ADONAY

(A·do·nayʹ; Heb., ʼAdho·nayʹ) [Lord].

The ending ay added to the Hebrew word ʼa·dhohnʹ (see ADON) is a different form of the plural of excellence. It is used exclusively of Jehovah and implies that he is Sovereign. Its use by men in addressing him suggests submissive acknowledgment of that great fact.—Gen. 15:2, 8; Deut. 3:24; Josh. 7:7.

Evidently by early in the Common Era the divine name, YHWH, had come to be regarded by the Jewish rabbis as too sacred to be pronounced. Instead, they substituted ʼAdho·nayʹ (sometimes ʼElo·himʹ) when reading the Scriptures aloud. The sopherim or scribes went even farther by replacing the divine name in the written text with ʼAdho·nayʹ 134 times. Later, the Masoretes, who copied the text with great care from the fifth to the ninth centuries of our Common Era, noted in the Masorah (their notes on the text) where the sopherim had made such changes. Hence, these 134 changes are known. (For a list see the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1961 edition, page 1453.) Taking this into account, there remain 298 places where ʼAdho·nayʹ did originally appear in the text.

The title ʼAdho·nayʹ is used mostly by the prophets, and much more frequently by Ezekiel than any other. Nearly every time he combines it with the divine name to form ʼAdho·nayʹ Y^eho·wihʹ, “Lord Jehovah.” Another combination title, appearing sixteen times, is ʹAdho·nayʹ Y^eho·wihʹ ts^eva·ʼohthʹ, “Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies,” and all but two of its occurrences (Ps. 69:6; Amos 9:5) are in Isaiah and Jeremiah. The title is used to reveal Jehovah as the One with the power and determination to avenge his oppressed people, but also to punish their unfaithfulness.

ADONI-BEZEK

(A·doʹni-beʹzek) [lord of Bezek, or lord of lightning].

A powerful ruler, who, prior to the Israelite attack at Bezek, had humbled seventy pagan kings by cutting off their thumbs and great toes. A similar practice was employed at one time by the ancient Athenians, who decreed that prisoners of war should lose their thumbs. Thereafter they could row but were unfit to handle a sword or spear.

Soon after Joshua’s death the combined forces of Judah and Simeon clashed with 10,000 troops of the Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, causing Adoni-bezek to flee from the defeat. Upon being captured, his thumbs and great toes were also severed at which time he declared: “Just the way I have done, so God has repaid me.” He was transported to Jerusalem, where he died.—Judg. 1:5-7.

ADONIJAH

(Ad·o·niʹjah) [Jah is my Lord].

1. David’s fourth son, born of Haggith in Hebron. (2 Sam. 3:4) Though of a different mother, Adonijah was quite similar to Absalom in being “very good looking in form” and in his ambition. (1 Ki. 1:5, 6; compare 2 Samuel 14:25; 15:1.) He becomes prominent in the Bible record during David’s waning years. Despite Jehovah’s declaration that the kingship would go to Solomon (1 Chron. 22:9, 10), Adonijah began boasting that he would be Israel’s next king. Though there was neither law nor precedent in Israel to show that the eldest son should be the king’s heir, Adonijah doubtless founded his claim on this basis, since Amnon and Absalom, and probably Chileab, were dead. Like Absalom, he made a showy display of his pretensions and went uncorrected by his father. He built up party support by gaining the favor of the head of the army, Joab, and the head of the priesthood Abiathar. (1 Ki. 1:5-8) He then held a sacrificial feast near En-rogel, a short distance from the city of Jerusalem inviting most of the royal household, but not Solomon, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah. His obvious purpose was to have himself declared king.—1 Ki. 1:9, 10, 25.

Nathan the prophet acted promptly to block Adonijah’s scheme. He counseled Solomon’s mother Bath-sheba to remind David of his oath in favor of Solomon’s kingship and then appeared after her at the king’s quarters to confirm her words and alert David to the gravity of the situation, also, in effect, indicating that he felt David may have been acting behind the backs of his close associates. (1 Ki. 1:11-27) This stirred the old king to action and he promptly gave orders for the immediate anointing of Solomon as coregent and successor to the throne. This action provoked a joyful uproar by the people, which was heard at Adonijah’s banquet. Soon a runner, priest Abiathar’s son, appeared with the disquieting news of David’s proclamation of Solomon as king. Adonijah’s supporters quickly dispersed and he fled to the tabernacle courtyard seeking refuge. Solomon then granted him pardon on the provision of his good behavior.—1 Ki. 1:32-53.

However, following David’s death, Adonijah approached Bath-sheba and induced her to act as his agent before Solomon to request David’s youthful nurse and companion, Abishag, as his wife. Adonijah’s statement that “the kingship was to have become mine, and it was toward me that all Israel had set their face for me to become king” indicates that he felt he had been deprived of his right, even though he professedly acknowledged God’s hand in the matter. (1 Ki. 2:13-21) While his request may have been based solely on the desire for some compensation for the loss of the kingdom, it strongly suggested that the fires of ambition continued in Adonijah, since by Oriental custom the wives and concubines of a king could only become those of his legal successor. (Compare 2 Samuel 3:7; 16:21.) Solomon so viewed this request made through his mother and ordered Adonijah’s death, which order was promptly carried out by Benaiah.—1 Ki. 2:22-25.

2. A Levite sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah.—2 Chron. 17:8.

3. One of the “heads of the people” whose descendant, if not himself, joined certain princes and Levites in attesting by seal the confession contract made by the returned Israelites in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. (Neh. 9:38; 10:1, 14, 16) He is suggested by some to be the same as Adonikam at Ezra 2:13, whose descendants, numbering six hundred and sixty-six returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel in 537 B.C.E. A comparison of the names of those whose representatives sealed the resolution at Nehemiah chapter 10 and of those listed as heads of the returning exiles at Ezra chapter 2 seems to bear this out.—See ADONIKAM.

ADONIKAM

(Ad·o·niʹkam) [the lord is risen].

A founder of one of the paternal houses of Israel. More than 600 members of this family returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel after the exile at Babylon. (Ezra 2:13; Neh. 7:18) An additional sixty-three members of this paternal house accompanied Ezra to Jerusalem in 468 B.C.E. (Ezra 8:13) When the representatives of the paternal houses attested to the “trustworthy arrangement” or resolution drawn up in Nehemiah’s day, this family was apparently listed by the name Adonijah.—Neh. 9:38; 10:16.

ADONIRAM

(Ad·o·niʹram) [my lord is exalted].

A prince, able administrator, and the son of Abda. Adoniram served as overseer of those conscripted for forced labor during the reigns of David, Solomon and Rehoboam, playing an important part in Solomon’s many building projects. Later, when the ten tribes revolted against the harsh dictates of Rehoboam at Shechem in 997 B.C.E., the king sent this conscriptor for forced labor to the people, but they “pelted him with stones, so that he died.” (2 Chron 10:18) He is variously referred to as Adoniram (1 Ki. 4:6; 5:14), Adoram (2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Ki. 12:18) and as Hadoram.—2 Chron. 10:18.

ADONIS

(A·doʹnis).

In Greek mythology, the handsome youth beloved of Aphrodite the goddess of sensual love. The name “Adonis,” however, is derived from the Semitic word ʼa·dhohnʹ, “lord,” indicating that his worship did not originate in Greece. This deity has commonly been identified with the Babylonian Tammuz, and it is believed that the worship of Adonis was adopted by the Greeks from the Semites of Syria and Babylonia as early as the seventh century B.C.E.

Various mythological accounts tell of the violent death of Adonis and his return to life. These myths are generally interpreted as representing the death of vegetation in winter and its return to life in the spring.

In Syria, Phoenicia, Greece and other places, chiefly the women annually bewailed the death of Adonis and carried images of his body as in funeral procession, later tossing them into the sea or springs. In the territory of Byblos in Phoenicia, women even shaved their heads, and those refusing to have their heads shaved were forced to prostitute themselves to strangers, the money acquired thereby being dedicated to Astarte (Ashtoreth).

The ancients evidently believed that their engaging in these rituals promoted the growth of vegetation and that throwing the images of Adonis into the water ensured a good supply of rain for their crops. Even some of the Israelites may have become ensnared by these practices of neighboring peoples. This seems to be indicated by a possible alternate rendering of Isaiah 17:10 (NW, 1958 ed., ftn. b). Israel had forgotten Jehovah and was planting “pleasant plantations” or “plantations to Adonis,” containers filled with earth in which were planted various kinds of seeds that quickly sprouted and then rapidly withered, symbolic of the life and death of Adonis.—See TAMMUZ.

ADONI-ZEDEK

(A·doʹni-zeʹdek) [lord of righteousness].

A king of Jerusalem at the time of the Israelite conquest of the Promised Land, who joined with other petty kingdoms W of the Jordan in a consolidated effort to halt Joshua’s conquering forces. (Josh. 9:1-3) However, the Hivite inhabitants of Gibeon made peace with Joshua. In a retaliatory measure designed to stop further desertion to the enemy, Adoni-zedek united his army with those of four additional kings of the Amorites, and laid siege against Gibeon and warred against it. Joshua’s spectacular rescue of the Gibeonites and the shattering defeat of these combined forces caused the five kings to flee to Makkedah, where they were trapped in a cave. Joshua himself slew Adoni-zedek and the other four kings before his troops, and hanged them upon stakes, stating that “it is like this that Jehovah will do to all your enemies against whom you are warring.” Their corpses were finally thrown back into the cave, which came to be their tomb.—Josh. 10:1-27.

ADOPTION

The placing as a son or daughter one who is not such by natural relationship.

In the Hebrew Scriptures adoption is not dealt with from the viewpoint of legal procedure, but the basic idea is set forth in several cases. It appears that Abraham, prior to the birth of Ishmael and Isaac, considered his slave Eliezer as at least in line for a position similar to that of an adopted son and as the likely inheritor of Abraham’s house. (Gen. 15:2-4) The practice of adopting slaves as sons has long been a common Oriental practice, and as such they had inheritance rights though not above those of children descended naturally from the father.

Rachel and Leah both considered the children born to Jacob by their handmaids as their own sons, ‘born upon their knees.’ (Gen. 30:3-8, 12, 13, 24) These children inherited along with those born directly of Jacob’s legal wives. They were natural sons of the father and, since the slave girls were property of the wives, Rachel and Leah had property rights in these children.

The child Moses was later adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. (Ex. 2:5-10) Whether or not this practice was common in Egypt is not certain, but men and women are said to have had equal rights under Egyptian law, hence Pharaoh’s daughter was in position to exercise such right.

Within the nation of Israel adoption does not appear to have been widely practiced. The law of levirate marriage doubtless eliminated to a great extent a basic reason for adoption of children: the continuance of the parental name.—Deut. 25:5, 6.

CHRISTIAN SIGNIFICANCE

In the Greek Scriptures the figure of adoption is employed several times by the apostle Paul with regard to the new status of those called and chosen by God. Such ones, born as descendants of the imperfect Adam, were in slavery to sin and did not possess inherent sonship of God. Through purchase by means of Christ Jesus they receive the adoption as sons and also become heirs with Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. (Gal. 4:1-7; Rom. 8:14-17) They do not come by such sonship naturally but by God’s choice and according to his will. (Eph. 1:5) While acknowledged as God’s children or sons from the time of God’s begetting them by his spirit (1 John 3:1; John 1:12, 13), their full realization of this privilege as spirit sons of God is shown to be dependent on their ultimate faithfulness. (Rom. 8:17; Rev. 21:7) Thus, Paul speaks of them as “earnestly waiting for adoption as sons, the release from our bodies by ransom.”—Rom. 8:23.

Such adopted state brings benefits of freedom from “a spirit of slavery causing fear,” replacing it with the confidence of sons; of hope of a heavenly inheritance assured by the witness of God’s spirit. At the same time such spiritual sons are reminded by their adoption that such position is by God’s undeserved kindness and selection rather than by their inherent right.—Rom. 8:15, 16; Gal. 4:5-7.

At Romans 9:4 Paul speaks of the fleshly Israelites as those “to whom belong the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law,” and this evidently refers to the unique position granted Israel while they were God’s covenant people. Thus, God, on occasion, spoke of Israel as “my son.” (Ex. 4:22, 23; Deut. 14:1, 2; Isa. 43:6; Jer. 31:9; Hos. 1:10; 11:1; compare John 8:41.) Actual sonship, however, awaited the ransom provision made through Christ Jesus and was dependent on acceptance of that divine arrangement and faith in it.—John 1:12, 13; Gal. 4:4, 5; 2 Cor. 6:16-18.

ADORAIM

(Ad·o·raʹim) [perhaps, two mounds].

One of the cities of Judah rebuilt and fortified by King Rehoboam in the tenth century B.C.E. (2 Chron. 11:9) It is identified with the modern village of Dura, located on a hillside about five miles (8 kilometers) W-SW of Hebron.

ADORAM

See ADONIRAM.

ADORNMENT

That which is put on to decorate, beautify, embellish, add luster to and make the person himself or that which he represents pleasing or attractive. It may be for a good or for a deceptive purpose.

The Scriptures do not condemn physical adornment if it is properly done, and they highly recommend spiritual adornment. Jehovah himself is described as clothed in light and surrounded by beauty. (Ps. 104:1, 2; Ezek. 1:1, 4-28; Rev. 4:2, 3) He has richly ornamented his creation with color, variety and majestic magnificence.—Luke 12:27, 28; Ps. 139:14; 1 Cor. 15:41.

In Bible times the bridegroom and bride adorned themselves for the marriage feast. In preparation the bride decked herself with the finest clothing and the best of the ornamental things that she possessed to present herself before the bridegroom. (Ps. 45:13, 14; Isa. 61:10) Jehovah speaks to Jerusalem, figuratively describing her as a girl whom he decked with fine, costly clothing and jewelry but who used her beauty and adornment unfaithfully as a prostitute. (Ezek. 16:10-19) Jehovah’s prophet Hosea condemned Israel