J. Maci'Ukrron.
AMNON (iteK). — 1. Eldest son of David by Ahiiioiim the Jezreelitess. Hedishonoured his halt- sister Taniar, and was, on that account, slain by lier brother Absalom (2 S 3'^ 13"-). In2S IH^heiscalleil Aniinon(pro.-i),suppo.se<lby many (on the analogy of Arabic) to be a diminutive form, iiurpos<^ly usecf by Absalom to express contempt; possibly it is only a clerical error. 2. Son of Shimon (1 Cli 4'-").
J. y. STKNNlNn.
AMOK (p^DV 'deep').— A priestly fnmilv in the time of Zerubbabel and of Joiakim, Nell 12'- ■". See Genealogy.
AMON (I^IK, ]tH ' a. skilled, or master workman, Pr 8 " KV).— 1. One of the kings of Judah, .son and successor of Manas.seh. Two parallel accounts of his reign are given in 2 K 21'"--'' and 2 Ch 33-'"-'-*.
84
AMON
AJMORITES
His name occurs in tlie genealogical list of the house of David, 1 Cli 3'*, and in that of the ancestry of our Lord, Mt 1'". It is also men- tioned in connexion with his son Josiah in Jer 1^ 25', Zeph 11.
A. came to the throne at the age of twenty-two, and his reign lasted two years (641-639 B.C.). It has been suppo.sed that his name may have had some connexion with the Egyp. divinity Anion (see THEI5Eji),and may thus be an illustration of the extent of his father's heathen sympathies. There is, however, no other evidence that in his culti- vation of foreign forms of worship Manasseh was definitely influenced by Egypt, and the name A. may quite well be Hebrew.
All that we know of A. is that during his short reign he repeated all the idolatrous practices of his father's earlier years. He had been unaffected by Manasseh's tardy repentance and futile attempts at reform, and when he came into power he gave full scope to the heathen proclivities with which his youthful training had imbued him. The state of matters under A. may be inferred partly from the fact that ' he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them' (2 K 21-1), partly from the evils that were found rampant at the time of Josiah's reformation (2 K 2.3*-", 2 Ch 343-''), and partly from the description which the prophets Zephaniah and Jeremiah give of the religious condition of Judah in the begin- ning of Josiah's reign (Zeph !«-<> s-^ 3'-^, Jer 2-6). An Asherah stood in the house of the Lord ; incense was burned to Baal ; the sun, moon, and stars were worshipped ; idolatrous priests were maintained ; and the name of Malcam was held as sacred as that of J". Perhaps even human sacri- fice was not discontinued. Idolatry in religion was accompanied by lawless luxury, and by the corruption of morals in every part of society. The rulers were violent, the judges rapacious, the prophets treacherous, and the priests profane.
A. was slain by conspirators, and was buried in the new burial-place in the garden of Uzza, where his father also lay. He was not the victim of a popular revolt, but of a palace intrigue ; for the people slew his murderers, and set his son Josiah on the throne. It is possilile that the plot against A. may have been connected with some attempt at religious reform, like the revolt of Jehu against Jehoram of Israel. If this was so, the attempt was a failure, and the popular reaction in favour of idolatry was strong enough to delay the revival of J"'s worship for nearly twenty years. But the record is so meagre that this must remain mere matter of conjecture.
LiTERATrnE. — For the last point, see Kittel, IIi8l. nf Hch. ii. .ST8 f. There Is a readinj; by one of the hands tn the Ale.x. MS of the LXX which pives twelve years instead <tf two as the length of .\.'9 reijjn. This has been defended as authentic by George, Dulte of Manchester {The Tim^H of Daniel, London, l^.'i), on grounds of prophetical chronologv, in which he is partlv supported by Ebrard (.SX, 1*4". iii. 652 tf.). For the other side, see Thenius. Die Riinher der JCOniffe, in loc, and the note in Kwald (GeKchiehte, B. 8. 8. 715; Eng. tr. iv. 200).
2. A governor of Samaria in the days of Aliab, mentioned in 1 K 22-8 (px) and 2 Ch li^^ (I^-¥). The prophet Micaiah was given into his custody when Aliab set out with Jehoshaphat on his fatal attempt against llamoth-gilead. The LX.\ has some singular variations on this name. In 1 K he appears as :S,(ii.np rhv tiacnK4a t^s Tr6Keus (or ace. to another reading 'Amm""' tuv ipx"^'^'^)- I" ~ ^^l' he is 'EmV (also Se^^V) ap^oi'Ta. Josephus calls him •Axouo^. (See ZATW, 188'), S. 173 ff.) 3. 'The children of Amon ' (r^^y) are mentioned in Neh 7'" among 'the children of Solomon's servants,' in the list of those who returned from the Bab. Exile
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with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. In the parallel list in Ezr (2*") the name appears as Ami ('??). 4. Amon (god). See Thebes.
J.\MES Patrick. ••AMORITES CIS?!? I the Amorite').— The name has been suppo.sed to signify 'mountaineer'; but the two Heb. words ^emer and 'Smic, by which the signification is supported, mean ' summit ' and 'tower,' not 'mountain.' In the Bab. and Assyr. texts, as well as in the Tel el-Amarna tablets, the name is written Amurra, ' the Amorite,' the country being Amurri ; the Egyp. form is Amur, ' Amorite.' Syria and Pal. were known to the Semites of Babylonia as ' the land of the Amorite ' as far back as the time of Sargon of Akkad (B.C. 3800), and the Sumerian name Martu (wliich has been connected with that of the Phceu. city Marathus and moun- tain Brathy) is probably a modification of Amurra. According to an early Bab. geographical list ( WAI ii. 50. 50), Sanir (the Senir of I)t .3») was a .synonym of Subartum or northern Syria. In Sumerian times ' the laiul of the Amorites ' was also known as Tidnim or Tidanu.