Apamea
THE JEWISH EXCYCLOPEDLl
663
harness auy of lliese would not be reckoned an infringement of Dent. xxii. 10. Therc was a legend to the ellect that of the three elas.ses of men that built the Tower of IJabel. one wa.s turned into A|ies(Sanh. 109'( compare Yalk.. Gen. <>'Z). Apes wen' used asa method of disadvantageous comparison tlius, Sarali was to Eve as an ape to man; Eve to Adam; and
Adam
to Coil (H. li. '>x<i)In the (lays of Enosh the liuman race degenerated and began to lonk like Apes(Oen. H. xxiii.). The .Mohammeilans have a legend, referred to in the Koran (suras ii. 01. (i'2; vii. Ki;!), to the elTeet that eerlain Jews dwelling at Elath ou the Hed sea in the days of David, who yielded to the temptation to lish on the Sabbath, were turned into Apes asa punishment for Sabliathbreakiug (Lane, "Thousjind and One Xights," iii. ooO). There is another animal mentioned in the Talmud which would a|>pear to be of the same category as the ape since its resemblance to man was so great
Damascus by
iUiab, king of Israel (I Kings, xx. 29 See Ai'iiEK, B.vtti-e of. The site is disputed. The common opinion is that the town lay east of the Jordan and that the name is preserved in the moilern Fek, three miles east of the Sea of Galilee, on the edge of the i)laiu of Jordan. Latterly the opinion has gained credence that it wa.s the same Apliek as that mentioned in Josh. xii. IH and I Sam. iv. 1, in the north of the i)lain of Sharon, the supposition being that the Syrians were invading Israel from the western side as being the most vulnerable. In the same place Joa.sli also gained a victory over the Syrians under Ben-hadad III. (II Kings, .xiii. IT). See also illustration, p. (iG4. BniLiomui'nv Smith. HMoriral Grimraiiliji of the Hutu ctmii.).
L(i/i((. iuilex, s.v.
Hulil.
(Jrnfinnihk
ilrK
P--'l-'.
Allen PaliMiiia, J. F. -Met".
APHEK, THE BATTLE
OF: This event. described in I Kings, xx. '2ii-'-i4, was one of the most notable in the prolonged warfare between northern
LKO and rARRIF.D
APE.S
Aphraates
.IS
TKIBLTK.
(From L«yar<), " NlDrvth.")
that
dead body,
its
liki'
that of a
man, would render
name
mCM 'JHS
has been interpreted variously as a chinipan/ee or orangutan; while some rigard the animal as altogether fabidous and identical willi 'J3N. "stones of the field " (Sammter, Jlishnayot [iranslation], i. 77; Job, V. 2:i).
at<'nt unclean (Kil.
viii. 5).
Its
mCH
Ii7.;i.^l:
W-
I-ewlwilm, 7)iV /.unlnaii .;.» Tulminlf. pp. Hiiilmrt. J/i< r<ij"i<fiii, nil. 111. cup. .vxxl.: U-v.v, .Yr n.liistnAV, IHil.; Kiihul. .Iiiii/l, s.v.
Bnn.iniiRAi-nv
llilir. 11V.r»<l/r.;
J.
APHARSACHITES
A
tribe living in Sanmria, wlioobjecled lo tl»> bulliling of the Temple by the Jews, and brought Ihe matter to the attention of
Darius(E/.ni, liorled to
iv.
!l,
v.
(>.
vi.
(i).
They
bail
Samaria by .snapper (Ezra,
been
iv,
il).
liiiiis-
Their
It appears idenlity has not been fully established. and probable that the term has been niisundi rst designates in reality certain ollicials. Sie AfliAltsiiKs. G. B. L. I
APHARSITES
As.syrian subjects Ininsplanted In E/.ni. iv. !l. they are into Sanmilii by Asnapper. found intriguing against the Jews, and lliis led Ar tiixerxes to issue orders for the building of the Tem(}. B. L. ple to cease.
APHEK in the
The name of several places menlioned Old Testament, of which the most famous
was the scene
of a severe defeat of
Ben
liadail II. of
The SyriIsrael and the Aramcans of Damascus. ans, who, under Ben hadad II., had been defeated by Israel the year before in a conltict among the hills of Samaria 1 Kings, xx. 215), stationed themselves in (
the lowland, which they believed a more advan-
tageous position. Their rendezvous was probably Aphek, in the north end uf the great plain of Sharon, They were again ilefealed. and after being blockaded in .pliik they surrendered to Ahab, who treated them mereifullv and allowed them to return to Diunasciis, One result of the victory was tiiat a truce, lasting over two years, was concluded between Israel ami Damasi-us, so that the following year (H.")4 n.i.) .Mail) and lieu hadad were foinid lighting .side by side War, howi'Ver, broke out against the A.s.syrians. airain in
M3, when Ahab was
killed at J.
Cileail.
F.
HamothMcC.
APHORISMS. M.WIMS. APHRAATES, THE PERSIAN SAGE name lp « liii was known.
il :i
S
li.iii li.imili--l
of
ilu-
f.
The
•iirlheeiilury
w ritteii between the years are valuable to Ihe Jewish historian; for it may be conlidently asvrled that no church father was ever so strongly inlluenced by rabbinical Judaism as this defender of Christianity against Ihe .lews. Georgios. bishop of the Arabs (about 7S(n, notes .Aphraates' dependence upon Jewish diH'trine
- i:l7
(SCO
and
Ilis
Ilis iioinilies,
'M'l.
letter
about Aphnuites in Wright, "The
