Abijah
Father (i.e., “possessor or worshipper”) of Jehovah. (1.) 1 Chr. 7:8 . (2.) 1 Chr. 2:24 . (3.) The second son of Samuel ( 1 Sam. 8:2 ; 1 Chr. 6:28 ). His conduct, along with that of his brother, as a judge in Beer-sheba, to which office his father had appointed him, led to popular discontent, and ultimately provoked the people to demand a royal form of government. (4.) A descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, a chief of one of the twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was divided by David ( 1 Chr. 24:10 ). The order of Abijah was one of those which did not return from the Captivity ( Ezra 2:36-39 ; Neh. 7:39-42 ; 12:1 ). (5.) The son of Rehoboam, whom he succeeded on the throne of Judah ( 1 Chr. 3:10 ). He is also called Abijam ( 1 Kings 14:31 ; 15:1-8 ). He began his three years’ reign ( 2 Chr. 12:16 ; 13:1 , 2 ) with a strenuous but unsuccessful effort to bring back the ten tribes to their allegiance. His address to “Jeroboam and all Israel,” before encountering them in battle, is worthy of being specially noticed ( 2 Chr. 13:5-12 ). It was a very bloody battle, no fewer than 500,000 of the army of Israel having perished on the field. He is described as having walked “in all the sins of his father” ( 1 Kings 15:3 ; 2 Chr. 11:20-22 ). It is said in 1 Kings 15:2 that “his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom;” but in 2 Chr. 13:2 we read, “his mother’s name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.” The explanation is that Maachah is just a variation of the name Michaiah, and that Abishalom is probably the same as Absalom, the son of David. It is probable that “Uriel of Gibeah” married Tamar, the daughter of Absalom ( 2 Sam. 14:27 ), and by her had Maachah. The word “daughter” in 1 Kings 15:2 will thus, as it frequently elsewhere does, mean grand-daughter. (6.) A son of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. On account of his severe illness when a youth, his father sent his wife to consult the prophet Ahijah regarding his recovery. The prophet, though blind with old age, knew the wife of Jeroboam as soon as she approached, and under a divine impulse he announced to her that inasmuch as in Abijah alone of all the house of Jeroboam there was found “some good thing toward the Lord,” he only would come to his grave in peace. As his mother crossed the threshold of the door on her return, the youth died, and “all Israel mourned for him” ( 1 Kings 14:1-18 ). (7.) The daughter of Zechariah ( 2 Chr. 29:1 ; comp. Isa. 8:2 ), and afterwards the wife of Ahaz. She is also called Abi ( 2 Kings 18:2 ). (8.) One of the sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 7:8 ). “Abiah,” A.V.
Ahaz
Possessor. (1.) A grandson of Jonathan ( 1 Chr. 8:35 ; 9:42 ). (2.) The son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah ( 2 Kings 16 ; Isa. 7 -9; 2 Chr. 28 ). He gave himself up to a life of wickedness and idolatry. Notwithstanding the remonstrances and warnings of Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, he appealed for help against Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Israel, who threatened Jerusalem, to Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, to the great injury of his kingdom and his own humilating subjection to the Assyrians ( 2 Kings 16:7 , 9 ; 15:29). He also introduced among his people many heathen and idolatrous customs ( Isa. 8:19 ; 38:8 ; 2 Kings 23:12 ). He died at the age of thirty-five years, after reigning sixteen years (B.C. 740-724), and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah. Because of his wickedness he was “not brought into the sepulchre of the kings.”
Ahaziah
Held by Jehovah. (1.) The son and successor of Ahab. He followed the counsels of his mother Jezebel, and imitated in wickedness the ways of his father. In his reign the Moabites revolted from under his authority ( 2 Kings 3:5-7 ). He united with Jehoshaphat in an attempt to revive maritime trade by the Red Sea, which proved a failure ( 2 Chr. 20:35-37 ). His messengers, sent to consult the god of Ekron regarding his recovery from the effects of a fall from the roof-gallery of his palace, were met on the way by Elijah, who sent them back to tell the king that he would never rise from his bed ( 1 Kings 22:51 ; 2 Kings 1:18 ). (2.) The son of Joram, or Jehoram, and sixth king of Judah. Called Jehoahaz ( 2 Chr. 21:17 ; 25:23 ), and Azariah ( 2 Chr. 22:6 ). Guided by his idolatrous mother Athaliah, his reign was disastrous ( 2 Kings 8:24-29 ; 9:29 ). He joined his uncle Jehoram, king of Israel, in an expedition against Hazael, king of Damascus; but was wounded at the pass of Gur when attempting to escape, and had strength only to reach Megiddo, where he died ( 2 Kings 9:22-28 ). He reigned only one year.
Alemeth
Covering. (1.) One of the nine sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 7:8 ). (2.) One of the sons of Jehoadah, or Jarah, son of Ahaz ( 1 Chr. 8:36 ). (3.) A sacerdotal city of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 6:60 ), called also Almon ( Josh. 21:18 ), now Almit, a mile north-east of the ancient Anathoth.
Altar
(Heb. mizbe’ah, from a word meaning “to slay”), any structure of earth ( Ex. 20:24 ) or unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places ( Gen. 22:9 ; Ezek. 6:3 ; 2 Kings 23:12 ; 16:4 ; 23:8 ; Acts 14:13 ). The word is used in Heb. 13:10 for the sacrifice offered upon it—the sacrifice Christ offered. Paul found among the many altars erected in Athens one bearing the inscription, “To the unknown God” ( Acts 17:23 ), or rather “to an [i.e., some] unknown God.” The reason for this inscription cannot now be accurately determined. It afforded the apostle the occasion of proclaiming the gospel to the “men of Athens.” The first altar we read of is that erected by Noah ( Gen. 8:20 ). Altars were erected by Abraham ( Gen. 12:7 ; 13:4 ; 22:9 ), by Isaac ( Gen. 26:25 ), by Jacob (33:20; 35:1, 3), and by Moses ( Ex. 17:15 , “Jehovah-nissi”). In the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, two altars were erected. (1.) The altar of burnt offering ( Ex. 30:28 ), called also the “brasen altar” ( Ex. 39:39 ) and “the table of the Lord” ( Mal. 1:7 ). This altar, as erected in the tabernacle, is described in Ex. 27:1-8 . It was a hollow square, 5 cubits in length and in breadth, and 3 cubits in height. It was made of shittim wood, and was overlaid with plates of brass. Its corners were ornamented with “horns” ( Ex. 29:12 ; Lev. 4:18 ). In Ex. 27:3 the various utensils appertaining to the altar are enumerated. They were made of brass. (Comp. 1 Sam. 2:13 , 14 ; Lev. 16:12 ; Num. 16:6 , 7 .) In Solomon’s temple the altar was of larger dimensions ( 2 Chr. 4:1 . Comp. 1 Kings 8:22 , 64 ; 9:25), and was made wholly of brass, covering a structure of stone or earth. This altar was renewed by Asa ( 2 Chr. 15:8 ). It was removed by Ahaz ( 2 Kings 16:14 ), and “cleansed” by Hezekiah, in the latter part of whose reign it was rebuilt. It was finally broken up and carried away by the Babylonians ( Jer. 52:17 ). After the return from captivity it was re-erected ( Ezra 3:3 , 6 ) on the same place where it had formerly stood. (Comp. 1 Macc. 4:47 .) When Antiochus Epiphanes pillaged Jerusalem the altar of burnt offering was taken away. Again the altar was erected by Herod, and remained in its place till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (70 A.D.). The fire on the altar was not permitted to go out ( Lev. 6:9 ). In the Mosque of Omar, immediately underneath the great dome, which occupies the site of the old temple, there is a rough projection of the natural rock, of about 60 feet in its extreme length, and 50 in its greatest breadth, and in its highest part about 4 feet above the general pavement. This rock seems to have been left intact when Solomon’s temple was built. It was in all probability the site of the altar of burnt offering. Underneath this rock is a cave, which may probably have been the granary of Araunah’s threshing-floor ( 1 Chr. 21:22 ). (2.) The altar of incense ( Ex. 30:1-10 ), called also “the golden altar” (39:38; Num. 4:11 ), stood in the holy place “before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony.” On this altar sweet spices were continually burned with fire taken from the brazen altar. The morning and the evening services were commenced by the high priest offering incense on this altar. The burning of the incense was a type of prayer ( Ps. 141:2 ; Rev. 5:8 ; 8:3 , 4 ). This altar was a small movable table, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold ( Ex. 37:25 , 26 ). It was 1 cubit in length and breadth, and 2 cubits in height. In Solomon’s temple the altar was similar in size, but was made of cedar-wood ( 1 Kings 6:20 ; 7:48 ) overlaid with gold. In Ezek. 41:22 it is called “the altar of wood.” (Comp. Ex. 30:1-6 .) In the temple built after the Exile the altar was restored. Antiochus Epiphanes took it away, but it was afterwards restored by Judas Maccabaeus ( 1 Macc. 1:23 ; 4:49 ). Among the trophies carried away by Titus on the destruction of Jerusalem the altar of incense is not found, nor is any mention made of it in Heb. 9 . It was at this altar Zacharias ministered when an angel appeared to him ( Luke 1:11 ). It is the only altar which appears in the heavenly temple ( Isa. 6:6 ; Rev. 8:3 , 4 ).
Amasa
Burden. (1.) The son of Abigail, a sister of king David ( 1 Chr. 2:17 ; 2 Sam. 17:25 ). He was appointed by David to command the army in room of his cousin Joab ( 2 Sam. 19:13 ), who afterwards treacherously put him to death as a dangerous rival ( 2 Sam. 20:4-12 ). (2.) A son of Hadlai, and chief of Ephraim ( 2 Chr. 28:12 ) in the reign of Ahaz.
Assyria
The name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the original capital of the country, was originally a colony from Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a mountainous region lying to the north of Babylonia, extending along the Tigris as far as to the high mountain range of Armenia, the Gordiaean or Carduchian mountains. It was founded in B.C. 1700 under Bel-kap-kapu, and became an independent and a conquering power, and shook off the yoke of its Babylonian masters. It subdued the whole of Northern Asia. The Assyrians were Semites ( Gen. 10:22 ), but in process of time non-Semite tribes mingled with the inhabitants. They were a military people, the “Romans of the East.” Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria little is positively known. In B.C. 1120 Tiglath-pileser I., the greatest of the Assyrian kings, “crossed the Euphrates, defeated the kings of the Hittites, captured the city of Carchemish, and advanced as far as the shores of the Mediterranean.” He may be regarded as the founder of the first Assyrian empire. After this the Assyrians gradually extended their power, subjugating the states of Northern Syria. In the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, Shalmaneser II. marched an army against the Syrian states, whose allied army he encountered and vanquished at Karkar. This led to Ahab’s casting off the yoke of Damascus and allying himself with Judah. Some years after this the Assyrian king marched an army against Hazael, king of Damascus. He besieged and took that city. He also brought under tribute Jehu, and the cities of Tyre and Sidon. About a hundred years after this (B.C. 745) the crown was seized by a military adventurer called Pul, who assumed the name of Tiglath-pileser III. He directed his armies into Syria, which had by this time regained its independence, and took (B.C. 740) Arpad, near Aleppo, after a siege of three years, and reduced Hamath. Azariah (Uzziah) was an ally of the king of Hamath, and thus was compelled by Tiglath-pileser to do him homage and pay a yearly tribute. In B.C. 738, in the reign of Menahem, king of Israel, Pul invaded Israel, and imposed on it a heavy tribute ( 2 Kings 15:19 ). Ahaz, the king of Judah, when engaged in a war against Israel and Syria, appealed for help to this Assyrian king by means of a present of gold and silver ( 2 Kings 16:8 ); who accordingly “marched against Damascus, defeated and put Rezin to death, and besieged the city itself.” Leaving a portion of his army to continue the siege, “he advanced through the province east of Jordan, spreading fire and sword,” and became master of Philistia, and took Samaria and Damascus. He died B.C. 727, and was succeeded by Shalmanezer IV., who ruled till B.C. 722. He also invaded Syria ( 2 Kings 17:5 ), but was deposed in favour of Sargon (q.v.) the Tartan, or commander-in-chief of the army, who took Samaria (q.v.) after a siege of three years, and so put an end to the kingdom of Israel, carrying the people away into captivity, B.C. 722 ( 2 Kings 17:1-6 , 24 ; 18:7 , 9 ). He also overran the land of Judah, and took the city of Jerusalem ( Isa. 10:6 , 12 , 22 , 24 , 34 ). Mention is next made of Sennacherib (B.C. 705), the son and successor of Sargon ( 2 Kings 18:13 ; 19:37 ; Isa. 7:17 , 18 ); and then of Esar-haddon, his son and successor, who took Manasseh, king of Judah, captive, and kept him for some time a prisoner at Babylon, which he alone of all the Assyrian kings made the seat of his government ( 2 Kings 19:37 ; Isa. 37:38 ). Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, became king, and in Ezra 4:10 is referred to as Asnapper. From an early period Assyria had entered on a conquering career, and having absorbed Babylon, the kingdoms of Hamath, Damascus, and Samaria, it conquered Phoenicia, and made Judea feudatory, and subjected Philistia and Idumea. At length, however, its power declined. In B.C. 727 the Babylonians threw off the rule of the Assyrians, under the leadership of the powerful Chaldean prince Merodach-baladan ( 2 Kings 20:12 ), who, after twelve years, was subdued by Sargon, who now reunited the kingdom, and ruled over a vast empire. But on his death the smouldering flames of rebellion again burst forth, and the Babylonians and Medes successfully asserted their independence (B.C. 625), and Assyria fell according to the prophecies of Isaiah (10:5-19), Nahum (3:19), and Zephaniah (3:13), and the many separate kingdoms of which it was composed ceased to recognize the “great king” ( 2 Kings 18:19 ; Isa. 36:4 ). Ezekiel (31) attests (about B.C. 586) how completely Assyria was overthrown. It ceases to be a nation. (See NINEVEH ; BABYLON .)
Athaliah
Whom God afflicts. (1.) The daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and the wife of Jehoram, king of Judah ( 2 Kings 8:18 ), who “walked in the ways of the house of Ahab” ( 2 Chr. 21:6 ), called “daughter” of Omri ( 2 Kings 8:26 ). On the death of her husband and of her son Ahaziah, she resolved to seat herself on the vacant throne. She slew all Ahaziah’s children except Joash, the youngest ( 2 Kings 11:1 , 2 ). After a reign of six years she was put to death in an insurrection ( 2 Kings 11:20 ; 2 Chr. 21:6 ; 22:10-12 ; 23:15 ), stirred up among the people in connection with Josiah’s being crowned as king. (2.) Ezra 8:7 . (3.) 1 Chr. 8:26 .