A he-goat was the symbol of the IMacedonian em- pire in the prophetic vision of Daniel (clnip. viii, 5) — a
Coin of Arche'.aus, king of Macetluu,
GOATH
900
GOCH
goat that had a notable horn between his ej'es. It is interesting to know that this was the recognised sj'm- bol of their nation by the Macedonians themselves.
There are coins ofArchelaus, king of Macedon (B.C. 413), having as their reverse a one-horned goat; and there is a gem in the Florentine collection, on which are engraved two heads united at their occiputs, the one that of a ram, the other that of a one-horned goat. By this is expressed the union of the Persian and
Perso-JIacedoniim Gem.
Macedonian kingdoms, and Mr. T. Combe, who gives us the information, thinks that "it is extremely prob- able that the gem was engraved after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great" (Taylor's Calmet, ii, 83 sq.). See Macedonia.
Goats' Hair (Heb. goats simply; see above) was used by Moses in making the curtains of the taber- nacle (Exod. XXV, 4), and, from what we now know of it, seems to have been particularlj^ suitable. The hair of the goats of Asia, Phrygia, and Cilicia, especially of the Angora breed, which is at the present day man- ufactured into stuffs, is very bright and fine, and hangs to the ground ; in beauty it almost equals silk, and is never sheared, but combed off. The shepherds care- fully and frequently wash these goats in rivers, and the women of the country spin the hair ; it is then •worked and d3'ed. The natives attribute the qualitj^ of the hair to the soil of the countrj'. (See a treatise on the Pastoral Life and Manvfactures of the Ancients, N. Y. 1845, chap, iv.) "The Cashmere breed has long been celebrated as the source from which ai'e obtained those elegant Indian shawls which fetch so high a price in Europe. It is carried on men's backs over the ridges of the Himalaj'^as, across frightful preci- pices, along narrow ledges over sharp, snow-covered peaks climbed by wooden ladders, across rattling cane- bridges over foaming torrents, until it arrives,- loaded with extortionate taxes, at Cashmere, where the shawls are woven. Thence they are sent by mountain roads similarly beset with dangers and difficulties, and sub- ject at every step to extortionate tril)ute, into Europe, either through Turkej', or over the Caucasus through Eussia" (Fairbairn). See Tent.
GOAT, SCAPE. See Scape-goat.
GOAT, WILD. See Wild Goat.
Go'ath (or, rather, Goaii', n"h, a lowing; the final n being local in !ir:>h, "to Goath," Sept. I'i tKKiKTwv Xifiuiv ; Vulg. Goath(i), a place in the vicinity of Jerusalem, mentioned only in Jer. xxxi, 39 as Ijdng beyond "the hill Gareb," in the compass of the city from between the corner-tower (on the north-west) and the valley of Tophct (on the south) ; hence, per- haps, some eminence on the western bank of the val- ley of Gihon, See Jehusalem. In accordance with the etymology is the rendering of the Targum, which has for Goah xb.IJi n="'n3=thc heifer's pool. The Syriac, on the other hand, has leromfo, "to the emi- nence," perhaps reading nxh (Furst, //rmr/?fj.p. 2G9i). Barclay (City of Great King, p. 118) essentially agrees ■with the above location, although he seeks to identify the name with Golgotha (p. 78), which is forl)idden b}' the presence of the 'J in Goah, and othe'r philological considerations. See Golgotha.
Gob (Heb. id. 35 and 315, a pit ; Sept. ro/3 t. r. Ft J and 'Po/(,Vulg. GoV), the scene of two of David's encounters with tlie Philistines, in the former of which Sibbechai slew the giant Saph, and in the latter Elha/- nan slew the brother of Goliath (2 Sam. xxi, 18, 19). In the parallel passage (1 Chron. xx, 4) it is called by its more usual name Gezer (see Schwarz, Palest, p. 131) ; and this, as well as the omission of any localitj' for the second event, is supported bj' Josephus (Ant. vii, 12, 2). On the other hand, some copies of the Sept. and the Syriac have Gath in the first case, a name which in Hebrew much resembles Gob ; and this appears to be borne out by the account of a third and subsequent fight, which all agree happened at Gath (2 Sam. xxi, 20; 1 Chron. xx, G), and which, from the terms of the narrative, seems to have occurred at the same place as the others. The suggestion of Nob — which Davidson (^Hebr. Text.') reports as in man}'- MSS., and which is also found in the Compl. ed. of the Sept. — is not admissible, on account of the situation of that place. See David.
Gob. See Locust.
Gobel, Jean Baptiste Joseph, a Roman Cath- olic bisliop of France, was born in 1727 at Thann, in tap- per Alsace. He was educated in the Collegium Ger- manicum in Rome, became canon at Porentruj', Switz- erland, and in 1772 bishop in part, of Lydda, and coad- jutor of the bishop of Basle. In 1789 he went as a delegate of the clergy to the Etats Generaur, allied himself with the Jacobins, became constitutional bishop of Paris, Upper Marne and Upper Rhine, voted on No- vember 7, 1793, for the abolition of Christianity, and laid down his ecclesiastical dignities in the hands of the Convention. Havingfallen into disfavor with Robe- spierre, he was executed April 13, 1794. (A. J. S.)