Bible Dictionary

Classic 19th-century Bible dictionary entries — names, places, and terms explained from Scripture, drawn from Easton, Smith, Hastings, Hitchcock & Schaff. — 7,288 entries

Gate.
GATE. 1 Sam 4:18. The entrances to walled cities are secured by gates of either wood, iron, or brass. Acts 12:10. Houses also were protected in the same way, and sometimes a door or passage was made …
Gath
A wine-vat, one of the five royal cities of the Philistines (Josh. 13:3) on which the ark brought calamity (1 Sam. 5:8, 9; 6:17). It was famous also as being the birthplace or residence of Goliath (1…
Gath-hepher
Wine-press of the well, a town of Lower Galilee, about 5 miles from Nazareth; the birthplace of Jonah (2 Kings 14:25); the same as Gittah-hepher (Josh. 19:13). It has been identified with the modern …
Gath-rimmon
Press of the pomegranate. (1.) A Levitical city in the tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:45; 21:24; 1 Chr. 6:69). (2.) Another city of the same name in Manasseh, west of the Jordan (Josh. 21:25), called also Bi…
Gathhepher, Or Gittahhepher
(wine-press on the hill), a town on the border of the territory of Zebulun, not far from Japhia, now ’Yafa, (Joshua 19:12,13) celebrated as the native place of the prophet Jonah. (2 Kings 14:25) El-M…
Gathrimmon
(press of the pomegranate)
Gaulanitis.
GAULANI'TIS. See Golan.
Gaza
Called also Azzah, which is its Hebrew name (Deut. 2:23; 1 Kings 4:24; Jer. 25:20), strong, a city on the Mediterranean shore, remarkable for its early importance as the chief centre of a great comme…
Gazabar
a treasurer
Gazathites, The
(Joshua 13:3) the inhabitants of Gaza.
Gazer.
GA'ZER. See Gezer.
Gazez
(shearer), a name which occurs twice in (1 Chronicles 2:46)—first as son of Caleb by Ephah his concubine, and second as son of Haran, the son of the same woman. The second is possibly only a repetiti…
Gazites, The
Inhabitants of Gaza. (Judges 16:2)
Gazzam
(devouring). The Bene-Gazzam were among the familiar of the Nethinim who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:48; Nehemiah 7:51) (B.C. 536.)
Geba
The hill, (2 Sam. 5:25 [1 Chr. 14:16, “Gibeon”]; 2 Kings 23:8; Neh. 11:31), a Levitical city of Benjamin (1 Kings 15:22; 1 Sam. 13:16; 14:5, wrongly “Gibeah” in the A.V.), on the north border of Juda…
Gebal
A line (or natural boundary, as a mountain range). (1.) A tract in the land of Edom south of the Dead Sea (Ps. 83:7); now called Djebal. (2.) A Phoenician city, not far from the sea coast, to the nor…
Gebalites
(1 Kings 5:18 R.V., in A.V. incorrectly rendered, after the Targum, “stone-squarers,” but marg. “Giblites”), the inhabitants of Gebal (2).
Geber
A valiant man, (1 Kings 4:19), one of Solomon’s purveyors, having jurisdiction over a part of Gilead, comprising all the kingdom of Sihon and part of the kingdom of Og (Deut. 2; 31).
Gebim
Cisterns, (rendered “pits,” Jer. 14:3; “locusts,” Isa. 33:4), a small place north of Jerusalem, whose inhabitants fled at the approach of the Assyrian army (Isa. 10:31). It is probably the modern el-…
Gedaliah
Made great by Jehovah. (1.) the son of Jeduthum (1 Chr. 25:3, 9). (2.) The grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah, and the father of Cushi (Zeph. 1:1). (3.) One of the Jewish nobles who conspired again…
Gedeon
The Greek form of the Hebrew name Gideon. (Hebrews 11:32)
Geder
A walled place, (Josh. 12:13), perhaps the same as Gederah or Gedor (15:58).
Gederah
The fortress; a fortified place, a town in the plain (shephelah) of Judah (Josh. 15:36). This is a very common Canaanite and Phoenician name. It is the feminine form of Geder (12:13); the plural form…
Gederathite
An epithet applied to Josabad, one of David’s warriors at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:4), a native of Gederah.
Gederathite, The
the native of a place called Gederah, apparently in Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 12:4)
Gederite, The
the native of some place named Geder or Gederah. (1 Chronicles 27:28)
Gederoth
(sheepfolds), a town in the low country of Judah. (Joshua 15:41; 2 Chronicles 28:18)
Gederothaim
(two sheepfolds), a town in the low country of Judah, (Joshua 15:36) named next in order to Gederah.
Gedor
A wall. (1.) A city in the mountains or hill country of Judah (Josh. 15:58), identified with Jedar, between Jerusalem and Hebron. (2.) 1 Chr. 4:39, the Gederah of Josh. 15:36, or the well-known Gerar…
Gehazi
Valley of vision, Elisha’s trusted servant (2 Kings 4:31; 5:25; 8:4, 5). He appears in connection with the history of the Shunammite (2 Kings 4:14, 31) and of Naaman the Syrian. On this latter occasi…