ABILENE. — Mentioned in Lk 3' as the district of which Lysanias was tetrarch in the 15th year of Tiberius. It was called after its capital Abila, situated on the Barada, about 18 miles from Dam- ascus, and represented by the modem village of Suk. The identity of Siik Avith Abila is confirmed by' a Roman rock-inscription to the west of the town. According to popular tradition, the name AbUa is derived from Abel, who was buried by Cain in a tomb which is still pointed out in the neighliourhood. Little is known of the history of Abilene at the time referred to by St. Luke ; but when Tiberius died in A.D. 37, some ten years later, the tctrarchy of Lysanias was bestowed by Cali-ula on Herod Agrippa I. (Jos. Ant. XTOI. vi. 10), ami this grant was confirmed in A.l). 41 by ("laudius (XIX. V. 1 ; BJ 11. xi. 5). On the death of Agripjia I. (A.D. 44) his dominions passed into the charge of Roman procurators (Ant. XIX. ix. 2; BJ II. xi. 6), but in A.D. 53 .some parts of them, including Abilene, were granted by Claudius to Agrippa II. (Ant. XX. vii. 1 ; BJ II. xii. 8), and remained in his possession till his death in A.D. 100. See LV.SANIAS.
LiTERATTKE.— Schiircr. BJP i. ii. 3350.; Rohinson, Later Blip 479 II. ; Porter, Giant Cities of Bashan, 352 f. ; Conder, Tent Work in Pal. 127 ; SWP, Special Papers.
James Patrick. ABIUD ('A(3ioi}S).— A son of Zerubbabel, Mt 1". The name apjiears in the OT in the form Abihud (T.Tr.^j ' Father is glory'), 1 Ch S".
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION (to jiSe-Xvy^a. TTJs £>wi«us).— This phrase is found in the NT only in Mt 24'= and Mk 13'^ in Ijoth cases forming part of the passage in which Christ predicts the woes to come on the Jews, culminating in the de- struction of .lerusalem. St. Jlarks words, A\hich .are prob<abIy moreex.act th.an those of St. M.atthew, are : orav Si (Stitc t6 fid4Xvyfm t^s fpij/uiiirtus effXTjKira Swov ov Set (6 di'oyir'cio-KiD;' voelrw). Tore oi (v tJ 'louSaff (pivyiruaav eii ra 6pri, k.t.X. Tliree points in this
AHOMIKATION OF DESOLATION
ABOVE AND BELOW
irs three times ■p-nixuxnav), IPI
account are to bo noticed : ( 1 ) the change of gender * tA §Si\vyti.a~!:aT-nKbTa (cf. 2 Th 2«-', Kev 21'-') ; (2) the 'editorial note' o avayiviinTKuiv voelroi, calling special attention to the prophecy (cf. Dn 9-", Rev 2' 13'") ; (3) the command to flee to the mountains, which seems to have been oljeyed by the Christians who escaped to I'ella (Euseb. HE iii. 5 ; Epiphan. Hmres. xxix. 7). St. Matthew characteristically adds the words (absent from thebest MSS [NliL] of St. Mark) t6 pitOif 5io AaviijX tov irpo<priTov ; substi- tutes the neuter fo-rcis for the masc. earTjKira ; and instead of the quite general phrase Sirov oi Set has the more definite «> ri-n-q! ayiiti,—an expre.ssion which may refer to the Temple (cf. Ac 6"^ 2128), i,„t, (with- out the article) may mean nothing more than 'on holy ground.' To the Jews all Jerusalem (and, Indeed, all Palestine) was holy (2 Mac 1' 3'). St. Luke, writing most probably after the dastrnction of Jerusalem, omits the ' editorial note ' ; and for OTOi/ i'OTjre TO pSe'Xvyixa ttjs cpi]|jiucrcu; substitutes oTaf Id-qre KVK\ov|jievT|V viro o-TpaToireSuv 'lepov- o-aXirJij. (21-°).
The phrase we arc considerin in the LXX of Daniel : t 9" {pd. (/35. (p^niiaeus) and 12" (of. »"), and is cjuoted
1 Mac, 1 '■•. The original rpfcrcnce is clearly to the ilesecration of (he Temple liy the soldiers of Antio- chns Epiplianes, the ceasing of the daily burnt- oliering, and the erection fif an idol-altar upon the great Altar of Sacrifice in B.C. 168 (1 Mac l^^" ; Jos. Ant. XII. V. 4, BJ I. i. 1). Thus it is plain that Christ, in quoting the words of Daniel, intends to foretell a desecration of the Temple (or perhaps of the Holy City) resembling that of Antiochus, and resulting in the destriiction of the national life and religion. Jo.sephus {Ant. x. xi. 7) draws a similar parallel between the Jewish mis- fortunes under Antiochus and the desolation caused by the Romans (6 AaWijXos Kal irepl Trjs 'Puifiatuv ■qye/xanlas aviypa\j/(, Kal Sti Ott' aiiTuv dpTuxuie-qaeTai). But the precise reference is not so clear.
(1) Bleek, Alford, Mansel, and others explain it 9f the desecration of the Temple by the Zealot,s just before the investment of Jerusalem by Titus (Jos. BJ IV. iii. 6-8, vi. 3). Having seized the Temple, they made it a stronghold, and 'entered the sanctuary with |iolluted feet' {iJ-ep.ia<Tpi.&ois to?! iroal Taprituav €is rd dyiof). In <i]i]iosil ion l<i .Vnanus, they set up as high priest one rii.niiii.is, 'a man
not only unworthy of tin.' Iji.h inir^ih |, li„t
ignorantiof what the high priolhoo.l \>;is' (dvijp ov /i.6vov drai'ios apxifptivi dAX' ovo' cVio-ra/ifcos <raipQs rl ttot' )> dppcpuiavpij). The Temple precincts were deliled with blood, and Ananus was murdered. His murder, says .Josephus, was the beginning of the capture of _ the city {ouk &!> d^dproi^i 3' ciVibK dXwfffw; dp^ai ry 7r6Aei rdf 'Avdfov 6dvaTov). In sun- port of this view it is ursjed (r/) that the 'little Apocalyiiso' CJ Tb 2''-, .-i passag.- .■losely rosem- blm.i; llll^)^l..;,|lv,.,ll,l,.,,||,l,■,t,.s„./,•,^,,v/, ^ilioslasr- (i)!!..! llH.u,,,,],, ■■Au/\>:,mr\,Y---,ioAr-„ai,: pro|H.Tl.yu-,.,l„„l nli,lMl,,liyi„lh.al,Mnu-l,butof uluhiUy o. lals,, \vor,ship ,n/o/,/n/ 4y .Jar.s {I K 11'',