3. After this there was a peace of 40 years, and we see Gideon in peaceful possession of his well-earned honors, and surrounded by the dignitj' of a numerous household (viii, 29-31). It is not improbable that, like Saul, he had owed a jjart of his popularity to his princely appearance (Judg. viii, 18). In this stage of liis life occur alike his most noble and his most ques- tionable acts. Gideon magnanimously rejected, on theocratic principles, the proflTer of hereditary roj'alty which the rulers in the warmth of their gratitude made him. He would only accept the golden ear-rings (q. V.) w hich the victors had taken from the ears of their slaughtered foes, and with these he made an ephod, and put it in his city Ophrah (Judg. viii, 22-27). But whether Gideon intended it as a commemorative tro- phy, or had a Levitical priest in his house, as Micah on Mount Ephraim, and the Danites at Laish, it is dif- ficult to determine (Judg. xvii, 5-13; xviii, 15-31). The probability is that the worship rendered tliere was in honor of Jehovah. It became, however, a snare to the Hebrews in the vicinity, who thus, having an ephod and worship in their own country, would not so read- ily go over to tlie tabernacle at Sliiloh, and conse- quently fell into idolatry by worshipping the gods of the Phcenicians (Judg. viii, 33). Gesenius and others (Thes. p. 135; Berthoau, p. 133 sq.) follow the Peshito in making the word ephod here mean an idol, chiefly on account of the vast amount of gold (1700 shekels) and other rich material appropriated to it. But it is simpler to understand it as a significant symbol of an unauthorized worship. (See Crit. Sacr. Thes. i, 425.) — Smith, s. V. ; Kitto, s. v. ; Fairbairn, s. v. See Ephod.
The evil consequences of this false step in religion were realized in the miserable sequel of Gideon's fam- ilj'. After his death his numerous sons were destroj'- ed hy Abimelech, their brother, who afterwards reign- ed at Shechem (Judg. viii, 35; ix, 5). (See Evans, Script. Biog. ii, 55; Kitto, Daily Bible Jllust. ad loc. ; Stanley, Jewish Church, i, 374 ; Duncan, Gideon, son of Joash, Lond. 1860). See Adimelech.
Gideo'ni (llch.Gidoni , '^3>"'? or "?"'^'"'?S another form of Gideon; Sept. Vactiovi), the father of Abi- dan, which latter was a prominent man of the trilje of Benjamin at the Exode (Numb, i, 11 ; ii, 22 ; vii, 60, 65; X, 24). B.C. 1657.
Gidgad. See Hor-Hagigdad.
Gi'dom (Heb. Gidom', t-."75, n felling ; Sept. Tf- hiv V. r. Ya\ac'd), a place east of Gibeah, towards the wilderness (of Bethel), where the routed Benjamites turned to escape to the rock Rimmon (Judg. xx, 45); hence probably in the plain lying north-east of !Mich- mash, and perhaps so called from being a clcnring in the woods that anciently covered tins tract (2 Kings ii, 24 ; 1 Sam. xiv, 25). See Mexukah. .
Gier-eagle [i. e. vulture-eagle] (CH'^, racham', Lev. xi, 18, and [with n paragogic] racha'mah, T^^ZTV^^ Deut. xiv. 17, prob. so called from its tenderness to its young; Sept. kIkvoq and 7rop(f)t''pior,\u]i;. porjdit/rio'), probably a smaller species of vulture, the Vidtur perc- noptcrns of Siam (Bochart, ///croj. iii, 56). It is about tlie size of a raven, has an almost triangular bald and wrinkled head, a -strong pointed beak, black at the tip, large e3'es and ears, the latter entirely on the outside, and long feet. The male is white, with black wings; the female has a brown body. It lives entirely upon
GTER-EAGLE
857
GIESELER
carrion. It is called in Arabic zoology radiam, the ex- act equivalent of the Ileb. name (Frcy tag's Selecta ex Hist, llaldei, Paris, 1819, p. 87), and is found in Arabia and Syria (Burckhardt, ii, GSl, 8G4 ; Russel's Aleppo, ii, 105), and likewise in Egypt, the streets of Cairo being infested with this disgusting but useful bird (Hassel- quist, Trav. p. 195). See Eagle. As to the identity
Egyptian Vulture (Percno2}ferus yeopJinm).
of the bird in question, Gesner had alreadj' figured (De Aquila quern Percnopterian vacant^ p. 199) the Barbary variety, and pointed out the rachani of Scripture as the identical species ; but Bruce first clearl}' establisiied the fact of its agreement with the Eg^-ptiau variety, popularly called " Pharaoh's chicken." The racha- ma of the former writer is apparantly the Ak-Bohha (" wiiite father") of the Turks, and forms one of a small group of vulturidie, sub-gcnerically distinguish- ed by the name of PercnopUrus and Neophron, differ- ing from the other vultures in the bill l)eing longer, straight, more attenuated, and then uncinated, and in the I lack of the head and neck being furnished with longish, narrow, sub-erectile feathers, liut, like true vul- tures, having the pouch on the breast exposed, and the sides of the head and throat bare and livid. The great wing-coverts are partly, and the quill-feathers entire- ly of a black and blackish ash-color ; those of the head, nape, smaller wing-coverts, body, and tail, in gen- eral white, with tinges of buff and rufous ; the legs are flesh-color, and rather long ; and the toes are armed with sharp claws. The females are brownish. In size the species is little bulkier than a raven, but it stands high on the legs. Always soiled with blood and garbage, offensive to the eye and nose, it j-et is protected in Egj'pt both \>y law and public opinion, for the SM'vices it renders in clearing the soil of dead car- casses putrefying in the sun, and the cultivated fields of innumerable rats, mice, and other vermin. Pious Moslems at Cairo and other places bestow a dailj' por- tion of food upon them, and upon their associates the kites, who are seen hovering conjointly in great num- bers about the city. The rncham extends to Pales- tine in the summer season, but becomes scarce towards the north, where it is not specially protected ; and it accompanies caravans, feasting on their leavings and on dead camels, etc. Mr. Tristram says it lireeds in great numbers in the valle}' of the Kedron (/i/s, i, 23). Naturalists have referred this vulture to the -mpKvo-n-- repoQ or opinriXapyoQ of Aristotle (Hist. An. ix, 22, 2, ed. Schneid.). The species indicated in the Scriptures is now generally admitted to lie the white carrion vulture of Egyfit, Percnopterus Xeophron yEf/npliacus, whicli differs hut slightly from the above description. "With respect to the oriirinal imposition of the name Racham, as connected with any unusual affection for its }-oung, there is no modern ornithologist who as- signs such a quality to percnopteri more than to other birds, although it is likely that as the pelican empties its bag of fish, so this bird may void the crop to feed