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62 Abilene Abin ben Adda

Tin:

JEWISH encyclopedia

Ilfmion, about ciglitecn miles norlliwost of Damas-

was

pivcii as a tctnifcliv to LySiinias by tlic cnipcrDr Tibcriiis alioiit 'Hi B.r. (si-c I. like. iii. 1). mill was bestowed upon llerod Airrippa by Claudius about 41 (.losephus. "Ant." xix. 51). Aliila. called "Abila of I,ys;iiiias." to distiniruisli it from other places of the same name, was thoUL'ht to be the burial-place of Abel, owinj,' to the similarity

cus.

Till' district

of the names.

F.

.1.

McC.

62

(iiMl said to Alinitiam: "Tlioii hivit aivvn seven lamlH lo Al)iineliH-li In eonrluilliiK llie Icuffiicor frtfiiit^lifiMvlltititin : hy tli.v life, fur si-viii t'l'iiiTalluiis sliull I nMiinl llif Jn.vof thyolf. spring; froiii Alinihuin untu .Mosi's. Thou luLst trlveii liiiii seven

luinlts; by thy life, si-ven ri^liUtiiLs uf thy race slmll the rtillto* lines [lii-si-i'iKlauLs nf Ahliiielii-hlMliiy ilo|ilinl. I'hini-liiLs, Sum^>n. Saul, and his three suns. Thnii hiLy Ihy life, seven siirnil (lossesslons of thy ihhii>U* will his i-hildroti desti-iiy III!' laliernarli'. Ihe.sarnil ohjiiis in (illcal. Null, (iilieim, anil Shilnh. and thr (wu tetnpU's. Thou hiLst triven him si'ven lainlks; seven months shall the tiolv Ark'uf the eovenant nhide In the land of thi- I'hilistines" (Gen. K. Uv. 4; Mldr. Sum. xli. 1;



I Sam. vl. 1). the other hand, a very unfavorable picture is dniwn by the Ila.ir.sriidah of the treatment of Isaac by Abimelech. wherein the latter allowed himself to be misguided by his envy. Among the inhabitants of Gentr the s;iying went, "1 would rather pos.se.ss the dung of Isjiac's stables than the gold and silver of Abimelech." This exasperated Abimelech tosiuli an extent that he sought to engage Isjiac in a quarrel by declaring that the latter owed his wealth to the Phili.stines, to whom it rightfully belonged. In punishment for this, Abimelech, like Job, was visited by disease, and his house was robbed bv thieves (Geii. "

Valk. Slllton

ABILENE A villafre situathoris (Neuliauer. "

Geoi;ra])hiedu Talmud."

p. 25!)).

Aci-ordiuf; to Griltz ("Gesch. d. Jud." 'M ed., ii. 257). a district of Perea (Lev. K. xvii. ; Pcsilj. 'Wa-vehi. GO'O. G. B. "L.

ASIIKCAEL : Son of .loktan (Gen. x. 28) found also in the correspondinj; jrcncalogical list of Sbem's descenilants in I C'hrou. i. 22. G. B. L.

ABIMELECH

("My Father is Kins." or "Jly Falliir i< Mclech." probably the naiue of a deity): 1. Son of Gideon (surnamed JeruVibaal), the great "judge" of Isrjiel. By virtue of his father's dietat<irsliip or semiroyalty. he claimeil to rule over

He was. however, merely the sou of Gideon's concubine: and to make good his claim he resorted to force. Aided by his mother's relatives, he put to death all of his half brothers except the youngest. Jotham, and ruled hree years in Shechem. His adherents were mostly of the old Canaanilish race, to which his mother probably belonged. The Israelitish ijarty rebelled and gained control in Shechem. After prolonged strite. Abiimdech took the city by assault. While besieging the neighboring stronghold. There he was struck on the head with a millstone thrown by a woman. Conscious that he was mortally wounded, he commanded his armorbearer to kill him at once with his sword. As a restilt of his death. Shechem and its environs were ma<le permanently Israelitish. J. F. JIcC. 2. King of Gath, menlione(l in the superscription to Ps. xxxiv. In I Sam. xxi. 21) he is called Achish. 3. Biblical Data: King of Gerar. with whom both Abraham and Isaac came into dose connection. The stories that are told in both cases are very much alike in all details, which induces the Bible critics to believe that there is reallv oiilv one (Gen. xx., xxi., xxvi. 1-lTl. G. B. L. Ephraim.

1

—

"

In Rabbinical Literature One of the fewamong tin- heathens whose name became the typical appellation for the rare class of

pious ]>irsons

pagans designated as pious by the rabbis Midr. Teh. xxxiv.). He was endowed with the gift of prophecy (Gen. R. Iii. ). His attempted .seizure of Sarah (Geii. XX.) is explained by the fact that he was childless, and that he hoped, through his marriagi' with a pious woman like Sarah, to be blessed with offspring. AVhen. therefore. Michael, Abraham's guardian angel, (

descended from heaven anil wanted to kill Abimelech with his sword, the latter could plead in his defense that he was ignorant of the criminal character of his deed and had acted with good intentions Pirke R. El. (

xxvi.). But as Abraham was really in part to blame for the conduct of Abimelech toward him. Abimelech's curse, "Jlay this one that will be thine have a covering on his eves" (Imsgadic translation of 0":"^ niD3 1? Xin nan. Gen. xx. KD. took effect and resulted in Isaac's blindness in his old age (Meg. loo). Another occasion on which Abraham's conduct toward Abimelech incurs the reproach of the Haggadah is that of the consummation of the league of fiiendship between them, which was to continue in cffict for four generations.

On

U. Ixiv. 7). L. G. 4. A priest mentioned in I Chron. xviii. 16. where he is erroneously described as the son of Abialhar, wlio.se father he was. Elsewhere he is called AlltxiELi;i

(J.

II

H.

I,

ABIMI (a contraction of ABBA-IMMI or ABBA-AMMI): The name of several Amoraim, distinguisiiiil lor proficiency in the Hiilakah. The most prominent of these are the following: 1. A BaViylonian halakisi of the third century, always quoted without cognomen. ^lost of his doctrines have been transmitted through Rab Hisdii, to w hom. however, in later years he tinned for information on some Baniitot which he hiid forgotten (.Men. In; 'Ar. 22/>;Git 7!)i/; I!. Iv. i;»; Sanh. 15./ and 816; Zeb. dita

CEr.

Academy,

also reported

24<(Hill. 48rt)-

Abimi has the

Men. 77/-: 'Ar. 5i). A Babylonian amora of the fourth century, disii])le of Rabbah b. Xahmani. He and his brother 'Efa (Hefa) are cited as "the ingenious .scholars of 2(>'(:

2.

Pumbe'dita" (Sanh. 17^). In the Palestinian Talmud he is designated as Abimi. the biother of Ilefa (Yer. Ned. ii. :!7'': Yer. Sliebu. iii. ;^4</i; but the Babylonian

Talmud

(Sanh. ic) gives Rahba as the name of his father (see. however. Bunk in "Rev. £'. .Iiiives," According to Kid. 39./. Abimi 1898, pp. 191-197). and his brother attempted to abrogate the Biblical law concerning uncircumcised fruit (Lev. xix. 23) for Babylon. S. M.

ABIMI

B.

ABBAHTJ A

scholar of the third

country and parentage are doubtful. He is always cited as Abimi. the son of was as fond of quoting Baraitot as R. Abbahu: he was R. Abbahu of Ca?sarea of collecting them and once he applied to a R. Abbahu for legal advice These circumstances point to Palestine (Ket. H.5.. as his native country and to R. Abbahu of C'jBsarea as his father; hence Baclier (" Ag. Pal. Amor." ii. On the other hand, it is a re101) so describes him. markable fact that his name does not appear in the Palestinian Talmud, and that even where the latter quotes Abbahu as illustrating filial piety, the filial piety of Abimi. praised by his father in the BabyMoreover. Abimi lonian Talmud, is not luentiomd. never refers to Abbiihu, and settles debts in Babycenliiiy.

Aliiiiiis native