the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Apharsites
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Chald. Apharsaye', אֲפִרְסָיֵא; Sept. Ἀφαρσαῖοι ), the name of a tribe removed along with the Apharsachites (q.v.) to Samaria by the king of Assyria, and forming one of the opponents of the Jews after the captivity (Ezra 4:9). Hiller (Onomnast.) regards them as the Parrhasii, a tribe of Eastern Media, and Gesenius (Thes. Heb. p. 143) thinks they are the Persians, to whose name theirs certainly bears a much greater affinity, especially in the prolonged form of the latter found in Daniel 6:29 (Chald. Parsaya', פִּרְסָיָא ). The presence of the proper name of the Persians in Ezra 1:1; Ezra 4:3, must throw some doubt. upon Gesenius' conjecture; but it is very possible that the local name of the tribe may have undergone alteration, while the official and general name was correctly given.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Apharsites'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/a/apharsites.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
