Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
•A city given out of the tribe of Dan to the Levites. (Joshua 21:24; 1 Chronicles 6:69) situated on
the plain of Philistia, apparently not far from Joppa. (Joshua 19:45)
•A town of the half tribe of Manasseh west of the Jordan, assigned to the Levites. (Joshua 21:25)
The reading Gath-rimmon is probably an error of the transcribers.
Gaza
(the fortified; the strong) (properly Azzah), one of the five chief cities of the Philistines. It is
remarkable for its continuous existence and importance from the very earliest times. The secret of
this unbroken history is to be found in the situation of Gaza. It is the last town in the southwest of
Palestine, on the frontier towards Egypt. The same peculiarity of situation has made Gaza important
in a military sense. Its name means “the strong;” and this was well elucidated in its siege by
Alexander the Great, which lasted five months. In the conquest of Joshua the territory of Gaza is
mentioned as one which he was not able to subdue. (Joshua 10:41; 11:22; 13:3) It was assigned to
the tribe of Judah, (Joshua 15:47) and that tribe did obtain possession of it, (Judges 1:18) but did
not hold it long, (Judges 3:3; 13:1) and apparently it continued through the time of Samuel, Saul
and David to be a Philistine city. 1Sam 6:17; 14:52; 31:1; 2Sam 21:15 Solomon became master of
“Azzah,” (1 Kings 4:24) but in after times the same trouble with the Philistines recurred. (2
Chronicles 21:16; 26:6; 28:18) The passage where Gaza is mentioned in the New Testament (Acts
8:26) is full of interest. It is the account of the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch on his return from
Jerusalem to Egypt. Gaza is the modern Ghuzzeh, a Mohammedan town of about 16,000 inhabitants,
situated partly on an oblong hill of moderate height and partly on the lower ground. The climate
of the place is almost tropical, but it has deep wells of excellent water. There are a few palm trees
in the town, and its fruit orchards are very productive; but the chief feature of the neighborhood is
the wide-spread olive grove to the north and northeast
Gazathites, The
(Joshua 13:3) the inhabitants of Gaza.
Gazer
(2 Samuel 5:25; 1 Chronicles 14:16) [Gezer]
Gazez
(shearer), a name which occurs twice in (1 Chronicles 2:46)—first as son of Caleb by Ephah
his concubine, and second as son of Haran, the son of the same woman. The second is possibly
only a repetition of the first (B.C. after 1688.)
Gazites, The
Inhabitants of Gaza. (Judges 16:2)
Gazzam
(devouring). The Bene-Gazzam were among the familiar of the Nethinim who returned from
the captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:48; Nehemiah 7:51) (B.C. 536.)
Geba
(a hill), a city of Benjamin, with “suburbs,” allotted to the priests. (Joshua 21:17; 1 Chronicles
6:60) It is named amongst the first group of the Benjamite towns—apparently those lying near to
and along the north boundary. (Joshua 18:24) Here the name is given as Gaba. During the wars of
the earlier part of the reign of Saul, Geba was held as a garrison by the Philistines, (1 Samuel 13:3)
but they were ejected by Jonathan. It is now the modern village of Jeba, which stands picturesquely
on the top of its steep terraced hill, six miles north of Jerusalem, on the very edge of the great Wady
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William Smith