Father

Father (אָב, ab, a primitive word, but followilng the analogy of אָבָה, to show kindness, Gesenius, Thesaurus, pages 6-8; Chaldee, אִב, πατήρ). Compare SON.

1. This word, besides its obvious and primary sense, bears in Scripture a number of other applications, most of which have, through the use of the Bible, become more or less common in all Christian countries (see Gesenius's Hebrews and Robinson's Greek Lex.).

(1.) Father is applied to any ancestor near or remote, or to ancestors ("fathers") in general. The progenitor, or founder, or patriarch of a tribe or nation was also pre-eminently its father, as Abraham of the Jews. 'examples of this abound. See, for instance, De 1:11; 1Ki 8:11; Mt 3:9; Mt 23:30; Mr 11:10; Lu 1:32,73; Lu 6:23,26; Joh 7:22, etc. So of the founder or rebuilder of a city (1Ch 2:50-52, etc.).