Cucumis prophetarum, L. , which grows in tlie deserts around the Dead Sea, and southward to Sinai, has been suggested. But the small size of its ovoid fruit, only an inch lon^, does not corre- spond to the colocynthides of the Vulgate.
The authority of the LXX and the Vulg. is in favour of the colocynth, Citrullus Coloci/ntnis, L., the hondol of the Arabs. This plant is a cuc\irbi- taceous vine, growing prostrate on the ground, or trailing by its spiral tendrils over shrubs and herbs. It has a lobed leaf, and a melon 3 to 3J in. in diameter, which dries when ripe, and when opened discloses a fungous, intensely bitter pulp, containing smooth shining seeds. This \>\u\> is also a drastic cathartic, and, in quantities, an irritant poison. The colocynth corresponds well to the requisites of the passage, that it sliould be a vine, bearing gourds (coloojnthides) of a noxious qualify. This plant, which is called in Greek KoXoKvvBh, must not be confounded with koXokvvOi), which Ls the cultivated gourd. The knops (1 K 6'* marg. gourds, 7^ d-v;;? pek&'im) may have been imitations of this fruit. G. E. Post.
GOVERNANCE.— This old form of 'government' occurs occasionallv in the versions before AV, as Jer 23'" Cov. 'Vee the waye that men take, is ■wicked, and their governaunce is nothinge like the holy worde of the Lorde ' ; and it has been retained in AV and RV (from Cov.) in 2 Es IP^ ' it had the governance of the world' {potentaium habuit);
I
and 1 Mac 9" 'Jonathan took the governance upon him at that time' ({wiSe^aTo tt)v ff^riini'), 'J'lie word occurs also in the Pr. lik., as in Mom Prayer, Third Collect, for Grace, 'That all oiu doings maj' he ordered by thy governance,' re- tained from 1549 in all editions. Sir T. Klyot in The (Jovcnwur, ii. 109, says, ' Finally the Alheni- ensis, . . . toke to them a desperate corage, and in conclusion expelled out of the citio all the said tyrantes, and reduced it unto his pristinate gover- nance.' And Chaucer, Hous of Fame, 9>>S —
' Lo, is it not a crcet mischaunce. To lete a fole liaii jjovonuiunce Of thing that he can not deiteine T '
J. Hastings.
GOVERNMENT. — Tlie forms of government among the Hebrews, though they developed with the course of their history, never became as strict or constitutional as among Western nations. It slumlcl therefore be kept in mind that the technical terms used in this article must be allowed some cla.s- ticity of meaning to suit Semitic in.stitutions. These forms may be treated in the following order : — I. Those of the nomad period, extending from the Exodus out of Egypt to the settlement in Palestine. 2. The new organization due to the change from a nom.-ul to a settled and agricultural life. 3. The institution and nature of the monarchy. 4. The semi-political independence of the Jewish com- munities amon^ forei^ nations. 5. The religious community of Judoea in post-exilic times.
1. When first the Hebrews ajipear in historical records as an organized body, their government is sini]'le and in accordance with that of othei Semitic nomads. During tlieir wanderings in the peninsula of Sinai and E.ist of the Jordan, there are two units of organization — the family and the tribe. A third factor is due to the temporary needs of their circumstances ; it is the leadership of Moses. This chieftainship, however, was only for a special purpose, its power was personal rather than constitutional, and was controlled and modilied by the claims of kinship in family and tribe. The suspicion of any attempt to make it more aroused rebellion at once (cf. the JE account of the revolt of Dathan and Abiram in Nu 16, especially v.''). The officials appointed by Moses at the suggestion of his father-in-law were doubtless selected with due regard to tribal feelings (Ex IS-'"-). A thorough study of these two units of society is necessary for the under- standing both of this and the succeeding periods of Hebrew history (cf. Family, especially ii. c, TninE, and the literature given at the end of this article). The father as head (c^ni) of the familij had full power of life and death over all its members (cf. Gn 22, Jg II*'"'). The ruler of the tribe was probably, as among the Bedawln of to- day, one of the heads of families who was dis- tinguished for his courage or his hospitality. His autliority,both in legal and in military matters, was personal, and his judgments were observed just in so far as his influence was powerful. This position of authority might continue in the same family for generations, but might be lost at anj' time, and pass to others o\\-ing to loss of prestige. The laws observed were those of custom only, and did not exist in a written form. Matters of strife between different families were referred to the tribal chief ; and if his decisions were in accordance with the customs of the tribe, or otherwise com- mended themselves to the people, the person con- demned submitted, or became an outcast from his own people. If there were no custom to guide the judge, or the case were very difficult, an appeal might be made to the god by means of the sacred lot or oracle. The leadership in time of war naturally fell to the head of the tribe ; and a special