ABIGAIL ABIJAH 1. ABIHA'IL (father of light or splendour), the wife of Rehoboam, king of Judah. She is called the daughter of Eliab, David's elder brother (2 Chron. xi. 18); but was doubtless only his descendant. sought and received for David responses from God. When David became king of Judah, he made Abiathar high-priest. Meanwhile Zadok had been appointed high-priest by Saul, and continued to act in this capacity while Abiathar was high-priest in Judah. The appointment of 2. ABIHAIL (father of might, i. e. mighty). Zadok was not only unexceptionable in itself, This name should be written ABICHAIL. It was but was in accordance with the divine sentence borne by several persons: 1. ABICHAIL, the son of deposition which had been passed upon the of Huri, one of the family-chiefs of the tribe of house of Eli (1 Sam. ii. 30-36). When, there-Gad, who settled in Bashan (1 Chron. v.14). fore, David acquired the kingdom of Israel, he 2. ABICHAIL, the father of Zuriel, who was the had no just ground on which Zadok could be father of the Levitical tribes of Merari (Num. removed, and Abiathar set in his place; and the iii. 35). 3. ABICHAIL, the father of Queen attempt to do so would probably have been | Esther, and brother of Mordecai (Esth. ii. 15). offensive to his new subjects. The king got ABI'HU (father of him), the second of the over this difficulty by allowing both appoint- sons of Aaron, who, with his brothers Nadab, ments to stand; and until the end of David's Eleazer, and Ithamar, was set apart and consereign Zadok and Abiathar were joint high- crated for the priesthood (Exod. xxviii. 1). He priests. As high-priest Abiathar must have and his brother Nadab having presumed to offer been perfectly aware of the divine intention incense in censers filled with 'strange' or comthat Solomon should be the successor of David: mon fire, they were instantly struck dead by he was therefore the least excusable, in some lightning, and were taken away and buried in respects, of all those who were parties in the their clothes without the camp. As immediately attempt to raise Adonijah to the throne. So his after the record of this transaction comes a proconduct seems to have been viewed by Solomon, hibition of wine or strong drink to the priests who, in deposing him from the high-priesthood, on duty at the tabernacle, it is not unfairly surplainly told him that only his sacerdotal cha- mised that they were intoxicated when they racter, and his former services to David, pre- committed this serious error in their ministraserved him from death. This deposition of tions (Lev. x. 1-11). Abiathar completed the doom long before denounced upon the house of Eli, who was of the line of Ithamar, the younger son of Aaron. Zadok, who remained the high-priest, was of the elder line of Eleazer (1) Kings i. 7, 19; ii. 26, 27). A'BIB. [NISAN.] 1. AB'IEL (father of strength, i. e. strong), the father of Kish, whose son Saul was the first king of Israel, and of Ner, whose son Abner was captain of the host to his cousin Saul (1 Sam. ix. 1; xiv. 51). 2. ABIEL, one of the thirty most distinguished men of David's army (1 Chron. xi. 32). He is called Abi-albon in 2 Sam. xxiii. 31; a name which has precisely the same signification (father of strength) as the other. ABIEZER (father of help, Josh. xvii. 2), a son of Gilead, the grandson of Manasseh (Num. xxvi. 30), and founder of the family to which Gideon belonged, and which bore his name as a patronymic-Abiezrites (Judg. vi. 34; viii. 2). ABIGAIL (father of joy), the wife of a prosperous sheep-master, called Nabal, who dwelt in the district of Carmel, west of the Dead Sea. She is known chiefly for the promptitude and discretion of her conduct in taking measures to avert the wrath of David, which had been violently excited by the insulting treatment which his messengers had received from her husband [NaBaL]. She hastily prepared a liberal supply of provisions, of which David's troop stood in much need, and went forth to meet him. Her beauty and prudence made such an impression upon David on this occasion, that when, not long after, he heard of Nabal's death, he sent for her, and she became his wife (1 Sam. xxv. 14-42). It is usually stated that he had by her two sons, Chileab and Daniel; but it is more likely that the Chileab of 2 Sam. iii. 3, is the same as the Daniel of 1 Chron. iii. 1; the son of Abigail being known by both these names. 1. ABIJAH (see signif. in ABIAH, 2 Chron. xiii. 1). He is also called Abijam (1 Kings xv.). Abijah was the second king of the separate kingdom of Judah, being the son of Rehoboam, and grandson of Solomon. He began to reign B.C. 957, in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel; and he reigned three years. At the commencement of his reign Abijah made a vigorous attempt to bring back the ten tribes to their allegiance. In this he failed; although a signal victory over Jeroboam, who had double his force and much greater experience, enabled him to take several cities which had been held by Israel. The numbers reputed to have been present in this action are 800,000 on the side of Jeroboam, 400,000 on the side of Abijah, and 500,000 left dead on the field. The book of Chronicles mentions nothing concerning Abijah adverse to the favourable impressions which we receive from his conduct on this occasion; but in Kings we are told that he walked in all the sins of his father' (1 Kings xv. 3). He had fourteen wives, by whom he left twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. Asa succeeded him. 2. ABIJAH, son of Jeroboam I., king of Israel. His severe and threatening illness induced Jeroboam to send his wife with a present, suited to the disguise in which she went, to consult the prophet Ahijah respecting his recovery. This prophet was the same who had, in the days of Solomon, foretold to Jeroboam his elevation to the throne of Israel. Though blind with age, he knew the disguised wife of Jeroboam, and was authorized, by the prophetic impulse that came upon him, to reveal to her that, because there was found in Abijah only, of all the house of Jeroboam, some good thing towards the Lord,' he only, of all that house, should come to his grave in peace, and be mourned in Israel. Accordingly, when the mother returned home, the youth died as she crossed the threshold of ABIMELECH the door. And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him' (1 Kings xiv. 1-18). 3. ABIJAH, one of the descendants of Eleazer, the son of Aaron, and chief of one of the twentyfour courses or orders into which the whole body of the priesthood was divided by David (1 Chron. xxiv. 10; Luke i. 5). Of these the course of Abijah was the eighth. ABIJAM. [ABIJAH, 1.] noa. ABILA, capital of the Abilene of Lysanias (Luke iii. 1); and distinguished from other places of the same name as the Abila of Lysanias, and (by Josephus) as the Abila of LebaAbila has been supposed to be the same as Abel-beth-Maacah, but without foundation, for that was a city of Naphtali, which Abila was not. About eighteen miles north-west of Damascus is Souk Wady Barrada, where an inscription was found by Mr. Bankes, which, beyood doubt, identifies that place with the Abila of Lysanias. Burckhardt states that there are here two villages, built on the opposite sides of the Barrada. ABILENE (Luke iii. 1), the small district or territory which took its name from the chief town, Abila. Its situation is in some degree determined by that of the town; but its precise limits and extent remain unknown. Northward it must have reached beyond the Upper Barrada, in order to include Abila; and it is probable that its southern border may have extended to Moait Hermon (Jebel es-Sheikh). It seems to have included the eastern declivities of AntiLianus, and the fine valleys between its base and the hills which front the eastern plains. This territory had been governed as a tetrarchate by Lysanias, son of Ptolemy and grandson of Mennæus, but he was put to death, B.C. 33, through the intrigues of Cleopatra, who then took possession of the province. After her death it fell to Augustus, who rented it out to Que Zenodorus; but as he did not keep it clear of robbers, it was taken from him, and given to Herod the Great. At his death a part (the southern, doubtless) of the territory was added to Trachonitis and Ituræa to form a tetrarchy for his son Philip; but by far the larger portion, including the city of Abila, was then, or shortly afterwards, bestowed on another Lysanias, mentioned by Luke (iii. 1), who is supposed to have been a descendant of the former Lysanias, but who is nowhere mentioned by Josephus. About ten years after the time referred to by Luke, the emperor Caligula gave Abilene to Agrippa I. as the tetrarchy of Lysanias,' to whom it was afterwards confirmed by Claudius. At his death, it was included in that part of his possessions which went to his son Agrippa II. 1. ABIM'ELECH (father of the king, or perhaps royal father), the name of the Philistine king of Gerar in the time of Abraham (Gen. XX. 1, sqq.: B.C. 1898; Hales, B.C. 2054); but, from its recurrence, it was probably less a proper name than a titular distinction, like PHARAOH for the kings of Egypt, or AUGUSTUS for the emperors of Rome. Abraham removed into his territory after the destruction of Sodom; and fearing that the beauty of Sarah might bring him into difficulties, he declared her to be his sister. The conduct of Abimelech in taking Sarah into his harem shows that kings even then | claimed the right of taking to themselves the unmarried females not only of their natural subjects, but of those who sojourned in their dominions. But Abimelech, obedient to a divine warning, restored her to her husband. As a mark of his respect he added valuable gifts, and offered the patriarch a settlement in any part of the country; but he nevertheless did not forbear to visit with a gentle rebuke the deception which had been practised upon him (Gen. xx.). Nothing further is recorded of King Abimelech, except that a few years after he repaired to the camp of Abraham, who had removed southward beyond his borders, accompanied by Phichol, the chief captain of his host,' to invite the patriarch to contract with him a league of peace and friendship. Abraham consented; and this first league on record [ALLIANCE] was confirmed by a mutual oath, made at a well which had been digged by Abraham, but which the herdsmen of Abimelech had seized without their lord's knowledge. It was restored to the rightful owner, on which Abraham named it BEERSHEBA (the Well of the Oath), and consecrated the spot to the worship of Jehovah (Gen. xxi. 22-34). 2. ABIMELECH, another king of Gerar, in the time of Isaac (about B.C. 1804; Hales, 1960), who is supposed to have been the son of the preceding. Isaac sought refuge in his territory during a famine; and having the same fear respecting his fair Mesopotamian wife, Rebekah, as his father had entertained respecting Sarah, he reported her to be his sister. This brought upon him the rebuke of Abimelech, when he accidentally discovered the truth. In those times, as now, wells of water were of so much importance for agricultural as well as pastoral purposes, that they gave a proprietary right to the soil, not previously appropriated, in which they were dug. Abraham had digged wells during his sojourn in the country; and, to bar the claim which resulted from them, the Philistines had afterwards filled them up; but they were now cleared out by Isaac, who proceeded to cultivate the ground to which they gave him a right. The virgin soil yielded him a hundredfold; and his other possessions, his flocks and herds, also received such prodigious increase that the jealousy of the Philistines could not be suppressed; and Abimelech desired him to seek more distant quarters, in larguage which gives a high notion of the wealth of the patriarchal chiefs, and the extent of their establishments:'Depart from us: for thou art more and mightier than we. Isaac complied, and went out into the open country, and digged wells for his cattle. But the shepherds of the Philistines were not inclined to allow the claim to exclusive pasturage in these districts to be thus established; and their opposition induced the quiet patriarch to make successive removals, until he reached such a distance that his operations were no longer disputed. Afterwards, when he was at Beersheba, he received a visit from Abimelech, who was attended by Ahuzzath, his friend, and Phichol, the chief captain of his army. The king having explained that it was his wish to renew, with one so manifestly blessed of God, the covenant of peace which had been contracted, between their fathers, Isaac willingly consented, and the desired covenant was, with due cere 6 ABINADAB ABISHUA mony, contracted accordingly (Gen. xxvi.) [PHI- | father). There are several persons of this name, LISTINES]. 3. ABIMELECH, a son of Gideon, by a concubine-wife, a native of Shechem, where her family had considerable influence. Through that influence Abimelech was proclaimed king after the death of his father, who had himself refused that honour, when tendered to him, both for himself and his children (Judg. viii. 22-24). In a short time, a considerable part of Israel seems to have recognised his rule. One of the first acts of his reign was to destroy his brothers, seventy in number, being the first example of a system of barbarous state policy of which there have been frequent instances in the East. Only one, the youngest, named Jotham, escaped; and he had the boldness to make his appearance on Mount Gerizim, where the Shechemites were assembled for some public purpose, and rebuke them in his famous parable of the trees choosing a king [JOTHAM; PARABLE]. In three years the Shechemites found ample cause to repent of what they had done. They eventually revolted during Abimelech's absence, and caused an ambuscade to be laid in the mountains, with the design of destroying him on his return. But Zebul, his governor in Shechem, contrived to apprise him of these circumstances, so that he was enabled to avoid the snare laid for him; and, having hastily assembled some troops, appeared unexpectedly before Shechem. The people of that place had meanwhile secured the assistance of one Gaal and his followers [GAAL], who marched out to give Abimelech battle. He was defeated, and returned into the town; and his inefficiency and misconduct in the action had been so manifest, that the people were induced by Zebul to expel him and his followers. The people still ventured out to the labours of the field; which being told Abimelech, who was at Arumah, he laid an ambuscade in four bodies in the neighbourhood; and when the men came forth in the morning, two of the ambushed parties rose against them, while the other two seized the city gates to prevent their return. Afterwards the whole force united against the city, which, being now deprived of its most efficient inhabitants, was easily taken, and completely destroyed by the exasperated victor. The fortress, however, still remained; but the occupants, deeming it untenable, withdrew to the temple of Baal-Berith, which stood in a more commanding situation. This building Abimelech set on fire and destroyed, with the thousand men who were in it. Afterwards Abimelech went to reduce Thebez, which had also revolted. The town was taken with little difficulty, and the people withdrew into the citadel. Here Abimelech resorted to his favourite operation, and while heading a party to burn down the gate, he was struck on the head by a large stone cast down by a woman from the wall above. Perceiving that he had received a death-blow, he directed his armour-bearer to thrust him through with his sword, lest it should be said that he fell by a woman's hand (Judg. ix.). Vainly did Abimelech seek to avoid this disgrace; for the fact of his death by the hand of a woman was long after associated with his memory (2 Sam. xi. 21). ABIN'ADAB (father of nobleness, or noble all of whom are also called AMINADAB-the letters band m being very frequently interchanged in Hebrew. 1. ABINADAB, one of the eight sons of Jesse, and one of the three who followed Saul to the war with the Philistines (1 Sam. xvi. 8). 2. ABINADAB, one of Saul's sons, who was slain at the battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. xxxi. 2). 3. ABINADAB, the Levite of Kirjath-jearim, in whose house, which was on a hill, the Ark of the Covenant was deposited, after being brought back from the land of the Philistines. It was committed to the special charge of his son Eleazer; and remained there seventy years, until it was removed by David (1 Sam. vii. 1, 2; 1 Chron. xiii. 7) [ARK]. 1. ABI RAM (father of altitude, i. e. high), one of the family-chiefs of the tribe of Reuben, who, with Dathan and On of the same tribe, joined Korah, of the tribe of Levi, in a conspiracy against Aaron and Moses (Num. xvi.) [AARON]. 2. ABIRAM, eldest son of Hiel the Bethelite (1 Kings xvi. 34) [HIEL; JERICHO]. ABISHAG (father of error), a beautiful young woman of Shunam, in the tribe of Issachar, who was chosen by the servants of David to be introduced into the royal harem, for the special purpose of ministering to him, and cherishing him in his old age. She became his wife; but the marriage was never consummated. Some time after the death of David, Adonijab, his eldest son, persuaded Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, to entreat the king that Abishag might be given to him in marriage. But as rights and privileges peculiarly regal were associated with the control and possession of the harem of the deceased kings, Solomon detected in this application a fresh aspiration to the throne, which he visited with death (1 Kings i. 1-4; ii. 13-25) [ADONIJAH]. ABISHA'I (father of gifts), a nephew of David by his sister Zeruiah, and brother of Joab and Asahel. The three brothers devoted themselves zealously to the interests of their uncle during his wanderings. Though David had more reliance upon the talents of Joab, he appears to have given more of his private confidence to Abishai, whom we find near his person on several critical occasions. He alone accompanied David to the camp of Saul (1 Sam. xxvi. 5-9). He fled with him beyond the Jordan from Absalom, and commanded one of three divisions of the army which crushed that rebellion (2 Sam. xviii. 2). He rescued David when in imminent peril of his life from a giant named Ishbi-benob (2 Sam. xxi. 15-17), and was also the chief of the three mighties,' who performed the chivalrous exploit of breaking through the host of the Philistines to procure David a draught of water from the well of his native Bethlehem (2 Sam. xxiii. 14-17). Among the exploits of this hero it is mentioned that he withstood 300 men and slew them with his spear: but the occasion of this adventure, and the time and manner of his death, are equally unknown. ABISHU'A (father of safety), the son of Phinehas, and fourth high-priest of the Jews (1 Chron. vi. 50). The commencement and ABNER duration of his pontificate are uncertain, but the latter is inferred, from circumstances, to have included the period in which Ehud was judge, and probably the preceding period of servitude to Egion of Moab. He is called Abiezer by Josephus (Antiq. v. 11. 5). ABLUTION, the ceremonial washing, whereby, as a symbol of purification from uncleanDess, a person was considered-1. to be cleansed from the taint of an inferior and less pure condition, and initiated into a higher and purer state Lev. viii. 6); 2. to be cleansed from the soil of common life, and fitted for special acts of religious service (Exod. xxx. 17-21); 3. to be cleansed from defilements contracted by particular acts or circumstances, and restored to the privileges of ordinary life (Lev. xii.-xv.); 4. as absolving or purifying himself, or declaring himself absolved and purified, from the guilt of a particular act (Deut. xxi. 1-9). We do not meet with any such ablutions in patriarchal times: but under the Mosaical dispensation they all occur. After the rise of the sect of the Pharisees, the practice of ablution was carried to such excess, from the affectation of excessive purity, that it is repeatedly brought under our notice in the New Testament through the severe animadversions of our Saviour on the consummate hypocrisy involved in this fastidious attention to the external types of moral purity, while the heart was left unclean. All the practices there exposed come under the head of purification from uncleanness;-the acts involving which were made so numerous that persons of the stricter sect could scarcely move without contracting some involuntary pollution. For this reason they never entered their houses without ablution, from the strong probability that they had unknowingly contracted some defilement in the streets; and they were especially careful never to eat without washing the hands (Mark vii. 1-5, because they were peculiarly liable to be defiled; and as unclean hands were held to communicate uncleanness to all food (excepting fruit, which they touched, it was deemed that there was no security against eating unclean food but by always washing the hands ceremonially before touching any meat. The Israelites, who, like other Orientals, fed with their fingers, washed their hands before meals, for the sake of cleanliness [WASHING]. But these customary washings were distinct from the ceremonial ablutions. It was the latter which the Pharisees judged to be so necessary. When therefore some of that sect remarked that our Lord's disciples ate with unwashen hands' (Mark vii. 2), it is not to be understood literally that they did not at all wash their hands, but that they did not plunge them ceremonially according to their own practice. In at least an equal degree the Pharisees multiplied the ceremonial pollutions which required the ablution of inanimate objects-'cups and pots, brazen Vessels and tables; the rules given in the law (Lev. vi. 28; xi. 32-36; xv. 23) being extended to these multiplied contaminations. Articles of earthenware which were of little value were to be broken; and those of metal and wood were to be scoured and rinsed with water. ABNER (father of light), the cousin of Saul ABOMINATION (being the son of his uncle Ner), and the com. mander-in-chief of his army. After the death of Saul (B.c. 1056), Abner's experience and character for ability and decision enabled him to uphold the interests of his family for seven years; and while David reigned in Hebron over Judah, Ishbosheth, a surviving son of Saul, was, by Abner's influence, made king over the ten tribes, and reigned in Mahanaim, beyond Jordan. A sort of desultory warfare arose between the rival monarchs, in which the advantage appears to have been always on the side of David. In an engagement fought at Gibeon, the forces of Ishbosheth were beaten. Abner, their general, fled for his life, but was closely pursued by Asahel, the brother of Joab and Abishai. Abner, dreading a blood-feud with Joab, entreated Asahel, but in vain, to desist from the pursuit; and finding that his life was in danger, he at length ran his pursuer through the body (2 Sam. ii. 8-32). This, according to the law of honour which still prevails in the East, put a strife of blood between Joab and Abner [BLOODREVENGE]. As time went on, Abner, probably rendered arrogant and presumptuous by the conviction that he was the only remaining prop of the house of Saul, took to his own harem a woman who had been a concubine-wife of Saul. This act, from the ideas connected with the harem of a deceased king, was not only a great impropriety, but was open to the suspicion of a political design, which Abner may very possibly have entertained. A mild rebuke from Ishbosheth, however, enraged him so much, that he immediately declared his intention henceforth to abandon his cause and to devote himself to the interests of David. Accordingly after explaining his views to the elders of the tribes which still adhered to the house of Saul, he repaired to Hebron with authority to make certain overtures to David on their behalf. He was received with great attention and respect; and David even thought it prudent to promise that he should still have the chief command of the armies, when the desired union of the two kingdoms took place. Joab, David's general, happened to be absent at the time, but he returned to Hebron just as Abner had left it. He speedily understood what had passed; and his dread of the superior influence which such a man as Abner might establish with David, quickened his remembrance of the vengeance which his brother's blood required. Unknown to the king, but apparently in his name, he sent a message after Abner to call him back; and as he returned, Joab met him at the gate, and, leading him aside, as if to confer privately with him, suddenly thrust his sword into his body (B.c. 1048). The lamentations of David, the public mourning which he ordered, and the funeral honours which were paid to the remains of Abner, the king himself following the bier as chief mourner, exonerated him in public opinion from having been privy to this assassination. As for Joab, his privilege as a blood-avenger must to a great extent have justified his treacherous act in the opinion of the people; and that, together with his influence with the army, screened him from punishment (2 Sam. iii. 6-39). ABOMINATION. This word describes gene rally any object of detestation or disgust (Lev. xviii. 22; Deut. vii. 25); and is applied to an impure or detestable action (Ezek. xxii. 11; xxxiii. 26; Mal. ii. 11, &c.); to any thing causing a ceremonial pollution (Gen. xliii. 32; xlvi. 34; Deut. xiv. 3); but more especially to idols (Lev. xviii. 22; xx. 13; Deut. vii. 26; 1 Kings xi. 5, 7; 2 Kings xxiii. 13); and also to food offered to idols (Zech. ix. 7); and to filth of every kind (Nahum iii. 6). Especial attention has been drawn to two or three of the texts in which the word occurs, on account of their peculiar interest or difficulty. The first is Gen. xliii. 32: The Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.' The primary reason of this seems to have been that the cow, which was a sacred animal in Egypt, was eaten by the Jews and most other nations, and therefore the Egyptians considered themselves ceremonially defiled if they ate with any strangers. The second passage is Gen. xlvi. 34. Joseph is telling his brethren how to conduct themselves when introduced to the king of Egypt; and he instructs them that when asked concerning their occupation they should answer: Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers.' And the reason is added: That ye may dwell in the land of Goshen,—for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.' In the former instance they were an abomination' as strangers, with whom the Egyptians could not eat; here they are a further abomination as nomade shepherds, whom the Egyptians held in peculiar abhorrence. For this aversion two reasons are given one is the grievous oppression which the inhabitants of Lower and Middle Egypt had suffered from a tribe of nomade shepherds, to whom they had for many years been subject, who had only of late been expelled. The other reason, not necessarily superseding the former, but rather strengthening it, is, that the Egyptians, as a settled and civilized people, detested the lawless and predatory habits of the wandering shepherd tribes, which then, as now, bounded the valley of the Nile, and occupied the Arabias. The third marked use of this word again occurs in Egypt. The king tells the Israelites to offer to their god the sacrifices which they desired, without going to the desert for that purpose. To which Moses objects, that they should have to sacrifice to the Lord the abomination of the Egyptians,' who would thereby be highly exasperated against them (Exod. viii. 25, 26). A reference back to the first explanation shows that this abomination' was the cow, the only animal which all the Egyptians agreed in holding sacred; whereas, in the great sacrifice which the Hebrews proposed to hold, not only would heifers be offered, but the people would feast upon their flesh. ABRAHAM to Jupiter Olympius, to whom the temple itself was dedicated. The phrase is quoted by Jesus (Matt. xxiv. 15), and is applied by him to what was to take place at the advance of the Romans against Jerusalem. They who saw the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place' were enjoined to flee to the mountains.' And this may with probability be referred to the advance of the Roman army against the city with their image-crowned standards, to which idolatrous honours were paid, and which the Jews regarded as idols. The unexpected retreat and discomfiture of the Roman forces afforded such as were mindful of our Saviour's prophecy an opportunity of obeying the injunction which it contained. Those however who suppose that the holy place' of the text must be the temple itself, may find the accomplishment of the prediction in the fact that, when the city had been taken by the Romans, and the holy house destroyed, the soldiers brought their standards in due form to the temple, set them up over the eastern gate, and offered sacrifice to them, for almost the entire religion of the Roman camp consisted in worshipping the ensigns, swearing by the ensigns, and in preferring the ensigns before all the other gods. SPQR SPQR 1. Roman Standards. Nor was this the last appearance of the abomination of desolation, in the holy place:' for, not only did Hadrian, with studied insult to the Jews, set up the figure of a boar over the Bethlehem gate of the city which rose upon the site and ruins of Jerusalem; but he erected a temple to Jupiter upon the very site of the Jewish temple, and caused an image of himself to be set up in the part which answered to the sanctuary. This was a consummation of all the abominations which the iniquities of the Jews brought upon their holy place. AB'RAHAM (father of a multitude), the |