Ahim´aaz (brother of anger, i.e. irascible), son and successor of Zadok, who was joint high-priest in the reign of David, and sole high-priest in that of Solomon. His history belongs to the time of David, to whom he rendered an important service during the revolt of Absalom. David having refused to allow the ark of God to be taken from Jerusalem when he fled thence, the high-priests, Zadok and Abiathar, necessarily remained in attendance upon it; but their sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, concealed themselves outside the city, to be in readiness to bear off to David any important information, respecting the movements and designs of Absalom, which they might receive from within. Accordingly, Hushai having communicated to the priests the result of the council of war, in which his own advice was preferred to that of Ahithophel [ABSALOM], they instantly sent a girl (probably to avoid suspicion) to direct Ahimaaz and Jonathan to speed away with the intelligence. The transaction was, however, witnessed and betrayed by a lad, and the messengers were so hotly pursued that they took refuge in a dry cistern, over which the woman of the house placed a covering, and spread thereon parched corn. She told the pursuers that the messengers had passed on in haste; and when all was safe, she released them, on which they made their way to David (2 Samuel 15:24-37; 2 Samuel 17:15-21; As may be inferred from his being chosen for this service, Ahimaaz was swift of foot. Of this we have a notable example soon after, when, on the defeat and death of Absalom, he prevailed on Joab to allow him to carry the tidings to David. Another messenger, Cushi, had previously been dispatched, but Ahimaaz outstripped him, and first came in with the news. He was known afar off by the manner of his running, and the king said, 'He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings;' and this favorable character is justified by the delicacy with which he waived that part of his intelligence concerning the death of Absalom, which he knew would greatly distress so fond a father as David (2 Samuel 18:19-33).
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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