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ARTS: Father
GREEK: 5 Abba Abba
NAVE: Abba Father
EBD: Abba Father
SMITH: ABBA FATHER
ISBE: ABBA FATHER
BAKER: Abba Father
BRIDGEWAY: ABBA FATHER

Abba

In Bible versions:

Abba: NET AVS NRSV NASB TEV
Father: NIV
father

a title by which one addresses his father

Arts

Father: more..
Arts Topics: Other Portraits of God the Father

Greek

Strongs #5: Abba Abba

Abba = "father"

1) father, customary title used of God in prayer. Whenever it occurs
in the New Testament it has the Greek interpretation joined to it,
that is apparently to be explained by the fact that the Chaldee
"ABBA" through frequent use in prayer, gradually acquired the
nature of a most sacred proper name, to which the Greek speaking
Jews added the name from their own tongue.

5 Abba ab-bah'

of Chaldee origin (2); father as a vocative: KJV -- Abba.
see HEBREW for 02

Abba [nave]

ABBA, Father, Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6.

Father [nave]

FATHER
An idolatrous title of priests, Judg. 17:10.
Forbidden to be used as a title among the disciples, Matt. 23:9.
See: Parents; God, Fatherhood of.

Abba [ebd]

This Syriac or Chaldee word is found three times in the New Testament (Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), and in each case is followed by its Greek equivalent, which is translated "father." It is a term expressing warm affection and filial confidence. It has no perfect equivalent in our language. It has passed into European languages as an ecclesiastical term, "abbot."

Father [ebd]

a name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Gen. 4:20, 21; comp. Job 38:28).

Applied to God (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 32:6; 2 Sam. 7:14; Ps. 89:27, 28, etc.). (1.) As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews (Jer. 31:9; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; John 8:41, etc.).

(2.) Believers are called God's "sons" (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16; Matt. 6:4, 8, 15, 18; 10:20, 29). They also call him "Father" (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:4)

ABBA [smith]

See AB.

FATHER [smith]

The position and authority of the father as the head of the family are expressly assumed and sanctioned in Scripture, as a likeness of that of the Almighty over his creatures. It lies of course at the root of that so-called patriarchal government, (Genesis 3:16; 1 Corinthians 11:3) which was introductory to the more definite systems which followed, and which in part, but not wholly, superseded it. The father?s blessing was regarded as conferring special benefit, but his malediction special injury, on those on whom it fell, (Genesis 9:25,27; 27:27-40; 48:15,20; 49:1) ... and so also the sin of a parent was held to affect, in certain cases, the welfare of his descendants. (2 Kings 5:27) The command to honor parents is noticed by St. Paul as the only one of the Decalogue which bore a distinct promise, (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2) and disrespect towards them was condemned by the law as one of the worst crimes. (Exodus 21:15,17; 1 Timothy 1:9) It is to this well-recognized theory of parental authority and supremacy that the very various uses of the term "father" in Scripture are due. "Fathers" is used in the sense of seniors, (Acts 7:2; 22:1) and of parents in general, or ancestors. (Daniel 5:2; Jeremiah 27:7; Matthew 23:30,32)

ABBA [isbe]

ABBA - ab'-a (abba, 'abba', Hebraic-Chaldaic, "Father"): In Jewish and old-Christian prayers, a name by which God was addressed, then in oriental churches a title of bishops and patriarchs. So Jesus addresses God in prayer (Mt 11:25,26; 26:39,42; Lk 10:21; 22:42; 23:34; Jn 11:41; 12:27; 17:24,25). In Mk 14:36; Rom 8:15, and Gal 4:6 ho pater, is appended even in direct address, in an emphatic sense. Servants were not permitted to use the appellation in addressing the head of the house. See Delitzsch on Rom 8:15; compare G. Dalman, Gram. des jud.-palast. Aramaisch, etc., section 40, c. 3.

J. E. Harry

FATHER [isbe]

FATHER - fa'-ther (Anglo-Saxon, Foeder; German, Vater; Hebrew 'abh, etymology uncertain, found in many cognate languages; Greek pater, from root pa, "nourisher," "protector," "upholder"):

1. Immediate Male Ancestor:

Immediate male ancestor. The father in the Hebrew family, as in the Roman, had supreme rights over his children, could dispose of his daughter in marriage (Gen 29), arrange his son's marriage (Gen 24), sell his children (Ex 21:7), but not his daughter to a stranger (Neh 5:5), had power of life and death, as in the case of Isaac (Gen 22), Jephthah's daughter (Jdg 11:34 ff), the sacrificing of his children to Molech (Lev 18:21; 20:3-5), etc. Respect, reverence and affection for fathers (and equally for mothers) is most tenderly, explicitly and sternly prescribed from the earliest times (Ex 20:12; Lev 19:3; Dt 5:16; Mic 7:6; Ezek 22:7, etc.). A symmetrical and beautiful picture of the duties and character of the ideal human father may be built up from the Old Testament, with added and enlarged touches from the New Testament. He loves (Gen 37:4); commands (Gen 50:16; Prov 6:20); instructs (Prov 1:8, etc.); guides, encourages, warns (Jer 3:4; 1 Thess 2:11); trains (Hos 11:3); rebukes (Gen 34:30); restrains (Eli, by contrast, 1 Sam 3:13); punishes (Dt 21:18); chastens (Prov 3:12; Dt 8:5); nourishes (Isa 1:2); delights in his son (Prov 3:12), and in his son's wisdom (Prov 10:1); is deeply pained by his folly (Prov 17:25); he is considerate of his children's needs and requests (Mt 7:10); considerate of their burdens, or sins (Mal 3:17, "As a man spareth his own son"); tenderly familiar (Lk 11:7, "with me in bed"); considerately self-restrained (Eph 6:4, "Provoke not your children to wrath"); having in view the highest ends (ibid., "Nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord"); pitiful (Ps 103:13, "as a father pitieth his children"); the last human friend (but one) to desert the child (Ps 27:10: "When (a thing to the psalmist incredible) my father and my mother forsake me, then Yahweh will take me up").

2. Ancestors, Immediate or Remote:

(a) Ancestor, immediate or remote: Gen 28:13, "Abraham thy father" (grandfather); 1 Ki 22:50, "Jehoshaphat .... David his father"; Jer 35:6, "Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father"; Dan 5:11, "Nebuchadnezzar thy father" (personal or official ancestor); Gen 15:15, "Go to thy fathers in peace" (and so (in the plural) in over 500 passages). The expressions "slept with his fathers," "go down to his fathers," "buried with his fathers," "gathered to his fathers," are self-explanatory euphemisms. (b) The founders of the (Hebrew) race, specifically the patriarchs:' Rom 9:5, "whose are the fathers," considered here also as in a sense the religious ancestors of all believers. (c) Progenitors of clans, i.e. (Revised Version (British and American)) "fathers' houses": Ex 6:14; 1 Ch 27:1, etc. (d) Gods as progenitors of men: Jer 2:27, "Who say to a stock, thou art my father."

3. Figurative and Derived Uses:

(a) A spiritual ancestor, one who has infused his own spirit into others, whether good, as Abraham, the father of the faithful, Rom 4:11; or bad, as Jn 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil." (b) Indicating closest resemblance, kinship, affinity: Job 17:14, "If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father." (c) A source: Eph 1:17, "Father of glory"; Job 38:28, "Hath the rain a father?" (d) Creator: Jas 1:17, "the Father of lights." (e) The inventor or originator of an art or mode of life: Gen 4:20, "father of such as dwell in tents" (a hint here of hereditary occupations? Probably not). (f) One who exhibits the fatherly characteristics: Ps 68:5, "a father of the fatherless." (g) One who occupies a position of counsel, care, or control (frequently applied by sultans to their prime ministers): Gen 45:8, "a father to Pharaoh"; Jdg 17:10, "Be unto me a father and a priest." (h) A revered or honored superior: 2 Ki 5:13, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee"; but especially applied to prophets: 2 Ki 2:12, "My father, my father!" also to elderly and venerable men: 1 Jn 2:13, "I write unto you, fathers"; hence also, with perhaps an outlook on (2) (a), deceased early Christians: 2 Pet 3:4, "from the day that the fathers fell asleep." An ecclesiastical title, condemned (in principle) by our Lord: Mt 23:9, "Call no man your father on the earth"; but applied, under the power of the Spirit, to members of the Sanhedrin (probably) by Stephen: Acts 7:2; and by Paul: 22:1, but the latter, perhaps also the former, may simply refer to the elderly among his hearers. Christ's condemnation is clearly of the praise-seeking or obsequious spirit, rather than of a particular custom.

"Father," used by Mary of Joseph, in relation to Jesus, equals "putative father," a necessary reserve at a time when the virgin birth could not yet be proclaimed (Lk 2:49). But note Jesus' answer: "my Father's house."

Philip Wendell Crannell

Abba [baker]

[N] [E] [H] [S]

See Fatherhood of God

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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible

[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary

[H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names

[S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary

Father [baker]

[N] [E] [S]

See Family Life and Relations

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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible

[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary

[S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary

ABBA [bridgeway]

Abba was a common word in the Aramaic and Hebrew languages, and meant ‘father’. It was a warm and informal term used in the everyday language of family life.

Jews of Old Testament times never used abba when addressing God, but Jesus used it when praying to his Father (Mark 14:36). The early Christians also addressed God as Abba; for, through Christ, God has adopted believers as his sons and made them joint heirs with Christ of his heavenly inheritance (Rom 8:15-17; Gal 4:5-6; cf. 3:26; see ADOPTION).

FATHER [bridgeway]

A basic element in fatherhood is that it is related to origins, to bringing things into existence (Gen 17:5). Consequently, the Bible speaks about God as the Father of creation, for he is the source of all things (Num 16:22; Isa 64:8; Mal 2:10; Luke 3:38; Heb 12:9; James 1:17; see GOD). This is possibly one aspect of God’s fatherhood that Paul refers to when he points out that all fatherhood comes ultimately from God. Earthly fathers exist only because there is a heavenly Father (Eph 3:14-15). (For the responsibilities of fathers in human society see FAMILY.)

People in Bible times used the word ‘father’ as a respectful way of referring to their ancestors (Ps 22:4; Heb 1:1; see ANCESTORS). They even used it to refer to their spiritual leaders, especially those who brought them to know God (2 Kings 6:21; 13:14; 1 Cor 4:14-15; 1 Tim 1:2,18; 1 Peter 5:13; cf. Matt 23:7-12). But the Bible’s most important use of ‘father’ is in relation to God.

Father of his people

When the Bible speaks of God’s fatherhood of his people, there is again a variety of meanings. In Old Testament times God was the Father of the nation Israel. He made Israel his people by covenant, and cared for them as a father cares for his children (Exod 4:22; Deut 1:31; 8:5; Hosea 11:1; Mal 1:6; John 8:41). In particular he was Father to the king of his chosen people, and more particularly still, of the Messiah, whom Israel’s king foreshadowed (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7; cf. Acts 13:33; Heb 1:5; see MESSIAH). In addition to all this, God was Father in a special sense to the true believers within the nation (Ps 103:13; Isa 63:16; Mal 3:17; John 8:42).

The New Testament shows that God is Father to all who believe in him – not just Israelites, but believers of all nations (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2-3). All people, regardless of nationality, are dead in sin, but those who repent of their sin and believe in Jesus are ‘born again’. They receive new life from God and so become God’s children (John 1:12-13; Eph 2:1; see REGENERATION). To use another picture, God adopts them into his family and gives them the status and privileges of full-grown sons (Gal 4:4-6; see ADOPTION). Believers therefore can speak to God confidently as their Father (Matt 6:9; Luke 11:9-13; Rom 8:15-16; see ABBA; PRAYER). Yet they must also reverence him, for he is their judge (Matt 6:14-15; 1 Peter 1:17).

God, on his part, cares for his children’s needs and makes them heirs of his inheritance (Matt 6:32; Luke 12:32; Rom 8:17), though he also chastises them when they do wrong (2 Sam 7:14-15; Heb 12:7-11; see CHASTISEMENT). God’s children are to develop lives whose character is like that of their Father (Matt 5:48).

Father of Jesus Christ

The highest sense in which God is Father is as the Father of Jesus Christ (John 1:18; 5:36; Rom 15:6; 2 Cor 1:3). But his fatherhood of Jesus is different from his fatherhood of believers (cf. John 20:17).

God did not make Jesus his Son as he makes believers his sons. Jesus always has been the Son of God. There is no suggestion that God the Father existed first and God the Son came into existence later. The Father and the Son, both being God, have existed eternally, but they have existed eternally in this relationship of Father and Son. Though distinct persons, they are inseparably united (John 10:30; 14:10; see SON OF GOD; TRINITY).

As the Son, Jesus alone has true knowledge of the Father. Therefore, only through the Son is the Father revealed to the world, and only through the Son can the world come to know the Father (Matt 11:27; John 1:18; 5:18; 10:15; 14:6-7).


Also see definition of "Abba" in Word Study



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