the names of certain tribes, colonies from which had been planted in Samaria by the Assyrian
leader Asnapper. (Ezra 4:9; 5:6) The first and last are regarded as the same. Whence these tribes
came is entirely a matter of conjecture.
Aphek
(strength), the name of several places in Palestine.
•A royal city of the Canaanites, the king of which was killed by Joshua, (Joshua 12:18) probably
the same as Aphekah in (Joshua 15:53)
•A city, apparently in the extreme north of Asher, (Joshua 19:30) from which the Canaanites were
not ejected, (Judges 1:31) though here it is Aphik. This is probably the same place as APHEK,
(Joshua 13:4) on the extreme north “border of the Amorites,”; identified with the Aphaca of
classical times, the modern Afka.
•A place at which the Philistines encamped while the Israelites pitched in Eben-ezer, before the
fatal battle in which the sons of Eli were killed and the ark was taken. (1 Samuel 4:1) This would
be somewhere to the northwest of and at no great distance from Jerusalem.
•The scene of another encampment of the Philistines, before an encounter not less disastrous than
that just named,—the defeat and death of Saul. (1 Samuel 29:1) It is possible that it may be the
same place as the preceding.
•A city on the military road from Syria to Israel. (1 Kings 20:26) It is now found in Fik, at the head
of the Wady Fik, six miles east of the Sea of Galilee.
Aphekah
(strong place), a city of Judah, in the mountains (Joshua 15:53) probably the same as Aphek,
- Aphiah
(refreshed), one of the fore-fathers of King Saul. (1 Samuel 9:1)
Aphik
(strong), a city of Asher from which the Canaanites were not driven out. (Judges 1:31) Probably
the same place as Aphek, 2.
Aphrah
(dust), The house of, a place mentioned in (Micah 1:10) Its site is uncertain.
Aphses
(the dispersion), chief of the 15th of the 24 courses in the service of the temple. (1 Chronicles
24:15)
Apocalypse
A Greek word meaning revelation, applied chiefly to the book of Revelation by John. [Revelation
Of St. John]
Apocrypha
(concealed, hidden).
•Old Testament Apocrypha ._The collection of books to which this term is popularly applied
includes the following (the order given is that in which they stand in the English version); I. 1
Esdras; II. 2 Esdras; III. Tobit; IV. Judith; V. The rest of the chapters of the book of Esther, which
are found neither in the Hebrew nor in the Chaldee; VI. The Wisdom of Solomon; VII. The Wisdom
of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus; VII. Baruch; IX. The Song of the Three Holy Children,
X. The History of Susanna; XI. The History of the destruction of Bel and the Dragon; XII. The
Prayer of Manasses king of Judah; XIII. 1 Maccabee; XIV. 2 Maccabees. The primary meaning