(a) A spiritual ancestor, one who has infused his own spirit into others, whether good, as Abraham, the father of the faithful, <450411>
Romans 4:11;
or bad, as <430844>John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil.”
(b) Indicating closest resemblance, kinship, affinity: <181714>Job 17:14, “If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father.”
(c) A source: <490117>Ephesians 1:17, “Father of glory”; <183828>Job 38:28,
“Hath the rain a father?”
(d) Creator: Jas 1:17, “the Father of lights.”
(e) The inventor or originator of an art or mode of life: <010420>Genesis 4:20, “father of such as dwell in tents” (a hint here of hereditary occupations? Probably not).
(f) One who exhibits the fatherly characteristics: <196805>Psalm 68:5, “a father of the fatherless.”
(g) One who occupies a position of counsel, care, or control (frequently applied by sultans to their prime ministers): <014508>
Genesis 45:8, “a father to Pharaoh”; <071710>Judges 17:10, “Be unto me a father and a priest.”
(h) A revered or honored superior: <120513>2 Kings 5:13, “My father, if the prophet had bid thee”; but especially applied to prophets: <120212>2 Kings 2:12, “My father, my father!” also to elderly and venerable men: <620213>1 John 2:13, “I write unto you, fathers”; hence also, with perhaps an outlook on (2) (a), deceased early Christians: <610304>2 Peter 3:4, “from the day that the fathers fell asleep.” An ecclesiastical title, condemned (in principle) by our Lord: <402309>Matthew 23:9, “Call no man your father on the earth”; but applied, under the power of the Spirit, to members of the Sanhedrin (probably) by Stephen: <440702>Acts 7:2; and by Paul: 22:1, but the latter, perhaps also the former, may simply refer to the elderly among his hearers. Christ’s condemnation is clearly of the praise- seeking or obsequious spirit, rather than of a particular custom.
“Father,” used by Mary of Joseph, in relation to Jesus, equals “putative father,” a necessary reserve at a time when the virgin birth could not yet be proclaimed (<420249>Luke 2:49). But note Jesus’ answer: “my Father’s house.”
Philip Wendell Crannell FATHER, GOD THE
In the Christian religion God is conceived of as “Father,” “Our Father .... in heaven” (<400609>
Matthew 6:9,14,26, etc.), “the God and Father of the Lord Jesus” (<471131>2 Corinthians 11:31, etc.). The tenderness of relation and wealth of love and grace embraced in this profound designation are peculiar to Christ’s gospel. Pagan religions also could speak of God as
“Father” (Zeus Pater), and in the general sense of Creator God has a universal fatherly relation to the world (<441724>Acts 17:24-28). In the Old Testament God was revealed as Father to the chosen nation (<020422>Exodus 4:22), and to the special representative of the nation, the king (<100714>2
Samuel 7:14), while fatherly love is declared to be the image of His pity for those who fear Him (<19A313>
Psalm 103:13). In the gospel of Jesus alone is this Fatherhood revealed to be of the very essence of the Godhead, and to have respect to the individual. Here, however, there is need for great
discrimination. To reach the heart of the truth of the Divine Fatherhood it is necessary to begin, not with man, but with the Godhead itself, in whose
eternal depths is found the spring of that Fatherly love that reveals itself in time. It is first of all in relation to the eternal Son — before all time — that the meaning of Fatherhood in God is made clear (<430118>John 1:18). In “God the Father” we have a name pointing to that relation which the first Person in the adorable Trinity sustains to “Son” and “Holy Spirit” — also Divine
(<402819>Matthew 28:19). From this eternal fountain-head flow the relations of
God as Father
(1) to the world by creation;
(2) to believers by grace. Man as created was designed by affinity of nature for sonship to God. The realization of this — his true creature- destiny — was frustrated by sin, and can now only be restored by redemption. Hence, the place of sonship in the gospel, as an unspeakable privilege (<620301>1 John 3:1), obtained by grace, through regeneration (<430112>
John 1:12,13), and adoption (<450814>
Romans 8:14,19). In this relation of nearness and privilege to the Father in the kingdom of His Son (<510113>Colossians 1:13), believers are “sons of God” in a sense true of no others. It is a relation, not of nature, but of grace.
Fatherhood is now the determinative fact in God’s relation to them
(<490314>Ephesians 3:14 ff). It is an error, nevertheless, to speak of
fatherhood as if the whole character of God was therein sufficiently expressed. God is Father, but equally fundamental is His relation to His world as its Moral Ruler and Judge. From eternity to eternity the holy God must pronounce Himself against sin (<450118>
Romans 1:18); and His fatherly grace cannot avert judgment where the heart remains hard and impenitent (<450201>Romans 2:1-9). For the fuller discussion of these points see GOD; CHILDREN OF GOD; TRINITY.
James Orr FATHER-IN-LAW
<fa’-ther-in-lo>.
See RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY.
FATHERLESS
<fa’-ther-les> ([µwOty;, yathom]; [ojrfano>v, orphanos]): The fatherless are
frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, generally in association with the widow and the stranger, as typical instances of the unprotected and
necessitous, who are, specially subject to oppression, and also to God’s special protection. Great philanthropic regard is bestowed on this class throughout. In early legislation there is a special clause to guard them against affliction (<022222>
Exodus 22:22-24). They have a still more prominent place in the Deuteronomic legislation, which gives instructions that a charitable fund be formed out of the tithe, once every three years, for the relief of the destitute (<051428>Deuteronomy 14:28,29; 26:12-14), and that gleanings be left in the cornfield, the olive garden, and the vineyard for the benefit of this class (<052419>Deuteronomy 24:19-22; compare Leviticus19:9 f;
23:22, where, however, the “fatherless” are not specially mentioned). The Deuteronomist declares that God is on their side (<051018>Deuteronomy 10:18), and strongly condemns those who would oppress them (<052417>Deuteronomy 24:17; 27:19). The prophets and psalmists are equally emphatic in pleading for mercy and justice to the fatherless, and in declaring that God is their special guardian (<230117>Isaiah 1:17; <240706>Jeremiah 7:6 f; 22:3; <281403>Hosea 14:3;
Zec 7:10; <191014>Psalm 10:14; 68:5; 82:3; 146:9; compare <202310>Proverbs 23:10).
Oppressing the fatherless is frequently mentioned as a typical act of cruelty and injustice (compare <180627>Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3,1; 29:12 f; 31:16,17,21;
<199406>Psalm 94:6; <230123>Isaiah 1:23; 10:2; <240528>Jeremiah 5:28; <262207>Ezekiel 22:7;
<390305>Malachi 3:5). Here we have instances of the prophetic passion for
righteousness and compassion for the helpless, inspired by a profound sense of the value of human life. Passages in the Apocrypha reflect the same spirit (2 Esdras 2:20; Ecclesiasticus 4:10).
In the New Testament the word “fatherless” occurs but once, where James declares, in the spirit of the Old Testament prophets, that true religious ritual consists in visitation of the fatherless and widows and in moral purity (Jas 1:27). Here the word for “fatherless” is orphanos (“bereft,”
“orphaned”), which is the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament yathom. In the New Testament the Greek word is found besides only in
<431418>
John 14:18, where it means destitute of a teacher or guide (compare
<250503>Lamentations 5:3).
D. Miall Edwards FATHERS’ BROTHER
See RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY.
FATHER’S HOUSE, FATHERS’ HOUSE
([ba; tyBe, beth ‘abh], [twOba; tyBe, beth ‘abhoth]): Father’s house in the Old Testament is
(1) a dwelling, the family home (<011201>Genesis 12:1; 31:14,30; 38:11;
<091802>1 Samuel 18:2);
(2) a family or household (<014151>Genesis 41:51; 46:31; <021203>Exodus 12:3, the Revised Version (British and American) “fathers’ houses”);
(3) the group of households, of several of which the “family’ or “clan”
was constituted, aggregations of which formed the “tribe,” generally
“fathers’ houses” (<040118>Numbers 1:18,20 ff; 17:2; Ezr 2:59;
<161034>Nehemiah 10:34, etc.);
(4) the “family” (clan), mishpachah, “fathers’ houses” (<020614>Exodus 6:14
f; <040320>Numbers 3:20 ff);
(5) the tribe, “fathers’ house,” “houses” (<040702>
Numbers 7:2; 17:1-3, etc.).
In the New Testament “father’s house” ([oi+kov tou~ patro>v, oikos tou patros]) occurs in the sense of dwelling, house (<421627>
Luke 16:27; compare 16:4). our Lord also uses the phrase
(1) of the earthly temple-dwelling of God at Jerusalem (<430216>John 2:16,
“Make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise”; compare
<191104>Psalm 11:4; <236315>Isaiah 63:15);
(2) of heaven as the abode of God and His children (<431402>John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions,” the Revised Version, margin “abiding places,” oikia “house,” “dwelling,” also household, family; compare
<193313>Psalm 33:13; <236315>Isaiah 63:15; <400609>Matthew 6:9). The phrase occurs also
(<440720>Acts 7:20) of Moses, “nourished .... in his father’s house” (oikos).
Revised Version has “father’s hquse” for “principal household” (<132406>1 Chronicles 24:6), “heads of the fathers’ houses” for “chief fathers”
(<043126>Numbers 31:26; 32:28; 36:1; <130934>1 Chronicles 9:34, etc.); “one prince
of a father’s house,” for “each of” (<062214>Joshua 22:14); “the heads of the fathers’ (houses)” for “the chief of the fathers,” and “the fathers’ houses of the chief,” for “the principal fathers” (<132431>
1 Chronicles 24:31).
W. L. Walker
FATHOM
<fath’-um> ([ojrguia>, orguia]): The literal meaning is the length of the outstretched arms, and it was regarded as equal to 4 cubits, or about 6 feet.
(<442728>Acts 27:28).
See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
FATLING, FATTED See CALF.
FATNESS
<fat’-nes> ([ˆv,D,, deshen]; [pio>hv, piotes]):