AZEKAH – A city in the Shephelah, or plain of Judah; about midway between Jerusalem and the Philistine boundary, in a southwestern direction; probably not far from Socoh or Shochoh (I Sam. xvii. 1)—now Shuweikah—with which it is coupled...
AZEL – A Benjamite descended from Saul (I Chron. viii. 37, 38; ix. 43, 44).J. Jr. G. B. L.
AZEVEDO, DANIEL COHEN D' – akam in Amsterdam; died in 1823; son and successor of the Ḥakam David Cohen d'Azevedo. He is the author of a sermon—"Sermão Heroico pregado no K. K. de Talmud Torah en Amsterdam," Aug. 3, 1809 (eulogistic sermon, preached in the...
AZEVEDO, DAVID COHEN D' – akam of Amsterdam in the eighteenth century; died in 1792. He devoted himself to rabbinical studies and was elected Ḥakam in Amsterdam in 1782. He published a sermon entitled "Triumphos da Virtude: Sermão á Occasião do Natalicio...
AZEVEDO, DAVID SALOM D' – Diplomat, of the seventeenth century; died 1699. He was minister resident at Amsterdam of the dey of Algeria, and in that capacity negotiated a commercial treaty with the Netherlands. He was also an energetic member of the...
AZEVEDO, FRANCISCO D' – Portuguese Marano of the seventeenth century. He was sent in 1673 to Rome to implore the papal curia to curb the inhumanity of the Inquisition. Well supplied with money, and seconded by the Jesuits—who were not in sympathy with...
AZEVEDO, MOSES COHEN D' – Haham of London; son of Daniel Cohen d'Azevedo; born in Amsterdam about 1720; died in 1784. He succeeded, in 1761, Moses Gomez da Mesquitta, his father-in-law, as haham (Ḥakam) of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of...
AZGAD – The Bene Azgad returned with Zerub babel from the captivity (Ezra ii. 12; Neh. vii. 17). Their number is variously given as 1,222 (Ezra ii. 12), 2, 322 (Neh. vii. 17), 1,322 (I Esd. v. 13, where the form given to the name is...
AZHAROT – The "613" Precepts. Liturgical poems treating of the precepts of the Law. The Babylonian Talmud (Mak. 23b) contains an utterance by R. Simlai to the effect that "613 commandments were revealed to Moses: 365, equal to the number...
AZIEL – A Levite singer in the Temple; assistant to Asaph, Heman, and Ethan (I Chron. xv. 20). In I Chron. xv. 18 he is called "Jaaziel." The name of the gens Azieli is found in I Chron. xxvi. 23.J. Jr. G. B. L.
AẒILUT – Cabalistic term for "emanation" or "eradiation"; but philosophical authors prefer "shefa'" or "hashpa'ah." The word is derived from "aẓal" in reference to Num. xi. 17; and in this sense it was taken over into the Cabala from...
AZMAVETH – 1. The Barhumite; one of the thirty heroes of David (II Sam. xxiii. 31; I Chron. xi. 33). His sons joined David at Ziklag (I Chron. xii. 3).2. A Benjamite; son of Jehoadah (I Chron. viii. 36, ix. 42).3. Son of Adiel, who had...
AZORES – Group of islands in the Atlantic ocean, northwest of Africa, belonging to Portugal. It was a place of refuge for the Jews expelled from that country. At present Ponta Delgada, the capital of the island of São Miguel, Fayal,...
AZOTUS – 1. The equivalent of Ashdod; found in the Apocrypha (Judith ii. 28; I Macc. iv. 15, etc.) and in the New Testament (Acts viii. 40).2. Mount of Azotus (I Macc. ix. 15), where Judas Maccabeus was killed. It is perhaps identical...
AZOV – A town in the government of Ekaterinoslav, Russia, on the left bank of the Don, about twenty-four miles from Rostov and five miles from the sea. In ancient times it was an important business center, belonging to Greece and known...
AZRIEL – 1. Father of one of the men deputed by Jehoiakim to capture Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah (Jer. xxxvi. 26).2. Chief of one of the families of Manasseh, living on the eastern side of the Jordan (I Chron. v. 24).3. Father of...
AZRIEL B. ḤAYYIM TRABOTTA – See Trabot.
AZRIEL (EZRA) BEN MENAHEM (BEN SOLOMON) – Founder of the speculative Cabala, and called "The Saint"; born at Gerona in 1160; died in 1238. As to the identity of Azriel and Ezra, taken for two brothers by Grätz ("Gesch." vii. 447 et seq.) and Bloch (Winter and Wünsche,...
AZRIEL B. MOSES HA-LEVI – See Ashkenazi, Azriel b. Moses Levi.
AZRIEL BEN MOSES MESHEL, OF WILNA – Grammarian; lived at the end of the seventeenth and at the beginning of the eighteenth century. About 1700 he left his native town, Wilna, and settled with his family at Frankfort-on-the-Main. There he published, in 1704, in...
AZRIEL B. YEHIEL ASCOLI – See Trabot Family.
AZRIKAM – 1. Ancestor of a Levite residing in Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah (Neh. xi. 15 = I Chron. ix. 14).2. Son of Neariah, occurring in the list of the descendants of David (I Chron. iii. 23).3. Son of Azel in the genealogical...
AZUBAH – 1. Daughter of Shilhi and mother of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (I Kings xxii. 42 = II Chron. xx. 31).2. Wife of Caleb, the son of Hezron (I Chron. ii. 18, 19).J. Jr. G. B. L.
AZUBIB, JOSEPH B. NEHORAI – Rabbi at Algiers; died at Blida, Algeria, January, 1794. At an early age he assisted his father in his duties as rabbi of Algiers; and at the death of the latter succeeded him. He published a work under the title "Yamim Aḥadim"...
AZUBIB, NEHORAI B. SAADIA – Rabbi at Algiers; died October, 1785. He composed several prayers for the anniversary instituted by the community in commemoration of the repulse of O'Reilly's expedition against Algiers in 1775. Some Arabic poems of his figure...