorporation with the other three Gospels, Acts proved increasingly to be such an important document that it can justly be called, in Harnack!s words, the pivot-book of the NT. The wider circulation of Acts in the churches may have had much to do, towards the end of the Ist Century, with the move to collect the Pauline Epistles to form a corpus. If Paul tended to be for-gotten in the generation following his death, Acts would certainly bring him back to Christian memory and also emphasize what an interesting and extraordinarily important man he was. But, while emphasizing the importance of Paul’s Pole, Acts bore witness to the work of other apostles too, especially Peter. For this last reason Marcion (c. ad 140) cciuld not include Acts in his Canon, although he did in-clude his edition of Luke as a preface to the Pauline corpus. Acts, while it bore eloquent witness to the apostleship of Paul, at the same time cut right across Marcion’s insistence that the original apostles of Jesus had proved unfaithful to their Master’s teaching. Marcion and his followers are probably the main target of Tertullian’s Charge of inconsistency against those heretics who con-fidently appeal to the exclusive apostolic authority of Paul while rejecting the one book above all others which provides independent testimony of his apostleship (Prescriplion 22f). To the Champions of the catholic faith, on the other hand, the value of Acts now appeared great-er than ever. For not only did it present irrefragable evidence of Paul’s Status and achievement as an apostle, but it also safeguarded the position of the other apostles and justified the inclusion of non-Pauline apostolic writings alongside the Pauline collection in the volume of Holy Writ. It was from this time that it came to be known as ‘The Acts of the Apostles’, or even, as the Muratorian list calls it with anti-Marcionite exaggeration, ‘The Acts of all the Apostles’. VII. Its abiding value The title of Acts to occupy its traditional place be-tween the Gospels and the Epistles is clear. On the one hand, it is the general sequel to the fourfold Gospel (as it is the proper sequel to one of the four); on the other hand, it supplies the historical background to the earlier Epistles, and attests the apostolic character of most of the writers whose names they bear. Moreover, it remains a document of incalculable value for the beginnings of Christianity. When we consider how scanty is our knowledge of the pro-gress of the gospel in other directions in the dec-ades following ad 30, we may appreciate our indebtedness to Acts for the relatively detailed ac-count which it gives of the progress of the gospel along the road from Jerusalem to Rome. The rise and progress of Christianity is a study beset with Problems, but some of these problems would be even more intractable than they are if we had not the Information of Acts to help us. For example, how did it come about that a movement which began in the heart of Judaism was recognized after a few decades as a distinctively Gentile religion? And how has it come about that a faith which originated in Asia has been for centuries pre-dominantly associated, for better or worse, with European civilization? The answer is largely, though not entirely, bound up with the missionary career of Paul, apostle to the Gentiles and Citizen of Rome; and of that career Luke, in Acts, is the historian. His narrative is, in fact, a source-book of the highest value for a significant phase of the his-tory of World civilization. Bibliography. BC, 5 vols., 1920-33; H. J. Cad-bury, The Book of Acts in History, 1955; M. Dibel-ius, Studies in the Acts of the Apostles, 1956; R. P. C. Hanson, The Acts in the Revised Standard Version. 1967; E. Haenchen, The Acts of the Apostles, 1971; W. W. Gasque, A History of the Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles, 1989; F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles!, 1991; idem, The Book of the Acts2, NIC, 1988; BA1CS f.f.b. ADAH (Heb. ‘ädä, meaning uncertain). 1. One of the wives of Lamech and mother of Jabal and Jubal (Gn. 4:19ff.). 2. One of the wives of Esau, daughter of Elon a Hittite and mother of Eliphaz (Gn. 36:2fr.). t.c.m. ADAM (Heb. ’ädäm). A town 28 km N of Jericho. near * Zarethan, Controlling the Jordan fords just below the confluence of the Jabbok; modern Teil ed-Damiyeh. The blocking of the Jordan here made it possible for the Israelites to cross at Jericho (Jos. 3:1 OfT). j.p.u.l. ADAM. I. In the Old Testament The first man, created (bära, Gn. 1:27) by God in his own image (selem), on the sixth day by means of forming him (as a potter forms, yäsar, Gn. 2:7) of dust from the ground ('“dämä), and uniquely breathing into his nostrils the breath of life (niSmat hayytm; see b, below). The result of this was that ‘the man’ became a living being (nepes hayyä). Sumerian and Babylonian myths of the creation of man are known, but compared with the Creation Story in the Bible all are crude and polytheistic. a. Etymology The name Adam (’ädäm), in addition to being a proper name, also has the connotation ‘man-kind’, a sense in which it occurs in the OT some 500 times, so that when the noun occurs with the definite article (hä'ädäm) it is to be translated as the proper noun rather than as the name. The word ’adm occurs also in Ugaritic in the sense ‘man-kind’. In the accounts of the ‘creation in Gn. 1 and 2 the article is used with ’ädäm in all but three cases: 1:26, where ‘man’ in general is evi-dently intended; 2:5, where ‘a man’ (or ‘no man’) is ciearly the most natural sense; and 2:20, the first permissible use of the proper name according to the text. The av has projected this use back into the preceding verse (2:19) in spite of the article there, whereas rv, rsv, observing that in this occurrence, and indeed in all those (3:17, 21) without the article up to Gn. 4:25 the name is prefixed by the preposition T-, which might be read (lä-