by Wright, p. 471) and Quarcsmius (Ehidd. T. S. lib. iv, per. V, ch. 7) appear to have been the first to no- tice tliem, not more than three centuries ago ; the for- mer arguing against ami the latter in favor of their reputed antiquity, but nobody reading their accounts ■would imagine that there were tlien no more than eight, the locality of Gethsemanc being supposed the same. Parallel chiinis, to bo sure, arc not wanting in the ce- dars of Lebanon, wliich are still visited with so much enthusiasm ; in the terebinth, or oalv of Mamre, wliich was stinding in the days of Constantine the Great, and even worshijiped (Vales, ad Euscb. Vit. Const, iii, 53); and the tig-trce (Jicus elastica) near Nerbudda, in In- dia, which native historians assert to be 2500 years old (Patterson's Journal of a Tour in Egjjpt. p. 202, note). Still more appositely, there were olive-trees near Liternum 250 j'ears old, according to Pliny, in bis time, wliich are recorded to have survived to the middle of the 10th century {Xoiiv. Diet, de Hist. Nat. Paris, 1846, xxix, Gl). There can, indeed, be no cer- tainty as to the precise age of the trees ; but it is ad- mitted by all travellers that the eight which still stand upon the spot in question bear the marks of a venera- ble antiquity, having gnarled trunks and a thin foli- age. Several young trees have been planted to sup- ply the place of those which have disappeared (Olin's Travels, ii, 115). Some years ago the plot of ground was bought by the Latin Church ; and, having been enclosed hj a wall, the interior is laid out in walks and flower-beds after the fashion of a modern Euro- pean garden : tlie guardian juidre, however, still points out to pilgrims not only "the grotto of the agon}-," but also the spot where Judas betrayed Jesus, and that where the three disciples slept (Geramb, Pilgrimage to Palestine, i, 03 sq.). Mr. G. Kobinson says : " The grot to which our Saviour retired, and where, 'fiilling to the ground' in the agony of his soul, and sweating 'as it were great drops of blood,' he was comforted by an angel (Luke xxii, 43, 44), is still shown and vener- ated as such. It is excavated in the rock, and the descent to it is by a flight of rudeh'-cut stops. The form of the interior is circular, about fifteen feet in diameter, and the roof, which is supported by pilasters, is perforated in tlic middle to admit light. There are some remains of sepulchres in the sides" (^Travels in Palestine, Par. 18.37, i, 128). The Armenian or Greek Church, however, denies that this is the actual site, and has fixed upon another as the proper one, at some little distance to the north of it. But both sites have been deemed by many writers as too public for the privacy of prayer (Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 284). The solemn quietude of tlie Latin site, however, is strongly commented upon by Bartlett {}Valks about Zion, p. 98). Dr. Roliinson remarks that there is noth- ing particular in tlie traditionary plot to mark it as tlie garden of Gcthsemane, for adjacent to it are many similar enclosures, and many olive-trees equally old (^Researches, i, .34(i). He admits, however, the proba- bility tliat this is the site which Eusebius and Jerome had in view, and as no other site is suggested as en- titled to superior credit, we may he content to receive the traditional indication (Tischcndorf, Reise in dem Orient, i, 312). It has been visited and described by nearly everj' modern traveller in Palestine. Some have even heard the ancient name given in connection witli til is spot, l)Ut this was prol)ably borrowed by the Arabs from the Christian traditions. — Kitto, s. v. ; Smitli, s. v. See Jeuusalkji.
Geii'el (^N^XJ, elevation of God; Sept. Tovhl)\), son of ]\Iachi of the trilie of Gad, and one of the com- missioners sent bv Moses to explore Canaan (Numb, xiii, 15). B.C. 1657.
Geiilinx, Arnold, a Belgian philosopher, born about 1625 at Antwerp, dieil about 1G68 as professor of (ihilosophy at Leyden. He at first taught the clas- sics and the Cartesian philosophy at Louvain, but sub-
sequently went to Leyden, where he abjured Cathol- icism, and finally obtained the chair of philosophy, which he retained until his death. He was the most remarkable disciple of Des Cartes prior to Spinoza and Malebranche, and his writings contain the germs of some of the doctrines of tliese later philosophers. He in particular developed the hypothesis of occasional causes. He wrote Ethica (Amsterdam, 1665) ; Log'ica (Amsterd. 16G2); Metuphi/sica (Amsterd. 1691). (A. J. S.)
Gez. See Locust.
Ge'zer (Ileb. id. "i"?, prob. a precipice, from ^t5, to cut off; Sept. r«'^fp, but in Chron. vi, 67 and xx, 4 FasEp, in 1 Chron. xiv, 16 r«^/;pn' ; in pause Ga'zer, 1p, which Ewald, Isr. Gesch. ii, 42'/, note, deems the original form), an ancient city of Canaan, wliose king, Horam, or Elam, coming to the assistance of Lachish, was defeated and probablj- killed, with all his people, b}' Joshua (Josh, x, 33 ; xii, 12). The town, however, is not said to have been destroj-ed ; it formed one of the landmarks on the southern boundarj' of Ephraim, not far from the lower Beth-horon, towards tlie Medi- terranean (xvi, 3), the western limit of the tribe (1 Chron. vii, 28). It was allotted, with its suburbs, to the Koliathite Levites (Josh, xxi, 21 ; 1 Chron. vi, 67) ; but the original inhabitants were not dispossessed (Judg. i, 29) ; so' that in the time of David the Philis- tine territory seems to have included it (2 Sam. x, 25 ; 1 Chron. XX, 4) ; and even down to the reign of Solo- m.on the Canaanites (or, according to the Sept. addi- tion to Josh, xvi, 10, the Canaanites and Perizzites) were still dwelling there, and paying tribute to Israel (1 Kings ix, IG). At this time it must, in fact, have been independent of Israelitish rule, for Pharaoh had on some occasion burnt it to the ground and killed its inhabitants, and then presented the site to his daugh- ter, Solomon's queen. But it w^as immediately rebuilt by the latter king (1 Kings ix, 15-21); and, though not heard of again till after the captivity, yet it plaj-ed a somewhat prominent part in the later struggles of the nation, being the Gazera (ra^ijpa, 1 Blacc. iv, 15 ; vii, 45), or Gazara (^Failapa, 1 Mace, xv, 28, 35 ; xiii, 53; 2 Mace, x, 32), of the Apocrypha and Jo^ephus (raZapa, Ant. xiii, 9, 2), who once calls it Gadara (Fa^ann, Ant. xiii, 9, 2). Straho (xvi, 759) also men- tions a town called Gadaris (VacapiiS). Ewald (Gesch. iii, 280), somewhat arbitrarily, takes Gezer and Geskur to he the same, and sees in the destruction of the for- mer by Pharaoh, and the simultaneous expedition of Solomon to Ilamath-zobah, in the neighborhood of the latter, indications of a revolt of the Canaanites, of whom the Geshurites formed the mo.^t powerful rem- nant, and whose attempt against the new monarch was thus frustrated. In one place Gob is given as identi- cal with Gezer (1 Cliron. xx, 4 ; comp. 2 Sam. xxi, 18). Gezer was pcrliajis the original seat of the Gezrites (q. V.) whom David attacked (1 Sam. xxvii, 8), in the vicinity of the Amalekites ; and as they are mention- ed in connection with tlie Geshurites, the}' may have lived a considerable distance north of Philistia. Fi- nally, Mount Gerizim (q. v.) appears to have derived its name from the vicinity of this tribe (compare the name A r-Gerizini, by Theodotius, in Eusebius, Prtpp. Evang. ix, 22).