Difference between revisions of "Agabus"

<p> (from Hebrew '''''Agab''''' , "he loved".) A [[Christian]] prophet (&nbsp;Acts 9:28; &nbsp;Acts 21:10). He came from Judaea to Antioch while Paul and [[Barnabas]] were there, and foretold the famine which occurred the next year in Palestine (for a Jew would mean the [[Jewish]] world, by "throughout all the world.".) Josephus records that Helena, queen of Adiabene, a proselyte then at Jerusalem, imported provisions from Egypt and Cyprus, wherewith she saved many from starvation. The famine was in the procuratorship of Cuspius Fadus and [[Tiberius]] Alexander, A.D. 44, and lasted four years. In the wider sense of "the world," as the prophecy fixes on no year, but "in the days of Claudius Caesar," it may include other famines elsewhere in his reign, one in Greece, two in Rome. </p>

<p> [[Agabus]] ( ''Ăg'A-B'' ''Ŭs'' ), ''Locust.'' The only New [[Testament]] prophet mentioned by name. He predicted a great famine, which occurred in the reign of Claudius, a.d. 44. &nbsp;Acts 11:28. He also predicted the imprisonment of Paul. &nbsp;Acts 21:10-11. </p>

<p> ( '''''῎Αγαβος''''' ; either from the Heb. '''''חָגָב''''' , a [[Locust]] [which even occurs as a proper name, &nbsp;Ezra 2:46], or '''''עִָגבְ''''' , ''To Love;'' Simon. ''Onom. N.T.'' 15, and Wolf, Cur. 2, 1167), the name of "a prophet," supposed to have been one of the seventy disciples of Christ (Walch, De Agabo Vate, Jen. 1757, and in his Diss. ad Act. Ap. 2, 131 sq.). He, with others, came from Judaea to Antioch, while Paul and Barnabas (A.D. 43) were there, and announced an approaching famine, which actually occurred the following year (&nbsp;Acts 11:27-28). Some writers suppose that the famine was general; but most modern commentators unite in understanding that the large terms of the original ( '''''Ὄλην''''' '''''Τὴν''''' '''''Οἰκουμένην''''' ) apply not ''To The Whole World,'' nor even to the whole Roman empire, but, as in &nbsp;Luke 2:1, to Judaea only. </p> <p> Statements respecting four famines, which occurred in the reign of Claudius (Oros. 7:6; Euseb. Hist. Ecclesiastes 2, 8; Chron. Arm. 2, 269), are produced by the commentators who support this view (Wesseling, Observ. 1, 9, p. 28); and as all the countries put together would not make up a tenth part of even the Roman empire, they think it plain that the words must be understood to apply to that famine which, in the fourth year of Claudius (Suetonius, Claud. 18), overspread Palestine (see Kuinol, Comment. in loc.). The poor Jews, in general, were then relieved by the queen of Adiabene, who sent to purchase corn in Egypt for them (Josephus, Ant. 20, 2, 6; 5, 2); and for the relief of the Christians in that country contributions were raised by the brethren at Antioch, and conveyed to Jerusalem by Paul and Barnabas (&nbsp;Acts 11:29-30). Many years after, this same Agabus met Paul at Caesarea, and warned him of the sufferings which awaited him if he prosecuted his journey to Jerusalem (&nbsp;Acts 21:10-12), A.D. 55. (See Conybeare and Howson '''''’''''' s St. Paul, 1, 127; 2, 233; Baumgarten, Apostelgeschichte, 1, 270 sq.; 2, 113.) The Greek Church assert that he suffered martyrdom at Antioch, and hold his festival on the 6th of March (Eichhorn, Bibl. d. bibl. Lit. 1, 22, 23; 6, 20). </p>

<p> ''''' ag´a ''''' - ''''' bus ''''' ( Ἂγαβος , <i> ''''' Ágabos ''''' </i> ): A C hristian prophet of Jerusalem, twice mentioned in Acts. (1) In &nbsp;Acts 11:27 , we find him at Antioch foretelling "a great famine over all the world," "which," adds the historian, "came to pass in the days of Claudius." This visit of Agabus to Antioch took place in the winter of 43-44 ad, and was the means of urging the [[Antiochian]] Christians to send relief to the brethren in Judea by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Two points should be noted. (a) The gift of prophet's here takes the form of prediction. The prophet's chief function was to reveal moral and spiritual truth, to "forth-tell" rather than to "foretell"; but the interpretation of God's message sometimes took the form of predicting events. (b) The phrase "over all the world" (practically synonymous with the Roman Empire) must be regarded as a rhetorical exaggeration if strictly interpreted as pointing to a general and simultaneous famine. But there is ample evidence of severe periodical famines in various localities in the reign of Claudius (e.g. [[Suet]] <i> Claud </i> . 18; Tac. <i> Ann </i> . xii.43), and of a great dearth in Judea under the procurators Cuspius Fadus and Tiberius Alexander, 44-48 ad ( <i> Ant. </i> , XX, ii, 6; v, 2), which probably reached its climax circa 46 ad. (2) In &nbsp;Acts 21:10 we find Agabus at Caesarea warning Paul, by a vivid symbolic action (after the manner of Old Testament prophets; compare &nbsp; Jeremiah 13:1; Ezek 3; 4) of the imprisonment and suffering he would undergo if he proceeded to Jerusalem. (3) In late tradition Agabus is included in lists of the seventy disciples of Christ. </p>