Reference: Father
American
Is often synonymous with ancestor, founder, or originator, as Ge 4:20-21; Joh 8:56; Ro 4:16. Joseph was a father to Pharoah, Ge 45:8, as his counselor and provider. God is the FATHER of men, as their Creator, De 32:6; Isa 63:16; 64:8; Lu 3:38. But as we have forfeited the rights of children by our sins, it is only through Christ that we can call God by that endearing name, "our Father," Joh 20:17; Ro 8:15-17.
In patriarchal times, a father was master and judge in his own household, and exercised and authority almost unlimited over his family. Filial disobedience or disrespect was a high offence. Under the law, certain acts of children were capital crimes, Ex 21:15,17; Le 20:9; and the father was required to bring his son to the public tribunal, De 21:18-21. See MOTHER.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and [those who have] livestock. And the name of his brother [was] Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments.
So now, you yourselves did not send me here, but God put me here as father to Pharaoh and as master of all his household, and a ruler over all the land of Egypt.
And {whoever strikes} his father or his mother will surely be put to death.
" 'And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.
" 'If [there is] {anyone} who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father and his mother--his blood [is] upon him.
"{If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son} [who] {does not listen to} the voice of his father and to the voice of his mother, and they discipline him, and he does not obey them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town}, read more. and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious; {he does not obey us}, [and] he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones and let him die; and so you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all of Israel will hear, and they will fear.
[Like] this do you treat Yahweh, foolish and {unwise} people? [Has] he not, your father, created you? He made you, and he established you.
For you [are] our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh [are] our father, Our Redeemer from [of] old [is] your name.
Yet now Yahweh, you [are] our father; we [are] the clay and you [are] our {potter}, and we all [are] the work of your hand.
Abraham your father rejoiced that he would see my day, and he saw [it] and was glad."
Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
Because of this, [it is] by faith, in order that [it may be] according to grace, so that the promise may be secure to all the descendants, not only to those of the law, but also to those of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
For you have not received a spirit of slavery [leading] to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself confirms to our spirit that we are children of God, read more. and if children, also heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer together [with him] so that we may also be glorified together [with him].
Easton
a name applied (1) to any ancestor (De 1:11; 1Ki 15:11; Mt 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Jg 17:10; 18:19; 1Sa 10:12; 2Ki 2:12; Mt 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Ge 4:20-21; comp. Job 38:28).
Applied to God (Ex 4:22; De 32:6; 2Sa 7:14; Ps 89:27-28, etc.). (1.) As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews (Jer 31:9; Isa 63:16; 64:8; Joh 8:41, etc.).
(2.) Believers are called God's "sons" (Joh 1:12; Ro 8:16; Mt 6:4,8,15,18; 10:20,29). They also call him "Father" (Ro 1:7; 1Co 1:3; 2Co 1:2; Ga 1:4)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and [those who have] livestock. And the name of his brother [was] Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments.
And you must say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Israel [is] my son, my firstborn."
Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, may he add to you as you are [now] a thousand times, and may he bless you just as he {promised you}.
[Like] this do you treat Yahweh, foolish and {unwise} people? [Has] he not, your father, created you? He made you, and he established you.
And Micah said to him, "Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give to you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food." So the Levite went [with him].
And they said to him, "Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be for us a father and a priest. Is it better being a priest for a house of one man or being a priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?"
I will also make him [the] firstborn, [the] highest of [the] kings of [the] earth. Forever I will keep my loyal love for him, and my covenant [will be] reliable for him.
For you [are] our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh [are] our father, Our Redeemer from [of] old [is] your name.
Yet now Yahweh, you [are] our father; we [are] the clay and you [are] our {potter}, and we all [are] the work of your hand.
With weeping they will come, and with pleas for mercy I will bring them; I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path. They will not stumble in it, for I have become to Israel a father, and Ephraim, he [is] my firstborn."
And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham [as] father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!
in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows {what you need} before you ask him.
But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
For you are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father [who is] speaking through you.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And one of them will not fall to the ground {without the knowledge and consent} of your Father.
And do not call [anyone] your father on earth, for one is your heavenly Father.
and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets!'
But as many as received him--to those who believe in his name--he gave to them authority to become children of God,
You are doing the deeds of your father!" They said to him, "We were not born from sexual immorality! We have one father, God!"
To all those in Rome who are loved by God, called [to be] saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Spirit himself confirms to our spirit that we are children of God,
who gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We give thanks always to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ [when we] pray for you,
Fausets
Chaldaic 'abba. Christ's endearing filial mode of addressing God; so believers (Mr 14:36; Ro 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 (Ge 18:18-19; Ro 4:17). The godly father's blessing brought great good, his curse great evil (Ge 9:25-27); the undutifulness of Ham entailing a curse on his race, the dutifulness of Shem and Japhet a blessing on their races (Ge 27:27-40; 48:15-20,22). 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 (Ex 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 (De 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; Da 5:2; 2Ch 15:16 margin). "Father" is used also for protector, patron (Job 29:16; Ps 68:5; De 32:6). "Fathers" mean elders (Ac 7:2; 22:1). The pupils of a spiritual master are called "sons" (2Ki 2:3; 4:1).
Father expresses one worshipped or reverenced (Jer 2:27; 2Ki 2:12; 5:13; 6:21). The inventor of any art is called "father" of it or of its practicers (Ge 4:20-21; Joh 8:44; Job 38:28; 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" (De 11:18-21).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and [those who have] livestock. And the name of his brother [was] Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments.
And he said, "Cursed [be] Canaan, a slave of slaves he shall be to his brothers." Then he said, "Blessed [be] Yahweh, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave to them. read more. May God make space for Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave for him."
Abraham will surely become a great and strong nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed on account of him. For I have chosen him, that he will command his children and his household after him that they will keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which he said to him."
And he drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his garments, and he blessed him and said, "Look, the smell of my son [is] like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and new wine. read more. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you; Be lord of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. Cursed be those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you." And as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, {immediately after} Jacob had gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came [back] from his hunting. He too prepared tasty food and brought [it] to his father. And he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat from the wild game of his son, that you may bless me." And Isaac his father said to him, "Who [are] you?" And he said, "I [am] your son, your firstborn, Esau." Then Isaac {trembled violently}. Then he said, "Who then [was] he that hunted wild game and brought [it] to me, and I ate [it] all before you came, and I blessed him? Moreover, he will be blessed!" When Esau heard the words of his father he cried out [with] a great and exceedingly bitter cry of distress. And he said to his father, "Bless me as well, my father!" And he said, "Your brother came in deceit and took your blessing." Then he said, "{Isn't that why he is named Jacob}? He has deceived me these two times. He took my birthright and, look, now he has taken my blessing!" Then he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Behold, I have made him lord over you and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and [with] grain and wine I have sustained him. Now what can I do for you, my son?" And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me also, my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Your home shall be from the fatness of the land, and from the dew of heaven above. But by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But it shall be [that] when free yourself you shall tear off his yoke from your neck.
And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, The God who shepherded me {all my life} unto this day, The angel who redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys. And through them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And let them multiply into many in the midst of the earth. read more. When Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, he was displeased. And he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from the head of Ephraim [over] to the head of Manasseh. And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; because this one [is] the firstborn. Put your right [hand] upon his head." But his father refused and said, "I know, my son; I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great, but his younger brother shall be greater than him, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations." So he blessed them that day, saying, Through you Israel shall pronounce blessing, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.'" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
And I have given to you one slope [of land] rather than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorites by my sword and with my bow."
And {whoever strikes} his father or his mother will surely be put to death. " 'And {whoever kidnaps someone} and sells him, or he is found in his possession, he will surely be put to death. read more. " 'And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.
"And you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your inner self, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be as an emblem between your eyes. And you shall teach them to your children by talking about them when you sit in your house and when you travel on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. read more. And you shall write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates, so that [they] may multiply your days and the days of your children on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors to give [it] to them {as long as heaven endures over the earth}.
"{If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son} [who] {does not listen to} the voice of his father and to the voice of his mother, and they discipline him, and he does not obey them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town}, read more. and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious; {he does not obey us}, [and] he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones and let him die; and so you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all of Israel will hear, and they will fear.
[Like] this do you treat Yahweh, foolish and {unwise} people? [Has] he not, your father, created you? He made you, and he established you.
Then the sons of the prophets who [were in] Bethel came out to Elisha, and they said to him, "Do you know that Yahweh [is] going to take your master {from you} today?" He said, "I also know; be quiet!"
A certain woman from the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead. Now you know that your servant was a fearer of Yahweh, but the creditor came to take two of my children for himself as slaves.
[if] I call to the pit, 'You [are] my father,' to the maggot, '[You are] my mother or my sister,'
I [was] a father to the poor, and I investigated {the stranger's} legal dispute.
A father to orphans and a judge for widows [is] God in his holy habitation.
Woe [to the] one who says to a father, 'What you are begetting?' or to a woman, '[With] what are you in labor?'"
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah; she brought you forth. For I called him {alone}, but I blessed him and made him numerous."
[Those who] say to the tree, 'You [are] my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave birth [to] me.' For they have turned [their] {backs} to me, and not [their] faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.'
For the descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have carried out the command of their ancestor that he commanded them, but this people did not listen to me." {Therefore} thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered." '" read more. But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your ancestor, and you have kept all his commands, and you have done all that he commanded you,'
{When he tasted the wine}, Belshazzar commanded [that they] bring [the] vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his {predecessor} had taken from the temple that [was] in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines may drink from them.
"A son honors [his] father, and a slave his master; but if I [am] a father, where [is] my honor, and if I [am] a master, where [is] my reverence?" says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, {who despise} my name. "But you say, 'How have we despised your name?'
And he said, "Abba, Father, all [things] [are] possible for you! Take away this cup from me! Yet not what I will, but what you [will]."
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father! That one was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own [nature], because he is a liar and the father {of lies}.
So he said, "Men--brothers and fathers--listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham [while he] was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,
(just as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") before God, in whom he believed, the one who makes the dead alive and who calls the things that are not as [though] they are,
For you have not received a spirit of slavery [leading] to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
For if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, yet [you do] not [have] many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel.
Blessed [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
"Honor your father and mother" (which is the first commandment with a promise),
And fathers, do not make your children angry, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, so that they will not become discouraged.
holding fast to the faithful message according to the teaching, in order that he may be able both to exhort with sound instruction and to reprove those who speak against [it].
Hastings
Morish
Except as creator and preserver of all, God is not revealed as Father in the O.T. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" Mal 2:10. The Lord Jesus is also prophesied of as 'the everlasting Father' or 'Father of the everlasting age.' Isa 9:6. It was reserved for the N.T. times that God should be made known as Father; and this was done only by the Lord Jesus while upon earth, who constantly spoke to His disciples of God as their Father in heaven. Mt 5:16,45,48-6:1; 6:8,14-15, etc. He could, as the Son, while on earth thus make Him known to them. After the resurrection the Lord was able to send this message to His disciples, whom He now calls His 'brethren:' "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Joh 20:17. The will of the Father and the work of His Son, the source of eternal life to them, had brought the disciples in this respect into the same heavenly position as the risen Christ Himself before the Father. The term 'father' is used symbolically when there is a moral likeness between a leader and his followers. Joh 8:38-44.
In the O.T. the word ab is at times used as 'founder:' thus in 1Ch 4:4 one is mentioned as the 'father' of Bethlehem.
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and Penuel [was] the father of Gedor, and Ezer [was] the father of Hushah. These [were] the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.
For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
{Do we not all have} one father? Has not one God created us? Why [then] are we unfaithful {to one another}, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
In the [same] way let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows {what you need} before you ask him.
For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
I speak [the things] that I have seen with the Father; so also you do [the things] that you have heard from the Father." They answered and said to him, "Abraham is our father!" Jesus said to them, "If you are children of Abraham, do the deeds of Abraham! read more. But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who spoke to you the truth which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father!" They said to him, "We were not born from sexual immorality! We have one father, God!" Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I have come forth from God and have come. For I have not come from myself, but that one sent me. {Why} do you not understand my way of speaking? Because you are not able to listen to my message. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father! That one was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own [nature], because he is a liar and the father {of lies}.
Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
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,
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,
Ge 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.
The command to honor parents is noticed by St. Paul as the only one of the Decalogue which bore a distinct promise,
and disrespect towards them was condemned by the law as one of the worst crimes.
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,
and of parents in general, or ancestors.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase {your pain in childbearing}; in pain you shall bear children. And to your husband [shall be] your desire. And he shall rule over you."
And he said, "Cursed [be] Canaan, a slave of slaves he shall be to his brothers."
May God make space for Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave for him."
And he drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his garments, and he blessed him and said, "Look, the smell of my son [is] like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and new wine. read more. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you; Be lord of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. Cursed be those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you." And as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, {immediately after} Jacob had gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came [back] from his hunting. He too prepared tasty food and brought [it] to his father. And he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat from the wild game of his son, that you may bless me." And Isaac his father said to him, "Who [are] you?" And he said, "I [am] your son, your firstborn, Esau." Then Isaac {trembled violently}. Then he said, "Who then [was] he that hunted wild game and brought [it] to me, and I ate [it] all before you came, and I blessed him? Moreover, he will be blessed!" When Esau heard the words of his father he cried out [with] a great and exceedingly bitter cry of distress. And he said to his father, "Bless me as well, my father!" And he said, "Your brother came in deceit and took your blessing." Then he said, "{Isn't that why he is named Jacob}? He has deceived me these two times. He took my birthright and, look, now he has taken my blessing!" Then he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Behold, I have made him lord over you and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and [with] grain and wine I have sustained him. Now what can I do for you, my son?" And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me also, my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Your home shall be from the fatness of the land, and from the dew of heaven above. But by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But it shall be [that] when free yourself you shall tear off his yoke from your neck.
And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, The God who shepherded me {all my life} unto this day,
So he blessed them that day, saying, Through you Israel shall pronounce blessing, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.'" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Then Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together so that I can tell you what will happen with you in {days to come}.
"Honor your father and your mother, so that your days can be long on the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving you.
And {whoever strikes} his father or his mother will surely be put to death.
" 'And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.
The skin disease of Naaman shall cling to you and to your offspring forever." Then he went out from before him having a skin disease like the snow.
And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and {his grandson}, until the coming of the time of {his own} land. Then many nations and great kings will let him work.
{When he tasted the wine}, Belshazzar commanded [that they] bring [the] vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his {predecessor} had taken from the temple that [was] in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines may drink from them.
and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets!'
So he said, "Men--brothers and fathers--listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham [while he] was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,
"Honor your father and mother" (which is the first commandment with a promise),
holding fast to the faithful message according to the teaching, in order that he may be able both to exhort with sound instruction and to reprove those who speak against [it].
Watsons
FATHER. 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, Ge 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," Ps 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, De 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," Ro 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and [those who have] livestock. And the name of his brother [was] Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments.
[Like] this do you treat Yahweh, foolish and {unwise} people? [Has] he not, your father, created you? He made you, and he established you.
while Elisha [was] watching and crying out, "My father, my father; the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!" But he could not see him any longer, and he grasped his clothes and tore them in two pieces.
But his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, [if] the prophet had spoken a difficult thing to you to do, would you not have done [it]? [Why not] even when he says to you, 'Wash and you shall be clean'?"
Then the king of Israel said to Elisha when he saw them, "Shall I kill them? Shall I kill, my father?"
So now I have sent a skilled man, knowledgeable [and with] understanding: my master Huram,
And Huram-abi made for King Solomon the pots, the shovels, the three-pronged meat forks, and all the utensils of polished bronze for the house of Yahweh.
I [was] a father to the poor, and I investigated {the stranger's} legal dispute.
A father to orphans and a judge for widows [is] God in his holy habitation.
But they answered, "We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor, commanded us, {saying}, 'You shall not drink wine, you or your children, {forever}.
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father! That one was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own [nature], because he is a liar and the father {of lies}.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery [leading] to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
Furthermore, we have had {our earthly fathers} who disciplined [us], and we respected [them]. Will we not much rather subject ourselves to the Father of spirits and live?