Father

VIEW:45 DATA:01-04-2020

FATHER.—See Family, Genealogy, 1.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

Chaldaic 'abba. Christ's endearing filial mode of addressing God; so believers (Mar_14:36; Rom_8:15); from 'aabah, "to show kindness." God's fatherhood is the ground and pattern for human fatherhood. Abraham was "father of nations," both by natural descent from him and by spiritual fellowship in his faith (Gen_18:18-19; Rom_4:17). The godly father's blessing brought great good, his curse great evil (Gen_9:25-27); the undutifulness of Ham entailing a curse on his race, the dutifulness of Shem and Japhet a blessing on their races (Gen_27:27-40; Gen_48:15-20; Gen_48:49). The fifth commandment, "honor thy father and mother," is the first with special promise (Eph_6:2).
Love descends rather than ascends; hence this commandment is more needed than one concerning parents' duties to children, but this is added (Eph_6:4; Col_3:21). Dishonoring parents is one of the worst sins (Exo_21:15-17; 1Ti_1:9; Mal_1:6; Isa_45:10). Still the parent was not to inflict death, but to bring the refractory child before the city elders in the gate or place of justice (Deu_21:18-21). Any ancestor is called "father" or "mother" (Isa_51:2; Jer_35:16-18, the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab, a striking instance of the blessing on obedience to parents; Dan_5:2; 2Ch_15:16 margin). "Father" is used also for protector, patron (Job_29:16; Psa_68:5; Deu_32:6). "Fathers" mean elders (Act_7:2; Act_22:1). The pupils of a spiritual master are called "sons" (2Ki_2:3; 2Ki_4:1).
"Father" expresses one worshipped or reverenced (Jer_2:27; 2Ki_2:12; 2Ki_5:13; 2Ki_6:21). The inventor of any art is called "father" of it or of its practicers (Gen_4:20-21; Joh_8:44; Job_38:28; Job_17:14). So the source (2Co_1:3) or instrument of spiritual blessings, as "mercy," regeneration. 1Co_4:15; "though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." The father's great duty was to teach God's laws continually to his children; "speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up ... that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children ... as the days of heaven upon the earth" (Deu_11:18-21).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Father. 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, Gen_3:16; 1Co_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, Gen_9:25; Gen_9:27; Gen_27:27-40; Gen_48:15; Gen_48:20; Gen_49:1, and so, also, the sin of a parent was held to affect, in certain cases, the welfare of his descendants. 2Ki_5:27.
The command to honor parents is noticed by St. Paul as the only one of the Decalogue which bore a distinct promise, Exo_20:12; Eph_6:2, and disrespect towards them was condemned by the law as one of the worst crimes. Exo_21:15; Exo_21:17; 1Ti_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, Act_7:2; Act_22:1, and of parents in general, or ancestors. Dan_5:2; Jer_27:7; Mat_23:30; Mat_23:32.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

This word, beside its common acceptation, is taken in Scripture for grandfather, great-grandfather, or the founder of a family, how remote soever. So the Jews in our Saviour's time called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their fathers. Jesus Christ is called the Son of David, though David was many generations distant from him. By father is likewise understood the institutor of a certain profession. Jabal “was father of such as dwell in tents, and such as have cattle.” Jubal “was father of all such as handle the harp and organ,” or flute, &c, Gen_4:20-21. Huram is called father of the king of Tyre, 2Ch_2:13; and, 2Ch_4:16, even of Solomon, because he was the principal workman, and chief director of their undertakings. The principal prophets were considered as fathers of the younger, who were their disciples, and are called sons of the prophets, 2Ki_2:12. Father is a term of respect given by inferiors to superiors. “My father,” said Naaman's attendants to him, “if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing,” 2Ki_5:13; and so the king of Israel addresses the prophet Elisha, 2Ki_6:21. Rechab, the founder of the Rechabites, is called their father, Jer_35:6. A man is said to be a father to the poor and orphans, when he supplies their necessities, and sympathizes with their miseries, as a father would do toward them: “I was a father to the poor,” says Job_29:16. God declares himself to be the “Father of the fatherless, and Judge of the widow,” Psa_68:5. God is frequently called our heavenly Father, and simply our Father; eminently the Father, Preserver, and Protector of all, especially of those who invoke him, and serve him: “Is he not thy Father that bought thee?” says Moses, Deu_32:6. Since the coming of Jesus Christ, we have a new right to call God our Father, by reason of the adoption which our Saviour has merited for us, by clothing himself in our humanity, and purchasing us by his death: “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God,” Rom_8:15. Job entitles God “the Father of rain,” Job_38:28; he produces it, and causes it to fall. The devil is called the father of the wicked and the father of lies, Joh_8:44. He deceived Eve and Adam; he introduced sin and falsehood; he inspires his followers with his spirit and sentiments. The father of Sichem, the father of Tekoah, the father of Bethlehem, &c, signify the chief persons who inhabited these cities; he who built or rebuilt them. Adam is the first father, the father of the living; Abraham is the father of the faithful, the father of the circumcision; called also the “father of many nations,” because many people sprung from him; as the Jews, Ishmaelites, Arabs, &c. God is called “the Father of spirits,” Heb_12:9. He not only creates them, but he justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies them, and thus confers upon them eternal happiness.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

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; Luk_3:38; Heb_12:9; Jam_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 (Psa_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 (2Ki_6:21; 2Ki_13:14; 1Co_4:14-15; 1Ti_1:2; 1Ti_1:18; 1Pe_5:13; cf. Mat_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 (Exo_4:22; Deu_1:31; Deu_8:5; Hos_11:1; Mal_1:6; Joh_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 (2Sa_7:14; Psa_2:7; cf. Act_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 (Psa_103:13; Isa_63:16; Mal_3:17; Joh_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; 1Co_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 (Joh_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 (Mat_6:9; Luk_11:9-13; Rom_8:15-16; see ABBA; PRAYER). Yet they must also reverence him, for he is their judge (Mat_6:14-15; 1Pe_1:17).
God, on his part, cares for his children’s needs and makes them heirs of his inheritance (Mat_6:32; Luk_12:32; Rom_8:17), though he also chastises them when they do wrong (2Sa_7:14-15; Heb_12:7-11; see CHASTISEMENT). God’s children are to develop lives whose character is like that of their Father (Mat_5:48).
Father of Jesus Christ
The highest sense in which God is Father is as the Father of Jesus Christ (Joh_1:18; Joh_5:36; Rom_15:6; 2Co_1:3). But his fatherhood of Jesus is different from his fatherhood of believers (cf. Joh_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 (Joh_10:30; Joh_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 (Mat_11:27; Joh_1:18; Joh_5:18; Joh_10:15; Joh_14:6-7).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

fa?thẽr (Anglo-Saxon, Foeder; German, Vater; Hebrew אב, 'ābh, etymology uncertain, found in many cognate languages; Greek πατήρ, patḗr, from root pâ, ?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 (Exo_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), the sacrificing of his children to Molech (Lev_18:21; Lev_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 (Exo_20:12; Lev_19:3; Deu_5:16; Mic_7:6; Eze_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; Pro_6:20); instructs (Pro_1:8, etc.); guides, encourages, warns (Jer_3:4; 1Th_2:11); trains (Hos_11:3); rebukes (Gen_34:30); restrains (Eli, by contrast, 1Sa_3:13); punishes (Deu_21:18); chastens (Pro_3:12; Deu_8:5); nourishes (Isa_1:2); delights in his son (Pro_3:12), and in his son's wisdom (Pro_10:1); is deeply pained by his folly (Pro_17:25); he is considerate of his children's needs and requests (Mat_7:10); considerate of their burdens, or sins (Mal_3:17, ?As a man spareth his own son?); tenderly familiar (Luk_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 (Psa_103:13, ?as a father pitieth his children?); the last human friend (but one) to desert the child (Psa_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); 1Ki_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?: Exo_6:14; 1Ch_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 Joh_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: Jam_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: Psa_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: 2Ki_5:13, ?My father, if the prophet had bid thee?; but especially applied to prophets: 2Ki_2:12, ?My father, my father!? also to elderly and venerable men: 1Jo_2:13, ?I write unto you, fathers?; hence also, with perhaps an outlook on (2) (a), deceased early Christians: 2Pe_3:4, ?from the day that the fathers fell asleep.? An ecclesiastical title, condemned (in principle) by our Lord: Mat_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: Act_7:2; and by Paul: Act_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 (Luk_2:49). But note Jesus' answer: ?my Father's house.?

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

This word, besides its obvious and primary sense, bears, in Scripture, a number of other applications, most of which have, through the use of the Bible, become more or less common in all Christian countries.
1. The term Father is very often applied to God Himself (Exo_4:22; Deu_32:6; 2Sa_7:14; Psa_89:27-28; Isa_63:16; Isa_64:8). In some of these passages He is set before us as the Father of all men, in the general sense of creator and preserver of all men, but more especially of believers, whether Jews or Christians.
Without doubt, however, God is in a more especial and intimate manner, even as by covenant, the Father of the Jews (Jer_31:9; Isa_63:16; Isa_64:8; Joh_8:41; Joh_5:45; 2Co_6:18); and also of Christians, or rather of all pious and believing persons, who are called 'sons of God' (Joh_1:12; Rom_8:16, etc.). Thus Jesus, in speaking to his disciples, calls God their Father (Mat_6:4; Mat_6:8; Mat_6:15; Mat_6:18; Mat_10:20; Mat_10:29; Mat_13:43, etc.). The Apostles, also, for themselves and other Christians, call him 'Father' (Rom_1:7; 1Co_1:3; 2Co_1:2; Gal_1:4; and many other places).
2. Father is applied to any ancestor near or remote, or to ancestors ('fathers') in general. The progenitor, or founder, or patriarch of a tribe or nation, was also pre-eminently its father, as Abraham of the Jews. Examples of this abound. See, for instance, Deu_1:11; 1Ki_8:21; Mat_3:9; Mat_23:30; Mar_11:10; Luk_1:32; Luk_1:73; Luk_6:23; Luk_6:26; Joh_7:22, etc.
3. Father is also applied as a title of respect to any head, chief, ruler, or elder, and especially to kings, prophets, and priests (Jdg_17:10; Jdg_18:19; 1Sa_10:12; 2Ki_2:12; 2Ki_5:13; 2Ki_6:21; 2Ki_13:14; Pro_4:1; Mat_23:9; Act_7:2; Act_22:1; 1Co_4:15, etc.)
4. The author, source, or beginner of anything is also called the Father of the same, or of those who follow him. Thus Jabal is called 'the father of those who dwell in tents, and have cattle;' and Jubal, 'the father of all such as handle the harp and the organ' (Gen_4:20-21; comp. Job_38:28; Joh_8:44; Rom_4:12).
The authority of a father was very great in patriarchal times; and although the power of life and death was virtually taken from the parent by the law of Moses, which required him to bring his cause of complaint to the public tribunals (Deu_21:18-21), all the more real powers of the paternal character were not only left unimpaired, but were made in a great degree the basis of the judicial polity which that law established. The children and even the grandchildren continued under the roof of the father and grandfather; they labored on his account, and were the most submissive of his servants. The property of the soil, the power of judgment, the civil rights, belonged to him only, and his sons were merely his instruments and assistants.
Filial duty and obedience were, indeed, in the eyes of the Jewish legislator, of such high importance, that great care was taken that the paternal authority should not be weakened by the withdrawal of a power so liable to fatal and barbarous abuse as that of capital punishment. Any outrage against a parent?a blow, a curse, or incorrigible profligacy?was made a capital crime (Exo_21:15; Exo_21:17; Lev_20:9). If the offence was public, it was taken up by the witnesses as a crime against Jehovah, and the culprit was brought before the magistrates whether the parent consented or not; and if the offence was hidden within the paternal walls, it devolved on the parents to denounce him and to require his punishment.
It is a beautiful circumstance in the law of Moses that this filial respect is exacted for the mother as well as for the father. The threats and promises of the legislator distinguish not the one from the other; and the fifth commandment associates the father and mother in a precisely equal claim to honor from their children. The development of this interesting feature of the Mosaical law belongs, however, to another head [WOMAN].
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Father
(אָב, ab, a primitive word, but followilng the analogy of אָבָה, to show kindness, Gesenius, Thesaurus, pages 6-8; Chaldee, אִב, πατήρ). Compare SON.
1. This word, besides its obvious and primary sense, bears in Scripture a number of other applications, most of which have, through the use of the Bible, become more or less common in all Christian countries (see Gesenius's Hebrews and Robinson's Greek Lex.).
(1.) Father is applied to any ancestor near or remote, or to ancestors ("fathers") in general. The progenitor, or founder, or patriarch of a tribe or nation was also pre-eminently its father, as Abraham of the Jews. 'examples of this abound. See, for instance, Deu_1:11; 1Ki_8:11; Mat_3:9; Mat_23:30; Mar_11:10; Luk_1:32; Luk_1:73; Luk_6:23; Luk_6:26; Joh_7:22, etc. So of the founder or rebuilder of a city (1Ch_2:50-52, etc.).
(2.) Father is also applied as a title of respect to any head, chief, ruler, or elder, and especially to kings, prophets, and priests (Jdg_17:10; Jdg_18:19; 1Sa_10:12; 2Ki_2:12; 2Ki_5:13; 2Ki_6:21; 2Ki_13:14; Pro_4:1; Mat_23:9; Act_7:2; Act_22:1; 1Co_4:15, etc.). Also of protector or guardian (Job_29:16; Psa_68:5; Deu_32:6). Hence of seniors, especially of Church fathers. See below.
(3.) The author, source, or beginner of anything is also called the father of the same, or of those who follow him. Thus Jabal is called "the father of those who dwell in tents, and have cattle;" and Jubal "the father of all — such as handle the harp and the organ" (Gen_4:21-22; comp. Job_38:28; Joh_8:44; Rom_4:12). In the Talmud the term father is used to indicate the chief; e.g. the principal of certain works are termed "fathers." Objects whose contact causes pollution are called "fathers" of defilement (Mishna, Shabb. 7:2, volume 2, page 29; Pesach, 1:6, volume 2, page 137, Surenh.). This use of the word is exceedingly common in the East to this day, especially as applied in the formation of proper names, in which also the most curious Hebrew examples of this usage occur. SEE AB —.
(4.) As an extension of all the foregoing senses, the term father is very often applied to God himself (Gen_44:19-20; Exo_4:22; Deu_32:6; 2Sa_7:14; Psa_89:27-28; Isa_63:16; Isa_64:8). Indeed, the analogy of language would point to this, seeing that in the Old Testaments and in all the Syro-Arabian dialects, the originator of anything is constantly called its father. Without doubt, however, God is in a more especial manner, even as by covenant, the Father of the Jews (Jer_31:9; Isa_63:16; Isa_64:8; Joh_8:41; Joh_5:45; 2Co_6:18); and also of Christians, or, rather, of all pious and believing persons, emho are called "sons of God" (Joh_1:12; Rom_8:16, etc.). Thus Jesus, in speaking to his disciples, calls God their Father (Mat_6:4; Mat_6:8; Mat_6:15; Mat_6:18; Mat_10:20; Mat_10:29; Mat_13:43, etc.). The apostles also, for themselves and other Christians, call him "Father" (Rom_1:7; 1Co_1:3; 2Co_1:2; Gal_1:4; and many other places). SEE ABBA.
2. The position and authority of the father as the head of the family is expressly assunsed and sanctioted in Scripture, as a likeness of that of the Almighty over his creatures, an authority — as Philo remarks — intermediate between human and divine (Philo, περὶγονέων τηεῆς, § 1). It lies, of course, at the root of that so-called patriarchal government (Gen_3:16 : 1Co_11:3), which was introductory to the more definite systems that followed, and that in part, but not wholly, superseded it. When, therefore, the name of "father of nations" (אִבְרָהָם) was given to Abram, he was thereby held up not only as the ancestor, but as the example of those who should come after him (Gen_18:18-19; Rom_4:17). The father's blessing was regarded as conferring special benefit,but his malediction special injury, on those upon whom it fell (Gen_9:25; Gen_9:27; Gen_27:27-40; Gen_48:15; Gen_48:20; Genesis 49); and so also the sin of a parent was held to affect, in certain cases, the welfare of his descendants (2Ki_5:27), though the law forbade the punishment of the son for his father's transgression (Deu_24:16; 2Ki_14:6; Eze_18:20). The command to honor parents is noticed by the apostle Paul as the only one of the Decalogue which bore a distinct promise (Exo_20:12; Eph_6:2), and direspect towards them was condemned by the law as one of the worst of crimes (Exo_21:15; Exo_21:17; 1Ti_1:9; comp. Virgil, AEn. 6:609; Aristoph. Ran. 274-773). Instances of legal enactment in support of parental authority are found inr Exo_22:17; Num_30:3; Num_30:5; Num_12:14; Deu_21:18; Deu_21:21; Lev_20:9; Lev_21:9; Lev_22:12; and the spirit of the law in this direction may be seen in Pro_13:1; Pro_15:5; Pro_17:25; Pro_19:13; Pro_20:20; Pro_28:24; Pro_30:17; Isa_45:10; Mal_1:6. The father, however, had not the power of death over his child under the Mosaic law (Deu_21:18-21; Philomen 1.c.).
From the patriarchal spirit also the principle of respect to age and authority in general appears to be derived. Thus Jacob is described as blessing Pharaoh (Gen_47:7; Gen_47:10; comp. Lev_19:32; Pro_16:31; Philomen 1.c. § 6).
The authority of a father was thus very great in patriarchal times; and although the law of Moses required the parent to bring his cause of complaint to the public tribunals. (Deu_21:18-21), all the more real powers of parental character were not only left unimpaired, but were made in a great degree the basis of the judicial polity which that law established. The children, and even the grandchildren, continued under the roof of the father and grandfather; they labored on his account, and were the most submissive of his servants. The property of the soil, the power of judgment, the civil rights, belonged to him only, and his sons were merely his instruments and assistants. If a family be compared to a body, then the father was the head, and the sons the members, moving at his will and in his service. There were exceptions, doubtless, but this was the rule, and, with some modifications, it is still the rule throughout the East.
Filial duty and obedience were, indeed, in the eyes of the Jewish legrislator, of such high importance that great care was taken that the paternal authority should not be weakened by the withdrawal of a power so liable to fatal and barbarous abuse as that of capital punishment. Any outrage against a parent-a blow, a curse, or incorrigible profligcacy — was made a capital crime (Exo_21:13; Exo_21:17; Lev_20:9). If the offense Was public, it was taken up by the witnesses as a crime against Jehovah, and the culprit was brought before the magistrates, whether the parent consented or not; and if the offense was hidden within the paternal walls, it devolved on the parents to denounce him and to require his punishment.
It is a beautiful circumstance in the law of Moses that this filial respect is exacted for the mother as well as for the father. The threats and promises of the legislator distinguish not the one from the other; and the fifth commandment associates the father and mother in a precisely equal claim to honor from their children (see Cellerier, Esprit de la Legislation Mosaique, 2:69, 122-129). SEE WOMAN.
Among Mohaimmedans parental authority has great weight during the time of pupilage. The son is not allowed to eat, scarcely to sit, in his father's presence. Disobedience to parents is reckoned one of the most heinous of crimes' (Burckhardt, Notes on Bed. 1:355; Lane, Mod. Eg. 1:84; Atkinson, Travels in Siberia, page 559).
Father (GOD THE) was usually represented in early Christian art by a hand, which was usually extended through a cloud. The principal subjects in which God the Father is represented by a hand are the scenes from the creation: Moses receiving the law, Moses at the burning bush, the sacrifice of Abraham, and the baptism of Christ. The hand is often given as holding out wreaths or crowns to saints and inartyrs at their death, or their ascension to Paradise. As early as the fifth century, God the Father is represented as an old man. This symbol predominated during the later Middle Ages, and is the one now universally adopted by Christian artists. The figures of God in the creation by M. Angelo and Raphael, in the Sistine chapel and in the Vatican, are among the grandest conceptions in all art. God the Father is also represented as an. old man ,in the representations of the Trinity (q.v.). — Martigny, Dictionnaire des Antiquites Chrdtiennes, 1865.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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