In Ac H'*''^ we are told that, on the healing of a lame man by the Apostles Paul and Barna- bas at Lystra in Asia Minor, the people imagined the wonder-workers to be incarnations of the gods Jupiter and Mercury, and declared, ' The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men ' (v.^'). In accordance with this idea, and probably also with a view to reaping the fruits of the religious excite- ment that had been aroused, the priest of Jupiter brought forth oxen and garlands to the gates of the city for sacrifice (v. '2). The garlands here were Mreatlis or chaplets of flowers or leaves intended for the victims and probably also for those taking part in the service.
The Gr. word a-T4<pavos, which is usually trans- lated ' crown ' in the English version, is more cor-
GAEAIE^sT
GENEALOGIES
443
lectly rendered 'wreath' or 'garland,' and, like tiie (TTe/j-fxaTa (fillets) of Ac 14^^, consisted of leaves or flowers, and was not onl}- used in sacritices but awarded as a prize to victors in war or at the games (cf. art. Crown). W. F, Boyd.
GARMENT.— See Clothes.
GATE. — Two terms, ttuXtj SLndirvXiiv, are rendered 'gate' in EV, but in certain cases the latter is diti'erentiated by 'porch,' 'portals' (Mt 26'\ Rev 21, KVui passim). The distinction between the two seems to turn upon architectural features. AVhere the entrance alone is contemplated, wvXt] is used ; but where the whole complex of buildings bound up with the entrance is present to view, TTvXwv is the term employed. The pylon is associ- ated mainly with Egyptian Temples, and consists of the imposing towers flanking the gate by which access was given to the court. When the space between these towers was filled in above, the en- trance became a portal, and in this sense the term is employed for private houses as well. An inter- esting example falling within this period is Ac 12^^, where mention is made of rrjv dvpav roO ttvXQpos. This shows that the portal or gateway was closed by means of a door placed at the end fronting the street. The passage may have been closed in similar fashion at the other end, which opened on the court (see, further, DoOR). A similar use with reference to a private house occurs in Ac 10'^. In each case the singular is used. With these we have to contrast Ac 14'^ where the plural is found. Opinion is divided as to whether a private entrance, or the city gate, or the sanctuary precincts should here be understood. Tlie most reasonable inter- pretation is tliat the irvXCJi/es go together with the Temple buildings outside the city (Lystra), being near the point where sacrihce was wont to be made. Barnabas and Paul 'sprang forth,' or ' rushed out,' as probably from the city gate as from a private house. The remaining instances may be classed together (Rev 21'- is- is- 2i- 25 22'-«), where the marginal reading ' portals' gives the best con- ception of what is represented.
In cases where the gate of a city is referred to, irtjXi] is the usual term. It is used thus of Damas- cus (Ac 9-*) and Phiiippi (Ac 16^^ — here AV ren- ders 'city' — a not unnatural substitution). With these instances may be ranked He 13'- — Christ suffering without the gate (of Jerusalem). We remark the singular form in all but one instance (Ac 9-*, where the plural is warranted). There is one example to be classed alone, which shows how an entrance was Hlled up. It is found in Ac 12'", where the epithet ' iron ' applied to gate is attached to TTvXr] (it would not suit ttvXwv). Modern struc- tures lead us to think of iron throughout, but it is more likely the gate was of wood and faced with iron. That the more solid form was not impossible we gather from the Temple doors (Jos. BJ VI. v. 3 ; cf. discoveries at Pompeii, and Vergil, ^n. vi. 552-4). If we accept the addition of Cod. Bezse, seven steps led down from this gate to the level of
The Beautiful Gate of the Temple (Ac 3-- 1") has been treated under art. Door. Although it is spoken of as a gate (wvXt]), we have reason to think this was a portal of a very elaborate type (SDB, art. 'Temple'). W. Cruickshank.
GAUL.— See Galatia.
GAZA (Fdi'a). — Gaza, the most southern of the five chief cities of Philistia, was important as the last place of call on the road to Egypt. It was 'the frontier city of Syria and the Desert, on the south-west, as Damascus on the north-east'
(Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, London, 1877, p. 259). Writing about the beginning of the Christian era, Strabo (XVI. ii. 30) describes it as ' once famous, but razed by Alexander [the Great] and remain- ing deserted ' (/cat fievovaa epiy/ios). The last clause can scarcely be correct, for Gaza was a strong city in the time of Jonathan the Maccabee (1 Mac 11^"-), and it stood a year's siege before it was destroyed by Alexander Jannaus in 96 B.C. (Jos. Ant. XIII. xiii. 3). This was Old Gaza (r/ TraXatd rdfa), so called by Diodorus and Porphyry (see the references in Schiirer, HJF II. i. [Edinburgh, I8S5] 70). New Gaza (17 via Td^a) was built by Gabinius, Governor of Syria (Jos. Ant. xiv. v. 3), apparently at some distance from the former site (Jerome, Onomast., ed. Lagarde, Gbttingen, 1870, p. 125). In the time of Claudius, Mela describes it as ' ingens et munita admodum' (i. 11). It is said to have been destroyed by the Jews in A.D. 65 (Jos. BJll. xviii. 1), but the ruin cannot have been more than partial. In the time of Eusebius and Jerome it was still a notable Greek city, where paganism s'toutly resisted Christianity ; and it played an important part in the time of the Crusades. To-day it is a flourishing town of 16,000 inhabitants, built on and around a hill rising 100 ft. above the plain, and separated from the sea by three miles of j'ellow sand-dunes. Well watered, with broad gardens, and a great olive grove stretch- ing northwards, it drives a considerable trade with the nomadic Arabs.