AIJA

See AI No. 1.

AIJALON

(Aiʹja·lon) [place of deer or harts].

1. A city of the Shephelah or hilly lowlands of Palestine, on a hill at the S end of the beautiful low plain or valley of Aijalon. The village at this site is now called Yalo and is situated just N of the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa, about fourteen miles (22.5 kilometers) NW of Jerusalem.

The valley of Aijalon is the northernmost of several valleys cutting across the hills of the Shephelah and was an important pass leading from the coastal plains up into the central mountainous region. Joshua was evidently near this plain when he called for the sun and the moon to stand “motionless” over Gibeon and over the “low plain of Aijalon,” when he was completing his victorious battle against the five Amorite kings who had warred against Gibeon. (Josh. 10:12-14) After the end of Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, Aijalon was assigned to the tribe of Dan. (Josh 19:40-42) It was later assigned to the sons of Kohath as a Levite city. (Josh. 21:24) The Danites at first proved unable to oust the Amorites from Aijalon, but it appears that Ephraim from the N came to their aid and “the hand of the house of Joseph got to be so heavy that they [the Amorites] were forced into task work.” (Judg. 1:34, 35) This may be the reason why 1 Chronicles 6:69 lists Aijalon as belonging to Ephraim and as given by them to the Kohathites. (See, however, the corresponding case of GATH-RIMMON.) Later on, perhaps after the division of the kingdom, it is spoken of as the city of certain prominent Benjamites.—1 Chron. 8:13.

At Aijalon Saul won his first victory over the Philistines, when Israel “kept striking down the [fleeing] Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon.” (1 Sam. 14:31) Many years after that, when the kingdom had been divided after King Solomon’s death (997 B.C.E.), his son and successor Rehoboam fortified Aijalon and made it one of his strongholds against the N and W. (2 Chron. 11:5-12) Almost two and a half centuries later, Aijalon was lost to the Philistines during the reign of unfaithful King Ahaz (761-745 B.C.E.).—2 Chron. 28:18.

Aijalon is apparently mentioned in one of the Tell el-Amarna Letters as Aialuna.

2. A place in the territory of Zebulun, where Judge Elon of that tribe was buried. (Judg. 12:12) Its site is not known today, but it is thought by some to be Tell el-Butmeh, situated in the plain of Asochis in Galilee, not far from Rimmon.

AIN

(Aʹin) [spring, natural fountain].

The word literally means an “eye,” but by analogy is used to mean a natural spring or fountain as distinguished from a man-made well or tank, which latter water source is expressed by the terms “Beer” and “Bor.” (Gen. 49:22; Deut. 8:7) It is often written “En-” when used in compounds, as En-rimmon, En-gedi, En-gannim.

1. A place mentioned by Jehovah when setting out the E boundary of Israel to Moses. (Num. 34:11) The “Riblah” mentioned in this text as being “on the east of Ain” evidently does not refer to the Riblah in the land of Hamath considerably to the N of Damascus, inasmuch as Ain is named in relation to the Sea of Chinnereth (or Sea of Galilee). It lay to the N of that sea, but its exact location is uncertain.

2. Originally assigned to the tribe of Judah as one of its southernmost cities (Josh. 15:32), then assigned to the tribe of Simeon when part of Simeon’s allotment was taken out from Judah’s overly large territory. (Josh. 19:1, 7, 9; 1 Chron. 4:24, 32) Ain was near the city of Rimmon, and it appears that when it was resettled following the exile in Babylon the names of the two places were combined as one: En-rimmon. (Neh. 11:29) As such, it is usually identified with Khirbet Umm er-Ramamin, lying about nine miles (14.5 kilometers) N-NE of Beer-sheba.—See EN-RIMMON; RIMMON No. 2.

3. At Joshua 21:16 Ain is listed as one of the cities given to the Levites; however, a comparison of this text with Joshua 15:42; 19:7; and 1 Chronicles 6:59 indicates that the city here referred to is elsewhere called “Ashan.”—See ASHAN.

AKAN

(Aʹkan) [acute, twisted].

Last named of three sons of Sheik Ezer of the Seirites. (Gen. 36:20, 21, 27) The Masoretic text reads “Jaakan” at 1 Chronicles 1:42, but the Alexandrine and twenty-two Hebrew manuscripts read Akan in agreement with Genesis.

AKELDAMA

(A·kelʹda·ma) [Aramaic, field of blood].

The name applied by the Jews to the plot of land whose purchase resulted from “the wages for unrighteousness” paid to Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Christ Jesus. (Acts 1:18, 19) At least since the fourth century C.E. it has been identified as the Hakk-ed-Dumm on the S side of the Valley of Hinnom, on the “Hill of Evil Counsel,” which is a level plot of land a short distance up the slope. As Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament points out, the statement at Acts 1:18 that Judas “purchased a field” does not mean that he made the contract and payment but, rather, that he furnished the means, or was the occasion of purchasing the field. The record at Matthew 27:3-10 shows that the priests used the thirty pieces of silver thrown into the temple by Judas to make the actual purchase and that this “Field of Blood” was previously a potter’s field and was obtained by them “to bury strangers.” The suggested location has been used as a burial site from early centuries.

The fulfillment of prophecy recorded by Matthew is based on “what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.” Jeremiah was at times placed first in the “Book of the Prophets,” and this section of prophecies therefore included not only Jeremiah’s writings but also those of Zechariah. (Compare Luke 24:44.) The quotation made by Matthew appears to be drawn principally from Zechariah 11:12, 13, but paraphrased by Matthew and applied to the circumstances fulfilling it, this under inspiration by God’s spirit. As a “potter’s field” the land would be considered as worn out and of little value, worth only the price of a slave.

AKKUB

(Akʹkub) [follower; insidious].

1. Father of a family of Nethinim who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel, 537 B.C.E.—Ezra 2:1, 2, 45.

2. A postexilic Levitical gatekeeper and family head of gatekeepers.—1 Chron. 9:17; Ezra 2:42; Neh. 7:45; 11:19; 12:25.

3. One of the thirteen Levites who assisted Ezra with “explaining the law to the people” and “putting of meaning into it.”—Neh. 8:7, 8.

4. Fourth named of seven sons of Elioenai, among the last descendants of David enrolled in Hebrew Scripture genealogy.—1 Chron. 3:24.

AKRABBIM

(A·krabʹbim) [scorpions].

An upward slope or ascent on the SE frontier of Judah that constituted a boundary division when Canaan was apportioned to Israel. (Num. 34:4; Judg. 1:36) It was situated about eighteen miles (29 kilometers) SW of the southern end of the Dead Sea and near the Wilderness of Zin. The area has been identified with present-day Neqb es-Safa, where the road from Beer-sheba to the Arabah descends abruptly into the Wadi Murra. The name may have derived from the abundance of scorpions in this desert country or perhaps from the way the road repeatedly curves back on itself like the tail of a scorpion. It was evidently an ancient route used to go down to Edom and S to Aqabah on the Gulf of Aqabah.

ALABASTER

(alʹa·bas·ter).

The name of small perfume vaselike vessels originally made of a stone found near Alabastron, Egypt. The stone itself, a form