- APRON found in the Authorized Version in Genesis 3:7, of the bands of
fig-leaves made by our first parents. In Acts 19:12, it denotes the belt or
half-girdle worn by artisans and servants round the waist for the purpose
of preserving the clothing from injury. In marg. of Authorized Version,
Ruth 3:15, correctly rendered instead of “vail.” (R.V., “mantle.”) - AQUILA eagle, a native of Pontus, by occupation a tent-maker, whom
Paul met on his first visit to Corinth (Acts 18:2). Along with his wife
Priscilla he had fled from Rome in consequence of a decree (A.D. 50) by
Claudius commanding all Jews to leave the city. Paul sojourned with him
at Corinth, and they wrought together at their common trade, making
Cilician hair-cloth for tents. On Paul’s departure from Corinth after
eighteen months, Aquila and his wife accompanied him to Ephesus, where
they remained, while he proceeded to Syria (Acts 18:18, 26). When they
became Christians we are not informed, but in Ephesus they were (1
Corinthians 16:19) Paul’s “helpers in Christ Jesus.” We find them
afterwards at Rome (Romans 16:3), interesting themselves still in the cause
of Christ. They are referred to some years after this as being at Ephesus (2
Timothy 4:19). This is the last notice we have of them. - ARAB ambush, a city in the mountains of Judah (Joshua 15:52), now
Er-Rabiyeh. - ARABAH plain, in the Revised Version of 2 Kings 14:25; Joshua 3:16;
8:14; 2 Samuel 2:29; 4:7 (in all these passages the A.V. has “plain”); Amos
6:14 (A.V. “wilderness”). This word is found in the Authorized Version
only in Joshua 18:18. It denotes the hollow depression through which the
Jordan flows from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is now called by
the Arabs el-Ghor. But the Ghor is sometimes spoken of as extending 10
miles south of the Dead Sea, and thence to the Gulf of Akabah on the Red
Sea is called the Wady el-Arabah. - ARABIA arid, an extensive region in the south-west of Asia. It is
bounded on the west by the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea, on the south
by the Indian Ocean, and on the east by the Persian Gulf and the
Euphrates. It extends far into the north in barren deserts, meeting those of
Syria and Mesopotamia. It is one of the few countries of the world from
which the original inhabitants have never been expelled.
It was anciently divided into three parts:, (1.) Arabia Felix (Happy
Arabia), so called from its fertility. It embraced a large portion of the