pa'-tri-ark, patriarches). The word occurs in the New Testament in application to Abraham (Heb 7:4), to the sons of Jacob (Ac 7:8-9), and to David (Ac 2:29). In Septuagint it is used as the equivalent of the head of the fathers' house, or of a tribe (1Ch 24:31; 27:32; 2Ch 26:12). Commonly now the term is used of the persons whose names appear in the genealogies and covenant-histories in the periods preceding Moses (Ge 5:1-32; 11:1-32, histories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.; compare "patriarchal dispensation"). The problems connected with the longevity ascribed to the patriarchs in the genealogies and narratives in Gen are dealt with in special articles.
See ANTEDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS;ANTEDILUVIANS ( GENEALOGY).
James Orr