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66 Abisha^

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Abitur, Joseph ben Isaac tors apraiust Moses xi. C> placfs liiiii ill

(Num.

xvi.

tin- Irilic

1



Pa. cvi. 17). Dout. G. B. L.

of Ri'iibon.

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In Rabbinical Literature AMraiii wlio obtained his imnie from llic fad tliat lie Him! from Goil Ix'lonjred. together with his friend Dathan. to the quarrelsome and seditious personages in Egypt and in tile wiliU'rness wlio sought, on every occasion, to Being identiplace dillieulties in the way of Mo.ses. fied with the two Israeliles at strife who were the cause of Moses' (light from Egypt (Ex. ii. 18-15), the two were thus regarded as liaving interfered with Later, as punliini at the l)eginniiig of his career. ishment for their wickedness, they became |)oor and were degraded in niiik; yet they did not cease their

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liostility to

Moses, and opiio.scd his

lirst

endeavor

to

deliver Israel. It was Abiiam an<l Dathan who were the immediate cause of the hitler reproaches made to

Moses and Aaron recounted in Ex. v. 20, 21. When, despite this, the exodus from Egyi)t took place, Dathan and Abiram tried to induce the people at the l{ed Sea to return (Ex. xiv. 11, 12); and in the failure of this attempt, they made an cITort, through disregard of .Moses' commaiKls, to incite the iie<ipleagainst their leader Ex. xvi. 20 being applied to them until they thought they had a following sufficiently numerous to risk the great reliellion under Koiah. On this occa.sion, akso, Dathan and Abiram were conspicuous for their wickedness. Not only were they among Korah's chief suiijiorlers, but they were impertinent and insulting in their si)eecli to Jloses.who, in his modesty and love of jx'ace, went to them himself in order to dissuade them from their ])ernicious designs (Sanh. 1096; 'Ab. Zarali, Sk Ex. I{. i. Num. R. wiii. 4). L. G.

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2.

The

first-born son of Iliel. wlin died at the reliy his father (I Kings, xvi. 34;

founding of .Jericho

vi. 2t)). Perhaj)s he was immured, according to the well-known superstitious ]U'actise.

compare Josh. Bibliography:

Tninibiill,

50; Baring-Gould,

Thrcxhnhl On-rnant,

Stnume

Survivals, 1894,

ISiKi,

pp. 18,

p. 47.

G. B. L.

ABISHAG.— Biblical Data A

lieautiful Shunanimite, brouglit by the servants of David to his liarem to minister to the aged king in the hope of reviving his failing jiowers (I Kings, i. 1-5). After the accession of Solomon. Adonijah. his elder brother, sought through liuthsheba to secure Abishag as his wife. Solomon, inter])reting this request for the wife of the late king as evidence of a plot on the pari of Adonijah to strengthen his <-laini to the throne (since according to ardiaie law, a man's concubines became the inheritance of his heir), put his rival to death (I

Kings,

ii.

C. F. K.

12-24).

In Rabbinical Literature Abishag. the Shunammite. though only half as beautiful as Sarah,

merited the rank of (lueen on account of her beauty (Sanh. 39/'). David did not marry her. since he liad already the allotted number of eighteen wives (see Sanh. ii. 3. 21(0, and he i)referre(i to renounce the lovely virgin rather than send away one of his wedded wives (ih. 22ii). Although Aliishag never became David's wife, yet, since by virtue of her jiersonal service she belonged to the royal household, it was treasonable on the part of Adonijah to jietition Solomon to grant him the Shunammite as his wife. It was not fitting for a subject toappropriate things or jiersons that belonged to royalty {ibid.). L. G.

ABISHAI

or

ABSHAI.— Biblical Data



A

son of David's sister Zeruiah. Abishai ranked as a general in command second only to his brother Joat) By saving David's III Sam. X. 10. 14. xviii. 2. 5. 12). life (II Sam. xxi. 17) and by the slaughter of three

66

hundred warriors

(II

Sam.

secured a

xxiii. 18), lie

among

the king's bodyguard. He was as relentless and cruel toward his foes as he was loyal to his family and king. David's moderation alone resliiiiiied liiin from slaying Saul as he lay asliH'p in his camp (I .Sam. xxvi. 7-9). WilhJoab,
 * )roniiiient ]dace

Abishai treacherously murdered Abner in revenge for the ileathof their brother Asidiel (II Sam. iii. 27, lie was a good example of those soldiers of 30). fortune wliosc courage and blind devotion made David master of the Canaanitish kingdom. In the martrin of I C'liron. ii. 16 he is called "Alishai." C. F. K. In Rabbinical Literature The rescue of David by Abi.shai. as narrated in II Sam. xxi. 10. 17, is elaborated by the Haggadah in the following

manner: David, on a hunting expedition, is enticed over the Philistinefrontier by Satan inlhe forinof a stag; he is then seized by Ishbi. the brother of Goliath, who intends to |)ut him to death. David's distress, liowever, is revealed in a miraculous manner to Abishai according to some, by the sudih'ii turning of the water in which he is bathing to a blood-red color; according to others, through a sign given by a dove, the symbol of Israel (Ps. Ixviii. 14).

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Abishai immediately sets ofT toward David, when, by another miracle, he is brought thither in the space of a moment (the Haggadah uses the phrase " iefiZ(it /lire/,-" jumping of the road in this instance as well as in the wondrous journeys of several other On bis arrival .Vbishai lirst encounters ])ious men). Orpali, the giant's mother, and, when he becomes aware of her evil intent toward liim, slays her. Ishbi, on catching sight of .bishai, forces his sjiear into the ground, jioint upward, and .seizing David in his hands, raises him on high in onler to dash him upon the point, 'riiercuiioii Abishai utters the inelfable name of God. and therewith arrests David's descent midway. Both David and .bishai then pray to God for help; and as the latter again pronounces God's name, David falls lothe ground unhurt. Both are immediately attacked by the enraged giant, who would soon have overcome them, but for the shock he experiences when Al)ishai informs him of his mother's death. This iiaralyzes him to such an extent that David and Abisliai find no dilficulty in slavinir him (Sanh. 9.5((compare also Jellinek. "B. Ii." iv. 140-141). As with all other Biblical heroes, the Haggadah is inclined to see in Abishai al.so a man of spiritual lirominence. The phrase used in II Sam. xxiv. 10.

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("it is enough now"), is translated by- the llaggadists, " take the greatest (ruli) among them now," a command to the destroying angel the reference being to Abishai, whose demise was regarded as more important than that of the seventy thousand of the people, or even than that of the majority of the Sanhedrin (Ber. 626 Midr. Sam. xxxi. end Midr. Teh. xvii. 12; Pirke R. El. xliii.). L. G.

nnv 31





ABISHALOM.

ABISHUA



See Absalom.

Father is Riches"): 1. Son of Phiiiclias anil great-grandson of Aaron, the high jiriest, ancestor of Ezra (Ezra vii. 5). Found also in the genealogy of Aaron and the high priests succeeding him (I Chron. vi. 4, 5, J50). 2. A grandson of Beiijamiii

(I

(•

t'hron.

viii. 4).

G. B. L.

ABISHTJR lite, .son

("Father is a Wall"); A .lerahmceof Shammai (I Chron. ii. 28, 29).

ABITAL A wife of David, who bore to him. during his residence at Hebron, his fifth son, Shephatiah II Sam. iii. 4, I Chron. iii. 3). C. F. K.