In 2 S 2" 'Geshurites' (•l'i:'^u) should perhaps be substituted for 'Ashurites' (nsc'sn). So Vulg., Syr., and Thenius, Ewald, Wellhausen. Others prefer to read n-'yc (' Asherites,' cf. Jg 1-"). This is adopted by Kiihler, Kamphausen, Klostermann,
Budde, and others.
J. F. Stennino.
GESTURES. — 1. An emotional necessity of Oriental life. Gesture is much resorted to by Orientals in the communication of their thoughts and expression of their feelings. This does not prove them more emotional than Anglo-Saxons, if we use this term of sincerity of feeling and its practical and permanent influence upon conduct, but they have much greater facility and variety in its expression. Where we control our feelings, they are controlled by them, not because the feelings are always stronger, but because the con- trolling power is less. They are more governed by
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the impression of the moment, and the mood chauges >vith the occasion that produced it. Thus the passage of a funeral procession through an Oriental town makes a reverent hush among the trades and traffic of the street, and the people stand mute and motionless like a guard of honour ; among the aged and infirm, lips move in prayer, and eyes are tilled with tears ; hut when the si)ec- tacle has passed, the return to other tilings is rapid, easy, and complete.
In congenial company a jest may cause such merriment that one of the number will call out, 'The Lord cover (forgive) us for this laughter!' In the same way grief is vented to the point of physical reaction and dismissal. In lands that nave given freedom to the press, there is an out- spoken frankness about the statement of private intention and public affairs, but the feelings of tlie heart are kept in hallowed reserve ; in the East, on the contrary, plans, motives, and ex- pectations are seldom stated simply and sincerely, but the expression of feeling is always profuse and exuberant. The strongest possible terms of devo- tion to God and attachment to friends are in constant use, but only one of tliemselves can tell when language is the symbol of feeling and when its substitute. In modem Syria, a mere child detected in theft or falsehood at school boldly calls heaven and earth to witness that he is innocent. In the Arabic grammar, emotional apostrophe is treated as a commonplace of daily speech, and rules are provided for adjuration and imprecation. Conversation is usually conducted in a loud tone of voice ; truth, in tlie interest of trutli, is sympathetically exaggerated ; the simple 'yes' and 'no' of tlie European are regarded aa cold and deficient in liumanity.
The Bible abounds in vivid narrative, and the dramatic form is approached in Job and Canticles, but neither among the Hebrews nor the Arabs has there lieen any dramatic literature in the European sense of the term. This may be largely due to the fact that their speech is generally so figurative and animated.
Such temperament and surroundings help to ex- plain the fact that the language of Orientals is so rich in figure, and their spoken words to such an unusual degree helped and harmonized by appro- priate gesture.
2. Expressiveness and variety of Oriental gesture. — To the European, Oriental gesture is lacking in self - command and husbanded energy, and approaches grimace and contortion. The whole body is pressed into the service. Two men engaged in warm dispute appear to be using the deaf and dumb alphabet. The body is one moment bent forward, the next is standing erect; the hands are stretched out in supjilication, and then slapped and held on each side of the head in the anguish of distraction and the shock of assumed amazement. The eyes Hash, and the voices rise higher, until one yields to the vehemence of the other ('2 S 19"), or both are separated by the bystanders (Ex 2"). The head is shaken, nodded, jerked, and inclined sidewaj's, forwards, and backwards in a variety of ways reaching in suggested meaning from iiulitler- ence, impatience, acquiescence, and dcni.-il to amazement, sarcasm, denunciation, and di>gust. The shrugging of the shoulders is similarly varied to express emharrassment, surprise, ignorance, and irres])onsibility. An Oriental reading the Bible naturally supplies this shrug when reading Gn 25^ 37* 44", Ex 3" 15-^ 17*, 1 S 17*", Pli 1", the first sentence of Rev 7''', etc. In salutation tlie form varies with the relationship. A man greeting his senior or superior brings the hand with a round sweep towards the ground, as if he should be kneeling tliere, and lifts it to his breast and head,
implying readiness to receive, understand, and obey commands. Relatives or intimate acquaint- ances meeting each other after an interval kiss each other on both cheeks. A son or daughter kisses the hand of a parent or aged relative, and the same respect f ul courtesy is shown towards priests as spiritual lathers. Frequently, a man meetinjj his Iriend puts out both hands as if to clasp and kiss his hand with the respect of inferior to superior, but the other is expected to defeat this intention, allowing his fingers to be touched, and by withdrawing his hand to claim tlie equalitj' of a friend. When one enters a room where otiiers are seated, those assembled rise in token of respect and welcome, this being especially observed in the case of the aged.