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623

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ammi
Ammon

Following are some specimens of R. Ammi's exAMMIHUR. See AMMIHTJD (4).


egetics: Commenting on Lam. iii. 41, "Let us lift
AMMINADAB ("My Kinsman Has Given
up our heart with our hands unto God in the
"; compare the names Abi-nadab, Ahi-nadab,
heavens," he observes, "No man's prayer is heard Freely
Jeho-nadab, and Kammush-nadab. See also Schraof heaven, unless he carry his soul in the hands der,
"Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testawhich he raises in prayer." " The prayer for rain is
p. 281; and see 'AMM, 'AMMI): 1. The father
granted only for the sake of the men of faith." In ment,"
of
Aaron's
wife Elisheba (Ex. vi. 23) and of Nahsupport of this remark, Ammi, by means of an ex- shon, the " head
of the tribe of Judah " (Num. i. 7, ii.
egetical substitution of synonymous Hebrew words, 3). Also the name
of certain Levites (I Chron. vi.
quotes the verse (Ps. lxxxv. 11), "When Faith 7, xv. 10). 2. The name of a king of the Ammonites
springeth forth from the earth, Beneficence looketh in the time of Ashurbanipal (Delitzsch, "Wo Lag
down from heaven" (Ta'anit, Sa). In Moses' desig- das Paradies? " p. 294).
C. C. T.
nation of Israel as " a stiff-necked people" (Ex. xxxiv.
9), Ammi sees not so much a reproach as a praise of
AMMISHADDAI ("Shaddai is My Kinsman";
its firmness in religion, even in the face of persecu- compare SIIADDAI, and the names Zurishaddai, Shetion: "The Jew would either live as a Jew or die deur, and perhaps Absadai [Lidzbarski, " Handbuch
on the cross " (Ex. R. xiii.). According to R. Ammi, der Nordsem. Epigraphik," p. 206]; also AMMI-EL,
death is the consequence of sin, and suffering the Ammi-baal, etc. See 'AMM, 'AMMI): Name of the
penalty of wrongdoing; the first observation he de- father of the Danite Ahiezer, in Num. i. 12, ii. 25,
rives from the Scriptural saying (Ezek. xviii. 4)," The etc. Gray, " Hebrew Proper Names," pp. 194 et seq.,
soul that sinneth, it shall die "; the second from Ps. 245, pronounces the name a late and artificial formalxxxix. 33, " I will visit their transgressions with the tion.
C. C. T.
rod (of chastisement), and their iniquity with stripes "
(Shab. 55a, Eccl. R. on v. 4).
AMMON", AMMONITES Biblical Data: A
nation in eastern Palestine. As to their origin from
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gratz, Gesch. d. Juden, 2d ed., lv. 300-307;
Frankel, Mepn, p. 63a; Weiss, Dor, iii. 96; Bacher, Ag. Pal.
Lot, compare Gen. xix. 38, in which
Derivation " Ben-ammi" (son of my paternal uncle;
Amor. ii. 143-173.
S. M.
Rela- that is, of my nearest relative) is paroAMMIANTJS MARCELlilNTJS : Roman his- and
tionship. nomasia, not etymology. It is possible
torian ; born at Antioch, Syria, about 320; died about
that Ammon is derived from the name
395. He wrote a history of Rome, from Nerva to of a tribal divinity.
Valens, iu which the Jews are mentioned in Books
to the pedigree given in Gen. xix. 37-38,
XIV. ch. viii.; XXII. eh. v.; XXIII. ch. i.; XXIV. theAccording
Ammonites were nearly related to the Israelites
ch. iv. It is interesting to note that from the pas- and
still more closely to their neighbors in the south,
sage xxii. 5, 4, 5, the legend of the "fcetor judai- the Moabites.
This is fully confirmed by the fact
cus " or evil smell of the Jews which was so widely that all names of
Ammonitish persons show a pure
believed in during the Middle Ages, took its origin. Canaanitish character.
But the above passage indiReinach does not share the view of Joel ("Blicke in cates also the contempt and
for the Ammonites
die Religionsgeschiclite," ii. 131) and Loeb ("Rev. felt by the Hebrews (Deut. hatred
xxiii. 4), even to the exEt. Juives," xx. 52) that the word "fcetentium" is clusion of their progeny from
assembly of the
a mistake of a copyist for "petentium." In xxiii. Lord (contrast Deut. ii. 19, 37,the
in which the con1, 2, 3, we have the only pagan account of the un- sciousness of relationship seems to
be at the root of
successful attempt of the Jews under the emperor the regard shown to Ammon).
Julian to rebuild the Temple; all the other authoriThe borders of the Ammonite territory are not
ties being church fathers (M. Adler, in "Jew. Quart. clearly
defined in the Bible. In Judges, xi. 13, the
Rev." v. 617).
claim of the king of Ammon, who demands of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Th. Beinach, Textes d'Auteurs Grecset Israelites
Borestoration of the land "from Amon
maim Beiatifs au Judalsme, pp. 351-355, Paris, 1895. even untothe
Jabbok and unto Jordan," is mentioned
H. R.G.
as an unjust claim (xi. 15), inasmuch as the IsAMMIEL (" El is My Kinsman," or " My Kinsman only
raelitish part of this tract had been conquered from
is God "; compare ELIAM) : A name of the following the Amorites whom the Moabites had, in part, prepersons in the Old Testament: 1. A Danite (Num. ceded ; while in Judges, xi. 22 it is stated that the
xiii. 12). 2. Father of Machir, of Lodebar (II Sam. Israelites had possession " from the wilderness even
ix. 4 et seq., xvii. 27). 3. Father of David's wife, unto Jordan," and that they laid a claim to territory
Bathsheba ("Bathshua") (I Chron. iii. 5; compare beyond this, so as to leave no room for Ammon.
II Sam. xi. 3). 4. A doorkeeper (I Chron. xxvi. 5). Num. xxi. 24 describes the Hebrew conquest (comFor the meaning of the element Ammi, compare pare Judges, xi. 19) as having reached " even unto
names Abi-el, [A] hi-el, Eli-am,'Ammi-baal; and see the children of Ammon, for the border of the children
'AMM, AMMI.
C. C. T.
of Ammon was Jazer" (read the last word, with
AMMIHUD : 1. Father of Elishama.the chief of Septuagint, as "Jazer," instead of '"az," strong,
Ephraim in the second year after the exodus (Num. A. V.; compare Judges, xi. 32). Josh. xiii. 25, dei. 10, ii. 18); appears also in the genealogical list of fines the frontier of the tribe of Gad as being "Jazer
Ephraim (I Chron. vii. 20). 2. Father of Shemuel, . . . and half the land of the children of Ammon."
who was to represent the tribe of Simeon in the di- The latter statement can be reconciled with Num.
vision of the land and assist Eleazar and Joshua in xxi. 24 (Deut. ii. 19, 37) only by assuming that the
the work (Num. xxxiv. 20). 3. Father of Pedahel, northern part of Sihon's Amorite kingdom had for
the representative of Naphtali under the same cir- merly been Ammonite. This explains, in part, the
cumstances as the father of Shemuel (Num. xxxiv. claim mentioned above (Judges, xi. 13). According
28). 4. Father of Talmai, the king of Geshur, father- to Deut. ii. 37, the region along the river Jabbok and
in-law of King David, with whom Absalom took ref- the cities of the hill-country formed the border-line
uge after he had killed Amnon (II Sam. xiii. 37). The of Israel.
variant reading here is Ammihur. 5. Son of Omri,
In Judges, xi. 33, a portion of the land of Ammon
a Judean living in Jerusalem (I Chron. ix. 4).
is mentioned. It extended from Aroer to Minnith,
including twenty cities, and must have been an
G. B. L.

i\

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