not make Hini harsh in judgment or unmerciful in dealing (cf. Mt 5"- '). (3) His consciousness of Divine power. It is the gentleness not of weak- ness, but of might. The Lamb of God answering Pilate so mildly was conscious that twelve legions of angels stood at His disposal (Mt 26^).
The Baptist, himself stem of soul, foresaw the coming of one greater than he— fjreater, but not more gentle. The axe, fan, and hre of judgment were at His command, and He would wield these instruments of wrath to the destruction of wicked- ness (Mt 3'»-'2). But, to John's intense disappoint- ment, Jesus found His ideal and method not in these symbols of violence, but in the conception of the Servant of Jehovah, who did not strive or cry or lift up his voice in the streets, who did not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax (Mt 12'i'- 20 ; cf. Lk 418- 19 and Mt ll«-«, and see Is 42i-^).
The Gospels abound in illustrations of the winsome manner of Jesus. His reception of the little children (Mt 18= 19"), His thoughtfulness for the multitude lest they should faint by the way (15"-), the brotherlj' touch of His hand upon the leper (Mk V^), the delicacy of His approach to the sorrowing (Lk 7", Jn W^), His tender tones to His perplexed disciples— ' little children,' 'I will not leave you orphans ' (Jn 13^" 14'*), and His sense of
their frailty in tlie words, ' Sleep on now and take your rest ' (Mt 26^'), His consideration, even in the agony of death, for His mother (Jn 19*''' "),— are but examples of that gracious gentleness which consisted with, and was the expression of, a Divine dignity of love. His attitude to the sinful is dis- tinguished by the same tenderness. His intense love of holiness, quick moral sensitiveness, and stainless purity, made Him uncompromisingly stern in ms rebuke of a self -righteousness which had little capacity of repentance ; but He com- bined with that a deep insight into the possibilities of sin-marred natures ; and by His disclosure to them of dormant powers of being, and the tender- ness of His dealing with them. He won them to repentance and a new life (Lk T"*'* 19'"'"). And, similarly. His rebukes, touched by His gentleness, become appeals, and are charged with the inspira- tion of a renewed trust. His ' O ye of little faith ' (Mt 8-*), ' Can ye drink the cup that I drink of V ' (Mk 10^), ' Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things ' (Lk 10'"), ' Could ye not watch with me one hour?' (Mt 26-"'), 'Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?' (Jn ^V^"-), — were rebukes whose gentleness could leave no bitterness or despair, but recalled the soul to its loyalty to Him. So, although Jesus never formally held forth ineUiLa as an ideal of Christian life. He left us an example that we should follow His steps (1 P 2=').
Literature.— Trench, Synonyim, § xlii.; M. Arnold, Li\ and Doijma, vii. 3 ; A. L. Moore, God is Love (1894), 134 ; G. Jackson, Menwranda Paulina (1901), 61 ; J. Watson, The In- spiration of our Faith (1905), 190 ; J. W. Jack, After His Like- ness (1906), 88. Joseph Muir.
GERASENES, GERGESENES.-The 'country of the Gerasenes' {repa(ir]i>Qp) or 'Gergesenes' {re/yyeiriivuii') is mentioned in Scripture only in con- nexion with the healing of the demoniac. The AV reads 'Gergesenes' in Mt 8=*, and 'Gadarenes' in Mk 5' and Lk 8^, while the RV reads ' Gada- renes ' in Mt. and ' Gerasenes ' in Mk. and Luke. There is preponderating evidence in favour of the changes (the reading Ta^aprivCiv in S in Mt. is un- doubtedly for TaSapTivCiv. Many natives in the district surrounding the Sea of (3alilee pronounce the Arabic J d and 0 dh like 2— thus ' Garfarenes' they would pronounce ' Gacarenes '). The neigh- bourhood of the town of Gadara must be pro- nounced absolutely impossible for the miracle (see Gadaea). How then account for the reading ' Gadarenes ' ? Perhaps, as Thomson suggests, the place where the miracle took place, ' over against Galilee,' was included within the district of Gadara. But as this would not be officially correct, Gadara having been the capital of the coimtry to the south of the town, it might be better to say that popular usage gave to the whole district on the eastern shore of the Lake the name of the principal town. In the same way the reading repaaiivui/ might be explained — being derived from the large and im- portant city of the Decapolis, Gerasa — the modem Jerash. (It need scarcely be said that this latter toAvn is out of the question as the scene of the miracle, being some 30 miles from the Lake). The derivation of the reading from the Decapolitan city, while not perhaps impossible, is very im- probable. A more likely explanation is at hand. According to Origen, the majority of the MSS he had access to had the reading 'Gerasenes.' But this reading he objected to, inasmuch as he knew of only one Gerasa, the town of the Decapolis, which he rightly conceived could not have been the scene of the miracle. He suggested that 'Gergesenes' must be the true reading, as he knew of a town on the eastern shore of the Lake bearing the name Gergesa. Hence, on his autho-