K. H. ClIAHI.E.S.
ABADIAS CApaSlat), 1 Es 8"».— Son of .lezelus, of the sons of Joah, returned with Ezra from captivity Called Obadiah. son of Jehiel, Ezr 8".
H. St. J. Thackerat.
ABAUTHA
ABDA
ABAGTHA (kd^Jk, Est l'"), one of the seven cluiinburlaina or eunuchs sent by Ahasuerua (Xerxes) to fetch the queen, Vashti, to his banquet. The name, whica is apparently Persian, is probably akin to the names Bigtha (1'°) and Bigthan (2^). For the derivation, bagddna = ' God's gift,' has been suggested, but cannot be regarded as certain. In the LXX the names of the chamber- lains are quite different from the Hebrew.
H. A. White.
ABANAH (njjg, Ker6 .ijck, AV Abana ; AVm Aniana, UVm Ama'nah ; 2 K 5"). This ; river of Damascus.'the Chrysorrhoas of theGreeks,is identi- fied with the Barada, to whose waters Damascus owes her life. Kising in the uplands near Baalbec, it drains tlie hollow in the bosom of Anti-Lebanon. 'Ain el Barada, in the plain of ZebedAny, swells the stream, wliich then plunges down the deep picturesque gorge of Wady Barada. About 14 miles N. W. of Damascus, in a beautiful romantic spot in the heart of the hills, rises the mighty fountain el Fijeh (Or. inrff), a spring) ; a river bom in a moment, which, after a orief, foaming course, joins the Barada, more than doubling its volume. It then flows along the bottom of a deep winding valley, shaded by beautiful and fruitful trees ; bare, yellow rocks towering high on either hand above the green. About half the water is led captive along the eastern bank towards the city, the Beyrout road passing between the streams. Just where the precipitous clill's advance as if to close the gorge, it escapes from the mountains, and, throwing itself out fanlike in many branches, waters the i)lain, supplies tlie city, and drains off into the northern two of the marshy lakes eastward. One branch is called Nahr Banuis, a reminiscence of tlie ancient name. W. Ewing.
ABARIM (Di?yn). — A plural form of the word signifying ' part beyond ' ; and with respect to the Jordan, on tlie E. side of it. It is used as a proper name preceded by it ' mount ' (Nu 27'-, Dt .S'i''), and by 'in ' mountains ' (Nu 33"). It is also found with "V [see Iye-abarim] (Nu 21" 33"). In all these places tlie def. art. is used with Abarim, but in Jer 22-" (RV Abarim, AV ' the passages ') the def. art. is not used. For the geogr. position see Nebo. The LXX translate A. by t4 T(pav, except in Nu 33«', Dt 32^ where they have rd (rb) 'A0ope/>(^). For Ezk 39", and a very doubtful use of this word, see Smend, in luc. A. T. CHAPMAN.
ABASE, ABASEMENT. — Abase is three times used in AV, and retained in RV to translate ^tv shAphH, otherwise rendered ' bring low ' or 'make low,' 'bring down' or 'bow down,' ' humble ' ; and once to tr. riy^. Is 31* ' he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself ( = be cast down) for the noise of them.' In NT it is five times used to render Taireivbu, changed in RV into ' humble,' except in Ph 4'' ' I know how to be abased,' and 2 Co 11' 'Commit a sin in abasing myself.' Abasement, meaning humiliation, occurs in Sir 20" ' There is as a. because of glory ; and there is that lifteth up his head from a low estate.' Cf. Sir 25" RV ' A wicked woman is a. of heart ' (AV ' abateth the courage '). Notice that ' abase- ment ' and ' basement ' (a mod. word) are distinct, both in derivation and meaning.
J. Hastings.
ABATE.— This verb occurs only six times in AV (all in OT), and yet it translates five different Heb. words. The meaning of the Eng. word is, however, the same throughout, to lessen. ' His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated [Driver : ' neither had his freshness fled '] (Dt 34'). ' It shall be abated (RV an abatement
shall be made) from thy estimation ' (Lv 27") (See Estimation.) 'The waters were abated (RV 'decreased') (Gn 8^). RV tr. still anothei Heb. word ' abated ' in Nu 11' (AV 'was quenched'). The word is also found with the same sense in Wis 16*', Sir 25-^, 1 Mac 5^ W"^. Cf. Shakespeare—
' Abate thy mge, abate thy manly ra^e.'
— Henry V. IIL iL 24.
And Walton, ' Lord, abate my great afHiction, at increase my patience,' Lives, iv. 288.
J. Hastings.
ABBA. — The transliteration (ip^a.) of the Aram, word for 'father' ; see, for example, the Targ. of Onk. (perhaps of the 1st cent.) at Gn 19** (cr. G. Dalman, Gram. d. jiid.-paldst. Aramdisch, § 40, c. 3). It occurs three times in the NT, and always in direct address, viz. in our Lord's prayer in Gethsemane as given by St. Mark (14*"), and in the ' cry ' of the Spirit as referred to by St. Paul (Ro 8", Gal 4«).
The phenomena connected with the form and use of the word have occasioned divers opinions, the merits of which our present knowledge does not always enable us to pronounce upon with