Eber-Nari, Abar-Nahara עבר-נהרה or'Ābēr Nahrā was the name of a region of Western Asia and a satrapy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Neo-Babylonian Empire and Achaemenid Empire. Eber-Nari corresponded with the Levant, was known as Aramea, it means "Beyond the River" or "Across the River" in both the Akkadian and Imperial Aramaic languages of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It is referred to as Transeuphratia by modern scholars; the province is mentioned extensively in the Biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah as עבר הנהר Evver Hanahar. Additionally, sharing the same root meaning, Eber was a character in the Hebrew Bible from which the term Hebrew was believed to have been derived, thus the Hebrews were inferred to have been the people who crossed into Canaan across the river; the term was established during the Neo-Assyrian Empire in reference to its Levantine colonies, the toponym appears in an inscription of the 7th century BC Assyrian king Esarhaddon. The region remained an integral part of the Assyrian empire until its fall in 612 BC, with some northern regions remaining in the hands of the remnants of the Assyrian army and administration until at least 605 BC, as late as 599 BC.

Subsequent to this Eber-Nari was fought over by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and Egypt, the latter of which had entered the region in a belated attempt to aid its former Assyrian overlords. The Babylonians and their allies defeated the Egyptians and assumed control of the region, which they continued to call Eber-Nari; the Babylonians were overthrown by the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Persians assumed control of the region. Having themselves spent centuries under Assyrian rule, the Achaemenid Persians retained the Imperial Aramaic and Imperial organisational structures of their Assyrian predecessors. In 535 BC the Persian king Cyrus the Great organized some of the newly conquered territories of the former Neo-Babylonian Empire as a single satrapy. Northern Mesopotamia, the north east of modern Syria and south east Anatolia remaining as Athura; the satrap of Eber-Nari resided in Babylon and there were subgovernors in Eber-Nari, one of, Tettenai, mentioned in both the Bible and Babylonian cuneiform documents.

This organization remained untouched until at least 486 BC, but before c. 450 BC the "mega-satrapy" was split into two—Babylonia and Eber-Nari. Herodotus' description of the Achaemenid tax district number V fits with Eber-Nari, it comprised Aramea and Cyprus. Herodotus did not include in the tax list the Arabian tribes of the Arabian peninsula, identified with the Qedarites, that did not pay taxes but contributed with a tax-like gift of frankincense. Eber-Nari was dissolved during the Greek Seleucid Empire, the Greeks incorporating both this region and Assyria in Upper Mesopotamia into Seleucid Syria during the 3rd century BC. Syria was a 9th-century Indo-Anatolian derivation of Assyria and was used for centuries only in specific reference to Assyria and the Assyrians, a land which in modern terms encompassed only the northern half of Iraq, north east Syria and south east Turkey and not the bulk of Greco-Roman, Byzantine or modern nation of Syria. However, from this point the terms Syrian and Syriac were used generically and without distinction to describe both Assyria proper and Eber-Nari/Aram, their respective Assyrian and Aramean/Phoenician populations.

Akkadian:, translit. Eber-Nāri, lit.'trans river' — i.e. the region west of the Euphrates. Old Aramaic: עבר נהרה, translit. Avarnaharā', lit.'trans river' — i.e. the other side of the Euphrates. Hebrew: עבר הנהר‎, romanized: Ēver-ha-Nāhār, lit.'trans river' — i.e. beyond the river. Dandamaev, M: "Eber-Nari", in E. Yarshater Encyclopaedia Iranica vol. 7. Drumbrell, WJ: "The Tell el-Maskuta Bowls and the'Kingdom' of Qedar in the Persian Period", BASOR 203, pp. 33–44. Elayi, J. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-85075-678-1. Olmstead, AT: "Tettenai, Governor of Across the River", JNES 3 n. 1, p. 46. Stolper, MW: "The Governor of Babylon and Across-the-River in 486 B. C.", JNES 48 n. 4, pp. 283–305. Tuell: "The Southern and Eastern Borders of Abar-Nahara", BASOR n. 284, pp. 51–57. Parpola, S: "Neo-Assyrian Toponyms, Alter Orient und Altes Testament". Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments 6, Neukirchen-Vluyn, p116 Zadok, R: "Geographical Names According to New and Late-Babylonian Texts", Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cunéiformes 8, Wiesbaden, p129

Matthew 1:18 is the eighteenth verse of the first chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse opens the description of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus; the original Koine Greek, according to Westcott and Hort, reads: του δε χριστου η γενεσις ουτως ην μνηστευθεισης της μητρος αυτου μαριας τω ιωσηφ πριν η συνελθειν αυτους ευρεθη εν γαστρι εχουσα εκ πνευματος αγιουIn the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. The World English Bible translates the passage as: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this. For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 1:18 As the previous verses contained nothing but a summary of Jesus' genealogy, this verse is the beginning of the narrative of Matthew, has been considered the true opening verse of the gospel. Boring notes that this verse is not part of the narrative to come, but is an initial introduction bringing the reader up to date on where things stand at the beginning of Matthew's story.

The word translated as birth, geneseos, is the same term, used in Matthew 1:1. English editions invariably give different translations for the two, but the author of Matthew may have been trying to link the two verses with the second geneseos symbolically beginning the second section of the chapter; the word translated as espoused, engaged, or most betrothed refers to a specific institution of the period different from the modern idea of an engagement. This period occurred after the main marriage ceremony had taken place and the marriage contracts had been signed. Dissolution thus required the death of one partner. In general the betrothal ceremony took place when the woman was still young around age twelve or thirteen. After the ceremony she would remain in their father's house for around a year, this period is what is referred to in this verse; the second stage of the marriage was for the husband to take his bride into his own home. Most scholars believe, it is not thought to be a euphemism for sexual relations though it could be interpreted in this way.

Only after the bride moved into her husband's house would the marriage be consummated. In Judea sexual relations during the betrothal were not unheard of. In Galilee, much stricter conventions prevailed. Any infidelity with an outside partner during the betrothal period was considered adultery, punished as such under Mosaic Law, thus when Mary became pregnant she was at a point prior to which she would have had relations with her husband but a time in which infidelity would be harshly punished by death. Matthew does not relate the events surrounding the conception of Jesus, rather he takes the event as having happened. To Schweizer this signals that Matthew was writing for an audience, well aware of story of the Virgin Birth. Schweizer observes that the author of Matthew seems rather nonplussed by the Virgin Birth. While today modern scientifically oriented Christians find the Virgin Birth one of the more implausible parts of the Gospel, Schweizer believes that attitudes would have been different at the time Matthew was writing.

There were several Virgin Birth stories in the Jewish tradition and the idea of virgin births was accepted by the population. Matthew mentions the paternity of the Holy Ghost quickly before any of the characters in his narrative are aware of this fact. Brown argues that this is because Matthew does not want the reader to consider alternate scenarios as to how Mary could have become pregnant. Jane Schaberg sees this as an apologetic addition, to counter claims of Jesus' illegitimacy that were current among anti-Christian writings of the time, such as the Toledot Yeshu, she links this to Matthew 28, where the author of Matthew tries to rebut the theory that Jesus' body was stolen. Despite the capital letters most editions give the phrase, Matthew does not mean the Holy Ghost as understood in modern theology; the modern notion of the Trinity developed over time. The phrase can be read as either "the holy spirit" or "a holy spirit." In Greek the term Holy Ghost is gender neutral and in Semitic languages it is female.

This reduces the idea of actual copulation, as was traditional between mortal women. Feminist scholar Levine sees much importance in Jesus being the child of a woman and feminine spirit, she sees this as a rejection of the traditional patriarchal model for the family. Wainwright sees the act of creating a child without the need for a mortal man as a challenge to the androcentric social order. Schaberg disagrees with this approach, writing that Mary is represented in these verses as nothing more than a vehicle reproduction, a traditional societal role. In Insular Gospel Books this verse has an importance not seen in other medieval Gospel Books. In the Vulgate, the verse reads: Christi autem generatio sic erat cum esset desponsata mater eius Maria Ioseph antequam convenirent inventa est in utero habens de Spiritu SanctoIn medieval writing the word Christ was abbreviated using the Greek letters Chi and Rho; the word Christi was written XPi. The verses Matthew 1:1 through Matthew 1:17 give the genealogy of Christ, with the actual narrative of Christ's birth starting at Matthew 1:18.

Insular scribes treated M

Orchard Lake Village is a city in Oakland County in the U. S. state of Michigan and a small, exclusive suburb of Detroit. The population was 2,375 at the 2010 census; the city is surrounded by West Bloomfield. It shares a border with Keego Harbor, to the east. About 43 percent of the City of Orchard Lake Village is occupied by ponds. Orchard Lake Village is home to St. Mary's Preparatory and SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, in addition to the Orchard Lake Country Club and Pine Lake Country Club, it is the home of Orchard Lake St. Mary's Preparatory and Orchard Lake Schools Michigan Military Academy. Orchard Lake Village is ranked as the most affluent town in Michigan with a median household income of $400,289. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.12 square miles, of which 2.44 square miles is land and 1.68 square miles is water. Orchard Lake, Cass Lake, Upper Straits Lake are all within or within the city limits. Terrain is high. Orchard Lake Village surrounds the third-largest lake in Oakland County.

The city is surrounded by West Bloomfield Township, except for the northeast which abuts Keego Harbor. As of the census of 2010, there were 2,375 people, 802 households, 665 families living in the city; the population density was 973.4 inhabitants per square mile. There were 869 housing units at an average density of 356.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 83.9% White, 6.4% African American, 7.4% Asian, 0.2% from other races, 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population. There were 802 households of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.7% were married couples living together, 4.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.1% had a male householder with no wife present, 17.1% were non-families. 14.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.08. The median age in the city was 46.9 years.

23.2% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the city was 46.4 % female. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,215 people, 750 households, 648 families living in the city; the population density was 855.7 per square mile. There were 805 housing units at an average density of 311.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 91.87% White, 3.84% African American, 0.14% Native American, 2.66% Asian, 0.09% from other races, 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.90% of the population. 8.8% of Orchard Lake's population reported ancestries that were characterized as "Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac" by the U. S. Census, making Orchard Lake Village the community with the highest percentage of people in that category of any place in the United States. There were 750 households out of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.7% were married couples living together, 3.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 13.5% were non-families.

9.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.18. In the city, the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 21.7% from 25 to 44, 34.4% from 45 to 64, 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $121,126, the median income for a family was $126,058. Males had a median income of $83,680 versus $41,250 for females; the per capita income for the city was $67,881. About 0.6% of families and 0.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen or sixty-five or over. All of Orchard Lake Village is within the West Bloomfield School District. One portion is instead in Walled Lake Consolidated Schools. There is another school called St. Mary's Preparatory, a Catholic Preparatory for boys.

Bob Seger, American rock musician City of Orchard Lake Village