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56 "

Abi Ayub

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Abigail

exact meaning is still iukUt dispute. EncU of the forejioing proper names may be a sentence; for example, Aliin(>ain = "FtttlKr is pleasantness"; or it may be only a phrase, as "Father of pleasiiutness. Further, the/in.lW may be either the eonnecting

vowel or the jironnminal sullix (tirst person). The weight of authority favors the si'ntenee form. Opinions dilTcr us to ihe phrase form: but it is safe to siiy that the forms with the eonueetiiig vowel and with till' sultix have been eonfused. so that the translation will depend largely on the other element in the name (Gray, "Hebrew Proper Names," pp. 22-34, '1.5-80;

seealso N.MES).

G. B. L.

ABI AYTJB. See Solomon bex Almuallem. ABI SAHULA. See Isaac bex Solomox rax Aiu Smhi.a

ABI ZIMRA

or perhaps Za(XIDT, met family which can be traced from the Ihirtccntli to the si.xtcciith (-cntury, of which Ihe fnlldwiiig were the more important Judah ben

miro — ITOT)



A





Ephraim, son,

12-1.5-1330

Moses ben Judah;



his

Ephraim ben Moses,

Mkii!. ll'.iJ; David ben sixteenth century Isaac sixteenth century.

BiBLiOKRAPHV



Zuiiz,

Z.

1470; Ai!i:.iia.m rkn Solomon, lirsi half of the Mandil, second half of the

(i. p.

424



Stelnsohneliler, In Jcic.

Quart. Rev. x. o2»; Idem, Cat. Dwll. No.

-ISJU.

G.

ABI ZIMRA, Flourished

home

in

ABRAHAM BEN MEIR

.Malaga, and sciin> to liavr

Irfl

his

going to Oran, and dwelling later in Tleragen. He enjoyed quite a reputation as a iwet, but very few of liis writings have been preserved. His composition -yn '^3Dn TID^ 'C'BJ ("My .soul, how long wilt thou err in tliy wayV"), an address to Ids soul to appease its longing fortruth and eternity, ^vritten in 1493, in Oran, deserves special mention" in

1492.

amends he

appointe<l Abiatliar high priest. Abiathar retained tlie ollice until he was deserted by the Holy Spirit, without which the high jiricst could not successfully consult the I' rim and Tliummim. When David, on his flight from Absid(mi, recognized this loss in Abiatliar. he felt compelled to put Zadok in his place. See Seder 'Olam H. xiv. "i'oma, 73/y; Sotah. iH/i; Ber. 4n (Hashi): Saiili. 21.(. Compare also Ginzberg, "Haggada bei den Kirclienviltern." i.. on II .Sam. xv. 24. 25. L. G.

ABIATHAR

A Palestinian amora. the contemponiiy of K. .Iiid.ili (217-299) and of his successor. I{. Hisda. the head of the Sura Academy, with both of whom Abiatliar maintained a correspondence. The great number of Babylonian students who thronged to the Palestinian schools aroused his displeasure and induced him to remonstrate in a letter to .Judah. the head of the Babylonian .lews (Git. U//). The reason of his dis]ihasure was that the Babylonian students generally married licfore graduating (Kill. 29/'. where Rashi's

I,i(c)-(i/i(ri;<.?c;i.ii.32s.

H ABI ZIMRA, DAVID BEN SOLOMON,

prefeiable in thai id' the Tosafot). for Palestine their wives and children lieeame a burden on the communitj-. He quoted in this connection .loel. iv. 3 (iii. 3, A. V.), and harsh as the parallel may st'cm. it is not unjustified (Git. tMi). Thereupon H. .ludali declared the emigration from Biibylonia to Palestine to be a religious offense, Ijiit his denunciations were of no avail Uvei. Abialhar's Idler to 1{. Hisda. the suclll'Ocessor of R. ,Tudah (Git. Lr.). shows that the close connection between the Babylonian students and Palestinian teachers did not end with the declaration of H. .Tudali. Abiatliar was revered as a model of piety and holiness, and the Babylonians believed that he was in spiritual communication with the prophet Elijah (see Git. /.r. In the Midrash he is mentioned iu Gen. U. Ixxxviii. 2. Concerning his Hasiradah, see Bacher, "Asr. Pal. Amor." iii. .503, .504 L. G.

ABIAH. See ABIASAPH.

3Ti).

See

Daviu bex Solo-

Sit (ni;>rA>. AiUAiiiAi;

ii;n.

ABIATHAR, JOSEPH BEN ISAAC. Ar.ni

I!.

.IiisKi'ii lU-.N

See

l>i

ABIATHAR HA-KOHEN OF CAIRO:





YHWH

At the time of Absjilom's

of the Egyptian Jews, which office he inherited from his ancestors. He flourished at the end of the eleventh century and is known to have died before 1112. He took a prominent part in the Messianic movement of the year lOitO, which assumed significant ]u-oporlions. The tirst Crusade for the possession of the Holy Land was then in progress, and was considered liv the Jews of that day as the harbinger of a new era. The Jewish community of Nablus. in Palestine, indeed, addressed a formal letter to Rabbi Abiatliar. asking for positive information concerning the matter. The answer, together with the inquiry, was sent to Constantinople, the center of the Messianic agitation of the time. Abiathar's reply favored the movement, and, therefore contributed still more to the excitement among the .lews in the Jloluimmedan countries which was further increased by the fact that his missive, through the intlilference of the messenger, was not delivered into the hands of those to whom X<('//(/ (chief)

See EniASAPn.

("Father of Plenty ").— Biblical Data: A son of Ahinielech or Ahijah {nnlir/i and t/itli apparently interchanging compare I Sam. xiv. 3, xxii. 9) the chief priest of the sanctuary at Nob. He alone escajied from the massacre of his family by Saul (1 Sam. xxii. 20) and found a ref uge with David. By means of the priestly ephod which he brought with him, he was able officially to ascertain the will of (I Sam. xxiii. !), XXX. 7). Having .shared David's hardships, he also profited by the exaltation of David to the kingrebellion Abiatliar

remained loyal to his old patron (II Sam. x v. 24^36); but later, like .Joab. he espoused the cause of Adonijah rather than that of Solomon. On this account he and his family were banished totheireslateat Anathoth. and their priestly rights and duties in connection with the Temjile were transferred to the rival house of Za<lnk (I Kings, ii. 26-33). C. F. K. In Rabbinical Literature The rescue of the

chief priest Abiatliar. in the niass;icrc of the priests of Nob ordered by Saul, was fortunate for the house of David for if he had lost his life. David's descendants would through divine retaliation have been entirely wiped out of existence at the hands of Athaliah (Sanh. 9.5i). It was David's acts that had really brought about the death of the priests, and to make

left

ABIATHAR IBN CRESCAS HA-KOHEN.

AiiLiAn.

ABIATHAR

ship.

o|iiiii(in is

and when they

P,.

(T



1.

Bibliography: Zunz,Z.G.p.424; idem,

known as RADBAZ mon Abi Zi.mka.

66

it

was

directed.

Abiatliar had a son. Elijah, for whom the "Mushtaniil" of .bu al-Faraj Ilanin was copied in 1112. His grandfather. Abiathar Cohen Zedek. met Hai Gaon iu Jerusjilem. according to the author of the "Sefer Hasidim," ed. Wistinetzki. p. 109. BiBLioiiRAPHT: NeiiliauiT, In Jev: Quart. licv. ix. 27-29; Kaufiiiann. in Jcic. Quart. Rci: x. 139-151; Bacber, in Jew. Quart. liiv. ix.XS. j^

Q