AHITOB (B "AxfiTii/S, A 'Axir-, AV Achitob), 1 Es 8'. — An ancestor of Ezra, son of Amarios and father of Sadduk [Ahitub].
U. St. J. Thackeray.
58
AHITUB
AIR
AHITUB (aiB-nK 'brother is goodness'). — 1. Son of Phinehas and" gianilson of Eli, the father of Ahimelech or Ahijah the priest who was put to death by Saul (1 S U^ 22»- »). 2 Aec to 2 S 8 ' =
1 Ch is'") the father, ace. to 1 Ch 9" Neh 11" the erandfather, of Zadok the priest who was con- temporary with Da^-id and Solomon. It is very doubtful, however, whether this A. does not owe his existence to a copyist's error. The text of
2 S 8" should probably run -^D-ntqa Tn>3Ki pnin 3iD-nK-iD • ' And Zadok and Abiathar the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub' (so Wellhausen, Budde, Kittel, Driver). 3. Still more exposed to su.'spicion is the existence of another A., father of another Zadok (1 Ch 6"-", 1 Es 8;, 2 Es 1'). 4. An ancestor of Judith, Jth 8', AV Acitho.
J. A. Selbie.
AHLAB (aSnN), Jg 1«'.-A city of Asher. The site is supposed to be that of the later Gush Halab or Gischala (Jos. Life, 10; Wars, XI. xxi 1), now El-Jlsh in Upper Galilee ; but this is, of course, uncertain. See Neubauer, Giog. Tal. a V Gushhalab ; and Reland, Pal. Illustr. p. 817.
C. R. CONDER.
AHLAI (•'?nN '0 thatl' cf. Ps 119»).-1. The daughter (?) of Sheshan (1 Ch 2«, cf. v.") 2. The father of Zabad. one of David's mighty men (1 Ch 11").
AHOAH (rl^^l{).— Son of Bela, a Beniamite (1 Ch 8< = n:ni< of V.'). See AhiJAH (6). The patronymic Ahohite occurs in 2 S 23".
AHDMAI ('c<nt<).— A descendant of Judah (1 Ch 4').
AHUZZAM (Dins 'possessor,* AV Ahnzam).— A man of Judah (l6h4«).
AHUZZATH (ninx • possession ').— ' The friend ' of Abimelech, the Piulistine of Gerar, mentioned on the occasion when the latter made a league with Isaac at Beersheba (Gn 26=«). The position o ' king's friend ' may possibly have been an oftcial one, and the title a technical one (cf. 1 K 4, 1 Ch 27»'). The rendering of the LAX gives a different conception, that o? ' pronubus ' or friend of the bridegroom ('Oxofa« Is yv^cpa-y^hi avrov). t or the fern, termination -ath, cf. the Phil, name ' Goliath ' (see Driver's note on 1 S 17*) and the Arabian name 'Genubath' (1 K 11"^
H. E. liYLK. AHZAI [-m for .Tiri. 'J" hath grasped,' AV Ahasai).— A priest, Neh ll»=Jahzerah, 1 Ch 9".
AI (-yn) Jos 7»-» 8'-^ 10'-' 12», Ezr 2=*, Neh 7» (Jer 49^ a clerical error for AR), called Hai in Gn 12« 13» AV ; and Aija (xy 'Ayyd) in Neh IP'. In Is (10'«) Aiath (n;y).— The name means 'heap, and it is not enumerated as an inhabited place after the conquest until about B.C. 700, but seems to have been inhabited after the Captivity. Ihe situation is defined as east of Bethel, beside Beth Aven, with valleys to the north and west (Jos 8"- "). The site which agrees with these con- ditions is found at Hahjdn, immediately south of a conspicuous stone mound called Lt- J ell, the mound.' There is a deep ravine to the north, an open valley to the west, and a flat plain to S. and E. This site is 2i miles S.E. of Bethel, and on tlie road thence to the Jordan Valley. It is evidently the site of an ancient town, with rock- cut tombs. See SWP vol. ii. sh. xiv. Some MSb read Aija for Gaza (i.e. n:i' for njv) in 1 Ch 7 , which appears to be the correct rendering.
'*^ C. R. CoNDER.
AIAH (.TN).— 1. Son of Zibeon (Gn 36« (AV Afah) I Cli 1*"). 2. Father of Rizpah, Saul's con- cubuie(2S3'21«->''-").
AIATH, Is 10«; AIJA, Neh 11 ' —See Ai.
AIJALON (IS'^IK), AV Ajalon, Jos 10" 19J> 2 Ch 28'» ; Aijalon, Jos 21-, Jg 1» 12'», IS 14»', 1 Ch 6'® 8", 2 Ch 11" (in Jg 12" a place ol the name is noticed in Zebulun, otherwise un- known).—This town in Dan was in the Shcphelah, beneath the ascent of Bethhoron. It is the iiiodem village of Ydlo. The name appears to mean ' place of the deer.' The town is cleariy noticed in a letter from the king of Jerusalem, in the 1 el el- Amarna correspondence, as Aialuna. It was known to the Jews in the 4th cent. A.D. (OnomaMicon, s.v. Aialon) as less than 2 Roman miles from Emmaus-Nicopolis, on the road to Jerusalem. This agrees with the situation of Yalo and 'Amwas. See SWP vol. iii. sheet xvii.
C. R. CoNDEE. AIJELETH HASH-SHAHAB, Ps 22 (title).-See Psalms.
AIM —To ' aim at,' in the sense of ' conjecture,' ' make guesses at,' occurs Wis 13» * For if they were able to know so much that they could aun at (ffToxifo/xoi, RV 'explore') the world.' Cf. a. Smith (1593), 'No marvel if he did aim that his death was near at hand.' J. HASTINGS.
AIN (y, usually spelled "Ayin, and represented in transliteration by ') is the sixteenth letter of the Heb. Alphabet (wh. see), and so is used to introduce the sixteenth part of Ps 119. See Psalms.