ab´i -hāl ( אביחיל , 'ăbhı̄ḥayil ; in some manuscripts 'abhihayil , when feminine, but best reading is the former: "father, or cause, of strength"): Five persons in the Old Testament are called by this name: (1) A L evite and the father of Zuriel, who in the Wilderness was head of the house of Merari, Levi's youngest son (Numbers 3:35 ); (2) The wife of Abishur, a man of the tribe of Judah, in the line of Hazron and Jerahmeel (1 Chronicles 2:29 ); (3) One of the heads of the tribe of Gad, who dwelt in Gilead of Bashan (1 Chronicles 5:14 ); (4) Either a wife of Rehoboam, king of Judah, or mother of his wife Mahalath, according to the interpretation of the text (2 Chronicles 11:18 ); probably the latter view is correct, since there is no conjunction in the text, and since (2 Chronicles 11:19 ) contemplates only one wife as already mentioned. This being true, she was the wife of Jerimath, a son of David, and daughter of Eliab, David's eldest brother. It is interesting to note this frequent intermarriage in the Davidic house; (5) Father of Queen Esther, who became wife of Xerxes (Biblical Ahasuerus ) king of Persia, after the removal of the former queen, Vashti, (Esther 2:15; Esther 9:29 ). He was uncle of Mordecai.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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