ABRAHAM'S BOSOM

for the unique religious history and mission of Israel. It cannot be said that this view of Abraham has as yet obtained any direct confirmation from discoveries in Assyrioiogy or archaeology, though it is perhaps true that recent developments of these sciences render the conception more intelligible than it formerly was. And there is nothing, either in the tradition itself or in our knowledge of the background against which it is set, that is inconsistent with the supposition that to the extent just indicated the figure of Abraham is historical. If it be the essence of legend, as distinct from myth, that it originates in the impression made by a commanding personality on his contemporaries, we may well believe that the story of Abraham, bearing as it does the stamp of ethical character and individuality, is a true legend, and therefore has grown up around some nucleus of historic fact.

5. From the religious point of view, the Ufe of Abraham has a surprising inner unity as a record of the progressive trial and strengthening of faith. It is a life of unclouded earthly prosperity, broken by no reverse of fortune; yet it is rooted in fellowship with the unseen. 'He goes through life,' it has been well said, ' listening for the true ISra, which is not shut up in formal precepts, but revealed from time to time to the conscience; and this leaning upon God's word is declared to be in Jahweh's sight a proof of genuine righteousness.' He is the Father of the faithful, and the Friend of God. And that inward attitude of spirit is reflected in a character of singular loftiness and magnanimity, an unworldly and disinterested disposition which reveals no moral struggle, but is nevertheless the fruit of habitual con-verse with God. The few narratives which present the patriarch in a less admirable light only throw into bolder relief those ideal features of character in virtue of which Abraham stands in the pages of Scripture as one of the noblest types of Hebrew piety.

J. Skinner.

ABRAHAM'S BOSOM.— It was natural for the Jews to represent Abraham as welcoming his righteous descendants to the bliss of heaven. It was, also, not unusual for them to represent the state of the righteous as a feast. In the parable of Lk 16'™- Jesus uses these figures to represent the blessedness of the dead Lazarus. He was reclining at the feast next to Abraham (cf. Mt 8"). A Rabbi of the third century, Adda Bar Ahaba, uses precisely this expression as a synonym for entering Paradise. Other Jewish writings occasionally represent Abraham as in a way overseeing the entrance of souls into Paradise. ' Abraham's Bosom,' therefore, may very fairly be said to be a synonym for Paradise, where the righteous dead live in eternal bliss. There is no clear evidence that the Jews of Jesus' day believed in an intermediate state, and it is unsafe to see in the term any reference to such a belief. Shailer Mathews.

ABRECH. — A word of doubtful signification, tr. 'Bow the knee,' in AV and RV (Gn 41" 'then he made him [Joseph] to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee; and he set him over all the land of Egypt'). The word should be either Hebrew or Egyptian. An Assyr. etymology has been proposed, viz. abarakku, the title of one of the highest officials in the Assyrian Empire, but no such borrowings from Assyria are known in Egypt. Hebrew affords no likely explanation. Egyp-tian hitherto has furnished two that are possible:

(1) 'Praisel' but the word is rare and doubtful;

(2) abrak, apparently meaning 'Attention!' 'Have a carer (Spiegelberg). The last seems the least im-probable. F. Ll. Griffith.

ABRONAH .—A station in the journeyings (Nu333* ■=') .

ABSALOM ('father is peace'). — Third son of David, by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2 S 3'). His sister Tamar having been wronged by her half- brother Amnon, and David having failed to punish the

6

ACCEPTANCE

criminal, Absalom assassinated Amnon and fled to Geshur, where he spent three years (ch. 13). Joab procured his recall, but he was not admitted into his father's presence. In his usual imperious fashion he next compelled Joab to briBg about his full restoration ( X429a . ) . Then he assumed the position of heir-apparent (151; cf. 1 S 8", 1 K 15), and began undermining the loyalty of the people. Four (not 'forty') years after his return he set up the standard of rebellion at Hebron, a town which was well-aflected towards him because it was his birthplace, and aggrieved against David because it was no longer the metropoUs. The old king was taken by surprise, and fled to the east of the Jordan. On entering Jerusalem, Absalom publicly appropriated the royal harem, thus proclaiming the supersession of his father. By the insidious counsel of Hushai time was wasted in collecting a large army. But time was on David's side. His veterans rallied round him; his seasoned captains were by his side. When Absalom offered battle, near Mahanaim, the king's only anxiety^ was lest his son should be slain. This really happened, through Joab's agency. The father's natural, but unseasonable, lamentation was cut short by the soldier's blunt remonstrance (2 S 19»*). On the face of the history it is clear that, if Absalom lacked capacity, he possessed charm. His physical beauty contributed to this: 2 S 1425-2' is probably a gloss, but certainly rests on a reliable tradition; the polling of the hair was a religious act. According to 2 S 18", Absalom had no son: this is more reliable than the statement in 2 S 14^'. It is said that later generations, following Pr 10', always avoided the name Absalom, preferring tiie form Abi-shalom (which appears in 1 K IS*- 1"). J. Taylor.

ABSALOM (IN Apocr.).— 1. The father of Mattathias, one of the captains who stood by Jonathan at Hazor (1 Mac ll"' = Jos. Ant. xiii. v. 7). It is perhaps the same Absalom whose son Jonathan was sent by Simon to secure Joppa (1 Mac.l3" = Jos. Ant. xm. vi. i). 2. An envoy sent by the jews to Lysias (2 Mac 11").

ABUBTJS. — Father of Ptolemy the murderer of Simon the Maccabee (1 Mac 16" ■ '5).

ABYSS.— The Jewish eschatology of the time of Christ conceived of the abode of departed spirits as a great abyss, in the midst of which was a lake of fire, intended primarily as a place of punishment for the angels and giants, and accordingly tor sinners. The abyss existed before the creation, and was the home of the various enemies of God, such as the dragon and the beast. In the NT it is used only in Apocalypse (AV 'bottomless pit') and in Ro 10' and Lk S^i (AV 'deep ').

Shailer Mathews.

ACACIA. — See Shittim Tree.

ACCABA, 1 Es Ss»=Hagab, Ezr 2«.

ACCEPTANCE denotes the being in favour with any one. In EV the noun is found only in Is 60', but 'accept' and 'acceptable' are used frequently both in OT and NT to express the acceptance of one man with another (Gn 322", Lk i^), but above all the acceptance of man with God. In OT the conditions of acceptance with God are sometimes ceremonial (Ex 28'*, Ps 20'). But of themselves these are insufficient (Gn 4' ■ ', Am S^^i Jer &'" 1411- 12), and only moral uprightness (Pr 21^, Job 428) and the sacrifices of a sincere heart (Ps 19" H9i»8; cf. 405ff. 51i5«) are recognized as truly accept-able with God. In NT the grounds of the Divine acceptance are never ceremonial, but always spiritual (Ro 121, ph 418, 1 P 25). Jesus Christ is the type of perfect acceptance (Mk lii||. He los"). In Him as ' the Beloved,' and through Him as the Mediator, men secure their reUgious standing and fundamental accept-ance with God (Eph 1«). In serving Him (Ro 14i8), and following His example (1 P Z">- «), they become morally acceptable in the Father's sight.

J. C. Lambert.