Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

together about a statue of the sun, which this prophet, who was a magician, had suspended between heaven and earth: there they began altogether to deplore the prophet's death; for which reason a festival was instituted every year, to renew the memory of this ceremony, at the beginning of the month Tammuz, which answers pretty nearly to our June. In this temple was a statue, representing Tammuz. It was hollow, the eyes were of lead, and a gentle fire being | kindled below, which insensibly heated the statue, and melted the lead, the deluded people believed that the idol wept. All this time the Babylonish women, in the temple, were shrieking, and making strange lamentations. But this story requires proofs.

The scene of Adonis's history is said to have been at Byblos, in Phoenicia; and this pretended deity is supposed to have been killed by a wild boar in the mountains of Libanus, whence the river Adonis descends, (Lucian de Deà Syrà,) the waters of which, at a certain time of the year, change color, and appear as red as blood. (See Maundrell, March 17.) This was the signal for celebrating their Adonia, or feasts of Adonis, the observance of which it was not lawful to omit.

The common people were persuaded to believe, that, at this feast, the Egyptians sent by sea a box made of rushes, or of Egyptian papyrus, in the form of a human head, in which a letter was enclosed, acquainting the inhabitants of Byblos, a city above seven days' journey from the coast of Egypt, that their god Adonis, whom they apprehended to be lost, had been discovered. The vessel which carried this letter arrived always safe at Byblos, at the end of seven days. Lucian tells us he was a witness of this event. Procopius, Cyril of Alexandria, (on Isaiah xviii.) and other learned men, are of opinion, that Isaiah alludes to this superstitious custom, when he says, "Wo to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the river of Ethiopia; that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even vessels of bulrushes upon the waters." Some, as Bochart, (Phaleg. lib. iv. | cap. 2.) translate-"that sendeth images, or idols-by sea." But the Hebrew signifies, properly, ambassadors-deputed thither by sea, to carry the news of Adonis's resurrection. [The passage, however, has no reference to Adonis. See Gescnius, Commentar. in loc. R.

the Jewish women who sat weeping for Tammuz, that is, Adonis.

The fable of Adonis among the Greeks assumed a somewhat different form from that which it bore in the East. Among the Phoenicians the festival of Adonis took place in June, (hence called the month Tammuz,) and was partly a season of lamentation, and partly of rejoicing; see above. (Lucian de Dea Syra, 6. seq.) In the former, the women gave themselves up to the most extravagant wailings for the departed god, cut off their hair, or offered up their chastity as a sacrifice in his temple. The solemn burial of the idol, with all the usual ceremonies, concluded the days of mourning. To these succeeded, without any intermission, several days of feasting and rejoicing, on account of the returning god.-The meaning of this worship seems plainly to be symbolical of the course of the sun and his influence on the earth. In winter, the sun, as it were, does not act; for the inhabitants of the earth, he is in a measure lost, and all vegetation is dead; but in the summer months he diffuses every where life and joy, and has, as it were, himself returned to life. See Creuzer's Symbolik, ii. 91. Ed. 2. Hug's Untersuch. ib. d. Myth. 83 seq. R.

ADONI-ZEDEK, i. e. lord of righteousness, a king of Jerusalem, who made an alliance, with four other kings of the Amorites, against Joshua. A great battle was fought at Gibeon, where the Lord aided Israel by a terrific hail-storm, and Joshua commanded the sun to stand still. The five kings were signally defeated, and having hid themselves in a cave a Makkedah, were taken by Joshua and put to death Josh. chap. x. R.

ADOPTION is an act by which a person takes a stranger into his family, in order to make him a par of it; acknowledges him for his son, and constitute him heir of his estate. Adoption, strictly speaking was not in general use among the Hebrews, as Mose says nothing of it in his laws; and Jacob's adoption of his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, (Ger xlviii. 5.) was a kind of substitution, whereby he in tended that his grandsons, the two sons of Joseph should have each his lot in Israel, as if they ha been his own sons: "Ephraim and Manasseh ar mine; as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine. As he gives no inheritance to their father Josepl the effect of this adoption extended only to their in crease of fortune and inheritance; that is, instead o one part, giving them (or Joseph, whom they repr sented) two parts.

From these remarks we are naturally led to inquire into the nature of the ceremonious worship of Adonis, as well as the object to which they referred. We have already stated that the worship of Adonis Another kind of adoption in use among the Israe was celebrated at Byblos, in Phoenicia; the follow-ites, consisted in the obligation one brother was und ing is Lucian's account of the abominations: "The to marry the widow of another who died witho Syrians affirm, that what the boar is reported to have children; so that the children born of this marriag done against Adonis, was transacted in their country; were regarded as belonging to the deceased brothe and in memory of this accident they every year beat and went by his name, Deut. xxv. 5; Matt. xxii. 2 themselves, and lament, and celebrate frantic rites; This practice was also customary before the time and great wailings are appointed throughout the Moses; as we see in the history of Tamar, Ge country. After they have beaten themselves and la- xxviii. 8. See MARRIAGE. mented, they first perform funeral obsequies to Adonis, as to one dead; and afterwards, on a following day, they feign that he is alive, and ascended into the air, [or heaven,] and shave their heads, as the Egyptians do at the death of Apis; and whatever women will not consent to be shaved, are obliged, by way of punishment, to prostitute themselves once to strangers, and the money they thus earn is consecrated to Venus." (See SUCCOTH BENOTH.) We may now discern the flagrant iniquity committed, and that which was further to be expected, among

|

But Scripture affords instances of still anoth kind of adoption—that of a father having a daught only, and adopting her children. Thus, 1 Chron. 21. Machir, (grandson of Joseph,) called “Fath of Gilead," (that is, chief of that town,) gave ] daughter to Hezron, who took her; and he was a s of sixty years, (sixty years of age,) and she bare_h Segub; and Segub begat Jair, who had twenty-thi cities in the land of Gilead, which, no doubt, v the landed estate of Machir, who was so desirous a male heir. Jair acquired a number of other citi

How is this? Zedekiah is called, in Kings and 1 Chronicles, "the son of Josiah ;" in 2 Chronicles he is called, "the son of Jehoiakim."... By way of answer, we may observe, that perhaps Zedekiah was son, by natural issue, of Jehoiakim, whereby he was grandson to Josiah; but might not his grandfather adopt him as his son? We find Jacob doing this very thing to Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph; "as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine:" and they, accordingly, are always reckoned among the sons of Jacob. In like manner, if Josiah then would this young prince be reckoned to him; and both places of Scripture are correct; as well that which calls him son of his real father, Jehoiakim, as that which calls him son of his adopted father, Josiah. That this might easily be the fact, appears by the dates; for Josiah was killed ante A. D. 606, at which time Zedekiah was eight or nine years old; he being made king ante A. D. 594, when he was twenty-one. By this statement the whole difficulty, which has greatly perplexed the learned, vanishes at once. [This mode of accounting for the apparent discrepancy in question, rests wholly on conjecture, and is quite unnecessary. We have only to take the word brother in 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. in the wider and not unusual sense of kinsman, relative, and the difficulty vanishes much more easily than before. Thus in Gen. xiv. 16, Abraham is said to have "brought back his brother Lot," although Lot was really his nephew. In the same manner in Gen. xxix. 12, 15, Jacob is said to be the brother of Laban, his uncle. R.

which made up his possessions to threescore cities, (Josh. xiii. 30; 1 Kings iv. 13.) however, as well he, as his posterity, and their cities, instead of being reckoned to the family of Judah, as they ought to have been, by their paternal descent from Hezron, are reckoned as sons of Machir, the father of Gilead. Nay, more, it appears, (Numbers xxxii. 41.) that this very Jair, who was, in fact, the son of Segub, the son of Hezron, the son of Judah, is expressly called "Jair, the son of Manasseh," because his maternal great-grandfather was Machir, the son of Manasseh; and Jair, inheriting his property, was his lineal rep-adopted Zedekiah, his grandson, to be his own son, resentative. So that we should never have suspected his being other than a son of Manasseh, naturally, had only the passage in Numbers been extant.-In like manner, Sheshan, of the tribe of Judah, gives his daughter to Jarha, an Egyptian slave; (whom he liberated, no doubt, on that occasion;) the posterity of this marriage, however, Attai, &c. not being reckoned to Jarha, as an Egyptian, but to Sheshan, as an Israelite, and succeeding to his estate and station in Israel, 1 Chron. ii. 34, &c. So we read, that Mordecai adopted Esther, his niece; he took her to himself to be a daughter (Heb. "for a daughter.") This being in the time of Israel's captivity, Mordecai had no landed estate; for if he had had any, he would not have adopted a daughter, but a son, Esther ii. 7. So the daughter of Pharaoh adopted Moses; and he was to her for a son, Exod. ii. 10. So we read, Ruth iv. 17. that Naomi had a son; a son is born to Naomi; when indeed it was the son of Ruth, and only a distant relation, or, in fact, none at all, to Naomi, who was merely the wife of Elimelech, to whom Boaz was a kinsman, but not the nearest by consanguinity. In addition to these instances, we have in Scripture a passage which includes no inconsiderable difficulty in regard to kindred; but which, perhaps, is allied to some of these principles. The reader will perceive it at once, by comparing the columns.

2 KINGS Xxiv. 17. "And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his [Jehoiachin's] FATHER'S BROTHER, king in his stead; and changed his name to Zedekiahi."

1 CHRON. iii. 15.

"And the sons of Josiah were, the first-born Johanan, the second Jehoiakin, the third Zedekiah."

JEREMIAH i. 2, 3. "In the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah; unto the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah.” Also, chap. Xxxvii. 1. "And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned."

By this it appears that Zedekiah was son to Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim; and, consequently, that he was UNCLE to Jehoiachin.

2 CHRON. XXXvi. 9, 10.

"Jehoiachin reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord; and made Zedekiah, HIS BROTHER, king over Judah and Jerusalem."

It should seem, then, that in any of the instances above quoted, the party might be described, very justly, yet very contradictorily:—as thus,

1. Jair was son of Manasseh
2. Jair was begotten by Judah.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

but,

but,

1. Attai was son of Sheshan
2. Attai was begotten by Jarha.
1. Esther was daughter of Mordecai but,
2. Esther was begotten by Abihail.
1. Moses was son of Pharaoh's daughter but,
2. Moses was begotten by Amram.
1. Obed was son of Naomi

2. Obed was the child of Ruth.

[ocr errors]

but,

This kind of double parentage would be very perplexing to us, as we have no custom analogous to it; and possibly it might be somewhat intricate where it was practised; however, it occurs elsewhere, beside in Scripture. We have a singularly striking instance of it in a Palmyrene inscription, copied by Mr. By this it appears that Wood, &c. who remarks, that it is much more diffiZedekiah was SON to Je-cult to understand than to translate: "This," says hoiakim. he, "will appear by rendering it literally, which is easiest done into Latin," thus:

"Senatus populusque Alialamenem, Pani filium, Mocimi nepotem, Eranis pronepotem, Mathæ abnepotem; et Eranem patrem ejus, viros pios et patriæ amicos, et omnimodi placentes patriæ patriisque diis, honoris gratia: Anno 450, mense Aprili."

"Our difficulty is, that Eranes is called the FATHER of Alialamenes [whereas Alialamenes is himself called] the SON of Panus." Wood's account of Palmyra.

The sense of this inscription may be thus rendered:

"Erected by the senate and the people to Alialamenes, the son of Panus, grandson of Mocimus, great-grandson of Eranes, great-great-grandson of

ed in consequence of favors received from that prince, perhaps at the time when he was detained in Syria by the siege of Tyre.

ACHAIA, taken in its largest sense, comprehended the whole region of Greece, or Hellas, now called Livadia. Achaia Proper, however, was a province of Greece, of which Corinth was the capital; and embracing the whole western part of the Peloponnesus. It is worthy of remark, that Luke speaks of Gallio as being deputy (proconsul) of Achaia, at the time that Paul preached there, (Acts xviii. 12.) which was, indeed, the title borne by the superior officer in Achaia at that time, but which did not long continue, nor had it long been so at the time he wrote. See Kuinoel on Acts xviii. 12.

"Since thou hast troubled us, the Lord shall troub thee, this day." They then stoned Achan and h family and all his property, and afterwards consume them by fire. They then raised over them a gre heap of stones, ver. 16, seq. 26.

C

ACELDAMA, (the field of blood,) a small field, lying south of Jerusalem, which the priests purchased with the thirty pieces of silver that Judas had re- The sentence passed on the family of Achan m ceived as the price of our Saviour's blood, Matt. be justified by reflecting, (1.) that probably he wa xxvii. 8; Acts i. 19. Pretending that it was not assisted by them in this theft; for, if not, (2.) he cou lawful to appropriate this money to sacred uses, be- never have secreted such articles in the earth und cause it was the price of blood, they purchased with his tent, without being observed and detected b it the potter's field, to be a burying-place for stran- them, who ought to have opposed him, or immed gers. Helena, the mother of Constantine, had part ately to have given notice of the transaction to th of the field covered in, for the purpose of receiving elders. As they did not do this, they became, b the dead, and it was formerly thought, that such was concealment, at least partakers of his crime. the sarcophagous virtue in the earth, that the bodies ACHIOR, general of the Ammonites, who joine were consumed within the space of two or three Holofernes with auxiliary troops, in that general days. It is now used as the sepulchre of the Arme-expedition into Egypt. Bethulia having shut nians, who have a magnificent convent on mount gates against Holofernes, he called the princes Zion. See Mod. Traveller, i. p. 152. Miss. Herald, Moab and Ammon, and demanded of them, wit 1824. p. 66. great passion, who those people were that oppose his passage; presuming that the Moabites, and An monites, being neighbors to the Hebrews, could be inform him. Achior answered, "My lord, the people are originally of Chaldea; but because the would not worship the gods of the Chaldeans, the were obliged to leave their country." He relate also, Jacob's descent into Egypt, the miracles Moses, and the conquest of Canaan; observing, th the people were visibly protected by God, while the continued faithful to him; but that God never faile to take vengeance on their infidelity. "Now ther fore," added he, "learn whether they have committe any fault against their God; if so, attack them, f he will deliver them up into your hands: if not, v shall not be able to resist them, because God will us dertake their defence, and cover us with confusion Judith v. 2, 3, &c. Holofernes, transported wi fury, answered him, "Since you have taken up you to be a prophet, in telling us that the God Israel would be the defender of his people, to sho you there is no other god besides Nebuchodonoso my master, when we have put all these people to t edge of the sword, we will destroy you likewise, an you shall understand that Nebuchodonosor is lord all the earth." Achior was then carried out near the city, and left bound, that the inhabitants mig take him into the city. This was done, and Achi declaring what had happened, the people of Beth lia fell with their faces to the ground, and with gre cries begged God's assistance, beseeching him to vi dicate the honor of his name, and to humble th pride of their enemies. After this they consol Achior, and Ozias, one of the leaders of the peop received him into his house, where he continue during the siege. After the death of Holoferne and the discomfiture of his army, Achior abandone the heathen superstitions, and was received into Isra by circumcision, Judith xiv. 6, seq.

ACHAICUS, a native of Achaia, and a disciple of the apostle Paul. He, with Stephanus and Fortunatus, was the bearer of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and was recommended by the apostle to their special respect, 1 Cor. xvi. 17.

ACHAN, the name of the son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah, and he who purloined a costly Babylonish garment, an ingot of gold, and 200 shekels of silver, from among the spoils of Jericho, against the express injunction of God, who had devoted to utter destruction the city and all that it contained, Josh. vi. 18, &c. Some days after this transaction, Joshua sent 3000 men against the town of Ai, which stood a short distance from Jericho, but 36 of them were killed, and the others obliged to flee. This occurrence was the cause of much discouragement to Joshua and the people, and they addressed themselves to the Lord by prayer, to discover the reason of their discomfiture. The Lord answered, that one among them had sinned; and commanded them to select him out, by the use of the sacred lot, and to burn him, with all that was his, vii. 3-15. On the next day, therefore, Joshua assembled all Israel; and having cast lots, the lot fell first on the tribe of Judah, then on the family of Zarhi, then on the house of Zabdi, and at last on the person of Achan; to whom Joshua said, "My son, give glory to the Lord, confess what you have done, without concealing any thing." Achan, being thus detected, replied, "Having seen among the spoils a handsome Babylonish cloak, and 200 shekels in silver, with an ingot of gold, of fifty shekels weight, I took them, and hid them in my tent." Messengers were immediately despatched to his tent, to fetch the accursed articles, and the proofs of the crime being produced in the presence of all Israel, Joshua laid them out before the Lord. Then taking Achan, the gold, silver, furniture, tent, and all belonging to him, into the valley of Achor, a place north of Jericho, he said to him,

ACHISH, king of Gath. David, having resolve to withdraw from the dominions of Saul, who soug his life, retired to Gath, a city of the Philistines; Sam. xxi. 10.) but the officers of Achish having di covered his person, and expressed their jealousy his character, David became alarmed, and feigne madness, and by this stratagem preserved b life.

Three or four years after this, David desired to received, for a permanency, either into the royal cit or elsewhere in the dominions of Achish. The kin who knew his valor, and the animosity between hi and Saul, willingly received him into Gath, with 60

men, and their families, and afterwards gave him Ziklag, 1 Sam. xxvii. 2, seq. See DAVID.

ACHMETA. Ezra vi. 2, "There was found at Achmeta a roll."-Achmeta is here the same with Ecbatana, the royal city, where, in the palace, the rolls were kept. So the Vulgate, which reads Ecbatanis; and 1 Esdras vi. 23; also Josephus, Antiq. xi. 4-6.

ACHOR, y, troubling, a valley in the territory of Jericho, and in the tribe of Benjamin, where Achan was stoned, Josh. vii. 24; xv. 7; Isaiah lxv. 10; Hosea ii. 15. The name was still in use in the time of Jerome.

ACHSAH, daughter of Caleb, who promised to give her as a reward to him who should take KirjathSepher. (See DOWRY.) Othniel, his brother's son, having taken that town, married Achsah, and obtained from Caleb the gift of a field having upper and nether springs-a valuable addition to KirjathSepher, Josh. xv. 16; Judg. i. 12. See WATER, and WELLS.

ACHSHAPH, a city of Asher, Josh. xii. 20; xix. 25. Its site is unknown.

I. ACHZIB, a city in the plain of Judah, Josh. xv. 44; Micah i. 14.

II. ACHZIB, a city on the seacoast of Galilee, assigned to the tribe of Asher, but not conquered by them, Josh. xix. 29; Judg. i. 31. According to Eusebius and Jerome, it lay about nine miles north of Ptolemais, or Accho; and was afterwards called Ecdippa, Jos. B. J. i. 13. 4. It is now called Zib. Mod. Traveller, ii. p. 29.

ACRA, a Greek word, signifying, in general, a citadel, in which sense it is also used in the Chaldee and Syriac. King Antiochus built a citadel at Jerusalem, on an eminence north of the temple, which commanded the holy place; and for which reason it was called Acra. Josephus says (Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 7. & 14; lib. xiii. cap. 11.) that this eminence was semicircular, and that Simon Maccabæus, having expelled the Syrians, who had seized Acra, demolished it, and spent three years in leveling the mountain on which it stood; that no situation in future should command the temple. On mount Acra were afterwards built the palace of Helena, queen of the Adiabenians; Agrippa's palace, the place where the public records were lodged, and that where the magistrates of Jerusalem assembled, Joseph. de Bello, lib. vii. cap. 15; Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 7.

I. ACRABATENE. A district or toparchy of Judea, extending between Shechem (now Napolose) and Jericho, inclining east. It was about twelve miles in length. The name is not found in Scripture, but occurs in Josephus, B. J. ii. 12. 4; iii. 3, 4, 5.

II. ACRABATENE, or ACRABATINE, a district on the frontier of Idumea, towards the southern extremity of the Dead sea. It seems to be named from the Maaleh Acrabbim, or Hill of Scorpions, mentioned (Josh. xv. 3.) as the southern extremity of the tribe of Judah.-It is found only in 1 Maccab. v. 3. ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, a canonical book of the New Testament, written by Luke, and containing a considerable part of the history of Peter and Paul. The narrative begins at the ascension of our Saviour, and continues to Paul's arrival at Rome, after his appeal to Cæsar; with his residence of two years in that capital; including about twenty-eight or thirty years. After Luke had given the history of Jesus Christ in his Gospel, he resolved to record the actions of the apostles, and the wonderful manner in

which the Holy Spirit established that church which Christ had redeemed. Ecumenius (in Acta, page 20.) calls the Acts, "the Gospel of the Holy Ghost;" Chrysostom (in Acta Homil. 1.) calls it, "the Gospel of our Saviour's resurrection," or "the Gospel of the risen Jesus Christ." It narrates most miraculous instances of the power of the Holy Spirit, attending the propagation of the gospel; and in the accounts and instances of the first believers, we have most excellent patterns of a truly Christian life. So that, though Luke seems to give us but a plain narrative of facts, yet this divine physician, to use Jerome's expression, offers as many remedies to heal the soul's diseases, as he speaks words, Ep. 103.

It is believed that Luke's principal design in writing the Acts, was to preserve a true history of the apostles, and of the infancy of the Christian church, in opposition to false acts and false histories, which were beginning to obtain circulation; and accordingly, his fidelity and intelligence have been so much valued, that all other Acts of the Apostles have perished, and his, only, been adopted by the church. Luke wrote this book, probably, about A. D. 64 ; i. e. soon after the point of time at which the narration terminates. The place where it was written is unknown.

The style of Luke is generally more pure and elegant than that of other parts of the New Testament. Epiphanius says (Hæres. xxx. cap. 3 & 6.) that this book was translated by the Ebionites out of Greek into Hebrew; (that is, Syriac, the then common language of the Jews in Palestine ;) but that those heretics corrupted it with many falsities and impieties, injurious to the character and memory of the apostles.

The Book of the Acts has always been esteemed canonical: (Tertul. l. v. cont. Marc. cap. 1, 2.) though the Marcionites, the Manichees, and some other heretics rejected it, because their errors were too clearly condemned by it. Augustine (Ep. 315.) says, the church received it with edification, and read it every year. Chrysostom complains, that in his time it was too little known, and the reading of it too much neglected. As for himself, he very much extols the advantages of an acquaintance with it, and maintains, with good reason, that it is as useful as the Gospels.

In order to read the Acts of the Apostles with intelligence and profit, it is necessary to have a sufficient acquaintance with geography, with the manners of the times and people referred to, and with the leading historical events. The power of the Romans, with the nature and names of the public officers they established, and the distinctions among them, must of necessity be understood; as well as the disposition and political conduct and opinions of the unconverted Jewish nation, which obtained, too strongly, among the Christianized Hebrews, and maintained themselves as distinctions, and causes of separation in the church, during many ages. In fact, their consequences are hardly extinct in the East at this day.

There were several SPURIOUS ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. (1.) THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES supposed to have been written by Abdias, who represents himself as a bishop, ordained at Babylon, by the apostles, when they were on their journey into Persia; but which is neither ancient nor authentic; it was not known to Eusebius, to Jerome, nor to any earlier father. The author says, he wrote in Greek, and that his book was translated into Latin by Julius

| Adam, and while he slept, took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh; and of the rib thus taken from man he made a woman, (WOMB-MAN, Saxon,) whom he presented to him when he awoke. Adam received her, saying, "This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, be cause she was taken out of man." (Heb. vs, man

because she was the mother of all living.

66

Africanus; who is himself a Greek writer. He cites Hegesippus, who lived in the second century. (2.) The ACTS OF ST. PETER, otherwise called Travels of St. Peter, (Periodi Petri,) or "The Recognitions of St. Clement," is a book filled with visions and fables, which came originally from the school of the Ebionites. See Cotelerius, in his Fathers of the first Century; likewise Fabricius's Cod. Apocr. N. T., woman.) He also called her name Eve, mir page 759, &c. (3.) The ACTS OF ST. PAUL, were composed after his death, as a supplement to St. Luke; continuing his narrative from the second year of the apostle's first voyage to Rome, to the end of his life. Eusebius, who had seen this work, calls it spurious. (4.) The ACTS OF ST. JOHN THE ÉVANGELIST, mentioned in Epiphanius and Augustine, contain incredible stories of that apostle. It was used by the Encratites, Manichees, and Priscillianists. They are thought to be the Acts of St. John, pubfished among the forgeries of Abdias. (Epiphan. Hæres. 47. Aug. de Fide, cap. 4. and 405. Contra adversar. Legis et Prophet. lib. i. cap. 20.) (5.) The ACTS OF ST. ANDREW, received by the Manichees, Encratites, and Apotactics. See Epiphanius, Hæres. 42, 61, and 62. (6.) THE ACTS OF ST. THOMAS: Augustine cites some things out of them, and says, the Manichees particularly used them. (7.) The ACTS OF ST. PHILIP, was a book used by the Gnostics. (8.) The ACTS OF ST. MATTHIAS. See M. de Tillemont, Eccl. Hist. tom. i. p. 1186; and Fabricius's Cod. Apoc. N. T. p. 782.

The authorities respecting all these spurious works, as well as of the ACTS OF PILATE, are collected in Fabricii Cod. Apoc. N. T. vol. i, ii.

ADADA, a city in the south of Judah, Josh. xv. 22.

ADAD-RIMMON, or HADAD-RIMMON, a city in the valley of Jezreel, where the fatal battle between Josiah, king of Judah, and Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, (2 Kings xxiii. 29; Zech. xii. 11.) was fought. Adad-rimmon was afterwards called Maximianopolis, in honor of the emperor Maximian. It is seventeen miles from Cæsarea in Palestine, and ten miles from Jezreel. See Bib. Repository, vol. i. p. 602.

I. ADAH, one of Lamech's two wives; mother of Jabal and Jubal, Gen. iv. 19. See LAMECH. II. ADAH, daughter of Elon, the Hittite, and wife of Esau; the mother of Eliphaz, Gen. xxxvi. 4.

ADAM, red, the proper name of the first man. It has always the article, and is therefore originally an appellative, the man. The derivation of it, as well as adamah, earth, from the verb 8, to be red, (in Ethiop. to be beautiful,) is not improbable, when we take into account the reddish or brown complexion of the orientals. But the word Adam may also be primitive. R.

The Almighty formed Adam out of the dust of the earth, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and gave him dominion over all the lower creatures, Gen. i. 26; ii. 7. He created him in his own image, and having pronounced a blessing upon him, placed him in a delightful garden, that he might cultivate it, and enjoy its fruits. At the same time, however, he gave him the following injunction:-"Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The first recorded exercise of Adam's power and intelligence was his giving names to the beasts of the field, and fowls of the air, which the Lord brought before him for this purpose. A short time after this, the Lord, observing that it was not good for man to be alone, caused a deep sleep to fall upon

|

This woman, being seduced by the tempter, per suaded her husband to eat of the forbidden fruit When called to judgment for this transgression be fore God, Adam blamed his wife, "whom," said he THOU gavest me;" and the woman blamed the ser pent-tempter. God punished the tempter by degra dation and dread; the woman by painful hopes, an a situation of submission; and the man by a life o labor and toil; of which punishment every day witnes ses the fulfilment. As their natural passions now be came irregular, and their exposure to accidents grea God made a covering of skin for Adam and for his wif He also expelled them from his garden, to the lan around it, where Adam had been made, and when was to be their future dwelling; placing at the ea of the garden a flame, which turned every way, 1 KEEP the way to the tree of life, Gen. iii.

It is not known how long Adam and his wife con tinued in paradise: some think, many years; other not many days; others, not many hours. Short after their expulsion, Eve brought forth Cain, Ge iv. 1, 2. Scripture notices but three sons of Adan Cain, Abel, and Seth, and omits daughters: b Moses tells us, "Adam begat sons and daughters no doubt many. He died, aged 930, ante A. D. 307 This is what we learn from Moses; but interpreter not satisfied with his concise relation, propose thousand inquiries relating to the first man; and ce tainly no history can furnish more questions, as w of curiosity as of consequence.

In reviewing the history of Adam, there are sever things that demand particular notice.

1. The formation of Adam is introduced with c cumstances of dignity superior to any which tended the creation of the animals. It evidently a pears (whatever else be designed by it) to be t intention of the narrator, to mark this passage, a to lead his readers to reflect on it. God said, "I us make man, (1.) In our image; (2.) According our likeness; and let him rule," &c. Gen. i. 2 These seem to be two ideas: First, "In our imag in our similitude. This could not refer to his figu (1.) Because the human figure, though greatly sup rior in formation and beauty to animals, is not so tirely distinct from them in the principles of its c struction, as to require a special consultation ab it, after the animals had been formed. (2.) If all species of monkeys were made before man, the semblance in some of them to the human fo greatly strengthens the former argument. (3.) 1 Scriptures, elsewhere, represent this distinction referring to moral excellency; "in knowledge-a the image of him who created him," Col. iii. "The new man, which, according to God, (zatu de is created in righteousness and true holiness," Eph 24. In other places, also, the comparison turns his purity, his station, &c. Secondly," Accordin our likeness," is a stronger expression than the forı and more determinate to its subject. If we com this with the following words, and let him ruleimport of the passage may be given thus:-"] shall have, according to his nature and capacit

« AnteriorContinuar »