ASSAPHIOTH (B A<r<Ta<pelu>9, A 'A<Ta(f,<t>i<ie, AV Azaphion), 1 Es 5". — His de.scendants returned with Zerubbabel among the sons of Solomon's servant.s. Called Hassophereth (B 'kae<pfipa.$, A ' kac<pupo.e), Ezr 2» ; Sopliereth, Neh 7" (B A Za<pi.pae, M -Bt). H. ST. J. THACKERAY.
ASSASSIN.— Used in RV of Ac SI" as a transla- tion of tlie Greek o-ndpios (AV 'murderer'). St. Paul is said to have been mistaken by Lysias, the chief captain, for the Egyptian who liad ' led into the wilderness the 4000 men of the Assassins.'
According to Jos. there arom in Judiea during
the procuratorship of Felix a body of men called aixapioi. They were robbers, who carried under their garments a short sword, about the size of a Persian scimitar (dxii'ditTjs), curved like a Roman sica, whence their name, which was of Latin origin. They used to commit their murders openly, and by day, mingling in the crowd at feasts. Their first conspicuous exploit was the murder — accord- ing to Josephus at the instigation of Felix— of Jonathan, son of Annas, who had been high priest (prob. in 55 or 56 A.D.). After this, men lived in constant dread of them. They were conspicuous under Felix, who sent troops against them, and at a later date they took a leading part in the Jewish War, and in the disturbances which led to it, being always amongst the most violent of the combatants. They held Masada, and from thence pillaged the country. Eventually some of them dispersed to Egypt and Cyrene, where, under the combined influence of want and fanaticism, they introduced a reign of terror.
Josephus never definitely connects them with the Egyptian (wh. see), as does St. Luke.
Apart from the illustration aUbrded to the narrative of the Acts, the robbers and impostors who were so numerous at this time, illustrate the fanaticism, both religious and political, which culminated in the fall of Jerusalem.
LrrBRATUR*. — Jos. Ant. u. viu. 6, 10, Ix. S; £/ n. xlll. 8, itvii. 6, IT. vii. 2, ix. 6, vn. viiL 1, i, 4, 6, x. 1,1; Schiiror,
BJP L u. i7Sfl. A. C. Hkadlam.
ASSAULT.— See Ciumes and Punishments.
ASSAY is not found as snbst. As verb it has two general meanings : 1. Test, prove, of which the only example is in the Preface, 1611, ' To a. whether my talent . . . may be profitable in any measure to God's Church.' 2. Set on&self to do (more than merely attempt) ; so all the occurrences in 4V : Dt 4" ' Hath God a"" to go and take him a nation ? ' Job 4' ' If we a. to commune with thee ' (both np j) ; 1 S 17" ' David girded his sword upon his armour (RV apparel), and he a*^ to go' (Vn;) ; Ac 9-'' 'he a'^ to join himself to the disciples,' 16' ' they a"" to go into Bithynia,' 2 Mac 2» (all Ttipdfui) ; He 11" ' which the E^j'ptians a*^ to do ' [iriXpnv Xa^ovres). RV retains all these, and adds Ac 24" ' who, more- over, a"'' to profane the temple' (Tret/idfu, AV ' who also hath gone about to') ; 26''' 'the Jews ... a''' to kUl me {reipio/juu, AV ' went about to kill me ').
J. Hastings.
ASSEMBLE, now almost entirely intrans., is trans., intrans., and reflex, in AV, as Mic 4* ' In that day, saith the Lord, will I a. her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven away ' ; Dn 6" ' Then these men a"* (RV ' a"" toi;ether '), and found Daniel ' ; Nu 10" ' all the assembly shall a. them- selves to thee' (RV 'gather tnemselves unto thee'). 'A. together' occurs as tr. of the same verbs without cliange of meaning ; and even ' a. together with,' Ac 1* 'and [Jesus] being a"* to- gether with them ' ((rwaXifd^if vos, with aiW-oZi under- stood ; AVm and RVm ' eating with them ' after Vulg. convescem. The reference would then be to Lk 24", Jn 21", where Jesus is spoken of as ' eating with ' the disciples. But this meaning of ffucaXifw, as if derived from i\s, ' salt,' instead of dXTjt, ' ciowded,' is scarcely made out). In He 10" ' not forsaking the a*"* of yourselves together,' the Gr. is a noun (^iri<ru>'07aryT)). ' A. into ' is found Jer 21« ' I will a. (RV ' gather ') them into the midst of the city.' J. Hasting.s.
ASSEMBLY.— A. is employed in AV as the rendering of several Heb. words, tlie two most important of which are niy and Snp. The Re'isers, howpver, have endeavoured (as they have Miem-
ASSENT
ASSURANCE
175
Reives explained in their Preface) ' to preserve a consistent distinction ' between the words ' assembly ' and 'congregation,' 'without aiining at absolute uniformity.' This they have done by rendering Vnj and its cognate verb by ' assembly ' and 'assemble,' retaining 'congregation ' for ii;'. This last is the older word of the two, denoting a gathering or assembly of any kind, whether for drliberative (as Gn 49") or other purposes. Gradu- ally, however — mainly through the inlluence of l)t — ^^Q assumed a more technical signilication as denoting the Israelitish community, in whole or in part. "Thus .iit '?np, Dt 23-"-, denotes the theo- cratic community. 'The assembly' par excellence is fiequent in P in the sense just given, although not so characteristic of this document as the sjTionymous term .Tiy, which occurs over a hundrc'.l tunes in the technical sense of the theocratic community or congregation of the E.\odus. It is doubtful if nny occurs in any genuine pre-exilic text in this sense. See Conguegation.