VI. The wide and deep impression made by the character of Abraham upon the ancient world is proved by the reverence which people of almost all nations and countries have paid to him, and the manner in which the events of his life have been interwoven in their mythology and their religious traditions. Jews, Magians, Sabians, Indians, and Mohammedans have claimed him as the great patriarch and founder of their several sects ; and his history has been embel- lished with a variety of fictions. The ethnological relations of the race of Abraham have been lately treated by Ewald (Oeschichte des Votkes Israel), and by Bertheau (Geschiehte der Israeliten), who maintain that Abraham was the leader of tribes who migrated from Chaldea to the south-west. See Arabia.
VII. For further notices, see Staudlin, G( sch. der Sit- te/il. Jem, i, 93 sq. ; Eichhorn, Bibl. d. Bibl. Lit. i, 40 sq. ; Harenberg, in the Bib/loth. Brem. Nov. v, 499 sq. ; Stackhouse, Hist, of the Bible, i, 123 sq. ; Hottinger, Hist. Orient, p. 50; Ewald, Jsr. Gesch. i, 385 sq.; Ge- senius, in the Hall. Encycl. i, 155 sq. See likewise .1 eta Sanctorum, Oct. 9 ; Augusti, De Fatis et Factis Abrahami (Goth. 1730); Hebbing, Hist, of Abraham
ABRAHAM
33
ABRAXAS
(Lond. 1746); Gilbank, Hist, of Abr. (Lond. 1773); Hoist, Leben Abr. (Cherun. 1826); Michaelis, in the Biblioth. Brem. vi, 51 sq. ; Goetze, Be Cultu Abr. (Lips. 1702); Sourie, B. Gott Abr. (Hannov. 1806); Hauck, Be Abr. in Charris (Lips. 1776); the Christ. Month. Spect. v, 397 ; Beer, Leben Abr. (Leipz. 1859) ; Basil, Opera, p. 38 ; Ephraem Syrus, Opera, ii, 312 ; Philo, Opera, ii, 1 sq. ; Ambrose, Opera, i, 278 sq. ; Clirysostom, Opera {Spuria), vi, 646 ; Cooper, Brief Expos, p. 107; Whately, Prototypes, p. 93; Rabadan, Mahometism, p. 1; Debaeza, Comment, p. 3; J. H. Heidegger, Hist. Pat. p. 2 ; Abramus, Pharus V. T. p. 168; Dupin, Nouv. Bible, p. 4; Barrington, Works, iii, 61 ; Riccaltoun, Works, i, 291 ; Robinson, Script. Char- acters, p. 1; Rudge, Led. on Gen. i, 163; Buddieom, L'fe of Abr. (Lond. 1839); Evans, Script. Biog. p. 1; Williams, Characters of 0. T. p. 36; A. H. L., Life of Abr. (Lond. 1861); Adamson, Abraham (Lond. 1841); Blunt, Hist, of Abr. (Lond. 1856) ; Geiger, Ueber Abr. (Altd. 1830) ; Watson, Bid. s. v.
ABRAHAM'S BOSOM (o ic6\ttoc 'Afoaap). There was no name which conveyed to the Jews the same associations as that of Abraham. As undoubtedly he was in the highest state of felicity of which departed spirits are capable, "to be with Abraham" implied the enjoyment of the same felicity; and "to be in Abra- ham's bosom" meant to be in repose and happiness with him (comp. Josephus, Be, Mace. § 13 ; 4 Mace, xiii, 16). The latter phrase is obviously derived from the custom of sitting or reclining at table whfeta pre- vailed among the Jews in and before the time of Christ. See Accubatiox. By this arrangement the head of one person was necessarily brought almost into the bosom of the one who sat above him, or at the top of the triclinium, and the guests were so ar- ranged that the most favored were placed so as to bring them into that situation with respect to the host (comp. John xiii, 23 ; xxi, 20). See Bosom. These Jewish images and modes of thought are amply il- lustrated by Lightfoot, Schottgen, and Wettstein, who illustrate Scripture from rabbinical sources. It was quite usual to describe a just person as being with Abraham, or lying on Abraham's bosom ; and as such images were unobjectionable, Jesus accommodated his speech to them, to render himself the more intelligible by familiar notions, when, in the beautiful parable of the rich man and Lazarus, he describes the condition of the latter after death under these conditions (Luke xvi, 22, 23).— Kitto, s. v. See Hades.
Abraham, A Saxcta Clara, a Roman Catholic preacher, highly popular in Vienna, and remarkable for his eccentric writings. His family name was Ul- rich Megerle, and ho was born in Baden, 1042. In 1662 he entered the order of barefooted Augustinians, and became distinguished, as a preacher, for directness, tact, and pungency, mixed with rudeness. He died 1709. His sermons and other writings are contained in (unfinished) SammtUche Werke nach dem Original- texte (Lindau, 20 vols. 1835-50). His Grammatica Rel'glosa, containing 55 sermons, was reprinted in Latin, 1719 (Colon. 4to).
Abraham, Ecchelexsis. See Ecchelexsis.
Abraham, Usque, a Portuguese Jew, who trans- lated the celebrated Spanish Bible of the Jews, first printed at Ferrara, in 155:!. It is translated word for word from the original, which fact, with the use of many old Spanish words, only employed in the syna- gogues, renders it very obscure. Asterisks (mostly omitted in the Holland ed. of 1630) are placed against certain words to denote that the exact meaning of the original Hebrew words is difficult to determine. — Fiirst, Bib. Jud. iii, 463.
Abrahamites (1), a sect of heretics, named from
their founder Abraham (or Ibrahim), of Antioch, A.D.
805. They were charged with the Paulician errors,
and some of them with idolatry and licentiousness ;
C
but for these charges we have only the word of their persecutors. See Pauliciaxs. (2), a sect of Deists in Bohemia, who existed as late as 1782, and professed the religion of Abraham before his circumcision, ad- mitting no scriptures but the decalogue and the Lord's prayer. They believed in one God, but rejected the Trinity, and other doctrines of revelation. They re- ceived the doctrines of original sin, the immortality of the soul, and future rewards and punishments. '1 hey were required by Joseph II to incorporate themselves with one of the religions tolerated in the empire ; and, in case of non-compliance, threatened with banishment. As the result of obstinate refusal to comply with the imperial command, they were transported to Transyl- vania. Many persons are still found in Bohemia, be- tween whom and the Abrahamites some connection may be traced. They are frequently called Nihilists and Deists. (See an anonymous Gesch. der Bohmu schen Beisten (1785) ; Gregoire, Hist, des Secies relig. v, 419 sq.)