Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
the south, and called by the Arabs el-Ghuweir, “the little Ghor.” Mr. Porter gives the length as three
miles, and the greatest breadth as about one mile. Additional interest is given to the land of
Gennesaret, or el-Ghuweir, by the probability that its scenery suggested the parable of the sower.
It is mentioned only twice in Scripture - (Matthew 14:34; Mark 6:53) Compare Luke 5:1
Gennesaret, Sea Of
[See Galilee, Sea Of, SEA OF]
Gennesareth
Inaccurately written for [Gennesaret]
Gentiles
(nations). All the people who were not Jews were so called by them, being aliens from the
worship, rites and privileges of Israel. The word was used contemptuously by them. In the New
Testament it is used as equivalent to Greek. This use of the word seems to have arisen from the
almost universal adaption of the Greek language.
Genubath
the son of Hadad, an Edomite of the royal family, by an Egyptian princess, the sister of Tahpenes,
the queen of the Pharaoh who governed Egypt in the latter part of the reign of David. (1 Kings
11:20) comp. 1Kin 11:16 (B.C. 1015.)
Gera
(a grain), one of the “sons,” i.e. descendants, of Benjamin. (Genesis 46:21) Gera, who is named,
(Judges 3:15) as the ancestor of Ehud, and in (2 Samuel 16:5) as the ancestor of Shimei who cursed
David, is probably also the same person (though some consider them different persons).
Gerah
[Weights And Measures AND Measures]
Gerar
(a lodging-place), a very ancient city south of Gaza. It occurs chiefly in Genesis, (Genesis 10:19;
20:1; 26:17) also incidentally in (2 Chronicles 14:13,14) It must have trenched on the “south” or
“south country” of later Palestine. From a comparison of (Genesis 21:32) with Genesis26:23,26
Beersheba would seem to be just on the verge of this territory, and perhaps to be its limit towards
the northeast.
Gerasenes
(Luke 8:26) Revised Version; [See Gadarenes, Girgesenes, Gerasenes]
Gergesenes
[See Gadarenes, Girgesenes, Gerasenes]
Gerizim
(cutters), a limestone mountain, 2855 feet high (800 feet above the valley at its foot), in Ephraim,
near Shechem (Sychar), from which the blessings were read to the Israelites on entering Canaan.
[See Ebal, Mount] According to the traditions of the Samaritans it was here that Abraham sacrificed
Isaac, that Melchizedek met the patriarch, that Jacob built an altar, and at its base dug a well, the
ruins of which are still seen. Some scholars think there is ground for the first belief (so Smith); but
careful observers of the locality discredit it and believe Moriah to be the spot. [See Moriah] Gerizim
was the site of the Samaritan temple, which was built there after the captivity, in rivalry with the
temple at Jerusalem. [See Samaritans] Gerizim is still to the Samaritans what Jerusalem is to the
Jews and Mecca to the Mohammedans.
Gerizites
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William Smith