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161 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

161

daughter of Pharaoh, and ended in reality in the fifteenth year of Asa's reign, when Zerah the Ethiopian was vanquished by him the alliance between the kingdoms of Israel and Syria (I Kings xi. 23) also'lasted thirty-six years In obtaining an alliance with the king of Syria against Baasha by giving away the gold and silver treasures of the house of the Lord (I Kings xv. 18), Asa sinned grievously, for which Hanani, the seer, sternly rebuked him (II Chron. xvi. 7) (Tosef., Sotah, xii. 1, 2; Seder 'Olam R. xvi.). Asa, having contracted a matrimonial alliance with the wicked house of Omri, brought about the decree of Heaven that after forty -two years both the houses of David and of Omri should go down together, which nearly happened in the time of Ahaziah, wherefore the latter is said to have been forty -two

years old

when he ascended

xxii. 2) in contradiction

26 (Tosef., Sotah,

viii.

the throne (II Chron. 20, and II Kings and Seder 'Olam R.

with xxi. xii.

xvii.).

the treasures which Asa look from Zerah the Ethiopian, and which Zerah had taken from Shishak (II Chron. xii. 9, compare xvi. 2), there was also the marvelous throne of Solomon upon which all the kings of Judah subsequently sat (Esther R. while the other great treasures were given by i. 2) Asa to the king of Syria to obtain his alliance then they were taken again by the Ammonites, to be recaptured by Jehoshaphat; then they fell into the hands of Sennacherib, from whom Hezekiah recovered them, and at the capture of Jerusalem they came into the hands of the Babylonians then into those of the Persians, and afterward of the Macedonians, and finally of the Romans, who kept them at Rome (Pes. 119a; compare III Sibyl. 179 and 351; IV





J.

K.

SB.

ASAD

Canons of Medicine); (2) "Kitab alof Pleasure), on the reflection that the eye beholds in the mirror; (3) "Kitab fi Mizaj Di-

Nazh " (Book

mashka" (Book Containing Three "

Masail Tabiyah

Bibliography

One

of the two Arabian-Jewish rabbis that are said to have instructed the Tobba' AbuKaribah (king of Yemen) in the tenets of the Jewish religion. The name of the other was Ka'b and both



belonged to the tribe of the Banu K ul'aiza. Tabari ("Annales," i. 902), who relates this incident, adds that they were the most learned Jews of their It is, however, noteworthy that older histoage. rians, like Ibn Ishak and Ibn Hisham, do not mention their names (see Arabia).

"

Treatises);

(4)

(Questions of Medicine).

Ibn abi Usaibia, ed. Miiller, il. 118; Carmoly, Hintoire des Medecins, p. 71 Steinschneider, Hebr. Bihlioaraphie, xv. 131. gI. Be.



ASAHEL.— Biblical Data David



1.

Son of Zeruiah,

Chron. ii. 16). He was noted as a swift runner. As one of the thirty heroes of David (II Sam. xxiii. 24 I Chron. xi. 26), he had command of the army in the fourth month (I Chron. xxvii. 7). After the defeat of the forces of Ishbosheth, he pursued Abner (II Sam. ii. 18, 19). Asahel was, however, killed by Abner, who in revenge was slain by Joab (II Sam. iii. 27). 2. Father of Jonathan, who opposed Ezra's policy of putting away foreign wives (Ezra x. 15). 3. A Levite sent by Jehoshaphat to sister of

(I



God

" (II

Hezekiah

Temple J.

men

of

Chron.

Judah

xvii. 8).

the 4.

to collect the tithes

(II

Chron. xxxi.

"book of the law

A Levite

of

assigned by

and offerings

in the

13).

jb.

G. B. L.

In Rabbinical Literature Asahel, son of Zeruiah, was so fleet that he overtook deer; and when he ran over a field of ripening corn, the ears of

grain did not even bend, but remained erect as if untouched. When his time had come, however, he could not move an inch, and was slain by Abner (Eccl. R. ix. 11; Yalk., Jer. 285). (See Joab.) To Asahel was applied the verse " I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift

(Eccl. ix. 11). j.

Sibyl. 145).

Asaiah

(Treatise on the

teach the

Among

Aryeh Loeb

L. G.

se.

ASAHEL, HAYYIM



Rabbi and author who

lived in Salonica during the first half of the eighteenth century. He was the son of Benjamin Asaa yyim Asahel hel, the chief rabbi of that city. was the author of a Hebrew work entitled "Sam Life), a collection of addresses Hayyai " (Spice of and responsa, which was published after his death by his son Benjamin (Salonica, 1746). He lived for

H

My

some years

and was commissioned to throughout Asia Minor for the He died at Smyrna while on this

at Jerusalem,

collect subscriptions

poor of Palestine. mission.

Bibliography



Gratz, Geschichte der Juden,

v. 92.

H. Hie.

a.

AS'AD AL-DIN, YA'KTJB IBN ISHAK

AL-MAHALLI

Bibliography Azulai, Shem ha-GedoJim, Michael, Or ha-Hayyim, No. 895.

il.

s.v.

"n DD

M. Fr.

g.

ASAIAH:

A

lived in Cairo toward the end of the twelfth century and at the beginning of the thirteenth. He was born in al-

prince of the tribe of Simeon who, with others, attacked and captured Gedor, and 2. Servant of King settled there (I Chron. iv. 36).

Mahallah, a city between Cairo and Damietta. Ibn Abi Usaibia, in his history of the Arabic physicians, praises As'ad highly and speaks of him as one of the most renowned scholars and physicians of that time. In 1201 As'ad went to Damascus, where he engaged in many controversies with the local physicians, among whom was Sadaka ben Munaj jah, the Samaritan. He returned to Cairo, where he died. Ibn Abi Usaibia mentions the following works of As'ad: (1) "Makalah fi Kawanin Tabiyah" II.— 11

by whom he was sent, in company with Ahikam, Shaphan, Achbor, and Hilkiah, to inquire concerning the book of the Law that had been found in the Temple (II Kings xxii. 12, 14; II Chron.



Egyptian physician



1.

Josiah,

xxxiv. 20). 3. A Levite appointed to take part in bringing back the Ark and in the service of song after its return (I Chron. vi. 15 [A. V. 30] xv. 6, 4. A Shilonite residing in Jerusalem (I Chron. 11). identical with Maaseiah (Neh. xi. 5). ix. 5)



J.

jr.

G. B. L.