Patriarch, Patriachs
Patriarch, Patriachs
patri-ark, (, patriarches). The word occurs in the New Testament in application to Abraham (Heb 7:4), to the sons of Jacob (Act 7:8, Act 7:9), and to David (Act 2:29). In Septuagint it is used as the equivalent of the head of the fathers’ house, or of a tribe (1Ch 24:31; 1Ch 27:32; 2Ch 26:12). Commonly now the term is used of the persons whose names appear in the genealogies and covenant-histories in the periods preceding Moses (Gen 5; 11, histories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.; compare patriarchal dispensation). The problems connected with the longevity ascribed to the patriarchs in the genealogies and narratives in Gen are dealt with in special articles. See ANTEDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS; ANTEDILUVIANS GENEALOGY.