grandson of Herod the Great, was born A. M. 3997, three years before the
birth of our Saviour, and seven years before the vulgar æra. After the
death of his father Aristobulus, Josephus informs us that Herod, his
grandfather, took care of his education, and sent him to Rome to make
his court to Tiberius. Agrippa, having a great inclination for Caius,
the son of Germanicus, and grandson of Antonia, chose to attach himself
to this prince, as if he had some prophetic views of the future
elevation of Caius, who at that time was beloved by all the world. The
great assiduity and agreeable behaviour of Agrippa so far won upon this
prince, that he was unable to live without him. Agrippa, being one day
in conversation with Caius, was overheard by one Eutychus, a slave whom
Agrippa had emancipated, to say that he should be glad to see the old
emperor take his departure for the other world and leave Caius master of
this, without meeting with any obstacle from the emperor’s grandson,
Tiberius Nero. Eutychus, some time after this, thinking he had reason to
be dissatisfied with Agrippa, communicated the conversation to the
emperor; whereupon Agrippa was loaded with fetters, and committed to the
custody of an officer. Soon after this, Tiberius dying, and Caius
Caligula succeeding him, the new emperor heaped many favours and much
wealth upon Agrippa, changed his iron fetters into a chain of gold, set
a royal diadem on his head, and gave him the tetrarchy which Philip, the
son of Herod the Great, had been possessed of, that is, Batanæa and
Trachonitis. To this he added that of Lysanias; and Agrippa returned
very soon into Judea, to take possession of his new kingdom. The emperor
Caius, desiring to be adored as a god, commanded to have his statue set
up in the temple of Jerusalem. But the Jews opposed this design with so
much resolution, that Petronius was forced to suspend his proceedings in
this affair, and to represent, in a letter to the emperor, the
resistance he met with from the Jews. Agrippa, who was then at Rome,
coming to the emperor at the very time he was reading the letter, Caius
told him that the Jews were the only people of all mankind who refused
to own him for a deity; and that they had taken arms to oppose his
resolution. At these words Agrippa fainted away, and, being carried home
to his house, continued in that state for a long time. As soon as he was
somewhat recovered, he wrote a long letter to Caius, wherein he
endeavoured to soften him; and his arguments made such an impression
upon the emperor’s mind, that he desisted, in appearance, from the
design which he had formed of setting up his statue in the temple. Caius
being killed in the beginning of the following year, A. D. 41, Agrippa,
who was then at Rome, contributed much by his advice to maintain
Claudius in possession of the imperial dignity, to which he had been
advanced by the army. The emperor, as an acknowledgment for his kind
offices, gave him all Judea, and the kingdom of Chalcis, which had been
possessed by Herod his brother. Thus Agrippa became of a sudden one of
the greatest princes of the east, and was possessed of as much, if not
more territory, than had been held by Herod the Great, his grandfather.
He returned to Judea, and governed it to the great satisfaction of the
Jews. But the desire of pleasing them, and a mistaken zeal for their
religion, induced him to put to death the Apostle James, and to cast
Peter into prison with the same design; and, but for a miraculous
interposition, which, however, produced no effect upon the mind of the
tyrant, his hands would have been imbrued in the blood of two Apostles,
the memory whereof is preserved in Scripture. At Cæsarea, he had games
performed in honour of Claudius. Here the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon
waited on him to sue for peace. Agrippa being come early in the morning
into the theatre, with a design to give them audience, seated himself on
his throne, dressed in a robe of silver tissue, worked in the most
admirable manner. The rising sun darted his golden beams thereon, and
gave it such a lustre as dazzled the eyes of the spectators; and when
the king began his speech to the Tyrians and Sidonians, the parasites
around him began to say, it was “the voice of a god and not of man.”
Instead of rejecting these impious flatteries, Agrippa received them
with an air of complacency; and the angel of the Lord smote him because
he did not give God the glory. Being therefore carried home to his
palace, he died, at the end of five days, racked with tormenting pains
in his bowels, and devoured with worms. Such was the death of Herod
Agrippa, A. D. 44, after a reign of seven years. He left a son of the
same name, and three daughters--Bernice, who was married to her uncle
Herod, her father’s brother; Mariamne, betrothed to Julius Archelaus;
and Drusilla, promised to Epiphanius, the son of Archelaus, the son of
Comagena.
AGRIPPA, son of the former Agrippa, was at Rome with the emperor
Claudius when his father died. The emperor, we are told by Josephus, was
inclined to give him all the dominions that had been possessed by his
father, but was dissuaded from it, Agrippa being only seventeen years of
age; and he kept him therefore at his court four years.
Three years after this, Herod, king of Chalcis, and uncle to young
Agrippa, dying, the emperor gave his dominions to this prince, who,
notwithstanding, did not go into Judea till four years after, A. D. 53;
when, Claudius taking from him the kingdom of Chalcis, gave him the
provinces of Gaulonitis, Trachonitis, Batanæa, Paneas, and Abylene,
which formerly had been in the possession of Lysanias. After the death
of Claudius, his successor, Nero, who had a great affection for Agrippa,
to his other dominions added Julias in Peræa, and that part of Galilee
to which Tarichæa and Tiberias belonged. Festus governor of Judea,
coming to his government, A. D. 60, king Agrippa and Bernice, his
sister, went as far as Cæsarea to salute him; and as they continued
there for some time, Festus talked with the king concerning the affair
of St. Paul, who had been seized in the temple about two years before,
and within a few days previous to his visit had appealed to the emperor.
Agrippa wishing to hear Paul, that Apostle delivered that noble address
in his presence which is recorded, Acts xxvi.
AGUR. The thirtieth chapter of Proverbs begins with this title: “The
words of Agur, the son of Jakeh;” and the thirty-first, with “the words
of king Lemuel;” with respect to which some conjecture that Solomon
describes himself under these appellations; others, that these chapters
are the productions of persons whose real names are prefixed. Scripture
history, indeed, affords us no information respecting their situation
and character; but there must have been sufficient reason for regarding
their works in the light of inspired productions, or they would not have
been admitted into the sacred canon.
They are called _Massa_, a term frequently applied to the undoubted
productions of the prophetic Spirit; and it is not improbable that the
authors meant, by the adoption of this term, to lay claim to the
character of inspiration. A succession of virtuous and eminent men,
favoured with divine illuminations, flourished in Judea till the final
completion of the sacred code; and, most likely, many more than those
whose writings have been preserved. Agur may then have been one of those
prophets whom Divine providence raised up to comfort or admonish his
chosen people; and Lemuel may have been some neighbouring prince, the
son of a Jewish woman, by whom he was taught the Massa contained in the
thirty-first chapter. These, of course, can only be considered as mere
conjectures; for, in the absence of historic evidence, who can venture
to pronounce with certainty? The opinion, however, that Agur and Lemuel
are appellations of Solomon, is sanctioned by so many and such
respectable writers, that it demands a more particular examination.
The knowledge of names was anciently regarded as a matter of the highest
importance, in order to understand the nature of the persons or things
which they designate; and, in the opinion of the rabbins, was preferable
even to the study of the written law. The Heathens paid considerable
attention to it, as appears from the Cratylus of Plato; and some of the
Christian fathers entertained very favourable notions of such knowledge.
The Jewish doctors, it is true, refined upon the subject with an amazing
degree of subtilty, grounding upon it many ridiculous ideas and absurd
fancies; yet it is unquestionable that many of the proper names in
Scripture are significant and characteristic. Thus the names Eve, Cain,
Seth, Noah, Abraham, Israel, &c, were imposed by reason of their being
expressive of the several characters of the persons whom they represent.
Reasoning from analogy, we may infer that all the proper names in the
Old Testament, at their original imposition, were intended to denote
some quality or circumstance in the person or thing to which they
belong; and though many, from transference, have ceased to be personally
characteristic, yet are they all significative.
As the custom of imposing descriptive names prevailed in the primitive
ages, it is not impossible that Agur and Lemuel may be appropriated to
Solomon, and Jakeh to David as mystic appellations significative of
their respective characters. It is even some confirmation of this
opinion, that Solomon is denominated Jedidiah (beloved of the Lord) by
the Prophet Nathan; and that in the book of Ecclesiastes, he styles
himself Koheleth, or the Preacher. Nevertheless, this hypothesis does
not appear to rest upon a firm foundation. It is foreign to the
simplicity of the sacred penmen, and contrary to their custom in similar
cases, to adopt a mystic name, without either explaining it, or alleging
the reasons for its adoption. In the names Eve, Cain, Seth, Noah, &c,
before alluded to; in the appellation Nabal; in the enigmatical names in
the first chapter of Hosea; in the descriptive names given to places, as
Beersheba, Jehovah-jireh, Peniel, Bethel, Gilgal; and in many other
instances, the meaning of the terms is either explained, or the
circumstances are mentioned which led to their selection. When Solomon
is called Jedidiah, it is added that it was “because of the Lord;” and
when he styles himself Koheleth, an explanatory clause is annexed,
describing himself “the son of David, the king of Jerusalem.” But if
Solomon be meant by the titles Agur and Lemuel, he is so called without
any statement of the reasons for their application, and without any
explanation of their import; a circumstance unusual with the sacred
writers, and the reverse to what is practised in the book of Proverbs,
where his proper name, Solomon, is attributed to him in three different
places. Nor is anything characteristic of the Jewish monarchs
discoverable in the terms themselves. Jakeh, which denotes _obedient_,
is no more applicable to David than to Nathan, or any other personage of
eminent worth and piety among the Israelites. The name of Agur is not of
easy explanation; some giving it the sense of _recollectus_, that is,
recovered from his errors, and become penitent; an explanation more
applicable to David than to Solomon. Simon, in his lexicon, says it may
perhaps denote “him who applies to the study of wisdom;” an
interpretation very suitable to the royal philosopher, but not supported
by adequate authority; and in his Onomasticon he explains it in a
different manner. Others suppose that it means _collector_; though it
has been argued, that, as it has a passive form, it cannot have an
active sense. But this is not a valid objection, as several examples may
be produced from the Bible of a similar form with an active
signification. If such be its meaning, it is suitable to Solomon, who
was not the collector or compiler, but the author, of the Proverbs. With
respect to the name Lemuel, it signifies one that is for God, or devoted
to God; and is not, therefore, peculiarly descriptive of Solomon. It
appears, then, that nothing can be inferred from the signification of
the names Agur and Lemuel in support of the conjecture, that they are
appellations of Solomon. The contents, likewise, of the two chapters in
question strongly militate against this hypothesis.
When all these circumstances are taken into consideration, together with
the extreme improbability that Solomon should be denominated three times
by his proper name, and afterward, in the same work, by two different
enigmatical names, we are fully warranted in rejecting the notion, that
the wise monarch is designed by the appellations Agur and Lemuel. And it
seems most reasonable to consider them as denoting real persons.
AHAB, the son and successor of Omri. He began his reign over Israel, A.
M. 3086, and reigned 22 years. In impiety he far exceeded all the kings
of Israel. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon,
who introduced the whole abominations and idols of her country, Baal and
Ashtaroth.
2. AHAB the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, were two
false prophets, who, about A. M. 3406, seduced the Jewish captives at
Babylon with hopes of a speedy deliverance, and stirred them up against
Jeremiah. The Lord threatened them with a public and ignominious death,
before such as they had deceived; and that their names should become a
curse; men wishing that their foes might be made like Ahab and Zedekiah,
whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon roasted in the fire, Jer. xxix, 21,
22.
AHASUERUS was the king of Persia, who advanced Esther to be queen, and
at her request delivered the Jews from the destruction plotted for them
by Haman. Archbishop Usher is of opinion that this Ahasuerus was Darius
Hystaspes; and that Atossa was the Vashti, and Artystona the Esther, of
the Scriptures. But, according to Herodotus, the latter was the daughter
of Cyrus, and therefore could not be Esther; and the former had four
sons by Darius, besides daughters, born to him after he was king; and
therefore she could not be the queen Vashti, divorced from her husband
in the third year of his reign, nor he the Ahasuerus who divorced her.
Besides, Atossa retained her influence over Darius to his death, and
obtained the succession of the crown for his son, Xerxes; whereas Vashti
was removed from the presence of Ahasuerus by an irrevocable decree,
Esther i, 19. Joseph Scaliger maintains that Xerxes was the Ahasuerus,
and Hamestris his queen, the Esther, of Scripture. The opinion is
founded on the similitude of names, but contradicted by the
dissimilitude of the characters of Hamestris and Esther. Besides,
Herodotus says that Xerxes had a son by Hamestris that was marriageable
in the seventh year of his reign; and therefore she could not be Esther.
The Ahasuerus of Scripture, according to Dr. Prideaux, was Artaxerxes
Longimanus. Josephus positively says that this was the person. The
Septuagint, through the whole book of Esther, uses Artaxerxes for the
Hebrew Ahasuerus wherever the appellation occurs; and the apocryphal
additions to that book every where call the husband of Esther
Artaxerxes; and he could be no other than Artaxerxes Longimanus. The
extraordinary favour shown to the Jews by this king, first in sending
Ezra, and afterward Nehemiah, to relieve this people, and restore them
to their ancient prosperity, affords strong presumptive evidence that
they had near his person and high in his regard such an advocate as
Esther. Ahasuerus is also a name given in Scripture, Ezra iv, 6, to
Cambyses, the son of Cyrus; and to Astyages, king of the Medes, Dan. ix,
1.
AHAVA. The name of a river of Babylonia, or rather of Assyria, where
Ezra assembled those captives whom he afterward brought into Judea, Ezra
viii, 15. The river Ahava is thought to be that which ran along the
Adabene, where a river Diava, or Adiava, is mentioned, and on which
Ptolemy places the city Abane or Aavane. This is probably the country
called Ava, whence the kings of Assyria translated the people called
Avites into Palestine, and where they settled some of the captive
Israelites, 2 Kings xvii, 24; xviii, 34; xix, 13; xvii, 31. Ezra,
intending to collect as many Israelites as he could, who might return to
Judea, halted in the country of Ava, or Aahava, whence he sent agents
into the Caspian mountains, to invite such Jews as were willing to join
him, Ezra viii, 16. The history of Izates, king of the Adiabenians, and
of his mother Helena, who became converts to Judaism some years after
the death of Jesus Christ, sufficiently proves that there were many Jews
still settled in that country.
AHAZ succeeded his father Jotham, as king of Israel, at the age of
twenty years, reigned till the year before Christ, 726, and addicted
himself to the practice of idolatry. After the customs of the Heathen,
he made his children to pass through fire; he shut up the temple, and
destroyed its vessels. He became tributary to Tiglath-pileser, whose
assistance he supplicated against the kings of Syria and Israel. Such
was his impiety, that he was not allowed burial in the sepulchres of the
kings of Israel, 2 Kings xvi; 2 Chron. xxviii.
AHAZIAH, the son of Ahab, king of Israel. Ahaziah reigned two years,
partly alone, and partly with his father Ahab, who appointed him his
associate in the kingdom a year before his death. Ahaziah imitated his
father’s impieties, 1 Kings xxii, 52, &c, and paid his adorations to
Baal and Ashtaroth, the worship of whom had been introduced into Israel
by Jezebel his mother. The Moabites, who had been always obedient to the
kings of the ten tribes, ever since their separation from the kingdom of
Judah, revolted after the death of Ahab, and refused to pay the ordinary
tribute. Ahaziah had not leisure or power to reduce them, 2 Kings i, 1,
2, &c, for, about the same time, having fallen through a lattice from
the top of his house, he was considerably injured, and sent messengers
to Ekron to consult Baalzebub, the god of that place, whether he should
recover, 2 Kings i, 1–17. Elijah met the messengers, and informed them
he should certainly die; and he died accordingly.
2. AHAZIAH, king of Judah, the son of Jehoram and Athaliah. He succeeded
his father in the kingdom of Judah, A. M. 3119; being in the
twenty-second year of his age, 2 Kings viii, 26, &c; and he reigned one
year only in Jerusalem. He walked in the ways of Ahab’s house, to which
he was related, his mother being of that family. Joram, king of Israel,
2 Kings viii, going to attack Ramoth Gilead, which the kings of Syria
had taken from his predecessors, was there dangerously wounded, and
carried by his own appointment to Jezreel, for the purpose of surgical
assistance. Ahaziah, Joram’s friend and relation, accompanied him in
this war, and came afterward to visit him at Jezreel. In the meantime,
Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom Joram had left besieging the fortress of
Ramoth, rebelled against his master, and set out with a design of
extirpating the house of Ahab, according to the commandment of the Lord,
2 Kings ix. Joram and Ahaziah, who knew nothing of his intentions, went
to meet him. Jehu killed Joram dead upon the spot: Ahaziah fled, but
Jehu’s people overtook him at the going up of Gur, and mortally wounded
him; notwithstanding which, he had strength enough to reach Megiddo,
where he died. His servants, having laid him in his chariot, carried him
to Jerusalem, where he was buried with his fathers, in the city of
David.
AHIJAH, the prophet of the Lord, who dwelt in Shiloh. He is thought to
be the person who spoke twice to Solomon from God, once while he was
building the temple, 1 Kings vi, 11, at which time he promised him the
divine protection; and again, 1 Kings xi, 11, after his falling into his
irregularities, with great threatenings and reproaches. Ahijah was one
of those who wrote the history or annals of this prince, 2 Chron. ix,
29. The same prophet declared to Jeroboam, that he would usurp the
kingdom, 1 Kings xi, 29, &c; and, about the end of Jeroboam’s reign, he
also predicted the death of Abijah, the only pious son of that prince,
as is recorded 1 Kings xiv, 2, &c. Ahijah, in all probability, did not
long survive the delivery of this last prophecy; but we are not informed
of the time and manner of his death.
AHIKAM, the son of Shaphan, and father of Gedaliah. He was sent by
Josiah, king of Judah, to Huldah the prophetess, 2 Kings xxii, 12, to
consult her concerning the book of the law, which had been found in the
temple.
AHIMAAZ, the son of Zadok, the high priest. Ahimaaz succeeded his father
under the reign of Solomon. He performed a very important piece of
service for David during the war with Absalom. While his father Zadok
was in Jerusalem, 2 Sam. xv, 29, Ahimaaz and Jonathan continued without
the city, xvii, 17, near En-Rogel, or the fountain of Rogel; thither a
maid servant came to tell them the resolution which had been taken in
Absalom’s council: whereupon they immediately departed to give the king
intelligence. But being discovered by a young lad who gave information
concerning them to Absalom, that prince sent orders to pursue them:
Ahimaaz and Jonathan, fearing to be taken, retired to a man’s house at
Baharim, in whose court-yard there was a well, wherein they concealed
themselves. After the battle, in which Absalom was overcome and slain,
xviii, Ahimaaz desired leave of Joab to carry the news thereof to David.
But instead of him Joab sent Cushi to carry the news, and told Ahimaaz
that he would send him to the king upon some other occasion; but soon
after Cushi was departed, Ahimaaz applied again to Joab, praying to be
permitted to run after Cushi; and, having obtained leave, he ran by the
way of the plain, and outran Cushi. He was succeeded in the priesthood
by his son Azariah.
AHIMELECH. He was the son of Ahitub, and brother of Ahia, whom he
succeeded in the high priesthood. He is called Abiathar, Mark ii, 26.
During his priesthood the tabernacle was at Nob, where Ahimelech, with
other priests, had their habitation. David, being informed by his friend
Jonathan that Saul was determined to destroy him, thought it prudent to
retire. He therefore went to Nob, to the high priest Ahimelech, who gave
him the shew bread, and the sword of Goliath. One day, when Saul was
complaining of his officers, that no one was affected with his
misfortunes, or gave him any intelligence of what was carrying on
against him, 1 Sam. xxii, 9, &c, Doeg related to him what had occurred
when David came to Ahimelech the high priest. On this information, Saul
convened the priests, and having charged them with the crime of treason,
ordered his guards to slay them, which they refusing to do, Doeg, who
had been their accuser, at the king’s command became their executioner,
and with his sacrilegious hand massacred no less than eighty-five of
them; the Septuagint and Syriac versions make the number of priests
slain by Doeg three hundred and five. Nor did Saul stop here; but,
sending a party to Nob, he commanded them to slay men, women, and
children, and even cattle, with the edge of the sword. Only one son of
Ahimelech, named Abiathar, escaped the carnage and fled to David.
AHITHOPHEL, a native of Giloh, who, after having been David’s
counsellor, joined in the rebellion of Absalom, and assisted him with
his advice. Hushai, the friend of David, was employed to counteract the
counsels of Ahithophel, and to deprive Absalom, under a pretence of
serving him, of the advantage that was likely to result from the
measures which he proposed. One of these measures was calculated to
render David irreconcilable, and was immediately adopted; and the other
to secure, or to slay him. Before the last counsel was followed,
Hushai’s advice was desired; and he recommended their assembling
together the whole force of Israel, putting Absalom at their head, and
overwhelming David by their number. The treacherous counsel of Hushai
was preferred to that of Ahithophel; with which the latter being
disgusted he hastened to his house at Giloh, where he put an end to his
life. He probably foresaw Absalom’s defeat, and dreaded the punishment
which would be inflicted on himself as a traitor, when David was
resettled on the throne. A. M. 2981. B. C. 1023. 2 Sam. xv, xvii.
AHOLIBAH. This and Aholah are two feigned names made use of by Ezekiel,
xxiii, 4, to denote the two kingdoms of Judah and Samaria. Aholah and
Aholibah are represented as two sisters of Egyptian extraction. Aholah
stands for Samaria, and Aholibah for Jerusalem. The first signifies a
_tent_, and the second, _my tent is in her_. They both prostituted
themselves to the Egyptians and Assyrians, in imitating their
abominations and idolatries; for which reason the Lord abandoned them to
those very people for whose evil practices they had shown so passionate
an affection. They were carried into captivity, and reduced to the
severest servitude.
AI, called by the LXX, Gai, by Josephus Aina, and by others Ajah, a town
of Palestine, situate west of Bethel, and at a small distance north-west
of Jericho. The three thousand men, first sent by Joshua to reduce this
city, were repulsed, on account of the sin of Achan, who had violated
the anathema pronounced against Jericho, by appropriating a part of the
spoil. After the expiation of this offence, the whole army of Israel
marched against Ai, with orders to treat that city as Jericho had been
treated, with this difference, that the plunder was to be given to the
army. Joshua, having appointed an ambush of thirty thousand men, marched
against the city, and by a feigned retreat, drew out the king of Ai with
his troops; and upon a signal given by elevating his shield on the top
of a pike, the men in ambush entered the city and set fire to it. Thus
the soldiers of Ai, placed between two divisions of Joshua’s army, were
all destroyed; the king alone being preserved for a more ignominious
death on a gibbet, where he hung till sunset. The spoil of the place was
afterward divided among the Israelites. The men appointed for ambush
are, in one place, said to be thirty thousand, and in another five
thousand. For reconciling this apparent contradiction, most commentators
have generally supposed, that there were two bodies placed in ambuscade
between Bethel and Ai, one of twenty-five thousand and the other of five
thousand men; the latter being probably a detachment from the thirty
thousand first sent, and ordered to lie as near to the city as possible.
Masius allows only five thousand men for the ambuscade, and twenty-five
thousand for the attack.