2. Anoilur Achzib (B K«Cei'/9, A omits), situated in the Shephelah or 'low-land' of Jndah, is men- tioned along with Keilah and Mareshah in Jg 15**, and with .Mareshah and Adullam in .Mic 1'*. This neighbonrliood suggests a possible identilicalion with 'Ain-Kezbeh near Adullam. Tlie name appears as Kezib {^'\-„ XaafSi) in Gn 38'', and as Koz6ba (•■<?!;, B Zuxvei, A XaQri^i) in 1 Ch 42-. S. ^me literary interest attaches to Mic 1'*, where it is said that ' the houses of Achzib .shall be a lie ( Aclizab) to the kings of Israel.' The resemblance seems to iniiily a play on the word. Occurring in a pa.ssage of vehement reproach, such derision corresponds to the spitting on the ground, which Orientals resort to when greatly excited and provoked — as an expression of uttermost nausea and contempt. 0. M. MalKIK.
ACQUAINT, ACQUAINTANCE.— Acquaint as a
relle.xive vcrli, meaning to make the acquaintance of, is found in Job 22-i, Kc 2^. Cf. Shak 's Temp. II. ii. 159 : '.Mi.sery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.' Acquaintance is both sing. and plur., I's 55" ' But it was thou, a man mine e(|ual, my guide, and mine a.' (KV 'my familiar friend') ; I.k 2.'?"' 'Ami all his a. and the women that followed him from Galilee.' Aciiuainted, meaning 'to be familiar with,' oecnrs I's liiS)', Is :\?fl 'a. witli grief.' J. Uastinc.s.
•• roiir/rialil. 1«9S. (>;/
ACROSTIC. — A poem so composed that the initial letters of certain recurring periods (lines, distichs, etc.) follow some detinite arrangement. In the OT all the recognised acrostics are alphabetical, i.e. the initials make up the Ileb. alphabet. They are I'ss 0-10. 25. ;!4. 37. 111. 112. ll'.t. 115, I'r 31i'J-3i, La 1. 2. 3. 4, Sir ol'^-^'. See also Hab l-;-2'. The periods assigned to each letter may consist of one line (Fss 111. 112), two (I'ss 34. 145, etc.), three (La 3, etc.), or even sixteen lines (Ps 119) ; or the lines may vary in number, as esp. in La 1 and 2, and to some extent in the Psalms. Where the period consists of several lines, the initial letter is soineiimes repeated with each line (La 3) or distich (I's 1 HI). In other res|>ects the acrostics vary very much in style and subject, and, though usually late, undoubtedly belong to very different dates. Thus Pss 37 and 119 from their didactic style are evidently late, while the .Tahwi.stic Ps 25 is comparatively early. The acrostic character of these poems often throws indirectly an inter- esting light on their history, showing us unmistak- ably the haiul of the reviser, who sometimes did not scruple to disturb their alphabetical character. The most striking exanqde ot this is in Ps 9-lU. originally one alphabetical psalm of usually four lines to each letter. This the reviser cut into two, in Ps 9 ad<ling vv.-"--' * as an appendix (comp. Ps 2o-- 34-^), and omitting two or three verses after vfi. In Ps 10 the verses represented by c-x were omitted to make room for the insertion of a very curious and ancient fragment in vv.--'i. Somewhat similar, but le.ss violent, alterations occur in P.ss 25. 34 and 37. Thus in Ps 25 the insertion of 'nS.s by the Elohistic reviser (see IlKXATElTt'll) in v.- gives n instead of 3 as the initial letter. It would seem also that v.'* has been substituted for a p ver.se, or else that the latter has been omitted. The omission of the j verse in Ps 145 appears to be accidental. It is interesting to notice that when the psalms are, from their style and position in the Psalter, likely to be of late date, there is little or no interference with their alphabetical arrangement. The trans- position of the letters ;■ and a in La 2 and 3 cannot easily be accounted for.
Bickell, ZcUsrh. fur Kathnl. Theol. (Innsbruck) 1882, p. 320 If., has shown that the conclusion of .Sir, of which the original Ileb. is now lost, was alpha- betical, the letters c-r, vv.-i---', being evident at once from the Syr. version. It has also been maintained that Nah 1--2'' was originally alphabetical ; but if so, the text has been so altered by revision or corruiition that very few traces of this remain.
Some critics claim to have discovered a name acrostic in Ps 110, the initials of 1-1, after omitting the introductory words, spelling i;-j' ; but this coincidence can hardly be considered conclusive.
F. II. Woods. "ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.—
i. iiilnulilcliiiii. 11. 'I'fxt jtiiii TraiiMiilssiotl. 111. LltiTarv lll»t"l-v. It. Moilirri Crltlcls'in. V. Purpn.sw and Contents, vl. .\nalysis.
vlf. Autliorshit) and Onto. vltl. Tho Acts an<l .losei»hus. U. Tho lIl.Hiorlcal Valnc- of tlio Acts.
(1) A Priori Otjj.-cUons.
(2) TliL' Acts and St. I'anPs Epistles. (8) Tho Arohioi)loirk-al Kvldonco. (4) Tho IVrlod of Transition. (.'>) Tho Karlv Coninuinltv In .Jenisalera. (0) Tho Spoorhcs.
X. Souroo.H of tho Acts, xi. t'onchislon. xll. LItornturo.
i. The AiTS OF THE APOSTLES, the fifth book in the English Canon, is unique in its char.acter.
• Tho vi'i-ses are nuinbored In this article according to tho IT.-l.. Illhlo. Charles Srrihvfr^K Sons
26
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
While we have four separate narratives of the life of our Lord, and a very considerable number of letters by different apostles, it is the only history of the early Church that can make any claim to be authentic. Some writers indeed, such as Holtzmann (llandkommentar, p. 3l)7), suggest that it is to be i)ut on the level of other works written in the second century recording the deeds of the apostles ; but such a position is quite untenable. Even if some of them, such as the Acts of Paul and Thecla, may rest on an historical basis, that is the most which can be admitted. The greater number of them, most notably the Clementine Komaiices, for which there wa.s once claimed almo.st an equality with the Acts, are now decisively thrown to a later date. The Acts is the sole remaining historical work which deals with the beginnings of Church history ; and this amongst other causes has made it a favourite mark of modern criticism.