final meeting with his apostles he told them he was ‘going his way to the Father to prepare a place for them’ (John 14:2, 28); while in prayer among them on his last night of life as a human, he reported to his Father that he had ‘finished the work on earth’ assigned to him and prayed to be glorified “alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was,” saying also, “I am coming to you.” (John 17:4, 5, 11) When arrested, he gave similar indication before the Sanhedrin. (Matt. 26:64) After his resurrection, he told Mary Magdalene: “Stop clinging to me. For I have not yet ascended to the Father. But be on your way to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17) Yet, despite all this, it is evident that the significance of these statements was ‘brought home’ to the disciples only at the occasion of the ascension. Later, Stephen was given a vision of Jesus at God’s right hand (Acts 7:55, 56), and Paul experienced the effect of Jesus’ heavenly glory.—Acts 9:3-5.

NONPHYSICAL INAUGURATION OF A ‘NEW AND LIVING WAY’

While Jesus began his ascent in a physical form, thus making possible his being seeable by his watching disciples, there is no basis for assuming that he continued to retain a material form after the cloud interposed itself. The apostle Peter states that Jesus died in the flesh but was resurrected “in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) Paul declares the rule that “flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom” (1 Cor. 15:50; compare also Jesus’ statement at John 12:23, 24 with 1 Corinthians 15:35-45). Paul likens Jesus’ ascent to God’s presence in the heavens to the entry of the high priest into the Most Holy compartment of the tabernacle on the day of atonement, and specifies that on such occasion the high priest carried only the blood (not the flesh) of the sacrificial victims. (Heb. 9:7, 11, 12, 24-26) Paul then compares the curtain, which separated the first compartment from the Most Holy compartment, to Christ’s flesh. The high priest in passing into the Most Holy into God’s typical presence did not carry the curtain with him but passed through that barrier and beyond it, so that it was behind him. Thus, Paul states that “we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, which he inaugurated for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh.”—Heb. 9:3, 24; 10:10, 19, 20; compare John 6:51; Hebrews 6:19, 20.

That Jesus’ ascension to heaven with the ransoming value of his lifeblood did inaugurate “a new and living way” harmonizes with Jesus’ own statement to the effect that, prior thereto, “no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man.” (John 3:13) Thus, neither Enoch nor Elijah inaugurated this way, any more than David had. (Gen. 5:24; 2 Ki. 2:11; Acts 2:34) As Paul states: “The holy spirit makes it plain that the way into the holy place had not yet been made manifest while the first tent was standing.”—Heb. 9:8; see ELIJAH No. 1; ENOCH No. 2.

CORRECTNESS OF THE TERM

Some raise objections to the account of the ascension, saying that it conveys the primitive concept that heaven is “up” from the earth, thus manifesting ignorance of the structure of the universe and of the earth’s rotation. However, to satisfy such critics would, in effect, require the virtual elimination of the words “up,” “above,” and so forth, from human language. Even in this “space age,” we still read of astronauts orbiting the earth as having “ascended to 739 nautical miles” above the earth (New York Times, September 16, 1966), whereas we know that technically they “moved out or away” from the earth’s surface that distance. Interestingly, the account of the angelic delegation that chorused the announcement of Jesus’ birth reports that, when their mission was completed, “the angels . . . departed from them into heaven.” (Luke 2:15; compare Acts 12:10.) Thus Jesus’ ascension, while beginning with an upward movement, as related to the earthly locality where his disciples were, may have thereafter taken any direction required to bring him into his Father’s heavenly presence. It was an ascension, not only in a directional sense, but, more importantly, as to the sphere of activity and level of existence in the spirit realm and in the lofty presence of the Most High God, a realm not governed by human dimensions or directions.—Compare Hebrews 2:7, 9.

WHY ESSENTIAL

Jesus’ ascension to the heavenly realm was essential for several reasons or purposes. He had stated that it was necessary for him to ‘go his way’ in order that he might send God’s holy spirit as helper to his disciples. (John 16:7-14) The outpouring of that spirit by Jesus on the day of Pentecost was to the disciples an evident demonstration of the fact of Jesus’ having reached God’s presence, and having presented his ransom sacrifice to Him. (Acts 2:33, 38) This presentation of the value of his lifeblood also made such ascension vital, for it was not to be made on earth, in the Most Holy of the temple in Jerusalem, but only in “heaven itself . . . before the person of God.” (Heb. 9:24) It was also made necessary by Jesus’ being appointed and glorified as the “great high priest who has passed through the heavens.” (Heb. 4:14; 5:1-6) Paul explains that “if, now, he were upon earth, he would not be a priest,” but that, having “sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens,” Jesus has now “obtained a more excellent public service, so that he is also the mediator of a correspondingly better covenant.” (Heb. 8:1-6) Because of this, Christians subject to inherited sin are comforted in knowing they “have a helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, a righteous one.”—1 John 2:1; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25.

Finally, the ascension was necessary for Jesus’ administration of the kingdom to which he became heir, with “angels and authorities and powers . . . made subject to him.” (1 Pet. 3:22; Phil. 2:6-11; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 10:12, 13; compare Daniel 7:14.) Having “conquered the world” (John 16:33), Jesus took part in fulfilling the prophecy at Psalm 68:18, ‘ascending on high and carrying away captives,’ the significance of which Paul explains at Ephesians 4:8-12.

ASCENTS

The Hebrew expression Shir ham·maʽalohthʹ, forming the superscription for fifteen psalms (120-134), is variously translated as “A Song of degrees” (AV), “A gradual canticle” (Dy), “A Song of Ascent by Steps” (LXX, translation of Charles Thomson), “A Song of [or, “for the”] Ascents” (AT, RS). Four of these psalms are attributed to David and one to Solomon. The exact meaning of the title “A Song of the Ascents” is a subject of discussion.

At one time Jewish tradition held that these fifteen songs were sung by the Levites in ascending the fifteen steps from the Court of Women to the Court of Israel at the temple in Jerusalem, but this view is generally discounted today. Some suggest that the phrase refers to the exalted contents of these psalms, though there seems to be little reason thus to elevate them above the other inspired psalms. Most commentators believe the title derives from the use of these psalms by the Israelite worshipers when traveling or “ascending” to the lofty city of Jerusalem situated high in the mountains of Judah as they joyfully attended the three great annual festivals there. (Deut. 12:5-7; 16:16; Ps. 42:4; Isa. 30:29) The word ma·ʽalahʹ is used in a similar way at Ezra 7:9 when referring to the “going up” of the Israelites from Babylon to Jerusalem after the exile. The expressions in Psalm 122:1-4 lend themselves well to this view, while the content of the other psalms of this group is of such varied nature as to leave the matter still uncertain.

ASENAPPAR

(Asʹe·nap·par) [Asshur is the creator of the heir].

This name appears in a portion of the book of Ezra (4:10) recorded in Aramaic and is evidently a clipped rendering of the name of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal and, like the Persian, which has no letter l, substitutes an r for the final l. In Greek he was called “Sardanapallos” and in Latin “Sardanapalus.” Further basis for applying the name to Ashurbanipal is the reference at Ezra 4:9, 10 to inhabitants of Susa (capital of Elam) as being transplanted to Samaria by Asenappar. (Compare 2 Kings 17:24-28.) History shows Ashurbanipal to be the only Assyrian king in position to carry out such action as regards the inhabitants of Elam.

Ashurbanipal was the son of Esar-haddon (Ezra 4:2) and grandson of the mighty Sennacherib. He seems to have been a contemporary of King Manasseh of Judah (716-661 B.C.E.), whose name is found on a prism of Ashurbanipal listing some twenty kings as tributaries of Assyria. (Compare 2 Chronicles 33:10-13.) Under him, Assyria reached its greatest heights. Apparently appointed as crown prince three or four years earlier, Ashurbanipal took the throne of Assyria upon his father’s death; his brother, Shamash-shumukin, assumed the subordinate throne of Babylon. There is great uncertainty as to the length of Ashurbanipal’s reign.—See CHRONOLOGY.

Ashurbanipal quelled an uprising in Egypt, conquering and ravaging the city of Thebes (No-amon; compare Nahum 3:8-10). Later he was engaged in a lengthy conflict with his brother, the king of Babylon, and after subduing Babylon, destroyed Susa, the capital of Elam. It is this conquest that is the historical basis for relating him to Asenappar of Ezra 4:9, 10.

Ashurbanipal is best known, however, for his literary interests, a unique trait among the formidable Assyrian monarchs. Beginning in 1845 C.E., excavations revealed a great library formed by Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, containing some 22,000 clay tablets and texts. In one inscription he says of himself: “I, Ashurbanipal, learned the wisdom of Nabu, the entire art of writing on clay tablets. . . . I received the revelation of the wise Adapa, the hidden treasure of the art of writing. . . . I considered the heavens with the learned masters. . . . I read the beautiful clay tablets from Sumer and the obscure Akkadian writing which is hard to master. I had my joy in the reading of inscriptions on stone from the time before the flood.”—Light from the Ancient Past (1946), Jack Finegan, p. 181.

Ashurbanipal sent scribes to all the ancient temples of Babylon to copy the literary works contained there. Among the texts found in his royal library are those of the Babylonian accounts of the Creation and of the Flood. In addition to incantations, prayers and hymns, the thousands of cuneiform writings include treatises on history, geography, astronomy, mathematical tables, medicine, grammar, as well as business documents involving contracts, sales and loans. Some of the tablets are as small as one inch square (6.5 square centimeters) while others measure up to fifteen inches by eight and a half inches (38.1 by 21.5 centimeters). They are viewed as the principal source of information for secular history of the Assyrian Empire and its monarchs.

Historical information about the end of Ashurbanipal’s reign is uncertain. In discussing this, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 257) states: “With the year 639, the sources for Assyrian history cease, . . . No explanation can be given for this curious blackout. With appalling suddenness, the Empire disintegrated.”—See ASSYRIA.

ASENATH

(Asʹe·nath) [belonging to (the goddess) Neith].

The daughter of the Egyptian priest Potiphera of On, given by Pharaoh to Joseph as his wife (1737 B.C E.). She became the mother of Manasseh and Ephraim.—Gen. 41:45, 50-52; 46:20.

ASH

[Heb., tidh·harʹ].

The name of this tree occurs twice in the Hebrew Scriptures, at Isaiah 41:19 and 60:13. In the first text it is included among trees such as the juniper and cypress, which are to flourish in the desert plain under foretold paradisaic conditions, and in the latter text it is included among the same trees as part of the “glory of Lebanon.” The identification of this tree is conjectural, but there is some evidence through comparison with the Arabic and Aramaic that favors the ash tree.—See Koehler-Baumgartner, Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 1019; Brown-Driver-Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, p. 187; Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I, p. 163.

Two varieties of ash, Fraxinus ornus and Fraxinus oxycarpa, are found in the mountains of Lebanon and the upper extremity of Palestine, though not throughout Palestine generally. If, as some authorities hold, the root meaning of the tree’s name means to “spring” or “bound (as a horse),” then the springy elasticity of the tough wood of the ash would make the name a fitting one. (See Parkhurst’s Hebrew Lexicon, 9th ed., p. 128.) It could also qualify as part of the “glory of Lebanon,” for it is a large tree growing up to fifty feet (15.2 meters) high, thriving in elevated areas in Syria and Lebanon where other trees find survival difficult, and of such beauty as to have been called, by some, the “Venus” of the forest. It has light-green foliage and ash-colored branchlets. It is of the same family botanically as the olive, but is unlike the olive, the leaves of which are ever green, because the ash sheds its leaves each fall.

ASHAN

(Aʹshan) [smoke].

A city in the Shephelah or lowland region of Judah. Originally assigned to Judah, it was thereafter given to Simeon, due to Judah’s territory being overly large. (Josh. 15:42; 19:7, 9; 1 Chron. 4:32) From them it passed to the Levite family of the Kohathites. (1 Chron. 6:54, 59) First Samuel 30:30 refers to “Borashan” (well of smoke) as one of the cities in that general region to which David sent spoils after his victory over the Amalekites, and this is thought by some to be the same as Ashan. At Joshua 21:16 the list of cities given to the Kohathites, corresponding to that at 1 Chronicles 6:59, is presented, but “Ain” appears in the Joshua list in place of Ashan. The Soncino Books of the Bible, commenting on the text, suggests that the full name of the city may have been Ainashan (spring of Ashan), thus corresponding to Borashan (well of Ashan). Others view “Ain” as a scribal error, preferring the Septuagint reading of “Ashan” in this text.

Ashan is presently identified with Khirbet ʽAsan, located about one and a half miles (2.4 kilometers) NW of Beer-sheba, alongside the dry wadi ʽAshan.

ASHARELAH

(Ash·a·reʹlah) [perhaps, God has fulfilled with joy].

A son of Asaph serving in the service groups of musicians and singers at the house of Jehovah in the time of David. (1 Chron. 25:1, 2) It is probable that Jesharelah of verse 14 is a variation of his name.

ASHBEA

(Ash·beʹa) [fullness (plenty), or, let me swear (one) in].

The house of Ashbea descended from Judah’s son Shelah and was noted for its production of fine fabric. (1 Chron. 4:21) The Targums add that their linen was made for kings and priests.

ASHBEL, ASHBELITES

(Ashʹbel, Ashʹbel·ites) [perhaps, a secondary form of Ishbaal, man of the Lord].

Son of Benjamin, listed third at Genesis 46:21, but