Easton's Bible Dictionary

Amalekite A tribe that dwelt in Arabia Petraea, between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. They were not the descendants of Amalek, the son of Eliphaz, for they existed in the days of Abraham (Gen 14:7). They were probably a tribe that migrated from the shores of the Persian Gulf and settled in Arabia. They dwelt in the land of the south...from Havilah until thou comest to Shur' (Num 13:29; Sa1 15:7). They were a pastoral, and hence a nomadic race. Their kings bore the hereditary name of Agag (Num 24:7; Sa1 15:8). They attempted to stop the Israelites when they marched through their territory (Deu 25:18), attacking them at Rephidim (Exo 17:8; compare Deu 25:17; Sa1 15:2). They afterwards attacked the Israelites at Hormah (Num 14:45). We read of them subsequently as in league with the Moabites (Jdg 3:13) and the Midianites (Jdg 6:3). Saul finally desolated their territory and destroyed their power (Sa1 14:48; Sa1 15:3), and David recovered booty from them (Sa1 30:18). In the Babylonian inscriptions they are called Sute, in those of Egypt Sittiu, and the Amarna tablets include them under the general name of Khabbati, or 'plunderers.'

Amana Perennial. (1.) The Hebrew margin of Kg2 5:12 gives this as another reading of Abana (q.v.), a stream near Damascus. (2.) A mountain (Sol 4:8), probably the southern summit of Anti-Libanus, at the base of which are the sources of the Abana.

Amariah Said by Jehovah. (1.) One of the descendants of Aaron by Eleazar (Ch1 6:7, Ch1 6:52). He was probably the last of the high priests of Eleazar's line prior to the transfer of that office to Eli, of the line of Ithamar. (2.) A Levite, son of Hebron, of the lineage of Moses (Ch1 23:19; Ch1 24:23). (3.) A 'chief priest' who took an active part in the reformation under Jehoshaphat (Ch2 19:11); probably the same as mentioned in Ch1 6:9. (4.) Ch1 6:11; Ezr 7:3. (5.) One of the high priests in the time of Hezekiah (Ch2 31:15). (6.) Zep 1:1. (7.) Neh 11:4. (8.) Neh 10:3. (9.) Ezr 10:42.

Amasa Burden. (1.) The son of Abigail, a sister of king David (Ch1 2:17; Sa2 17:25). He was appointed by David to command the army in room of his cousin Joab (Sa2 19:13), who afterwards treacherously put him to death as a dangerous rival (Sa2 20:4). (2.) A son of Hadlai, and chief of Ephraim (Ch2 28:12) in the reign of Ahaz.

Amasai Burdensome. (1.) A Levite, son of Elkanah, of the ancestry of Samuel (Ch1 6:25, Ch1 6:35). (2.) The leader of a body of men who joined David in the "stronghold," probably of Adullam (Ch1 12:18). (3.) One of the priests appointed to precede the ark with blowing of trumpets on its removal from the house of Obed-edom (Ch1 15:24). (4.) The father of a Levite, one of the two Kohathites who took a prominent part at the instance of Hezekiah in the cleansing of the temple (Ch2 29:12).

Amashai The son of Azareel, appointed by Nehemiah to reside at Jerusalem and do the work of the temple (Neh 11:13).

Amasiah Burden of (i.e., "sustained by") Jehovah, the "son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself unto the Lord," a captain over thousands under Jehoshaphat (Ch2 17:16; compare Jdg 5:9).

Amaziah Strengthened by Jehovah. (1.) A Levite, son of Hilkiah, of the descendants of Ethan the Merarite (Ch1 6:45). (2.) The son and successor of Joash, and eighth king of the separate kingdom of Judah(Kg2 14:1). He began his reign by punishing the murderers of his father (Kg2 14:5; Ch2 25:3). He was the first to employ a mercenary army of 100,000 Israelite soldiers, which he did in his attempt to bring the Edomites again under the yoke of Judah (Ch2 25:5, Ch2 25:6). He was commanded by a prophet of the Lord to send back the mercenaries, which he did (Ch2 25:7, Ch2 25:13), much to their annoyance. His obedience to this command was followed by a decisive victory over the Edomites (Ch2 25:14). Amaziah began to worship some of the idols he took from the Edomites, and this was his ruin, for he was vanquished by Joash, king of Israel, whom he challenged to battle. The disaster he thus brought upon Judah by his infatuation in proclaiming war against Israel probably occasioned the conspiracy by which he lost his life (Kg2 14:8, Kg2 14:19). He was slain at Lachish, whither he had fled, and his body was brought upon horses to Jerusalem, where it was buried in the royal sepulchre (Kg2 14:19, Kg2 14:20; Ch2 25:27, Ch2 25:28). (3.) A priest of the golden calves at Bethel (Amo 7:10). (4.) The father of Joshah, one of the Simeonite chiefs in the time of Hezekiah (Ch1 4:34).

Ambassador In the Old Testament the Hebrew word tsir, meaning "one who goes on an errand," is rendered thus (Jos 9:4; Pro 13:17; Isa 18:2; Jer 49:14; Oba 1:1). This is also the rendering of melits, meaning "an interpreter," in Ch2 32:31; and of malak, a "messenger," in Ch2 35:21; Isa 30:4; Isa 33:7; Eze 17:15. This is the name used by the apostle as designating those who are appointed by God to declare his will (Co2 5:20; Eph 6:20). The Hebrews on various occasions and for various purposes had recourse to the services of ambassadors, e.g., to contract alliances (Jos 9:4), to solicit favours (Num 20:14), to remonstrate when wrong was done (Jdg 11:12), to condole with a young king on the death of his father (Sa2 10:2), and to congratulate a king on his accession to the throne (Kg1 5:1). To do injury to an ambassador was to insult the king who sent him (Sa2 10:5).

Amber (Eze 1:4, Eze 1:27; Eze 8:2. Heb., hashmal , rendered by the LXX. elektron, and by the Vulgate electrum), a metal compounded of silver and gold. Some translate the word by "polished brass," others "fine brass," as in Rev 1:15; Rev 2:18. It was probably the mixture now called electrum. The word has no connection, however, with what is now called amber, which is a gummy substance, reckoned as belonging to the mineral kingdom though of vegetable origin, a fossil resin.