Ghorbe – Galatia

Ghorbe

Ghorbe (AV Corbe), 1 Es Si2= Zaccai, Ezra 2:9. Nehemiah 7:14.

CHOSAM/EUS (1 Esdras 9:32). It is not improbable that the Gr. reading is due to a copyist’s error, especially seeing that the three proper names that follow Simeon in the text of Ezra 10:31 are omitted in 1 Esdras.

Gun

See Behothah.

Gaash

A mountain in Ephraim (Joshua 24:30. Judges 2:9). The torrent-valleys of Gaash are mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:30 = 1 Ch H’2.

Gabael

1. A distant ancestor of Tobit (Tobit 1:1). 2. A friend and kinsman of Tobit. residing at Rages In Media. To him Tobit, when purveyor to the king of Assyria, once entrusted, as a deposit, 10 talents of silver (Tobit 1:14). When blindness and poverty came on Tobit in Nineveh, he recollected, after prayer, the long-forgotten treasure (Tobit 4:1). and wished his son Tobias to fetch it (v. 21). Tobias found a guide, Raphael in disguise, who said he had lodged with Gabael (Tobit 5:6). When Tobias married Sarah in Ecbatana, he sent Raphael for the deposit (9:2).

Gabatha

One of two eunuchs whose plot against Artaxerxes (the Ahasuerus, i.e. Xerxes, of canonical Est.) was discovered and frustrated by Mardocheus (Mordecai). Ad. Esther 12. In Esther 2:21 he is called Bigthan and in 6:2 Bigthana.

Gabbai

A Benjamlte (Nehemiah 11:8. but text doubtful).

Gabbatha

Gabbatha (John 19:13). The meaning of this word is most uncertain; possibly ‘height’ or ‘ridge.’ It is used as the Heb. or Aramaic equivalent of the Gr. lithostrston or ‘pavement.’ There is no mention in any other place of either Gabbatha or ‘the Pavement.’ That it was, as has been suggested, a portable tessellated pavement such as Julius Csesar is said to have carried about with him, seems highly improbable. Tradition has identified as Gabbatha an extensive sheet of Roman pavement recently excavated near the Ecce Homo Arch. It certainly covered a large area, and the blocks of stone composing it are massive, the average size being 4 ft. X 3 ft. 6 in. and nearly 2 ft. thick. The pavement is in parts roughened for the passage of animals and chariots, but over most of the area it Is smooth. The paved area was on a lofty place, the ground rapidly falling to east and west, and was in close proximity to, if not actually included within, the Antonia.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Gabbe

Gabbe (1 Esdras 5:20). In Ezra 2 Geba.

Gabrias

The brother of the Gabael to whom Tobit entrusted 10 talents of silver (Tobit 1:14; in 4:20 AV and RV wrongly tr. ‘Gabael the son of Gabrias’).

Gabriel

(‘man of God’). In the first rank of the innumerable hosts of the heavenly hierarchy (Daniel 7:10) there are seven who occupy the first place — the seven archangels; of these Gabriel is one. In Daniel 8:15 ff. Gabriel is sent to explain to Daniel the meaning of the vision of the ram and the he-goat; in 9:21 ff. he tells Daniel of the seventy weeks which are ‘decreed’ upon the people and the holy city. This is the only mention of Gabriel in the OT. In post-Biblical literature the name occurs more frequently. Hebrews 99 twice in the NT as God’s messenger. He is sent to announce to Zacharias that Elisabeth will bear a son; he also tells the name that the child is to bear (Luke 1:8–20). In Lk !’>-‘<‘he appears to the Virgin Mary and announces the birth of a son to her; here again he says what the name of the child is to be:’ Thou shalt call his name Jesus.’

In the Babylonian and Persian angelologies there are analogies to the seven archangels of the Jews, and the possibility of Jewish belief having been influenced by these must not be lost sight of. W. O. E. Oestbhley.

Gad

(‘fortunate’). Genesis 30:9 ff. (J), 35:26 (P); the first son of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, by Jacob, and full brother of Asher (‘Happy’). This like other of the tribal names, e.g. Dan, Asher, is very probably, despite this popular etymology, the name of a deity (cf . Isaiah 65:11. where AV renders ‘troop’ but RV ‘Fortune’ ) . Another semi-etymology or, better, paronomasia (Gn 49:19) connects the name of the tribe with its warlike experiences and characteristics, taking note only of this feature of the tribal life:

gddh gedhudk yeghudhennu viehu’ ydghudh ‘dgebh: ‘As for Gad, plunderers shall plunder him. And he shall plunder in the rear’ (i.e. effect reprisals and plunder in return).

In the Blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:20) Gad is compared to a lioness that teareth the arm and the crown of the head, and later (1 Chronicles 12:8, 14) the Gadites who joined David are described as leonine in appearance and incomparable in combat: ‘Their faces are as the faces of lions, the smallest is equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand.’

Upon the genetic relations of Gad and Asher the genealogy throws no light, for the fact that Gad and Asher, as it appears, were names of related divinities of Good Fortune would be sufficient ground for uniting them; but why they should have been brought together under the name of Zilpah is not to be conjectured with any certainty. Leah, unlike Rachel, who was barren until after her maid had brought forth to Jacob, had already borne four sons before Zilpah was called in to help her infirmity.

It appears that Gad, notwithstanding the genealogy, was a late tribe. In the Song of Deborah it is not even mentioned. Gilead there takes its place, but Mesha (9th cent.) knows the inhabitants of Gilead as the ‘men of Gad.’

The families of Gad are given by P in Genesis 46:16 and Numbers 26: 1 Chronicles 5:11 ff. repeats them with variations. In the Sinai census P gives 46,650 men of war. By the time they had reached the Wilderness they had decreased to 40,500. Their position on the march through the desert is variously given in Numbers as 3rd, 6th, 11th.

Numbers 32:34–36 (P) gives eight towns lying within the territory of Gad. The most southerly, Aroer, lay upon the Arnon; the most northerly, Jogbehah, not far from the Jabbok. Ataroth, another of these towns, is mentioned on the Moabite stone (1. 10), and the ‘men of Gad’ are there said to have dwelt within it ‘from of old .’ Within this region, and clustering about Heshbon, P gives six cities to the Reubenites, But in Joshua 13 Reuben has all to the south of Heshbon, and Gad all to the north of it. Owing to the divergent statements in the Hexateuch and the historical books, it is quite impossible to say what the northern boundary was. In any case it was not a stable one.

The reason assigned by the traditions for the settlement of Gad and Reuben in Gilead is that they were pastoral tribes, with large herds and flocks, and that they found the land pre-eminently adapted to, their needs. They, therefore, obtained from Moses permission to settle on the east side of Jordan after they had first crossed the river and helped the other tribes in the work of conquest (see Numbers 32 and Deuteronomy 3:18–20).

After the conquest, in the time of the Judges, the people of Gilead were overrun by the Ammonites until Jephthah finally wrought their deliverance. In David’s confiicts with Saul, the Gadites and other eastern tribes came to his assistance. As the Mesha stone shows, they had probably at that time absorbed the Reubenites, who had been more exposed previously to Moabite attacks, which at this time fell more directly upon Gad. When the northern tribes revolted, Jeroboam must have found the Gadites among his staunchest supporters, for it was to Penuel in Gadite territory that he moved the capital from Shechem in Ephraim (1 Kings 12:25).

In 734 the Gadites with their kinsmen of the East Jordan, Galilee and Naphtali, were carried captive by Tiglath-pileser iii. when Ahaz in his perplexity ventured upon the bold alternative of appealing to him for assistance against the powerful confederation of Syrians, Israelites, and Edomites who had leagued together to dethrone him (1 Kings 15:29. 2 Chronicles 28:16 ff.). It was cleariy a case of Scylla and Charybdis for Ahaz. It was fatal for Gad. See also Thibes op Iskael.

James A. Cbaiq.

Gad

A god whose name appears in Genesis 30:11 (‘by the help of Gad’; so in v.is ‘by the help of Asherah’); in the place-names Baal-gad, and Migdal-gad (Jos 11" 12’ 13’ 15^‘); and in the personal name Azgad (Ezra 2:12, Nehemiah 7:17 10:15). In Isaiah 65:11 Gad (RV’ Fertune’) and Menl are named as two demons with whom the Israelites held communion (see Meni). Gad was probably an appellative before it became a personal name for a divinity, and is of Aramaean, Arabian, and Syrian provenance, but not Babylonian. He was the god who gave good fortune (Gr. Tyche), and presided over a person, house, or mountain. W. F. Cobb.

Gad

Gad is entitled ‘the seer’ (1 Chronicles 29:29). ‘David’s’ or ‘the king’s seer’ (1 Chronicles 21:9. 2 Chronicles 29:25. 2 Samuel 24:11). or ‘the prophet’ (1 Samuel 22:5. 2 Samuel 24:11). He is represented as having announced the Divine condemnation on the royal census, and as having advised the erection of an altar on Araunah’s threshing-floor (2 Samuel 24:11 ff. = 1 Chronicles 21:9 ff.). The Chronicler again (1 Chronicles 29:29) names him as having written an account of some part of his master’s reign. A late conception associated him with the prophet Nathan (2 Chronicles 29:25) in the task of planning some of the king’s regulations with reference to the musical part of the service, while (1 Samuel 22:5) he is also stated to have acted as David’s counsellor in peril during the period when the two dwelt together in ‘the hold.’

Gad

(Valley of). Mentioned only in 2 Samuel 24:5. and there the text should read ‘in the midst of the valley towards Gad,’ the valley (wady) here being the Arnon (wh. see). E. W. G. Masteeman.

Gadara

A town whose ruins (extensive, but in recent years much destroyed by the natives) bear the name of Umm Keis, about six miles S.E. of the Sea of Galilee. It was a town of the DecapoUs, probably Greek in origin, and was the chief city of Peraea. The date of its foundationis unknown, its capture by Antiochus (B.C. 218) being the first event recorded of it. It was famous for its hot baths, the springs of which still exist. The narrative of the healing of the demoniac, according to Matthew 8:28, is located in the ‘country of the Gadarenes,’ a reading repeated in some MSS of the corresponding passage of Lk. (8:26). where other MSS read Gergesenes. The probability is that neither of these is correct, and that we ought to adopt a third reading, Gerasenes, which is corroborated by Mark 5:1. This would refer the miracle not to Gadara, which, as noted above, was some distance from the Sea of Galilee, but to a more obscure place represented by the modern Kersa, on its Eastern shore.

R. A. S. Macalistee.

Gadarenes

See Gadara.

Gaddi

The Manassite spy, Numbers 13:11 (P).

6ADDIEL.— The Zebulunite spy, Numbers 13:10 (P).

Gaddis

Gaddis (1 Maccabees 2:2). The surname of Johanan or John, the eldest brother of Judas Maccabaeus. The name perhaps represents the Heb. Oaddi (Numbers 13:11), meaning ‘my fortune.’

Gadi

Father of Menahem king of Israel (2 K 15»- ").

Gadites

See Gad (tribe).

Gaham

A son of Nahor by his concubine Reumah (Genesis 22:24).

Gahar

A family of Nethinira who returned with Zerub. (Ezr. 2", Nehemiah 7:49). called in 1 Esdras 5:30 Geddur.

Gai

Given as a proper name in RV of 1 Samuel 17:52 ‘until thou comest to Gai,’ where AV has ‘until thou comest to the valley.’ The LXX, as is noted in RVm, has Gath, and this would suit the context.

Gains

This name is mentioned in five places of NT. One Gains was St. Paul’s host at Corinth, converted and baptized by him (Romans 16:23. 1 Corinthians 1:14). He was perhaps the same as ‘Gains of Derbe’ who accompanied the Apostle from Greece to Asia (Acts 20:4) if so, he would be a native of Derbe, but a dweller at Corinth. The Gaius of Macedonia, St. Paul’s ‘companion in travel’ who was seized in the riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:29), and the Gaius addressed by St. John (3 Jn"). were probably different men. A. J. Maclean.

Galal

The name of two Levites (1 Chronicles 9:15, 16, Nehemiah 11:17).

Galatia

Galatia is a Greek word, derived from GalatoB, the Gr. name for the Gauls who invaded Asia Minor in the year B.C. 278-7 (Lat. Gailogroeci [=‘Greek Gauls’], to distinguish them from their kindred who lived in France and Northern Italy). These Gauls had been ravaging the south-eastern parts of Europe, Greece, Macedonia, and Thrace, and crossed into Asia Minor at the invitation of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia. Part of the same southward tendency appears in their movements in Italy and their conflicts with the Romans in the early centuries of the Republic. Those who entered Asia Minor came as a nation with wives and families, not as mercenary soldiers. After some fifty years’ raiding and warring, they found a permanent settlement in north-eastern Phrygia, where the population was unwarlike. Their history down to the time of the Roman Empire is best studied in Ramsay’s Bistor. Com. on Galatians, p. 45 ff. They continued throughout these two centuries to be the ruling caste of the district, greatly outnumbered by the native Phrygian population, who, though in many respects an inferior race, had a powerful influence on the religion, customs, and habits of the Gauls, as subject races often have over their conquerors. The earlier sense of the term Galalia is, then, the country occupied by the Gaulish immigrants, the former north-eastern part of Phrygia, and the term Galatm is used after the occupation to include the subject Phrygians as well as the Gaiatce strictly so called (e.g. 1 Maccabees 8:2).

About B.c. ieothe Gauls acquired a portion of Lycaonia on their southern frontier, taking in Iconium and Lystra. About the same time also they had taken in Pessinus in the N.W. These and other expansions they ultimately owed to the support of Rome. From b.c. 64 Galatia was a client state of Rome. At the beginning of that period it was under three rulers; from b.c. 44 it was under one only. Deiotarus, the greatest of the Galatian chiefs, received Armenia Minor from Pompey in b.c. 64. Mark Antony conferred the eastern part of Paphlagonia on Castor as sole Galatian king in b.c. 40, and at the same time gave Amyntas a kingdom comprising Pisidic Phrygia and Pisidia generally. In b.c. 36, Castor’s Galatian dominions and Pamphylia were added to Amyntas’ kingdom. He was also given Iconium and the old Lycaonian tetrarchy, which Antony had formerly given to Polemon. After the battle of Actium in b.c. 31, Octavian conferred on Amyntas the additional country of caiicia Tracheia. He had thus to keep order for Rome on the south side of the plateau and on the Taurus mountains. He governed by Roman methods, and, when he died in b.c 25, he left his kingdom in such a state that Augustus resolved to take the greater part of it into the Empire in the stricter sense of that term, and made it into a province which he called Gaiatia. This is the second sense in which the term Galatia is used in ancient documents, namely, the sphere of duty which included the ethnic districts, Paphlagonia, Pontus Galaticus, Galatia (in the original narrower sense), Phrygia Galatica, and Lycaonia Galatica (with ‘the Added Land,’ part of the original Lycaonian tetrarchy). Galatia, as a province, means all these territories together, under one Roman governor, and the inhabitants of such a province, whatever their race, were, in conformity with invariable Roman custom, denominated by a name etymologically connected with the name of the province. Thus Gaiatce (‘Galatians’) has a second sense, in conformity with the second sense of the term Galatia: it is used to include all the inhabitants of the province (see the first map in the above-mentioned work of Ramsay).

The word ‘Galatia’ occurs three times in the NT (1 Corinthians 16:1, Galatians 1:2, and 1 Peter 1:1). A possible fourth case (2 Timothy 4:10) must be left out of account, as the reading there is doubtful. There is an alternative ‘Gallia,’ which, even if it be not the original, suggests that the word ‘Galatia’ there should be taken in the sense of ‘Gallia’ (that is, France). It is beyond doubt that in the passage of 1 Peter the word must be taken in the sense of the province. The bearer of the letter evidently landed at some port on the Black Sea, perhaps Sinope, and visited the provinces in the order in which they appear in the address of the letter: — Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynla, taking ship again at the Black Sea for Rome. The Taurus range of mountains was always conceived of as dividing the peninsula of Asia Minor into two parts, and St. Peter here appears as supervising or advising the whole body of Christians north of the Taurus range. (The effect of taking ‘Galatia’ in the other sense would be to leave out certain Pauline churches, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Fisidian Antioch, and perhaps these alone, in all that vast region: which is absurd.) With regard to the two passages in St. Paul, the case is settled by his unvarying usage. It has been noted that he, as a Roman citizen and a statesman, invariably uses geographical terms in the Roman sense, and that he even does violence to the Greek language by forcing the Latin names for ‘Philippians’ (Philippians 4:15) and ‘Illyricum’ (Romans 15:19) into Greek, and passes by the proper Greek term in each case. We are bound , therefore, to believe that he uses ‘Galatia’ in the Roman sense, namely in the meaning of the Roman province as above defined. (This province had, as we have seen, ‘Galatia’ in the narrower and earlier sense as one of its parts.) It follows, therefore, that he uses ‘Galatians’ (Galatians 3:1) also in the wider sense of all (Christian) inhabitants of the province, irrespective of their race, as far as they were known to him.

In order to discover what communities in this vast province are especially addressed by the Apostle in his Epistle, it is necessary to make a critical examination of the only two passages in Acts which afford us a clue (16 18). It is important to note that St. Luke never uses the term ‘Galatia’ or the term ‘Galatians,’ but only the adjective ‘Galatic’ (16 IS^s). In 16 the rules of the Greek language require us to translate: — ‘the Phrygo-Galatic region’ or ‘the region which is both Phrygian and Galatian’; that is, ‘the region which according to one nomenclature is Phrygian, and according to another is Galatian.’ This can be none other than that section of the province Galatia which was known as Phrygla Galatica, and which contained Pisidian Antioch and Iconium, exactly the places we should expect St. Paul and his companions to go to after Derbe and Lystra. In 18 the Greek may be translated either ‘the Galatico-Phrygian region’ or ‘the Galatian region and Phrygia,’ preferably the latter, as it is difficult otherwise to account for the order in the Greek. ‘The Galatian region,’ then, will cover Derbe and Lystra; ‘Phrygia’ will include Iconium and Pisidian Antioch. We conclude then that, whether any other churches are comprised in the address of the Epistle to the Galatians or not, — and a negative answer is probably correct, — the churches of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch are included. There is not a scrap of evidence that St. Paul had visited any other cities in that great province. A. Souter.