- ARETAS the father-in-law of Herod Antipas, and king of Arabia Petraea.
His daughter returned to him on the occasion of her husband’s entering
into an adulterous alliance with Herodias, the wife of Herod-Philip, his
half-brother (Luke 3:19, 20; Mark 6:17; Matthew 14:3). This led to a war
between Aretas and Herod Antipas. Herod’s army was wholly destroyed
(A.D. 36). Aretas, taking advantage of the complications of the times on
account of the death of the Emperor Tiberius (A.D. 37), took possession
of Damascus (2 Corinthians 11:32; comp. Acts 9:25). At this time Paul
returned to Damascus from Arabia. - ARGOB stony heap, an “island,” as it has been called, of rock about 30
miles by 20, rising 20 or 30 feet above the table-land of Bashan; a region of
crags and chasms wild and rugged in the extreme. On this “island” stood
sixty walled cities, ruled over by Og. It is called Trachonitis (“the rugged
region”) in the New Testament (Luke 3:1). These cities were conquered by
the Israelites (Deuteronomy 3:4; 1 Kings 4:13). It is now called the Lejah.
Here “sixty walled cities are still traceable in a space of 308 square miles.
The architecture is ponderous and massive. Solid walls 4 feet thick, and
stones on one another without cement; the roofs enormous slabs of
basaltic rock, like iron; the doors and gates are of stone 18 inches thick,
secured by ponderous bars. The land bears still the appearance of having
been called the ‘land of giants’ under the giant Og.” “I have more than once
entered a deserted city in the evening, taken possession of a comfortable
house, and spent the night in peace. Many of the houses in the ancient
cities of Bashan are perfect, as if only finished yesterday. The walls are
sound, the roofs unbroken, and even the window-shutters in their places.
These ancient cities of Bashan probably contain the very oldest specimens
of domestic architecture in the world” (Porter’s Giant Cities). (See
BASHAN.) - ARIEH the lion, the name of one of the body-guard slain with Pekahiah at
Samaria (2 Kings 15:25) by the conspirator Pekah. - ARIEL the lion of God. (1.) One of the chief men sent by Ezra to procure
Levites for the sanctuary (Ezra 8:16).
(2.) A symbolic name for Jerusalem (Isaiah 29:1, 2, 7) as “victorious under
God,” and in Ezekiel 43:15, 16, for the altar (marg., Hebrews ‘ariel) of
burnt offerings, the secret of Israel’s lion-like strength.