AS.N'AH
ASS
173
in the Bab. Talmud (Pesachim llOfi), and in the Tarf,'. of Ec 1". In To 6» (B. Syr. Itala) we are told that he ' loved ' Sarah, the daughter of Raj^uel, and that he slew seven men to whom she was married as soon as they entered the nuptial chamber (3"). When Tobias N-isited Raguel, he also at once loved Sarah, and yet naturally was afraid to marry her ; but his companion, Raphael in disguise, taught him how to exorcise the demon by a funiitra- tion of tlie heart and liver of a fish. The demon tiud to Upper Egypt, where he was pursued by Kaphael and bound ( To 8'), after which the pious couple lived in peace. The Shedhim are the Soi/xina of the Gospel narrative. They were conceived by the Jews as distinct from the fallen angels of the Book of Enoch, in being mortal, of both sexes, and, according to some, the offspring of those angels and human mothers (Chngigah 16a ; Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, ii. 759-763). As Sammael was head of all the Satans, so Asmoda^us was king of the demons, and the long-haired Lilith was their queen (Ervbin lOili). In Talmudic legends, Asmodneus was implicated in Noah's drunkenness ; and after revealing to Solomon the whereabouts of the worm Samir, which noiselessly shaped the stones of the temple, he dethroned that monarch for a while, assumed his appearance, and was the real author of the offences which history ascribes to Solomon.
LrrKRATURK.— OWrer, CrchrUitenthum, L 87&-424; Kohut, Jiiditche AngeiotoffU und Ddrnorwloyit, p. 72 ; Eifienmeuger, Bntdeckta JudtnOium, 1893 edition, ch. xvi.
J. T. Marshall. ASNAH (.■ij9K = Aram. K;f!< 'thorn bush,' 'Aaevi). —The head of a family of Nethinim which returned with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2", 1 Es 5"").
ASOM {'AaSfi), 1 Es 9". — His sons were among those who put away their 'strange' wives. Callea Hashum (oij-ij), Ezr lO**.
ASP.— See Serpent.
ASPALATHD8 (d<nr<iXo9oi, baUamum, Sir 24"). — The name of an aromatic associated with cinnamon in the passage cited, but impossible to identify. Pliny (Nat. Hist. xii. 52, and xxiv. 68, 69) speaks of a thorny plant known by this name, and which in the first passage he identifies with the Erysisceptrum, and in the second seems to distinguish from it. The same plant is alluded to by other ancient authors, but with such indefinite- ness that we are unable to identify it with any known plant. It is probable that there were two or more plants, and more than one vegetable product, known by this name. G. E. Post.
ASPATHA (KCi??(i, Est 9').— The third son of Haman, imt to death by the Jews. The name is perhaps from the Persian asjmddta, ' given by the (sacred) horse' (so Ges. J'hesaurus, add.).
H. A. White.
ASPHALT.— See Bitumen.
ASPHAR Pool (XdKitoi 'A<r(pdp), 1 Mao 9".— A pool in the desert of Tekoa, or Jeshimon, where Jonathan and Simon the Maccabees encamped. The site is doubtful. C. R. Conder.
A8PHARASUS {'A<r<t>ipa<rot), I Es 5".— One of the leaders of the return under Zerubbabel. Called Mispar (ippo), Ezr 2', and Mispereth (n-jjpij), Nell 7'.
A8RIEL (Sxn^t., in AV of 1 Ch 7" Ashriel).- A Mana-ssite (Jos 17', Nu 26" j in the latter the patron. Aerlelite occurs). Ace. to the LX.\ of 1 Ch 7" A.'s mother was an Aramitess, a concubine of Manasseh. J. A. Selbie.
ASS. — 1. ("fiDn, ibn hdmOr; Ji-ot, ivo^irfiov, nsinus). IfamQr is the generic name for the ass, and tin specific designation of the he-ass (Arab. himAr).
Few animals are mentioned more frequently in the Scriptures than the asa. It was used for a variety of purposes.
(1) For riding. For this purpose it was used by both rich and poor. Moses took his wife and two sons on an ass to Egypt, passing through the Sinaitic desert (Ex 4*) ; Balaam rode a she-ass (Nu 22-''^) ; the unnamed prophet rode an ass (1 K l3is.M.M.a7-29). 80 jid Achsah (Jos 15'", Jg 1"), the thirty sons of Jair (Jg 10*), the sons of Abdon (Jg 12"), Abigail (1 § 25»'-»), Ahitho- phel (2 S 17"), and Mephibosheth (2 S IQ^'). When it is said that Christ is ' lowly,' because He should ride on an ass (Zee 9' ; corap. Mt 21'), the reference is not to any degradation in the riding of an ass, but to the peaceful nature of His advent. The horse was used in war, and a king coming on a horse would be surrounded by military circumstance and pomp. Asses are yet ridden by persons of rank in State and Church. There are many fine breeds of them, and every large city of the interior boasts its special strain. Many of these are sold at very high prices. They have a rapid walk, and an easy shuflling pace or short canter. They are exceedingly sure-footed. Some of them are breast high, and weigh as much as a small horse. White asses (Jg 5'") fetch specially high prices, and are very handsome beasts, while their caparisons are often quite magnificent. These consist of a thick stuffed saddle, often covered with crimson, or dark ^een, or other rich coloured cloth, bound with braids of brighter colours, and with silver ornaments and dangling tassels of woollen twist. The headstall and bridle are like- wise decorated with shells, silver studs, and plates, and not infrequently composed in part of silver chains. A collar of silver links, with a breastplate of the same metal, completes the adornment.