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Augustus, Band OfAid to Bible Understanding
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“Augustan Cohort,” as do a number of other translations. Greek lexicons (see Vine; Liddell and Scott) show that the word speiʹra (“band”), when used in a military sense, generally stood for a Roman manipulus, a detachment equal to three “centuries,” or up to three hundred men. However, they show that the term is also used for a larger body of men and, as used in the Greek Scriptures, is believed to represent a Roman “cohort” (the tenth part of a legion, with from 400 up to 1,000 men). In addition to the regular Roman legions made up of Roman citizens and divided into cohorts, there were also second-grade troops or auxilia, formed of cohorts recruited from among the Roman subjects (not citizens). These were independent infantry units and generally served along the frontiers of the empire. While the cohorts within the regular Roman legions were not given distinctive names, these auxiliary cohorts were often named. Inscriptions have been found of a Cohors I Augusta (Latin) and Speiʹra Au·gouʹste (Greek), though not necessarily identified with the band under discussion. The Interpreter’s Bible (Vol. 9, p. 332), commenting on Acts 27:1, says of the band of Augustus: “Most probably it is an auxiliary cohort which we know to have been stationed in Syria about this time.”
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AuntAid to Bible Understanding
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AUNT
The sister of one’s mother or father; the wife of one’s uncle. Only in the Hebrew Scriptures is this kinship mentioned. There, sexual intercourse with such a near relative as an aunt is classified as incest, and is strictly forbidden under the Mosaic law.—Lev. 18:12-14; 20:19, 20.
Concerning Moses’ parents, the Masoretic text reads: “Now Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister as his wife.” (Ex. 6:20; Num. 26:59) Such a marriage at that time was permissible, as it occurred over eighty years before the Law was given.—See JOCHEBED.
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AvenAid to Bible Understanding
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AVEN
(Aʹven) [trouble; wickedness; idolatry].
1. Aven appears in the Hebrew Masoretic text at Ezekiel 30:17 and is so rendered in AV. Many modern translations here read “On,” the city in Egypt called Helioplis by the Greeks. The Hebrew consonants for Aven are the same as for On but the vowel pointing differs. Some commentaries suggest that the change in the vowel pointing was a deliberate play on words in order to express contempt for the idolatrous city of On, the center of Egyptian sun worship.—See ON.
2. At Hosea 10:8 Aven appears in the Hebrew text evidently as an abbreviation for Beth-aven.—Compare Hosea 4:15; 5:8; 10:5; see BETH-AVEN No. 2.
3. Amos 1:5 refers to the “valley plain of Aven,” and this expression from the Hebrew is rendered “Bikath-aven” in NW, JP and JB.—See BIKATH-AVEN.
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Avenger Of BloodAid to Bible Understanding
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AVENGER OF BLOOD
The Hebrew word go·ʼelʹ (which has been applied to a blood avenger) is a participle of ga·ʼalʹ, meaning “to recover, reclaim, repurchase or redeem.” In Hebrew law the term originally applied to the nearest male relative, who was under obligation to avenge the blood of one who had been killed. (Num. 35:19) In time go·ʼelʹ was expanded in meaning to include a “kinsman with the right to repurchase (or redeem).”—Lev. 25:48, 49; see REPURCHASE, REPURCHASER.
The avenging of blood is based on the mandate regarding the sanctity of blood and human life stated to Noah wherein Jehovah said: “Your blood of your souls shall I ask back. . . . from the hand of each one who is his brother, shall I ask back the soul of man. Anyone shedding man’s blood, by man will his own blood be shed, for in God’s image he made man.” (Gen. 9:5, 6) A deliberate murderer was to be put to death by the “avenger of blood,” and no ransom was to be accepted for such a murderer. (Num. 35:19-21, 31) David was displeased when Joab and Abishai killed Abner on the pretext of avenging the blood of their brother Asahel, for as a matter of fact, Abner in battle killed Asahel in self-defense and only after due warning; hence no avenging of blood was required.—2 Sam. 2:22, 23; 3:27-30.
Jehovah will see to it that the innocent blood of all his faithful servants is avenged in due time.—Deut. 32:43; Rev. 6:9-11.
Jehovah’s just laws made a clear distinction between willful and accidental killing. For the latter, cities of refuge were lovingly provided for the protection of accidental manslayers from avengers of blood. (Num. 35:6-29; Deut. 19:2-13; Josh. 20:2-9) Also, legal courts were established to hear cases involving questions of bloodguilt.—Deut. 17:8, 9; 2 Chron. 19:10.
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AvithAid to Bible Understanding
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AVITH
(Aʹvith).
The royal city or home of Hadad, the fourth king of the Edomites, who defeated the Midianites in battle. (Gen. 36:35; 1 Chron. 1:46) It is presently identified with Khirbet el-Jiththeh, located in the ancient Edomite territory between Maʽan and Khirbet el-Bastah, about sixty-five miles (104 kilometers) S-SE of the Dead Sea. The mountain of the same name (Jebel el-Jiththeh) rises there to an elevation of some 4,370 feet (1,332 meters).
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AvrékhAid to Bible Understanding
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AVRÉKH
(A·vrekhʹ).
The term of honor and dignity called out before the chariot of Joseph after Pharaoh made him second in the kingdom. (Gen. 41:43) If of Hebrew origin, as the ancient translator Aquilla conjectured and as supported by the Vulgate, then it could mean “bow the knee,” and is so translated in many versions. (AS, AV, Da, Dy, ER, Ro, RS) However, this view is rejected by many in favor of similar words in other languages. For example, some think it may be a Babylonian or Assyrian title of a high official, meaning “seer” or “grand vizier.” Some turn to the Coptic and say it means “bow the head”; others observe that the Arabs say something similar in commanding their camels to kneel down. The Syriac Peshitta reads: “Father and Ruler!” Other investigators believe that it is strictly Egyptian. Origen, a native of Egypt, and Jerome think it means “a native Egyptian,” and because of the disregard Egyptians had for foreigners, they reason that it was a public proclamation of naturalization. A similar expression, appearing in a papyrus finding, means ‘your command is our desire,’ that is, ‘we are at your service.’
The exact meaning of this expression has therefore not yet been determined, hence it is left untranslated in NW, JP, JB and other versions. This non-Hebrew custom of making public acclamation before an honored one as he rode through town also finds an example in Esther 6:11, when Mordecai was publicly honored at the command of Persian King Ahasuerus.
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AvvaAid to Bible Understanding
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AVVA
(Avʹva) [ruin].
A town on the Orontes River S of Hamath in northern Syria, under the control of Assyria in the eighth century B.C.E. Apparently the same as Ivvah. (2 Ki. 17:24; 18:34; 19:13; Isa. 37:13; see AVVITES.) Some authorities identify it with Tell Kefr ʽAya near Riblah.
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AvvimAid to Bible Understanding
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AVVIM
(Avʹvim) [villagers, the ruins].
1. Early settlers in that part of the land of Canaan that lay westward toward Gaza. Forty years after the exodus, Moses told how, for the most part, these Avvim had been dispossessed by the Caphtorim. (Deut. 2:23) Shortly before Joshua’s death, in about the middle of the fifteenth century B.C.E., a remnant of the Avvim still remained.—Josh. 13:1, 3.
2. A city of Benjamin, listed between Bethel and Parah at Joshua 18:21-23. It may have been populated by remaining members of the tribe of the Avvim. F.-M. Abel (Géographie de la Palestine, Vol. II, p. 257) identifies it with Khirbet Haiyan SE of Bethel.
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AvvitesAid to Bible Understanding
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AVVITES
(Avʹvites).
Inhabitants of Avva (see AVVA), who were among the peoples whom the Assyrians used to replace exiled Israelites after capturing Samaria in 740 B.C.E. (2 Ki. 17:24) All these transplanted
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