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AdversaryAid to Bible Understanding
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people returned from Babylon, there were those who tried to prevent rebuilding the temple and the city wall. (Ezra 4:1; Neh. 4:11) Hateful Haman, having the spirit of the Devil, proved a wicked adversary of the Jews in the days of Queen Esther. (Esther 7:6) Christians today must be alert, watchful, on guard, and must put up a hard fight for the faith against the Adversary’s machinations. (Eph. 6:11, 12; Jude 3) Peter counsels: “Keep your senses, be watchful. Your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone. But take your stand against him, solid in the faith.” (1 Pet. 5:8, 9) Eventually, Jehovah’s power will triumph over all opposers.—Jer. 30:16; Mic. 5:9.
When God’s people were unfaithful He allowed their adversaries to plunder and defeat them. (Ps. 89:42; Lam. 1:5, 7, 10, 17; 2:17; 4:12) The enemy, however drew wrong conclusions from these victories, taking credit for themselves and praising their gods. (Deut. 32:27; Jer. 50:7) Jehovah was therefore obliged to humble these proud and boasting adversaries (Isa. 1:24; 26:11; 59:18; Nah. 1:2); and this he did for his holy name’s sake.—Isa. 64:2; Ezek. 36:21-24.
The Greek word an·tiʹdi·kos (adversary) is used in other places to describe a complainant or adversary in a legal case.—Matt. 5:25; Luke 12:58; 18:3.
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AeneasAid to Bible Understanding
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AENEAS
(Ae·neʹas) [praise, or laudable].
A man of Lydda, alongside the plains of Sharon, healed by Peter after being paralyzed for eight years.—Acts 9:32-35.
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AenonAid to Bible Understanding
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AENON
(Aeʹnon) [springs, (natural) fountains].
A place having “great quantity of water” available, where John the Baptist did baptizing following the Passover of 30 C.E. (John 3:23) It was near the apparently better known place named Salim. The exact locations of these places are uncertain; however Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea in the third and fourth centuries C.E., indicates a location in the Jordan valley about eight miles (13 kilometers) S of Bethshan (Scythopolis). In this area is Tell Ridgha, also called Tell Sheikh Selim, and nearby are several springs that might fit the description of the place called Aenon.
Commenting on John’s selection of this place, Harper’s Bible Dictionary (1952), on page eight, says: “The abundance of water suggests that the candidates for baptism may have been here immersed, as they were at the Jordan.”
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AgabusAid to Bible Understanding
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AGABUS
(Agʹa·bus).
A Christian prophet who, together with other prophets, came down from Jerusalem to Antioch of Syria during the year of Paul’s stay there. Agabus foretold through the spirit “that a great famine was about to come upon the entire inhabited earth [Gr., oi·kou·meʹnen].” (Acts 11:27, 28) Concerning the use of the word oi·kou·meʹne in this text, Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament (p. 451) states: “The word here used . . . usually denotes the inhabitable world, the parts of the earth which are cultivated and occupied. It is sometimes limited, however, to denote an entire land or country, in contradistinction from the parts of it; thus, to denote the whole of the land of Palestine in distinction from its parts, or to denote that an event would have reference to all the land, and not be confined to one or more parts, as Galilee, Samaria, etc.”—Compare Luke 2:1.
It appears that the brothers in Antioch understood this prophecy as applying to the land of Palestine, since the next verse (Acts 11:29) states that they determined “to send a relief ministration to the brothers dwelling in Judea.” As the account states the prophecy was fulfilled during the reign of Emperor Claudius I (41-54 C.E.). The Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XX, chap. II, par. 5; chap. V, par. 2) refers to this “great famine” and indicates that it lasted for three or more years.
Toward the close of Paul’s last missionary tour (about 56 C.E.), he was met in Caesarea by Agabus, who illustrated a prophecy of Paul’s future arrest in Jerusalem by binding his own hands and feet with Paul’s girdle.—Acts 21:8-11.
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AgagAid to Bible Understanding
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AGAG
(Aʹgag).
1. Balaam, in his third prophetic utterance, foretold that a king of Israel would be “higher than Agag, and his kingdom will be lifted up.” (Num. 24:7) These words were spoken about 1473 B.C.E. and no subsequent reference is made to Agag until the reign of King Saul (1117-1077 B.C.E.). Because of this some authorities suggest that “Agag” was a title used by the kings of the Amalekites similar to the title of Pharaoh used by the kings of Egypt. It may also be simply a case of the repeated use of a personal name. At any rate the manner of Balaam’s reference to Agag indicates that his kingdom was at that time a powerful one.—Num. 24:20; see AMALEK, AMALEKITES.
2. The king of Amalek who was defeated by King Saul in fulfillment of Jehovah’s decree. (Ex. 17:14; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Sam. 15:1-7) However, Saul failed to execute Agag and allowed the people to keep some of the spoil, and this resulted in Samuel’s pronouncement of God’s rejection of Saul as king. (1 Sam. 15:8-29) Agag was then executed by Samuel, who told him: “Just as your sword has bereaved women of children, in that way your mother will be most bereaved of children among women.”—1 Sam. 15:32, 33; compare Judges 1:5-7.
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AgagiteAid to Bible Understanding
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AGAGITE
(Agʹag·ite) [belonging to Agag].
A term applied to Haman and to his father, Hammedatha, at Esther 3:1, 10; 8:3, 5. It apparently designates them as descendants of Agag and hence of Amalekite descent. The Jews traditionally have understood the expression in this way and take the Agag to be the monarch mentioned at 1 Samuel 15:8-33. Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI, chap. VI, par. 5) refers to Haman as “by birth an Amalekite.” Mordecai was a descendant of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, thus making him and Haman, in a sense, traditional enemies.—Esther 2:5.
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AgateAid to Bible Understanding
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AGATE
A precious ornamental stone that is a form of chalcedony, a variety of colored quartz. Most agates form as nodules in stratified deposits of silica found in certain rock cavities. The agate layers vary from clear to opaque, and they assume many shades of color due to the presence of microscopic particles of iron salts. The colors appear in combinations of yellow, brown, gray, blue or black and these may be attractively distributed in patterns of stripes, bands or cloudy blends. Agate is slightly harder than steel and can be polished to a high gloss.
Agate used by the Israelites in the wilderness may have been brought from Egypt. According to Pliny the Elder, red agates veined with white were found in the vicinity of Thebes. Such a red agate may have been the variety that was mounted on the high priest’s “breastpiece of judgment” to represent one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The center stone of the third row on Aaron’s breastpiece was an agate (Heb., shevohʹ, a kind of precious stone).—Ex. 28:2, 15, 19, 21; 39:12.
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AgeAid to Bible Understanding
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AGE
The time one has lived, usually counted by years, months and days; also the mature age. (Gen. 21:2; 48:10; Num. 8:25; 1 Ki. 14:4; John 9:21; Heb 11:11) The Authorized Version employs the word “age” in translating the Hebrew words hheʹledh and dohr (or dor) in some texts, where more modern translations prefer such terms as “lifetime” or “life’s duration [Heb., hheʹledh],” “generation [Heb., dor].”—Job 8:8; 11:17; Ps. 39:5; see OLDER MAN.
Under the Law, at the age of twenty years the men qualified for military service. (Num. 1:3) The man blind from his birth to whom Jesus gave sight must have been at least twenty years old, since his parents told their interrogators: “Ask him. He is of age. He must speak for himself.” (John 9:21, 23) Sarah is spoken of as being “past the age limit” for
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