Abihu

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Aaron with his dead sons , image field on the large Knesset menorah , there at the same time a symbol for the halacha

Abihu is Aaron's second son mentioned in the Old Testament .

etymology

The Hebrew personal name אֲבִיהוּא 'ǎvîhû' , German 'Abihu' is an identifying nominal sentence name, that is, it is made up of two determined parts of the sentence, in this case the noun אֲב 'āv "father", which is also the theophore element , and the personal pronoun הוּא hû ' "He". Hebrew, as found in personal names, preserves an older language level than Bible Hebrew. This is expressed in the fact that the -î- which is attached to the first noun is probably not an ending of the 1st person singular ("my father"), but a functionless connecting vowel and possibly a remnant of an old one Case ending. Furthermore, there was still no specific article -הַ ha- in the Hebrew of personal names . Therefore, the noun “father” in this name can be determined without an article. It can be translated as "Father (is) He". The designation of God as Father is intended to express his relationship with people.

The meaning of this name could be understood as a confession as follows: Father is the God who showed himself to be helping at birth. The personal names Elihu (אֱלִיהוּא 'älîhû' "God is He") and Jehu (יֵהוּא jehû '" YHWH is He") can be compared .

The Septuagint gives the name Abihu as αβιουδ Abiud , the Vulgate as Abiu , the Samaritan Pentateuch as ' Ābiyyu .

Biblical narration

Abihu is the second son of Aaron and Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab. According to Ex 6.23  EU his brothers are called Nadab , Eleazar and Itamar . Abihu accompanied his brother Nadab and 70 elders Moses and Aaron to the covenant on Mount Sinai ( Ex 24.1.9  EU ). YHWH designates him as a priest together with his father and his brothers ( Ex 28.1  EU ). However, he and his brother Nadab offer an “unjust fire” before YHWH, which God had not ordered, which is why they are consumed by the fire of YHWH . ( Lev 10  EU ). They die childless ( Num 3.4  EU ), the priesthood is taken over by their brothers Eleazar and Itamar.

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