AIIITUB
122
AHOLIBAH
sheba (2 Sam. xi, 3, comp. with xxiii, 34). The news of his defection appears to have occasioned David more alarm than any other single incident in the rebellion. He earnestly prayed God to turn the sage counsel of Ahithophel " to foolishness" (probably alluding to his name) ; and being immediately after joined by his old friend Hushai, he induced him to go over to Absalom with the express view that he might be instrumental in defeating the counsels of this dangerous person (xv, 31-37). Psalm lv is supposed to contain (12-14) a further expression of David's feelings at this treach- ery of one whom he had so completely trusted, and whom he calls "My companion, my guide, and my familiar friend" — a passage which our Saviour applies to his own case in such a manner as to indicate that Ahithophel was in some sense a t\rpe of Judas (John xiii, 18); at least their conduct and their end were similar (see Steuber, Achitophel sibi loqueo gulamfrac- tus, Rint. 1741 ; Lindsay, Lect. ii, 199 ; Crit. Sac. Thes. Nov. i, G76 ; Jones, Works, vii, 102). The detestable advice which Ahithophel gave Absalom to appropriate his father's harem committed him absolutely to the cause of the young prince, since after that he could hope for no reconcilement with David (2 Sam. xvi, 20- 23). His proposal as to the conduct of the war un- doubtedly indicated the best course that could have been taken under the circumstances ; and so it seem- ed to the council until Hushai interposed with his plausible advice, the object of which was to gain time to enable David to collect his resources. See Absa- lom. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was re- jected for that of Hushai, the far-seeing man gave up the cause of Absalom for lost (comp. Josephus, Ant.- vii, 9, 8); and he forthwith saddled his ass, returned to his home at Giloh, deliberately settled his affairs, and then hanged himself, and was buried in the sep- ulchre of his fathers (2 Sam. xvii), B.C. cir. 1023. (Niemeyer's Charal: iv, 327 sq. ; Ewald, Isr. Gesch., ii, G42.)— Kitto, s. v. See David.
Ahi'tub (Heb. Achitub', ^ITnX, brother of good- ness, i. e. good; Sept. 'A\ito)j3, Josephus 'A^/Vaj/3oc), the name of at least two priests. See Higii-priest.
1. A descendant of Ithamar, who on the death of his father, Phinehas, in battle, and also of his grand- father, Eli, at the news of the capture of the ark, suc- ceeded the latter in the high-priesthood, B.C. 1125, and was succeeded (B.C. cir. 1085) by his son Ahijah or Ahimelech (1 Sam. xiv, 3 ; xxii, 9, 11, 12, 20).
2. A descendant of the line of Ithamar, being the son (or rather descendant) of Amariah (1 Chron. vi, 7, 8, 52), and not an incumbent of the high-priesthood (comp. Josephus, Ant. viii, 1, 3, where his father's name is given as Arophams), since his son Zadok (1 Chron. xviii, 16) was made high-priest by Saul after the extermination of the family of Ahimelech (2 Sam. viii, 17). B.C. ante 1012. It is doubtful whether this or the preceding person of this name is mentioned in 1 Chron. ix, 11; Neh. xi, 11, where he is erroneously called the father (instead of son or descendant) of Me- raiotli (q. v.). See Amariah.
3. A descendant of the last, mentioned (1 Chron. vi, 11, 12 ; Ezra vii, 2) as the son of another Amariah and father of another Zadok among the Jewish high- priests ; but as such a coincidence of names is improb- able, the person intended may perhaps have been the Azariah of 2 Chron. xxxi, 10. See Genealogy.
Ah'lab (Heb. Achlab', ihnx, fatness, i. e. fertile; Sept. 'AxXo/3 v. r. Aa\(i<]>), a town of Ashcr, appar- ently near Zidon and Achzib, the native inhabitants of which the Israelites were unable to expel (Judg. i, 31). Its lying thus within the unconquered Phoeni- cian border may be the reason of its omission in the list of the Asherite cities (Josh, xix, 24-31). It is supposed (see Schwarz, Palest, p. 198) that Achlab re- appears in later history as Gnsh-Chalab (2^n d'lJ) or Giscala (Reland, Palcest. p. 813, 817), a place lately
identified by Robinson under the abbreviated name of el-Jish, near Safed, in the hilly country to the north- west of the sea of Galilee (Researches, new ed. ii, 44G ; iii, 73). This place was in rabbinical times famous for its oil, and the old olive-trees still remain in the neighborhood (Reland and Robinson, ib.). From it came the famous John, son of Levi, the leader in the siege of Jerusalem (Joseph. Life, 10 ; War, ii, 21, 1), and it had a legendary celebrity as the birth-place of the parents of no less a person than the Apostle Paul (Jerome, Comment, ad Ep. ad Philem."). But this can- not be the Ahlab of Asher. See Gisciiala.
Ah'lai (Heb. Achlay' , h3riX, perh. ornamental), the name of a woman and also of a man.
1. (Sept. 'AaSa't v. r. AaCai.) The daughter and only child of Sheshan, a descendant of Judah, mar- ried to her father's Egyptian slave Jarha (q. v.), by whom she had Attai (1 Chron. ii, 31, 34, 35). B.C. prob. ante 1658.
2. (Sept. 'OXi v. r. AyaYa.) The father of Zabad, which latter was one of David's bod3r-guard (1 Chron. xi, 41). B.C. ante 1046.