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4034 SECOND PASSOVER.-The twelve apostles sent 34 forth. John the Baptist beheaded.

4035 THIRD PASSOVER.-Seventy disciples sent forth. 35 Transfiguration of Jesus Christ.

32

4036 FOURTH PASSOVER.-The crucifixion, death, resur- 36 33 rection, and ascension of Christ.

Feast of Pentecost.-Descent of the Holy Spirit.

4039 The martyrdom of Stephen.-First Jewish perse- 39 cution of the church.

40 37

4066 Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, written from Italy 66 63 soon after he was set at liberty.

4069 Cestius Gallus governor of Syria comes to Jerusa- 69
lem; enumerates the Jews at the passover.
Disturbances at Cæsarea, and at Jerusalem.
Florus puts several Jews to death.

The Jews rise, and kill the Roman garrison at
Jerusalem.

A massacre of the Jews at Cæsarea and Palestine.
All the Jews of Scythopolis slain in one night.
Cestius governor of Syria comes into Judæa.
He besieges the temple of Jerusalem; retires; is
defeated by the Jews.

The Christians of Jerusalem, seeing a war about
to break out, retire to Pella, in the kingdom of
Agrippa, beyond Jordan.

Vespasian appointed by Nero for the Jewish war.
Josephus made governor of Galilee.

Vespasian sends his son Titus to Alexandria;
comes himself to Antioch, and forms a numerous
army.

4070 Vespasian enters Judæa; subdues Galilee.
Tiberias and Tarichea, which had revolted against
Agrippa, reduced to obedience by Vespasian.
Divisions in Jerusalem.

The Zealots seize the temple, commit violences in
Jerusalem, and send for the Idumæans to suc-
cour Jerusalem.

70 67

4071 Vespasian takes all the places of strength in Judæa 71 about Jerusalem.

Simon son of Gioras ravages Judæa and the south
of Idumæa.

In this or the following year John writes his three
Epistles.

4073 Titus marches against Jerusalem to besiege it.
Comes down before Jerusalem some days before
the passover.

The factions unite at first against the Romans, but
afterwards divide again.

The Romans take the first enclosure of Jerusalem;
then the second; they make a wall all round
the city, which is reduced to distress by famine.
July 17. The perpetual sacrifice ceases in the
temple.

The Romans become masters of the court of the
Gentiles, and set fire to the galleries.

A Roman soldier sets the temple on fire, notwith-
standing Titus commands the contrary.

The Romans, being now masters of the city and

temple, offer sacrifices to their gods.

The last enclosure of the city taken.

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AARON, the son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi (Exod. vi. 20.), was born three years before his brother Moses. The Scripture is silent respecting every thing which preceded his call to be the spokesman or interpreter of Moses before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. From this time (the eighty-third year of his age), Aaron was the associate of Moses in all the transactions of the Israelites, until his death on Mount Hor, B. c. 1452, in the hundred and twenty-third year of his age, and in the fortieth year after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. (Num. xxxiii. 38, 39.) Aaron was the first high-priest of the Jews; and was succeeded in the pontifical office and dignity by his son Eleazar. (Deut. x. 6.) For an account of Aaron's conduct in the affair of the golden calf, see p. 136. of this volume.

AB, the eleventh month of the civil year of the Jews, and the fifth month of their ecclesiastical year. For the festivals and fasts observed by the Jews in this month, see p. 76.

ABADDON (Heb.), or APOLLYON (Gr.), that is, the Destroyer: the name of the angel of the bottomless pit. (Rev. ix. 11.)

ABANA and PHARPAR, two rivers of Damascus, mentioned in 2 Kings v. 12. The valley of Damascus, which lay between Libanus and Anti-Libanus, was watered by five rivers, of which these were the two principal. Both descended from Mount Hermon. The Pharpar flowed by the walls of Damascus: the Abana flowed through the city, and divided it into two parts. l'hese rivers are not now to be distinguished. 3 E

Vol.-II

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ABARIM, mountains of, notice of, 31.

ABDON, one of the judges of Israel; he succeeded Elon, and governed the Israelites eight years. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy asses. He was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim. (Judg. xii. 13-15.)

ABDON, the name of a Levitical city, situated in the canton allotted to the tribe of Asher, and given to the Levites of the family of Gershon.

ABEDNEGO, a Chaldee name, given by the king of Babylon's officer to Azariah, one of Daniel's companions. He was thrown into a fiery furnace, with Shadrach and Meshach, for refusing to adore the statue erected by the command of Nebuchadnezzar ; but both he and his companions were miraculously preserved. (Dan. iii.)

ABEL, the second son of Adam, and the first shepherd: he was murdered by his elder brother Cain, through envy; because his sacrifice, offered in faith, was accepted by God, being (it is supposed) consumed by celestial fire, while the offering of Cain was rejected. (Gen. iv. 2-8. Heb. xi. 4.)

ABEL, the name of several cities in Palestine; viz.

1. ABEL-BETH-MAACHAH, or ABEL-MAIN, a city in the northern part of the canton allotted to the tribe of Naphtali. Hither fled Sheba the son of Bichri, when pursued by the forces of king David; and the inhabitants, in order that they might escape the horrors of a siege, cut off Sheba's head, which they threw over 401

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the wall to Joab (2 Sam. xx. 14-22.) About eighty years after, it was taken and ravaged by Benhadad king of Syria. (1 Kings xv. 20.) About two hundred years after this event, it was captured and sacked by Tiglath-pileser, who carried the inhabitants captive into Assyria. (2 Kings xv. 29.) This place was subsequently rebuilt; and, according to Josephus, became, under the name of ABILA, the capital of the district of Abi

lene.

2. ABEL-KERAMIM, the place or plain of the vineyards (Judg. xi. 33.), a village of the Ammonites, where they were discomfited by Jephthah. According to Eusebius, it abounded in his time with vineyards, and was six Roman miles from Rabbath Ammon.

3. ABEL-MEHOLAH was the native country of Elisha. (1 Kings xix. 16.) It could not be far from Scythopolis. (iv. 12.) Eusebius places it in the great plain, sixteen miles from Scythopolis, south. Not far from hence, Gideon obtained a victory over the Midianites. (Judg. vii. 22.)

4. ABEL-MISRAIM (the mourning of the Egyptians) was formerly called the floor of Atad. (Gen. 1. 11.) Jerome and some others after him believe this to be the place afterwards called Bethagla, at some distance from Jericho and Jordan, west.

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ABILA. See ABEL-BETH-MAACHAH.
ABILENE, region of, 18.

ABIMAEL, the name of a descendant of Joktan. (Gen. x. 28. 1 Chron. i. 22.) In these passages he and his brethren probably represent different Arabian tribes; though no name has yet been discovered in the Arabian writers which clearly corresponds to Abimael.

ABIMELECH, a common appellative of the Philistine kings, as Pharaoh was of the Egyptian monarchs. Two of this name are mentioned in the Scriptures, viz. 1. Abimelech king of Gerar, the contemporary of Abraham. Struck with the beauty of Sarah, he took her from the patriarch, who had passed her as his sister, but restored her in consequence of a divine command. (Gen. xx.)-2. Abimelech II. supposed to be the son of the preceding, with whom Isaac entered into an alliance. (Gen. xxvi.) ABIMELECH, the son of Gideon by a concubine. After his father's death he took possession of the government; procured himself to be acknowledged king; and afterwards put to death all his brethren, except Jotham, who escaped his fury. He was himself subsequently wounded at Thebez by a woman, who hurled a piece of a mill-stone upon his head; and indignant at the idea of perishing by the hand of a woman, he commanded his armour-bearer to pierce him with his sword. (Judg. viii.) ABINADAB.-1. A Levite of Kirjath-jearim, who received the in his house until David sent to conduct it thence to Jerusalem. (1 Sam. vii. 2. 2 Kings vi. 3, 4.)—2. One of Saul's sons who perished with him at the battle of Gilboa.-3. The brother of David and the son of Jesse. (1 Chron. ii. 13.)

ABEZ, a town in the canton of the tribe of Issachar. Josh. xix. 20.

ABIAH.-1. The second son of Samuel, who intrusted to him and his brother Joel the administration of justice, which they executed so ill, that the elders of Israel came to the prophet and demanded of him a king. (1 Sam. viii. 2-5.)-2. A priest of the posterity of Aaron, and the founder of a sacerdotal family. When all the priests were divided into twenty-four classes, the eighth class was denominated from him the class of Abia. (1 Chron. xxiv. 10.) To this class belonged Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. (Luke i. 5.)

ABIATHAR, the son of Abimelech, the tenth high-priest of the Jews. Escaping from the massacre of the priests at Nob, he joined the party of David, and continued in the pontificate until the reign of Solomon: by whom he was deprived of his office, for having embraced the faction of Adonijah.

ABIB, the name of the seventh month of the Jewish civil year, and the first of their ecclesiastical year. It was also called Nisan. For an account of the fasts or festivals occurring in this month, see p. 76.

ABIGAIL.-1. The wife of Nabal, of Carmel; by her prudence and address, she averted the wrath of David against her husband, who had churlishly refused him succours during his distress in consequence of the persecutions of Saul. On the death of Nabal, she became the wife of David. (1 Sam. xxv.)—2. The sister of David. (1 Chron. ii. 16, 17.)

ABIHU, the son of Aaron and Elisheba, who was consumed, together with his brother Nadab, by a flash of fire sent from God, for offering incense with strange fire, instead of taking it from the altar of burnt-offering. (Lev. x. 1, 2.) This severity of punishment was necessary towards the first transgressors of the divine law, in order to deter others from the same offence, and to increase the reverential awe of the Divine Majesty. It would seem that Nadab and Abihu were betrayed into this act of presumption by intemperance at the feast upon the feast-offerings: for, immediately after, and in consequence of their fate, Moses prohibited the priests from drinking wine and strong drink, when they approached the sanctuary. (Mant and D'Oyly, on Lev. x.) ABIJAH, the son of Jeroboam I. king of Israel, a young prince of promising hopes, who is supposed to have shown himself averse from his father's idolatry, and died early. (1 Kings xiv.)

ABIJAH, OF ABIJAM, the son and successor of Rehoboam king of Judah. He reigned thirty-three years; a wicked prince, who imitated the impiety and misconduct of his father.

ABIJAH, the name of the wife of Ahaz, and the mother of Hezekiah king of Judah.

ABIRAM.-1. One of those who conspired with Korah and Dathan against Moses, and who perished in the same manner. (Num. xvi.)-2. The eldest son of Hiel the Bethelite, who expired as his father was laying the foundation of Jericho, which he had undertaken to rebuild (1 Kings xvi. 34.), as Joshua more than 530 years before had prophetically announced would be the case. (Josh vi.)

ABISHAG, the name of a beautiful virgin who was sent for to cherish David in his old age. Interpreters are not agreed whether she became the consort of David or was only his concubine. After David's death, she was demanded in marriage by Adonijah : but his request was rejected by Solomon; who, considering that, if it were granted, Adonijah would affect the regal power, caused him to be put to death. (1 Kings i. 3, 4. ii. 13-25.)

ABNER, the son of Ner, uncle to king Saul, and general of his forces. After the death of his sovereign, he preserved the crown for his son Ishbosheth: but, afterwards quarrelling with him, Abner joined David. He was, subsequently, slain by Joab, in revenge for the death of his brother Asahel who was slain in open battle. David honoured Abner with public obsequies. (2 Sam. iii.)

ABRAHAM, the patriarch and founder of the Israelitish nation, celebrated in the Scriptures for his probity, and for his unshaken confidence in the promises of God. He was the son of Terah, and was born at Ur, a city of Chaldæa. Called by God out of his own country, by faith he went forth into an unknown country, where he dwelt with his posterity, resting on the general promise of God for a better inheritance. Having married Sarah, he became the father of Isaac, whom by faith he offered on an altar, though in him he expected a completion of all the promises which God had made to him: but, as at first he had miraculously received a son, he concluded that God could with equal ease, after death, raise him again to life. (Heb. xi. 8-10. 17-19.) The patriarch's first name was Abram, which signifies the father of elevation, or an elevated father; but on a renewal of the divine covenant with him and of the promises made to him by God, it was changed to Abraham, the import of which is, the father of a great multitude. (Gen. xvii.) He died at the age of 175 years, and was interred, with Sarah his wife, in the field and cave at Machpelah. (xxv.)

ABSALOM, the son of king David by Maahah. He rebelled against his father, and was slain by Joab, about 1020 years в. c. (2 Sam. xiii.—xviii.)

ABSTINENCE, vows of, 130. Aссно. See PTOLEMAIS.

ACELDAMA, a place without the south wall of Jerusalem. beyond the pool of Siloam. It was called the Potter's Field (Matt. xxvii. 7. 10.), because they dug thence the earth of which they made their pots and the Fuller's Field, because they dried their cloth there; but being afterwards bought with that money

AD

by which the high-priest and rulers of the Jews purchased the blood of the holy Jesus, it was by the providence of God so ordering it, called Aceldama, that is, the field of blood. (Acts i. 19. Matt. xxvii. 7, 8.) The place, which in modern times has been shown to travellers as Aceldama, is described by Bishop Pococke as an oblong square cavern about twenty-six paces long, twenty broad, and apparently about twenty feet deep. It is enclosed on every side, either with the rock or by a wall, and covered over. There are six holes in the top, by which a person may look down into it; and through these holes the dead bodies are thrown in. Several sepulchral grottoes are to be seen in the vicinity of this spot.

ACHAIA, in the largest sense, comprehends Greece properly so called. It is bounded on the west by Epirus, on the cast by the Ægean Sea, on the north by Macedonia, on the south by Peloponnesus. This seems to be the region intended when Saint Paul, according to the Roman acceptation, mentions all the regions of Achaia, and directs his second Epistle to all the saints in Achaia. (2 Cor. xi. 10.) Thus, what is Achaia, in Acts xix. 21. is Hellas, that is, Greece. (Acts xx. 2.) Achaia, strictly so called, is the northern region of Peloponnesus, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Corinth, on the south by Arcadia, on the east by Sicyonia, and on the west by the Ionian Sea. Of this region CORINTH was the capital.

ACHAN, the son of Charmi, of the tribe of Judah; who, contrary to the express command of God, had appropriated some valuable articles out of the spoils of Jericho: for which he, together with all his family, was stoned, and all his effects were consumed with fire. (Josh. vii. 22.)

ACHISH, a king of Gath, in whose court David took refuge from Saul; but, his life being endangered, he feigned madness before the king. When war broke out between Saul and the Philistines, David marched with his army: but the lords of the Philistines, being apprehensive lest he should turn against them in battle, desired Achish to dismiss him, which accordingly he did, with commendations for his fidelity. (1 Sam. xxi.-xxix.) ACHMETHA. See EcBATANA.

ACHOR, a valley in the territory of Jericho, and in the canton of the tribe of Benjamin, where Achan was stoned. (Josh. vii. 24.)

ACHSAH, the daughter of Caleb, who promised her in marriage to him who should conquer Kirjath-sepher from the Philistines. Othniel took the place, and married Achsah. (Josh. xv. 16, 17.) ACKSHAPH, a city belonging to the tribe of Asher. The king of Ackshaph was conquered by Joshua. (xii. 20.) Some writers are of opinion, that Ackshaph is the same as Ecdippa, on the Mediterranean, between Tyre and Ptolemais; others, that Ecdippa is described in Josh. xix. 20. under the name of Achzib. The Arabs call a place, three hours north from Ptolemais, Zib, which is the place where formerly stood Ecdippa. It is probable that Ackshaph and Achzib are but different names for the same town. Mr. Buckingham, who visited this place in January, 1816, found it a small town situated on a hill near the sea, and having a few palm trees rearing themselves above its dwellings. ACQUITTAL, in criminal cases, forms of, 56.

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and the remnant of Adama. (Isa. xv. ult.) Apw To σTEμx Μωαβ, και Αριηλ, και το καταλο στον "Αδιμα.

ADAR, the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical Jewish year, and the sixth of the civil year. For a notice of the festivals, &c. during this month, see pp. 75, 76.

ADONI-BEZEK (the Lord of Bezek) was the first Canaanitish king conquered by the Israelites after the death of Joshua. He was taken to Jerusalem, where he died, after his toes and thumbs had been cut off, which he owned to be a just retribution of divine providence, in retaliation of what he had himself inflicted upon others. (Judg. i. 7.)

ADONIJAH, the fourth son of king David by Haggith. He aspired to the kingdom before his father's death, but was disappointed of his hopes by the command of David, who ordered Solomon to be proclaimed king. He afterwards desired Abishag, the Shunemite, to wife; this request was not only rejected, but he was ordered to be put to death, as one guilty of treason. (1 Kings ii. 13-25.)

ADONI-ZEDEK (i. e. Lord of Zedek) was king of Zedek, or Jerusalem, and one of the five Canaanitish kings shut up in the cave of Makkedah, whither they fled after their defeat by Joshua; by whose command they were taken out and put to death, and their bodies hung on five trees. (Josh. x.)

ADOPTION, ceremony of, and its effects. 164, 165. ADORAIM, a town in the southern part of the tribe of Judah, which was fortified by Rehoboam. (2 Chron. xi. 9. 11.)

ADORAM, the chief treasurer of Rehoboam, who was sent by that prince, in the commencement of his reign, to the rebellious tribes, to endeavour to reduce them to their allegiance; and perished, the victim of an infuriated populace. (1 Kings xii. 13.) It is uncertain whether this Adoram was the same as Adoniram, who had filled the same office under Solomon. (1 Kings iv. 6.) He might be his son, and one of the young men who gave evil counsels to Rehoboam. However this may be, it was the height of imprudence to send him to the revolted tribes who had complained of the burden of taxes: and hence some expositors have imagined, that Rehoboam sacrificed his chief treasurer in the vain hope that his death would calm the effervescence of popular fury.

ADRAMMELECH, and SHAREZER, sons of Sennacherib, were probably the children of slaves who had no right to the Assyrian throne, and who assassinated their father on his return from his unsuccessful expedition against Hezekiah, at Nineveh, while worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god: after which they fled into Armenia.

ADRAMMELECH, an idol (probably the sun), worshipped by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, who caused their children to pass through the fire to it.

ADRAMYTTIUM, a maritime town of Mysia in Asia Minor, over-against the island of Lesbos, situated at the foot of Mount Ida. (Acts xxvii. 1, 2.) It was a colony of the Athenians.

ADRIA is mentioned in Acts xxvii. 27., where, it is to be observed, that when Saint Paul says, that they were tossed in Adria, he does not say in the Adriatic Gulf, which ends with the Illyrian Sea, but in the Adriatic Sea, which, according to Hesychius,

ADADA, a city in the southern part of the canton belonging to the tribe of Judah, not far from the boundaries of Idumæa or Edom. (Josh. xv. 27.)

ADAM, the first man, and the father of the human race, was created out of the dust of the earth, by God himself, who animated him with a reasonable soul, and formed him after his moral image, in righteousness and true holiness. Having transgressed the single command imposed on him by God, in token of his dependence upon Him as lord paramount of the creation, Adam forfeited the state of happiness in which he had been created, and entailed a curse on himself and his posterity, had not God made a promise of a future Saviour. (Gen. i. ii. iii.) He died, aged 930 years.

How Saint Paul's ship, which was near to Malta, and so, either in the Lybian or Sicilian Sea, could be in the Adriatic? It is well answered, That not only the Ionian, but even the Sicilian Sea, and part of that which washes Crete, was called the Adriatic. Thus, Ptolemy says, that Sicily was bounded on the east by the Adriatic; and that Crete was compassed on the west by the Adriatic Sea; and Strabo says, that the Ionian Gulf is a part of that which, in his time, was called the Adriatic Sea. (Whitby.)

ADRIEL, the son of Barzillai, married Merab, the daughter of Saul (who had first been promised to David, 1 Sam. xviii. 19.), by whom he had five sons, who were given up to the Gibeonites, to be put to death in revenge of Saul's cruelty to them. In 2 Sam. xxi. 8. they are called the sons of Michal; she having adopted them, or else the name of Michal is by mistake put for Merab.