E'ther (Hebrews id. עֵתֶר, abundance), one of the cities in the plain (Shephelah) of Judah (mentioned between Libnah and Ashan, Jos 15:42, Sept. ῎Αθερ v.r. Ι᾿θάκ), eventually assigned to Simeon (mentioned between Remmon and Ashan, Jos 19:7, Sept. ῎Αθερ v.r. Ι᾿εθέρ). In the parallel list of the towns of Simeon in 1Ch 4:32, TOCHEN is substituted for Ether. In the Onomasticon Eusebius and Jerome mention it twice (s.v. Ε᾿θέρ, Ether; Ι᾿εθέρ, Jether — in the latter case confounding it with JATTIR, a city of priests, which contained friends of David during his troubles under Saul), and state that it was then a considerable place (κώμη μεγίστη), retaining the name of Jethira (Ι᾿εθειρά, Ι᾿εθαρά), very near Malatha, in the interior of the district of Daroma, that is, in the desert country below Hebron and to the east of Beersheba. At Beit-Jibrin Van de Velde heard of a tell Athar in this neighborhood, but could not learn its distance or direction (Memoir, page 311). For the present, we may conjecturally place it at Beit-Auwa, in the vicinity of the associated localities, S. of Beit-Jibrin and W. of Hebron; a ruined village, covering low hills on both sides of the path, and exhibiting foundations of hewn stones, leading to the inference that it was once an extensive town (Robinson, Researches, 3:10).
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
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