GERZITE
839
GESHUR
Jmiginntiones de discordiis inter monachos Canhmrienses et (ux/iiepiscopum B aide tcin, -written, perliaps, after Hu- bert became archlushop in 119;>, gives a full account of the dissensions between Baldwin and his monks. His next work, Vitce Dorohornensium archiejdscopoi-nm, contains lives of the archbishops of Canterbury, end- in£!; soon after Hubert's accession. His most valuable work, Chronica de tempore regvm Anglim Siep/iani, Hen. II, et Ricardi II, chronicles the reigns of these sover- ei!;:ns, and contains in the conclusion an announce- ment of a second p..rt, to be devoted to the reign of John, which was jirobably never written. In the li- brary of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (No. 438), there is a MS. treatise of Gcrvase, entitled Mappci Mundi, tlie lirst part of which gives a topographical description of England by counties, with lists of the bishops' sees and monasteries in each, and the second part lists of the arclibishops of the whole world and their suffragans, and added thereto a chronicle of Eng- land from the fabulous times to the death of Richard I. Bishop Nicolson {Eng. Hist. Lihi'ary) characterizes Gervase as a diligent and judicious historian ; and Wright (Biog. Brit. Lit.) says "his writings show great care in collecting information, and discrimina- tion in using it; and his chronicle of the reigns of Steplien, Henry, and Richard is one of the most valu- able of the historical memorials of the 12th century." His works, except the Mappa Mundi, were published in TwysJen's Hisiorice Angficanre Scriptores Decern (Londoni, 1652, fol., Coll. 1285-1GS4), and an English translation of his Tractatus de Coinhvstvme, etc., is given in the Report of the Proceedings of the British Arch' coll >gical Association, at the first General Meeting, held at Canterhmi in the Month of September, 1844, ed. by Alfred John Dunkin (Lond. 1845, 8vo), p. 194-240. — Wright, BingrapHa Britannic.a Literaria (Anglo- Norman period, p. 419-421) ; Hoefer, Kouv. Biog. Gen. XX, o2G, 327 ; Rose, New Gen. Biog. Diclionanj, viii, 12. (J.W.M.)
Gerzite. See Gezrite.
Ge'seni {rtd'cji), a Graecized form (Judith i, 9) of the name of the land of Goshen.
Geseiiius. Fiiedrich Heinrich 'Wilhelm, a
distinguished Oriental scholar, was born at Nordhau- sen February 3, 1785. After finishing his education at tlie universities of Helmstadt and Gottingen, he was for a short time teacher at the pajdagogium at Helmstadt. In 180G he Ix^came privat docent at the University of Gottingen, and in 181)9 professor of an- cient literature at the college of Heiligenstadt. In 1810 he became extraordinary, and in ISll ordinary professor at Ilalle. In 1814 he received the degree of doctor of divinity ; and in 1820 he made a scientific journey to Paris and Oxford, where he chiefly collect- ed material for his projected Hebrew dictionar}'. lie died Oct. 23, 1842. Gesenius was an outsjioken adhe- rent of the Rationalitic school. In the study of Orien- tal languages, his works, which had an almost unprece- dented circulation, began a new era. The most impor- tant among them are : Ilebrdisches und Chtldaisches Ilandioorterbuch (Lpz. 1810-1812, 2 vols.; 7th ed. 18(J8; Latin ed. 1833 ; 2d ed. by Hoffmann, 1847 ; Eng. transl. by 0. Leo, Cambridge, 1825 ; by J. W. Gibbs, Andover, ln24, and by Rol)inson, Boston, li<bO) : — Hehraische Grammiitik (Ilalle, 1813; 20th edit, by Dr. Riidiger, 18GG ; English transl. by M. Stuart, Andover, 1826, and liy Conant, Boston, 18.39; also a French transl.): — Ilehiuisrhes Lesehuch (Ilalle, 1814 ; 7th edit, by be Wetto; 9th edit, by Heiligstedt, 1858 ; transl.' into English, N. Y.) -.—Kritische Geschichte dn- hrbr. Sprache u. Schrift {Lc\\^z. 1815 ; 2d edit. 1^27) -.-De Peiitiifeiichi Sanmritani origine indole et auctoritate (Ilalle, 1815) : — Grammatisch-Krit. Lehrgebaude der hebr. Sprnche (2 vols., Leipz. 1817): — Uebersetzung des Prnpheten Je- saias mit einem phil.-krit. u. hist. Commentar (3 vols., Leipz, 18-'0-1821 ; 2d edit. 1829) : — Thesaurus pUl.
crit. ling. hehr. et chald. (Leipz. 1827-1853, S vols. ; part of the 3d vol. by Rodiger) : — Scripturm linguaque phcenicim monumentu (Leipz. 1837, 3 vols.). lie also wrote many valuable articles for the AUgemeine En- cijcl. of Ersch und Gruber, and translated Burckhardt's Travels to Syria and Palestine (Weimar, 1823, 2 vols.), with many valuable notes illustrating Biblical geog- rapiiy. See Gesenius, tine Erinnerung an seine Freunde (Berlin, lf<43) ; Ilerzog, Real-Encyhlop. v, 121-3.
Gesenius, Justus, a German divine and scholar, was born at Essbeck, in Hanover, July 6, IGOl, stud- ied theology at Helmstadt and Jena, and became pas- tor in Brunswick in 1629. In 1636 he became court preacher at Hildesheim, and finally councillor and general superintendent of Hanover. He died Sept. 18, 1673. His principal works are, Passionspredigten (Hanov. 1660) : — Trostpredigten (Hanov. 1661) ; and, tmder the nanie of Timotheus Fridlibius, Warum n-illsi du niclit KalhoUsch werden wie deine Vorfahren waren (on the conversion of the duke John Frederick to Ro- manism) (Hanov. 1669-72, 4 parts). He wrote also a number of h3'mns, which have been incorporated in the Hanoverian Hymn-book. — Pierer, Universal Lexi- con, s. v. ; Herzog, Real-EncijMop. v, 117. (J. N. P.)
Ge'.shani, or rather Geshan [as in the edit, of 1611] (Heb. Geyshan' , '{t"^}., filthy , Sept. Tijpmop v. r. 2a)yap,Vulg. Gesan), the third named of the sons of Jahdai (q. v.) among the descendants of Caleb (1 Chron. ii, 47). B.C. post 1612.
Ge'shem (Heb. id. d w^S, a shower, if Heb. ; Fiirst, firmness ; but more prob. the Arabic Jasim or Jahum, a historical name in Arabia Proper; Sept. Fj/oo-oO^t, Vulg. Gesatn), once (Nch. vi, G) in the prolonged form Gash':\iu (Heb. Gaskmu', ^-'^10, an Arabian (Neh. ii, 19 ; vi, 1), and one of the enemies of the Jews on the return from the exile, especially in the plots against the life of Nchemiah (Neh. vi, 2). B.C. 416. Ge- sliem, we may conclude, was an inhabitant of Arabia Petrrea, or of the Arabian Desert, and proba'. ly the chief of a tribe which, like most of the tribes on the eastern frontier of Palestine, was, in the time of the captivity and the subsequent period, allied with the Persians, or with any peoples threatening the Jewish nation. Geshem, like Sanballat and Tobiah, seems to have been one of the "governors beyond the river," to whom Nehemiah came, and whose mission "grieved them exceedingly, that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel" (Neh. ii, 10) ; for the wandering inhabitants of the frontier doubtless availed themselves largeh', in their predatory excur- sions, of the distracted state of Palestine, and dreaded the re-establishmcnt of the kingdom ; and the Ara- Ijians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites are recorded as having " conspired to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder" its repairing. See Nehemiah.