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AMARIAH

forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary' (Deut. xxv. 17, 18). In the Pentateuch the Amalekites are frequently mentioned in connection with the Canaanites (Num. xiv. 25, 43, 45), and, in the book of Judges, with the Moabites and Ammonites (Judg. iii. 13); with the Midianites (Judg. vi. 3; vii. 12: The Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the children of the East lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea-side for multitude'); with the Kenites (1 Sam. xv. 6). By divine command, as a retribution for their hostility to the Israelites on leaving Egypt (1 Sam. xv. 2), Saul invaded their country with an army of 210,000 men, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword,' but he preserved their king Agag alive, and the best of the cattle, and by this act of disobedience forfeited the regal authority over Israel. About twenty years later they were attacked by David during his residence among the Philistines (1 Sam. xxvii.). It is said that he smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive: this language must be taken with some limitation, for shortly after the Amalekites were sufficiently recovered from their defeat to make reprisals, and burnt Ziklag with fire (1 Sam. xxx.). David, on his return from the camp of Achish, surprised them while celebrating their success, eating, and drinking, and dancing,' and 'smote them from twilight even unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them save 400 young men which rode upon camels, and fled' (1 Sam. xxx. 17). At a later period, we find that David dedicated to the Lord the silver and gold of Amalek and other conquered nations (2 Sam. viii. 12). The last notice of the Amalekites as a nation is in 1 Chron. iv. 43, from which we learn that in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, 500 men of the sons of Simeon went to Mount Seir, and smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped.'

In the book of Esther, Haman is called the Agagite, and was probably a descendant of the royal line (Num. xxiv. 7; 1 Sam. xv. 8). Josephus says that he was by birth an Amalekite.

AMA'NA, a mountain mentioned in Cant. iv. 8. Some have supposed it to be Mount Amanus in Cilicia, to which the dominion of Solomon is alleged to have extended northward. But the context, with other circumstances, leaves little doubt that this Mount Amana was rather the southern part or summit of Anti-Libanus, and was so called perhaps from containing the sources of the river Amana [ABANA].

1. AMARI'AH (whom Jehovah said, i. e. promised, equivalent to the Greek name Theophrastus), mentioned in 1 Chron. vi. 7, in the list of the descendants of Aaron by his eldest son Eleazer. He was the son of Meraioth and the father of Ahitub, who was (not the grandson and successor of Eli of the same name, but) the father of that Zadok in whose person Saul restored the high-priesthood to the line of Eleazer. The years during which the younger line of Ithamar enjoyed the pontificate in the persons of Eli, Ahitub, and Abimelech (who was slain by king Saul at Nob) doubtless more than cover the time

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61 of Amariah and his son Ahitub; and it is therefore sufficiently certain that they never were high-priests in fact, although their names are given to carry on the direct line of succession to Zadok.

2. AMARIAH, high-priest at a later period, the son of Azariah, and also father of a second Ahitub (1 Chron. vi. 11). In like manner, in the same list, there are three high-priests bearing the name of Azariah.

3. AMARIAH, great-grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah (Zeph. i. 1).

1. AMA'SA (burden), son of Abigail, a sister of king David. As his name does not occur prior to Absalom's rebellion (2 Sam. xvii. 25), he must have been neglected by David in comparison with Joab and Abishai, the sons of his other sister Zeruiah, who had before then been raised to great power and influence. This apparent estrangement may perhaps be connected with the fact that Abigail had married an Ishmaelite called Jether, who was the father of Amasa. This is the more likely, as the fact is pointedly mentioned (1 Chron. ii. 17), or covertly indicated (2 Sam. xvii. 25) whenever the name of Abigail occurs, whereas we are quite ignorant who was the husband of the other sister, Zeruiah, and father of her distinguished sons. We may thus form a conjecture of the grounds on which Amasa joined Absalom, and obtained the command of the rebel army. He was defeated by his cousin Joab, who commanded the army of David. This transaction appears to have made David sensible of the neglect with which Amasa had been treated; and he eventually offered him not only pardon, but the command of the army in the room of Joab (2 Sam. xix. 13), whose overbearing conduct had become intolerable to him, and to whom he could not entirely forgive the death of Absalom. David, however, was too good a soldier himself to have made this offer, had not Amasa, notwithstanding his defeat, displayed high military qualities during his command of Absalom's army. But on the breaking out of Sheba's rebellion, Amasa was so tardy in his movements (probably from the reluctance of the troops to follow him), that David despatched Abishai with the household troops in pursuit of Sheba, and Joab joined his brother as a volunteer. When they reached the great stone of Gibeon,' they were overtaken by Amasa with the force he had been able to collect. Joab thought this a favourable opportunity of getting rid of so dangerous a rival, and immediately executed the treacherous purpose he had formed. He saluted Amasa, asked him of his health, and took his beard in his right hand to kiss him, while with the unheeded left hand he smote him dead with his sword. Joab then put himself at the head of the troops, and continued the pursuit of Sheba; and such was his popularity with the army, that David was unable to remove him from the command, or to call him to account for this bloody deed: B.C. 1022 [ABNER; ABSALOM; JOAB].

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2. AMASA, a chief of Ephraim, who, with others, vehemently resisted the retention as prisoners of the persons whom Pekah, king of Israel, had taken captive in a successful campaign against Ahaz, king of Judah (2 Chron. xxviii. 12).

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AMASA'I, the principal leader of a considerable body of men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who joined David at Ziklag. The words with which David received them indicate some apprehension, which was instantly dissipated by a fervent declaration of attachment from Amasai (1 Chron. xii. 16-18).

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2. AMAZIAH, the priest of the golden calves at Bethel, in the time of Jeroboam II. He complained to the king of Amos's prophecies of coming evil, and urged the prophet himself to withdraw into the kingdom of Judah and prophesy there (Amos vii. 10-17).

AMBER. The substance thus designated in 1. AMAZI'AH (whom Jehovah strengthens, i. e. the Authorized Version is in Hebrew called God-strengthened), son of Joash, and eighth king CHASMIL, and was probably a composition of of Judah. He was 25 years old when he began several sorts of metal, since even the term by to reign, and he reigned 29 years-from B.C. which the word is rendered by the Greeks fre838 to B.C. 809. He commenced his sovereignty quently signifies a composition of gold and silver. by punishing the murderers of his father; and The ancients were acquainted with the art of it is mentioned that he respected the law of amalgamating various species of metal; and the Moses, by not including the children in the doom Latin aurichalcum is said to have possessed the of their parents, which seems to show that a con- brightness of gold and the hardness of copper, and trary practice had previously existed. In the might not improbably have been our present twelfth year of his reign Amaziah attempted to platina, which has been re-discovered in the re-impose upon the Edomites the yoke of Judah, Ural mountains, after having long been known as which they had cast off in the time of Jehoram. an American fossil. It is not improbable that this The strength of Edom is evinced by the fact that was the metal termed 'fine copper' (Ezra viii. 27). Amaziah considered the unaided strength of his AMBIDEXTER, one who can use the left own kingdom unequal to this undertaking, and hand as well as the right, or, more literally, one therefore hired an auxiliary force of 100,000 whose hands are both right hands. It was long men from the king of Israel for 100,000 talents supposed that both hands are naturally equal, of silver. This is the first example of a merce- and that the preference of the right hand, and nary army that occurs in the history of the Jews. comparative incapacity of the left, are the result It did not, however, render any other service of education and habit. But it is now known than that of giving Amaziah an opportunity of that the difference is really physical, and that manifesting that he knew his true place in the the ambidexterous condition of the hands is not Hebrew constitution, as the viceroy and vassal a natural development. of the king JEHOVAH [KING]. A prophet commanded him, in the name of the Lord, to send back the auxiliaries, on the ground that the state of alienation from God in which the kingdom of Israel lay, rendered such assistance not only useless but dangerous. The king obeyed this seemingly hard command, and sent the men home, although by doing so he lost not only their services and the 100,000 talents, which had been already paid, but incurred the resentment of the Israelites, who were naturally exasperated at the indignity shown to them.

But the obedience of Amaziah was rewarded by a great victory over the Edomites, ten thousand of whom were slain in battle, and ten thousand more were savagely destroyed by being hurled down from the high cliffs of their native mountains. But the Edomites afterwards were avenged; for among the goods which fell to the conqueror were some of their idols, which, although impotent to deliver their own worshippers, Amaziah betook himself to worship. This proved his ruin. Puffed up by his late victories, he thought also of reducing the ten tribes under his dominion. In this attempt he was defeated by king Joash of Israel, who carried him a prisoner to Jerusalem. Joash broke down great part of the city wall, plundered the city, and even laid his hands upon the sacred things of the temple. He, however, left Amaziah on the throne, but not without taking hostages for his good behaviour. The disasters which Amaziah's infatuation had brought upon Judah probably occasioned the conspiracy in which he lost his life. On receiving intelligence of this conspiracy he hastened to throw himself into the fortress of Lachish; but he was pursued and slain by the conspirators, who brought back his body upon horses' to Jerusalem for interment in the royal sepulchre (2 Kings xiv.; 2 Chron. xxv.).

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The capacity of equal action with both hands was highly prized in ancient times, especially in war. Among the Hebrews this quality seems to have been most common in the tribe of Benjamin, as all the persons noticed as being endued with it were of that tribe. By comparing Judg. iii. 15, xx. 16, with 1 Chron. xii. 2, we may gather that the persons mentioned in the two former texts as 'left-handed,' were really ambidexters. In the latter text we learn that the Benjamites who joined David at Ziklag were 'mighty men, helpers of the war. They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling [slinging] and shooting arrows out of a bow.' There were thirty of them; and as they appear to have been all of one family, it might almost seem as if the greater commonness of this power among the Benjamites arose from its being an hereditary peculiarity of certain families in that tribe. It may also partly have been the result of cultivation; for although the left hand is not naturally an equally strong and ready instrument as the right hand, it may doubtless be often rendered such by early and suitable training.

AMEN. This word is strictly an adjective, signifying firm,' and, metaphorically, faithful. Thus in Rev. iii. 14, our Lord is called the amen, the faithful and true witness.' In Isa. lxv. 16, the Heb. has the God of amen,' which our version renders the God of truth,' i. e. of fidelity. In its adverbial sense Amen means certainly, truly, surely. It is used in the beginning of a sentence by way of emphasis-rarely in the Old Test. (Jer. xxviii. 6), but often by our Saviour in the New, where it is commonly translated 'Verily. In John's gospel alone it is often used by him in this way double, i. e. 'verily, verily. In the end of a sentence it often occurs singly or repeated, especially at the end of

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hymns or prayers, as 'amen and amen' (Ps. xli. 13; lxxii. 19; lxxxix. 52). The proper signification of it in this position is to confirm the words which have preceded, and invoke the fulfilment of them: so be it. Hence in oaths, after the priest has repeated the words of the covenant or imprecation, all those who pronounced the amen bound themselves by the oath (Num. v. 22; Deut. xxvii. 15, 26; Neh. v. 13; viii. 6; 1 Chron. xvi. 36; comp. Ps. cvi. 48).

AMETHYST. The word thus translated in the common version is in Hebrew ACHLAMAH, and is the name of the precious stone mentioned in Scripture as the ninth in the breastplate of the high-priest (Exod. xxviii. 19; xxxix. 12): in the New Testament the precise word amethyst (which is Greek) designates the twelfth stone in the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 20).

The transparent gems called amethysts are of a colour which seems composed of a strong blue and deep red; and according as either of these prevails, exhibit different tinges of purple, sometimes approaching to violet, and sometimes declining even to a rose colour. All the varieties of it are comprehended under two species, the Oriental Amethyst and the Occidental Amethyst. The Oriental amethyst is very scarce, and of great hardness, lustre, and beauty. It is in fact a rare variety of the adamantine spar, or corundum. Next to the diamond, it is the hardest substance known. It contains about 90 per cent. of alumine, a little iron, and a little silica. Of this species, emery, used in cutting and polishing glass, &c., is a granular variety. To this species also belongs the sapphire, the most valuable of gems next to the diamond; and of which the Oriental amethyst is merely a violet variety. Like other sapphires, it loses its colour in the fire, and comes out with so much of the lustre and colour of the diamond, that the most experienced jeweller may be deceived by it.

The more common, or Occidental amethyst, is a variety of quartz, or rock crystal, and is found in various forms in many parts of the world, as India, Siberia, Sweden, Germany, Spain; and even in England very beautiful specimens of tolerable hardness have been discovered. This also loses its colour in the fire.

Amethysts were much used by the ancients for rings and cameos; and the reason given by Pliny because they were easily cut-shows that the Occidental species is to be understood. The ancients believed that the amethyst possessed the power of dispelling drunkenness in those who wore or touched it, and hence its Greek name. In like manner, the Rabbins derive its Jewish name from its supposed power of procuring dreams to the wearer.

1. AMIN'ADAB (kindred of the prince), one of the ancestors of David and of Christ (Matt. i. 4). He was the son of Aram, and the father of Naasson, and of Elisheba, who became the wife of Aaron (Exod. vi. 23).

2. AMINADAB, in Cant. vi. 12. The chariots of this Aminadab are mentioned as proverbial for their swiftness. Of himself we know nothing more than what is here glanced at, from which he appears to have been, like Jehu, one of the most celebrated charioteers of his day. AM'MAN. [RABBAH.]

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AM'MON. [No AMMON.]

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AM'MONITES, the descendants of the younger son of Lot (Gen. xix. 38). They originally occupied a tract of country east of the Amorites, and separated from the Moabites by the river Arnon. It was previously in the possession of a gigantic race called Zamzummims (Deut. ii. 20), but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they succeeded them and dwelt in their stead.' The Israelites on reaching the borders of the Promised Land, were commanded not to molest the children of Ammon, for the sake of their progenitor Lot. But, though thus preserved from the annoyance which the passage of such an immense host through their country might have occasioned, they showed them ro hospitality or kindness; they were therefore prohibited from entering the congregation of the Lord' (i. e. from being admitted into the civil community of the Israelites) to the tenth generation for ever' (Deut. xxiii. 3). This is evidently intended to be a perpetual prohibition, and was so understood by Nehemiah (Neh. xiii. 1). The first mention of their active hostility against Israel occurs in Judges iii. 13. About 140 years later we are informed that the children of Israel forsook Jehovah and served the gods of various nations, including those of the children of Ammon, and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against them, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and of the children of Ammon. The Ammonites crossed over the Jordan, and fought with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, so that Israel was sore distressed.' In answer to Jephthah's messengers (Judg. xi. 12), the king of Ammon charged the Israelites with having taken away that part of his territories which lay between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok, which, in Joshua xiii. 25, is called

half the land of the children of Ammon,' but was in the possession of the Amorites when the Israelites invaded it; and this fact was urged by Jephthah, in order to prove that the charge was ill-founded. Jephthahsmote them from Aroer to Minnith, even twenty cities, with a very great slaughter' (Judg. xi. 33). The Ammonites were again signally defeated by Saul (B.c. 1095) (1 Sam. xi. 11), and, according to Josephus, their king Nahash was slain. His successor, who bore the same name, was a friend of David, and died some years after his accession to the throne. In consequence of the gross insult offered to David's ambassadors by his son Hanun (2 Sam. x. 4), a war ensued, in which the Ammonites were defeated, and their allies the Syrians were so daunted that they feared to help the children of Ammon any more' (2 Sam. x. 19). In the following year David took their metropolis, Rabbah, and great abundance of spoil, which is probably mentioned by anticipation in 2 Sam. viii. 12 (2 Sam. x. 14; xii. 26-31). In the reign of Jehoshaphat (B.C. 896) the Ammonites joined with the Moabites and other tribes belonging to Mount Seir, to invade Judah; but, by the divine intervention, were led to destroy one another. Jehoshaphat and his people were three days in gathering the spoil (2 Chron. xx. 25). The Ammonites gave gifts' to Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 8), and paid a tribute to his son Jotham for three successive years, consisting of 100 talents of silver, 1000

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measures of wheat, and as many of barley, When the two and a half tribes were carried away captive, the Ainmonites took possession of the towns belonging to the tribe of Gad (Jerem. xlix. 1). Bands of the children of Ammon' and of other nations came up with Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem (B.C. 607), and joined in exulting over its fall (Ezek. xxv. 3, 6). Yet they allowed some of the Augitive Jews to take refuge among them, and even to intermarry (Jer. xl. 11; Neh. xiii. 23). On the return of the Jews from Babylon the Ammonites manifested their ancient hostility by deriding and opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. iv. 3, 7, 8). Both Ezra and Nehemiah expressed vehement indignation against those Jews who had intermarried with the heathen, and thus transgressed the divine command (Deut. vii. 3; Ezra x.; Neh. xiii. 25). Judas Maccabæus (B.C. 164) fought many battles with the Ammonites, and took Jazer with the towns belonging to it. Justin Martyr affirms that in his time the Ammonites were still numerous.

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were at Thebes, a city peculiarly consecrated to him, and which is probably meant by the No and No Amon of the prophets. He is generally represented on Egyptian monuments by the seated figure of a man with a ram's head, or by that of an entire ram, and of a blue colour. In honour of him, the inhabitants of the Thebaid abstained from the flesh of sheep, but they annually sacrificed a ram to him and dressed his image in the hide.

As for the power which was worshipped under the form of Amon, it has been asserted that the Libyans adored the setting sun under that of their Ammon; others have endeavoured to prove that Amon represented the sun at the vernal equinox. But nothing very definite is known upon the subject, though the fact seems placed beyond a doubt that Amon bears some relation to the sun.

AMON (artificer), son of Manasseh, and fourteenth king of Judah, who began to reign B.C. 641, and reigned two years. He appears to have derived little benefit from the instructive The national idol of the Ammonites was example which the sin, punishment, and repentMolech or Milcom, whose worship was intro-ance of his father offered; for he restored idoduced among the Israelites by the Ammonitish wives of Solomon (1 Kings xi. 5, 7); and the high places built by that sovereign for this 'abomination' were not destroyed till the reign of Josiah (B.C. 610) (2 Kings' xxiii. 13).

Besides Nahash and Hanun, an Ammonitish king Baalis is mentioned by Jeremiah (xl. 14). In the writings of the prophets terrible denunciations are uttered against the Ammonites on account of their rancorous hostility to the people of Israel; and the destruction of their metropolis, Rabbah, is distinctly foretold (Zeph. ii. 8; Jer. xlix. 1-6; Ezek. xxv. 1-5, 10; Amos i. 13-15).

AM'NON (faithful), the eldest son of David, by Ahinoam of Jezreel. He was born at Hebron, about B.C. 1056. He is only known for his atrocious conduct towards his half-sister Tamar, which her full-brother Absalom revenged two years after, by causing him to be assas sinated while a guest at his table, in B.C. 1032 (2 Sam. xiii.) [ABSALOM].

A'MON (Jer. xlvi. 25) is the name of an Egyptian god, in whom the classical writers unanimously recognise their own Zeus and Jupiter. His chief temple and oracle in Egypt

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latry, and again set up the images which Manasseh had cast down. He was assassinated in a court conspiracy: but the people put the regicides to death, and raised to the throne his son Josiah, then but eight years old (2 Kings xxi. 19-26; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 21-25).

AM'ORITES, the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan. They were the most powerful and distinguished of the Canaanitish nations. We find them first noticed in Gen. xiv. 7. In the promise to Abraham (Gen. xv. 21), the Amorites are specified as one of the nations whose country would be given to his posterity. But at that time three confederates of the patriarch belonged to this tribe; Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol (Gen. xiv. 13, 24). When the Israelites were about to enter the promised land, the Amorites occupied a tract on both sides of the Jordan. That part of their territories which lay to the east of the Jordan was allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. They were under two kings-Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan (Deut. i. 4; Josh. xii. 4; xiii. 12). Before hostilities commenced messengers were sent to Sihon, requesting permission to pass through his land; but Sihon refused, and came to Jahaz and fought with Israel; and Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon (Modjeb) unto Jabbok (Zerka) (Num. xxi. 24). Og also gave battle to the Israelites at Edrei, and was totally defeated. After the capture of Ai, five kings of the Amorites, whose dominions lay within the allotment of the tribe of Judah, leagued together to wreak vengeance on the Gibeonites for having made a separate peace with the invaders. Joshua, on being apprised of their design, marched to Gibeon and defeated them with great slaughter (Josh. x. 10). Another confederacy was shortly after formed on a still larger scale; the associated forces are described as 'much people, even as the sand upon the sea-shore in multitude. with horses and chariots very many' (Josh. xi.4). Joshua came suddenly upon them by the waters of Merom (the modern lake Huleh), and Israel

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smote them until they left none remaining | framed according to the rules prescribed in the (Josh. xi. 8). Still, after their severe defeats, Pentateuch, a fact which furnishes a conclusive the Amorites, by means of their war-chariots argument for the genuineness of the Mosaic reand cavalry, confined the Danites to the hills, cords. and would not suffer them to settle in the plains: they even succeeded in retaining possession of some of the mountainous parts (Judg. i. 34-36). It is mentioned as an extraordinary circumstance that in the days of Samuel there was peace between Israel and the Amorites (1 Sam. vii. 14). In Solomon's reign a tribute of bond-service was levied on the remnant of the Amorites and other Canaanitish nations (1 Kings ix. 21; 2 Chron. viii. 8).

A'MOS (borne), one of the twelve minor prophets, and a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. He was a native of Tekoah, about six miles south of Bethlehem, inhabited chiefly by shepherds, to which class he belonged, being also a dresser of sycamore-trees. The period during which he filled the prophetic office was of short duration, unless we suppose that he uttered other predictions which are not recorded. It is stated expressly that he prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake (Amos i. 1). As Uzziah and Jeroboam were contemporaries for about fourteen years, from B.C, 798 to 784, the latter of these dates will mark the period when Amos prophesied.

When Amos received his commission, the kingdom of Israel, which had been cut short' by Hazael (2 Kings x. 32) towards the close of Jehu's reign, was restored to its ancient limits and splendour by Jeroboam the Second (2 Kings xiv. 25). But the restoration of national prosperity was followed by the prevalence of luxury, licentiousness, and oppression, to an extent that again provoked the divine displeasure, and Amos was called from the sheep-folds to be the harbinger of the coming judgments. Not that his commission was limited entirely to Israel. The thunder-storm (as Ruckert poetically expresses it) rolls over all the surrounding kingdoms, touches Judah in its progress, and at length settles upon Israel. Chap. i.; ii. 1-5, form a solemn prelude to the main subject; nation after nation is summoned to judgment. Israel is then addressed in the same style, and in chap. iii. (after a brief rebuke of the twelve tribes collectively) its degenerate state is strikingly portrayed, and the denunciations of divine justice are intermingled, like repeated thunderclaps, to the end of chap. vi. The seventh and eighth chapters contain various symbolical visions, with a brief historical episode (vii. 10-17). In the ninth chapter the majesty of Jehovah and the terrors of his justice are set forth with a sublimity of diction which rivals and partly copies that of the royal Psalmist (comp. vers. 2, 3, with Ps. cix., and ver. 6 with Ps. civ.). Towards the close the scene brightens, and from the eleventh verse to the end the promises of the divine mercy and returning favour to the chosen race are exhibited in imagery of great beauty taken from rural life.

The writings of this prophet afford clear evidence that the existing religious institutions both of Judah and Israel (with the exception of the corruptions introduced by Jeroboam) were

The canonicity of the book of Amos is amply supported both by Jewish and Christian autho rities. Philo, Josephus, and the Talmud include it among the minor prophets. It is also in the catalogues of Melito, Jerome, and the 60th canon of the Council of Laodicea. Justin Martyr. quotes a considerable part of the 5th and 6th chapters, which he introduces by saying,Hear how he speaks concerning these by Amos, one of the twelve.' There are two quotations from it in the New Testament: the first (v. 25, 26) by the proto-martyr Stephen, Acts vii. 42 the second (ix. 11) by the apostle James, Acts xv. 16.

A'MOSIS, an Egyptian monarch, the founder of the eighteenth dynasty, who ascended the throne in B.C. 1575. The period of his accession, and the change which then took place in the reigning family, strongly confirm the opinion of his being the new king who knew not Joseph' (Exod. i. 8); and if it be considered that he was from the distant province of Thebes, it is reasonable to expect that the Hebrews would be strangers to him, and that he would be likely to look upon them with the same distrust and contempt with which the Egyptians usually regarded foreigners.

AMPHIPOLIS, a city of Greece, through which Paul and Silas passed on their way from Philippi to Thessalonica (Acts xvii. 1). It was situated on the left bank of the river Strymon just below its egress from the lake Kerkine (now Takino), and about three miles above its influx into the sea. This situation upon the banks of a navigable river, a short distance from the sea, with the vicinity of the woods of Kerkine, and the gold-mines of Mount Pangæus, rendered Amphipolis a place of much importance, and an object of contest between the Thracians, Athenians, Lacedaemonians, and Macedonians, to whom it successively belonged. It has long been in ruins; and a village of about one hundred houses, called Jeni-keui, now occupies part of its site.

AM'RAM, son of Kohath, of the tribe of Levi. He married his father's sister Jochebed, by whom he had Aaron, Miriam, and Moses. He died in Egypt, at the age of 137 years (Exod. vi.).

AM'RAPHEL, king of Shinar, one of the four kings who invaded Palestine in the time of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 1, 2, sq.) [ABRAHAM; CHEDORLAOMER].

AMULET (Isa. iii. 20). From the earliest ages the Orientals have believed in the influences of the stars, in spells, witchcraft, and the malign power of the evil eye; and to protect themselves against the maladies and other evils which such influences were supposed to occasion, almost all the ancient nations wore amulets. These amulets consisted, and still consist, chiefly of tickets inscribed with sacred sentences, and of certain stones or pieces of metal. Not only were persons thus protected, but even houses were, as they still are, guarded from supposed malign influences by certain holy inscriptions upon the doors.

The previous existence of these customs is

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