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Zondervan All-in-One Bible Reference Guide

AARON [195, 2] (âr'un, Heb. 'aharôn, meaning uncertain). Aaron was the oldest son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, and brother of Moses and Miriam (Ex 6:2; Nu 26:59). He was born three years before Moses and before Pharaoh's edict that all male infants should be destroyed (Ex 7:7). His name first appears in God's commission to Moses when Moses protested that he did not have sufficient ability in public speaking to undertake the mission to Pharaoh. In response God declared that Aaron would serve as a spokesman for his brother (Ex 4:10-16). So Aaron met Moses at "the mountain of God" (Ex 4:27) after forty years of separation, took him back to the family home in Goshen, introduced him to the elders of the people, and persuaded them to accept him as their leader. Together Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh's court, where they carried on the negotiations that finally ended the oppression of the Israelites and precipitated the exodus.

Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, a prince of the tribe of Judah (Ex 6:23; 1Ch 2:10). They had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar (Ex 6:23). After Israel left Egypt, Aaron assisted Moses during the wilderness wandering. On the way to Sinai, in the battle with Amalek, Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands (Ex 17:9-13), which held the staff of God. Israel consequently won the battle. With the establishment of the tabernacle, Aaron became high priest in charge of the national worship and the head of the hereditary priesthood.

Later Aaron and Miriam criticized Moses for having married a Cushite woman and challenged his position as Israel's sole mouthpiece (Nu 12:1-2). Aaron's own authority as priest did not go unchallenged. It becomes clear that when Korah and his company (Nu 16) challenged Moses' leadership, Aaron's priesthood was also called into question. By the miraculous sign of the flowering and fruit-bearing staff, the Lord identified Aaron as his chosen priest (Nu 17:1-9) and accorded him a perpetual priesthood by ordering his staff to be deposited in the sanctuary (Nu 17:10). When Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the tables of the Law from God, Aaron gave assent to the people's demand for a visible god that they could worship. He melted their personal jewelry in a furnace and made a golden calf similar to the familiar bull god of Egypt.

The people hailed this image as the god who had brought them out of Egypt. Aaron did not protest but built an altar and proclaimed a feast to the Lord on the next day, which the people celebrated with revelry and debauchery (Ex 32:1-6). When Moses returned from the mountain and rebuked Aaron for aiding this abuse, Aaron disingenuously replied: "They gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" (Dt 32:24). Perhaps Aaron meant to restrain the people by a compromise, but he was wholly unsuccessful. Two months later, when the revelation of the pattern for worship was completed, Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood (Lev 8-9).

At the end of the wilderness wandering, Aaron was warned of his impending death. He and Moses went up Mount Hor, where Aaron was stripped of his priestly robes, which were passed in succession to his son Eleazar. Aaron died at age 123 and was buried on the mountain (Nu 20:22-29; 33:38; Dt 10:6; 32:50). The people mourned for him thirty days.

Genealogy of (Ex 6:16-20; Jos 21:4, 10; 1Ch 6:3-15); Priesthood of (Ex 28:1; Nu 17; Heb 5:1-4; 7); Priesthood opposed (Nu 16); Garments of (Ex 28; 39); Consecration of (Ex 29); Ordination of (Lev 8); Spokesman for Moses (Ex 4:14-16); Built the golden calf (Ex 32; Dt 9:20); Forbidden to enter the Promised Land (Nu 20:1-12); Death of (Nu 20:22-29; 33:38-39)

ABADDON [3] (a-bad'un, Heb. 'abvaddôn, ruin, perdition, destruction). A Hebrew word for the underworld or the abode of the dead. In the OT it is a synonym of death (hell) and Sheol. Its six OT occurrences (Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Ps 88:11; Pr 15:11; 27:20) have the idea of "ruin." Abaddon is found once in the NT (Rev 9:11) where it refers to the angel who reigns over the infernal regions.

Rev 9:11 whose name in Hebrew is A

ABBA [5] (ab'a, Heb. 'abba'). Aramaic word for "father," which is a customary title of God in prayer. It was transliterated into Greek and then into English and is found three times in the NT (Mk 14:36; Ro 8:15; Gal 4:6). The corresponding Hebrew word is Ab. The word abba is found in the Babylonian Talmud where it is used as an address of a child to his father and as a type of address to rabbis. It is equivalent to papa. This term conveys a sense of warm intimacy and also respect for the father. Because the Jews found it too presumptuous and nearly blasphemous, they would therefore never address God in this manner.

Jesus called God "Father" and gave that same right to his disciples (Mt 6:5-15). Paul sees this as symbolic of the Christian's adoption as a child of God and of possession of the Spirit (Mk 14:36; Ro 8:15; Gal 4:6).

Mk 14:36 "A, Father," he said, Rom 8:15 And by him we cry, "A, Father." Gal 4:6 the Spirit who calls out, "A, Father."

ABEDNEGO [6284, 10524] (a-bed-ne-go, Heb. 'avedhneghô, servant of Nego). His Hebrew name was Azariah. He was taken as a captive to Babylon with Daniel, Hananiah, and Mishael, where each was given a Babylonian name (Da 1:6-20; 2:17, 49; 3:12-30). Azariah was given the Akkadian name Abednego, which was the Babylonian god of wisdom, connected with the planet Mercury. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were chosen to learn the language and the ways of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) so that they could enter the king's ser vice (Da 1:3-5, 17-20). They were given responsibility over the affairs of the province of Babylon (Da 3:12). These three individuals were eventually thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's furnace because they refused to bow down and worship his golden image, but they were saved by God (Da 3:1, 4 - 6, 8 - 30).

ABEL [64, 2040, 6] (a'bel, Heb. hevel). The Hebrew spelling of this word means "breath," "vapor," that which is "insubstantial"; but more likely the name should be linked with an Accadian word meaning "son." He was Adam and Eve's second son who was murdered by his brother Cain (Ge 4). Disaffection between the two brothers arose when Cain brought a vegetable offering to the Lord, and Abel brought a lamb. Perhaps God had previously (at Ge 3:21?) revealed that humans must approach him with a blood sacrifice. God accepted Abel's offering either because it was an animal sacrifice or because of the spirit in which it was offered (Ge 4:4-5). Thus Abel became the first example of the way of righteousness through faith.

Second son of Adam (Ge 4:2); Offered proper sacrifice (Ge 4:4; Heb 11:4); Murdered by Cain (Ge 4:8; Mt 23:35; Lk 11:51; 1Jn 3:12)

ABIGAIL [28] (ab'i-gal, Heb. 'avi{dec103}hayil, [my] father is rejoicing).

1. The wife of Nabal and, after his death, of David (1Sa 25:3, 14-44; 27:3; 30:5; 2Sa 2:2; 2Sa 3:3), to whom she bore his second son, Kileab (or, 1Ch 3:1, Daniel).

2. A sister or stepsister of David. In 1Ch 2:13-17 she apparently belongs to Jesse's family and is, along with Zeruiah, a sister of David. But in 2Sa 17:25 she is mentioned as a daughter of Nahash. The probability is that Nahash was the first husband of Jesse's wife-this would account for the slightly unusual way in which she and Zeruiah are recorded in Chronicles, not as Jesse's daughters but as his sons' sisters. She was married to an Ishmaelite, Jether (2Sa 17:25; 1Ch 2:17), and became the mother of Amasa, Absalom's commander in chief (2Sa 17:2), who was also for a time David's commander in chief (2Sa 17:25; 19:13; 1Ch 2:16-17).

ABIJAH [23, 31, 32, 7] (a-bi'ja, Heb. 'avîyâh or 'avîyahû, Jehovah is father; [my] father is Yahweh).

1. The wife of Judah's grandson Hezron and mother of Ashhur the father of Tekoa (1Ch 2:24).

2. The seventh son of Beker, the son of Benjamin (1Ch 7:8).

3. The second son of the prophet Samuel. Appointed with his brother Joel as a judge by his father, but did not follow in Samuel's ways. They followed after dishonest gains, bribes, and perverted justice. Because of this the Israelites demanded a king to lead them (1Sa 8:1-5; 1Ch 6:28).

4. A descendant of Aaron. He was the ancestral head of the eighth of the twenty-four groups into which David had divided the priests (1Ch 24:10). The father of John the Baptist belonged to this group (Lk 1:5).

5. A son of Jeroboam I of Israel (1Ki 14:1-18). He died from illness when still a child, in fulfillment of a prediction by the prophet Ahijah, to whom the queen had gone in disguise to inquire regarding the outcome of the child's illness. The death was a judgment for the apostasy of Jeroboam.

6. The second king of Judah, the son and successor of Rehoboam, and the grandson of Solomon (1Ch 3:10). Name is spelled "Abijam" in 1Ki 14 and 15. He made war on Jeroboam in an effort to recover the ten tribes of Israel. In a speech before an important battle in which his army was greatly outnumbered, he appealed to Jeroboam not to oppose the God of Israel, for God had given the kingdom to David and his sons forever. Abijah gained a decisive victory (1Ki 15:1-8; 2Ch 11:22; 13). Prosperity tempted him to multiply wives and to follow the evil ways of his father. He reigned three years (2Ch 12:16-14:1) and was succeeded by Asa his son (1Ki 15:8; 2Ch 14:1).

7. The daughter of Zechariah and mother of king Hezekiah (2Ch 29:1). "Abi" in 2Ki 18:2 (KJV, NASB, NEB, RSV).

8. A chief of the priests who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ne 12:4, 17).

9. A priest of Nehemiah's time (Ne 10:7). Probably the same as no. 8.

ABILITY

Ge 47:6 of any among them with special a, Ex 31:3 with skill, a and knowledge 35:31 with skill, a and knowledge 35:34 the a to teach others. 36:1 to whom the LORD has given skill and a 36:2 the LORD had given a Dt 8:18 for it is he who gives you the a Ezr 2:69 According to their a they gave to the treasury Da 5:12 and also the a to interpret dreams, Mt 25:15 each according to his a. Ac 8:19 "Give me also this a 11:29 each according to his a, 2Co 1:8 far beyond our a to endure, 8:3 and even beyond their a.

ABIMELECH [43] (a-bim'e-lek, Heb. 'avîmelekh, [my] father is a king or [my] father is Molech).

1. A Philistine king of Gerar, south of Gaza in the foothills of the Judean mountains. It was at his court that Abraham, out of fear, said that Sarah was his sister. Struck by her beauty, Abimelech took her to marry but, when warned by God in a dream, immediately returned her to Abraham (Ge 20:1-18). Later, when their servants contended over a well, the two men made a covenant (21:22-34).

2. A second king of Gerar, probably the son of the one mentioned in no. 1, at whose court Isaac tried to pass off his wife Rebekah as his sister (Ge 26:1-11). Abimelech rebuked Isaac when the falsehood was detected. Later their servants quarreled, and they made a covenant between themselves just as Abraham and the first Abimelech had done.

3. The son of Gideon by a concubine (Jdg 8:31; 9:1-57, w 6:32 & 7:1). After the death of his father, aspiring to be king, he murdered seventy sons of his father. Only one son, Jotham, escaped. Abimelech was made king of Shechem. After he had reigned only three years, rebellion broke out against him; in the course of the rebellion he attacked and destroyed his own city of Shechem. Later he was killed while besieging the nearby Thebez.

4. A Philistine king mentioned in the title of Ps 34, who very likely is the same as Achish, king of Gath (1Sa 21:10-22:1), with whom David sought refuge when he fled from Saul. It is possible that Abimelech was a royal title of Philistine kings, not a personal name.

5. A priest in the days of David. A son of Abiathar (2Sa 8:17; 1Ch 18:16). Also called Ahimelech in the LXX and in Chronicles (1Ch 24:6).

ABINADAB [44] (a-bin'a-dab, Heb. 'avînadhav, [my] father is generous or [my] father is Nadab).

1. A Levite living in Kiriath Jearim to whose home the ark was brought from the land of the Philistines. About a century later, David removed the ark to Jerusalem (1Sa 7:1-2; 2Sa 6:3-4; 1Ch 13:7).

2. The second of the eight sons of Jesse. He was in Saul's army when Goliath gave his challenge (1Sa 16:8; 17:13; 1Ch 2:13).

3. Son of Saul (1Sa 31:2), also called Ishvi (1Sa 14:49). He was killed with his father by the Philistines at Mount Gilboa (1Sa 17:13; 31:2; 1Ch 8:33; 9:39; 10:2).

4. Father of one of Solomon's governors who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Also called Ben-Abinadab (1Ki 4:11).

ABLE

Ge 13:6 that they were not a to stay together. Lev 26:37 not be a to stand before your enemies. Nu 14:16 not a to bring these people into the land Jos 24:19 "You are not a to serve the LORD. 1Sa 17:33 not a to go out against this Philistine 1Ki 3:9 who is a to govern this great people 1Ch 29:14 be a to give as generously as this? 2Ch 2:6 who is a to build a temple for him, Job 41:10 Who then is a to stand against me? Ps 36:12 not a to rise! Isa 36:20 of these countries has been a Eze 7:19 and gold will not be a to save them Da 2:26 "Are you a to tell me what I saw 3:17 the God we serve is a to save us 4:37 And those who walk in pride he is a to humble. Hos 5:13 But he is not a to cure you, Mt 9:28 "Do you believe that I am a 26:61 'I am a to destroy the temple of God Lk 13:24 will try to enter and will not be a to. 14:30 to build and was not a to finish.' 21:15 none of your adversaries will be a to 21:36 pray that you may be a to escape 21:36 that you may be a to stand before Ac 5:39 you will not be a to stop these men; 15:10 nor our fathers have been a to bear? 22:13 that very moment I was a to see him. Ro 8:39 will be a to separate us from the love of God 11:23 for God is a to graft them in again. 12:2 Then you will be a to test 14:4 for the Lord is a to make him stand. 16:25 Now to him who is a to establish you 1Co 12:28 those a to help others, 2Co 8:3 they gave as much as they were a, 9:8 And God is a to make all grace abound to Eph 3:4 a to understand my insight into the mystery 3:20 who is a to do immeasurably more 6:13 you may be a to stand your ground, 1Ti 3:2 respectable, hospitable, a to teach, 2Ti 1:12 is a to guard what I have entrusted 2:24 a to teach, not resentful. 3:7 but never a to acknowledge the truth. 3:15 which are a to make you wise Heb 2:18 he is a to help those who are being tempted. 3:19 we see that they were not a to enter, 5:2 He is a to deal gently 7:25 Therefore he is a to save completely 9:9 not a to clear the conscience Jas 3:2 a to keep his whole body in check. 4:12 the one who is a to save and destroy. 2Pe 1:15 always be a to remember these Jude 1:24 To him who is a to keep you Rev 5:5 He is a to open the scroll

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