ASCENSION

lorm of the uplifting of the bodily form of Jesus from the earth till it disappeared In a cloud (vv.'- '"). Whether this experience involved more than the separa-tion of Christ from immediate contact with the earth, and included His gradual recession into the upper air, there is nothing directly to show. The general form of the narrative recalls the Transfiguration (Lk 9''-"||). The words of the 'two men in white apparel' (v.") suggest that the final Impression was that of disappear-ance above the heads of the onlookers (v."). It will be noticed that, while the Markan appendix and Luke, unless the latter narrative is interpolated, blend fact and figure (Mk 16" 'received up [fact] into heaven [partly fact, partly figure], and sat down at the right hand of God [figure]'; Lk 24" 'he parted from them [fact], and was carried up into heaven [partly fact, partly figure; but see RVm], ' as must necessarily be the case where the doctrine of the Ascension is concerned; Acts, on the other hand, which purports to describe an event, rigidly keeps within the Umits of testimony.

There are certain anticipations of the Ascension in the Gospels which must be regarded as part of their witness to it. Thus Lk. introduces the account of our Lord's last journey to Jerusalem with the words ' when the days were being fulfilled that he should be received up' (Lk 9" RVm). It is probable that the Ascension is here delicately blended with the Crucifixion, as apparently by Christ Himself in Jn 12**. Again, the word exodos in Luke's account of the Transfiguration, rendered in the text of RV 'decease,' but marg. 'de-parture,' seems to have the same double reference (Lk 9"). Our Lord's predictions of the Second Coming 'on the clouds' (Mt 243" 26"; cf. 1 Th 4i6, Rev 1') almost necessarily Imply the Ascension. The Fourth Gospel, while in its accustomed manner omitting the story of the Ascension, probably regarded as known, introduces definite references to it on the part of Christ both before and after the Resurrection (Jn e^* 7^ 14"- '» 1628 20" etc.). And if we compare statements in the Epistles (Eph 4=, He 1' 4") with the Ascension narrative, it is scarcely possible to doubt that the writers accepted the historic fact as the basis of their teaching. To this must be added all those passages which speak of Jesus as exalted to the right hand or throne of God (Ro S^, Eph 1^°, He 10'' etc.), and as returning to earth in the glory of the Father (Mt 25", Mk 8'', Ph 3" etc.). In connexion with the Session, St. Peter, after mentioning the Resurrection, uses the expression 'having gone his way into heaven' (1 P 3», cf. Jn 14^). Nor can we omit such considerations as arise out of the fact of the Resurrection itself, which are satisfied only by an event that puts a definite period to the earthly mani-festation of the incarnate Christ.

From what has been said it will appear that the Ascension stands on a somewhat different level from the Resurrection as an attested fact. Like the Virgin- birth, it did not form a part of the primitive preaching, nor does it belong to the evidences of Christianity. The fragment of what is thought to be a primitive hymn quoted in 1 Ti S" somewhat curiously places ' preached among the nations' before 'received up in glory.' But it is nevertheless a fact which came within the experi-ence of the Apostles, and can therefore claim a measure of historical testimony. The Resurrection is itself the strongest witness to the reality of the Ascension, as of the Virgin-birth, nor would either in the nature of the case have been capable of winning its way to acceptance apart from the central faith that Jesus actually rose from the dead. But neither the fact itself nor its impor-tance to the Christian believer depends upon the produc-tion of evidence for its occurrence. It will not be seriously disputed by those who accept the Apostolic gospel. On the other hand, the fact that the Ascension was accepted in the primitive Church as the event which put a term to the earthly manifestation of Christ brings out the Resurrection in striking reUef as in the full sense

ASHDOD

of the word a fact of history. It is the Ascension, represented as it is in Scripture not only historically but mystically, and not the Resurrection, which might be viewed as an apotheosis or idealization of Jesus. That ' Jesus is now living at the right hand of God ' (Harnack) is not a sufficient account of the Christian belief in the Resurrection in view of the Ascension narrative, which, even if Keim and others are right in regarding it as a materialization of the doctrine of the eternal Session as set forth in the Epistles, becomes necessary only when the Resurrection is accepted in the most Uteral sense.

The Ascension is the point of contact between the man Jesus Christ of the Gospels and the mystical Christ of the Epistles, preserving the historical character of the former and the universality of the latter in true con-tinuity. It enabled the disciples to identify the gift of Pentecost with the promise of the Holy Spirit, which had been specially connected with the withdrawal of Jesus from bodily sight and His return to the Father (Jn 16', cf. 7"). An eternal character is thus given to the sacrifice of the death of Christ, which becomes efficacious through the exaltation of His crucified and risen manhood (He 10"-"- '^-^). J. G. Simpson.

ASCENSION OF ISAIAH. See Apoc. Lit., p. 41*'

ASCENT OP BLOOD (Jos IS', RV 'ascent of Adum-mim'). — The steep road from Jericho to Jerusalem, so called, according to Jerome, from the deeds of the brigands who infested t (cf . Lk 10'°) ; but see Adummim,

David Smith.

ASEAS (1 Es 9*2).— One of the sons of Annas who agreed to put away his 'strange' wife; called Isshijah, Ezr lO'i.

ASEBEBIAS (AV Asebebia).— A Levite who accom-panied Ezra to Jerusalem (1 Es S*').

ASEBIAS (AV Asebia).— A Levite who returned with Ezra (1 Es 8").

ASENATH. — Daughter of Potl-phera, priest of On, wife of Joseph and mother of Ephraim and Manasseh (Gn 41«- " 462"). The name, like the other Egyptian names in the story of Joseph, is of a well-known late type, prevalent from about B.C. 9S0; it should probably be vocalized Asneit or Esneit, meaning 'belonging to Neit.' Neit was the goddess of Sals, and her name was especially popular in names from the 26th (Saite) Dyn., c. B.C. 664, and onwards for some two centuries. _ Aaenath is the heroine of a remarkable Jewish and Chris-tian romance, in which she renounces her false gods before her marriage with Joseph; it can be traced back to the 5th cent. A.D., and is probably a good deal earlier.

F. Li,. Griffith.

ASH.— See Fm.

ASHAN (Jos 15« 19', 1 Ch 4« 6").— Perhaps the same as Cor-ashan (wh. see). It was a town of Judah, near Libnah and Rimmon, belonging to Simeon, and not far from Debir. The site is doubtful.

ASHARELAH (AV Asarelah).— An Asaphite (1 Cb 25^=), called in vM jesharelah.

ASHBEA occurs in an obscure passage (1 Ch 4" 'house of A.') where it is uncertain whether it is the name of a place or of a man.

ASHBEL (' man of Baal ' ). — ^The second son of Benjamin (1 Ch 8'; cf. Gn. 46", Nu 26'8). In Nu 26" Ashbelite, inhabitant of Ashbel, occurs.

ASHDOD ('fortress'; Greek Azotus).— A city in the Philistine PentapoUs; not captured by Joshua (Jos 13'), and a refuge for the unslaughtered Anakim (Jos 11»); theoretically assigned to the tribe of Judah (Jos 15*'). Hither the Philistines brought the ark, and sent It thence to Gath, on account of an outbreak probably of bubonic plague (1 S S'-»). Uzziah attacked the city, destroyed its walls, and established settlements near it (2 Ch 266). The Ashdodites joined with Sanballat in opposing Nehemiah's restoration of Jerusalem (Neh

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