heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down, or, “Who will descend into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.’” (Compare Deuteronomy 30:11-13.) It seems evident that the “abyss” here refers to the place in which Christ Jesus spent part of three days and from which place his Father resurrected him. (Compare Psalm 71:19, 20; Matthew 12:40.) Revelation 20:7 refers to the abyss as a “prison,” and the confinement of absolute restraint resulting from death certainly harmonizes with this.—Compare Acts 2:24; 2 Samuel 22:5, 6; Job 38:16, 17; Psalms 9:13; 107:18; 116:3.

Concerning the root meaning “unfathomable” as characteristic of the “abyss,” it is of interest to note the statement in Hasting’s Encyclopœdia of Religion and Ethics (1913, Vol. I, p. 54), which, in commenting on Romans 10:6, 7, says: “The impression conveyed by St. Paul’s language is of the vastness of that realm, as of one that we should vainly attempt to explore.” Paul contrasts the inaccessibility of “heaven” and of the “abyss” with the accessibility of righteousness by faith. The use of the related word baʹthos made by Paul at Romans 11:33 illustrates this: “O the depth [baʹthos] of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are!” (See also 1 Corinthians 2:10; Ephesians 3:18, 19.) So, in harmony with Romans 10:6, 7, the place that is represented by the “abyss” would also evidently imply being ‘out of reach’ of anyone but God or his appointed angel with the “key of the abyss.” (Rev. 20:1) One of the meanings assigned to the word aʹbys·sos in Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon is “the infinite void.”

ACACIA

[Heb., shit·tahʹ, shit·timʹ].

The Bible references to this tree are confined almost entirely to the period of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness and to its use as a building material for the portable tabernacle, constructed in the Sinai Peninsula. This requires that the tree be one that grew well in the wilderness, where the Israelites sojourned, and was capable of providing rather large boards (nearly 15 feet [4.6 meters] long, according to Exodus 36:20, 21). Since this tree practically disappears from the Bible record after the entry into the Promised Land, this may also indicate a tree not commonly found throughout Palestine. Such description fits the acacia types known as Acacia seyal and Acacia tortilis far better than any other plant life in the area. These acacia trees are still common in the Negeb and the Sinai area and some are found along the Jordan valley S of the Sea of Galilee, but not in northern Palestine.

It is interesting to note that the word seyal is Arabic for “torrent,” and the habitat of the acacia is in the torrent valleys or wadies, down which water rushes during the rainy season and which are found in the otherwise arid, desert regions around the Dead Sea area and southward into the Arabian Desert and the Sinai Peninsula. Thus Joel’s prophecy (3:18) says: “Out of the house of Jehovah there will go forth a spring, and it must irrigate the torrent valley of the Acacia Trees,” which is clearly a place that would otherwise usually be dry. At Isaiah 41:19 Jehovah says: “In the wilderness I shall set the cedar tree, the acacia and the myrtle and the oil tree.” Here three trees that normally grow in rich and fertile soils are prophesied to become the companions of the desert loving acacia, as a result of divine provision for irrigation.—Isa. 41:17, 18.

The Hebrew shit·tahʹ comes from a root word meaning “to pierce,” and, hence, a prickly or thorny tree is denoted. This well describes the acacia with its many long thorns extending out from the widely spreading branches. These branches usually interlace with those of the neighboring acacias to form tangled thickets, which doubtless explains why the plural form shit·timʹ is almost always used in the Bible record. The acacia may grow to heights of twenty to twenty-five feet (6 to 7.6 meters), but often is bushlike in appearance. It has soft feathery leaves and is covered with pleasingly fragrant yellow blossoms, producing curved tapering pods as its fruit. The rough black bark covers a very hard, fine-grained and heavy wood that is immune to insect attack. These characteristics and its availability in the desert made the acacia especially well suited for a building material for the tabernacle and its furnishings. It was employed to construct the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:10; 37:1), the table of showbread (Ex. 25:23; 37:10), altars (Ex. 27:1; 37:25; 38:1), poles for carrying these items (Ex. 25:13, 28; 27:6; 30:5; 37:4, 15, 28; 38:6), pillars for the curtain and screen (Ex. 26:32, 37; 36:36) and the panel frames (Ex. 26:15; 36:20) and their connecting bars (Ex. 26:26; 36:31).

Acacia is still prized for cabinet work because of its fine grain, rich orange-brown color and durability. The ancient Egyptians clamped their mummy coffins shut with acacia, and used it in the construction of their boats. Certain types of the tree also produce the gum arabic of commerce.

[Picture on page 27]

“Acacia seyal,” with its long thorns and pods

ACCAD

(Acʹcad) [fortress].

One of the four cities founded by Nimrod that formed the “beginning of his kingdom.” (Gen. 10:10) Accad (or Akkad) has been identified with the ancient city of Agade, which archaeological evidence indicates to have been situated on the Euphrates River near Sippar, about thirty miles (48.3 kilometers) from Babylon, in the area where the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers draw close together. The precise location, however, is uncertain.

The name Akkad is also applied to the whole northern region of what later was called Babylonia. Akkad appears to have received prominence as the principal or royal city of that region under an ancient king named Sargon (not the Sargon of Isaiah 20:1). The southern region of Mesopotamia was known as Sumer. Babylonia grew out of these two areas, and in Babylonian texts her rulers were still called “king of Akkad” down to the time of Babylon’s fall in 539 B.C.E. On the Cyrus Cylinder, Babylon’s conqueror takes over the title of “King of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad.”

The Akkadians appear to have surpassed the Sumerians in fine sculpture work and intricate seal-cutting. The name “Akkadian” today is used to describe the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform writing.

ACCEPTABLE TIME

At 2 Corinthians 6:2 the apostle Paul quotes from the prophecy of Isaiah 49:8, which says: “This is what Jehovah has said: ‘In an acceptable time I have answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you; and I kept safeguarding you that I might give you as a covenant for the people, to rehabilitate the land, to bring about the repossessing of the desolated hereditary possessions.”

In its original setting this statement was evidently made to Isaiah as representing or personifying the nation of Israel. (Isa. 49:3) It was clearly a restoration prophecy and, hence, had its first fulfillment at the time of the liberation of Israel from Babylon when the call went to the Israelite prisoners to “Come out!” They thereafter returned to their homeland and rehabilitated the desolated land.—Isa. 49:9.

However, the words “that I might give you as a covenant for the people” in verse 8 of this chapter and the preceding statement in verse 6 that this “servant” of Jehovah would be given as a “light of the nations, that [God’s] salvation may come to be to the extremity of the earth,” definitely mark the prophecy as Messianic and as therefore applying to Christ Jesus as God’s “servant.” (Compare Isaiah 42:1-4, 6, 7 with Matthew 12:18-21.) Since the “acceptable time” was a time when Jehovah would ‘answer’ and ‘help’ his servant, it must apply to Jesus’ earthly life when he “offered up supplications and also petitions to the one who was able to save him out of death, with strong outcries and tears, and he was favorably heard for his godly fear.” (Heb. 5:7-9; compare John 12:27, 28; 17:1-5; Luke 22:41-44; 23:46.) It was, therefore, a “day of salvation” for God’s own Son, during which period of opportunity he demonstrated perfection of integrity and, as a result, “became responsible for everlasting salvation to all those obeying him.”—Heb. 5:9.

Additionally, Paul’s quotation from this prophecy indicates a still further application to those Christians whom Paul urges “not to accept the undeserved kindness of God and miss its purpose,” and to whom he says (after quoting Isaiah 49:8): “Look! Now is the especially acceptable time. Look! Now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:1, 2) Such Christians had become the spiritual “Israel of God” from Pentecost forward (Gal. 6:16), but there was a need for them to prove worthy of God’s undeserved kindness, so that the “acceptable time” might indeed prove to be a “day of salvation” for them.

The fact that the prophecy in its original application was one of restoration would likewise indicate an application to a time of release from spiritual captivity and of restoration to full favor with God.—Compare Psalm 69:13-18.

To natural Jews who failed to appreciate the favorableness of the time and the opportunity that was theirs for entry into ‘spiritual Israel,’ Paul announced that he was turning to the non-Jewish nations, and quoted Isaiah 49:6 in support, saying: “In fact, Jehovah has laid commandment upon us in these words, ‘I have appointed you as a light of nations, for you to be a salvation to the extremity of the earth.’” (Acts 13:47) Since “time” and “day” are terms indicating temporariness, they imply urgency and the need to use wisely an opportune period or season of favor before its end comes bringing the withdrawal of divine mercy and offer of salvation.—Rom. 13:11-13; 1 Thess. 5:6-11; Eph. 5:15-20.

ACCIDENT, ACCIDENTAL

Unforeseen occurrences resulting from ignorance, carelessness or unavoidable events causing loss or injury are commonly called accidents. Jacob feared that unforeseen circumstances might overtake his beloved son Benjamin if allowed to go to Egypt with his brothers. (Gen. 42:4, 38) The Philistines returned the ark of Jehovah to prove whether the plague of piles they suffered really was from Jehovah, or just “an accident.” (1 Sam. 6:9) Solomon recognized that anyone may become a victim of unforeseen occurrences.—Eccl. 9:11.

The Scriptures draw a sharp distinction between committing sins in ignorance, and doing so willfully with full knowledge. (Acts 17:30; Rom. 4:15; 5:13; Eph. 4:18) The Mosaic law made a difference between an accident that proved fatal and one that was not. (Ex. 21:22-25) It also distinguished between killing intentionally and unintentionally. For deliberate murder, capital punishment was mandatory; for those guilty of accidental homicide, cities of refuge were set up. (Num. 35:11-25, 31; see CITIES OF REFUGE.) The law applied equally to native Israelite and alien resident, and instructions for the necessary sacrifices to atone for accidental or unintentional sins were provided.—Lev. 4:1-35; 5:14-19; Num. 15:22-29.

ACCO

(Acʹco) [sultriness, hot sand].

A seaport city located at the northern point of the yawning crescent-shaped bay of Acco (or Acre), which is formed by the cape of Mount Carmel jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea about eight miles (13 kilometers) to the S. Situated about thirty miles (48.3 kilometers) S of Tyre, Acco was the most important seaport on the harbor-shy Palestinian coast until Herod the Great ran seawalls out from the shore to produce an artificial port at Caesarea. Acco was inferior to the Phoenician ports to the N and provided but poor shelter from the sea winds. However, it was strategically located close to the approach to the rich Plain of Esdraelon, and several commercial trade routes connected the port with Galilee, the valley of the Jordan, and other points to the E. Timber, artistic commodities and grain were exported through Acco.

Acco pertained to the territorial division assigned to Asher in the Promised Land, but Asher failed to drive out the Canaanites who were then living there.