GABDES
701
GABRIAS
etc. running along one side of the preetorium, and overloolving the area where the Jews were assembled, or upon a landing-place of the stairs, immediately be- fore tlie grand entrance ?
It has been conjectured that the pavement in ques- tion was no other than the one referred to in 2 Chron. vii 3, and by Josephus (IFin', vi, 1, 8), as in the outer court of the Temple; but though it apjiears that Pilate sometimes sat upon his tribunal in different places, as, for instance, in the open niarliet-place {War, ii, 9, 3), yet tlie supposition that he would on this occasion, when tlie Jews were pressing for a speedy judgment, and when he was overcome witii alarm, adjourn the whole assembly, consisting of rulers of every grade, as well as the populace, to anij other place, is very un- likeh'- ; and the supposition that such place was any part of the Temple is encumbered with additional dif- ficulties. It is suggested by Lightfoot {Exerc. on John, ad loc.) that the word is derived from 35, a sur- face, in which case Gabbatha would be a mere trans- latiou oi\iO<'i<7T(nt]Tov. There was a room in the Tem- ple in which the Sanhedrim sat, and which was called Gazith (ri"iT5) because it was paved with smooth and square flags ; and Lightfoot conjectures that Pilate may on this occasion have delivered his judgment in tliat room. But this is not consistent with the prac- tice of John, who in other instances gives the Hebrew name as that jiroperly belonging to the place, not as a mere translation of a Greek one (compare John xix, 17). Besides, Pilate evidently spoke from the bema — the regular seat of justice — and tliis, in an important place like Jerusalem, would be in a fixed spot. Nor in any case could the prjetorium, a Roman residence with the idolatrous emblems, have been within the Temple. Yet it may be said that the names "T^^X and 'AiToWiiiov, which John introduces in a similar way (Rev. ix, 11), are synon3-mous ; and if the word Gabbatha be derived, as is usual, from (n^?, "to be liigh or elevated," it may refer chiefly to the terrace, or uppsnnost landing of the stairs, etc., which might have been inlaid with a tesselated pavement. Schleus- ner understands an elevated mosaic pavement, on which the jii'ff.ia was placed, before the prsetorium. The most natural inference from John's statement is that the word Gabbatha is "Hebrew;" but it has been contended that the writers of the New Testament used this word bj' way of accommodation to denote the langu.age {Sijriac, or Syro-Chaldee, it is said) which was commonly spoken in Judasa in their time, and that when John says 'Ej3nai(T-i, lie means in the Syro- Chaldaic ; but into the extensive controversy respect- ing the vernacular language of the Jews at .Jerusalem in the time of our Saviour, this is not the place to en- ter. It ina}' suffice for the jiresent purpose to remark that the ancient Syriac version, instead of Gabbatha, reads Grpipfhrt. See Iken, De AiOocTrpwTifj (Bremae, 1725); Lightfoot's Works, ii, 614, 01.5 (London, 1G84) ; Hamesveld, Bibl. Georjr. ii, 129 ; Seelen, Medit. Exey. i, G-i;). — Kitto, s. V. ; Smith, s. v. See Pavement.
Gab'des (ra^/.3;7(,',Vulg. Gahea), a man whose de- scendants (or rather a place whose natives) returned from tlie captivity (1 1':sdr. v, 20) ; evidently the Geba (q. v.) of the Ileb. text (Ezra ii, 26).
Gabe (Vaiii), a considerable place (jro\ixi'rj, opjn- dum) nieniioned by Eusebius and Jerome (^Onomast. s. v. Va^ia^Mv, Gabbathon) as lying 16 R. miles from Ciesarea, in the edge of the plain of Esdraelon ; thought by Roliinson to be the modern Jeha (i. e. Gibeah), a large village on the slope of the range of hills N. of Nal)lijs, containing an ancient town (liesearches, iii, 151). It can hardlj' have been of sufficient importance to be commemorated by the coins found with the in- scription "of the Gabinians" (r«/3>j»'wi', Reland, Pa- Icest. p. 709).
Gabiiiius (Graecized Taftivioc), Aulus, of un-
known parentage, from a noted but plebeian family of Rome ; one of Pompey's generals, who was sent into Judaia against Alexander (q.v.) and Antigonus (q. v.) with proconsular authority, B.C. cir. G4 (Josephus, Ant. xiv, 2, 3, 4). He was profligate in his j'outh (Cic- ero, 2)ro Sext. 8, 9, etc.), and was made tribune of the people in B.C. GG, prsetor in B.C. 61, and consul in B.C. 59 ; in all which offices he was active in political in- trigues and party measures. On arriving in Syria, lie made important changes there (Josephus, Ant. xiv, 10 ; War, i, 6). He restored Hyrcanus at Jerusalem, con- firmed him in the high-priesthood, and settled govern- ors and judges in the proviifces, so that Jud«a from a monarchy became an aristocracy. He established courts of justice at Jerusalem, Gadara (or at Dora), Amatha, Jericho, and Sepphoris, that the people, find- ing judges in all parts of the country, might not be obliged to go far from their habitations. On return- ing to Rome, Gabinius was prosecuted by the Syrians and exiled, B.C. 54. He was recalled liy Julius Cie- sar, B.C. 49, and fell in the civil war between the tri- umvirs (Appian, JUyr. 12 and 27 ; Bell. Civ. ii, 59 ; Dion Cass, xlii, 11, 12). Rachensteln has written a monograph entitled Ueher A . Gabinius (Aarau, 1826). See Smith, Diet, of Class. Biog. s. v.