Ague, a disease of the fever kind, in which a cold shivering fit is succeeded bj- a hot one ; in the Heb. pri^i?, laddach' ath, a kindling, a burning or inflam- matory fever (Levit. xxvi, 1G ; Deut. xxviii, 22). See Disease.
Aguirre, Joseph Saenz d', an eminent Spanish prelate, was born at Logrofio, 1630, assumed the hab- it of the order of St. Benedict, and in 1668 took the degree of doctor at Salamanca, where he was chosen professor. He was afterward inquisitor, and in 1686 Innocent XI gave him the cardinal's hat as a return for the book which he had written against Gallicanism (q. v.). He was a man of acquirements, but strongs- biassed in favor of ultramontane views. He died at Rome August 19th, 1699. In 1671 he published three folios on philosophy, and in 1675 a work on Aristotle's Morals. His Treatise on the Virtues and Vices ap- peared in 1677 ; in this work he followed the princi- ples of probability, which he abandoned in 1679. Dur- ing the following two years he put forth at Salamanca his Theologia St. Anselml, which he afterward printed at Rome, in three vols. fol. In 1683 he published his Defence of the Chair of St. Peter against the Decla- ration of the Galilean Clergy ; but another work, en- titled Be Llbertatibus Eccl. Gallicana>, is incorrectly attributed to him, having been written by M. Charlas, a priest of the diocese of Pamiers, who composed it at Rome. He is, however, perhaps best known by his Collection of the Councils of Spain (Rome, 1693-4), and in which he inserted many original dissertations, some of which are attempts to defend the false decretals at- tributed to the early popes.
A'gur (Heb. Agur' ' , "H3N, gathered), the author of the sayings contained in l'rov. xxx, which the in- scription describes as composed of the precepts deliv- ered by "Agur, the son of Jakeh," to his friends " Ithiel and Ucal." Some writers have regarded the name as an appellative, but differ as to its significa- tion (Gesenius," Thes. Heb. p. 22). The Vulg. has "Verba Congregantis filii Vomentis." Most of the rabbins and fathers think that Solomon himself is des- ignated under this name, which they render collector, i. e. holder of a congregation (comp. Eccles. xii, 19) ; and if the word is to be understood as an appellative, it may be as well to look for its meaning in the Syriac, where, according to Bar Bahlul (in Castell. Lex.), agur means qui sapiential studiis se appllcat, a sense that aptly designates Solomon. Most copies of the Sept. omit the chapter ascribed to Agur, as well as the first nine verses of the following chapter; but insert verses 1-14 of this chap, between verses 23 and 24 of chap. xxiv. That version renders the present verse thus : Touc St ifiuve. Aoyouc;, v'n, <5o/3//£//n, Kai Ct'ia- ptvoc aurovg ptravuei. Tate Aiy«t ti av>)p role ttkt- tivovoiv Offij, Kai iravoi.ua. Son, fear my words, and receive them with penitence. These things says the man to those that believe God, and I cease. Winer (Realwort. s. v.) argues that by Agur must be desig- nated some otherwise unknown Israelite, since he is designated as the son of Jakeh (i"liT^~"3, a rarer form for "2), and not Solomon, who, even in Eccles. (i, 1), is stvled by his proper patronymic, "the son of David" (see'Bertholdt, Einl. v, 2193). See Jakeh. This ar- gument, however, especially the latter part of it, is
not of much force, since Solomon is elsewhere desig- nated in Prov. by a symbolical name, in connection with his parentage (xxxi, 1). See Lemuel. Prof. Stuart {Comment, in loc.) understands by Agur the son of a queen of Massa, a place which he locates near the head of the eastern fork of the Red Sea, and supposes to have been peopled by a Jewish colon y. See Massa.
Agur. See Swallow.
Agynians or Agyniani (from a negative, and yvvr], a woman), a sect belonging to the seventh cen- tury, and chiefly distinguished by their condemnation of marriage, and of the use of certain meats.
Ah- (Heb. Ach-, -nx, or Achi, -ifiK, brother of) occurs as the former part of many Heb. proper names, with a signification of relationship or property, simi- lar to that contained in Ab- (q. v.) or Abi-, father (Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 64). e. g. the names follow- ing; and likewise applied to females, e. g. Ahinoam, comp. Abinoam; indeed in some cases they are near- ly interchangeable, e. g. Abimelech, Ahimelech.
A'hab (Heb. AchaV ', nXHX, father 'sbrother; Sept. 'Axaafi, Josephus "Axafioe), the name of two men.
1. The son of Omri, and the eighth king of Israel, who reigned twenty-one }'ears (current, B.C. 915-895, the preceding year apparently as viceroy in his fa- ther's old capital Tirzah), the weakest of all the Israel- itish monarchs, although not Avithout occasional good feelings and dispositions (Kitto's Daily Bible Illustr. in loc). Many of the evils of his reign may be ascribed to the close connection which he formed with the Phoenicians (Ewald, Isr. Gesch. iii, 169 sq.). There had long been a beneficial commercial intercourse be- tween that people and the Jews, and the relations arising thence were very close in the times of David and Solomon. This connection appears to have been continued by the nearer kingdom of Israel, but to have been nearly, if not quite, abandoned by that of Judah. The wife of Ahab was Jezebel (q. v.), the daughter of Ethbaal or Ithobaal, king of Tyre, who had been priest of Astarte, but had usurped the throne of his brother Phalles (compare Josephus, Ant. viii, 13, 2, with Aplon. i, 18). She was a woman of a de- cided and energetic character, and soon acquired such influence over her husband that he sanctioned the in- troduction, and eventually established the worship of the Phoenician idols, and especially of the sun-god Baal. Hitherto the golden calves in Dan and Bethel had been the only objects of idolatrous worship in Israel, and they were intended as symbols of Jeho- vah. But now the king built a temple at Samaria, and erected an Image and consecrated a grove to Baal. A multitude of the priests and prophets of Baal were maintained. Idolatry became the predom- inant religion ; and Jehovah, with the golden calves as symbolical representations of him, were viewed with no more reverence than Baal and his image. But a man suited to this emergency was raised up in the person of Elijah, who boldly opposed the regal authority, and succeeded in retaining many of his countrymen in the worship of the true God. — Kit- to, s. v. See Elijah.