Smith's Bible Dictionary

Gezer — Gur-baal

Gezer

Ge’zer (a precipice), an ancient city of Canaan, whose king, Horam or Elam, coming to the assistance of Lachish, was killed with all his people by Joshua. Joshua 10:33; Joshua 12:12. It formed one of the landmarks on the south boundary of Ephraim, between the lower Beth-horon and the Mediterranean, Joshua 16:3, the western limit of the tribe. 1 Chronicles 7:28. It was allotted with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites, Joshua 21:21; 1 Chronicles 6:67; but the original inhabitants were not dispossessed, Judges 1:29, and even down to the reign of Solomon the Canaanites were still dwelling there, and paying tribute to Israel. 1 Kings 9:16. It was burned by Pharaoh in Solomon’s time, 1 Kings 9:15-17, and given to Solomon’s Egyptian wife, and rebuilt by him.

Gezrites The

Gez’rites, The. The word which the Jewish critics have substituted in the margin of the Bible for the ancient reading, “the Gerizite.” 1 Samuel 27:8. [GERZITES, THE.]

Giah

Gi’ah (a waterfall), a place named only in 2 Samuel 2:24 to designate the position of the hill Ammah.

Giants

Giants, men of extraordinary size or height.

1. They are first spoken of in Genesis 6:4, under the name Nephilim. We are told in Genesis 6:1-4 that “there were Nephilim in the earth,” and that afterwards the “sons of God” mingling with the beautiful “daughters of men” produced a race of violent and insolent Gibborim (Authorized Version “mighty men”).

2. The Rephaim, a name which frequently occurs. The earliest mention of them is the record of their defeat by Chedorlaomer and some allied kings at Ashteroth Karnaim. The “valley of Rephaim,” 2 Samuel 5:18; 1 Chronicles 11:15; Isaiah 17:5, a rich valley southwest of Jerusalem, derived its name from them. They were probably an aboriginal people of which the ENIM, ANAKIM and ZUZIM [which see] were branches. [See also GOLIATH.]

Gibbar

Gib’bar (gigantic), the father of some who returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon. Ezra 2:20.

Gibbethon

Gib’bethon (a hill), a town allotted to the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:44, and afterwards given with its “suburbs” to the Kohathite Levites. ch. Joshua 21:23.

Gibe-a

Gib’e-a (a hill). Sheva “the father of Macbenah” and “father of Gibea” is mentioned with other names, unmistakably those of places and not persons, among the descendants of Judah. 1 Chronicles 2:49. comp. 1 Chronicles 2:42. This would seem to point out Gibea.

Gibe-ah

Gib’e-ah, a word employed in the Bible to denote a hill. Like most words of this kind it gave its name to several towns and places in Palestine, which would doubtless be generally on or near a hill. They are—

1. Gibeah, a city in the mountain district of Judah, named with Maon and the southern Carmel, Joshua 15:57; and comp. 1 Chronicles 2:49, etc.

2. Gibeah of Benjamin first appears in the tragical story of the Levite and his concubine. Judges 19:20. It was then a “city,” with the usual open street or square, Judges 19:15, Judges 19:17, Judges 19:20, and containing 700 “chosen men,” ch. Judges 20:15, probably the same whose skill as slingers is preserved in the next verse. In many particulars Gibeah agrees very closely with Tuleil-el-Fûl, a conspicuous eminence just four miles north of Jerusalem, to the right of the road. We next meet with Gibeah of Benjamin during the Philistine wars of Saul and Jonathan. 1 Samuel 13:15, 1 Samuel 13:16. It now bears its full title. As “Gibeah of Benjamin” this place is referred to in 2 Samuel 23:29 (comp. 1 Chronicles 11:31), and as “Gibeah” it is mentioned by Hosea 5:8; Hosea 9:9; Hosea 10:9, but it does not again appear in the history. It is, however, almost without doubt identical with

3. Gibeah of Saul. This is not mentioned as Saul’s city till after his anointing, 1 Samuel 10:26, when he is said to have gone “home” to Gibeah. In the subsequent narrative the town bears its full name. ch. 1 Samuel 11:4.

4. Gibeah in Kirjath-jearim was no doubt a hill in that city, and the place in which the ark remained from the time of its return by the Philistines till its removal by David. 2 Samuel 6:3, 2 Samuel 6:4; comp. 1 Samuel 7:1, 1 Samuel 7:2.

5. Gibeah in the field, named only in Judges 20:31 as the place to which one of the “highways” led from Gibeah of Benjamin. It is probably the same as Geba. The “meadows of Gaba” (Authorized Version Gibeah, Judges 20:33) have no connection with the “field,” the Hebrew word being entirely different.

Gibe-ath

Gib’e-ath, probably the same as Gibeah of Benjamin. Joshua 18:28.

Gibeon

Gib’eon (hill city), one of the four cities of the Hivites, the inhabitants of which made a league with Joshua, Joshua 9:3-15, and thus escaped the fate of Jericho and Ai. Comp. ch. Joshua 11:19. Gibeon lay within the territory of Benjamin, ch. Joshua 18:25, and with its “suburbs” was allotted to the priests, ch. Joshua 21:17, of whom it became afterwards a principal station. It retains its ancient name almost intact, el-Jib. Its distance from Jerusalem by the main road is about 6½ miles; but there is a more direct road reducing it to five miles.

Gibeonites The

Gib’eonites, The, the people of Gibeon, and perhaps also of the three cities associated with Gibeon, Joshua 9:17—Hivites; and who, on the discovery of the stratagem by which they had obtained the protection of the Israelites, were condemned to be perpetual bondmen, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the house of God and altar of Jehovah. Joshua 9:23, Joshua 9:27. Saul appears to have broken this covenant, and in a fit of enthusiasm or patriotism to have killed some and devised a general massacre of the rest. 2 Samuel 21:1, 2 Samuel 21:2, 2 Samuel 21:5. This was expiated many years after by giving up seven men of Saul’s descendants to the Gibeonites, who hung them or crucified them “before Jehovah”—as a kind of sacrifice—in Gibeah, Saul’s own town. ch. 2 Samuel 21:9.

Giblites The

Gib’lites, The. [GEBAL.]

Giddalti

Giddal’ti (I have trained up), one of the sons of Heman, the king’s seer. 1 Chronicles 25:4.

Giddel

Gid’del (very great).

1. Children of Giddel were among the Nethinim who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:47; Nehemiah 7:49.

2. Bene-Giddel were also among the “servants of Solomon” who returned to Judea in the same caravan. Ezra 2:56; Nehemiah 7:58. (b.c. 536.)

Gideon

Gid’eon (he that cuts down), youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, an undistinguished family who lived at Ophrah, a town probably on the west of Jordan, Judges 6:15, in the territory of Manasseh, near Shechem. He was the fifth recorded judge of Israel, and for many reasons the greatest of them all. When we first hear of him he was grown up and had sons, Judges 6:11; Judges 8:20; and from the apostrophe of the angel, ch. Judges 6:12, we may conclude that he had already distinguished himself in war against the roving bands of nomadic robbers who had oppressed Israel for seven years. When the angel appeared, Gideon was threshing wheat with a flail in the wine-press, to conceal it from the predatory tyrants. His call to be a deliverer, and his destruction of Baal’s altar, are related in Judges 6. After this begins the second act of Gideon’s life. Clothed by the Spirit of God, Judges 6:34; comp. 1 Chronicles 12:18; Luke 24:49, he blew a trumpet, and was joined by Zebulun, Naphtali and even the reluctant Asher. Strengthened by a double sign from God, he reduced his army of 32,000 by the usual proclamation. Deuteronomy 20:8; comp. 1 Maccabees 3:56. By a second test at “the spring of trembling” he further reduced the number of his followers to 300. Judges 7:5, seq. The midnight attack upon the Midianites, their panic, and the rout and slaughter that followed, are told in Judges 7. The memory of this splendid deliverance took deep root in the national traditions. 1 Samuel 12:11; Psalm 83:11; Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:26; Hebrews 11:32. After this there was a peace of forth years, and we see Gideon in peaceful possession of his well-earned honors, and surrounded by the dignity of a numerous household. Judges 8:29-31. It is not improbable that, like Saul, he owed a part of his popularity to his princely appearance. Judges 8:18. In this third stage of his life occur alike his most noble and his most questionable acts, viz., the refusal of the monarchy on theocratic grounds, and the irregular consecration of a jewelled ephod formed out of the rich spoils of Midian, which proved to the Israelites a temptation to idolatry, although it was doubtless intended for use in the worship of Jehovah.

Gideoni

Gideo’ni (a cutting down), a Benjamite, father of Abidan. Numbers 1:11; Numbers 7:60, Numbers 7:65; Numbers 10:24.

Gidom

Gi’dom (desolation), a place named only in Judges 20:45. It would appear to have been situated between Gibeah (Tuliel-el-Fûl) and the cliff Rimmon.

Gier-eagle

Gier-eagle, an unclean bird mentioned in Leviticus 11:18 and Deuteronomy 14:17; identical in reality as in name with the racham of the Arabs, viz., the Egyptian vulture.

Gift

Gift. The giving and receiving of presents has in all ages been not only a more frequent but also a more formal and significant proceeding in the East than among ourselves. We cannot adduce a more remarkable proof of the important part which presents play in the social life of the East than the fact that the Hebrew language possesses no less than fifteen different expressions for the one idea. The mode of presentation was with as much parade as possible. The refusal of a present was regarded as a high indignity. No less an insult was it not to bring a present when the position of the parties demanded it. 1 Samuel 10:27.

Gihon

Gi’hon (a stream).

1. The second river of Paradise. Genesis 2:13. [EDEN.]

2. A place near Jerusalem, memorable as the scene of the anointing and proclamation of Solomon as king. 1 Kings 1:33, 1 Kings 1:38, 1 Kings 1:45.

Gilala-i

Gil’ala-i (weighty), one of the priests’ sons at the consecration of the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 12:36. (b.c. 446.)

Gilboa

Gilbo’a (a bubbling spring), a mountain range on the eastern side of the plain of Esdraelon, rising over the city of Jezreel. Comp. 1 Samuel 28:4 with 1 Samuel 29:1. It is mentioned in Scripture only in connection with one event in Israelitish history, the defeat and death of Saul and Jonathan by the Philistines. 1 Samuel 31:1; 2 Samuel 1:6; 2 Samuel 21:12; 1 Chronicles 10:1, 1 Chronicles 10:8. Of the identity of Gilboa with the ridge which stretches eastward from the ruins of Jezreel no doubt can be entertained. The village is now called Jelb̊u.

Mountains of Gilboa.

Gile-ad

Gil’e-ad (rocky region).

1. A mountainous region bounded on the west by the Jordan, on the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by Moab and Ammon. Genesis 31:21; Deuteronomy 3:12-17. It is sometimes called “Mount Gilead,” Genesis 31:25, sometimes “the land of Gilead,” Numbers 32:1, and sometimes simply “Gilead.” Psalm 60:7; Genesis 37:25. The name Gilead, as is usual in Palestine, describes the physical aspect of the country: it signifies “a hard rocky region.” The mountains of Gilead, including Pisgah, Abarim, and Peor, have a real elevation of from 2000 to 3000 feet; but their apparent elevation on the western side is much greater, owing to the depression of the Jordan valley, which averages about 1000 feet. Their outline is singularly uniform, resembling a massive wall running along the horizon. Gilead was specially noted for its balm collected from “balm of Gilead” trees, and worth twice its weight in silver.

2. Possibly the name of a mountain west of the Jordan, near Jezreel. Judges 7:3. We are inclined, however, to think that the true reading in this place should be Gilboa.

3. Son of Machir, grandson of Manasseh. Numbers 26:29, Numbers 26:30.

4. The father of Jephthah. Judges 11:1, Judges 11:2.

Gilead.

Gile-adites The

Gil’e-adites, The, Numbers 26:29; Judges 10:3; Judges 12:4, Judges 12:5, a branch of the tribe of Manasseh, descended from Gilead.

Gilgal

Gil’gal (a wheel; rolling).

1. The site of the first camp of the Israelites on the west of the Jordan, the place at which they passed the first night after crossing the river, and where the twelve stones were set up which had been taken from the bed of the stream, Joshua 4:19, Joshua 4:20, comp. Joshua 4:3; where also they kept their first passover in the land of Canaan. ch. Joshua 5:10. It was “in the east border of Jericho,” apparently on a hillock or rising ground, Joshua 5:3, comp. Joshua 5:9, in the Arboth-Jericho (Authorized Version “the plains”), that is, the hot depressed district of the Ghor which lay between the town and the Jordan. ch. Joshua 5:10. Here Samuel was judge, and Saul was made king. We again have a glimpse of it, some sixty years later, in the history of David’s return to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 19:40. A Gilgal is spoken of in Joshua 15:7, in describing the north border of Judah. In Joshua 18:17 it is given as Geliloth. Gilgal near Jericho is doubtless intended.

2. In 2 Kings 2:1, 2 Kings 2:2; 2 Kings 4:38 is named a Gilgal visited by Elijah and Elisha. This could not be the Gilgal of the low plain of the Jordan, for the prophets are said to have gone down to Bethel, which is 3000 feet above the plain. It has been identified with Jiljilia, about four miles from Bethel and Shiloh respectively.

3. The “king of the nations of Gilgal,” or rather perhaps the “king of Goim at Gilgal,” is mentioned in the catalogue of the chiefs overthrown by Joshua. Joshua 12:23. Possibly the site of this place is marked by the modern village Jiljûlieh, about four miles south of Antipatris, which lies 16 miles northeast of Joppa. But another Gilgal, under the slightly-different form of Kilkilieh, lies about two miles east of Antipatris.

Giloh

Gi’loh (exile), a town in the mountainous part of Judah, named in the first group with Debir and Eshtemoh, Joshua 15:51; it was the native place of the famous Ahithophel. 2 Samuel 15:12.

Gilonite The

Gi’lonite, The, native of Giloh. 2 Samuel 15:12; 2 Samuel 23:34.

Gimzo

Gim’zo (fertile in sycamores), a town which with its dependent villages was taken possession of by the Philistines in the reign of Ahaz. 2 Chronicles 28:18. The name (Jimzu) still remains attached to a large village between two and three miles southwest of Lydda, south of the road between Jerusalem and Jaffa.

Gin

Gin, a trap for birds or beasts; it consisted of a net, Isaiah 8:14, and a stick to act as a spring. Amos 3:5.

Ginath

Gi’nath (protection), father of Tibni. 1 Kings 16:21, 1 Kings 16:22.

Ginnetho

Gin’netho (gardener), one of the chief of the priests and Levites who returned to Judea with Zerubbabel. Nehemiah 12:4. He is doubtless the same person as

Ginnethon

Gin’nethon (gardener), a priest who scaled the covenant with Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10:6. (b.c. 410.)

Girdle

Girdle, an essential article of dress in the East, and worn by both men and women. The common girdle was made of leather, 2 Kings 1:8; Matthew 3:4, like that worn by the Bedouins of the present day. A finer girdle was made of linen, Jeremiah 13:1; Ezekiel 16:10, embroidered with silk, and sometimes with gold and silver thread, Daniel 10:5; Revelation 1:13; Revelation 15:6, and frequently studded with gold and precious stones or pearls. The military girdle was worn about the waist; the sword or dagger was suspended from it. Judges 3:16; 2 Samuel 20:8; Psalm 45:3. Hence girding up the loins denotes preparation for battle or for active exertion. Girdles were used as pockets, as they still are among the Arabs, and as purses, one end of the girdle being folded back for the purpose. Matthew 10:9; Mark 6:8.

Girgasite The

Gir’gasite, The, Genesis 10:16, or

Girgashites

Gir’gashites (dwelling on a clayey soil), The, one of the nations who were in possession of Canaan east of the Sea of Galilee before the entrance thither of the children of Israel. Genesis 10:16; Genesis 15:21; Deuteronomy 7:1.

Gispa

Gis’pa (caress), one of the overseers of the Nethinim, in “the Ophel,” after the return from captivity. Nehemiah 11:21.

Gittah-hepher

Git’tah-he’pher. Joshua 19:13. [GATH-HEPHER.]

Gittaim

Gitta’im. [GITTITES.]

Gittites

Git’tites (belonging to Gath), the 600 men who followed David from Gath, under Ittai the Gittite, 2 Samuel 15:18, 2 Samuel 15:19, and who probably acted as a kind of body-guard. Obed-edom “the Gittite” may have been so named from the town of Gittaim in Benjamin, 2 Samuel 4:3; Nehemiah 11:33, or from Gath-rimmon.

Gittith

Gittith, a musical instrument, by some supposed to have been used by the people of Gath, and by others to have been employed at the festivities of the vintage. Psalm 8, Psalm 81, Psalm 84.

Gizonite The

Gi’zonite, The (inhabitant of Gizoh). “The sons of Hashem the Gizonite” are named amongst the warriors of David’s guard. 1 Chronicles 11:34. Kennicott concludes that the name should be Gouni.

Glass

Glass. The Hebrew word occurs only in Job 28:17, where in the Authorized Version it is rendered “crystal.” In spite of the absence of specific allusion to glass in the sacred writings, the Hebrews must have been aware of the invention. From paintings representing the process of glass-blowing which have been discovered at Beni-hassan, and in tombs at other places, we know that the invention was known at least 3500 years ago. Fragments too of wine-vases as old as the exodus have been discovered in Egypt. The art was also known to the ancient Assyrians. In the New Testament glass is alluded to as an emblem of brightness. Revelation 4:6; Revelation 15:2; Revelation 21:18.

Gleaning

Gleaning. The gleaning of fruit trees, as well as of corn-fields, was reserved for the poor. [CORNER.]

Glede

Glede, the old name for the common kite (Milvus ater), occurs only in Deuteronomy 14:13, among the unclean birds of prey.

Gnat

Gnat, a species of mosquito mentioned only in the proverbial expression used by our Saviour in Matthew 23:24.

Goad

Goad. Judges 3:31; 1 Samuel 13:21. The Hebrew word in the latter passage probably means the point of the ploughshare. The former word does probably refer to the goad, the long handle of which might be used as a formidable weapon. The instrument, as still used in countries of southern Europe and western Asia, consists of a rod about eight feet long, brought to a sharp point and sometimes cased with iron at the head.

Goat

Goat. There appear to be two or three varieties of the common goat, Hircus ™gagrus, at present bred in Palestine and Syria, but whether they are identical with those which were reared by the ancient Hebrews it is not possible to say. The most marked varieties are the Syrian goat (Capra mambrica, Linn.) and the Angora goat (Capra angorensis, Linn.), with fine long hair. As to the “wild goats,” 1 Samuel 24:2; Job 39:1; Psalm 104:18, it is not at all improbable that some species of ibex is denoted.

Syrian Goat.

Goat Scape

Goat, Scape. [ATONEMENT, DAY OF.]

Goath

Go’ath (lowing), a place apparently in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, and named, in connection with the hill Gareb, only in Jeremiah 31:39.

Gob

Gob (cistern), a place mentioned only in 2 Samuel 21:18, 2 Samuel 21:19, as the scene of two encounters between David’s warriors and the Philistines. In the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 20:4 the name is given as Gezer.

Goblet

Goblet, a circular vessel for wine or other liquid.

God

God (good). Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures two chief names are used for the one true divine Being—Elohim, commonly translated God in our version, and Jehovah, translated Lord. Elohim is the plural of Eloah (in Arabic Allah); it is often used in the short form El (a word signifying strength), as in El-Shaddai, God Almighty, the name by which God was specially known to the patriarchs. Genesis 17:1; Genesis 28:3; Exodus 6:3. The etymology is uncertain, but it is generally agreed that the primary idea is that of strength, power of effect, and that it properly describes God in that character in which he is exhibited to all men in his works, as the creator, sustainer, and supreme governor of the world. The plural form of Elohim has given rise to much discussion. The fanciful idea that it referred to the trinity of persons in the Godhead hardly finds now a supporter among scholars. It is either what grammarians call the plural of majesty, or it denotes the fullness of divine strength, the sum of the powers displayed by God. Jehovah denotes specifically the one true God, whose people the Jews were, and who made them the guardians of his truth. The name is never applied to a false god, nor to any other being except one, the Angel-Jehovah, who is thereby marked as one with God, and who appears again in the New Covenant as “God manifested in the flesh.” Thus much is clear; but all else is beset with difficulties. At a time too early to be traced, the Jews abstained from pronouncing the name, for fear of its irreverent use. The custom is said to have been founded on a strained interpretation of Leviticus 24:16; and the phrase there used, “The Name” (Shema), is substituted by the rabbis for the unutterable word. In reading the Scriptures they substituted for it the word Adonai (Lord), from the translation of which by Κ́υριος in the LXX, followed by the Vulgate, which uses Dominus, we have the Lord of our version. The substitution of the word Lord is most unhappy, for it in no way represents the meaning of the sacred name. The key to the meaning of the name is unquestionably given in God’s revelation of himself to Moses by the phrase “I am that I am,” Exodus 3:14; Exodus 6:3. We must connect the name Jehovah with the Hebrew substantive verb to be, with the inference that it expresses the essential, eternal, unchangeable being of Jehovah. But more, it is not the expression only, or chiefly, of an absolute truth: it is a practical revelation of God, in his essential, unchangeable relation to his chosen people, the basis of his covenant.

Gog

Gog (mountain).

1. A Reubenite, 1 Chronicles 5:4, son of Shemaiah.

2. Gog and Magog. [See MAGOG.]

Golan

Go’lan (circle), a city of Bashan, Deuteronomy 4:43, allotted out of the half tribe of Manasseh to the Levites, Joshua 21:27, and one of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan. ch. Joshua 20:8. Its very site is now unknown. It gave its name to the province of Gaulanitis. It lay east of Galilee and north of Gadaritis [GADARA], and corresponds to the modern province of Jaulân.

Gold

Gold. Gold was known from the very earliest times. Genesis 2:11. It was at first used chiefly for ornaments, etc. Genesis 24:22. Coined money was not known to the ancients till a comparatively late period; and on the Egyptian tombs gold is represented as being weighed in rings for commercial purposes. Comp. Genesis 43:21. Gold was extremely abundant in ancient times, 1 Chronicles 22:14; 2 Chronicles 1:15; 2 Chronicles 9:9; Daniel 3:1; Nahum 2:9; but this did not depreciate its value, because of the enormous quantities consumed by the wealthy in furniture, etc. 1 Kings 6:22; 1 Kings 10 passiḿ Esther 1:6; Song of Solomon 3:9, Song of Solomon 3:10; Jeremiah 10:9. The chief countries mentioned as producing gold are Arabia, Sheba, and Ophir. 1 Kings 9:28; 1 Kings 10:1; Job 28:16.

Golgotha

Gol’gotha (skull), the Hebrew name of the spot at which our Lord was crucified. Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17. By these three evangelists it is interpreted to mean the “place of a skull.” Two explanations of the name are given: (1) that it was a spot where executions ordinarily took place, and therefore abounded in skulls; or (2) it may come from the look or form of the spot itself, bald, round, and skull-like, and therefore a mound or hillock, in accordance with the common phrase—for which there is no direct authority—“Mount Calvary.” Whichever of these is the correct explanation, Golgotha seems to have been a known spot.

Goliath

Goli’ath (splendor), a famous giant of Gath, who “morning and evening for forty days” defied the armies of Israel. 1 Samuel 17. (b.c. 1063.) He was possibly descended from the old Rephaim [GIANTS], of whom a scattered remnant took refuge with the Philistines after their dispersion by the Ammonites. Deuteronomy 2:20, Deuteronomy 2:21; 2 Samuel 21:22. His height was “six cubits and a span,” which, taking the cubit at 21 inches, would make him 10½ feet high. The scene of his combat with David, by whom he was slain, was the “valley of the terebinth,” between Shochoh and Arekah, probably among the western passes of Benjamin. In 2 Samuel 21:19 we find that another Goliath of Gath was slain by Elhanan, also a Bethlehemite.

Gomer

Go’mer (perfect).

1. The eldest son of Japheth, Genesis 10:2, Genesis 10:3, the progenitor of the early Cimmerians, of the later Cimbri and the other branches of the Celtic family, and of the modern Gael and Cymri.

2. The wife of Hosea. Hosea 1:3.

Gomorrah

Gomor’rah (submersion), one of the five “cities of the plain” or “vale of Siddim” that under their respective kings joined battle there with Chedorlaomer, Genesis 14:2-8, and his allies, by whom they were discomfited till Abraham came to the rescue. Four out of the five were afterwards destroyed by the Lord with fire from heaven. Genesis 19:23-29. One of them only, Zoar (or Bela, which was its original name), was spared at the request of Lot, in order that he might take refuge there. The geographical position of these cities is discussed under SODOM.

Gopher

Gopher (pitch) wood. Only once mentioned—Genesis 6:14. Two principal conjectures have been proposed:—

1. That the “trees of gopher” are any trees of the resinous kind, such as pine, fir, etc. 2. That gopher is cypress.

Goshen

Go’shen.

1. The name of a part of Egypt where the Israelites dwelt during the whole period of their sojourn in that country. It was probably situated on the eastern border of the Nile, extending from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. It contained the treasure-cities of Rameses and Pittim. It was a pasture land, especially suited to a shepherd people, and sufficient for the Israelites, who there prospered, and were separate from the main body of the Egyptians.

2. A district in southern Palestine conquered by Joshua. Joshua 10:41. It lay between Gaza and Gibeon.

3. A town in the mountains of Judah, probably in a part of the country of Goshen.

Gospels

Gos’pels. The name Gospel (from god and spell, Ang. Sax. good message or news, which is a translation of the Greek evaggelion) is applied to the four inspired histories of the life and teaching of Christ contained in the New Testament, of which separate accounts are given in their place. They were all composed during the latter half of the first century: those of St. Matthew and St. Mark some years before the destruction of Jerusalem; that of St. Luke probably about a.d. 64; and that of St. John towards the close of the century. Before the end of the second century, there is abundant evidence that the four Gospels, as one collection, were generally used and accepted. As a matter of literary history, nothing can be better established than the genuineness of the Gospels. On comparing these four books one with another, a peculiar difficulty claims attention, which has had much to do with the controversy as to their genuineness. In the fourth Gospel the narrative coincides with that of the other three in a few passages only. The received explanation is the only satisfactory one, namely, that John, writing last, at the close of the first century, had seen the other Gospels, and purposely abstained from writing anew what they had sufficiently recorded. In the other three Gospels there is a great amount of agreement. If we suppose the history that they contain to be divided into 89 sections, in 42 of these all the three narratives coincide, 12 more are given by Matthew and Mark only, 5 by Mark and Luke only, and 14 by Matthew and Luke. To these must be added 5 peculiar to Matthew, 2 to Mark, and 9 to Luke, and the enumeration is complete. But this applies only to general coincidence as to the facts narrated: the amount of verbal coincidence, that is, the passages either verbally the same or coinciding in the use of many of the same words, is much smaller. It has been ascertained by Stroud that “if the total contents of the several Gospels be represented by 100, the following table is obtained:

Matthew has 42 peculiarities and 58 coincidences.

Mark has 7 peculiarities and 93 coincidences.

Luke has 59 peculiarities and 41 coincidences.

John has 92 peculiarities and 8 coincidences.

Why four Gospels.—

1. To bring four separate independent witnesses to the truth. 2. It is to give the Lord’s life from every point of view, four living portraits of one person. There were four Gospels because Jesus was to be commended to four races or classes of men, or to four phases of human thought—the Jewish, Roman, Greek, and Christian. Had not these exhausted the classes to be reached, there would doubtless have been more Gospels. In all ages, the Jewish, Roman, and Greek natures reappear among men, and, in fact, make up the world of natural men, while the Christian nature and wants likewise remain essentially the same.

The First Gospel was prepared by Matthew for the Jew. He gives us the Gospel of Jesus, the Messiah of the Jews, the Messianic royalty of Jesus. He places the life and character of Jesus, as lived on earth, alongside the life and character of the Messiah, as sketched in the prophets, showing Christianity as the fulfillment of Judaism. Mark wrote the Second Gospel. It was substantially the preaching of Peter to the Romans. The Gospel for him must represent the character and career of Jesus from the Roman point of view, as answering to the idea of divine power, work, law, conquest, and universal sway; must retain its old significance and ever-potent inspiration as the battle-call of the almighty Conqueror. Luke wrote the Third Gospel in Greece for the Greek. It has its basis in the gospel which Paul and Luke, by long preaching to the Greeks, had already thrown into the form best suited to commend to their acceptance Jesus as the perfect divine man. It is the gospel of the future, of progressive Christianity, of reason and culture seeking the perfection of manhood. John, “the beloved disciple,” wrote the Fourth Gospel for the Christian, to cherish and train those who have entered the new kingdom of Christ, into the highest spiritual life.—Condensed from Prof. Gregory.

Gourd

Gourd.

1. Kikâyôn only in Jonah 4:6-10. The plant which is intended by this word, and which afforded shade to the prophet Jonah before Nineveh, is the Ricinus communis, or castor-oil plant, which, a native of Asia, is now naturalized in America, Africa, and the south of Europe. This plant varies considerably in size, being in India a tree, but in England seldom attaining a greater height than three or four feet. The leaves are large and palmate, with serrated lobes, and would form an excellent shelter for the sun-stricken prophet. The seeds contain the oil so well known under the name of “castor oil,” which has for ages been in high repute as a medicine. It is now thought by many that the plant meant is a vine of the cucumber family, a genuine gourd, which is much used for shade in the East.

2. The wild gourd of 2 Kings 4:39, which one of “the sons of the prophets” gathered ignorantly, supposing them to be good for food, is a poisonous gourd, supposed to be the colocynth, which bears a fruit of the color and size of an orange, with a hard, woody shell. As several varieties of the same family, such as melons, pumpkins, etc., are favorite articles of refreshing food amongst the Orientals, we can easily understand the cause of the mistake.

Colocynthus or Wild Gourd.

Governor

Governor. In the Authorized Version this one English word is the representative of no less than ten Hebrew and four Greek words.

1. The chief of a tribe or family. 2. A ruler in his capacity of lawgiver and dispenser of justice. 3. A ruler considered especially as having power over the property and persons of his subjects. Genesis 24:2; Joshua 12:2; Psalm 105:20. The “governors of the people,” in 2 Chronicles 23:20, appear to have been the king’s body-guard; cf. 2 Kings 11:19. 4. A prominent personage, whatever his capacity. It is applied to a king as the military and civil chief of his people, 2 Samuel 5:2; 2 Samuel 6:21; 1 Chronicles 29:22, to the general of an army, 2 Chronicles 32:21, and to the head of a tribe. 2 Chronicles 19:11. It denotes an officer of high rank in the palace, the lord high chamberlain. 2 Chronicles 28:7. It is applied in 1 Kings 10:15 to the petty chieftains who were tributary to Solomon, 2 Chronicles 9:14; to the military commander of the Syrians, 1 Kings 20:24, the Assyrians, 2 Kings 18:24; 2 Kings 23:8, the Chaldeans, Jeremiah 51:23, and the Medes. Jeremiah 51:38. Under the Persian viceroys, during the Babylonian captivity, the land of the Hebrews appears to have been portioned out among “governors” (pachôth) inferior in rank to the satraps, Ezra 8:36, like the other provinces which were under the dominion of the Persian king. Nehemiah 2:7, Nehemiah 2:9. It is impossible to determine the precise limits of their authority or the functions which they had to perform. It appears from Ezra 6:8 that these governors were intrusted with the collection of the king’s taxes; and from Nehemiah 5:18; Nehemiah 12:26 that they were supported by a contribution levied upon the people, which was technically termed “the bread of the governor”; comp. Ezra 4:14. They were probably assisted in discharging their official duties by a council. Ezra 4:7; Ezra 6:6. The “governor” beyond the river had a judgment-seat beyond Jerusalem, from which probably he administered justice when making a progress through his province. Nehemiah 3:7. At the time of Christ Judea was a Roman province, governed by a procurator (governor) appointed by Rome.

Gozan

Go’zan seems in the Authorized Version of 1 Chronicles 5:26 to be the name of a river; but in 2 Kings 17:6 and 2 Kings 18:11 it is evidently applied not to a river but a country. Gozan was the tract to which the Israelites were carried away captive by Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, or possibly Sargon. It is probably identical with the Gauzanitis of Ptolemy, and may be regarded as represented by the Mygdonia of other writers. It was the tract watered by the Habor, the modern Khabour, the great Mesopotamian affluent of the Euphrates.

Grape

Grape. [VINE.]

Grasshopper

Grasshopper. [LOCUST.]

Grave

Grave. [BURIAL.]

Greaves

Greaves, a piece of defensive armor which reached from the foot to the knee, and thus protected the shin of the wearer. It was made of leather or brass.

Greece Greeks Grecians

Greece, Greeks, Gre’cians. The histories of Greece and Palestine are little connected with each other. In Genesis 10:2-5 Moses mentions the descendants of Javan as peopling the isles of the Gentiles; and when the Hebrews came into contact with the Ionians of Asia Minor, and recognized them as the long-lost islanders of the western migration, it was natural that they should mark the similarity of sound between Javan and Iones. Accordingly the Old Testament word which is Grecia, in Authorized Version Greece, Greeks, etc., is in Hebrew Javan, Daniel 8:21; Joel 3:6; the Hebrew, however, is sometimes retained. Isaiah 66:19; Ezekiel 27:13. The Greeks and Hebrews met for the first time in the slave-market. The medium of communication seems to have been the Tyrian slave-merchants. About b.c. 800 Joel speaks of the Tyrians as selling the children of Judah to the Grecians, Joel 3:6; and in Ezekiel 27:13 the Greeks are mentioned as bartering their brazen vessels for slaves. Prophetical notice of Greece occurs in Daniel 8:21, etc., where the history of Alexander and his successors is rapidly sketched. Zechariah, Zechariah 9:13, foretells the triumphs of the Maccabees against the Græco-Syrian empire, while Isaiah looks forward to the conversion of the Greeks, amongst other Gentiles, through the instrumentality of Jewish missionaries. Isaiah 66:19. The name of the country, Greece, occurs once in the New Testament, Acts 20:2, as opposed to Macedonia. [GENTILES.]

Grecian

Gre’cian. The term Grecian, or Hellenist, denotes a Jew by birth or religion who spoke Greek. It is used chiefly of foreign Jews and proselytes in contrast with the Hebrews speaking the vernacular Hebrew or Aramæan.—Bible Dictionary of Tract Society.

Greyhound

Greyhound, the translation in the text of the Authorized Version, Proverbs 30:31, of the Hebrew word zarzir mothnayin, i.e., “one girt about the loins.” Various are the opinions as to what animal “comely in going” is here intended. Some think “a leopard,” others “an eagle,” or “a man girt with armor,” or “a zebra,” or “a war-horse girt with trappings.” But perhaps the word means “a wrestler,” when girt about the loins for a contest.

Grinding

Grinding. [MILL.]

Grove

Grove.

1. A word used in the Authorized Version, with two exceptions, to translate the mysterious Hebrew term Asherah, which is not a grove, but probably an idol or image of some kind. [ASHERAH.] It is also probable that there was a connection between this symbol or image, whatever it was, and the sacred symbolic tree, the representation of which occurs so frequently on Assyrian sculptures.

2. The two exceptions noticed above are Genesis 21:33 and 1 Samuel 22:6 (margin). In the religions of the ancient heathen world groves play a prominent part. In the old times altars only were erected to the gods. It was thought wrong to shut up the gods within walls, and hence trees were the first temples; and from the earliest times groves are mentioned in connection with religious worship. Genesis 12:6, Genesis 12:7; Deuteronomy 11:30; Authorized Version “plain.” The groves were generally found connected with temples, and often had the right of affording an asylum.

Gudgodah

Gud’godah. Deuteronomy 10:7. [See HORHAGIDGAD.]

Guest

Guest. [HOSPITALITY.]

Guni

Gu’ni (painted).

1. A son of Naphtali, Genesis 46:24; 1 Chronicles 7:13, the founder of the family of the Gunites. Numbers 26:48.

2. A descendant of Gad. 1 Chronicles 5:15.

Gunites The

Gu’nites, The, descendants of Guni, son of Naphtali. Numbers 26:48.

Gur

Gur (abode), The going up to, an ascent or rising ground, at which Ahaziah received his death-blow while flying from Jehu after the slaughter of Joram. 2 Kings 9:27.

Gur-baal

Gur-ba’al (abode of Baal), a place or district in which dwelt Arabians, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 26:7. It appears from the context to have been in the country lying between Palestine and the Arabian peninsula; but this, although probable cannot be proved.