Hab. 2:12) Their efforts at achieving peace are compared to the building of a plastered partition wall that Jehovah blasts with the windstorm and hail of his rage, tearing it down and revealing its foundations. (Ezek. 13:10-16) The psalmist assures that unless Jehovah builds the house, the builders labor in vain. (Ps. 127:1) Prior to the “great day of Jehovah,” those who disregard God will build, but will not come to occupy their buildings. (Zeph. 1:12-14; compare Amos 5:11.) By contrast, God’s servants are to “build houses and have occupancy” and “use to the full” the work of their hands.—Isa. 65:17-23; compare Ecclesiastes 3:3.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures, the importance of making a “cost estimate” before beginning construction is used by Jesus in counseling on the decision to become his follower. (Luke 14:28-30) The need for a solid foundation is used in a number of illustrations. (Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 6:48, 49; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; 2 Tim. 2:19; Heb. 11:10) Christ Jesus speaks of founding his congregation on a rock-mass (peʹtra) (Matt. 16:18), and Jesus himself is shown to be the one foundation, besides which “no man can lay any other”; yet, “the stone that the builders rejected.” (1 Cor. 3:11; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11; Ps. 118:22) As the chief cornerstone, all the other “living stones” of the spiritual temple are founded on and aligned with him, with justice as the “measuring line” and righteousness as the “leveling instrument.” (Eph. 2:20, 21; 1 Pet. 2:4-8; Isa. 28:16, 17) On such basis Jesus could speak of the temple, of which he was the chief part, as being raised up “in three days,” although the literal temple and surrounding buildings at Jerusalem in his day had taken forty-six years to build, and still were not finished. (John 2:18-22) Paul, as a “wise director of works,” admonished concerning the use of high-quality, noncombustible materials in building on Christ as the foundation. (1 Cor. 3:10-17) Love is described as a prime element of building. (1 Cor. 8:1; compare Psalm 89:2.) John’s vision of the New Jerusalem presents it as a radiant city formed of precious stones with its walls resting on foundation stones inscribed with the names of the “twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Rev. 21:9-27) God himself is presented as the great Constructor of all things; hence as not residing in buildings made by men.—Heb. 3:4; Acts 7:48-50; 17:24, 25; Isa. 66:1.

ARD

(Ard) [perhaps, humpbacked].

One of the ‘seventy souls of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt.’ (Gen. 46:21, 27) In the Genesis account he is called a son of Benjamin, but in view of Numbers 26:40 it seems likely that the meaning here is “grandson.” If this is the case, then he is also probably the same as Addar in 1 Chronicles 8:3.

ARDITES

(Ardʹites).

A Benjamite family descended from Ard, a son of Bela.—Num. 26:40.

ARDON

(Arʹdon).

One of the sons of Caleb the son of Hezron; of the tribe of Judah.—1 Chron. 2:18.

ARELI, ARELITES

(A·reʹli, A·reʹlites) [perhaps, lioness of God, hearth of God].

Seventh-named son of Gad, who was one of those who came into Egypt with Jacob’s family in 1728 B.C.E. He became family head of the Arelites, who were included in the wilderness census shortly before entering the Promised Land.—Gen. 46:8, 16; Num. 26:17.

AREOPAGUS

(Ar·e·opʹa·gus) [Hill of Ares, Mars Hill].

A hill to the NW of the towering Athenian Acropolis, separated from it by a shallow valley. This rather narrow, barren ridge of limestone is about 370 feet (112.8 meters) high, and the Acropolis to its SE rises over 140 feet (42.7 meters) higher. The approach to Mars Hill is gentle from the N; on the S it is abrupt. Crowning this hill at one time were Grecian altars, temple sanctuaries, statues, and the open-air supreme court of the Areopagus. Today all this is faded away and only a few of the benchlike seats carved in the rock remain.

On one of the apostle Paul’s visits to Athens, certain Athenians laid hold of him and led him to the Areopagus, saying: “Can we get to know what this new teaching is which is spoken by you? For you are introducing some things that are strange to our ears.” (Acts 17:19, 20) In reply Paul carefully laid one solid fact of truth upon another, building up as he went along, a logical, persuasive and convincing argument. Paul never completed his speech, for “when they heard of a resurrection of the dead” mockers began to jeer. However, by the time this interruption came the apostle had succeeded in splitting his audience three ways in their opinions. While some mocked, and some said they would hear more later, others “became believers, among whom also were Dionysius, a judge of the court of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others besides them.” (Acts 17:22-34) Today a bronze plaque on Mars Hill commemorating the event contains this speech of the apostle Paul. It cannot be stated for a certainty that Paul spoke on that occasion before the court of the Areopagus, but he did have at least one member of that noted court in his audience.

The hill on which this famous court once held forth derived its name from the mythological Greek god Aʹres (Roman, Mars). The court of the Areopagus was itself of great antiquity, predating 740 B.C.E. Though its duties and jurisdiction were modified and changed from time to time through the centuries, it commanded the highest honor and respect down to the time of the Caesars.

[Picture on page 118]

The Areopagus (low hill in the foreground)

ARETAS

(A·reʹtas) [virtuous, excellence].

The last of several Arabian kings of this name controlled Damascus when its governor joined a plot of the Jews to do away with Paul. Paul escaped in a wicker basket lowered from a window in the city wall.—Acts 9:23-25; 2 Cor. 11:32, 33.

Aretas had given his daughter in marriage to Herod Antipas (see HEROD), who divorced her to marry Herodias—the adulterous affair that John the Baptist condemned. (Matt. 14:3, 4) Further aggravated by border disputes, Aretas attacked and totally defeated Antipas. Emperor Tiberius then ordered the governor of Syria, Vitellius, to take Aretas dead or alive. Vitellius, himself no friend of Antipas, mobilized his forces, but in 37 C.E. Tiberius died and the campaign against Aretas was called off. Tiberius’