ABI (II Kings 18:2), daughter
of Zechariah, wife of Ahaz, and mother of Hezekiah, King of Judah.
Abi's son trusted in the Lord God of Israel and
broke images and removed idols from their high places
Abi's husband, Ahaz, eleventh king of Judah,
was a wicked king who set up altars for idol worship in the Temple. The
fact that her son destroyed these sheds some light on his mother's character.
She is called Abijah in II chronicles 29:1.
ABIAH (I Chron. 2:24), wife of Hezron, who was a grandson of Judah and Tamar and founder of the family of Hezronites. She also was the mother of Ashur and the grandmother of Tekoa. Probably Abiah's name is mentioned because of the importance of the Judah-Tamar line, from which Christ is descended.
ABIGAIL I, widow of Nabal,
a drunkard. She became one of David's wives.
1Sam 25:3, 2 Sam 2:2, 3:3, 1Chron 3:1
ABIGAIL 2 (II Sam. 17:25; I Chron. 2:16, 17), sister of David, mother of Amasa, at one time commander in David's army. Her husband was Jether, an Ishmaelite. He also is called Ithra. In I Chronicles 2: 16 she is called David's sister, along with Zeruiah, while in the other passage she is called the daughter of Nahash.
ABIHAIL I (I Chron. 2:29), wife of Abishur, descendant of Hezron of Judah, and mother of Ahban and Molid. Her name bears little significance except to carry through the genealogy of a long line of priests.
ABIHAIL 2 (II Chron. 11:18), daughter of Eliab, David's brother and wife of Rehoboam. The text, however, leaves some question as to his identity. It all depends upon its interpretation. Abihail could be either a wife of Rehoboam, king of Judah, or the mother of his wife Mahalath. Probably the latter is correct. If so, she was the wife of Jerimoth, a son of David and a daughter of David's eldest brother Eliab. Frequent intermarriage like this was common in David's time.
ABIJAH (II Chron. 29:1), same as Abi, mother of Hezekiah. See Abi.
ABISHAG (I Kings 1:3, 15;
2:17, 21, 22), a maid from the of Shunem, obtained to minister to King
David in his old age. A search was made for a woman who was beautiful.
Abishag was brought to David to be his nurse and concubine.
In his feebleness she gave to him of her warm
vitality. In the Septuagint translation we find the phrase, "and let her
excite him and lie with him." This was a mode of medical in the East and
had been recommended by King David's doctor as a means of increasing his
waning vitality.
ABITAL (II Sam. 3:4; I Chron. 3:3), one of King David's wives, and mother of Shephatiah, who was born in Hebron. She is one of the six wives of David listed together in II Samuel 3:3, 4, 5. Others are Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, and Eglah. David had eight wives in all and concubines. The other wives were Michal and Bathsheba, and the best known concubine was Abishag, sometimes listed as a wife.
ACHSAH (Josh. 15:16, 17; Judg. 1:12, 13; I Chron. 2:49), daughter of Caleb, prince of the tribe of Judah, who received Hebron as an inheritance for himself and his descendants. He had been one of twelve men sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan and one of two who kept their faith in the Lord.
ADAH I (Gen. 4:19, 20, 23),
one of two wives of Lamech.
She is the first woman after Eve mentioned by
name and the motet of Jabal, founder of nomadic ways, and Jubal, founder
of music.
Her name and that of her sister, Zillah, when
spoken together form a musical combination. Her story comes in one of the
oldest folk songs in the Old Testament, and is often referred to as the
"Song of Lamech."
As the two wives of Lamech, Adah and her sister
are the first women in the Bible mentioned as being part of a polygamous
household.
Adah and her sister also are the first women
on record to be told by their husband that he had slain a man in self-defense
and that he expected to avenge himself "seventy and sevenfold" (Gen. 4:24).
Interesting also, is that she was a part of the
first household in the Bible to take part in the development of man from
a cultureless existence. As the mother of Jubal, she became the first woman
to inspire music, both of harp and organ.
Her husband, a primitive poet, probably tested
his first verses out on her and Zillah when he said, "Hear my voice; .
. . hearken unto my speech."
Her husband belonged to the seventh generation
of the descendants of Eve.
ADAH 2 (Gen. 36:2, 4, 10,
12, 16), one of the Canaanite wives of Esau and probably the same person
as Bashemath I, for she is identified in Genesis 26:34 and 36:2 as the
daughter of Elon. She could have been a sister of Bashemath. Though there
is some confusion. Most authorities are of the opinion that Adah and Bashemath
are the same.
Adah was the mother of Eliphaz, Esau's first-born
(Gen. 36:15), from whose line came four dukes, Teman, Omar, Zepho, and
Kenaz (Gen. 36:15).
AGAR (Gal. 4:24-25), the Greek name for Sarah's handmaid Hagar.
AHINOAM I (I Sam. 14: 5o), wife of Saul, first king of Israel, and daughter of Ahimaaz
AHINOAM 2 (I Sam. 25:43;
27:3; 30:5; II Sam. 2:2; 3:2; Chron. 3:1), a Jezreelitess, who was one
of David's eight wives. After Saul had given Michal, David's first
wife, to another, David took Ahinoam for his wife.
She and another wife Abigail, widow of the drunkard
Nabal,were captured by the Amalekites at Ziklag, but David and 600 of his
men went forth to bring them back. He recovered Ahinoam and also Abigail.
After the death of Saul, David took Ahinoam and
Abigail to reside at Hebron.
She is the mother of David's son Amnon.
AHLAI (I Chron. 2:31), a daughter
of Sheshan, a descendant Pharez, elder son of Judah by Tamar. The text
is confused. In 1Chronicles 2:31, she is the only one of Sheshan's children
who is named, but verse 34 speaks of Sheshan's daughters.
Ahlai's name has little importance except in
relationship to Pharez son of Tamar, who herself appears in Matthew's genealogy
of Christ.
AHOLAH (Ezek. 23:4, 5, 36, 44), a feminine name used symbolically by Ezekiel to designate Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, larger than the southern kingdom, of which Jerusalem was the capital. Therefore, Aholah is designated as the elder sister.
AHOLIBAH (Ezek. 23:4, II,
22, 36, 44), the name of a whore in Ezekiel's allegory of the two kingdoms
of Israel, the northern and southern, which had gone "awhoring" (after
idols) of their heathen neighbors.
Aholibah represents Jerusalem, capital of the
southern kingdom. Her evil was like that of her lewd sister, Aholah, representing
Samaria. Both had gone awhoring after idols, had defiled God's sanctuary
and profaned His sabbaths.
AHOLIBAMAH (Gen. 36:2,
5, 14, 18, 25), one of Esau's wives and often regarded as the same as Judith,
mentioned in Genesis 26:34. In this passage she is identified as the daughter
of Elon the Hittite, but in Genesis 36:2 she is identified as the daughter
of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, and again in 36:25 as the daughter of
Anah.
Aholibamah (also spelled in some translations
as Oholibamah) is not mentioned under either of these names in the earlier
texts of Esau's wives (Gen. 26:34 or 28:9). Various explanations have been
made regarding this. Authorities who compiled the International Standard
Bible Encyclopedia believe there is some error in the text. The least
we can say is that it is most confusing the way it stands.
Aholibamah had three children by Esau, namely,
Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah, who were born in the land of Canaan (Gen. 36:5).
All of these children are referred to as dukes in Genesis 36:18.
Aholibamab was one of several of Esau's wives.
She became a mother of the tribe of Edomites, never a righteous people
like Israelites.
ANAH (Gen. 36:2, 14, 18, 25),
a daughter of Zibeon and mother of Aholibamah (Oholibamah), one of the
wives of Esau. She is the only named mother of any of Esau's wives.
As the mother of Aholibamah, she was grandmother
of Esau's children, Jeush, Jaalam and Korah, born in the land of Canaan
( Gen. 36:5).
ANNA, first woman to proclaim Jesus as Christ. Lk. 2:36-38
APPHIA (Philemon, verse 2), a Christian of Colossae, Phrygian City, now a part of Turkey. She is thought to have been stoned to death in the reign of Nero.
ASENATH (Gen. 41:45,50;
46:20), wife of Joseph and daughter of Potipherah, a priest of the great
national temple of the sun at On or Heliopolis, seven miles northeast of
modern Cairo.
Asenath bore Joseph two sons before the years
of famine in Egypt. He gave to both of them Hebrew, not Egyptian, names.
The first was Manasseh, meaning "God hath removed me from all my troubles
and from my father's house." The second was Epliraim, meaning "God hat
made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
ATARAH (I Chron. 2:26), the second wife of Jerahmeel, grandson of Pharez, also mother of Onam. Though Jerahmeel's first wife had five children, this wife is not named, and Atarah is only among those in a group of introductory genealogies.
ATHALIAH, daughter of Jezebel and Ahab and only ruIing queen of Judah. (2Kings:11:1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 20; 2 Chron 22:2,10, 11, 12; 23:12, 13; 21: 24:7)
AZUBAH I (I Chron. 2:18, 19), first wife of Caleb, one of the descendants of Judah. By him she had three sons, Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.
AZUBAH 2 (I Kings 22:42; II Chron. 20:31), daughter Shuhi, wife of King Asa, third king of Judah and mother Jehoshaphat.
BAARA (I Chron. 8:8), one of the wives of Shaharaim
BASHEMATH I (Gen. 26:34), the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and the first of two of Esau's wives. In Genesis 36:2 she is called Adah. She became his wife when he was forty years old and turned out to be a "grief of mind" to Esau's parents, Isaac and Rebekah.
BASHEMATH 2 (Gen. 36:3, 4, 10, 13, 17), a second wife of Esau bearing the name of Bashemath. She was the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebajoth and in Genesis 28:9 her name is given as Mahalath. Esau probably married her after his marriage to the first two Hittite wives recorded in Genesis 26:34. This second Bashemath or Mahalath was the mother of Reuel.
BASMATH (I Kings 4:15), a daughter of Solomon, sometimes called Basemeth. She became the wife of Ahimaaz.
BATH-SHEBA, wife of David and mother of Solomon. (2 Sam. 11:3; 12:24; 1Kings 1:11, 15, 16, 28, 31; 2:13, 18, 19: 1 Chron. 3:5)
BATH-SHUA (I Chron. 3:5), same as Bath-sheba, mother of Solomon. It appears with this spelling in only this one place.
BERNICE ( Acts 24:24) with her brother, Agrippa II, heard Paul in the judgment hall in Caesarea.
BILHAH (Gen. 29:29; 30:3,
4, 5, 7; 35:22, 25; 37:2; 46:25; 1 Chron. 7:13), Rachel's handmaid given
to her by her father Laban at the time of her marriage with Jacob.
Rachel, being childless while her sister Leah
had had four sons, gave her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob for a wife. Bilhah
thus became the mother of two of the tribes of Israel. Later, Leah gave
her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a secondary wife.
When Bilhah gave birth to her first son Dan,
Rachel said, "God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath
given me a son" (Gen. 30:6). When the second son Naphtali was born to Bilhah,
Rachel said, "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister,
and I have prevailed" (Gen. 30:8)
Among the descendants of Bilhah's first son was
Samson, (Judg. 13:2).
The tribe which descended from Bilhah's second
son Naphtali became very large; at the first census in the wilderness its
men were 53,400 (Num. 2:29, 30).
BITHIAH (I Chron. 4: 18), daughter of one of the Pharoahs who married Mered, descendant of Judah.
CANDACE (Acts 8:27), a term applied to ruling queens of Meroe, capital of the country that later became the kingdom of Ethiopia, at the junction of the Nile and Atbara.
CHLOE (I Cor. I:11), a woman, apparently of Corinth, in the tirne of Paul, in whose household were those who told Paul of strife among religious leaders in the early Christian Church, probably at Corinth.
CLAUDIA (II Tim. 4:21), a woman in the Christian Church at Rome, who sent her greetings through Paul to Timothy.
COZBI (Num. 25:15, 18), a
Midianitish woman slain at Shittim by Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson
of Aaron. Phinehas was commended for the act in Psalms 106:30, 31. He thrust
a javelin through Cozbi's stomach after Moses had given orders publicly
to execute chiefs of the people, guilty of whoredoms in Baal-peor worship.
Cozbi was a princess, daughter of Zur, head of
a chief house in Midian. And she had influenced Zimri, son of Salu, prince
of a chief house among the Simeonites. Her influence for evil was greater
because of her prominence and because she had beguiled a Hebrew of prominence.
Cozbi's name means deceitful. She is the only
woman in the Bible of whom it is written that a javelin was thrust "through
her belly" (Num. 25:8).
DAMARIS (Acts 17:34), a
woman of Athens, who believed in the message of Paul.
Damaris must have been a woman of distinction
or she would not have been singled out with Dionysius, one of the judges
of the great court.
DEBORAH I (Gen. 35:8), Rebekah's
nurse, who had come with her from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan and
had been taken into the family of Jacob and Rachel. Her death is at Bethel
while the family was on its way from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan.
Deborah, who evidently was held in great reverence
by the which she had served for two generations, was buried at Bethel under
an oak, the name of which was Allon-bachuth, '"terebinth of weeping."
DEBORAH 2, a "judge" and prophetess, who summoned Barak to undertake the contest with Sisera. She went with the him to the feld of battle. (Judg. 4:4, 5, 9,14; 5:1, 7,12,15
DELILAH, the Philistine womanwho lured Samson to ruin. (Judg. 16:4, 6,10,12, 13, 18)
DINAH, daughter of Leah and Jacob, who was dishonored by Sechem. (Gen.30:1, 3, 5, 13, 25, 26; 46:15)
DORCAS, a woman of good deeds, also called Tabitha. Peter raised her from the dead. (Acts 9:36, 39)
DRUSILLA, wife of Felix, Roman procurator at Caesarea when Paul appeared in the judgment hall there. (Acts 24:24)