Ghibellins or Ghibellines. See Guelphs.
Ghislain, or Guillain, St., called the apostle of Belgian Gaul, is said to have been a native of Athens. He came to Gaul in 633, and in 641, with the assist- ance of king Dagobert, he founded the convent of St. Ghislain (originally St. Peter's cell). The legend says that he was led to that spot by an eagle, who guided him in the search after his ecclesiastical vestments, which had been stolen by a she-bear. After Walde- trude's husband had retired from the world and found- ed the convent of Ilaumont, Ghislain induced Walde- trude to found one at Castrilocus : this was the first settlement of the present city of Mons, and the origin of its chnpter. Ghislain died in 687, and was canon- ized in 925. Miracles were said to take place at his
GHOST
844
GIANT
tomb, especially tlie cure of cpilcp?j', which is still conunonly called in Beli^ium St. Ghishiin's Evil. His life was written in the 12lh century by I'liilippe De- harveiig, abbot of Bonnc-Esperance. See A eta Sancto- rum Orel. Scincti Benedkti; Baillet, Vie des Saints, llth Oct. ; Iloefer, A'ouv. Biog. Generale, xx, 403 sq.
Ghost, an old English word of Saxon origin (Germ. fjeist), equivalent to soul or siririt, occurs as the transla- tion of the Ileb. nsl?, ne'phesli, and the Greek Trvtvua, both signifying breath, life, spirit, or living principle, by which and'siniilar terms they are elsewhere rendered (Job xi, '20 ; Jer. xv, 9 ; Matt, xxvii, 50 ; John xix, 30). It frequently occurs in the N. T. in the sacred name " Holy Ghost." See Spirit. Other phrases in which it occurs are those rendered to " give up the ghost," etc., all simply signifying to die, e. g. i'^Jito escpire (Lam. i, 19 ; Gen. xxv, 17 ; xxxv, 29 ; xlix, 33 ; Job iii, 11 ; x, 18 ; xiii, 19 ; xiv, 10) ; tKTrviw, to breathe out, etc., one's life (Marie xv, 37, 39 ; Luke xxiii, 46) ; tK-ipL'XM, to breathe out one's last (Acts v, 5, 10 ; xii, 23). Many commentators suppose, from the original terms used in the Gospels (a^T/zcf to Trj'ivfia, ^latt. xxvii, 50; TvapicoJKs TO 7rj'£f'/.(«, John xix, 30), something preter- natural in Christ's death, as being the effect of his roli- tion. But there is nothing in the words of Scripture to countenance such an opinion, though our Saviour's volition must be supposed to accompany his offering himself for the sins of the world. The Greek words rendered yielded up), and gave up, are no other than such as is frequently used, both in the Septuagint (Gen. xxxv, 18 ; comp. Psa. xxxi, 5 ; Eccles. xii, 7) and the classical writers, of expiiration, either with the spirit or the soul (Joscphus, Ant. v, 2, 8 ; vii, 13, 3 ; yElian, //. An. ii, 1 ; Herod, iv, 190. See Spectre.
Ghostly (i. e. spii-itunl) occurs in the expressions "ghosfli/ enemy" and ^'■ghostly counsel,^'' found in the Catechism and in the Communion- service of the Church of England, signifying the one our spiritual enemy Satan ; the other, spiritual advice preparatory to partaking of the Eucharist (Eden, s. v.). See Spir- it, Holy.
Gi'ah (Heb. Gi'ach, ll''5, a breaking forth sc. of a fountain; Sept. Vd v. r. Vai, Vulg. simply vallis), a place (probably marked by a spring) opposite the hill Ammah, on the road to the "wilderness (east?) of Gibeon," where Joab and Abishai ceased at sun-down from the pursuit of Abner after the death of Asahel (1 Sam. ii, 24). It is perhaps identical with tlie " pool" mentioned in ver. 13, although in that case the parties must have become far separated in the rout, since they would thus have returned to the spot where the battle began. See Gibeon.
Giant. These beings of unusual height are found in the earh' historj'of all nations, sometimes of a pure- ly human origin, but more frequently supposed to have partaken also, in some way, of the supernatural and the divine. The scriptural history is not witliout its gi- ants, and the numerous theories and disputes which have arisen in consequence render it necessary to give a brief view of some of tlie main opinions and curious inferences to which the mention of them leads. The English word has several representatives in the origi- nal Hebrew.
1. In Gen. vi, 4, we have the first mention of giants (D"'3'^S3, nephilim', according to some from the Aral)ic, but better from ?E3, to fall, q. d. causing to fall, i. e. vio- lent; ^ept. y iyai'Ttc, Xnlg. gigantes ; but more discrim- inatingly Aquil.t7r(7r(-roi'r«c. Symn. j^unoi) — "There were giants in the eartli in tliose days ; and also after that, when the sons of (iod came in unto tlie daugh- ters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became might}' men, which were of old men of re- nown." A somewhat similar jntercourse is made men- tion of in the second verse of the same chapter — "The sons of God saw the daughters ef men that thej' were
fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose" (see Jour. Sac. Lit. Oct. 18G7). Wellbeloved (ad loc.) and others translate and interpret the passage so as to make it spealc merely of " men of violence ; men who beat down, oppressed, and plundered the weak and de- fenceless." Doubtless this is an agreement with the meaning of the original word (which occurs also in Numb, xiii, 33, in connection with the Anakim). But these giants, as in other cases, would naturally be des- ignated bj"- a descriptive name, and great strength is generall}' accompanied by violence and oppression. In our judgment, the bearing of the passage obviously fa- vors the common notion of giants, and that the rather because their orit^in is traced to some unexplained con- nection with "the sons of God," that is, with beings of high endowmeiits, if not of a superior nature. We have here given, in all probability, the true basis of all those mythological heroes with which the history of ancient nations is found to begin, such as Hercules and others of a like stamp. It is also especially worthy of note that these are ascribed to a similar parentage, half human, half celestial. Tlieir famous deeds have been immortalized by their deification in ever}' pro- fane system of religion. This appears to us a more substantial interpretation of the Greek and Roman, and even of the Indian and Scandinavian systems of mythology, than the subtle resolution of these semi- ftibulous characters into symbols of the various powers of nature, after the mythical theory of the German writers. It is simply the traditions of these cases of antediluvian prowess and fame that the early poets of each nation have wrought up into the divine person- ages of their heroic age. 'We merelj' add that, by the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" in the above passage, w^e arc doubtless to understand the de- scendants of Seth and Cain respectively (see Gesenius, Heb. Thesaur. p. 9G) ; yet Kitto inclines to regard the former as angelic beings (^Dailg Illust. ad loc). See Nephilim.