In the East friends frequently send presents to one another, but no pretence is ever made tliat a quid pro quo is not expected. David was as little disinterested when he sent a 'present' to the elders of Judah (1 S 30^*) as Ephron the Hittite was sincere in his offer to give the cave of Macli- pelah gratis to Abraham (Gn 23"). The 'gift' expected from Nabal (1 S 25') was really a species of blackmail.
The power of a gift to propitiate one has always been recognized. Jacob made sure of appeasing Esau by the present he sent before him (Gn 32-'"). The same notion was transferred to one's dealings with God, 5u)/3a 5fOi)s Trsida, 5uip' atSolovs /SacrtX^aj (Hes. ap. Plat. Bep. 390 E). Gifts were ottered in homage to God ( Mai V), or to procure H is favour or support. A prayer would often take the form of a conditional vow, ' If J" will be with me, I will oiler so and so to Him' [e.g. Jg ll*" Jephthah, Gn 28''"'- Jacob). The notion of propitiating the Deity by a gift comes out in David^s words to Saul, ' If J" hath stirred thee up against me, let him be gratified by an oblation, 1 S 26". It is true at the same time that the ' gift theory ' of sacritice does not furnish an adequate explanation of all tlie facts connected with even the ordinary obla- tions, much less with the liolocaust, and feast of all witli human sacrifice (cf. W. R. Smith, liS 375).
The blinding eU'ect of a ' gift ' upon the adminis- trators of justice is descrihed in the above cita- tions. Ex 23', Dt 16". Bribery of judges has always been common in the East. Lane {Modern Egypt ians, p. 103 U.) gives a remarkable instance of its occurrence in the court of the l^iidi at Cairo. Felix expected a bribe from St. Paul, Ac 24-*.
A 'gift' in UT times sometimes took the form of sending 'portions' (nu") from a feast to friends or to the poor, Est9"-''", Xeh S'»- '- (cf. Rev U'"). The mo.st honoured of the guests present received the largest and finest portion (Gn 43^, 1 S I* 9" ; cf. Iliad, vii. 321, viii. 1(52, .\ii. 310; Udgssey, iv. 65 f., xiv. 437 : Diod. v. '28).
In the NT we lind tlie I'hilippians singled oat for commendation for the ' gift (Ji5/ia) which thej sent once and again to St. Paul's need (Ph 4'"-).
I.lTKRATfRE- — LAne, ittxtem Kfjt/ptiant{lndex, ». ' Presents '); W. U. .Smith. RS IflJ, 3e>.fT., 306, S7SII.. <-IOf. ; Benrinirer, llrb Arch. UVI. -ISOf., •*:'i(f. ; TnnnhuU, Stxulirt in Orifiit^u Si^cial ii>, 22, 3.'. <<. sum. ; Schurer, WJ/'(lndex, ». ' liills') ; cf. alss art. on 'Uiving' by O. U. Maclde lo tzpot. Timrt, IsOS, ix
surer. J. A. Seluib.
174
GIHON
GILEAD
GIHON (['in'3, VTjiiv, Gehon). — One of the four rivers of Paradise (Gn 2"). If Eden is Edin, the ' Plain ' of Babylonia, ve must look for the Gilion in one of the rivers which in early days flowed into what the Babylonians called ' the salt river,' or Persian Gulf, close to the garden of Eridu, where grew the sacred tree of Bab. tradition. As two of the rivers were the Tigris and the Euphrates, our choice of the other two is limited. The G. compassed ' the whole land of Cush,' the Kas-si or Kassites of the cuneiform inscriptions, whose original seat was in W. Elam, from whence they descended into ChakU-ea, and there founded a dynasty of kings. The G. would seem, therefore, to have been the Kerkhah of modern maps (see Eden). In Jer 2" the Sept. substitutes Gilion {r-qiii') for Silior, the Nile, in consequence of a belief that had arisen among the Jews that the Cush of Gn 2'' was the African Ethiopia (see note ad loc. in Streane, Double Text of Jeremiah). In Sir 24-'' the Gihon is intro- duced metaphorically into a description of wisdom.
A. H. Sayce.
GIHON (I'm'?). — A spring near Jerusalem (1 K jas. 88. •«). Hezekiah ' stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David ' (2 Ch 32^). Manasseh ' built an outer wall to the city of Da\-id, on the west side of Gihon in the [torrent] valley ' (2 Ch 33"). These indications suffice to show that Gihon was in the Kidron ravine. The name ( ' bursting forth') and the notice of the aqueduct (see Siloam) show that the spring now called the ' Virgin's Foun- tain ' is intended. See Bethesda, Enrogel.
LlTKlUTCRB.— Robinson, BRP^ i. 239, 346 (locates Gihon to the we^i not east of Jerusalem) ; Baedeker-Socin, Palest. 101 ; Quthe, ZDPV, 1882, p. 369a. ; Sajce, UCM 381 £f.
C. R. CONDER.
GILALAI ('^^3).— A Levitical musician (Neh 12»5).
GILBOA (yii^3 always with article except in 1 Ch 10^-'; LXX rfX/3oCe ; meaning uncertain. For early explanations see Lagarde's Onom. Sacra, pp. 35, 180, 189). — A range of hills, now known locally as Jebel Fuktia, fonuing an arc of a circle to the E. of the plain of Esdraelon, and extending from Zer'in first S.E. and then S. The range consists of limestone, mixed in the northern and western parts with chalk, the wearing away of which has caused rugged channels. The highest and steepest part is on the N. side, just where it begins to bend south. Here it rises to a height of more than 2U00 ft. above the valley of the Jordan (i.e. about 1700 ft. above sea -level). Towards the S. the sides slope more gradually, and sink to a height of a few hundred feet. As the plain on the W. is 300 ft. above, and the Jordan Valley is the same number of feet below sea-level, Gilboa is much more imposing on the east than on the west. The W. side is drained by the Kishon, one of the sources of which is on its slopes ; the N. side by the Nahr Jalud, which rises near Zer'in and flows to the Jordan ; the E. side by small streams running down to the Jordan Valley. Except on the lowest parts of the W. side the range is devoid of vegetation. At the present time there are two or three small villages on the slopes. One of them, Jelbun, still pre- serves a reminiscence of the ancient name of the hill. Zer'in is the old Jezreel, while Conder thinks that Fukita is possibly Aphek, and Mujechra at the eastern foot of the range the probable site of Megiddo.