GIBBONS
847
GIBBORIM
works were published bj' liis friend Lord Sheffield. The best editions of the " Decline and Fall" are that of Mil- man (Lond. 1S46, G vols. 8vo, 2d edit.), and that by Dr. Wm. Smith (1855, 8 vols. 8vo). In a literarj' point of view, tlie merits of this history are very great ; its style has a loftiness in harmonj' witli the grandeur of the theme ; its erudition is vast to a degree unlinown before in English writers of history ; its arrangement is lumi- nous, and its execution is sustained at the same point of excellence throughout. But Gibbon was an intldel, and his unbelief lurlvs in every page of his work where Christianity is nearl}' or remotely touched on. His skep- ticism leads him into manifold displays of unfairness, and even into inaccuracies, many of which are correct- ed in ^lilman's notes. Dr. J. M. Macdonald wrote an able article in the Bibliotheca Sacra (July, 18G8), de- fending Gibbon from the charge of infidelit}^ and seek- ing to account for the opposite opinion about him so generally adopted. The attempt is ver}' ingenious, but will not shake the established opinion. — Milman, Life of E. Gibbon (Lond. 1839, 8vo) ; Qnarterbj Revieio^ xii, .375; Ixii, 19G; Literary and Theol. Review, ii, 38; Chnstian Review, xiii, 34 ; National Review, Jan. 1856.
Gibbons, Thomas, D.D., a pious and eminent English dissenter, was born at Reak, near Cambridge, in 1720. His father, who Mas pastor of a Congrega- tional church at Olney, in Bucks, gave him the best education his circumstances would permit. In 1742 be became acquainted with Dr. Isaac Watts ; and bj^ showing him a volume of poems in manuscript, an intimate friendship was formed between them, whicli continued unabated to tho close of Dr. Watts's life. In 1743 Dr. Gibbons was called to the pastoral charge of the Independent church meeting in Haberdashers' hall, Chcapside, which he held till liis death, Feb. 22, 1785. He wrote Memoirs of Dr. Watts (1780, 8vo): — Poems, on several Occasions (1743): — Rhetoric; or, a View of its principal Tropes and Figures, in their Origin and Powers (17G7, 8vo) : — Hymns (17G9) : — Hymns, sec- ond series, entirely original (1784): — Lives and Me- moirs of eminently pious Women (1777, 2 vols. 8vo). Af- ter Dr. Gibbons's death, three volumes of sermons by him were published in 8vo bj' subscription. Some of his h3'mns are still used, and will continue to hold their place in Christian song. — Jones, Chi-istian Biog- raphj, p. 177 ; Darling, Cyclop. Bibliograph. i, 1244.
Gibborim, plur. of ^135, Gibhor' , a warrior (Isa. iii, 2 ; Ezck. xxxix, 20) ; especially spoken of David's noted braves or "mighty men" (2 Sam. xxiii, 8; 1 Kings 1,8; 1 Chron. xi, 2G; xxix, 24). See Cham- pion. The sons of tlie marriages mentioned in Gen. vi, 1-4, are called Gibborim' (D'^'^a.", from "13?, to be strong), a general name meaning powerful (JijipiaTai Kai TrdiTOc inrtpoTrrai Ka\ov, Josephus, Ant. i, 3, 1 ; yj/e TvaTSec tw vovv iKl^ijianavTiQ rot) Xoyi^eaOai K. T.\., Philo, Be Gignnt. p. 270; comp. Isa. xlix, 24; Ezek. xxxii, 21). They Mere not necessarily giants in our sense of the -word (Theodoret, Qurvst. 48). Yet, as M-as natural, these powerful chiefs Mere almost uni- versally represented as men of extraordinary stature. Tlie Sept. renders tlie word -yiyav-iQ, and call Nimrod a yiyaq Kin'i)y6i: (1 Chron. i, 10) ; Augustine calls them Staturosi (Be Cii: Dei, xv, 4) ; Chrysostoni jypwt <,- tv- fiijiciic, Theodoret T:aitptyidu<: (comp. Bar. iii, 26, evfii- yWiic, iinuTapivoi 7ni\f/(o)').
Tliese beings are chiefly interesting as connected with the question, Who M'ere their parents, " the sons of God" (nifl'^bxn "^32)? The opinions respecting the import of this latter title are various: (1.) ]\[en of poioer (inoi cvvaaTivui'Tun', Synim., Jerome, Qucest. Heb. ad loc. ; N^S'^n'l "i^Da, Onk. ; ni::;b-ii "133, Sa- mar. ; so too Selden, Vorst, etc.), (compare Psa. ii, 7 ; Ixxxii, 6; Ixxxix, 27; Mic. v, 5, etc.). The expres- sion will then exactly resemble Homer's ^loytvuQ Mn- mXijig, and the Chinese Tidn-tseu, "son of heaven," as
a title of the emperor (Gesenius, s. v. "2). But why should the union of the high-born and the loM-born produce offspring unusual for their size and strengtli ? (2.) Men with great gifts, " in the image of God" (Hit- ter, Schumann) ; (3.) Cainites arrogantlj' assuming the title (Paulas); or (4.) the pious Sethites (comp. Gen. iv, 2G ; Maimon. Mor. Neboch. i, 14 ; Suidas, s. v. S/;0 and lacayapiaq ; Cedren. Hist. Comp. p. 10 ; Augus- tine, De Civ. Dei, xv, 23 ; Chrysost. Horn. 22, in Gen. ; Thcod. in Gen. Qmest. 47 ; Cyril, c. Jul. is, etc.). A host of modern commentators catch at this explana- tion, but Gen. iv, 26 has probably no connection with the subject. Other texts quoted in favor of the view are Deut. xiv, 1, 2; Psa. Ixxiii, 15; Prov. xiv, 26; Hos. i, 10; iJom. viii, 14, etc. Still the mere antitlie- sis in the verse, as well as other considerations, tend strongl}- against this gloss, Mhich indeed is built on a foregone conclusion. Compare, however, the Indian notion of the two races of men Suras and Asuras (chil- dren of the sun and of the moon, Nork, Bramm. und Rabb. p. 204 sq.), and the Persian belief in the mar- riage of Jemshid M'ith a sister of a der, M'hence sprang black and impious men (Kalisch, Gen. p. 175). 5. Wor- shippers of false gods (TrauTs c,' ''''^^ Qiwv, Aqu.) making ■^32 = "servants" (comp. Deut. xiv, 1; Prov. xiv, 26; Exod. xxxii, 1 ; Deut. iv, 28, etc.). This vieM' is ably supported by Poole in Genesis of Earth and Man, p. 39 sq. (G.) Devils, such as the Incubi and Succubi. Such M'as the belief of the Cabbalists (Valesius, De S. Phi- losoph. cap. 8). That these beings can have intercourse with Momen St. Augustine declares it would be folly to doubt, and it M-as the universal belief in the East. Mohammed makes one of the ancestors of Balkis, queen of Sheba, a dremon, and Damir says ho had heard a Mohammedan doctor openly boast of having married in succession four daemon M'ives (Bochart, Hieroz. i, p. 747). Indeed, the belief still exists (Lane's Mod. Eg. i, ch. x, ad in.). (7.) Closely allied to this is the oldest opinion, that they were angels (Sept. dyyi- Xoi Toil BfoT', for such was the old readmg, not v'toi, August. De Civ. Dei, xv, 23 ; so too Josephus, Ant. i, 3, 1 ; Philo, De Gig. ii, 858 ; Clem. Alex. Strom, iii, 7, C9 ; Sulp. Sever. Hist. Script, in Orthod. 1, i, etc. ; compare Job i, 6; ii,l; Psa. xxix, 1; Job iv, 18). The rare expression "sons of God" certainly means angels in Job xxxviii, 7 ; i, 6 ; ii, 1 ; and that such is the mean- ing in Gen. vi, 4 also, M-as the most prevalent opinion both in the Jewish and early Christian Church. It seems, hoM'ever, to be directly negatived by Matt, xxii, 30. See Soxs of God.