title found often in Phcen. and (with J'Dp for otjp) Aram, inscriptions, and the Sem. equivalent of the Gr. Zei/s : according to 2 Mac 6^ Antiochus desired to make the temple a sanctuary of Zei)t 'OXi/^TTiot, — as his coins show (Nestle, Marginalien, p. 42, who cites Babelon, Les Bois de Syrie, pp. xiv, xlviii), his patron deitj',— who in the Syr. vers, of the same passage is actually called roe ^yD Baal of heaven. Upon this view, we are released from the necessity of searching for a meaning of oct? in exact accordance with the context ; the ^w/iii (with, possibly, an image connected with it) erected by the Syrians upon the Altar of burnt-offering was termed derisively by the Jews the ' desolate abomination,' the ' abomination ' being the altar (and image?) of Zeus (Baal), and 'desolate' (shomem) being just a punning variation of ' heaven ' (shdmaim,). The Gv. trs. of Dn and 1 Mac, in so far as they supposed the expression to mean ^iiXiryiui iprj/idiaewt, no doubt understood the idolatrous emblem to involve, by its erection, the desertion of the temple by its usual worshippers, and ultimately its actual ' desolation ' (see 1 Mac 4^). 11" and 8" (the subst. with the art., the ptcp. without it), and still more (if, as is probable, the reference be to the same idolatrous emblem) 9" (the subst. plur., the ptcp. sing. ), are grammatic- ally diflicult ; but the text in these passages is perhaps not in its original form (cf. Bevan).
As to the meaning of the expression in the projjhecy of Christ, it is very difficult to speak with confidence. It would be most naturally under- stood (cf. Spitta, Offenh. des Joh. 493-496) of some desecrating emblem, similar in general character to the altar or image erected by Antiochus, and of which that might be regarded as the prototype : but nothing exactly corresponding to this is recorded by history ; the order wiiich Caligula issued for the erection in the temple of a statue of himself, to which divine honours were to be paid, being not enforced (Jos. .<4n<. XVIII. viii. 8). The three most usual explanations are — (1) the Rom. standards, to which sacrifices were ollered by the Rom. soldiers in the temple, after it had been entered by Titus (Jos. BJvi. vi. 1) ; (2) the desecra- tion of the temple by the Zealots, who seized it and made it their stronghold, shortly before the city was invested by Titus [ib. IV. iii. 6-8, cf. vi. 3 end) ; (3) the desolation of the temple-site by the heathen, at the time of its capture by Titus (so Meyer). The term standing (which points to some concrete object) is a serious objection to the second and third of these explanations ; it is some objection, though not perhaps a fatal one, to the first, that it places the signal for flight at the very last stage of the enemy's successes, when even the dwellers in Judiea (in view of whom the words are spoken) would seem no longer to need the warning. ■The erection of the imperial statue in the Temple was, however, only averted in the first instance by the earnest representations of the procurator Petronius and of King Agrippa I., and afterwards by Caligula's own untimely death (Schiirer, HJP I. ii. 99 f.): the emperors order caused great alarm among the Jews, who even after his oeath (A.D. 41) continued to fear lest one of his successors should revive and enforce it (Pfleiderer, Vets Urchrist. pp. 403-407; Mommsen, Provinces, ii. 196 ff., 203 11'. ) ; hence (as even the first explanation mentioned above leaves something to be desired) it may not be an 'inreasonable conjecture * that the language of the original prophecy w-as more general, and that, during the years of agitation and tension which preceded the final struggle of A.D. 70, it was modified so as to give more definit« expression to such apprehensions ; the masc.
* The writer ia Indebted for this sujr^estion to hia friend, Prof SaDda>.
ABOUT
ABRAHAIW
13
»(TTnK(iTo, which in Mk 13" is the best readiiipr (x BL ; so RV, ' standing wliere Aeought not '), would also lend itself more readily to this explanation than to any of those previously mentioned.* The supposition (Weiss) that the army of the heathen Itomans is referred to, involves an unnatural application, both of the expression • abomination of desolation,' and of the verb 'standing.' In the parallel passage of Lk (21-") the phraseologj' of the earlier synoptisls seems to have been not only (as in so many other cases) re-cast, but also coloured by the event ('when ye see Jerus. encircled by firmies, then know that her desolation hath drawn nigh') ; a paraphnuse such as this, however, cannot fairly be deemed an autlwu-itativf interpretation of the expression used in Mt and Jlk.t
S. R. Driver. ABOUT. — As an adv. about is used in AV in the following obsolete expressions : — 1. To lead about or go about = roam about, circuitously. The verb is mostly ^??, which simply means to • turn ' : Kx 13" ' God led the people about, through the way of the wilderne,ss' ; Jos 16'' 'The border went about ( K V ' turned about ' ) eastward' ; 1 S 15'- ' lie set him up a place, and is gone about and passed on'; Ec 2-' 'I went about (RV ' turned about,' t.e. considered my past life) to cause my heart to despair.' 2. To go about = here and there, up and down : Jer. 31-- ' How long wilt thou go about (RV 'hither and thither'), O thou backsliding daughter ? ' 3. To go about = to seek, attempt: .jn "i^ ' Why go ye about to kill .Me ?' RV gives 'seek' in .Jn 7'»- ^o, Ac 213', Rq 10^ 'assay' in Ac 24' 26-', and keeps 'go about' in Ac 9^. 4. To c;ist about = to turn round: Jer 41'*, ■ So all the people . . . cast about and returned.' 5. Thereabout = about that : Lk 24* ' They were much perplexed thereabout.' J. HASTINGS.