once-close companion treacherously turned traitor and joined David’s son Absalom in a coup against the king. As a ringleader in the rebellion he advised Absalom to violate David’s concubines, and he asked permission to raise an army of 12,000 and immediately hunt down and kill David while in his disorganized and weakened state. (15:31; 16:15, 21; 17:1-4) When Jehovah thwarted this bold scheme by the counsel of Hushai, Ahithophel’s pride was offended. (15:32-34; 17:5-14) He committed suicide and was buried with his forefathers. (17:23) Apart from wartime, this is the only case of suicide mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. His traitorous act is apparently recalled in Psalm 55:12-14.

AHITUB

(A·hiʹtub) [the (divine) brother is good].

1. A descendant of Aaron’s son Ithamar; son of Phinehas and grandson of high priest Eli. (1 Sam. 14:3; 1 Chron. 24:3) Following the death of his father and grandfather on the same day, Ahitub possibly officiated as high priest. (1 Sam. 4:17, 18) His son, high priest Ahimelech, was slain by Saul.—1 Sam. 22:9-20.

2. Son of Amariah, a descendant of Aaron’s son Eleazar. (1 Chron. 6:3-8) There is no indication that he acted as high priest; this office was in the line of Ithamar at the time. Ahitub’s son Zadok served as a secondary priest, not as high priest, during the reign of David, and then was assigned to replace Abiathar as high priest during the reign of Solomon.—2 Sam. 8:17; 1 Chron. 18:16; 1 Ki. 1:8; 2:27.

3. Another priest who descended from Ahitub (2) above. Genealogical listings are interrupted to call him “a leader of the house of the true God.” (1 Chron. 9:11; Neh. 11:11) His father’s name was also Amariah, and from 1 Chronicles 9:11 and Nehemiah 11:11 it appears that his son was Meraioth and his grandson Zadok.—1 Chron. 6:11, 12; 9:11; Ezra 7:2.

AHLAB

(Ahʹlab) [fat, fruitful].

Identified with modern Khirbet el-Mahalib, about four miles (6.4 kilometers) NE of Tyre, this Canaanite town was located in Asher’s territory. (Judg. 1:31) The tribe, however, failed to drive out the Canaanites, who subsequently continued to inhabit the city. Assyrian inscriptions show it was captured by Sennacherib in his third campaign.

AHLAI

(Ahʹlai) [O! would that!].

1. Likely the daughter of Sheshan of the tribe of Judah, given in marriage to her father’s Egyptian servant Jarha for whom she bore Attai. However, Ahlai, if actually a son of Sheshan, may have died early.—1 Chron. 2:31, 34, 35.

2. Father of Zabad who was a mighty man in David’s army.—1 Chron. 11:41.

AHOAH, AHOHI, AHOHITE

(A·hoʹah, A·hoʹhi, A·hoʹhite) [brotherly; a brother’s reed].

A descendant of Benjamin through Bela. (1 Chron. 8:1-4) There are some who think he is the same as Ahijah in 1 Chronicles 8:7. Some of his descendants, Ahohites, were prominent fighters in David’s army.—2 Sam. 23:9, 28; 1 Chron. 11:12, 29; 27:4.

AHUMAI

(A·huʹmai) [brother of water, i.e., neighbor to water].

First-named son of Jahath in the genealogies of Judah.—1 Chron. 4:1, 2.

AHUZZAM

(A·huzʹzam) [a taking fast hold; possessor]. First-named son of Ashhur, of the tribe of Judah, by his wife Naarah.—1 Chron. 4:5, 6; 2:3-5, 24.

AHUZZATH

(A·huzʹzath) [possession; seized].

The “confidential friend” who accompanied Abimelech, Philistine king of Gerar, on a visit to Isaac at Beer-sheba. (Gen. 26:23, 26) This is the first reference to “confidential friend,” the trusted inner circle position of one consulted for advice or authorized as spokesman. (See FRIEND OF THE KING.) The ʽathʼ ending (Ahuzzath) is characteristic of Philistine names.

AHZAI

(Ahʹzai) [whom Jehovah holds].

Son of Meshillemoth and ancestor of certain priests in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. (Neh. 11:13) Some believe he is the Jahzerah listed in 1 Chronicles 9:12.

AI

(Aʹi) [heap of ruins].

In the Authorized Version also called “Hai,” with the definite article prefixed, as it always is in the Hebrew. The name also occurs in the feminine forms Aiath and Aija.—Isa. 10:28; Neh. 11:31.

1. A royal city of the Canaanites, the second city taken during the Israelite invasion. Some 470 years earlier Abraham had pitched his tent “with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east,” shortly after arrival in Canaan (1943 B.C.E.). He built an altar there and revisited the place after his sojourn in Egypt. (Gen. 12:8; 13:3) In 1473 B.C.E., following the victory over Jericho, Ai was attacked by a small force of about 3,000 Israelite soldiers, since the spies said of the inhabitants of Ai, “they are few.” (Josh. 7:2, 3) However, due to Achan’s sin Israel suffered defeat. (Josh. 7:4-15) After correction of this matter, Joshua employed a stratagem against Ai, setting in ambush at the rear of the city, on its W side. The main force was deployed before the city to the N, where a valley or low desert plain lay, and from here Joshua prepared for a frontal attack on Ai. Having lured the king of Ai and a body of men out of Ai, Joshua’s force feigned retreat until their pursuers were far from their fortress. Then the ambush was signaled into action, the city captured and set on fire. (Josh. 8:1-27) Ai’s king was executed and the city was reduced to “an indefinitely lasting mound [Heb., tel], as a desolation down to this day.”—Josh. 8:28, 29.

By Isaiah’s time (c. 778-732 B.C.E.) the city, or perhaps an adjoining site, was inhabited and was prophesied to be the first to be taken by the king of Assyria in his march on Jerusalem. (Isa. 10:28) Following the Babylonian exile, Benjamites from Ai returned with Zerubbabel’s caravan.—Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32; 11:31.

Ai is shown to have been situated “close by Bethaven, to the east of Bethel,” with a valley plain to the N. (Josh. 7:2; 8:11, 12) Michmash apparently lay to the S. (Isa. 10:28) Ai has been generally identified with the site et-Tell (“the heap, or mound”), which preserves the meaning of the ancient name. It is two miles (3.2 kilometers) SE of Bethel (modern Beitin). However, excavations made there in 1933-1935 indicate that it was a large city, devastated about 2000 B.C.E. and thereafter uninhabited until about 1050 B.C.E. (according to archaeological methods of dating). Because of this, various attempts have been made by archaeologists to alter the sense of the Scriptural references to Ai. However archaeologist J. Simons finds the identification with et-Tell unacceptable on the basis of the city’s size (Josh. 7:3), that there is no broad valley to the N of et-Tell (Josh. 8:11), and on other grounds. (Archaeological Digest, July-September 1947, p. 311) If the archaeological dating is correct, then the site must be located elsewhere. The name itself would not necessarily identify the place, since as Sir Frederic Kenyon states: “The transference of a name from a ruined or abandoned site to another near by is a common phenomenon in Palestine.”—The Bible and Archaeology, p. 190.

2. A city mentioned along with Heshbon in Jeremiah’s prophecy against the Ammonites. (Jer. 49:3) The location is unknown.

AIAH

(Aʹiah) [bird of prey; falcon; hawk].

1. First named of two sons of Hivite sheik Zibeon and uncle to one of Esau’s wives, Oholibamah.—Gen. 36:2, 20, 24, 29; 1 Chron. 1:40; see ANAH.

2. Father of Saul’s concubine Rizpah. His two grandsons from this union were executed.—2 Sam. 3:7; 21:8-11.

AIATH

See AI No. 1.