In this use ' grave ' is but one step removed from
the lit. sense of 'heavy' (as Lat. gravis), which
we find in Chapman, Homer's Odt/sseijs, viii. 207 —
• Tliis said, with robe and all, he frrasp'd a stone,
A little graver than was ever thrown
B.v these Ph;eacian8 in their WTaslMng rout.'
One step farther removed is the use of the word in NT as tr- of atfi-'is, 1 Ti :{»• ", Tit 2-, applied to deacons, their wives, and aged men, in the sense of 'serious.' Cf. T. Fuller, Holy and Profane State, iii. 19 (p. 202), ' He is a good Time-server tliat comply es his manners to the several! ages of this life : pleasant in youth, without wantonnesse ; grave in old age, without frowardnesse. Frost is as ))ro- per for winter, as flowers for spriii". Gravity becomes the ancient ; and a green Christinas is neither handsome nor healtlifull.' J. Hastings.
GRAVE. — The rerb to ' grave ' is used in earlier versions in the sense of 'dig,' as Is Z~^ Cov. ' Yf there be no water, I wd grave and drvnke ' (EV ' I have digged, and drunk water '). !But the only meaning in EV is 'carve,' modem 'engrave.' So Tindale has the word in Gn 4^ ' Tubalcain a worker in metaU and a father of all tliat grave in brasse and yeron ' ; and in Ex 39' ' And they ■wrought onix stcmes cloosed in ouches of golde and graved as sj'gnettes are graven with the names of the children of Israel.' He also has ' stonegraver ' Ex 28" (EV ' engraver in stone '), and ' graver' as the tool, 32* (EV 'graving tool'). For Graven Image see Idolatry, Image. J. Hastings.
GRAVEL. — Wyclif used 'gravel' as a synonym
for 'sand.' Thus Gn 22" ' I glial multiply thi seed as sterns of hevene, and as gr.ivel that is in the brenk of the see'; Mt 7* 'And everj' man that herith these my wordis, and doth hem nat, is liche to a man fool, that hath hildid liis hous on gravel, or soond' ; Ac 27*' 'And wlianne we fi;ldcn into a place of gravel gon al aboute with the see, thei nurtliden the schipp.' •
In the last passage Ithein. has 'And when we were fallen Into a place betwene two seas, they gravcleil the ship.* This use of gravel * as a verb Icil to the flg. phrase ' to gravel one,' that is, 'bring one to a stanilstitl in orguinciit,' a phrase usi-d by Tliomas f\xller In Uolj/ and i'rofint Ulalt, ii. 4 (p. (tl), * wy en Eunomius the Ileretick vaunted that he knew God and
• Wyo. even uses 'gravel' In the plu., Dt S3'» (1380) "hid tresours of graveils' (after Yulg. 'thesauroa abecouditoa &reu. ftrum '}, Dou. ' sandea.'
his divinity, 8. Ba«i] pravells him in 21 qnestionfl about thi body of an ant Or pisnure : so dark is man's under^jtanding.*
In AV also there is practically no distinction between ' gravel ' and ' sand,' unless it is made by the addition of 'stones.' The word occurs (1) Is 48" 'Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like tlie gravel thereof ' (yp!;s3, liV ' like the grains thereof,' after L.\X, Jerome, Tar^., Ewald, Del., Orolli, and others; but RVm ' like that of the bowels thereof ' [refer- ring to the fisli], after Ges., Hitzig, Knobel, Keil, Nagelsbach, and others [Cheyne, ' as the entrails thereof']. The word, which occurs only here, is of uncertain derivation and meaning) ; (2) Pr 20" ' Bread of deceit is sweet to a man ; but afterwards his mouth shall be tilled with gravel,' and (3) La 3'* ' He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones' (both i>-ri, from [pn] to divide, therefore ' broken small ') ; (4) .Sir 18'" ' As a drop of water unto the sea, and agravelstone in comparison of the sand' (v^^os, RV 'a pebble'). J. HASTINGS.
GRAY. — The epithet 'gray' occurs only in refer- ence to hair, and is the tr° either of ;■;;' sibh, to be gray -headed (I S 12-, Job 15'"), or of n;-i7 si'blu'ih, hoariness, old age (Gn 42-'' 44-^- "', Dt 32^, Ps 71'», Pr 2U-^ Hos 7"). RV prefers 'hoary' in Pr 20--».
The word has been spelt both ' gray ' and ' grey ' from earliest times. Shaks. has in Hamlet (ii. ii. 190), 'The satirical rogue says here that oKl men have grey beards,' but in Lfar (ii. ii. 72),. 'Spare my gray beard, you wag'tairr' In .W 1011 the spelling is uniformly ' gray,' but in Ps Til**, Pr 2u^ the word ia usually spelt * grey ' in modern editions.
GREAT SEA (Vi-;n D;n Nu 34»', Jos 15'»-", Ezk 47'"- ^ 4S^), called also \i-i-Hn d'.t the hinder, i.e. western sea, Dt 11^ 34-, Zee 14», Jl 2'» ; o-Fif'r; c- Sea of tlie Philistines, Ex 23^' ; o-n The Sea, Gn 49'^' Nu 13^ .S4», Dt 1' etc. Lat. Mare Internum.'
The Mediterranean was essentially the ' Great Sea' and ' Hinder Sea' to the writers of the Bible ; being the western boundary of the Holy Land, beyond whicli their geographical knowledge did not far extend. Maritime adventure and com- merce was not the direction in wliich Israelitisli ambition extended, except perhaps for a short period during the reign of Solomon ; and although the lands allotted to the tribes of Judah, Dan, Ephraim, Manassch, Zebtilun, and Aslier touched the coast of the Mediterranean at various points, the waters of the Great Sea were seldom traversed by their ships. Tliis was due to several causes : first, the history of the Israelites previous to the Exodus was essentially of an inland character ; secondly, during and after the invasion of Palestine their efforts were too much directed towards <lis- posses.sing the inhabitants and retaining their liold on the countries they had conquered, to give them time and opportunity for eKtending their sway beyond the coast ; thirdh-, the absence of natural commodious harbours on the Mediterranean sea- board ; and lastly, the presence of the Phoenicians on the north, and of the Philistines on the south, along the coast-line. The.se nations, especially the former, had command of the sea, and rendered adventure in that direction either useless or im- practicable to the children of Israel. From a period as far back as the Exodus the Phoenician settlers had established themselves at various points along the coast, and in course of time formed a confederation, essentially maritime, extending from beyond the Orontes on the north to Joppa (Jnpho) on the south, a length of ,300 English milcs.t To the south of Joppa the country of the Philistines commenced and extended to ' the River