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.
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And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and of those who have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the harp and organ.
So now it was not you that sent me here, but God; and he has made me as a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
And he that smites his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.
In the same manner he that curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
For any man that curses his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
When anyone has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them, then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place; read more. and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not hear our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.
Do ye thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not thy father that has possessed thee? He made thee and established thee.
Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel not acknowledge us; thou, O LORD, art our father; our everlasting Redeemer is thy name.
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; such that we all are the work of thy hands.
who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.
Jesus said unto her, Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.
Therefore by faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to that which is of the law, but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
For ye have not received the spirit of slavery to be in fear again, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. For the same Spirit bears witness unto our spirit that we are sons of God, read more. and if sons, also heirs certainly of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also 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)
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And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and of those who have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the harp and organ.
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, The LORD hath said thus: Israel is my son, even my firstborn.
Let the LORD God of your fathers add upon you a thousand times so many more as ye are and bless you, as he has promised!
Do ye thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not thy father that has possessed thee? He made thee and established thee.
Then Micah said unto him, Dwell with me and be a father and a priest unto me, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year and the ordinary apparel and thy food. So the Levite went in.
And they said unto him, Silence, lay thy hand upon thy mouth and go with us to be our father and priest; is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family of Israel?
Also I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. I will keep my mercy for him for ever, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel not acknowledge us; thou, O LORD, art our father; our everlasting Redeemer is thy name.
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; such that we all are the work of thy hands.
They shall come with weeping, but with mercies I will cause them to return; I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, in which they shall not stumble; for I shall be a father to Israel, and Ephraim shall be my firstborn.
and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father, for I say unto you that God is able to raise up children unto Abraham of these stones.
that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret, he shall reward thee openly.
Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knows what things ye have need of before ye ask him.
but if ye do not set men free from their trespasses, neither will your Father set you free from your trespasses.
that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
And call no one your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, who is in the heavens.
and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,
Ye do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints; ye have grace and peace of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus, the Christ.
For the same Spirit bears witness unto our spirit that we are sons of God,
who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always 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).
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And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and of those who have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the harp and organ.
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his slave. read more. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his slave.
seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and that all the Gentiles of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his sons and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and judgment, that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him.
And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. Therefore let God give thee of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of wheat and new wine. read more. Let the peoples serve thee and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee; cursed be every one that curses thee, and blessed be he that blesses thee. And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savory food and brought it unto his father and said unto his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. Then Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, Who is he that has taken venison and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest? I have blessed him and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with deceit and has taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times; he took away my birthright, and, behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren I have given to him for slaves, and with wheat and new wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of the heavens from above, and by thy sword shalt thou live and shalt serve thy brother; yet there shall be a time when thou shalt have dominion, and thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel who frees me from all evil, bless these young men, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. read more. Then Joseph seeing that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of Gentiles. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
And he that smites his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. Likewise he that steals a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. read more. In the same manner he that curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Therefore, ye shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them to your children that ye may think of them sitting in thy house and walking by the way, lying down in bed, and rising up. read more. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house and upon thy gates that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens upon the earth.
When anyone has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them, then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place; read more. and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not hear our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.
Do ye thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not thy father that has possessed thee? He made thee and established thee.
And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yes, I know it; be silent.
Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried unto Elisha, saying, Thy slave, my husband, is dead; and thou knowest that thy slave feared the LORD; and the creditor is come to take my two sons to be his slaves.
I have said to the pit, Thou art my father; to the worms, my mother, and my sister.
I was a father to the needy; and the cause which I did not know I searched out.
A father of the fatherless and a defender of the widows is God in his holy habitation.
Woe unto him that says unto his father, Why dost thou beget? or to the woman, Why hast thou brought forth?
Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bore you; for I called him alone and blessed him and multiplied him.
saying to a piece of firewood, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they say, Arise and deliver us.
Certainly the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have not moved the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people has not hearkened unto me: therefore thus hath the LORD God of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Behold, I bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I spoke unto them, but they did not hear; and I called unto them, but they did not answer. read more. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, God of Israel said; Because ye listened to the commandment of Jonadab your father and kept all his commandments and have done according unto all that he has commanded you:
Belshazzar, under the influence of the wine, commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and of silver which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought from the temple of Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink with them.
The son honours his father and the slave his master; if then I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a master, where is my fear? said the LORD of the hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, In what have we despised thy name?
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me; nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye desire to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.
as it is written, As a father of many Gentiles have I placed thee before God, whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which are not as those that are.
For ye have not received the spirit of slavery to be in fear again, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
For though ye may have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet ye shall not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Honour thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise),
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
Fathers, provoke not your children lest they become disheartened.
holding fast the doctrine according to the faithful word, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
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, the father of Gedor, and Ezer, the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government is placed upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called The Wonderful One, The Counsellor, The God, The Mighty One, The Eternal Father, The Prince of Peace.
Have we not all one father? has not one God created us? why do we despise each man his brother by breaking the covenant of our fathers?
Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.
that ye may be sons of your Father who is in the heavens, for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knows what things ye have need of before ye ask him.
For if ye set men free from their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also set you free; but if ye do not set men free from their trespasses, neither will your Father set you free from your trespasses.
I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, If ye were Abraham's sons, ye would do the works of Abraham. read more. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard of God; Abraham did not do this. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would surely love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither did I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye desire to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Jesus said unto her, Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to 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,
2000'>Ge 9:25,2000'>27; 2000'>27:2000'>27-40; 2000'>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.
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Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth sons; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be unto his brethren.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his slave.
And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. Therefore let God give thee of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of wheat and new wine. read more. Let the peoples serve thee and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee; cursed be every one that curses thee, and blessed be he that blesses thee. And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savory food and brought it unto his father and said unto his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. Then Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, Who is he that has taken venison and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest? I have blessed him and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with deceit and has taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times; he took away my birthright, and, behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren I have given to him for slaves, and with wheat and new wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of the heavens from above, and by thy sword shalt thou live and shalt serve thy brother; yet there shall be a time when thou shalt have dominion, and thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long unto this day,
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be lengthened upon the land which the LORD thy God gives thee.
And he that smites his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.
In the same manner he that curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
And all the Gentiles shall serve him and his son and his son's son, until the time of his own land shall come also; and many nations and great kings shall serve him.
Belshazzar, under the influence of the wine, commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and of silver which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought from the temple of Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink with them.
and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.
Honour thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise),
holding fast the doctrine according to the faithful word, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
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.
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And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and of those who have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the harp and organ.
Do ye thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not thy father that has possessed thee? He made thee and established thee.
And as Elisha saw it, he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more, and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces.
Then his slaves came near and spoke unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, would thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean?
And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them?
And now I have sent a wise man, with knowledge and understanding, of Hiram my father,
and the pots and the shovels and the fleshhooks and all their vessels, did Hiram, his father, make to King Solomon for the house of the LORD of the purest brass.
I was a father to the needy; and the cause which I did not know I searched out.
A father of the fatherless and a defender of the widows is God in his holy habitation.
But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye desire to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
For ye have not received the spirit of slavery to be in fear again, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence; is it not much better to be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and we shall live?