a I I'l.- \\liii knew little of the games of the
Grirk,, auil wliu liad been taught to hate what they knew. But in Galilee the children played their immemorial games :
As if his whole vocation
(WoRuswoRTU, Ode on Immortality). From such play Jesus drew a description of the generation wlucli had listened to John the Baptist and HimseU (Mt 11'', Lk 7"-). Two groups are
Slaying in the market-place : the nmsicians are ivided from the others. They pipe, but the children will not play : they suggest ' funerals,' but their comrades sulkily refuse to join. The parable is a vi^-id picture of the fickleness, sulki- nes-^. nnil self-will of the contemporaries of Jesus. It i- iidt ii.Mi— luy t.) re.-iil intn tlie parable a con- cleniii.itioii i.t tliu-i' wlic. -hould liave outgrown chil.ii-h thin-s l.ut are -n\\ plaxing at life. The 'musicians' liave been likened hy some to Jesus and John the Baptist, by others to the people (see a discussion by Stalker in Expositor, 4th series, vol. vii. p. 29).
The soldiers probably played Avitli dice when they cast lots for the garments of Jesus (Mt 27**) ; and they may have been plajing a game when they said to Jesus, ' Prophesy unto us, thou Christ ; who is he that struck thee ? ' (26'»).
Jesus did not deal with the problems which arise in modern society from the gro\\-ing importance of games in the scheme of life. As far as we know. He did not discuss the Rabbinical attitude to tlie Hellenic games ; nor do the Apostnlie writers hint of dangers to Christian converts from tlie ennte.-t-. The ethical questions must be decided li.\- an ap- peal to the interpretation of life in the (iospels, and especially to the estimate given by Jesus of the true relations between body and spirit. It is clear that to Him the body was not an end in itself (Mt 10^), but must become the docile ser- vant of the soul (18*), even at the cost of severe discipline. Games will be approved where they give bodily eftectiveness, that it may be tlie 'earthly support' of the endurance of the sjiirit. Tliey will be condemned if they lead to a nei;leet of the serious interests of life (6^), or of the duty *Cf. Wetstein on Mk 15=3.
GEHENNA
635
owed to otlier.s. The Cliristiiin ideal of a life temperate and just does not include a life whose first interest is amusement, or one in which ' dis- traction ' is necessary to prevent ennui (see Dorner, Christian Ethics, Eng. tr. p. 458).
Literature. — Hastings' DB, art. 'Games'; Schiirer, IIJP, Inde.N, s. ' Games ' ; Expositor, i. v. [1877] '237.
Edward Shillito.
GARDEN (k^ttos). — In its most precise applica- tion the term refers to a level ywri- oi i^round enclosed liy a wall or hed-v. i;i wlmh pluuts, shrubs, and trees are cultivalrcl Ky in i_v:ii imi. Its area, ranging from a small vrL;i'i,i,Mi' pldt lieside the house to the dimensions of a farm, is limited only by the supply of water. While not e.Kclud- ing the idea of garden familiar in the West, its meaning in general is often nearer to that of our nursery -garden and orchard. In the irrigated garden, vines, fig, walnut, pomegranate, lemon, and other trees are grown for the sake of orna- ment, shade, and fruit. In the Gospels mention is made of mint, anise, and cummin {Mt 23^) as the cheap and common garden produce that occupied the laboured scrupulosity of the scribes and Pliarisee.s, to the neglect of more important matters.
The fact of its being artificially and continually watered, distinguishes the garden proper from the ordinary grain field, the vineyard, and the planta- tion of olive or fig trees. The nece.ssity, however, of having a protecting wall for fruit trees gives also to such an enclosure in a more general sense the name and ch.iv.ulci- nf a garden. These may be resorted ti> and ]i,i>~ii| ( hrough without objec- tion e.xcept dm in;4 ^uimum ]■ and autumn, when the fruit is ripening;. SmU may have been the garden of Gethsemane, to which Christ retired with His disciples (Jn 18'- -). In the garden containing the tomb in which Christ's body was laid, Mary's expectation of meeting with the gardener or care- taker (Jn 20'*) at the time of Easter would rather point to the more careful cultivation of the irri- gated garden.
To the Oriental the gardpn i« a place of retire- ment and rest. Its sunn. I ..f lallinL;' or running water is one of the luxuiir^ ..i liie. Its shade affords escape from tin' -lai.- ..t ilif sun, and its recognized privacy forbids Llie introduction at the close of the day of disturbing news, exacting claims, or perplexing decisions. The voice of nature seems to say, ' I will give you rest.' It has thus become a symbol of Heaven, and supplies a common term of immortal hope to the three great i^nonotheistic religions, inasmuch as the Christian ' Paradise ' is the equivalent of the Jewish Gan-'Eden, 'Garden of Eden,' and the Moslem il-Gannat, ' the Garden.'
G. M. Mackie.
GARNER See Barn.
GATE.— The gate of a city, like the entrance to a tent and the door of a house, was a jilace of special importance, and its original use gave rise to various a.ssociated meanings.