Gaza is mentioned once in the NT (Ac 8^) : 'Arise,' said the angel of the Lord to Philip, 'and go toward the south (marg., at noon) unto the way that goetli down from Jerusalem to Gaza : the same is desert ' {avnj iariv ip-rjuos). It is a much-disputed point whether ' the same' refers to the way or to Gaza. (1) If the former interpreta- tion, which is the ordinary one, is riglit, the tract which the road traversed was ' desert ' only in a qualitied sense, for the writer expressly states that in passing through it Philip came upon water, in which he baptized the eunuch. The guiding angel's words may refer merely to the solitariness of the road, being spoken ' to bring out Philip's trustful obedience, where he could not foresee the end in view' (J. V. Bartlet, Acts [Century Bible, 1901], p. 214), or simply to prepare him for the uninterrupted interview which he enjoys with the eunuch. It is always possible that ' the same is desert ' is a remark added by the narrator himself. (2) G. A. Smith {HGHL, London, 1897, p. 186 fl'.) and Cheyne {EBi, 1650) hold that ' the same ' {avri)) refers to Gaza. The former, to whom it seems impossible to describe any route from Jeru- salem to Gaza as desert, suggests that while New Gaza was built by the seashore, the road to Egypt passed the inland and at least comparatively deserted Old Gaza. This view, however, puts a strained meaning upon ' the same,' while Schiirer (II. i. 71) holds that the new citj', to which aiT?; would naturally refer, also lay inland, probably a little distance to the south of the old. Some scholars (Beza, Hilgenfeld, Schmiedel, and others) have con- tended that ' the same is desert' is an explanatory gloss. Schmiedel suggests that it was set down in the margin by a reader who had been misled by Strabo, and then incorporated in the text.
Literature. — See, in addition to the works mentioned above, E. Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, London, 1S41, p. 373 ff. ; V. Guerin, Description geographique . . . de la Pales- tine, pt. i. : 'Judee,' Paris, 18ti9 ; L. Gautier, Souue-nirs de Terre-Sainte, Lausanne, 1897, p. 116 if. ; T. Zahn, Introd. to the yX, Eng. tr., Edinburgh, 1909, ii. 43S.
James Strahan. GEHENNA.— See Hell.
GENEALOGIES. — The value attached by the Hebrew people to genealogies is seen in the long
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GENERATION
and, to modern readers, somewhat wearisome, lists of Scripture. Tlieir exaggerated importance was in some measure due to family pride, which loved an old descent ; and therefore it was considered a laudable ambition to build up legendary pedigrees of heroes and founders such as are met with, e.g., in the Book of Jubilees. As Judaism became politi- cally impotent, it took to dreaming of the glories of the past, and there sprang up a ' rank growth of legend respecting the patriarchs and other heroes ' (Hort, Jtidaistic Christianity, Cambridge and London, 1894, p. 136). This genealogical matter is found in Hebrew and in Greek, and. appears in both Philo and Josephus.
In the genealogies a religious interest is also apparent. We know from the NT how obstinately the later Judaism clung to the merely positive and perishable precepts of the Law, and how at the same time, under a narrow and literal doctrine of inspiration, tlie attempt was made to extract nourishment for the spiritual life from every part of the OT. The most fantastic doctrines were drawn, even from the names in the genealogical lists, in the interests of a supposed edification.
For a time Judaism bitterly opposed the Church ; then, entering it as Judaistic Christianity, it sought to capture the new movement, in the interests of a sect, by binding upon it the yoke of the Law, which Peter, in the Jerusalem Council, said ' neither our fathers nor we were able to bear ' (Ac 15*"). ' Lastly, it becomes a fantastic heresy inside the Church, and sinks into profane frivolity. "Pre- tended revelations are given as to the names and genealogy of angels ; absurd ascetic rules are laid down as ' counsels of perfection,' while daring im- morality defaces the actual life " ' (Plummer, The Pastoral Epp. [Expos. Bib., London, 1888], p. 34; also Expositor, 3rd ser., viii. [1888] 42) ; cf. Eev 2" ' I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and tliej' are not.'
With this ' unwholesome stuff' (Hort, p. 137) there was combined the doctrine of a;ons of the Jewish philosopher Philo — the incipient Gnosti- cism of the Colossian heresy. The yvQais of the NT is the special lore of those who interpreted mystically the OT, especially the Law (cf. Hort, pp. 139-144). This so-called Gnosticism may be traced through Philo, the Book of Wisdom, and Sirach, 'back to the Persian speculations with which the Jews became familiar during the Cap- tivity' (Dods, Introd. to NT, London, 1888, p. 141 f.). This is the situation, atmosphere, and tendency lying behind the steru rebukes of the Pastoral Ejjistles.
In 1 Ti \* the warning is given, n7]ok -n-pocrixeiv fivOots Kal yeveaXoyiais airepdvTOis, a'Crives iK^rjTTjcreis irapixovat., ' neither to give heed to fables and endless genealogies, the which minister question- ings.' These genealogies are 'legendary pedigrees of Jewish heroes' and 'haggadic embroidery of Jewish biographies ' (Motfatt, LNT, Edinburgh, 1911, pp. 406, 408). They are called airipavToi ((XTraJ Xey. in NT)— ' endless,' because they led nowhere, and, where all meanings were equally possible and equally worthless, one interpretation was as good as another, ' They minister question- ings ' — that was tiieir end. ' Fanciful tales merely tickle the ears and loosen the tongue. Tliej' have no relation to the serious business of life. . . . They end in conversation, not conversion ' (J. Strachan, The Captivity and the Pastoral Epistles [Westminster NT, London, 1910], p. 203, where Koliler is quoted [p. 205] : ' the author can think of no more striking contrast than that between the endless prattle of the false teachers aiul the gospel of the glory of the blessed God' [1 Ti l^']). Life is a stewardship of God {olKoi>ofj.ia 6eoO), but tliis ' trashy and unwholesome stuff,' which occupied