his name to the country first peopled by him in the north and
north-western part of Asia Minor, answering to Bithynia; where were
traces long after of his name, particularly in that of Ascanius, applied
to a bay and city, as well as to some islands lying along the coast. It
was also from this country, most probably, that the king Ascanius,
mentioned by Homer, came to the aid of Priamus at the siege of Troy.
From the same source, likewise, the Pontus Euxinus, or Black Sea,
derived its name. It may farther be remarked on the identity of these
countries, that the Prophet Jeremiah, predicting the capture of Babylon,
and calling by name the countries which were to rise against it,
exclaims, “Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, (or
Armenia,) Minni, and Ashkenaz:” which was literally fulfilled; as
Xenophen informs us that Cyrus, after taking Sardis, became master of
Phrygia on the Hellespont, and took along with him many soldiers of that
country.
ASHTAROTH, or ASTARTE, a goddess of the Zidonians. The word Ashtaroth
properly signifies flocks of sheep, or goats; and sometimes the grove,
or woods, because she was goddess of woods, and groves were her temples.
In groves consecrated to her, such lasciviousness was committed as
rendered her worship infamous. She was also called the queen of heaven;
and sometimes her worship is said to be that of “the host of heaven.”
She was certainly represented in the same manner as Isis, with cows’
horns on her head, to denote the increase and decrease of the moon.
Cicero calls her the fourth Venus of the Syrians. She is almost always
joined with Baal, and is called a god, the Scriptures having no
particular word to express a goddess. It is believed that the moon was
adored in this idol. Her temples generally accompanied those of the sun;
and while bloody sacrifices or human victims were offered to Baal,
bread, liquors, and perfumes were presented to Astarte. For her, tables
were prepared upon the flat terrace roofs of houses, near gates, in
porches, and at crossways, on the first day of every month; and this was
called by the Greeks, Hecate’s supper.
Solomon, seduced by his foreign wives, introduced the worship of
Ashtaroth into Israel; but Jezebel, daughter of the king of Tyre, and
wife to Ahab, principally established her worship. She caused altars to
be erected to this idol in every part of Israel; and at one time four
hundred priests attended the worship of Ashtaroth, 1 Kings xviii, 7.
ASHUR, the son of Shem, who gave his name to Assyria. It is believed
that Ashur originally dwelt in the land of Shinar and about Babylonia,
but that he was compelled by the usurper Nimrod to depart from thence,
and settle higher toward the springs of the Tigris, in the province of
Assyria, so called from him, where some think he built the famous city
of Nineveh, and those of Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen, Gen. x, 11, 12.
ASIA, one of the four grand divisions of the earth. It is also used in a
more restricted sense for Asia Minor, or Anatolia. In the New Testament
it always signifies the Roman Proconsular Asia, in which the seven
Apocalyptic churches were situated.
ASKELON, a city in the land of the Philistines, situated between Azoth
and Gaza, upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about 520 furlongs
from Jerusalem. The tribe of Judah, after the death of Joshua, took the
city of Askelon, Judges i, 18, being one of the five governments
belonging to the Philistines. The place at present is in ruins.
ASMONÆANS, a name given to the Maccabees, the descendants of Mattathias.
After the death of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jews were governed by their
high priest, in subjection, however, to the Persian kings, to whom they
paid tribute; but with full enjoyment of their liberties, civil and
religious. Nearly three centuries of prosperity ensued, until they were
cruelly oppressed by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, when they were
compelled to take up arms in their own defence. Under the able conduct
of Judas, surnamed Maccabeus, and his valiant brothers, the Jews
maintained a religious war for twenty-six years with five successive
kings of Syria; and after destroying upwards of two hundred thousand of
their best troops, the Maccabees finally established the independence of
their own country, and the aggrandisement of their family. This
illustrious house, whose princes united the regal and pontifical dignity
in their own persons, administered the affairs of the Jews during a
period of a hundred and twenty-six years; until, disputes arising
between Hyrcanus II, and his brother Aristobulus, the latter was
defeated by the Romans, who captured Jerusalem, and reduced Judea to a
military province, B. C. 59.
ASNAPPER, the king of Assyria, who sent the Cutheans into the country
belonging to the ten tribes, Ezra iv, 10. Many take this prince to be
Shalmaneser; but others, with more probability, think him to be
Esar-haddon.
ASP, פתן. Deut. xxxii, 33; Job xx, 14, 16; Psalm lviii, 4; xci, 13;
Isaiah xi, 8. A very venomous serpent, whose poison is so subtle as to
kill within a few hours with a universal gangrene. This may well refer
to the _bæten_ of the Arabians, which M. Forskal describes as spotted
with black and white, about one foot in length, and nearly half an inch
in thickness, oviparous, and whose bite is death. It is the _aspic_ of
the ancients, and is so called now by the literati of Cyprus, though the
common people call it _kufi_, (κȣ́φη,) _deaf_. With the PETHEN we may
connect the _python_ of the Greeks, which was, according to fable, a
huge serpent that had an oracle at mount Parnassus, famous for
predicting future events. Apollo is said to have slain this serpent, and
hence he was called “Pythius.” Those possessed with a spirit of
divination were also styled Πυθωνες. The word occurs in Acts, xvi, 16,
as the characteristic of a young woman who had _a pythonic spirit_. It
is well known that the _serpent_ was particularly employed by the
Heathens in their enchantments and divinations. See SERPENT].
Pethen, פתן, is variously translated in our version; but interpreters
generally consider it as referring to the asp. Zophar alludes to it more
than once in his description of a wicked man: “Yet his meat in his
bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. He shall suck the
poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.” The venom of asps is
the most subtle of all; it is incurable; and, if the wounded part be not
instantly amputated, it speedily terminates the existence of the
sufferer. To these circumstances, Moses evidently alludes in his
character of the Heathen: “Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the
cruel venom of asps.” To tread upon the asp is attended with extreme
danger; therefore, to express in the strongest manner the safety which
the godly man enjoys under the protection of his heavenly Father, it is
promised, that he shall tread with impunity upon these venomous
creatures. No person of his own accord approaches the hole of these
deadly reptiles; for he who gives them the smallest disturbance is in
extreme danger of paying the forfeit of his rashness with his life.
Hence, the Prophet Isaiah, predicting the conversion of the Gentiles to
the faith of Christ, and the glorious reign of peace and truth in those
regions which, prior to that period, were full of horrid cruelty,
marvellously heightens the force of the whole description by declaring,
“The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned
child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
ASS, המור, Arabic, _chamara_ and _hamar_. There are three words referred
by translators to the ass: 1. המור, which is the usual appellation, and
denotes the ordinary kind; such as is employed in labour, carriage, and
domestic services. 2. פררא, rendered _onager_, or “wild ass.” 3. אהון,
rendered _she ass_. To these we must add, ערדיא, rendered _wild asses_,
Dan. v, 21. The prevailing colour of this animal in the east is reddish;
and the Arabic word, _chamara_, signifies _to be red_.
In his natural state he is fleet, fierce, formidable, and intractable;
but when domesticated, the most gentle of all animals, and assumes a
patience and submission even more humble than his situation. Le Clerc
observes, that the Israelites not being allowed to keep horses, the ass
was not only made a beast of burden, but used on journeys; and that even
the most honourable of the nation were wont to be mounted on asses,
which in the eastern countries were much larger and more beautiful than
they are with us. Jair of Gilead had thirty sons who rode on as many
asses, and commanded in thirty cities, Judges x, 4. Abdon’s sons and
grandsons rode also upon asses, Judges xii, 4. And Christ makes his
solemn entry into Jerusalem riding upon an ass, Matt. xxi, 4; John xii,
14. To draw with an ox and ass together was prohibited in the Mosaic
law, Deut. xxii, 10. This law is thought to have respect to some
idolatrous custom of the Gentiles, who were taught to believe that their
fields would be more fruitful if thus ploughed; for it is not likely
that men would have yoked together two creatures so different in their
tempers and motions, had they not been led to it by some superstition.
There might be, however, a physical reason for this injunction. Two
beasts of a different species cannot well associate together; and on
this account never pull pleasantly either in the cart or plough, and are
not therefore “true yoke fellows.” Le Clerc considers this law as merely
symbolical, importing that we are not to form improper alliances in
civil and religious life; and he thinks his opinion confirmed by these
words of St. Paul, 2 Cor. vi, 14: “Be ye not unequally yoked with
unbelievers;” which are simply to be understood as prohibiting all
intercourse between Christians and idolaters, in social, matrimonial,
and religious life. To teach the Jews the propriety of this, a variety
of precepts relative to improper and heterogeneous mixtures were
interspersed through their law; so that in civil and domestic life they
might have them ever before their eyes.
The _wild ass_, called PARA, is probably the _onager_ of the ancients.
It is taller and a much more dignified animal than the common or
domestic ass; its legs are more elegantly shaped; and it bears its head
higher. It is peculiarly distinguished by a dusky woolly mane, long
erect ears, and a forehead highly arched. The colour of the hair, in
general, is of a silvery white. These animals associate in herds, under
a leader, and are very shy. They inhabit the mountainous regions and
desert parts of Tartary, Persia, &c. Anciently they were likewise found
in Lycaonia, Phrygia, Mesopotamia, and Arabia Deserta. They are
remarkably wild; and Job, xxxix, 5–8, describes the liberty they enjoy,
the place of their retreat, their manners, and wild, impetuous, and
untamable spirit. “Vain man would be wise, though he be born a wild
ass’s colt,” Job xi, 12; עיר פרא, “ass colt,” not “ass’s colt;” יר being
in apposition with פרא, and not in government. The whole is a proverbial
expression, denoting extreme perversity and ferocity, and repeatedly
alluded to in the Old Testament. Thus, Gen. xvi, 12, it is prophesied of
Ishmael that he should be פרא אדם, a wild ass man; rough, untaught, and
libertine as a wild ass. So Hosea, xiii, 15; “He (Ephraim) hath _run
wild_ (literally _assified_ himself) amidst the braying monsters.” So
again, Hosea viii, 9, the very same character is given of Ephraim, who
is called “a solitary wild ass by himself,” or perhaps a solitary wild
ass of the _desert_; for the original will bear to be so rendered. This
proverbial expression has descended among the Arabians to the present
day, who still employ, as Schultens has remarked, the expressions, “the
ass of the desert,” or “the wild ass,” to describe an obstinate,
indocile, and contumacious person. The Prophet Isaiah, xxxii, 14,
describes great desolation by saying that “the wild asses shall rejoice
where a city stood.” There is another kind of ass called, אתון. Abraham
had ATONOTH, Gen. xii, 16; Balaam rode on an ATON, Num. xxii, 23. We
find from 1 Chron. xxvii, 30, that David had an officer expressly
appointed to superintend his ATONOTH; not his ordinary asses, but those
of a nobler race; which implies at least equal dignity in this officer
to his colleagues mentioned with him. This notion of the ATON gives also
a spirit to the history of Saul, who, when his father’s ATONOTH were
lost, was at no little pains to seek them; moreover, as beside being
valuable, they were _uncommon_, he might the more readily hear of them
if they had been noticed or taken up by any one; and this leads to the
true interpretation of the servant’s proposed application to Samuel,
verse 6, as though he said, “In his office of magistracy this honourable
man may have heard of these strayed rarities, and secured them;
peradventure he can direct us.”
Thus we find that these _atonoth_ are mentioned in Scripture, only in
the possession of judges, patriarchs, and other great men; insomuch that
where these are there is dignity, either expressed or implied. They were
also a present for a prince; for Jacob presented Esau with twenty, Gen.
xxxii, 15. What then shall we say of the wealth of Job, who possessed a
thousand? Another word which is rendered “_wild ass_” by our
translators, Job xxxix, 5, is ORUD; which seems to be the same, that in
the Chaldee of Daniel, v, 21, is called _oredia_. Mr. Parkhurst supposes
that this word denotes _the brayer_, and that PARA and ORUD are only two
names for the same animal. But these names _may_ perhaps refer to
different races, though of the same species; so that a description of
the properties of one may apply to both, though not without some
variation.
Who sent out the _para_ free?
Or who hath loosed the bands of the _orud_?
Whose dwelling I have made the wilderness,
And the barren land (salt deserts) his resort:
The range of open mountains are his pasture,
And he searcheth after every green thing.
Gmelin observes that the _onager_ is very fond of salt. Whether the
“deserts” of the above text were salt marshes, or salt deserts, is of
very little consequence; the circumstance shows the correctness of the
Hebrew poet. In Daniel we read that Nebuchadnezzar dwelt with the
OREDIA. We need not suppose that he was banished to the deserts, but was
at most kept safely in an enclosure of his own park, where curious
animals were kept for state and pleasure. If this be correct, then the
ORUD was somewhat, at least, of a rarity at Babylon; and it might be of
a kind different from the PARA, as it is denoted by another name. May it
not be the _Gicquetei_ of Professor Pallas, the wild mule of Mongalia
which surpasses the _onager_ in size, beauty, and perhaps in swiftness.
ASSIDEANS, by some named Chasideans, from _chasidim_, “merciful, pious.”
They were a kind of religious society among the Jews, whose chief and
distinguishing character was, to maintain the honour of the temple, and
observe punctually the traditions of the elders. They were therefore not
only content to pay the usual tribute for the maintenance of the house
of God, but charged themselves with farther expense upon that account;
for every day, except that of the great expiation, they sacrificed a
lamb, in addition to the daily oblation, which was called the sin
offering of the Assideans. They practised greater hardships and
mortifications than others; and their common oath was, “By the temple;”
for which our Saviour reproves the Pharisees, who had learned that oath
of them, Matt. xxiii, 16. From this sect the Pharisees sprung. The
Assideans are represented as a numerous sect, distinguished by its
valour, as well as by its zeal for the law, 1 Mac. ii, 42. A company of
them resorted to Mattathias, to fight for the law of God, and the
liberties of their country. This sect arose either during the captivity,
or soon after the restoration, of the Jews; and were probably in the
commencement, and long afterward, a truly pious part of the nation; but
they at length became superstitious.
ASSURANCE. The sense in which this term is used theologically is that of
a firm persuasion of our being in a state of salvation. The doctrine
itself has been matter of dispute among divines, and when considered as
implying not only that we are now accepted of God through Christ, but
that we shall be finally saved, or when it is so taken as to deny a
state of salvation to those who are not so assured as to be free from
all doubt, it is in many views questionable. Assurance of final
salvation must stand or fall with the doctrine of personal unconditional
election, and is chiefly held by divines of the Calvinistic school; and
that nothing is an evidence of a state of present salvation but so
entire a persuasion as amounts to assurance in the strongest sense,
might be denied upon the ground that degrees of grace, of real saving
grace, are undoubtedly mentioned in Scripture. Assurance, however, is
spoken of in the New Testament, and stands prominent as one of the
leading doctrines of religious experience. We have “full assurance of
understanding;” that is a perfect knowledge and entire persuasion of the
truth of the doctrine of Christ. The “assurance of faith,” in Hebrews
ix, 22, is an entire trust in the sacrifice and priestly office of
Christ. The “assurance of hope,” mentioned in Hebrews vi, 11, relates to
the heavenly inheritance, and must necessarily imply a full persuasion
that we are “the children of God,” and therefore “heirs of his glory;”
and from this passage it must certainly be concluded that such an
assurance is what every Christian ought to aim at, and that it is
attainable. This, however, does not exclude occasional doubt and
weakness of faith, from the earlier stages of his experience.
A comforting and abiding persuasion of present acceptance by God,
through Christ, we may therefore affirm, must in various degrees follow
true faith. In support of this view, the following remarks may be
offered:--
If it is the doctrine of the inspired records, that man is by nature
prone to evil, and that in practice he violates that law under which as
a creature he is placed, and is thereby exposed to punishment;--if also
it is there stated, that an act of grace and pardon is promised on the
conditions of repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ;--if that repentance implies consideration of our ways, a sense
of the displeasure of Almighty God, contrition of heart, and
consequently trouble and grief of mind, mixed, however, with a hope
inspired by the promise of forgiveness, and which leads to earnest
supplication for the actual pardon of sin so promised, it will follow
from these premises--either, 1. That forgiveness is not to be expected
till after the termination of our course of probation, that is, in
another life; and that, therefore, this trouble and apprehension of mind
can only be assuaged by the hope we may have of a favourable final
decision on our case;--or, 2. That sin is, in the present life, forgiven
as often as it is thus repented of, and as often as we exercise the
required and specific acts of trust in the merits of our Saviour; but
that this forgiveness of our sins is not in any way made known unto us:
so that we are left, as to our feelings, in precisely the same state as
if sin were not forgiven till after death, namely, in grief and trouble
of mind, relieved only by hope;--or, 3. The Scriptural view is, that
when sin is forgiven by the mercy of God through Christ, we are, by some
means, assured of it, and peace and satisfaction of mind take the place
of anxiety and fear.
The first of these conclusions is sufficiently disproved by the
authority of Scripture, which exhibits justification as a blessing
attainable in this life, and represents it as actually experienced by
true believers. “Therefore being justified by faith.” “There is _now_ no
condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.” “Whosoever believeth is
justified from all things,” &c. The quotations might be multiplied, but
these are decisive. The notion that though an act of forgiveness may
take place, we are unable to ascertain a fact so important to us, is
also irreconcilable with many scriptures in which the writers of the New
Testament speak of an experience, not confined personally to themselves,
or to those Christians who were endowed with spiritual gifts, but common
to all Christians. “Being justified by faith we have _peace_ with God.”
“We joy in God, by whom we have received the _reconciliation_.” “Being
reconciled unto God by the death of his Son.” “We have not received the
spirit of bondage again unto fear, but the spirit of adoption, by which
we cry, Abba, Father.” To these may be added innumerable passages which
express the comfort, the confidence, and the joy of Christians; their
“friendship” with God; their “access” to him; their entire union and
delightful intercourse with him; and their absolute confidence in the
success of their prayers. All such passages are perfectly consistent
with deep humility, and self-diffidence; but they are irreconcilable
with a state of hostility between the parties, and with an unascertained
and only hoped-for restoration of friendship and favour.
An assurance, therefore, that the sins which are felt to “be a burden
intolerable” are forgiven, and that the ground of that apprehension of
future punishment which causes the penitent to “_bewail_ his manifold
sins,” is taken away by restoration to the favour of the offended God,
must be allowed, or nothing would be more incongruous and impossible
than the comfort, the peace, the rejoicing of spirit, which in the
Scriptures are attributed to believers.
Few Christians of evangelical views have, therefore, denied the
possibility of our becoming assured of the favour of God in a sufficient
degree to give substantial comfort to the mind. Their differences have
rather respected the means by which the contrite become assured of that
change in their relation to Almighty God, whom they have offended, which
in Scripture is expressed by the term justification. The question has
been, (where the notion of an assurance of eternal salvation has not
been under discussion,) by what means the assurance of the divine favour
is conveyed to the mind. Some have concluded that we obtain it by
_inference_, others by the _direct testimony_ of the Holy Spirit to the
mind. See HOLY SPIRIT.