B
only, of all that house, should come to his grave in peace, and be mourned in Israel (see S. C. Wilkes, Family Sermons, 12; C. Simeon, Works, iii, 385; T. Gataker, Sermons, pt. ii, 291). Accordingly, when the mother returned home, the youth died as she crossed the threshold of the door. ' ' And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him" (1 Kings xiv, 1-18), B.C. cir. 782. — Kitto, s. v. feee Jeroboam.
7. The daughter of Zechariah, and mother of King Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix, 1), and, consequently, the wife of Ahaz, whom she survived, and whom, if we may judge from the piety of her son, she excelled in moral character. She is elsewhere called by the shorter form of the name, Am (2 Kings xviii, 2). B.C. 726. Her father, may have been the same with the Zechariah, the son of Jebercchiah, whom Isaiah took as a witness of his marriage with " the prophet- ess" (Isa. viii, 2 ; comp. 2 Chron. xxvi, 5).
8. One of those (apparently priests) who affixed their signatures to the covenant made by Nehemiah (Neh. x, 7), B.C. 410. He is probably the same (not- withstanding the great age this implies ) who returned from Baln-lon with Zerubbabel (Neh. xii, 4), B.C. 536, and who had a son named Zichri (Neh. xii, 17).
Abi'jam (Heb. Abiyam' ', ti^Ztk, father of the sea, i. q. seaman; Sept. 'A[3ta v. r. 'Afiwv, Vulg. Abiani), the name always given in the book of Kings (1 Kings xiv, 31 ; xv, 1, 7, 8) to the king of Judah (1 Kings xiv, 1, refers to another person), elsewhere (1 Chron. iii, 10; 2 Chron. xiii, 1-22) called Abijah (q. v.). Lightfoot (Harm. O. T. in loc.) thinks that the writer in Chronicles, not describing his reign as wicked, ad- mits the sacred Jah into his name ; but which the book of Kings, charging him with following the evil ways of his father, changes into Jam. This may be fanci- ful; but such changes of name were not unusual (comp. Bethavex ; Sychar). — Kitto, s. v.
Abila (ra "AjStXa and r) 'Aj&Xif, Polyb. v, 71, 2; Ptol. v, 18), the name of at least two places.
1. The capital of the "Abilene" of Lysanias (Luke iii, 1), and distinguished (bvv Josephus, Ant. xix, 5, 1) from other places of the same name as the "Abila oi' Lysanias" ("AjSiXa r) Avoavlov). The word is evi- dently of Hebrew origin, signifying a grassy plain. See Abel-. This place, however, is not to be con- founded with any of the Biblical localities of the O. T. having this preiix, since it was situated beyond the bounds of Palestine in Coele-Syria (Antonin. Kin. p. 197, ed. Wessel), being the same with the "Abila of Lebanon" (Abila ad Libanum\ between Damascus and Baalbek or Heliopolis (Roland, Palcest. p. 317, 458). Josephus (see Hudson's ed. p. 864, note) and others also write the name Abella ('AfitWa), Abela (A/3s\o), and even Anbilla C AvfiikXa), assigning it to Phoenicia (Reland, ib. p. 527-529V A medal is extant, bearing a bunch of grapes, with the inscription, "Abila Leucas,"
nfAliila-Leuca
which Believe (in the Transactions of the A cad. of Belles Lettres) refers to this city; but it has been shown to have a later date (Eckhel, iii, 337, 345); for there is another medal of the same place, which bears a half figure of the river-god, with the inscription " Chrysoroas Claudiaion," a title which, although iix-
M
Coin of Abila-Claudiopolie.
ABILENE
IS
ABIMAEL
ing the site to the river Chrysorrhoas, yet refers to the imperial name of Claudius. Perhaps Leucas and Claudiopolis were only later names of the same city ; for we can hardly suppose that two cities of the size and importance which each of these evidently had, were located in the same vicinity and called by the same name. The existence of a large and well-built city in this region (Hogg's Damascus, i, 301) is at- tested by numerous ruins still found there (Bankes, in the Quart. Review, vol. xxvi, p. 388), containing in- scriptions (De Saulcy, Narrative, ii, 453). Some of these inscriptions (tirst published by Lebronne, Jour- nal des Savans, 1827, and afterward by Urelli. Jnscr. Lat. 4997, 4998) have lately been deciphered (Trans. Roy. Geoff. Soc. 1851 ; Jour. Sac. Lit. July, 1853, p. 248 sq.), and one has been found to contain a definite ac- count of certain public works executed under the Em- peror M. Aurelius, "at the expense of the Abilenians;" thus identifying the spot where this is found with the ancient city of Abila (Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, p. 85 sq.). It is the modern village Suk el-Barada, not far from the south bank of the river Barada (the ancient Chrysorrhoas), near the mouth of the long gorge through which the stream flows from above, and di- rectly under the cliff (800 feet high) on which stands the Wely of Nebi Abil, or traditionary tomb of Abel {Bib. Sacra, 1853, p. 144). This tradition is an an- cient one (Quaresmius, Eleucid. Terra Sanctm, vii, 7, 1 ; Maundrel, May 4), but apparently based upon an incorrect derivation of the name of the son of Adam. See Abel. This spot is on the road from Heliopolis (Baalbek) to Damascus, at a distance corresponding to ancient notices (Reland, Palast. p. 527, 528). The name Suk '(i. e. market, a frequent title of villages where produce is sold, and therefore indicating fertil- ity) of Wady Barada first occurs in Burckhardt ( Syria, p. 2), who speaks of the lively green of the neighbor- hood, which, no doubt, has suggested the name Abel in its Hebrew acceptance of meadow (see Robinson. Researches, new ed. iii, 480 sq.). See Abilene.