Godliness,
GOD'LINESS, piety resulting from the knowledge and love of God, and leading to the cheerful and constant obedience of his commands. 2 Pet 3:11. In 1 Tim 3:16 it imports the substance of revealed reli…
Gods
GODS. Rulers and judges are so called in Ex 22:28; Ps 82:6; John 10:34 because they represent God. GOG and MA'GOG. Eze 38:2. Magog was the name of one of Japheth's sons. Gen 10:2. It was also a gener…
Goel
In Hebrew the participle of the verb gaal, “to redeem.” It is rendered in the Authorized Version “kinsman,” Num. 5:8; Ruth 3:12; 4:1, 6, 8; “redeemer,” Job 19:25; “avenger,” Num. 35:12; Deut. 19:6, e…
Gog
(1.) A Reubenite (1 Chr. 5:4), the father of Shimei. (2.) The name of the leader of the hostile party described in Ezek. 38, 39, as coming from the “north country” and assailing the people of Israel …
Golan
Exile, a city of Bashan (Deut. 4:43), one of the three cities of refuge east of Jordan, about 12 miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee (Josh. 20:8). There are no further notices of it in Scripture. …
Gold.
GOLD. Gen 2:11. This heaviest and most malleable of metals is found at the present day chiefly in California and Australia. Several places are mentioned by the sacred writers as abounding in gold; su…
Golden Calf
(Ex. 32:4, 8; Deut. 9:16; Neh. 9:18). This was a molten image of a calf which the idolatrous Israelites formed at Sinai. This symbol was borrowed from the custom of the Egyptians. It was destroyed at…
Golden Candlestick
GOLD'EN CAN'DLESTICK. See Candlestick.
Goldsmith
(Neh. 3:8, 32; Isa. 40:19; 41:7; 46:6). The word so rendered means properly a founder or finer.
Golgotha
The common name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by the evangelists as meaning “the place of a skull” (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name represents in Greek lett…
Goliath
Great. (1.) A famous giant of Gath, who for forty days openly defied the armies of Israel, but was at length slain by David with a stone from a sling (1 Sam. 17:4). He was probably descended from the…
Gomer
Complete; vanishing. (1.) The daughter of Diblaim, who (probably in vision only) became the wife of Hosea (1:3). (2.) The eldest son of Japheth, and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah (Gen. 10…
Gomorrah
Submersion, one of the five cities of the plain of Siddim (q.v.) which were destroyed by fire (Gen. 10:19; 13:10; 19:24, 28). These cities probably stood close together, and were near the northern ex…
Goodly Trees
Boughs of, were to be carried in festive procession on the first day of the feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:40). This was probably the olive tree (Neh. 8:15), although no special tree is mentioned.
Goodman Of The House
GOODMAN OF THE HOUSE is the master of the house, irrespective of moral character. The term was in common use when the A.V. was made. Matt 20:11.
Goodness
In man is not a mere passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right to wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good.
Goodness Of God
A perfection of his character which he exercises towards his creatures according to their various circumstances and relations (Ps. 145:8, 9; 103:8; 1 John 4:8). Viewed generally, it is benevolence; a…
Gopher
A tree from the wood of which Noah was directed to build the ark (Gen. 6:14). It is mentioned only there. The LXX. render this word by “squared beams,” and the Vulgate by “planed wood.” Other version…
Gopher-wood
GO'PHER-WOOD. The ark was constructed of this material. Gen 6:14. There are many theories as to what gopher-wood was. One is that it was some resinous wood, such as cedar, pine, or fir. Still more pr…
Goshen.
GO'SHEN. The portion of Egypt assigned to Israel. Gen 45:5, Gen 45:10; Gen 46:28; Gen 47:27-50:8. It probably bordered on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, hence called Zoan or Tauis, Ps 78:12, and rea…
Gospel
A word of Anglo-Saxon origin, and meaning “God’s spell”, i.e., word of God, or rather, according to others, “good spell”, i.e., good news. It is the rendering of the Greek evangelion, i.e., “good mes…
Gospels
The central fact of Christian preaching was the intelligence that the Saviour had come into the world (Matt. 4:23; Rom. 10:15); and the first Christian preachers who called their account of the perso…
Gourd.
GOURD. Jon 4:6. Probably the plant which shaded the prophet was either the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis), which in the East grows rapidly to the height of even 15 feet, or, according to rapidly…
Government Of God
See PROVIDENCE.
Governments
(1 Cor. 12:28), the powers which fit a man for a place of influence in the church; “the steersman’s art; the art of guiding aright the vessel of church or state.”
Governor.
GOVERNOR. Matt 27:2. After Judaea became a province of the Roman empire, governors or procurators were appointed and sent thither from Rome. This was the office held by Pontius Pilate at the time of …
Gozan
A region in Central Asia to which the Israelites were carried away captive (2 Kings 17:6; 1 Chr. 5:26; 2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12). It was situated in Mesopotamia, on the river Habor (2 Kings 17:6; 18…
Grace
(1.) Of form or person (Prov. 1:9; 3:22; Ps. 45:2). (2.) Favour, kindness, friendship (Gen. 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 2 Tim. 1:9). (3.) God’s forgiving mercy (Rom. 11:6; Eph. 2:5). (4.) The gospel as disting…
Grace, Means Of
An expression not used in Scripture, but employed (1) to denote those institutions ordained by God to be the ordinary channels of grace to the souls of men. These are the Word, Sacraments, and Prayer…
Graft
The process of inoculating fruit-trees (Rom. 11:17-24). It is peculiarly appropriate to olive-trees. The union thus of branches to a stem is used to illustrate the union of true believers to the true…