Ab [1]

Meaning
Ab means "father; grandfather; forefather; ancestor."

1. Basically, ab refers to the familial relationship represented by the word "father." This is the word's significance in its first biblical appearance.

First mention

Genesis 2:24 - "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.."

2. In poetical passages, the word is sometimes paralleled to em, "mother."

Job 17:14 - "I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister"

The word is also used in conjunction with "mother" to represent one's parents.

Leviticus 19:3 - "Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God."

But unlike the word em, ab is never used of animals.

3.  Ab also means "grandfather" and/or "greatgrandfather", as in Genesis 28:13 - "And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;"

Such progenitors on one's mother's side were called "thy mother's father".

Genesis 28:2 - " Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother."

4.  This noun may be used of any one of the entire line of men from whom a given individual is descended.

1 Kings 19:4 - "But he [Elijah] himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."

In such use, the word may refer to the first man, a "forefather." or:

4a.  A clan.  Jeremiah 35:6 - "ut they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:"

4b.  A tribe.  Joshua 19:47 - "And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father."

4c.  A group with a special calling. 1 Chronicles 24:19 - "These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the Lord, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him."

4d.  A dynasty. 1 Kings 15:3 - "And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father."

4e.  A nation. Joshua 24:3 - "And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac."

5.  Thus "father" does not necessarily mean the man who directly sired a given individual.

6.  This noun sometimes describes the adoptive relationship, especially when it is used of the "founder of a class or station," such as trade:

Genesis 4:20 - "And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle."

7.  Ab can be a title of respect, usually applied to an older person, as when David said to Saul: "Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it." [1 Samuel 24:11].

8.  The word is also applied to teachers.

2 Kings 2:12 - "And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces."

9.  The word is applied to the prophet Elisha.

2 Kings 6:21 - "And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?"

10.  It is applied to a priest.

Judges 17:10 - "And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in."

11.  This word is also a title of respect when used of "one's husband": 

Jeremiah 3:4 - "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?"

12.  The noun is used of an "advisor".
Genesis 45:8 - "So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt."

13.  In each case, the one described as "father" occupied a position or status and received the honour due to a "father".

14.  In conjunction with bayit [1004 - "house"], the word may mean "family".
Exodus 12:3 - "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:"

15.  Sometimes the plural of the word used by itself can represent "family".
Exodus 6:25 - "And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families."

16.  God is described as the "father" of Israel.
Deuteronomy 32:6 - "Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?"

16a.  He is the One Who begot and protected them, the One they should revere and obey.

16b.  God is the "father" of all people.
Malachi 2:10 - "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?"

16c.  He is especially the "protector" or "father" of the fatherless.
Psalm 68:5 - "A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation."

17.  As the "father" of a king, God especially aligns Himself to that man and his kingdom.
2 Samuel 7:14 - "I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:"

17a.  Not every king was a son of God - only those whom He adopted.

17b.  In a sense, the perfect King was God's adopted Son.
Psalm 2:7 - "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee."

The extent, power and duration of His kingdom are guaranteed by the Father's Sovereignty.
Psalm 2:8-9 - "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

18.  On the other hand, one of the Messiah's enthronement names is "Eternal Father".
Isaiah 9:6 - "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."