Dict: smith - ANT

smith:

ANT - A>@ - (Heb. nemalah). This insect is mentioned twice in the Old Testament: in kjv@Proverbs:6:6 kjv@Proverbs:30:25) In the former of these passages the diligence of this insect is instanced by the wise man as an example worthy of imitation; in the second passage the ant’s wisdom is especially alluded to; for these insects "though they be little on the earth, are exceeding wise." (For a long time European commentators and naturalists denied that ants stored up grain for future use, as was asserted in Proverbs but while this is true of most of the 104 European species, two of those species do lay up food, and are called harvesting ants . Like species have been found in Texas and South America, and are known to exist in Palestine. They show many other proofs of their skill. Some of them build wonderful houses; these are often several stories high, sometimes five hundred times the height of the builders, with rooms, corridors, and vaulted roofs supported by pillars. Some species keep a kind of cows; others have a regular army of soldiers; some keep slaves
"No closer imitation of the ways of man could be found in the entire animal economy." (
See Encyc. Brit.) McCook’s "The Honey Ants" gives many curious facts about the habits of this peculiar kind of ant, and of the harvesting ants of the American plains.
ED.)

ANTICHRIST - A>@ - This term is employed by the apostle John alone, and is defined by him in a manner which leaves no doubt as to its intrinsic meaning. With regard to its application there is less certainty. In the first passage
( kjv@1John:2:18)
in which it occurs, the apostle makes direct reference to the false Christs whose coming, it had been fore-told, should mark the last days. In 5:22 we find, "he is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son;" and still more positively, "every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of antichrist." Comp. ( kjv@2John:1:7) From these emphatic and repeated definitions it has been supposed that the object of the apostle in his first epistle was to combat the errors of Cerinthus, the Docetae and the Gnostics on the subject of the Incarnation. (They denied the union of the divine and human in Christ.) The coming of Antichrist was (believed to be foretold in the "vile person" of Daniel’s prophecy, kjv@Daniel:11:21) which received its first accomplishment in Antiochus Epiphanes but of which the complete fulfillment was reserved for the last times. He is identified with "the man of sin, the son of perdition." ( kjv@2Thessalonians:2:3) This interpretation brings Antichrist into close connection with the gigantic power of evil, symbolized by the "beast," kjv@Revelation:13:1) ... who received his power from the dragon (i.e. the devil, the serpent of Genesis), continued for forty and two months, and was invested with the kingdom of the ten kings who destroyed the harlot Babylon, kjv@Revelation:17:12 kjv@Revelation:17:17) the city of seven hills. The destruction of Babylon is to be followed by the rule of Antichrist for a short period, kjv@Revelation:17:10) to be in his turn overthrown in "the battle of that great day of God Almighty," kjv@Revelation:16:14) with the false prophet and all his followers. kjv@Revelation:19. The personality of Antichrist is to be inferred as well from the personality of his historical precursor as from that of him to whom he stands opposed. Such an interpretation is to be preferred to that which regards Antichrist as the embodiment and personification of all powers and agencies inimical to Christ, or of the Antichristian might of the world.

ANTIOCH - A>@ - (from Antiochus)
- IN SYRIA. The capital of the Greek kings of Syria, and afterwards the residence of the Roman governors of the province which bore the same name. Situation .
This metropolis was situated where the chain of Lebanon, running northward, and the chain of Taurus, running eastward. are brought to an abrupt meeting. Here the Orontes breaks through the mountains; and Antioch was placed at a bend of the river, 16 1/2 miles from the Mediterranean, partly on an island, partly on the levee which forms the left bank, and partly on the steep and craggy ascent of Mount Silpius, which, rose abruptly on the south. It is about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. In the immediate neighborhood was Daphne the celebrated sanctuary of Apollo 2 Macc. kjv@4:33; whence the city was sometimes called Antioch by Daphne , to distinguish it from other cities of the same name. Destruction .
The city was founded in the year 300 B.C., by Seleucus Nicator. It grew under the successive Seleucid kings till it became a city of great extent and of remarkable beauty. One feature, which seems to have been characteristic of the great Syrian cities,
a vast street with colonnades, intersecting the whole from end to end,
was added by Antiochus Epiphanes. By Pompey it was made a free city, and such it continued till the time of Antoninus Pius. The early emperors raised there some large and important structures, such as aqueducts, amphitheatres and baths. (Antioch, in Paul’s time, was the third city of the Roman empire, and contained over 200,000 inhabitants. Now it is a small, mean place of about 6000.
ED.) Bible History .
No city, after Jerusalem, is so intimately connected with the history of the apostolic church. Jews were settled there from the first in large numbers, were governed by their own ethnarch, and allowed to have the same political privileges with the Greeks. The chief interest of Antioch, however, is connected with the progress of Christianity among the heathen, Here the first Gentile church was founded, kjv@Acts:11:20-21) here the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians kjv@Acts:11:26) It was from Antioch that St. Paul started on his three missionary journeys. IN PISIDIA, kjv@Acts:13:14 kjv@Acts:14:19-21; kjv@2Timothy:3:11) on the borders of Phrygia, corresponds to Yalobatch , which is distant from Aksher six hours over the mountains. This city, like the Syrian Antioch, was founded by Seleucus Nicator. Under the Romans it became a colonia , and was also called Caesarea.

ANTIOCHUS - A>@ - (an opponent), the name of a number of kings of Syria who lived during the interval between the Old and New Testaments, and had frequent connection with the Jews during that period. They are referred to in the Apocrypha especially in the books of the Maccabees.

ANTIPAS - A>@ - (like the father), martyr at Pergamos, kjv@Revelation:2:13) and according to tradition the bishop of that place. (A.D. before 100.)

ANTIPAS - A>@ - HEROD

ANTIPATRIS, OR ANTIPATRIS - A>@ - (for his father), a town to which the soldiers conveyed St. Paul by night on their march. kjv@Acts:23:31) Its ancient name was Capharsaba; and Herod, when he rebuilt the city, changed it to Antipatris, in honor of his father, Antipater. The village Kefr
- Sabba still retains the ancient name of Antipatris.

ANTONIA - A>@ - (from Marc Antony) (a square stone fortress or castle adjoining the northwest corner of the temple area at Jerusalem. There was a tower at each corner. It was rebuilt by Herod the Great, and named by him from Marc Antony. From the stairs of this castle Paul addressed the multitude who had assaulted him kjv@Acts:21:31-40)
ED.)

ANTOTHIJAH - A>@ - (answers of Jehovah), a Benjamite, one of the sons of Jeroham. ( kjv@1Chronicles:8:24)

ANTOTHITE - A>@ - a dweller at Anathoth. ( kjv@1Chronicles:11:28 kjv@1Chronicles:12:3) ANATHOTH