Some serpents cannot be thus charmed. It appears from the Scripture that the adder takes precaution to prevent the fascination: "The deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely." "I will send serpents among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you." ADJURATION. A solemn appeal, whereby one man, usually a person vested with authority, imposes upon another the obligation of speaking or acting as if he were under the solemnity of an oath. See Matt. xxvi. 63; Josh. vi. 26; Mark v. 7. ADMAH. The most easterly of the cities of the plain or vale of Siddim, which were miraculously destroyed by fire on account of their great wickedness. Gen. xix. 24; Hosea xi. 8. ADONAI, lord, master. The old plural form of ADON. The Jews, out of superstitious reverence for the name JEHOVAH, always read Adonai where Jehovah is written. ADONI-BEZEK, lord of Bezek. The king of the city of Bezek, about seventeen miles from Shechem. He was an oppressive tyrant, who fled from the armies of Judah, but was caught and disabled, by having his thumbs and great toes cut off, so that ne could neither fight nor fly. The maiming was regarded by himself as a just requital of his cruelties. Judges i. 5. ADONIJAH, Jehovah is my Lord. The fourth son of David by Haggith. He was born after his father became king, but whilst he reigned over Judah only. 2 Sam. iii. 4. After the death of Amnon and Absalom, he made pretensions to the throne. Bathsheba, fearing that her son Solomon's title might be disturbed, informed David of Adonijah's revolt; and Nathan the prophet confirming her statement of the case, the strongest assurances were given to Bathsheba that her son should reign after David. Solomon was then actually anointed, and proclaimed king with shoutings. 1 Kings i. 39. Adonijah was just ending a feast when he heard the rejoicing, and was told all that had taken place. The guests fled; Adonijah escaped, and laid hold of the horns of the altar, and was thus secured. After David's death, Adonijah persuaded Bathsheba to ask Solomon to allow him to marry Abishag. Solomon at once understood the policy of Adonijah: he might as well have asked for the kingdom; for, being the elder brother, a marriage with David's widow would have given him a plausible claim. He was consequently put to death. 1 Kings ii. 13-25. ADONIRAM, lord of height. Sometimes contracted Adoram, 2 Sam. xx. 24; and also Hadoram, 2 Chron. x. 18. 1. Son of the king of Hamath, sent by his father to congratulate David upon his victory over their common enemy Hadarezer. 1 Chron. xviii. 10. 2. The principal receiver of Solomon's tribute. The people were so indignant at the oppression they suffered through his agency, that they stoned him. 1 Kings xii. 18. ADONIS. A Syrian divinity, the same as Thammuz, or Tammuz, for whom the Hebrew idolatresses were accustomed to lament annually. Ezek. viii. 14. The ceremony consisted of two parts, one consecrated to lamentation, the other to joy in the days of grief they lamented the disappearance of the god, and in the days of gladness celebrated his discovery and return. He seems to have been a sort of in- | heaven. It flows immediately from carnation of the sun. ADONI-ZEDEC, lord of justice. Josh. x. 1. He was the Canaanitish king of Jerusalem when the Israelites invaded Palestine. Finding that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made a league with Joshua, after he had taken Ai and Jericho, he called four other kings to his aid, and laid siege to Gibeon, with a view to destroy it. The Lord was against them, and Joshua's victory was attended with a signal miracle. Adoni-zedec and his allies fled to a cave at Makkedah. The mouth was closed with stones, and a guard placed over it till the victory was complete. They were brought out and slain, and their bodies left hanging on the trees till evening; they were then thrown into the cave in which they had concealed themselves. Josh. x. 27. ADOPTION. The literal signification of the Greek word υἱοθεσία, placing as a son, defines the term. It is the placing as a son one who is not such by birth, and entitling him to the peculiar privileges of such a connexion, as fully and completely as a child by birth. In ancient times it was confined to sons, no example occurring of the adoption of a female. In Scripture, the instances in the Old Testament are those of females adopting an offspring when they had no child of their own, by giving their slave as concubine to their husband. The issue of such a connexion was their own. Such was the case with Sarah and Rachel. The child being the son of the husband, and the mother the property of the wife, the progeny was her property. A man, who had an only daughter, wishing to build up a family through her, would marry her to a freed slave, and the children were accounted to the grandfather as his. See 1 Chron. ii. 21-24, 34, et seq.; Josh. xiii. 30. Among the Greeks and Romans, adoption was common, and regulated by law. In a theological sense, adoption is that act of God's free grace by which, on our being justified by faith, we are received into the family of God, and made heirs of the inheritance of our justification, so that the one always implies the other. Some divines consider them to be the same; adoption being the act of God viewed as a Father, justification the act of God viewed as a Judge. The privileges of such a state are various: the witness of the Holy Spirit to the fact, which is the only means by which it can be made known to us; the absence of a servile spirit; the special care of our heavenly Father; freedom of access to him at all times, and a title to our heavenly home. The witness of the Spirit to our adoption is clearly taught in Rom. viii. 15, 16; Gal. iv. 4-6. See WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. ADORAIM, strength of the sea. A town in the south of Judah, fortified by Rehoboam. 2 Chron. xi. 9. Robinson thinks it the present Dura. It is five miles from Hebron. ADORATION. A word compounded of ad, "to," and os, "the mouth," and means, to apply the hand to the mouth, "to kiss the hand;" this being in the East a mark of respect and submission. It is evident from Job xxxi. 26, 27, that kissing the hand was considered an act of idolatrous worship. It was a mark of respect used to kings and persons high in office: the hand was not merely kissed and then withdrawn, but was held to the mouth. Judges xviii. 19; Job xxi. 5. ADRAMMELECH, glory of the king. 1. The son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. He and his brother Sharezer killed their father while he was in the act of idolatry. The motive for this act is not known. Isai. xxxvii. 38; 2 Kings xix. 37. 2. One of the gods of Sepharvaim. The inhabitants made their children pass through the fire to this and another god, called Anammelech. 2 Kings xvii. 31. There is reason to believe that these two divinities represented the sun and the moon. ADRAMYTTIUM. A seaport of Mysia, in Lesser Asia, over against the isle of Lesbos. It is known by the modern name of Edremit, or Adramyt, and lies about sixty miles north of Smyrna. It was in a ship belonging to this port that St. Paul sailed from Cæsarea when he went a prisoner to Rome. Acts xxvii. 2. ADRIA. It is now the same as the Gulf of Venice; but in St. Paul's time it extended to the whole of the sea between Crete and Sicily. This fact is of importance, since it relieves us from the necessity of finding the island on which Paul was wrecked in the Gulf of Venice, and removes the difficulty of identifying that island with the present Malta. ADRIEL, the flock of God. The person to whom Saul gave in marriage his daughter Merab, originally promised to David. 1 Sam. xviii. 19. See MERAB. ADULLAM. One of the cities in the plain between the hill-country of Judaea and the sea, and appears to have been not far from Gath. It existed in the time of Eusebius and Jerome as a large village, ten miles to the east of Eleutheropolis. They confound it with Eglon; but these were different places, and had different kings in the time of Joshua. Chap. xii. 12, 15. It is usual to connect the city of Adullam with the "cave of Adullam;" but it is not likely that in an extended plain there should be a cave capable of accommodating four hundred men. Some geographers suggest that it is more likely that the cave of Adullam was in the mountainous wilderness to the east of Judæa, towards the Dead Sea, where there are such caves. The usual haunts of David were in that quarter. which they had of the enormous wrong of a married man having imposed upon him a spurious offspring, as the succession to landed property was entirely by birth, and could not be alienated. The mysterious mode of detecting and punishing the sin among the Jews is detailed in Numb. v. 11-31. In the prophetic Scriptures, it is often taken metaphorically for idolatry and apostasy from God. Hosea ii. 2; Ezek. xvi. ADUMMIM, the place of blood. In Joshua xv. 7, it seems to point out the border between Judah and Benjamin. In Josh. xviii. 17, we read of the ascent to Adummim; and it is generally supposed to be in the mountainous part of the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. Jerome supposes it was so called because of the frequent shedding of blood by robbers, by whom the neighbourhood was greatly infested. The character of the road was so notorious, that Christ has laid here the scene of the parable of the good Samaritan. Luke x. 30-36. Modern travellers still represent the road as infested with robbers. ADVOCATE. Παράκλητος. One that pleads the cause of another. In its technical sense, it was unknown to the Jews till they came under the dominion of the Romans. It is applied to Christ as our Intercessor. 1 John ii. 1. It signifies also a comforter, and an instructer, and is used of the Holy Spirit. John xiv. 16; xv. 26. See COMFORTER. doubtful. Eusebius places it about eight miles south of Scythopolis, and fifty-three north-east of Jerusalem. ENON, fountain. The name of a ADULTERY. A crime expressly place near Salim, where John bapforbidden by the seventh command-tized. John iii. 23. The situation is ment, and always liable to severe penalties, both by human and divine laws. In Jewish law adultery was principally the infidelity of a wife; and such is the view of this sin in countries where concubinage and polygamy are allowed. Intercourse between a married man and an unmarried woman was only on his part a breach of the law of chastity. Under the Roman law only a married female could be guilty of it: the partner of her guilt might be married or otherwise. This arose, on the part of the Jews and Romans, from the view AFFINITY. Relationship by marriage in contradistinction from consanguinity, which is relationship by blood. The prohibited degrees are mentioned in the Levitical law. Lev. xviii. 6-18. One of these, the case of a man marrying his deceased wife's sister, has been occasionally the subject of much discussion in the House of Commons. AGABUS, a locust. Others derive it from a verb signifying to love. A prophet, who foretold the famine which took place under the emperor Claudius, in the fourth year of his reign, A.D. 44. A few years after, he met Paul at Cæsarea, and warned him of the sufferings he would endure if he went to Jerusalem. Acts xxi. 10. Some have supposed him to have been one of the seventy disciples of Christ. AGAG, meaning, perhaps, to burn, to blaze. It appears to have been a common name of the kings of the Amalekites. One of these was very powerful as early as the time of Moses. Numb. xxiv. 7. In consequence of the cruelties exercised by this king and his army against the Israelites, as they returned from Egypt, a bloody and long-contested battle took place between Joshua and the Amalekites, in which Joshua was victorious. Exod. xvii. 8-13. At the same time God protested that he would destroy Amalek. Verses 14, 16. About four hundred years after, he commanded Saul to destroy them. He entered the country, and destroyed all he could meet with, from Havilah to Shur. Agag and the best of the cattle were spared, but he was afterwards brought to Samuel and hewn in pieces. 1 Sam. xv. 33. The word Agagite is used as the Gentile name for Hammedatha, Haman's father; probably because he sprung from Amalek. Esth. iii. 1. AGAPE. See LOVEFEASTS. AGAR, or HAGAR. Gal. iv. 25. Mount Sinai is so called by the Arabians. The history or condition of Hagar is allegorically employed to denote the dispensation from Mount Sinai. the games: it is applied metaphorically to severe struggle or conflict with pain or suffering. Agony differs from anguish. The former is actual struggle with present evil; the latter, that which arises from reflection on evil that is past. In the New Testament, the word is used to describe the fearful struggle which our Lord sustained in Gethsemane. See Matt.xxvi. 36-46; Mark xiv. 32-42; Luke xxii. 39-46. AGRIPPA. The son of Aristobulus and Mariamne, and grandson of Herod the Great, surnamed Herod. He was born A. M. 3997. He received part of the kingdom of Judæa from Caligula, A.D. 37, and, four years afterwards, the remaining part from Claudius. After having reigned seven years, he was punished by God for his pride, with a dreadful disease, which speedily terminated his life. Acts xii. 23. AGRIPPA II. The son of the above. He obtained from Claudius some authority over the temple and treasury, and the power of appointing or deposing the high-priest, which he retained till the destruction of Jerusalem. Before this prince Paul reasoned, and extorted from him the memorable confession, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Acts xxvi. 28. AGUR. The thirtieth chapter of the Proverbs is said to be composed by "Agur the son of Jakeh." Most of the fathers think that Solomon himself is designated by this name; and that it is not a proper name, but an appellative. The name, if derived from the Syriac, means 66 one who applies himself to wisdom." It is needAGATE. A precious stone, beauti-less to say that we have no informafully variegated, and semi-trans- tion on the subject, and conjecture is parent. Some derive the name from very uncertain. the river Achates, in Sicily, where the stone was formerly found in great abundance. But it must have been known long before in the East. The Hebrew word SHEBO seems to refer its origin to Sheba, whence it is said the Jews imported it. It was one of the stones in the high-priest's pectoral. Exod. xxviii. 19. AGONY. The word generally means contest, and especially the contests in 1. The AHAB, father's brother. son of Omri, and the seventh king of Israel, who reigned twenty-one years, from B.C. 918 to 897. In wickedness he greatly exceeded all the kings of Israel. He married Jezebel, a Židonian woman, and proverbially a notoriously wicked character. She was an idolater, and Ahab followed her into all her idolatrous practices. He became a worshipper of Baal and own children to pass through the fire to the gods of the heathen. After introducing the Syrian idolatry into Jerusalem, and adapting the temple in many respects to the Syrian model, he closed it. He sustained repeated repulses in battle; and at length, having called Pul to his aid, he became tributary to this monarch, and afforded his successor, Tiglathpileser, an opportunity of conquering Syria, Israel beyond the Jordan, and Ashtoreth. The judgment of God was AHASUERUS. The meaning of the name is doubtful. It is perhaps, the lion king, or the hero king. It is rather a royal title than a personal name. There are three Median and Persian kings of this name mentioned in the Old Testament. 1. The father of Darius the Mede. He is the same as Astyages. Dan. ix. 1. 2. The son and successor of Cyrus, and thought to be Cambyses. He came to the throne B.C. 529, and reigned about seven years and a half. 3. The Persian king of the book of Esther, and the husband of Esther. Esth. i. 1. It is generally supposed that this king was Xerxes, who invaded Greece. See the history of ESTHER. AHAVA. A river in Assyria, where Ezra assembled the Jewish exiles when about to return to Jerusalem. Ezra viii. 15. Its precise situation is not known; but the probability is, that it is one of the streams or canals of Mesopotamia, communicating with the Euphrates, in the north-west of Babylonia. His impious career was cut short: at the early age of thirty-six he was taken away in his iniquity, and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah. He was not buried with the kings, but was treated with ignominy. See Isai. vii.; 2 Chron. xxviii. 1, &c. AHAZIAH, whom Jehovah sustains. 1. He was the son of Ahab, and succeeded him in the kingdom. 1 Kings xxii. 40. The eighth king of Israel. He reigned two years, B.C. 897. He was an imitator of the sins of his father, (1 Kings xxii. 52,) and also paid his adorations to the idolgods which his mother, Jezebel, had introduced into Israel. After a fall from an upper gallery in his house, he had the infatuation to send to consult the oracle of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, respecting his recovery. The messengers were met by Elijah, who foretold the king's death. 2 Kings i. 2-4. 2.Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram and Athaliah. At the age of twentytwo he succeeded his father as king of Judah. He reigned one year, B.C. 885. He was related, by his mother's side, to the house of Ahab, and imitated the sins of that family. See 2 Kings viii., ix.; 2 Chron. xxii. AHIJAH, brother or friend of the Lord. A prophet of the Lord, who lived at Shiloh. 1 Kings xi. 29. He is thought to be the person who spake twice to Solomon; once when he was building the temple, 1 Kings vi. 11; and again after he fell into sin, AHAZ, possessor. The son of Jo-1 Kings xi. 11. See the history of tham, and twelfth king of Judah, who reigned sixteen years. He commenced his reign B.C. 742. He abandoned himself to all the abominable practices of idolatry, and made his JEROBOAM: with the most important |