The ancients called God "Father" from a feeling of relationship. Moses said, "You have forsaken God who begot you."[1] And Malachi: "One God begot us and is our father."[2] They were in a state of grace, moved by the force of the Spirit. Just as there is the Spirit of wisdom by which fools have become wise (for this is clear from the teachings), and the Spirit of power by which they raised both the weak and the dead, and the Spirit of prophecy, and the Spirit of tongues, so also there is the Spirit of adoption.[3] And just as we know the Spirit of prophecy, through which one who has it is moved by grace to tell the future, so also the Spirit of adoption, through which one moved by the Spirit calls God "Father." One who wishes to show that this is most legitimate even used a Hebrew word. For he did not say "Father" but "Abba the Father." This is the word used especially by legitimate children for their father.[4]

[A name meaning] father of awakening. For the [word] abba means father,[1] and koum means awakening.[2] So also in the Holy Gospel: "Talitha, koum," that is, "young girl, get up."[3] From which [it is] clear that Abbakoum must be written with double b.[4]

Name of a city.

Proper name.[1]
[The man] who rose up against his own father David and was destroyed by him in the war.[2]

The first among patriarchs; [it was he] in whom the Hebrew people took pride at first, before they rebelled against God, became estranged from Him, and shed upon themselves the blood of His Only-Begotten Son.[1] This man came out of the land of the Chaldeans, who devoted their entire lives to the stars and heavenly bodies. Trained, therefore, as was their ancestral custom, to observe the motions of the heavenly bodies[2] he surmised that the masterwork underlying this visible creation was not to be found in such objects, but had a Creator who set them in motion, gave harmony to their paths, and ordered the entire universe. Because of the greatness and beauty of the things He had made, Abraham, as it was likely, ceased devoting himself to gazing out into the heavens nor did he squander his passion in their pursuit. Instead, by surmounting the celestial vaults and transcending all the intelligible realm beyond the cosmos, Abraham no longer stood apart from the One sought, until finally the Creator for whom he yearned manifested Himself to Abraham in likenesses[3] and forms. And in this way the Unseen and Invisible revealed Himself. And [God] sent him forth from his own land as a wanderer and settled him in the land of the Canaanites. There he dwelled, now being in about his ninety-ninth year.[4] Until this time, he was childless; then [God] made him the father of the miraculous and blessed Isaac that he might have a first-born, only-begotten son[5] -- prefiguring the mystical image of the First-Born, Only-Begotten Son.[6] This was an exceedingly singular[7] honor bestowed upon Abraham, for the Creator favored him with the titles Servant, Beloved, and Father by flesh of the Only Begotten Son of Him who fashioned the entire universe.[8] Abraham invented sacred writing and devised the language of which Hebrew children used to have a command, as they were this man's disciples and descendants. Moreover, the Greek alphabet received its impetus from this script,[9] even if Greeks amused themselves by forming the letters differently. Proof of this is in the pronunciation of the first and preeminent letter "alpha" because it derives its name from the Hebrew "aleph" by way of the Blessed, First, and Eternal Name.[10] So too, the Greeks through Abraham came to possess books on dream interpretation. Witness to this is Joseph, the truly wondrous descendant of Abraham, who interpreted Pharoah's dreams as they were going to turn out in fact. In this, Philo, the Jewish philosopher, will be my confirmation via his work Life of the Statesman.[11] About Philo it is said "Philo platonizes and Plato philonizes."[12]
The practice of idolatry extended from Serug[13] to the time of Abraham's father Tharron.[14] Thus, when Abraham was 14 years old[15] and deemed worthy of divine knowledge, he upbraided his father, "Why do you lead the people astray for harmful gain (that is, with idols)? There is no other God but the One in heaven, the Creator of the entire universe." Yet seeing the people serving earthly things, he embarked on a tireless quest, seeking out with his pious heart the Truly Existing God.[16] But seeing that the sky is sometimes light and sometimes dark, he said to himself, "That is not God." Observing similarly the sun and the moon, the one obscured and eclipsed and the other waning and occluded, he said, "Those are not gods either." True, he was trained in astronomy by his father, but Abraham all the same was puzzled by the motions of the stars and scornful of them. But God appeared to him and said, "Go out of your land and leave your kinsmen."[17] Abraham took his father's idols, smashing some and incinerating others. Then he went away with his father out of the land of the Chaldeans. And they came to Haran,[18] where his father died. He left there, obeying the Lord's word, with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot[19] and all their possessions, and came to the promised land Canaan, which the Canaanites had seized and settled in. When a famine arose, Abraham left the land of the Canaanites and went into Egypt, where Abimelech[20] the king took his wife Sarah. God struck terror into Abimelech and paralysed his limbs, saying "Give this man back his wife, because he is a prophet and will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not give her back, know that you and your entire household will die." When Abraham got his wife back, undefiled, he prayed, and Abimelech and his household were cured of the paralysis.[21] After this the king, honoring Abraham and devoting himself to his sayings, became a pious and expert teacher to the Egyptians. The same Abraham, upon returning from war,[22] was considered worthy of blessing by Melchisedek, king of Salem, who brought bread and wine out to him. Melchisedek was a priest of the Most High, and Abraham gave to Him a tenth of all he had. Melchisedek was without father, mother, or lineage, like the Son of God.[23]
When Abram[24] lamented to God about his childlessness, God revealed to him through a dream that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. And he believed God, and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.[25] Now Sarah, who was barren, gave Abraham permission to father a child with her maidservant, and she bore Ismael.[26] And when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him and altered his name to Abraham, for until then he had been called Abram. Similarly, Sarah became Sarrah with another "r".[27] And Abraham circumcised Ismael and all his descendants. Moreover, when the Lord was being shown the hospitality of Abraham's house, He promised Abraham that Sarrah would bear him a son. But Sarrah smiled; and the one who was begotten was called Isaac, by the Hebrew name that means "laughter with delight."[28]
Also [sc. attested is the adjective] *abramiai=os: [meaning] descendant of Abraham, or towering, revered.[29]

Whenever something unpleasant happens as a result of someone having shown up at the wrong time, we are accustomed to call it an "Abydene dessert." This is because the people of Abydos,[1] whenever they entertain a fellow-citizen or a foreigner, bring their children around to be admired after the ointments and the crowns. Those in attendance are disturbed by both the nurses clamoring and the children screaming. Hence it has become customary to say the foregoing.[2]

In general [it is] something beneficial, but in particular what is either identical with or not different from benefit; hence, both virtue itself and what participates in it are called "good" in three ways: as the good (i) from which [being benefited] results, [and (ii) according to which being benefited results,] as [virtuous] action and virtue,[1] and (iii) by whom [being benefited results], as the virtuous person who participates in virtue. Or [they define it [2]] in this fashion: the good is the perfection in accordance with nature of a rational being qua rational. And virtue is a thing of this sort, so that virtuous action as well as virtuous people participate [in the good]. Joy, cheerfulness and the like are byproducts [of virtue]. Furthermore, of goods, some are in the soul, others external, and others neither in the soul nor external. The ones in the soul are virtues and actions in accordance with them. The external ones are a virtuous fatherland, a virtuous friend, and their happiness. Those which are neither external nor in the soul are someone's being for himself virtuous and happy. Furthermore, of goods, some are final, others instrumental, and others both final and instrumental. Thus a friend and the benefits added by him are instrumental goods. But confidence, prudence, freedom, enjoyment, cheerfulness, freedom from distress, and every action in accordance with virtue are final. [Virtues] are instrumental and final: they are instrumental goods insofar as they produce happiness, and final [goods] insofar as they complete it in such a way as to become parts of it; for example a friend and freedom and enjoyment.[3] Furthermore, of the goods in the soul, some are conditions, others dispositions, and others neither conditions nor dispositions. Virtues are dispositions, pursuits conditions, and activities neither conditions nor dispositions. In general good children and a good old age are minor goods,[4] but knowledge is a simple good. And virtues are always present, but joy and taking a stroll for example not always. Every good is profitable, advantageous, binding, useful, serviceable, fine, beneficial, just, and choiceworthy.
That which is aimed at by all things is good.[5]
Thus that to which all things are referred but which is referred to nothing is good.[6]

[Meaning] that which is loved or unique.[1]
Also [sc. attested is the related adverb] a)gaphtw/s ["scarcely"]. "So great was the foolishness among their leaders that they scarcely saw whether they would not be fighting with all who were taking part in the campaign."[2]

This man was an Alexandrian by birth; raised from childhood amidst cultured discourse, he became a commentator on medical teachings and went to Byzantium where he established a very distinguished school. Relying on the magnitude of his talent and the favor of fortune, he became celebrated for his skill and amassed large amounts of money.

Isaeus [sc. uses this word] to mean a)/pais["childless"].