4. Chrutian. — The most conspicuous ruins in Gerizim at the present day are those called in Arabic cl-^uldah, ' the fortress.' We have here the remains of the church built by the Christians in the reign of Zeno in A.D. 475, wliich, having been destroyed by the Samaritans, was afterwards enlarged and fortified by Justinian in 530. See Samaritans.
The most interesting link with the past is the yearly celebration of the Samaritan Passover on Its summit. As the sun sets on the Passover Eve, the seven lambs are slain, ceremonially examined, and roasted in the oven pit. At midnight the covering is removed, and the flesh is eaten by the Btandin" elders with tlieir families in the im- provized tents. Anything left over is scrupulously collected and consumed, so that the letter of the commandment may be kept.
I.iTKRATiRK.— Robinson, Iini' ii. 274 IT.; SWP 11. 148 fl.; Stanley, Sinai and PaUsfiw (Index) ; (Ju(irin. Samarif, i. 424 ff.; Thomson, Land and the U'mk (U\Aq\) : Baedeker-Socin, I'ai. 220, 222; G. A. Smith, UHll L 11'.) t., 384 n. 2 ; Cornier, Tent-Work, ch. ii. : Murray, (Ixiide.-b'ivk to Syria (Imiex); Driver on Dt 1129 j Baudissin, Stud. l. Sem. Rel..geji. ii. 2.'j2.
G. M. Mackik. GERON should poR.sibly appear as a proper name in 2 .Mac 6', according to which Antioclius Epi- phanes sent ytpoiTa. 'kOriva'iov (AV and KV 'an old man of Athens,' UVm 'Geron an Athenian') 'to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers.'
GERRENIANS (^oji tuv Vepp-qvwv, A VtvyripCiVf AV Gerrhenians, 2 Mac 13-'). — When Lysiius, recalled from I'al. by troubles in Syria, made
iieace witli Judas M,i(c(ib;i'us in n.c. 1112, he left legemonides a-s commandant ' from Ptolemais to the G.' (AV wrongly, ' miule him — i.e. Judas — jirincipal governor,' etc. ). The tnie rea<lingand the people inten<led are both uncertain. The analogy of 1 Mac 11™ suggests some place near the border VOL. II. — II
of Kgypt ; but Gerrha, between Pelusiura and Rhinocolura, was in Egj-ptian territory. Ewald (Hist., Eng. tr. v. 319) suggested that the word should be understood of the iidiabitants of Gerar, an ancient Phil, city S.E. of Gaza ; and this view is supported by cod. 55, which reads VfpaprivCiv (gee KVm). On the other hand, Syr. reads Gazar {'l-ii), i.e. GczerorGazara, not far from Lydda (cf. 1 Mac 15--'"). u. A. White.
GERSHOM (orchil or oV^i).—X. The firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah (Ex 2=^=18^ both JE, 1 Ch 23'''|. In the two former passages the writer ex- plains tlie name as though it were connected with i; 'a sojourner' and cy 'there,' cf. the LXX form Vrjpaiii (Ex 2"= 18"). Unless Ex 4-^ (J) gives ut an account of his circumcision we know nothing further of G.'s life, but there are a few scattered notices of his descendants. In the pre-Ma.'*soretic text of Jg IS-'", supported by some cursive MSS of the LXX, Jonathan, tlie son of Gersliom, the son of Moses, is said to have officiated as priest of the .sanctuary of J" at Dan, and it is added that the office was held by members of the family until the Captivity. The MT here reads Manas.seh for Moses; so LXX, A, H, L. See Moore, in loc. In 1 Ch 23" it is stated that the sons of Moses were reckoned amongst the tribe of Levi, i.e. in con- tradistinction to the Aaronite branch of the family, who were consecrated for .special purposes. Lastly, from 1 Ch 26-'' we learn that in the time of Uavid a son of G. named Shebuel was ' ruler over the treasuries,' cf. '23" 24™ (Shubael). 2. Gershon, the eldest son of Levi (1 Ch B'"- "•■»• «•• «•" 15'). See next article. 3. A descendant of Phinehas who journeyed with Ezra from Babylon to .lerus. (Ezr 8''). \V. C. Allen.
GERSHON (i^cnj, called also Gershom, CicHj or cbnj, 1 Ch 6'«- "•■•»'• "•«^-'> 15'). — All our data about G. and his family come from P and the Chronicler, the latter, however, adding nothing to P's account with regard to (i. himself. According to these writers he was the firstborn of llie three sons of Levi (E.x 6", Nu 3", I Ch 6'- '• 23"), liorn before the migration of Jacob and his family into Egypt (Gn 4tj"). He had two sons, Libni (for whom we find Ladan in 1 Ch '23' '20-') and Shiniei (Ex C", Nu 3'», 1 Ch 6"- -^'). This ia all tli.U we know of G. personally, but of the fortunes of his descend- ants we have fuller particulars. Their history falls into three periods — (1) the wilderness wander- ings ; (2) the monarchy ; (3) after the Exile.
1. At the time of the census taken by Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, the Gershonites were divided into two families, the Libnites and the Shimeites (Nu 3-'). The whole number of males from a month old was 7500 (3-), and between 30 and 50 years of age '2030 (4--'-*'-"). Their position in the camp was behind the tabernacie westward (3^), and their chief at this time was Elia.saph the son of Lael (3-'). The oflice a«.signed to them by P during the wilderness wandering was the carrj'ing of the curtains, the coverinjjs, the screens, ;inil the hangings of the taln>niacMO and of the Tent of Meeting, together with the accompanying cords and instruments (3*"" 4'-'4-j« 10"). In this they were to be at the command of Aaron, and were superintended by Itliamar his .son (4J7-JS) Two waggons and four oxen were assigned to them for this service (7'). In this respect of office the Gershonites were preceded bv the younger famil}', the Koliathites. Tlie G. are also mentioned at the time of the census taken by Moses luid Eleazar in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, when the whole number of the I>evites was •23,0<KI ('20"). At the allotment of Le^itieal cities by