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Adah - ornament. (1.) The first of Lamech's two wives, and the mother of Jabal and Jubal ( Gen. 4:19,Gen. 4:20,Gen. 4:23).

(2.) The first of Esau's three wives, the daughter of Elon the Hittite ( Gen. 36:2,Gen. 36:4), called also Bashemath ( Gen 26:34).

Adam - red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent history and that of his descendants are detailed in the first book of Moses ( Gen. 1:27-ch. 5). "God created man [Heb., Adam] in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Adam was absolutely the first man whom God created. He was formed out of the dust of the earth (and hence his name), and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and gave him dominion over all the lower creatures ( Gen. 1:26;Gen 2:7). He was placed after his creation in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it, and to enjoy its fruits under this one prohibition: "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

The first recorded act of Adam was his giving names to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, which God brought to him for this end. Thereafter the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and while in an unconscious state took one of his ribs, and closed up his flesh again; and of this rib he made a woman, whom he presented to him when he awoke. Adam received her as his wife, and said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." He called her Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Being induced by the tempter in the form of a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, Eve persuaded Adam, and he also did eat. Thus man fell, and brought upon himself and his posterity all the sad consequences of his transgression. The narrative of the Fall comprehends in it the great promise of a Deliverer ( Gen. 3:15), the "first gospel" message to man. They were expelled from Eden, and at the east of the garden God placed a flame, which turned every way, to prevent access to the tree of life (Gen. 3). How long they were in Paradise is matter of mere conjecture.

Shortly after their expulsion Eve brought forth her first-born, and called him Cain. Although we have the names of only three of Adam's sons, viz., Cain, Abel, and Seth, yet it is obvious that he had several sons and daughters ( Gen. 5:4). He died aged 930 years.

Adam and Eve were the progenitors of the whole human race. Evidences of varied kinds are abundant in proving the unity of the human race. The investigations of science, altogether independent of historical evidence, lead to the conclusion that God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" ( Acts 17:26. Comp. Rom. 5:12-12; 1 Cor. 15:22-49).

Adamah - red earth, a fortified city of Naphtali, probably the modern Damieh, on the west side of the sea of Tiberias ( Josh. 19:33,Josh. 19:36).

Adamant - (Heb. shamir), Ezek. 3:9. The Greek word adamas means diamond. This stone is not referred to, but corundum or some kind of hard steel. It is an emblem of firmness in resisting adversaries of the truth ( Zech. 7:12), and of hard-heartedness against the truth ( Jer. 17:1).

Adam, a type - The apostle Paul speaks of Adam as "the figure of him who was to come." On this account our Lord is sometimes called the second Adam. This typical relation is described in Rom. 5:14-19.

Adam, the city of - is referred to in Josh. 3:16. It stood "beside Zarethan," on the west bank of Jordan (1 Kings 4:12). At this city the flow of the water was arrested and rose up "upon an heap" at the time of the Israelites' passing over ( Josh. 3:16).

Adar - large, the sixth month of the civil and the twelfth of the ecclesiastical year of the Jews ( Esther 3:7,Esther 3:13;Esther 8:12;Esther 9:1,Esther 3:15,Esther 3:17,Esther 3:19,Esther 3:21). It included the days extending from the new moon of our March to the new moon of April. The name was first used after the Captivity. When the season was backward, and the lambs not yet of a paschal size, or the barley not forward enough for abib, then a month called Veadar, i.e., a second Adar, was intercalated.

Adbeel - miracle of God, the third of the twelve sons of Ishmael, and head of an Arabian tribe ( Gen. 25:13; 1 Chr. 1:29).

Addar - ample, splendid, son of Bela (1 Chr. 8:3); called also "Ard" ( Gen. 46:21)

Adder - ( Ps. 140:3; Rom. 3:13, "asp") is the rendering of, (1.) Akshub ("coiling" or "lying in wait"), properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage. (2.) Pethen ("twisting"), a viper or venomous serpent identified with the cobra (Naja haje) ( Ps .58:4;Ps 91:13); elsewhere "asp." (3.) Tziphoni ("hissing") ( Prov .23:32); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice," Isa. 11:8; Isa 14:29; Isa 59:5; Jer. 8:17, as it is here in the margin of the Authorized Version. The Revised Version has "basilisk." This may have been the yellow viper, the Daboia xanthina, the largest and most dangerous of the vipers of Palestine. (4.) Shephiphon ("creeping"), occurring only in Gen. 49:17, the small speckled venomous snake, the "horned snake," or cerastes. Dan is compared to this serpent, which springs from its hiding-place on the passer-by.

Addi - ornament, ( Luke 3:28), the son of Cosam, and father of Melchi, one of the progenitors of Christ.

Addon - low, one of the persons named in Neh. 7:61 who could not "shew their father's house" on the return from captivity. This, with similar instances (ver. 63), indicates the importance the Jews attached to their genealogies.

Adiel - ornament of God. (1.) The father of Azmaveth, who was treasurer under David and Solomon (1 Chr. 27:25). (2.) A family head of the tribe of Simeon (1 Chr. 4:36). (3.) A priest (1 Chr. 9:12).

Adin - effeminate. (1.) Ezra 8:6. (2.) Neh. 10:16.

Adina - slender, one of David's warriors (1 Chr. 11:42), a Reubenite.

Adino - the Eznite, one of David's mighty men (2 Sam. 23:8). (See JASHOBEAM.)

Adjuration - a solemn appeal whereby one person imposes on another the obligation of speaking or acting as if under an oath (1 Sam. 14:24; Josh. 6:26; 1 Kings 22:16).

We have in the New Testament a striking example of this ( Matt. 26:63; Mark 5:7), where the high priest calls upon Christ to avow his true character. It would seem that in such a case the person so adjured could not refuse to give an answer.

The word "adjure", i.e., cause to swear is used with reference to the casting out of demons ( Acts 19:13).

Admah - earth, one of the five cities of the vale of Siddim ( Gen .10:19). It was destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah ( Gen 19:24; Deut. 29:23). It is supposed by some to be the same as the Adam of Josh. 3:16, the name of which still lingers in Damieh, the ford of Jordan. (See ZEBOIM.)

Adnah - delight. (1.) A chief of the tribe of Manasseh who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:20). (2.) A general under Jehoshaphat, chief over 300,000 men (2 Chr. 17:14).

Adonibezek - lord of Bezek, a Canaanitish king who, having subdued seventy of the chiefs that were around him, made an attack against the armies of Judah and Simeon, but was defeated and brought as a captive to Jerusalem, where his thumbs and great toes were cut off. He confessed that God had requited him for his like cruelty to the seventy kings whom he had subdued ( Judg. 1:4-7; comp. 1 Sam. 15:33).

Adonijah - my Lord is Jehovah. (1.) The fourth son of David (2 Sam. 3:4). After the death of his elder brothers, Amnon and Absalom, he became heir-apparent to the throne. But Solomon, a younger brother, was preferred to him. Adonijah, however, when his father was dying, caused himself to be proclaimed king. But Nathan and Bathsheba induced David to give orders that Solomon should at once be proclaimed and admitted to the throne. Adonijah fled and took refuge at the altar, and received pardon for his conduct from Solomon on the condition that he showed himself "a worthy man" (1 Kings 1:5-53). He afterwards made a second attempt to gain the throne, but was seized and put to death (1 Kings 2:13-25).

(2.) A Levite sent with the princes to teach the book of the law to the inhabitants of Judah (2 Chr. 17:8).

(3.) One of the "chiefs of the people" after the Captivity ( Neh. 10:16).

Adonikam - whom the Lord sets up, one of those "which came with Zerubbabel" ( Ezra 2:13). His "children," or retainers, to the number of 666, came up to Jerusalem ( Ezra 8:13).

Adoniram - (Adoram, 1 Kings 12:18), the son of Abda, was "over the tribute," i.e., the levy or forced labour. He was stoned to death by the people of Israel (1 Kings 4:6;1 Kings 5:14)

Adoni-zedec - lord of justice or righteousness, was king in Jerusalem at the time when the Israelites invaded Palestine ( Josh. 10:1,Josh. 10:3). He formed a confederacy with the other Canaanitish kings against the Israelites, but was utterly routed by Joshua when he was engaged in besieging the Gibeonites. The history of this victory and of the treatment of the five confederated kings is recorded in Josh. 10:1-27. (Comp. Deut. 21:23). Among the Tell Amarna tablets (see EGYPT ) are some very interesting letters from Adoni-zedec to the King of Egypt. These illustrate in a very remarkable manner the histoy recorded in Josh. 10, and indeed throw light on the wars of conquest generally, so that they may be read as a kind of commentary on the book of Joshua. Here the conquering career of the Abiri (i.e., Hebrews) is graphically described: "Behold, I say that the land of the king my lord is ruined", "The wars are mighty against me", "The Hebrew chiefs plunder all the king's lands", "Behold, I the chief of the Amorites am breaking to pieces." Then he implores the king of Egypt to send soldiers to help him, directing that the army should come by sea to Ascalon or Gaza, and thence march to Wru-sa-lim (Jerusalem) by the valley of Elah.