ANTWERP – Chief seaport of the kingdom of Belgium; capital of the province bearing the same name.It is impossible to say at what time Jews commenced to settle in the city, as all early data are wanting. In the fourteenth century, however,...
ANUSIM – See Maranos.
APAMEA – Among the many towns bearing this name, the following are of importance with reference to Jews:1. Capital of the province of Apamene, Syria; situated on the Orontes, south of Antioch. Like the other cities of Syria (Josephus,...
APELLA – A real or fictitious name of a Jew referred to by Horace as extremely credulous. Credulity seemed to the Roman writers synonymous with Jewish beliefs in general, and "Apella," from Horace's expression "credat Judæus Apella"...
APELLES OF ASCALON – Counselor and companion of the emperor Caligula (37-41). After a career of debauchery he went on the stage and became a tragic actor (Philo, "De Legatione ad Cajum," xxx.). Apelles was imbued with a deep-seated hatred of the...
APES – Biblical Data: These animals are mentioned in I Kings, x. 22, and the parallel passage in II Chron. ix. 21, as having been brought, with gold, silver, ivory, and peacocks, by ships of Tarshish from Ophir (compare II Chron. viii....
APHARSACHITES – A tribe living in Samaria, who objected to the building of the Temple by the Jews, and brought the matter to the attention of Darius (Ezra, iv. 9, v. 6, vi. 6). They had been transported to Samaria by Asnapper (Ezra, iv. 9)....
APHARSITES – Assyrian subjects transplanted into Samaria by Asnapper. In Ezra, iv. 9, they are found intriguing against the Jews, and this led Artaxerxes to issue orders for the building of the Temple to cease. G. B. L.
APHEK – The name of several places mentioned in the Old Testament, of which the most famous was the scene of a severe defeat of Ben-hadad II. of Damascus by Ahab, king of Israel (I Kings, xx. 29 et seq.). See Aphek, Battle of. The site...
APHEK, THE BATTLE OF – This event, described in I Kings, xx. 26-34, was one of the most notable in the prolonged warfare between northern Israel and the Arameans of Damascus. The Syrians, who, under Ben-hadad II., had been defeated by Israel the year...
APHORISMS – See Maxims.
APHRAATES, THE PERSIAN SAGE – The name by which a Syrian homilist of the fourth century was known. His homilies, written between the years 337 and 345, are valuable to the Jewish historian; for it may be confidently asserted that no church father was ever so...
APHRASCHUS RACHMAILOWICZ – See Affras Rachmaelovich.
APHRODITE – Greek name for the goddess of love. Among Orientals, addicted to sensuality, she was worshiped under many forms and figures. The word 'Aφρōδίτη (Aphtoret, Aphrotet, Aphrodet), which can not be satisfactorily derived from Greek,...
APIḲOROS – In common Jewish parlance this word is used to signify that a man is a heretic, unsound in his belief, or lax in his religious practise. The word is derived from the Greek 'Eπικύρōς;, but Maimonides (Commentary on the Mishnah,...
APION – His Political Activity. A Greek grammarian and sophist of Alexandria, noted for his bitter hatred of the Jews; born in the Great Oasis of Egypt between 20 and 30 B.C., died probably at Rome between 45 and 48. As Joel ("Angriffe...
APOCALYPSE – I. The Terms "Apocalypse" and "Apocalyptic." An "Apocalypse," in the terminology of early Jewish and Christian literature, is a revelation of hidden things given by God to some one of his chosen saints or (still oftener) the...
APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, NEO-HEBRAIC – Growth Out of the Older. The Neo-Hebraic apocalyptic forms but one branch of Apocalyptic Literature, a species of literature exhibiting many ramifications, and represented in a complex but unbroken chain, from the time of the...
APOCRYPHA – I. The most general definition of Apocrypha is, Writings having some pretension to the character of sacred scripture, or received as such by certain sects, but excluded from the canon (see Canon).The history of the earlier usage...
APOLANT, EDUARD – German physician; born at Jastrow, city in Westpreussen, Prussia, Aug. 21, 1847. He was educated at the gymnasium at Deutsch-Krone and at the University of Berlin, where he received the degree of doctor of medicine in 1870. He...
APOLLINARIS – Bishop of Hierapolis, Phrygia, in 170; author of an "Apology for the Christian Faith," which he addressed to Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He wrote also two books "Pros Ioudaious" (Against the Jews) and other works against...
APOLLONIUS – One of the Judeans who, about 130 B.C., went to Rome to make a covenant or league of friendship with the Romans. He was called by Josephus, "the son of Alexander." See John Hyrcanus.Bibliography: Josephus. Ant. xiii. 9, § 2,...
APOLLONIUS – Greek rhetorician and anti-Jewish writer; flourishedin the first century B.C. He is usually, but not always, designated by the name of his father, Molon. He was called by his patronymic mainly to distinguish him from his...
APOLLONIUS OF TYANA – Pythagorean philosopher and necromancer; born about the year 3 B.C.; died, according to some sources, in the thirtyeighth year of his age. In Arabic literature his name is cited in the form "Balinas" or "Belenus," which has...
APOLLOS – A learned Jew of Alexandria, and colaborer of Paul. Of him the following is told (Acts xviii. 24-28): He came (about 56) to Ephesus, as "an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures," to preach and to teach in the synagogue; and...