A'bel-
(Heb. Abel'-, אָבֵלאּ, a name of several villages in Palestine, with additions in the case of the more important, to distinguish them from one another (see each in its alphabetical order). From a comparison of the Arabic and Syriac, it appears to mean fresh grass; and the places so named may be conceived to have been in peculiarly verdant situations (Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 14; see, however, other significations in Lengerke, Kenaan, 1:358; Hengstenberg, Pentat. 2, 261). SEE ABILA.
In 1Sa 6:18, it is used as an appellative, and probably signifies a grassy plain. In this passage, however, perhaps we should read (as in the margin) אֶבֶן, stone, instead of אָבֵל, Abel, or meadow, as the context (verses 14, 15) requires, and the Sept. and Syriac versions explain; the awkward insertion of our translators, "the great [stone of] Abel," would thus be unnecessary.
In 2Sa 20:14,18, ABEL SEE ABEL stands alone for ABELBETH-MAACHAH SEE ABELBETH-MAACHAH (q. V.).
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John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More