Answer (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. As a subst. a. is used in the sense me'; 2 Ti 4" 'At my first a. (RV 'defence') no man stood by me ' ; 1 P 3" ' Ready always to give an a. (RV 'give a.') to every man.' Compare the use of a. as a verb in Ac 24'" ' I do tne more cheerfully a. for myself (RV 'I do cheerfully make my defence '), Ac 25'- " 26'- ^ Lk 12" 21". 2. In Ro 11 ' what saith the a. of God unto him ? ' a. means oracle or divine response (Gr. xpv/J^- Ti(r/i6s, the only occurrence of the word in NT, but it is found m 2 Mac 2 xp';A'a"<''Moi' yevriffii>Toi, ' being warned of God ' AV and RV ; see Sanday and Headlam, Homans, pp. 173, 313). 3. In 1 P 3'^ ' the a. of a good conscience toward God,' a. is prob. intended to mean defence, as above ; but the Gr. is not iiroKoyla but eireputr-qiia, and in what precise sense the apostle uses that word is dis- puted ; RV gives ' interrogation,' with two alterna- tives in the marg. 'inquiry' and 'appeal.' See Thayer, N.T. Lex. s.v. 4. As a verb a. is often used when no question has been asked. The most strik- ing instance is Ac 5', where St. Peter 'answers' Sapphira, not only before she had opened her mouth, but by asking her a question. S. In Gal 4' ' For this Agar is Mt. Sinai in Arabia, and a"" to Jems.,' a'"" to = corresponds with (Gr. crwo-Toixf ' — lit. ' belongs to the same row or column with'). Answerable occurs in AV only Ex 38" 'a. to the hangings of the court,' i.e. 'correspond- ing to' ; but RV adds Ezk 40' • a. unto (AV 'over against') the length of the gates,' 45' 48"- '"». Cf Bunyan, Bolt/ War (Clar. Press ed. p. 92), ' This famous town of Mansoul had five Gates, in at which to come, out at which to go ; and these were made likewise answerable to the Walls.' J. Hastings. ANT ishr;^ nim&l&h, fiip/xvL formica). The ant is mentioned only twice in the Bible. Once (Pr 6") with reference to the industry of this insect, and again (Pr 30") with reference to its wisdom tkuA foresight. There has never been any dispute as to the industry of the ant. Sir John Lubbock {Ants, Bees, and Wasps, p. 27) says, 'They work all day, and in warm weatner, if need be, at night too. I once watched an ant from six in the morn- ing, and she worked without intermission till a quarter to ten at night. I had put her to a saucer containing larvie, and in this time she had carried off no less than 187 to their nests. I had another ant, which I employed in my experiments under continuous observation several days. Wlien I started for London in the morning, and again when I went to bed at night, I used to put her into a small bottle, but the moment she was let out she began to work again. On one occasion I was away from home for a week. On my return 1 took her out of the bottle, placing her on a little heap of larvoe, about three feet from her nest. Under these circumstances I certainly did not expect her to return. However, though she had been six days in conlinement, the brave little creature immediately picked up a larva, carried it to her nest, and after half an hour's rest returned for another.' With reference to the wisdom and foresight of the ant there has been much discussion. Although not expressly stated that the ' meat' which the ant 'prepares' in the summer is for winter use, it is generally agreed that such is the meaning of the passage. The Greeks, Romans, Arabian natural- ists, and Jewish rabbis contirm this opinion. Yet many naturalists and commentators have disputed this fact, and say that the writer adopted a popular error, and that the ant does not store the seeds which it takes in such quantities to its nest as food, but only as a lining to its burrows, or for some other unknown reason. They argue from two considerations — (1) that the ant is carnivorous, and has no use for the seeds which it accumulates in its nest ; (2) that the ant hyhemates, and there- fore does not need food in winter. Both of tliese propositions are partially true and partially false. All ants eat flesh greedily, but they are all passion- ately fond of many things besides. Sir Jolin Lub- bock has shown that ants derive a very important part of their sustenance from the sweet juice secreted by aphides, a product hardly to be called animal food more than honey. In the words of Linnaeus, 'the aphis is the cow of ants.' Other kinds of insects are utilised in the same manner. Many ants keep flocks and herds of aphides. The aphides retain the secretion untU the ants are ready to receive it, and the ants stroke and caress them with their antennre, until they emit the sweet excretion. The ants collect the eggs and larvae of these aphides, store them with their own during the long winter sleep, that they may be hatched in the sprint, and supply them again with their favourite food. Here then, says Lubbock, 'our ants may not perhaps lay up food for the winter, but they do more, for they keep during six months the eggs which will enable them to procure food during the following summer — a case of prudence unexampled in the animal kingdom.' But it is also true that ants eat many articles of purely vegetable food. Those of Palestine and Syria certainly eat all kinds of cake, sweetmeats, more or less fruit, bread, meal, and seeds. In the neighbourhood of every threshing-floor and granary, and of stables, there are always immense numbers of ants, which abstract surprising quantities of grain, and store them in their nests. They often carry the grains many feet or yards away, along well-beaten roads, which cross each other in every direction from the heaps of grain. Similar facts have been observed in the warmer parts of Europe and in India. The Mishna lays down rules in regard to the ownership of grain so stored. Maimonides has discussed the question as to whether it belongs to the owners of the land or to gleaners, deciiling in favour of the latter. The ants, however, difl'er from him, and are of opinion that the store belongs to themselves. I am assured by native peasants, well qualified to know, that the ants eat the grain during the season of non-production. After the first rains, the ants bring out their larvne and the stored grains to be sunned. Indian ants do the same. Many of these grains are more or less gnawed, or the edible parts entirely consumed. It was the opinion of Aldrovandus and others of the ancients, confirmed by the French Academy ANTELOPE ANTIOCH 103 (Addison's Guardian, 156, 157) and of N. Pluche {Nature dvrpl. i. 128), that the ants systematically bit off the head of the grain to prevent its germina- tion. I think it unnecessary to ascribe to the ants BO much intelligence as would be implied in this extraordinary measure, but it is no way improb- able that the head would be the first part attacked, as it is the softest portion of the grain, and the most accessible, being uncovered by the silicious envelope, as well as the sweetest morsel of the whole. Lubbock tells us of a Texan ant that clears disks, 10 or 12 feet in diameter, round the entrance to its nest, to allow certain grains known as ant-rice, and no others, to grow there. Thus the ants ' are exceeding wise.' Many of their nests also are marvels of construction, some composed of galleries and chambers underground, some built in the form of mounds or huts above the surface. These are grouped in towns, con- nected by surface roads, sometimes arched over at places, and by underground tunnels. No less than 584 species of insects are found in association ^^■ith ants, serving them in various ways, some obvious, others not clear. But that they are tolerated by the ants for reasons known to them- selves is shown by the fact that ants will imme- diately attack and drive out or kill any living creatures which they do not like. Many of the insects furnish some form of food, as in the case of the aphides. Others rid the ants of parasites. Others seem to be congenial to them for reasons yet to be studied. In addition to these insects, not of their own family, ants make slaves of other ants. This is not done by the capture of adult prisoners, but by raids organised for the purpose of stealing the eggs, larvse, and pupa from the nests of other species. These infant captives are taken to the nests of their abductors, and raised as slaves. These slaves do all or most of the domestic work of their masters, who reserve themselves for the noble art of war. Ants also have accurate methods of division of labour. To the younger ones are assigned some of the lighter tasks, while the older ones engage in the more serious and laborious work. In some cases individuals are appointed to collect honey and store it in large sacs in their bodies, to be distributed to their idle masters, who do not trouble themselves to leave their nests. Lubbock thus sums up the evidence that ants 'are exceeding wise': 'The anthropoid apes no doubt approach nearer to man in bodily structure than do other animals, but when we consider the habits of ants, their social organisation, their large communities and elaborate habitations, their road- ways, their possession of domestic animals, and even, in some cases, of slaves, it must be admitted that they have a fair claim to rank next to man in the scale of intelligence.' G. E. Post.