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Umlialnm Abner
tavid's bodyguard and was second-in-ommand to Joab. He aided Joab i n the uthless slaying o f Abner in revenge for he death o f their brother Asahel, and ommanded a part o f Joab's army in In victorious battle against the A m m o -lites who had insulted King David's iiessengers o f g o o d w i l l . He saved the ing's life when David joined his men i n
ut i le against the Philistines and Ishbi-ienob, the giant, tr ied to k i l l h i m w i t h is great spear. I n one battle Abishai is redited w i t h having kil led single-landcd 300 o f the enemy. Loyal to ).ivid in the civi l war caused by Absa-:>m, Abishai joined in the pursuit o f heba son o f Bichri and later helped to rush the last vestige o f rebellion against ).ivid who then became king again o f a nited Israel. H e seems to have died icfbre Joab as his name does not appear
I t he death o f Dav id nor at the inaugura-lon of his son K i n g Solomon. (1 Sam. 6; 1 Sam. 3:30; 10:10; 16:9; 18:12; 9:1 1 ; 20:6; 21:17; 2 3 : I 8 ; 1 Chr. 2:16; 1:2o; 18:12; 19:11, 15]
kbishalom (Heb. 'father o f peace') c. o century B C . Father-in-law o f K i n g Lehoboam o f Judah, and the father o f
l . i . H the king's favourite wife. Also ailed Absalom and Uriel . [1 Kgs. 15:2, o ; 2 Chr. 11:20; 13:2]
ibllhua (Heb. 'father o f deliverance') . 1. 16 century B C . Son o f Bela and a r.unison o f Benjamin. [1 Chr. 8:4] . dale unknown. Son o f Phinehas and real grandson o f Aaron , the high priest, C was .111 ancestor o f Ezra. [1 Chr. 6:4, , jo 1 Ezra 7:5]
ihisliur (Heb. 'father o f protection') ate unknown. Son o f Shammai and a l d l ' " I | I K I 1 I 1 , he married Abihai l and
a<l two V I M S . 11 Chr. 2:28]
Lbital (Heb, 'fathei of dew') c. t o cen-I I \< A Wile of Kni| ' , I ) a v u l a n i l the tothi 1 ol Shephatiah, one ol the lix
sons of Dav id born to h im i n Hebron . [2 Sam. 3:4; 1 Chr . 3:3]
A b i t u b (Heb. 'father of goodness') date unknown. Son o f Shaharaim and a leader of the tr ibe o f Benjamin. [1 Chr. 8:11]
Abner (Heb. 'father of light') c. n century B C . Abner, the son o f Ner , was King Saul's cousin and the able commander of his army. After Saul's death in battle, Abner retired eastward across the river Jordan w i t h the remnant o f his forces, set up his camp at M a h a n a i m , and there proclaimed Saul's weak son Ishbosheth as k ing .
Abner advanced again into the terr i tory of Benjamin and at the Pool o f Gibeon, north-west o f Jerusalem, he met the army o f Dav id under his commander Joab. Abner and Joab agreed on a t r ia l o f strength between twelve picked men f rom either side. When all these men were ki l led leaving the issue stil l undecided, general fighting broke out in which Abner's army was routed.
In their f l ight, Abner himself was pursued by Asahel, Joab's youngest brother. Abner shouted to h im to leave h i m alone: ' W h y should I smite you to the ground? H o w then could I l i f t up my face to your brother Joab ?' (2 Sam. 2:22) Asahel persisted and Abner was forced to k i l l h i m .
Abner became angry w i t h Ishbosheth who accused h i m of misconduct w i t h one of Saul's concubines. Disillusioned w i t h the weakl ing he had himself made king, Abner sent messengers to make his peace w i t h D a v i d : 'Make your covenant w i t h me, and behold, my hand shall be w i t h you to br ing over all Israel to you . ' (2 Sam. 3:12) Dav id made one condi t ion , that his wife M i c h a l , Saul's daughter, should be returned to h i m , and Abner forced her brother Ishbosheth to agree.
Before seeing David , Abner conferred with the leaders of the northern tribes, and agreed w i t h them to unite the
Abraham Abraham
country under Dav id . The union was sealed when Abner and twenty men went to Hebron to tell David . Dav id gave him and his retinue a feast and then Abner went off to rally all o f Israel to the banner o f Dav id .
When Joab returned from an expedit ion , he tr ied w i t h o u t success to t u r n David against Abner. Joab then sent a messenger after Abner asking h i m to return and k i l led h i m in revenge for Joab's brother Asahel.
David was angry and shocked when he heard the news. Abner was buried at Hebron and Dav id ordered a public funeral for h i m . The k ing himself walked behind the coffin, wept over the grave, and fasted. A l l the country understood that David had had no hand in Abner's murder. [1 Sam. 14:50; 17:55-8; 20:25; 26:13-16; 2 Sam. 2-4 ; 1 Chr. 26:28, 27:20]
Abraham (Heb. 'father is exalted') c. 18-16 centuries B C . First patriarch, Abraham was the founder of the Hebrew nation. In Jewish, Christian and Mos lem tradit ion, he emerges as a father-figure - dignified, firm in his faith, humane, respected by the local rulers wherever he went. He moves slowly and majestically across the Near Eastern w o r l d of nearly four thousand years ago, f r o m Mesopotamia to Egypt. The main setting for his story is the central h i l l country in the Land o f Canaan promised to him and his seed by God.
Abram (as he was first called) came originally f r o m ' U r of the Chaldeans' (Gen. 11:28), a Sumerian city i n the Euphrates valley, near the head o f the Persian Gulf. W i t h his father Terah, his wife Sarai (later Sarah) and his nephew Lot, he moved up the river t i l l they came to rest i n Haran , a trading centre in northern A r a m (as Syria was then called). The family settled in this area, and here Terah died.
At I Iaran the Lord appeared to Abram and to ld h im to leave for 'the
land that I w i l l show you' (Gen. 12:1) where he w o u l d make of A b r a m 'a great nat ion ' (Gen. 12:2).
W i t h Sarai and Lot he travelled to Canaan, and reached Shechem (the modern Nablus) . Abram bui l t an altar there, and another near Bethel (a l itt le north of Jerusalem). The L o r d again appeared to h i m and said: ' T o your descendants I w i l l give this land. ' (Gen. 12:7) This promise was repeated dur ing Abram's l i fetime.
There was a famine i n the land, and Abram's party continued to the southwest unt i l they arrived in Egypt, then the granary o f the region.
Sarai was a beautiful w o m a n and Abram passed her off as his sister for fear that he might otherwise be k i l led because of her. Reports o f her looks reached Pharaoh, who had her brought into his household, generously compensating her 'brother ' w i t h servants and livestock. The L o r d intervened w i t h plagues, and when Pharaoh learnt the t ruth he reproachfully returned Sarai to her husband and urged them to leave. (Later, A b r a m had a similar experience w i t h Abimelech, k ing o f Gerar, a Philistine city, near Gaza.)
They returned f rom Egypt to the hills north of Jerusalem. Both A b r a m and Lot had by this t ime acquired large herds of cattle, and there was strife between their herdsmen over the l imited grazing. Uncle and nephew agreed to part amicably and L o t , given the choice by A b r a m , headed eastward to the 'Jordan valley' (Gen. 13:10), where stood the t w o cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A b r a m h i m self settled i n the plain of M a m r e outside Hebron.
The L o r d revealed to A b r a m that he intended to destroy the wicked cities o f Sodom and Gomorrah . Abram pleaded w i t h H i m to spare the cities for the sake of the good men who might be among the inhabitants, and after some bargaining, the required m i n i m u m number of righteous men was fixed at ten. But in
A b r a h a m Abraham
the end even this number was not found. Abram knew that his compassionate pleas had not helped when he saw the smoke rising f rom the stricken cities.
Sodom and Gomorrah were attacked by four kings f rom the n o r t h , and Lot was among those taken captive. Setting out in pursuit , Abram carried out a night assault near D a n , chased the enemy to a point near Damascus, and returned w i t h the liberated captives. He restored the plunder to the king of Sodom, refusing to accept any o f i t for himself. A b r a m was a man o f peace and this rescue of Lot was his only recorded mart ia l exploit .
I S A A C A N D I S H M A E L
As Abram and Sarai had remained w i t h out issue, she proposed that he should have a chi ld w i t h her Egyptian maid Hagar, w h o bore h im a son called Ish-mael. When A b r a m was ninety-nine and Sarai ninety, the Lord appeared to h i m again and said that henceforth his name would be Abraham, 'for I have made you the father o f a multitude o f nations' (Gen. 17:5). Sarai's name was changed to Sarah ('princess'). As a physical token of Abraham's covenant w i t h h i m , the Lord instructed h i m to circumcise h i m self and all members of his household, and thereafter every male infant when he was eight days o ld . (The ' b r i t h mi l lah ' - covenant of the circumcision -has been religiously observed by Jews to this day.)
When the L o r d to ld the aged Abraham that Sarah would give b i r t h to a son, he 'fell on his face and laughed' (Gen. 17:17). One hot day Abraham sat in the doorway of his tent at M a m r e and saw three strangers approaching. He went forward to offer them hospital-it y. They were angels who t o l d h i m once more that Sarah would bear h i m a ion , Sarah overheard this f rom w i t h i n the tent, and she too laughed as she was well past child-bearing age. But in due course Isaac (meaning 'he laughed') was born, as had been foretold.
Abraham gave a great feast when the infant was weaned. Sarah was stung by the mockery o f Hagar and her son Ish-mael, and demanded that Abraham cast them out . Being a kindly man he was greatly troubled, but the L o r d to ld h im to do as Sarah had asked, at the same time reassuring h im that his descendants through Ishmael would also be a great nation. Abraham provided Hagar w i t h a supply o f bread and water and she left w i t h the boy.
Abraham journeyed southward again, into the terr i tory of Abimelech, the Philistine k ing of Gerar. Trouble over a well (a vital matter in this ar id area) brought the t w o men together in a pact of friendship, consecrated by a solemn swearing ceremony. The place where this happened was named Beersheba (the 'Wel l o f the Swearing').
Abraham's obedience to God was now put to an agonizing test. He was commanded to slay his beloved son Isaac at a distant mountain top as a burnt-offering to the Lord . Abraham set out on his ass, taking w i t h h i m Isaac, two young servants and some f irewood. O n the t h i r d day they neared the place. Abraham left the t w o servants w i t h the ass, and continued on foot w i t h Isaac. O n the way the puzzled lad said to his father 'Behold, the fire and the w o o d ; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering ?' (Gen. 22:7) The old man evaded the question by saying the L o r d w o u l d provide the lamb.
When they reached the indicated spot Abraham bui l t an altar, placed the bound boy upon the firewood, and took up the knife. A t this dread moment the voice of an angel was heard saying: ' D o not lay your hand on the lad . . . for now I k n o w that you fear God . ' (Gen. 22:12) In a nearby thicket Abraham saw a ram caught by the horns, and the animal was sacrificed instead o f the boy. This episode also served to symbolize the rejection in the Hebrew faith of child-sacrifice practised by pagan cults.
A b r a h a m Absalom
When Sarah died at Hebron at the I I , ( of one hundred and twenty-seven, Abraham sought a family burying place and purchased f rom Ephron the H i t t i t e 1 In- Cave o f Machpelah and the field in which it stood, for four hundred shekels ol silver. Here Sarah was laid to rest.
Abraham, now an aged man, concerned himself w i t h finding a wife for Isaac. He sent for the trusted o ld retainer who managed his household, and confided in h i m that he did not want Isaac to marry a local Canaanite g i r l . The servant was instructed to travel to the I laran area f rom which Abraham had come to Canaan, and to seek a bride for Isaac among his kindred there. He returned w i t h Rebekah, the young granddaughter of one of Abraham's brothers.
Abraham took another wife, Keturah, and had a number of children by her. I le appointed Isaac the heir of his possessions, whi le making provision for his other children, including the sons of his concubines w h o m he sent to dwel l further to the east in order to protect Isaac. Abraham died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five and was buried w i t h Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah i n 1 lebron.
For Jews, the story of Abraham is of national importance, for i t marks their transitional beginning as a people and their divine charter to the Land o f Israel. In the religious sense, i t also symbolizes the break w i t h pagan idolatry and the commitment to monotheism.
In the N e w Testament, Abraham is held up as the example of the godfearing and righteous man.
Abraham is more revered by Moslems than any other biblical personage, and is known i n the Koran as El K h a l i l , the Friend o f God. The Arabs st i l l call I lebron 'El K h a l i l ' , and the Cave of Machpelah is sacred to the Moslems as well . The Jaffa Gate in the O l d City of Jerusalem, f rom which the road to Hebron started, is inscribed w i t h a verse h u m the K o r a n : 'There is no God but
Al lah, and Abraham is beloved o f H i m . ' [Gen. 11:26-25:10]
T H E C A V E O F M A C H P E L A H A N D T H E
O A K O F M A M R E
The tradi t ional Cave of Machpelah in Hebron is marked by a huge fort- l ike structure which was bui l t by K i n g Herod in the 1st century B C . Its outer walls are of great stone blocks rising to a height of more than forty feet. Several additions were made during the Byzantine, Mameluke and Ottoman periods, for this Jewish burial shrine later became holy also to Christians and Moslems. The crenellated battlements and t w o square corner minarets are Mameluke. The southern part of the enclosure is now a mosque. I t was formerly a 12th-century Crusader church, and before that a Byzantine basilica. Six cenotaphs w i t h embroidered silk coverings are said to stand exactly above the bur ia l places in the cave beneath that of the patriarchs and their wives: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah. A seventh is held by some to mark the resting place of Joseph. T h r o u g h a grating in the floor may be glimpsed the original cave.
There are fine examples o f stained-glass windows from the 12th century A D made o f the famous Hebron glass.
A mile away f rom Machpelah, along a road running off the Bethlehem-Hebron highway, is an o ld oak tree, barely alive, its branches supported by i ron stakes. I t has been k n o w n since the 12th century A D as Abraham's Oak or the Oak of Mamre . After leaving Lot near Bethel, Abraham 'came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre , which are at H e b r o n ; and there he bui l t an altar unto the L o r d ' (Gen. 13:18). The oak stands in the grounds of the Russian H o l y T r i n i t y Church, monastery and hospice, bui l t at the end o f the last century. [Gen. 11-25; I s a - 4 I : & ]
Absalom (Heb. ' [my] father is peace') i.e. 10 century B C . T h i r d son o f King David.
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