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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Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
It was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me like a father to Pharaoh. He made me lord over his entire household, and ruler of Egypt.
He who strikes (beats) his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.
Jehovah gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death. You are responsible for your own death.
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen or obey his father or his mother when they chastise him, His father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. read more. They shall say to the elders of his city: This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious! He will not obey us! He is a glutton and a drunkard. All the men of his city shall stone him to death. In that way you will remove the evil from your midst. All Israel will hear about it and fear.
Is this how you repay Jehovah, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father and creator, who made you and formed you?
You are our Father. Even though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not pay attention to us, O Jehovah, you are our Father. Your name is our Defender From Everlasting.
But now, Jehovah, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are the work of your hands.
the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the Son of God.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad.
Jesus said: Do not touch me for I am not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers, and say to them, I ascend to my Father and you're Father, and my God and your God. (Revelation 3:12)
For this reason it is by faith that it may be according to grace (divine influence) (loving-kindness). The promise may be sure to all descendants! This is not only to that which is of the law, but to that also which is by the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
For you have not received a spirit of bondage again causing fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father! (Chaldee: Abba, meaning father). The Spirit itself (Greek:autos ho pneuma) (itself the Spirit) bears witness with our spirit (mind and heart), that we are children of God. read more. If children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him we may also be glorified 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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Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
Say to Pharaoh: 'Thus says Jehovah, Israel is my son, my firstborn.
Jehovah the God of your fathers will make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he promised you!
Is this how you repay Jehovah, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father and creator, who made you and formed you?
Micah said: Stay here with me. Be my adviser and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year along with some clothes, and your food.
They told him: Be quiet. Do not say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?
I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. I will keep my loving kindness for him forevermore. My covenant will stand firm with him.
You are our Father. Even though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not pay attention to us, O Jehovah, you are our Father. Your name is our Defender From Everlasting.
But now, Jehovah, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are the work of your hands.
With weeping they will come. By supplication I will lead them. I will make them walk by streams of waters on a straight path in which they will not stumble. For I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Do not presume that Abraham is your father. I tell you that God can make descendants for Abraham from these stones!
Your giving will be in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
If you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
That way, men may not see that you are fasting. Your Father knows in secret and will reward you.
You will not speak on your own. Your Father's Spirit will speak through you.
Do two sparrows sell for a penny? Not one of them will fall on the ground without your Father knowing.
Call no man your father on the earth, for only one is your Father in heaven.
You claim that you would not have been involved with your fathers when they spilled the blood of the prophets.
He gave the right to become children of God to all who received him. Even to those who believe in his name.
You do the works of your father. They said: We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God!
To all who are in Rome, beloved of God and called to be holy ones: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Spirit itself (Greek:autos ho pneuma) (itself the Spirit) bears witness with our spirit (mind and heart), that we are children of God.
He (Jesus) gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us out of this present evil age. This is according to the will of our God and Father.
to the holy ones and faithful brothers in Christ that live in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always pray for you, and thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 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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Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
He (Noah) said: Canaan is cursed! He will be a lowly slave to his brothers. He also said: Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. read more. May God extend the territory of Japheth. And may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.
Abraham will definitely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him. I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household; and that they may remain in the righteous and just way of Jehovah. Jehovah will bring to Abraham what he told him.
He came close and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his garments. Then he blessed him and said: See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field Jehovah has blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine. read more. May peoples serve you. And nations bow down to you. Be master of your brothers. And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you. Blessed be those who bless you. No sooner had Isaac finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob left his presence, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also prepared a good-tasting meal and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father: Please, Father, eat some of the meat I have hunted for you so that you will bless me. Who are you? his father Isaac asked him. I am your firstborn son, Esau, he answered. Isaac began to tremble and shake all over. He asked: Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever. When Esau heard this he cried out loudly and bitterly. He said: Give me your blessing also, Father! Isaac responded: Your brother deceived me. He has taken your blessing. Esau said: This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob. He took my rights as the firstborn son. Now he has taken my blessing. Have you saved a blessing for me? Isaac answered: I have already made him master over you. I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son! Esau pleaded: Father, please! Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father! Esau broke down and wept. Then Isaac said to him: You will live off the land and what it yields. You will live by your sword. You will serve your brother. Soon you will become restless and break his yoke from your neck.
Jacob blessed Joseph. He said: May God, in whose presence my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac walked, may this God who has been my shepherd all my life to this very day, May the being who rescued me from all evil bless these boys! May they be called by my name and by the names of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac. May they have many children on the earth. read more. Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head. Joseph did not like it. So he took his father's hand in order to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's. He said to his father: That is not right, Father! This is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head. His father refused and said: I know, Son, I know! Manasseh, too, will become a nation. He, too, will be important. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be more important than he. His descendants will become many nations. That day he blessed them. He said: Because of you, Israel will speak this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!' In this way Israel put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
I am giving you one more mountain ridge than your brothers. I took it from the Amorites with my own sword and bow.
He who strikes (beats) his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Whoever kidnaps another person must be put to death regardless of whether he has sold the kidnapped person or still has him. read more. Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.
Take these words of mine to heart and keep them in mind. Write them down, tie them around your wrist, and wear them as headbands to remind you. Teach them to your children! Talk about them in your home and away. Speak of them when you lie down or get up. read more. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. You and your descendants will live a long time in the land that Jehovah promised your ancestors. Your families will live there as long as the sky is above the earth.
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen or obey his father or his mother when they chastise him, His father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. read more. They shall say to the elders of his city: This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious! He will not obey us! He is a glutton and a drunkard. All the men of his city shall stone him to death. In that way you will remove the evil from your midst. All Israel will hear about it and fear.
Is this how you repay Jehovah, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father and creator, who made you and formed you?
A group of prophets who lived at Bethel asked Elisha: Do you know that Jehovah is going to take your master away from you today? Yes, I know, Elisha answered. But let us not talk about it.
The widow of a member of a group of prophets said to Elisha: My husband has died! As you know, he was a man who respected God. A man to whom he owed money came to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt.
If I say to the pit: You are my father! And to the worm: You are my mother and sister!
I was a father to the needy! I championed the cause of the stranger.
In his holy habitation God is a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows.
Do we dare say to our parents: 'Why did you make me like this?'
Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one. I blessed him and made him many.
You call wood your father. You call stone your mother. You turned your backs, not your faces, to me. But when you are in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.
The descendants of Jonadab, Rechab's son, have carried out the orders of their ancestor, but you refuse to listen to me.' This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'I am going to bring on Judah and on all those who live in Jerusalem all the disasters that I threatened. I have spoken to them, but they did not listen. I called to them, but they did not answer.' read more. Then Jeremiah said to the family of Rechab: This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'You obeyed the order of your ancestor Jonadab, followed all his instructions, and did exactly what he told you to do.
While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar commanded to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the Temple in Jerusalem. This way the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them.
Jehovah of Hosts declares to the priests: Children honor their parents and servants honor their masters. I am your father. Why do you not honor me? I am your master. Why do you not respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask: How have we despised you?
He said: Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup from me. Even so not what I will, but what you will.
You are from your father [Satan] the Devil (slanderer) (false accuser)! You want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning. He does not stand for the truth. There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks his own lies. He is a liar and the father of the lie!
He said: Men, brothers and fathers, listen; The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.
Men, brothers and fathers, hear my defense to you now.
It is written: I have made you a father of many nations. [This was] in the presence of God, the one in whom he believed. He gives life to the dead, and calls into being that which does not exist.
For you have not received a spirit of bondage again causing fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father! (Chaldee: Abba, meaning father).
Though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have given birth to you through the good news.
Blessed be 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 promise.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of God.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, that they not be discouraged.
holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to reprove (refute) (rebuke) those who contradict.
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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Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the descendants of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah and father of Bethlehem.
For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
Do we all have one father? Did one God create us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers?
Likewise, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
You will then act as true children of your Father in heaven. He gives sunlight to both evil and good people. He sends rain for the just and the unjust.
Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. If you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
I speak the things that I have seen and heard when I was with my Father. You also do the things that you heard from your father. They answered: Our father is Abraham. Jesus replied: If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. read more. You seek to kill me. I told you the truth! I heard it from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the works of your father. They said: We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God! Jesus said: If God were your Father you would love me. I came from God! I have not come from myself. He sent me! Why do you not understand what I say? Can you not hear me? You are from your father [Satan] the Devil (slanderer) (false accuser)! You want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning. He does not stand for the truth. There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks his own lies. He is a liar and the father of the lie!
Jesus said: Do not touch me for I am not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers, and say to them, I ascend to my Father and you're Father, and my God and your God. (Revelation 3:12)
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.
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He said to the woman: I will greatly increase your pains in childbirth; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.
May God extend the territory of Japheth. And may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.
He came close and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his garments. Then he blessed him and said: See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field Jehovah has blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine. read more. May peoples serve you. And nations bow down to you. Be master of your brothers. And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you. Blessed be those who bless you. No sooner had Isaac finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob left his presence, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also prepared a good-tasting meal and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father: Please, Father, eat some of the meat I have hunted for you so that you will bless me. Who are you? his father Isaac asked him. I am your firstborn son, Esau, he answered. Isaac began to tremble and shake all over. He asked: Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever. When Esau heard this he cried out loudly and bitterly. He said: Give me your blessing also, Father! Isaac responded: Your brother deceived me. He has taken your blessing. Esau said: This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob. He took my rights as the firstborn son. Now he has taken my blessing. Have you saved a blessing for me? Isaac answered: I have already made him master over you. I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son! Esau pleaded: Father, please! Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father! Esau broke down and wept. Then Isaac said to him: You will live off the land and what it yields. You will live by your sword. You will serve your brother. Soon you will become restless and break his yoke from your neck.
Jacob blessed Joseph. He said: May God, in whose presence my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac walked, may this God who has been my shepherd all my life to this very day,
That day he blessed them. He said: Because of you, Israel will speak this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!' In this way Israel put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
Jacob called for his sons. He said: Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land Jehovah your God gives you.
He who strikes (beats) his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.
Naaman's leprosy will come upon you. You and your descendants will have it from generation to generation! When Gehazi left, he had the disease. His skin was as white as snow.
All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until Babylon is defeated. Then many nations and great kings will make him their slave.
While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar commanded to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the Temple in Jerusalem. This way the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them.
You claim that you would not have been involved with your fathers when they spilled the blood of the prophets.
Fill up the (guilt) measure of your fathers.
He said: Men, brothers and fathers, listen; The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.
Men, brothers and fathers, hear my defense to you now.
Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise.
holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to reprove (refute) (rebuke) those who contradict.
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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Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
Is this how you repay Jehovah, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father and creator, who made you and formed you?
Elisha saw it and cried out to Elijah: My father, my father! Mighty defender of Israel! You are gone! He never saw Elijah again. In grief Elisha tore his cloak in two.
His servants went up to him and said: If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can you not just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured?
When the king of Israel saw the Syrians, he asked Elisha: Shall I kill them?
I am sending you a wise and skillful master metalworker named Huram (Hiram-abi).
pots, shovels, and three-pronged forks. Huram (Hiram-abiv) made all of them out of polished copper for Jehovah's Temple at King Solomon's request.
I was a father to the needy! I championed the cause of the stranger.
In his holy habitation God is a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows.
But they answered: No! The ancestor of our clan, Jonadab son of Rechab, made a rule that we must obey. He said: 'Do not ever drink wine
You are from your father [Satan] the Devil (slanderer) (false accuser)! You want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning. He does not stand for the truth. There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks his own lies. He is a liar and the father of the lie!
For you have not received a spirit of bondage again causing fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father! (Chaldee: Abba, meaning father).
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh that corrected us, and we gave them respect. Shall we not much more be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?