Gracious — Gymnasium
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Gracious — Gymnasium
Gracious - gra'-shus (chanan; charis): In general, the word means "to favor," "to show kindness" to an inferior and "to be compassionate." All Old Testament passages are derived from the same root, and yet there are two evident shades of meaning derived from it. (1) As above, "favorable" or, causative, "to cause to be gracious," as "Yahweh make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee" (Numbers 6:25); "And the Lord was gracious unto them" (2 Kings 13:23 the King James Version); "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion" (Psalms 145:8 the King James Version). (2) In a modified sense, "graceful," "winsome" or "attractive," as applied particularly to persons and things. Used thus 3 times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament. "A gracious woman retaineth honor" (Proverbs 11:16 the King James Version; compare Ecclesiastes 10:12 and Luke 4:22).ISBE Gracious.2
The word is used once in the New Testament from root of Greek word chrestos, meaning "useful" as a benefit: "if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:3).ISBE Gracious.3
In the main, however, the adjective is applied in the Old Testament to Yahweh, as indicative of His favor and mercy, His long-suffering and general inclination of favor and kindness.ISBE Gracious.4
Walter G. ClippingerISBE Gracious.5
Graecia - gre'-sha.ISBE Graecia.2
Graft - graft (egkentrizo; the Revised Version (British and American) "graft"; the King James Version, "graff"): The word occurs 6 times in Romans 11:1-36. Paul assumed that those living about Rome were familiar with the process of grafting olive trees, for olive culture had been adopted by the Greeks and Romans in Paul's time. The wild olive trees (Arabic colloquial, zeitun berri) are cut back, slits made on the freshly sawed branch ends, and two or three grafts from a cultivated olive (Arabic colloquial, zeitun jouwi) are inserted in such a way that the bark of the scion and of the branch coincide. The exposed ends are smeared with mud made from clay, and then bound with cloth or date straw, which is held by thongs made from the bark of young mulberry branches. The fruit thus obtained is good. Wild olives cannot be made cultivated olives by engrafting, as Paul implies (Romans 11:24), but a wild olive branch thus grafted would thrive. So Gentiles would flourish spiritually when grafted into the fullness of God's mercy, first revealed to the world through Israel.ISBE Graft.2
See AGRICULTURE; GARNER.ISBE Grain.3
Granary - gran'-a-ri.ISBE Granary.2
See GARNER; STOREHOUSES.ISBE Granary.3
Grapes, Wild - (be'ushim, Isaiah 5:2, 4): A word closely allied to bo'shah, Job 31:40, translated "cockle" (which see). It implies something noisome or worthless, but no particular fruit.ISBE Grapes, Wild.2
Grasp - grasp: The word harpagmos (Philippians 2:6), is rendered by the King James Version "robbery," by the Revised Version (British and American) "a prize," and by the American Standard Revised Version "a thing to be grasped." By derivation the term may denote either an act of seizing or the aim or result of the action. In the context Paul is discussing, not Christ's opinion of His equality with God, but His amazing self-sacrifice in laying aside His equally for our sakes. He but laid it aside for us. It is better to render with the Revised Version (British and American) "a prize."ISBE Grasp.2
(1) chatsir, from a root meaning "greenness"; compare Arabic Khudra, which includes grasses and green vegetables (1 Kings 18:5; 2 Kings 19:26; Job 40:15; Psalms 104:14, etc.). Isaiah 15:6 is translated in the King James Version "have," the Revised Version (British and American) "grass"; Proverbs 27:25, English Versions of the Bible "hay," margin "Hebrew grass"; Numbers 11:5 English Versions of the Bible translates "leeks." It is a term for herbage in general.ISBE Grass.3
(2) deshe', from root meaning "to sprout abundantly." Generally translated "tender grass" (Genesis 1:11 f; 2 Samuel 23:4; Job 6:5; Isaiah 15:6; 66:14; Jeremiah 14:5, etc.); translated "grass" (Job 6:5; Jeremiah 14:5); translated "herb" (2 Kings 19:26; Psalms 27:2; Isaiah 37:27; 66:14). In Jeremiah 50:11 we have "heifer at grass" (deshe') in the King James Version and the Revised Version, margin, but in the Revised Version (British and American) "heifer that treadeth out the grain." (dethe'), the Aramaic form, occurs in Daniel 4:15, 23, and is translated "tender grass."ISBE Grass.4
(3) chashash, probably "dry" or "cut grass"; compare Arabic chashesh, "dry fodder" or "cut grass" (Isaiah 5:24, the King James Version "chaff," the Revised Version (British and American) "dry grass"; Isaiah 33:11, English Versions of the Bible "chaff").ISBE Grass.5
(4) leqesh, from root meaning "to come late," hence used in Amos 7:1 for the "latter growth" of grass after mowing.ISBE Grass.6
(5) yereq, literally, "green thing" (Numbers 22:4, elsewhere translated "herb").ISBE Grass.7
(6) `esebh (Deuteronomy 11:15, etc.), generally translated "herb" (for (5) and (6) see HERB).ISBE Grass.8
(7) chortos (Matthew 6:30; 14:19; Mark 6:39; Luke 12:28; John 6:10; James 1:10-11; 1 Peter 1:24; Revelation 8:7; 9:4); translated "blade" (Matthew 13:26; Mark 4:28); translated "hay" (1 Corinthians 3:12).ISBE Grass.9
There are 243 species of true grasses (Natural Order, Gramineae) in Palestine, but Hebrew, like modern Arabic, does not discriminate between these and other herbs which together make up herbage. Actual turf is practically unknown in Palestine, and grass seed is not artificially sown; young green barley is used in the neighborhood of towns as fresh fodder for horses and cattle. It is not the native custom to cut herbage for hay, though the writer has seen many carloads of sweet-smelling hay being carried from the land by Circassian settlers, East of the Jordan.ISBE Grass.10
The "grass upon the house tops" (Psalms 129:6; Isaiah 37:27), the growth which springs from the seeds mingled with the mud of which the roof is made, springs up quickly with the rains, but as quickly dries up before it reaches half its normal height--or not infrequently is set on fire.ISBE Grass.11
Dew, rain or showers upon the grass are mentioned (Deuteronomy 32:6; Proverbs 19:12; Micah 5:7; Psalms 72:6, "rain upon the mown grass," i.e. the grass eaten short by cattle).ISBE Grass.12
E. W. G. MastermanISBE Grass.13
Grasshopper - gras'-hop-er.ISBE Grasshopper.2
Grate; Grating - grat, grat'-ing (mikhbar, resheth; the King James Version Grate): This "grating of network of brass" (Exodus 27:4; 38:4), called also "the net" (Exodus 27:4 f), and "grating of brass" (Exodus 38:4), was that reticulated casting or wrought work of bronze which, in the tabernacle system, formed an element of the altar of sacrifice. Its position is well defined: "Thou shalt put it under the ledge round the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar" (Exodus 27:5; compare Exodus 38:4). The altar being a hollow box--"hollow with planks" (Exodus 27:8)--3 cubits high, overlaid with brass, and presumably filled with stones, there appears to have been a ledge round about it halfway from the base, from which depended vertically this grating of bronze. On the grating were four rings through which the staves were passed by which the altar was borne (Exodus 27:4, 7). If the ledge was for the priests to stand on while handling the sacrifices on the altar, the grating need be thought of only as an ornamental support for the ledge. Others ascribe to it different uses.ISBE Grate; Grating.2
W. Shaw CaldecottISBE Grate; Grating.3
Grave (1) - grav.ISBE Grave (1).2
Grave (2) - (Adj.).ISBE Grave (2).2
Grave; Graving - grav'-ing.ISBE Grave; Graving.2
See CRAFTS; ENGRAVING.ISBE Grave; Graving.3
Gravel - grav'-el (chatsats, from root chatsats, "to divide." Kindred roots have the meaning of "to cut," "to hew," "to sharpen," hence chets, "arrow" (2 Kings 13:17; Psalms 64:7 and often); compare Arabic chacca, "to fall to the lot of," chiccah, "portion"): In Proverbs 20:17, we have:ISBE Gravel.2
"Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man;ISBE Gravel.3
But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel."ISBE Gravel.4
And in Lamentations 3:16:ISBE Gravel.5
"He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; heISBE Gravel.6
hath covered me with ashes."ISBE Gravel.7
The only other occurrence of the word is in Psalms 77:17, where it is the equivalent of chets, "arrow" (see supra):ISBE Gravel.8
"The clouds poured out water;ISBE Gravel.9
The skies sent out a sound:ISBE Gravel.10
Thine arrows also went abroad."ISBE Gravel.11
Proverbs 20:17 and Lamentations 3:16 both suggest the frequent occurrence of grit in the coarse bread, the source of the grit being not necessarily the grindstone, but possibly even small stones originally mingled with the wheat and never properly separated from it.ISBE Gravel.12
Gravity - grav'-i-ti (semnotes): The word, meaning properly "venerableness," "sanctity," is used in 2 Maccabees 3:12 of the "sanctity" of the temple. In 1 Timothy 3:4 the writer declares that a characteristic of a bishop should be that he has "his children in subjection with all gravity." Titus is enjoined (2:7 f) in his "doctrine" (teaching) to show "uncorruptness, gravity, sound speech (Revised Version), that cannot be condemned" (compare 1 Timothy 3:8). In 1 Timothy 2:2 the same word is translated "honesty" (the Revised Version (British and American) "gravity"), "that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity." A better rendering of semnotes might be "dignity" or "dignified seriousness" (Olshausen), which quality is necessary, both on the part of parents in relation to their children, if they are to be properly trained, and on the part of preachers and teachers, if their "doctrine" is to be worthily represented. All mere lightness of demeanor (the opposite of gravity) tells against the great trusts committed to both parents and teachers (compare 1 Timothy 3:11; Titus 2:2). Such "gravity" or "dignified seriousness" ought indeed to characterize Christian demeanor in general, as in 1 Timothy 2:2 above.ISBE Gravity.2
See COLORS ;HOARY .ISBE Gray.3
Grease - gres (chelebh, "fat," "suet"): The word occurs once in the metaphorical sense "prosperous," then dull, gross, brutal: "Their heart is as fat as grease" (Psalms 119:70; compare Isaiah 6:10, and see FAT).ISBE Grease.2
Great; Greatness - grat, grat'-nes: "Great" occurs very often in Scripture. The chief words so translated are gadhol, rabh; megas, polus.ISBE Great; Greatness.2
(1) In the Old Testament many other terms are employed: (a) gadhol is used to express greatness in various senses, chiefly of magnitude, including excellence, e.g. "great lights" (Genesis 1:16); "the great city" (Genesis 10:12); "a great nation" (Genesis 12:2); "a great sight" (Exodus 3:3); "Moses was very great" (Exodus 11:3); "the great God" (Deuteronomy 10:17; Nehemiah 1:5); "great is Yahweh" (Psalms 48:1). It is sometimes translated by "mighty" (Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:21, "a mighty God," the Revised Version (British and American) "great"). It is also used to designate the high priest (literally, "great," Leviticus 21:10; Zechariah 3:1, etc.); also to express the "elder" of a family, e.g. Genesis 27:1, "Esau his eldest son," the Revised Version (British and American) "elder"; probably also of great stature: "a great man among the Anakims," the Revised Version (British and American) "the greatest" (Joshua 14:15). (b) rabh denotes, rather, quantity, number, therefore, often, "many" (Genesis 21:34, etc.; Exodus 2:23 the Revised Version (British and American), etc.); "abundant" (Exodus 34:6, the English Revised Version "plenteous"), and similar terms; thus we have "a great people" (Joshua 17:14); "His mercies are great," the Revised Version, margin "many" (2 Samuel 24:14; 1 Chronicles 21:13); "Great was the company," the Revised Version (British and American) "a great host" (Psalms 68:11); "great reward" (Psalms 19:11); "Mine iniquity .... is great" (Psalms 25:11); "exceedingly" (Psalms 123:3). In the Septuagint rabh is, for the most part, translated by polus. But it is used for "great" in other senses, e.g. "the great (God)" (Proverbs 26:10), the Revised Version (British and American) "as an archer," margin "master worker; Hebrew text obscure"; "a saviour, and a great one," the Revised Version (British and American) "defender," margin "or a mighty one" (Isaiah 19:20); "Great shall be the peace" (Isaiah 54:13), etc. It is sometimes translated "mighty" (Psalms 89:50, the Revised Version, margin "many"; Isaiah 63:1). (c) Other words thus translated are kabhedh, "heavy," e.g. "so great a people," the Revised Version (British and American) "thy great people," margin "heavy" (1 Kings 3:9); me'odh, implying force, might, e.g. "with all his might" (2 Kings 23:25). 'El and 'Elohim are sometimes used to express greatness. In Psalms 36:6, we have "Thy righteousness is like the great ('El) mountains," the Revised Version (British and American) "mountains of God"; in Genesis 30:8, "with great ('Elohim) wrestlings," the Revised Version (British and American) "mighty," margin "wrestlings of God"; and in 1 Samuel 14:15 "a very great ('Elohim) trembling," the Revised Version (British and American) "exceeding great," margin "a trembling of God."ISBE Great; Greatness.3
(2) (a) Megas denotes magnitude, in its various aspects, physical, moral, etc., e.g. "great joy" (Matthew 2:10); "a great light" (Matthew 4:16); "the great King" (Matthew 5:35); "great in the kingdom" (Matthew 5:19, etc.); "Great is thy faith" (Matthew 15:28); "The greatest is charity" (love), the Revised Version, margin "greater" (1 Corinthians 13:13); "a great high priest" (Hebrews 4:14); "the great shepherd" (Hebrews 13:20); "a great voice" (Revelation 1:10); in Rev megas is very frequent. (b) Polus denotes properly number, multitude, e.g. "great multitudes" (Matthew 4:25); "a great company" (Luke 5:29, the Revised Version (British and American) "a great multitude"; frequent in the Gospels); "great possessions" (Mark 10:22). But also "great" in the sense of magnitude, e.g. "great plainness of speech," the Revised Version (British and American) "boldness" (2 Corinthians 3:12; 7:4); "a great trial of affliction," the Revised Version (British and American) "much proof" (2 Corinthians 8:2); "great love" (Ephesians 2:4). (c) Among other terms we have telikoutos, "so great" (in degree), "so great a salvation" (Hebrews 2:3); tosoutos, "so great" (in quantity), "so great faith" (Matthew 8:10; Luke 7:9); "so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1); hosos, "how great" (in quantity) (Mark 3:8; 5:19 f); helikos, "how great" (in degree) (Colossians 2:1; James 3:5, "how great a matter," the Revised Version (British and American) "how much wood," margin "how great a forest"); pelikos, "how great" (in degree) (Hebrews 7:4); posos, "how great" (in quantity) (Matthew 6:23), etc.ISBE Great; Greatness.4
(3) In His person and teaching, Jesus introduced into the world a new conception of greatness. It was to be found in humility and self-forgetting service: "Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister (the Revised Version, margin "servant"); and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant (the Revised Version, margin "(Greek) bond-servant"): even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:26-28; compare also Matthew 18:1-4; 23:11; Philippians 2:5-11 ).ISBE Great; Greatness.5
W. L. WalkerISBE Great; Greatness.6
Greaves - grevz.ISBE Greaves.2
See ARMOR,ARMS ,IV , 4.ISBE Greaves.3
Grecians; Greeks - gre'-shanz, greks: In the Old Testament the word "Grecians" occurs but once (Joel 3:1-21 (4):6). For references to Greece in the Old Testament see JAVAN. In the King James Version of the Old Testament Apocrypha "Grecians" and "Greeks" are used without distinction, e.g. 1 Maccabees 1:10; 6:2; 8:9; 2 Maccabees 4:15, 36. Thus, in 1 Maccabees 1:1, Alexander the Great is spoken of as king of Greece, and in 1 Maccabees 1:10 the Macedonian empire is called "the kingdom of the Greeks" (basileia Hellenon). In 2 Maccabees 13:2 the army of Antiochus, king of Syria, is called "Grecian" (dunamis Hellenike), and in 2 Maccabees 6:8 the "Greek cities" (poleis Hellenides) are Macedonian colonies. Reference is made in 2 Maccabees 6:1 to an aged Athenian who was sent by Antiochus the king charged with the duty of Hellenizing the Jews; in 2 Maccabees 9:15 Antiochus vows that he will make the Jews equal to the Athenians; in 1 Maccabees 12 through 14, reference is made to negotiations of Jonathan, the high priest, with the Spartans, whom he calls brethren, seeking the renewal of a treaty of alliance and amity against the Syrians. With the spread of Greek power and influence, everything not specifically Jewish was called Greek; thus in 2 Maccabees 4:36; 11:2; 3 Maccabees 3:3, 1 the "Greeks" contrasted with the Jews are simply non-Jews, so called because of the prevalence of Greek institutions and culture, and "Greek" even came to be used in the sense of "anti-Jewish" (2 Maccabees 4:10, 15; 6:9; 11:24).ISBE Grecians; Greeks.2
In Isaiah 9:12 the Septuagint reads tous Hellenas, for Pelishtim, "Philistines"; but we are not therefore justified in assuming a racial connection between the Philistines and the Greeks. Further light on the ethnography of the MediterraneanISBE Grecians; Greeks.3
basin may in time show that there was actually such a connection; but the rendering in question proves nothing, since "the oppressing sword" of Jeremiah 46:16 and Jeremiah 50:16 is likewise rendered in the Septuagint with "the sword of the Greeks" (machaira Hellenike). In all these cases the translators were influenced by the conditions existing in their own day, and were certainly not disclosing obscure relations long forgotten and newly discovered.ISBE Grecians; Greeks.4
In the New Testament, English Versions of the Bible attempts to distinguish between (Hellenes), which is rendered "Greeks," and (Hellenistai), which is rendered "Grecians" or "Grecian Jews," or in the Revised Version, margin "Hellenists," e.g. Acts 6:1; 9:29. These latter were Jews of the Dispersion, who spoke Greek (see HELLENISM;HELLENIST ), as distinguished from Palestinian Jews; but since many of the latter also spoke Greek by preference, the distinction could in no sense be absolute. Indeed in John 7:35, "the Dispersion among (the Revised Version, margin, Greek "of") the Greeks," can hardly refer to any but "Grecian Jews" (Hellenistai), although Hellenes is used, and in John 12:20 the "Greeks" (Hellenes) who went up to worship at the feast of the Passover were almost certainly "Grecian Jews" (Hellenistai). Thus, while English Versions of the Bible consistently renders Hellenes with "Greeks," we are not by that rendering apprised of the real character of the people so designated. This difficulty is aggravated by the fact, already noted in connection with the Old Testament Apocrypha, that, in consequence of the spread of Hellenism, the term Hellenes was applied not only to such as were of Hellenic descent, but also to all those who had appropriated the language of Greece, as the universal means of communication, and the ideals and customs collectively known as Hellenism. The latter were thus in the strict sense Hellenists, differing from the "Grecians" of English Versions of the Bible only in that they were not of Jewish descent. In other words, Hellenes (except perhaps in John 7:35 and John 12:20, as noted above) is, in general, equivalent to ta ethne, "Gentiles" (see GENTILES). The various readings of the manuscripts (and hence the difference between the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) in 1 Corinthians 1:23 well illustrate this. There is consequently much confusion, which it is quite impossible, with our limited knowledge of the facts in particular cases, to clear up. In general, it would seem probable that where "Greeks" are comprehensively contrasted with "Jews," the reference is to "Gentiles," as in Acts 14:1; 17:4; 18:4; 10, 17; 20:21; Romans 1:16; 10:12; 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 (the Revised Version (British and American) "Gentiles," representing ethnesin; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11. In Mark 7:26 the woman of Tyre, called "a Greek (the Revised Version, margin "Gentile") a Syrophoenician," was clearly not of Hellenic descent. Whether Titus (Galatians 2:3) and the father of Timothy; (Acts 16:1, 3) were in the strict sense "Greeks," we have no means of knowing. In Romans 1:14, "I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians," there is an undoubted reference to Greeks strictly so called; possibly, though by no means certainly, the "Greeks" of Acts 21:28, alluding to Trophimus the Ephesian (Acts 21:29), are to be taken in the same sense. References to the Greek language occur in John 19:20 (Luke 23:38 is properly omitted in the Revised Version (British and American)); Acts 21:37; Revelation 9:11.ISBE Grecians; Greeks.5
In Acts 11:20 the manuscripts vary between Hellenistas, and Hellenas (the King James Version "Grecians," the Revised Version (British and American) "Greeks"), with the preponderance of authority in favor of the former; but even if one adopts the latter, it is not clear whether true Greeks or Gentiles are intended.ISBE Grecians; Greeks.6
William Arthur HeidelISBE Grecians; Greeks.7
Greece, Religion in Ancient - I. THE GREEK GODSISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.2
1. Greek MythsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.3
2. Mythology Distinguished from ReligionISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.4
3. Local ShrinesISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.5
4. Epithets of the GodsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.6
5. Nature of the Gods of WorshipISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.7
6. Relation of Greek Gods to NatureISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.8
7. The Greater Gods of GreeceISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.9
8. Nature GodsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.10
9. Gods of Human Activities and EmotionsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.11
II. REVELATION: INSPIRATIONISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.12
1. OmensISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.13
2. Divination by SacrificeISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.14
3. DreamsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.15
4. OraclesISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.16
III. FORMS OF WORSHIPISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.17
1. ShrinesISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.18
2. TemplesISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.19
3. PriestsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.20
4. Seasons of Worship: FestivalsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.21
5. Elements of WorshipISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.22
6. PrayerISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.23
7. Burnt Offering, or Sacrificial MealISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.24
8. Meaning of SacrificeISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.25
9. Propitiatory SacrificeISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.26
10. PurificationISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.27
11. The Great Religious FestivalsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.28
12. Mysteries at EleusisISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.29
13. Absence of Magic and MysteryISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.30
IV. THE FUTURE LIFEISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.31
1. Funeral RitesISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.32
2. Future Life in the Homeric PoemsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.33
3. Later Beliefs in ImmortalityISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.34
V. SIN, EXPIATION, AND THE RELIGIOUS LIFEISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.35
1. Greek Idea of SinISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.36
2. Religious IdealsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.37
VI. THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK RELIGION ON CHRISTIANITYISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.38
1. Greek Philosophy and Christian TheologyISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.39
2. Greek Influence on Christian LiturgyISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.40
3. Greek Influence on the SacramentsISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.41
LITERATUREISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.42
I. The Greek Gods. 1. Greek Myths: The gods of ancient Greece are well known to our western civilization through the myths which have found so large a place in our literature. In Greece itself, fancy had free play in dealing with these divine beings, and the myths were the main treasure-house from which the poet drew; the same myths and the same gods, under different names, reappear in Rome; and Rome passed them on, a splendid heritage of imagination, to the literatures of later Europe. It is characteristic of myths that they deal with persons, not so different from men in their nature, but with more than human powers. Gods, nymphs and satyrs, noble "heroes" or evil spirits have superhuman powers in varying degree, but they remain persons with a human interest because of their human type. And, further, as men are organized in families, cities and states, so there is a tendency to organize the beings of myth into social groups, and even to bring men, heroes and gods together into one large social organism, the universe of persons.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.43
These Greek myths, the story of Athena's birth full-armed from the brain of Zeus, of Circe's magic potion, of Poseidon's chariot on the waves, and of Apollo's shafts are familiar to us from childhood. To regard them as expressing the content of Greek religion is as natural as it is false. Very few myths have any religious meaning at all, in spite of the large part the gods play in them. A little comparison with the facts of worship serves to show that here the gods are quite different from the gods of story.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.44
2. Mythology Distinguished from Religion: Some of the gods hardly appear in myths, and some of the beings of myth are not worshipped; in worship, each god is for the time being the only god thought of, not a member of the hierarchy established in myth; moreover in myth the gods are treated as universal, while the gods of worship are most closely attached, each to one shrine. Along with these external differences goes the one essential difference between a being of story and an object of worship. The failure to recognize the deep meaning of Greek religion results from the superficial assumption that myths constitute a peculiar kind of theology, when in reality they teach but little, and that, indirectly, about religion proper.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.45
3. Local Shrines: The essential fact about the gods of Greek religion is that each god was worshipped in a unique form at one or another particular shrine by a group of worshippers more or less definite. The group might include the state, the dwellers in one locality or simply the family; whatever its limits, it included those connected with the god by a social-religious tie, and the fundamental purpose of the worship was to strengthen this tie. In a city like Athens there were hundreds of such shrines, varying in importance, each the place where one particular phase of a god was worshipped at specified times. The particular form of the god was ordinarily indicated by an epithet attached to his name, Zeus Olympios, Dionysus Eleutherios, Athena Nike. This epithet might refer to the locality of the worship (Aphrodite of the Gardens), to the center from which the worship was brought (Artemis Brauronia), to some local spirit identified with the greater god (Poseidon Erechtheus), or to the nature of the god himself (Apollo Patroos).ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.46
4. Epithets of the Gods: Each of the many shrines in Athens had thus its unique god, its group of worshippers connected with the god, its particular form of worship and times of worship, its own officials. While the state exercised general supervision over all the shrines, they were not organized in a hierarchy under any distinctly religious officials, but remained as independent units. Religious worship in a given city meant the aggregation of independent worships at the different local shrines.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.47
5. Nature of the Gods of Worship: The god of worship, then, was the god of a local shrine whose blessing and favor were sought at certain times by those who had the right to worship there. As in myth the gods were drawn after human types, that is, with human virtues and human frailties, and bodies almost human, except that they were not made to die; so in worship the gods were persons not unlike men in their nature. Worship proceeds on the assumption that gods are like human rulers, in that men honor the gods by games and processions, seek to please them by gifts, and ask them to share banquets made in their honor. Only the humanness of the gods in worship is something more subtle, more intimate than in myth. No stress is laid on human form or the vagaries of human character in the gods of worship; in form they remain spirits more or less vague, but spirits who care for men, who may be approached as a man approaches his ruler, spirits bound to man by close social ties which it is his duty and pleasure to strengthen. Zeus is father of gods and men, a father not untouched by the needs of his children; Athena cares for the city of Athens as her special pride; each family worships gods which are all but akin to the family; in the gymnasium, Apollo or Hermes is represented as the patron and ideal of the youths who exercise there; the drama is part of the service of Dionysus; in a word each form of human activity, be it work or pleasure, was a point of contact with the gods. The real forces at work in the world were first men, and secondly beings with a nature like man's, but with powers superior to man's; worship was the attempt to ally the gods more closely to man by social-religious ties, in order that as both worked together the ends of life might be successfully attained. This conception of the gods as higher members of society is the keynote of Greek religion. In some ethnic religions the gods seem to be evil beings whose desire for mischief man must overcome; in others they are beings to be avoided as much as possible; or again they are rulers who delight in man's abject servitude; or again by cultivating the friendship of one god, man may hope to win blessing and avoid harm from the others. In Greece all the gods of worship were essentially friendly to man, because they were akin to him and a part of the society in which he lived.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.48
6. Relation of Greek Gods to Nature: The relation of the gods to Nature is not so simple as might at first appear. Within certain limits the forces of Nature were subject to the will of the gods. From the Greek point of view, however, the relation is much more intimate, in that the forces in the world, at least in so far as they affect man, are personal activities, activities that express the will of divine beings. We say that Poseidon personifies the sea, Gaia the earth, Helios the sun; and the origin of religion has been sought in man's awe before the forces of Nature. The truer statement is that the Greek world, including the physical world, was made up of spiritual beings, not of physical forces. "The fire, as useful as it is treacherous, is the province of Hephaestus; all the dangers and changeableness of the sea are reflected in Poseidon and his followers; an Artemis is there to guide the hunter, a Demeter to make the grain sprout, a Hermes or Apollo to watch over the herds; Athena is the spirit of wisdom, Hermes of shrewdness, Ares of tumultuous war. .... In a word the Greek gods are in the world, not above the world, superior beings who embody in personal form all the forces that enter into human life." The contrast between such a personal point of view and the mechanical view of modern science is as marked as the contrast between it and the Hebrew conception of a universe brought into being and controlled by a God quite distinct from the physical world.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.49
7. The Greater Gods of Greece: Of the particular gods, little need be said. The five greater gods, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo and Artemis, are not closely connected with any one phenomenon of Nature or human life, though Zeus has to do with the sky, and Apollo and Artemis acquire a connection with the sun and moon. The most important worship of Zeus was at Olympia, where the pan-Hellenic games were held in his honor. Elsewhere he was worshipped mainly in connection with the weather and the changing seasons. Apparently much of his preeminence in Greek thought was due to myth. Hera was worshipped with Zeus on mountain tops, but her special place in worship was as the goddess of marriage. Athena, the maiden goddess of war and of handicrafts, was worshipped especially in Northern Greece. War dances found a place in her worship, and she was rarely represented without aegis, spear and helmet. All the arts, agriculture, handicrafts, even the art of government, were under her care. Apollo was worshipped widely as the protector of the crops, and of the shepherd's flocks. In this aspect his festivals included purifications and rites to ward off dangers. He was also the god of music and of prophecy. At Delphi his prophetic powers won great renown, but the Pythian games with their contests in music, in rhythmic dancing, and in athletic sports were hardly less important. Artemis, in myth the chaste sister of Apollo, was worshipped as the queen of wild creatures and the mother of life in plants as well as in animals. She was the patron and the ideal of young women, as was Apollo of young men.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.50
8. Nature Gods: The gods most closely associated with Nature were not so important for religion. Gain, mother earth, received sacrifices occasionally as the abode of the dead. Rhea in Crete, Cybele in Asia Minor, also in origin forms of the earth mother, received more real worship; this had to do primarily with the birth of vegetation in the spring, and again with its destruction by drought and heat. Rivers were honored in many places as gods of fertility, and springs as nymphs that blessed the land and those who cultivated it. Poseidon was worshipped that he might bless fishing and trade by sea; inland he was sometimes recognized as the "father of waters," and a god of fertility; and where horses were raised, it was under the patronage of Poseidon. The heavenly bodies marked the seasons of worship, but were rarely themselves worshipped. In general, the phenomena of Nature seem to have been too concrete to rouse sentiments of worship in Greece.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.51
9. Gods of Human Activity and Emotions: A third class of gods, gods of human activities and emotions, were far more important for religion. Demeter, once no doubt a form of the original earth-goddess, was the goddess of the grain, worshipped widely and at many seasons by an agricultural people. Dionysus, god of souls, of the inner life, and of inspiration by divine power, was worshipped by all who cultivated the vine or drank wine. The Attic drama was the most important development of his worship. Hermes was quite generally honored as the god of shepherds and the god of roads. As the herald, and the god of trade and gain, he found a place in the cities. Aphrodite was perhaps first the goddess of the returning life of the spring; in Greece proper she was rather the goddess of human love, of marriage and the family, the special patron of women. Ares, the Thracian god of war, was occasionally worshipped in Greece, but more commonly the god of each state was worshipped to give success in battle to his people. Hephaestus, pictured as himself a lame blacksmith working at the art which was under his protection, was worshipped now as the fire, now as the patron of cunning work in metal. Asclepius received men's prayers for relief from disease.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.52
II. Revelation: Inspiration. For the Greeks revelation was a knowledge of the divine will in special circumstances, and inspiration was evinced by the power to foresee the divine purpose in a particular case. There is no such thing as the revelation of the divine nature, nor any question of universal truth coming to men through an inspired teacher; men knew a god through his acts, not through any seer or prophet. But some warning in danger or some clue to the right choice in perplexity might be expected from gods so close to human need as were the Greek gods. The Homeric poems depicted the gods as appearing to men to check them, to encourage them or to direct them. In Homer also men might be guided by signs; while in later times divine guidance came either from signs or from men who were so close to the gods as to foresee something of the divine purpose.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.53
1. Omens: The simplest class of signs were those that occurred in Nature. In the Iliad the thunderbolt marked the presence of Zeus to favor his friends or check those whose advance he chose to stop. The Athenian assembly adjourned when rain began to fall. Portents in Nature--meteors, comets, eclipses, etc.--claimed the attention of the superstitious; but there was no science of astrology, and superstition had no great hold on the Greeks. In the Homeric poems, birds frequently denoted the will of the gods, perhaps because their place was in the sky beyond any human control, perhaps because certain birds were associated with particular gods. The presence of an eagle on the right hand (toward the East) was favorable, especially when it came in answer to prayer. At times, the act of the bird is significant, as when the eagle of Zeus kills the geese eating grain in Odysseus' hall--portent of the death of the suitors. In later Greek history there are but few references to signs from birds. The theory of these signs in Nature is very simple: all Nature but expresses the will of the gods, and when the gods wish to give men some vague hint of the future, it is necessary only to cause some event not easily explained to attract man's attention.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.54
2. Divination by Sacrifice: From the 5th century on, divination by means of sacrificial victims took the place ordinarily of signs such as have just been described. In the presence of the enemy or before some important undertaking, animals were sacrificed to the gods. If they came willingly to the altar, if the inward parts, especially the liver, were sound and well shaped and of good color, if the sacrifice burned freely and without disturbing the arrangement on the altar, success might be expected. The theory was very simple: if the gods were pleased and accepted the sacrifice, their favor was assured; but if the sacrifice deviated in any way from the normal, it would not please the gods. Thus any sacrifice might have prophetic significance, while sacrifices offered before important undertakings had special meaning. The practice arose of repeating sacrifices before a battle until a favorable one was obtained, and at length, as religion began to lose its hold, the time came when a general might disregard them completely.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.55
3. Dreams: An important means of learning the will of the gods was through dreams, when the ordinary channels of perception were closed and the mind was free to receive impressions from the gods. The treacherousness of dreams was fully recognized, even in the Homeric poem; students of natural science came to recognize that dreams arose from natural causes; none the less they were generally regarded as a source of knowledge about the future, and gradually a science for interpreting dreams was evolved. For Pindar and for Plato the soul was more free when the body slept, and because the soul was the divine part of man's nature it could exercise the power of divination in sleep. Many of the recorded dreams are signs which came to the mind in sleep, like the dreams of Joseph and of Pharaoh, signs that needed later interpretation.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.56
See DIVINATION; DREAM.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.57
Prophets and seers were not as important in Greece as among many peoples. The blind Teiresias belongs to the realm of myth, though there were great families of seers, like the Iamidae at Olympia, who were specially gifted to interpret dreams, or signs from sacrifices. Ordinarily it was the "chresmologist," the man with a collection of ancient sayings to be applied to present events, whose advice was sought in time of need; or else men turned to the great oracles of Greece.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.58
4. Oracles: The most important oracle was that of Apollo at Delphi. Hither came envoys of nations as well as individuals, and none went away without some answer to their questions. After preliminary sacrifices, the priestess purified herself and mounted the tripod in the temple; the question was propounded to her by a temple official, and it was his function also to put her wild ravings into hexameter verse for the person consulting the oracle. A considerable number of these answers remain to us, all, of course, somewhat vague, many of them containing shrewd advice on the question that was brought to the oracle. The honor paid to the oracle and its influence, on the whole an influence making for high ethical standards and wise statesmanship, must be recognized. The early Christian Fathers held that the Pythian priestess was inspired by an evil spirit; later critics have treated the whole institution as a clever device to deceive the people; but in view of the respect paid to the oracle through so many generations, it is hard to believe that its officials were not honest in their effort to discover and make known the will of the god they served.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.59
III. Forms of Worship. 1. Shrines: It has already been pointed out that Greek religion centered about local shrines. While in early times the shrine consisted of an altar with perhaps a sacred grove, and later it might be no more than a block of stone on which offerings were laid, the more important shrines consisted of a plot of land sacred to the god, a temple or home for the god, and an altar for sacrifices. The plot of land, especially in the case of shrines outside a city, might be very large, in which case it often was used as a source of income to the shrine, being cultivated by the priests or leased under restrictions to private persons.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.60
2. Temples: In this precinct stood the temple, facing toward the East, so that the morning sun would flood its interior when it was opened on a festival day. With one or two exceptions, the temple was not a place of assembly for worship, but a home for the god. It contained some symbol of his presence, after the 5th century BC ordinarily an image of the god; it served as the treasure-house for gifts brought to the god; worship might be offered in it by the priests, while the people gathered at the sacrifice outside. And as a home for the god, it was adorned with all the beauty and magnificence that could be commanded. The images of the gods, the noblest creation of sculpture in the 5th and 4th centuries, were not exactly "idols"; that is, the images were not themselves worshipped, even though they were thought to embody the god in some semblance to his true form. In Greece men worshipped the gods themselves, grateful as they were to artists who showed them in what beautiful form to think of their deities.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.61
3. Priests: Each of these shrines was directly in the hands of one or more officials, whose duty it was to care for the shrine and to keep up its worship in due form. Occasionally the priesthood was hereditary and the office was held for life; quite as often priests were chosen for a year or a term of years; but it was exceptional when the duties of the office prevented a man from engaging in other occupations. In distinction from the priests of many other forms of religion, the Greek priest was not a sacred man set apart for the service of the gods; the office may be called sacred, but the office was distinct from the man. The result was important, in that the priests in Greece could never form a caste by themselves, nor could they claim any other powers than were conferred on them by the ritual of the shrine. Thus Greek religion remained in the possession of the people, and developed no esoteric side either in dogma or in worship.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.62
4. Seasons of Worship: Festivals: The seasons of worship varied with each particular shrine. While the state observed no recurring sabbath, it recognized a certain number of religious festivals as public holidays; thus at Athens the number of religious holidays in the year was somewhat larger than our fifty-two Sundays. The tradition of each shrine determined whether worship should be offered daily or monthly or yearly, and also what were the more important seasons of worship. The principle of the sacred days was that at certain seasons the god was present in his temple expecting worship; just as it was the principle of sacred places that the temple should be located where the presence of the god had been felt and therefore might be expected again. Neither the location of the temple nor the seasons of worship were determined primarily by human convenience.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.63
5. Elements of Worship: The elements of worship in Greece were (1) prayers, hymns, and votive offerings, (2) the sacrificial meal, (3) propitiatory sacrifice and purification, and (4) the processions, musical contests and athletic games, which formed part of the larger festivals. The heroes of Homer prayed to the gods at all times, now a word of prayer in danger, now more formal prayers in connection with a sacrifice; and such was doubtless the practice in later times.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.64
6. Prayer: In the more formal prayers, it was customary to invoke the god with various epithets, to state the petition, and to give the reason why a favorable answer might be expected--either former worship by the petitioner, or vows of future gifts, or former answers to prayer, or an appeal to the pity of the god. Sometimes a prayer reads as if it were an attempt to win divine favor by gifts; more commonly, if not always, the appeal is to a relationship between man and his god, in which man's gifts play a very subordinate part. Thanksgiving finds small place in prayer or in sacrifice, but it was rather expressed in votive offerings. In every temple these abounded, as in certain Roman Catholic shrines today; and as is the case today they might be of value in themselves, they might have some special reference to the god, or they might refer to the human need in which the giver had found help. So far as the great public festivals are concerned, the prayer seems to have been merged with the hymn of praise in which the element of petition found a small place.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.65
7. Burnt Offering or Sacrificial Meal: The most common form of worship consisted of the sacrificial meal, like the meat offering or meal offering of the Hebrews. The sacrifice consisted of a domestic animal, selected in accordance with the ritual of the shrine where it was to be offered. First the animal was led to the altar, consecrated with special rites and killed by the offerer or the priest while hymns and cries of worship were uttered by the worshippers. Then some of the inward parts were roasted and eaten by priests and worshippers. Finally the remainder of the creature was prepared, the thigh bones wrapped in fat and meat to be burned for the god, the balance of the meat to be roasted for the Worshippers; and with libations of wine the whole was consumed. The religious meaning of the act is evidently found in the analogy of a meal prepared for an honored guest.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.66
8. Meaning of the Sacrifice: The animal, an object valuable in itself, is devoted to this religious service; the god and his worshippers share alike this common meal; and the god is attached to his worshippers by a closer social bond, because they show their desire to honor and commune with him, while he condescends to accept the gift and to share the meal they have prepared. (Possibly the animal was once thought to have been made divine by the act of consecration, or the god was believed to be present in his flesh, but there is no evidence that such a belief existed in the 5th century BC, or later.) The simple, rational character of this worship is characteristic of Greek religion.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.67
9. Propitiatory Sacrifice: When men felt that the gods were displeased or in circumstances where for any reason their favor was doubtful, a different form of sacrifice was performed. A black animal was selected, and brought to a low altar of earth; the sacrifice was offered toward evening or at night, and the whole animal was consumed by fire. While in general this type of sacrifice may be called propitiatory, its form, if not its meaning, varied greatly. It might be worship to spirits of the earth whose anger was to be feared; it might be offered when an army was going into battle, or when the crops were in danger of blight, or of drought; or again it was the normal form of worship in seasons of pestilence or other trouble. Sometimes the emphasis seems to be laid on the propitiation of anger by an animal wholly devoted to the god, while at other times there is the suggestion that some evil substance is removed by the rite.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.68
10. Purification: The later conception is clearer in rites of purification, where, by washing, by fire, or by the blood of an animal slain for the purpose, some form of defilement is removed. In the sacrifice of a pig to Demeter for this purpose, or of a dog to Hecate, some mystic element may exist, since these animals were sacred to the respective goddesses.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.69
These various elements of worship were combined in varying degree in the great religious festivals. These lasted from a day to a fortnight. After purification of the worshippers, which might be simple or elaborate, and some preliminary sacrifice, there was often a splendid procession followed by a great public sacrifice.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.70
11. The Great Religious Festivals: In the greater festivals, this was followed by athletic games and horse races in honor of the god, and sometimes by contests in music and choral dancing, or, in the festivals of Dionysus at Athens, by the performance of tragedy and comedy in theater. In all this, the religious element seems to retreat into the background, though analogies may be found in the history of Christianity. The religious mystery plays were the origin of our own drama; and as for the horse races, one may still see them performed as a religious function, for example, at Siena. The horse races and the athletic games were performed for the gods as for some visiting potentate, a means of affording them pleasure and doing them honor. The theatrical performances apparently originated in ceremonies more essentially religious, in which men acted some divine drama depicting the experiences attributed to the gods themselves.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.71
12. Mysteries at Eleusis: This last feature is most evident in the mysteries at Eleusis, where the experiences of Demeter and Persephone were enacted by the people with the purpose of bringing the worshippers into some more intimate connection with these goddesses, such that their blessing was assured not only for this world, but for the life after death.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.72
13. Absence of Magic and Mystery: In all the forms of Greek worship perhaps the most striking feature was the absence of magic or superstition, almost the absence of mystery. Men approached the gods as they would approach superior men, bringing them petitions and gifts, making great banquets for their entertainment, and performing races and games for their pleasure, although this was by no means the whole of Greek religion, a phase of religion far more highly developed in the rational atmosphere of Greek thought than among other races. As the Greek gods were superior members of the social universe, so Greek worship was for the most part social, even human, in its character.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.73
IV. The Future Life. 1. Funeral Rites: Greek thought of the life after death was made up of three elements which developed successively, while the earlier ones never quite lost their hold on the people in the presence of the later. The oldest and most permanent thought of the future found its expression in the worship of ancestors. Whether the body of the dead was buried or burned, the spirit was believed to survive, an insubstantial shadowy being in the likeness of the living man. And rites were performed for these shades to lay them to rest and to prevent them from injuring their survivors, if not to secure their positive blessing. As at other points in Greek religion, the rites are fairly well known, while the belief must be inferred from the rites. The rites consisted first of an elaborate funeral, including sometimes animal sacrifices and even athletic games, and secondly of gifts recurring at stated intervals, gifts of water for bathing, of wine and food, and of wreaths and flowers. The human wants and satisfaction of the spirit are thus indicated. And the purpose is perhaps to keep the spirit alive, certainly to keep it in good humor so that it will not injure the survivors and bring on them defilement which would mean the wrath of the gods. At the same time, any contact with death demands purification before one can approach the gods in worship.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.74
2. Future Life in the Homeric Poems: The second element in Greek thought of the future life appears in the Homeric poems, and through the epic exerted a wide influence on later periods. Here the separateness of the souls of the dead from the human life is emphasized. Once the bodies of the dead are burned, the souls go to the realm of Hades, whence there is no return even in dreams, and where (according to one view) not even consciousness remains to them. It would seem that the highly rational view of the world in the epic, a point of view which laid stress on the greater Olympian gods, banished the belief in souls as akin to the belief in sinister and magic influences. We might almost say that the thought of the greater gods as personal rulers tended to drive out the thought of lesser and more mystic spiritual influences, and made a place for souls only as shades in the realm of Hades. Certainly the result for Greek religion was to render far less vivid any idea of a real life after death.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.75
3. Later Beliefs in Immortality: The third element was associated with the worship of the gods of the lower world, and in particular Demeter and Persephone. In this worship, particularly at Eleusis, the fact of life after death was assumed, a fact that the Greeks never had denied; but the reality of the future life, the persistence of human relationship after death, and the kindly rule of Persephone as Queen of Souls were vividly impressed on the worshippers. In part through the influence of the Orphic sect, the actual divinity of the soul was believed by many thinkers, a doctrine which was formulated by Plato in a manner which profoundly affected early Christian thought. If the epic emphasis on the greater gods made the souls mere shades in Hades, it was again a religious movement, namely the worship of gods like Persephone and Dionysus, which taught to some Greeks the divine reality of the soul and its hope for a blessed life in communion with the gods.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.76
This development in Greece is the more interesting because there are indications of the same. thing in Hebrew history. In the Old Testament there are found traces of an old worship of souls, practiced by races akin to the Hebrews if not by the Hebrews themselves; this worship was brought to an end under the clarifying power of the worship of Yahweh; and finally the later prophets perceived the truth that while souls were not to be worshipped, the dead who died in the Lord did not become mere shades, but continued to live as the objects of His Divine love.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.77
V. Sin, Expiation, and the Religious Life. 1. Greek Idea of Sin: The ancient Hebrew religion made much of sin, and of the remedy for sin which God, in loving mercy to His people, had provided; in Greece the thought of sin found no such place in the religious life, though of course it was not absent altogether. If sin is defined as that which causes divine displeasure and wrath, it appears in Greek thought in three forms: (1) as the transgression of moral law, (2) as neglect of the gods and consequent presumption, and (3) as pollution. The cause of sin is traced to human folly, either some passion like envy or anger or desire for gain, or to undue self-reliance which develops into presumption; and once a man has started in the wrong direction, his sin so affects judgment and will that he is all but inevitably led on into further sin. According to the simple Greek theodicy, the transgression of moral law brings its penalty, nor can any sacrifice induce the gods to intervene on behalf of the transgressor. All that expiation can accomplish is to set right the spirit of the transgressor so that he will not be led into further sin. Neglect of the gods--the second type of sin--brings its penalty in the results of divine wrath, but in this case, prompt repentance and submission to the gods may appease the wrath and therefore change its results. Pollution, the third cause of divine displeasure, often cannot be called sin; the failure to remove pollution, however, especially before one approaches the gods, is a just cause of divine anger. In general the Greek thought of sin centers about the idea of undue self-reliance and presumption, (hubris), which is the opposite of the characteristic Greek virtue, (sophrosune), namely that temperate mode of life in which everything is viewed in right proportion. Inasmuch as the Greek gods are righteous rulers, the nature of sin lies in its opposition to divine justice, not in unholiness or in the rejection of divine love.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.78
2. Religious Ideals: The demands of the religious life in Greece were relatively simple. To avoid acts of impiety such as are mentioned above, to perform the ordinary acts of worship regularly and punctiliously, were all that was required, though the religious man might find many opportunities for worship beyond what was expected of everyone. Little is said of the spirit of worship which underlay the outward acts. Nor does the command, "Be ye therefore holy, even as I am holy," find an echo in Greece. At the same time the fact that the gods so definitely represented human ideals of life, must have meant that in a way men aimed to make their lives conform to divine ideals. The essential feature of the religious life was the true recognition of human dependence on the gods, a dependence which showed itself in obedience to the divine rule, in trustful confidence that the gods would bless their worshippers, in resignation when misfortune came, and particularly in the belief in the loving care and protection of the divine rulers. In Greece, the religious man looked to the gods not so much for salvation from evil, as for positive blessings.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.79
VI. The Influence of Greek Religion on Christianity.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.80
1. Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology: This is not the place to speak of the decadence of Greek religion, of its ameliorating influence on the Alexandrian world, or of the control it exercised over the Roman state. Its most permanent effect is found rather in Christianity. And here its shaping influence is first noted in Christian theology beginning with Paul and the Apostle John. For although Greek religion was more free from dogma or anything that could be called theology than are most religions, it furnished the religious content to the greatest philosophical systems we know; and all through the centuries the leaders of Christian thought have been trained in the religious philosophy of Plato and of Aristotle. Our Christian conceptions of the nature of God and the soul, of the relation of God to the physical universe, and of God's government of the world, have been worked out along the lines laid down by these Greek thinkers. And while the debt is primarily to Greek philosophy, it should never be forgotten that Greek philosophy formulated these conceptions out of the material which Greek religion furnished; indeed one may believe that it was the religious conceptions formulated by centuries of thoughtful worshippers which found final expression in the Greek philosophic systems.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.81
2. Greek Influence on Christian Liturgy: Again, the organization of the early Christian church and its form of government was quite as much Greek as it was Hebrew in origin. Here the influence of Greek religion as such was less marked; still it must be remembered that every form of Greek organization had its religious side, be it family, or school, or state; and further, that some phases of religion in Greece were quite thoroughly organized in a manner that was adapted without much difficulty to the conditions of the new religion. Moreover the thought of the Greek priest as not a sacred man, but a man appointed by the community to a sacred office, was naturally adopted by the nascent Christian communities. Even in the organization of worship, in the prayers and hymns and liturgy which gradually developed from the simplest beginnings, it is not difficult to trace the influence of what the Greek converts to Christianity had been brought up to regard as worship of the gods.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.82
3. Greek Influence on the Sacraments: The most striking case of the effect of the old religion on the new is found in the method of celebrating the Christian sacraments. In the 2nd century AD, the baptismal bath took place after a brief period of instruction, and at the common meal the bread and wine were blessed in commemoration of the Master. Three centuries passed and this simplicity had given way to splendid ceremony. Baptism ordinarily was performed only on the "mystic night," the night before Easter. Almost magic rites with fasting had exorcised evil from the candidate; ungirded, with loose hair and bare feet, he went down into the water, and later was anointed with oil to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit; then the candidates, dressed in white, wearing crowns, and carrying torches, proceeded to their first communion in which a mixture of honey and milk might take the place of wine. The whole ceremony had been assimilated to what Greek religion knew as an initiation, in which the baptized underwent some essential change of nature. They were said to have "put on the dress of immortality."ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.83
The Lord's Supper was carefully limited to those who had been through this initiation, and even among these, at length, degrees of privilege arose. The ceremony came to be known as a mystery, the table as an altar, the officiating priest as a "hierarch," and the result as a blessed "vision" of sacred things by which the resurrection life was imparted. In its formal character and the interpretation of its meaning, as well as in the terms used to describe it, the effect of the Greek mysteries may be seen.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.84
Yet during these three centuries Christianity had been waging a life-and-death struggle with the old religion. It is indeed impossible to believe that converts to Christianity should intentionally copy the forms of a worship which they had often at much cost to themselves rejected as false. The process must have been slow and quite unconscious. As the language of heathen philosophy was used in forming a Christian theology, so the conceptions and practices which had developed in Greek religion found their way into the developing Christian ritual. Much of this ritual which had no essential place in Christianity was later rejected; some still remains, the contribution of the religious life of Greece to the forms of worship in our world religion.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.85
LITERATURE.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.86
O. Gruppe, "Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte" in I. von Muller's Handbuch, 1897-1906; Preller-Robert, Griechische Mythologie, I, 1894; W. H. Roscher, Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der griechischen und romishen Mythologie, 1884-; L. R. Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, 1896-1910; L. Campbell, Religion in Greek Literature, 1898; J. Adam, The Religious Teachers of Greece, 1908; P. Stengel, "Die griechischen Kultusaltertumer," in I. von Muller's Handbuch, 2nd edition, 1898; B.I. Wheeler, Dionysus and Immortality, 1899; E. Hatch, Greek Ideas and Usages, Their Influence upon the Christian Church, 1890; G. Anrich, Das antike Mysterienwesen in seinem Einfluss auf das Christentum, 1894; E. E. G., The Makers of Hellas: A Critical Inquiry into the Philosophy and Religion of Ancient Greece, 1903; E. Caird, Evolution of Theology in Greek Philosophers, 1904; E.A. Gardner, Religion and Art in Ancient Greece, 1910; A. Fairbanks, Handbook of Greek Religion, 1910.ISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.87
Arthur FairbanksISBE Greece, Religion in Ancient.88
Greece, Sons of - "I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man" (Zechariah 9:13). The passage doubtless refers to the captive Hebrews who are held by the Greeks. The exhortation is to insurrection against the Greeks. Although bearing a striking similarity to the passage in Joel 3:6, there is evidently no connection between the two. In the first, there was conflict between the nations; in the second, simply a reflection upon Tyre and Sidon for having sold into Greece certain Jewish captives. From a Jewish standpoint the Maccabean wars were really between Jews and Greeks.ISBE Greece, Sons of.2
See JAVAN; ASMONEANS.ISBE Greece, Sons of.3
Greece; Graecia - gres, gre'-sha;ISBE Greece; Graecia.2
1. Name: In the earliest times there was no single name universally and exclusively in use either of the people or of the land of Greece. In Homer, three appellations, (Achaioi), (Danaoi), (Argeioi), were with no apparent discrimination applied to all the Greeks. By the Orientals they were called Ionians. See JAVAN. The name (Hellenes), which in historical times came into general use as a collective appellation, was applied in Homer to a small tribe in Thessaly. But the corresponding name (Hellas) was not primarily a geographical term, but designated the abode of the Hellenes wherever they had their own states or cities. In the 4th century BC many felt, as did Isocrates, that even "Hellene" stood not so much for a distinction in race, as for preeminence of culture, in contrast to the despised "Barbarian." Hence, there was much dispute as touching certain peoples, as, e.g. the Epirotes, Macedonians, and even the Thessalians, whether they should be accounted Hellenes and as included in Hellas. The word (Graikoi), Latin Graeci) occurs in Aristotle, who says that it was an older name for those who were later called Hellenes. The meaning and truth of this statement are alike in doubt; but he probably refers only to the tribe inhabiting the vicinity of Dodona, in Epirus. At any rate, Graeci and Graecia owed their introduction practically to the Romans after their contact with the Greeks in the war with Pyrrhus, and in consequence they included (what "Hellenes" and "Hellas" did not) Epirus and Macedonia.ISBE Greece; Graecia.3
2. Location and Area: "Hellas," as the land of the Hellenes, is used in a broad sense to include not only Greece proper, but also the islands of the Ionian and Aegean seas, the seaboard of the Hellespont, of the Pontus, and of Asia Minor, the flourishing colonial regions of Magna Grecia and Sicily, Crete, and occasionally Cyprus, Cyrene, and the scattered colonies dotting the shore of the Mediterranean, almost to the Pillars of Hercules. "Grecia," however, was used in a more restricted sense as applying to "Continuous" (or continental) Greece, which forms the southern extremity of the Balkan peninsula. While the Romans included Macedonia and Epirus, it will be well for us to limit Greece to the territory lying roughly below 40 degrees, and extending almost to 36 degrees North latitude, and ranging between 17 degrees and 23 degrees East longitude. If, as is proper, we include the immediately adjacent islands, its greatest length, from Mt. Olympus in the North to Cythera in the South, is about 280 miles; its greatest breadth, from Cephallenia in the West to Euboea in the East, is about 240 miles. The area, however, owing to the great irregularity of its contour, is far less than one might expect, amounting to about 30,000 square miles. With an area, therefore, considerably less than that of Portugal, Greece has a coastline exceeding in length that of Spain and Portugal combined. In Greece the ratio of coastline to area is 1:3 1/4, whereas that of the Iberian peninsula is 1:25.ISBE Greece; Graecia.4
3. Mountain Structure: The northern boundary of Greece is formed by an irregular series of mountain chains, beginning on the West with the Acroceraunian range and ending in Mt. Olympus (now, Elymbos, 9,790 ft.) on the East. Intersecting this line, the lofty Pindus range, forming the backbone of Northern Greece, extends southward to Mt. Tymphrestus (now, Velouchi, 7,610 ft.) in Aetolia, at which point spurs radiate through Central Greece. The highest peaks are Mt. Corax (now, Vardusia, 8,180 ft.) in Aetolia, Mt. Oeta (7,060 ft.), Parnassus (now, Lyakoura, 8,070 ft.), Helicon (now, Paleo Vouno, 5,740 ft.), Cithaeron (now, Elatias, 4,630 ft.), lying on the boundary between Boeotia and Attica, Mt. Geranea (now, Makri Plaghi, 4,500 ft.), North of the Isthmus, and, in Attica, Parnes (now, Ozea, 4,640 ft.), Pentelicon (now, Mendeli, 3,640 ft.) and Hymettus (now Trelovouni, 3,370 ft.). Along the eastern coast extends a broken range of mountains, the highest peaks of which are Ossa (now, Kissavos, 6,400 ft.), Pelion (now, Plessidi, 5,310 ft.); and, in Euboea, which virtually belongs to this range, Dirphys (now, Delphi, 5,730 ft.) and Ocha (now, Elias, 4,610 ft.). Southern Greece, or the Peloponnesus, is united to Central Greece only by a narrow isthmus (now cut by a canal 4 miles long), with a minimum altitude of about 250 ft. In the northern portion, a confused mass of mountains rises to great heights in Cyllene (now, Ziria, 7,790 ft.), Erymanthus (now, Olonos, 7,300 ft), Maenalus (now, Apano Chrepa, 6,500 ft.), all in Arcadia, Panachaicus (now, Voidia, 6,320 ft.), in Achaia; and, running southward through Laconia, the two important ranges called Taygetus (now, Pentedaktylo, 7,900 ft.) and Parnon (now, Malevo, 6,430 ft.). Minor ranges jut seaward in Argolis, Laconia and Messenia.ISBE Greece; Graecia.5
4. Rivers and Lakes: The rainfall in Greece is not abundant and is confined largely to late autumn and winter. Whether the present rainfall differs much in amount from that of antiquity is a matter in dispute, although it seems reasonable to assume that the progressive denudation of the mountains since the 5th century AD has entailed a corresponding loss in humidity. Even in antiquity, however, the rivers of Greece were much like the arroyos of the Southwest portion of the U.S.A., which are in winter raging mountain torrents, and in summer dry channels. Owing to the proximity of the sea to all points in Greece, the rivers are short, and the scarcity of springs makes them dependent upon the direct and immediate rainfall. Among the more considerable rivers may be enumerated, in Northern Greece, the Peneius, with its tributaries, in Thessaly; Central Greece, the Achelous and the Evenus, in Aetolia; the Spercheius, flowing between Oeta and Othrys into the Maliac Gulf; the storied, but actually insignificant, Ilyssus and Cephissus, of the Attic plain; in Southern Greece, the Alpheius, rising in Arcadia and flowing westward through Elis, and the Eurotas, which drains Laconia. Eastern Greece consists of a series of somewhat considerable basins, which become lakes in winter and are pestilent marshes in summer, except where Nature or man has afforded an outlet. The former is the case with the Peneius, which has cut a channel through the celebrated Vale of Tempe. Lake Copais, in Boeotia, affords an example of man's activity. The Minyae, in prehistoric times, are credited with enlarging the natural outlets, and so draining the basin for a time; in recent times the same undertaking has again been brought to a successful issue. Similar basins occur at Lake Boebeis, in Thessaly, and at Lake Stymphalus, in Arcadia, besides others of less importance. Western Greece has relatively few such basins, as at Lake Pambotis, in Epirus, and at Lake Trichonis, in Aetolia. In many cases, where there is no surface outlet to these basins, subterranean channels (called by the Greeks Katavothrae) are formed in the calcareous rock, through which the waters are drained and occasionally again brought to the surface at a lower level.ISBE Greece; Graecia.6
5. Climate: The climate of Greece was probably much the same in ancient times as it is today, except that it may have been more salubrious when the land was more thickly populated and better cultivated. Herodotus says that of all countries, Greece possessed the most happily tempered seasons; and Hippocrates and Aristotle commend it for the absence of extremes of heat and cold, as favorable for intelligence and energy. But owing to the inequalities of its surface, to the height of its mountains and the depth of its valleys, the climate varies greatly in different districts. In the highlands of the interior the winter is often cold and severe, the snow lying on the ground until late in the spring, while in the lowlands near the sea there is rarely any severe weather, and snow is almost unknown. The following data for Athens may be taken as a basis for comparison: humidity 41 per cent, rainfall 13,1 inches, distributed over 100 days; mean temperature, Jan. 48,2 degrees F., July 80,6 degrees F. Greece lies open to the northern winds which, during certain seasons, prevail and give a bracing quality to the air not always present in places of the same latitude.ISBE Greece; Graecia.7
6. Geology: The western half of Greece, in which the mountain ranges run generally from North to South, consists of a formation of grayish and yellowish-white compact limestone, while the eastern half--Macedonia, Thessaly, Euboea, Cyllene, and the mountains from Artemision to Cape Malea and Taygetus--together with the greater part of Attica and of the Cyclades, consists of mica-schist and crystalline-granular limestone (marble) Tertiary formations occur in narrow strips on the North and Northwest slopes of the ranges in the Peloponnesus and in the valley of the Eurotas, in Boeotia and Euboea. Volcanic action is evidenced both in the parallel elevations of similar or contemporary formation, and in the earthquakes frequent in all ages, especially in Southern and Central Greece, and in the islands of the Aegean. Perennially active volcanoes are nowhere found in Greece, but new formations due to volcanic action are most clearly seen on the island of Them among the Cyclades, where they have occurred within the last half-century. The solfatara between Megara and Corinth, and the abundant hot springs at widely scattered points in Greece also bear witness to the volcanic character of the region. Many an ancient site, venerated for its sanctity in antiquity, like those of Delphi and Olympia, in their ruined temples offer mute testimony to the violence of the earthquakes; and history records repeated instances of cities engulfed by tidal waves of appalling height.ISBE Greece; Graecia.8
7. Topography: Mention has already been made of the sinuous coastline of Greece, and the land has been spoken of as consisting of three divisions. Northern Greece, to which Epirus and Thessaly belong, is marked off from Central Greece by the deep indentations of the Ambracian Gulf on the West and the Maliac Gulf on the East. The Pegasean Gulf, virtually continued by Lake Boebeis, reaches far into Thessaly, and divides it from Magnesia, which lies to the eastward. The land of the Dolopians really belongs to Northern Greece. Central Greece consists of Acarnania and Aetolia on the West, and of Phocis, Boeotia and Attica (with the adjacent island of Euboea) on the East, separated by a group of lesser states, Aenis, Oetaea, Doris, Locris and Phocis. Southern Greece is separated from Central Greece by the Corinthian and Saronic Gulfs, which almost meet at the Isthmus of Corinth, and are now, after repeated efforts, dating from the time of Julius Caesar, united by a sea-level canal. Megaris, which, by its position, belongs to Central Greece, is here, in accordance with its political affinities and predilections, classed with Corinth, the keeper of the isthmus, as belonging to Southern Greece. Facing the Corinthian Gulf, Achaia forms the northern division of the Peloponnesus, touching Elis, Arcadia and Argolis, which belt the peninsula in this order from West to East Arcadia is the only political division which does not have access to the sea, occupying as it does the great central plateau intersected by lesser ranges of varying height. The southernmost divisions, Messenia and Laconia, are deeply indented by the Messeniac and Laconic Gulfs, and Laconia is separated from the peninsula of Argolis by the Argolic Gulf, all of which head somewhat West of North of the subjacent islands, which a reasonable view must include in the boundaries of Greece, Euboea has already been mentioned; but we should add the group of great islands lying in the Ionian Sea, namely, Corcyra (now, Corfu), Leukas, Ithaca, Cephallenia (now, Cephalonia), Zacynthus (now, Zante), and Cythera (now, Cerigo), at the mouth of the Laconic Gulf, as well as Salamis and Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.ISBE Greece; Graecia.9
Greece was never, in ancient times, a united state, but consisted of a large number of separate states. These were essentially of two types, (a) city-states, in which a city dominated the adjacent territory whose free population constituted its citizenship, or (b) confederacies, in which neighboring cities or districts combined into political organizations which we may call federal states. These matters cannot, however, be discussed except in connection with the history of Greece, for which the reader must consult the standard works. It may be advisable here, however, to name the principal cities of Greece. Northern Greece had no great cities which developed as commercial centers. Aegina was the first to attain to special importance, then Corinth and Athens; Chalcis and Eretria, in Euboea, were for a time rich and prosperous, and Megara, in Megarid, and Argos, in Argolis, became formidable rivals of Athens. Sparta, though never a commercial center, early won and long maintained the hegemony of Greece, for a while disputed by Athens, in virtue of her power as the home of the militant Dorian aristocracy, which was disastrously defeated by the Beotians under Epaminondas, when Thebes, for a time, assumed great importance. Megalopolis, in Arcadia, enjoyed a brief prominence at the time of the Achean League, and Corcyra flourished in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. We should also not fail to mention three great centers of Greek religion: Olympia, in Elis, as the chief sanctuary of Zeus; Delphi, in Phocis, as the oracular seat of Apollo; and Eleusis, in Attica, as the pilgrim-shrine to which all Greeks resorted who would be initiated in the mysteries of Demeter and Cora. Argos also possessed a far-famed shrine of Hera, and Thermopile and Calauria were the centers at which met the councils of influential amphictyonies. Epidaurus was famous for her sanctuary of Asclepius. Delos, a little island in mid-Aegean, celebrated as a sanctuary of Apollo and as the meeting-place of a most influential amphictyony, falls without the limits of Greece proper; but Dodona, in Southern Epirus, should be mentioned as the most ancient and venerable abode of the oracle of Zeus. The Greeks, incorrigibly particularistic in politics, because of the almost insuperable barriers erected by Nature between neighboring peoples in the lofty mountain ranges, were in a measure united by their religion which, like the sea, another element making for intercourse and union, touched them at nearly every point.ISBE Greece; Graecia.10
For Greece in the Old Testament, see JAVAN. In the New Testament "Greece" occurs but once--Acts 20:2--where it is distinguished from Macedonia.ISBE Greece; Graecia.11
William Arthur HeidelISBE Greece; Graecia.12
Greek Language - See LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.ISBE Greek Language.2
Greek Versions - See SEPTUAGINT; VERSIONS.ISBE Greek Versions.2
Greeks - See GRECIANS.ISBE Greeks.2
Green; Greenish - gren.ISBE Green; Greenish.2
See COLOR.ISBE Green; Greenish.3
Greeting - gret'-ing (sha'-al; chairo, aspasmos, aspazomai):ISBE Greeting.2
(1) Sha'-al means "to ask," "to inquire of anyone respecting welfare," hence, "to greet." In the Old Testament the word "greet" occurs only once in the King James Version or the Revised Version (British and American), namely, in 1 Samuel 25:5, "Go to Nabal, and greet him in my name." But it is implied in other places where shalom ("well," "prosperity," "peace"), the common Hebrew greeting, is used; e.g. in Genesis 37:4, it is said of Joseph that "his brethren could not speak peaceably unto him," i.e. could not give him the common friendly greeting of "Peace!" "Peace be to thee!" So, in Genesis 43:27, the Revised Version (British and American) "He asked them of their welfare" (King James Version margin "peace"); Exodus 18:7, "They asked each other of their welfare"(King James Version, margin "peace"); 2 Samuel 11:7, "how Joab did, and how the people did" (the Revised Version (British and American) "fared," the King James Version margin "of the peace of"); Joab said to Amasa (2 Samuel 20:9), the Revised Version (British and American) "Is it well with thee, my brother?" (Hebrew "Art thou in peace, my brother?"); Boaz greeted his reapers with "Yahweh be with you," and they answered, "Yahweh bless thee" (Ruth 2:4; compare Psalms 129:8, "The blessing of Yahweh be upon you; we bless you in the name of Yahweh"). For the king, we have, the King James Version and the English Revised Version God save the king (m "Let the king live," the American Standard Revised Version "(Long) live the king") (1 Samuel 10:24, etc.); "Let my lord king David live for ever" (1 Kings 1:31; see also Nehemiah 2:3; Daniel 2:4, etc.). In Ecclesiastes 6:5 it is said "a fair-speaking tongue will increase kind greetings," the Revised Version (British and American) "multiply courtesies" (euprosegora).ISBE Greeting.3
(2) When Jesus sent forth His disciples to proclaim the kingdom, they were to "salute" the house they came to (Matthew 10:12), saying (Luke 10:5), "Peace (eirene) be to this house!"; if it was not worthy, the blessing should return to themselves. After His resurrection He greeted His disciples saying, "Peace be unto you" (Luke 24:36; John 20:19, 21, 26); He left His "peace" with them as His parting blessing (John 14:27)--"not as the world giveth," in a formal way. A frequent form of greeting in the New Testament is chairo ("to rejoice," imperative and infinitive, chaire, chairete, "Joy to thee," "Joy to you," translated "Hail!" and "All hail!" Matthew 26:49; 27:29; 28:9; Mark 15:18; Luke 1:28; John 19:3), "Rejoice!" (Philippians 3:1; the English Revised Version, margin "farewell"). Another word for greeting is aspasmos, "greetings in the markets" (the King James Version Matthew 23:7; Mark 12:38, "salutations"; Luke 11:43, "greetings," Luke 20:46; also Luke 1:29, 41, 44; 1 Corinthians 16:21; Colossians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; in all these places the Revised Version (British and American) has "salutation").ISBE Greeting.4
(3) Of epistolary greetings we have examples in Ezra 4:17, "Peace" (shelam), etc.; Ezra 5:7; Daniel 4:1; 6:25. These are frequent in the Apoc: 1 Esdras 6:7, "to King Darius greeting" (chairo); 8:9; 1 Maccabees 10:18, etc.; 2 Maccabees 1:10, "greeting, health," etc. We have the same form in Acts 15:23; 23:26. In 3 John 1:14 it is, "Peace (be) unto thee. The friends salute thee." Paul opens most of his epistles with the special Christian greeting, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3, etc.). Also at the close, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (1 Corinthians 16:23; 2 Corinthians 13:14, etc.). He directs greetings to be given to various persons, and sends greetings from those who are with him (Romans 16:5-23; 1 Corinthians 16:19 f; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Philippians 4:21 f; Colossians 4:10, etc.). In those cases the word is aspazomai, and the Revised Version (British and American) translates "salute," etc. (compare James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:2; 5:14; 2 Peter 1:2; 2 John 1:3, 13; Jude 1:2).ISBE Greeting.5
See GODSPEED; KISS.ISBE Greeting.6
Greyhound - gra'-hound.ISBE Greyhound.2
Grief; Grieve - gref, grev: There are some 20 Hebrew words translated in the King James Version by "grief," "grieve," "to be grieved," etc. Among the chief are chalah, choli, yaghon, ka`ac, atsabh. They differ, partly, in their physical origin, and partly, in the nature and cause of the feeling expressed. the Revised Version (British and American) in several instances gives effect to this.ISBE Grief; Grieve.2
(1) Chalah, choli express the sense of weakness, sickness, pain (e.g. Samson, in Judges 16:7, 11, 17, "Then shall I become weak (chalah), and be as another man"); Isaiah 17:11 the King James Version, "a heap in the day of grief"; Isaiah 53:3, 1, "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," "He hath borne our griefs" (choli), the Revised Version, margin Hebrew "sickness, sicknesses"; Isaiah 53:10, "He hath put him to grief," the Revised Version, margin "made him sick" (chalah) (translated by Dillmann and others, "to crush him incurably"; compare Micah 6:13; Nahum 3:19); yaghon, perhaps from the pain and weariness of toil (Psalms 31:10), "For my life is spent with grief," the Revised Version (British and American) "sorrow"; "The Lord added grief to my sorrow," the Revised Version (British and American) "sorrow to my pain" (Jeremiah 45:3); ka`ac implies provocation, anger, irritation; thus Hannah said to Eli (the King James Version), "Out of the abundance of my complaint and my grief (the Revised Version (British and American) "provocation") have I spoken" (1 Samuel 1:16). Psalms 6:7; 31:9, "grief"; Proverbs 17:25, "A foolish son is a grief to his father" (i.e. source of provocation; the same word is rendered "wrath" in Proverbs 12:16, the King James Version "a fool's wrath," the Revised Version (British and American) "vexation"; so also Proverbs 27:3); Job 6:2, "Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed," the Revised Version (British and American) "Oh that my vexation were but weighed" (in Job 5:2 the King James Version the same word is translated "wrath," the Revised Version (British and American) "vexation"); ke'ebh, is "sorrow," "pain," properly "to hurt." It occurs in Job 2:13 "His grief (the Revised Version, margin "or pain") was very great"; also Job 16:6 the Revised Version (British and American), "grief"; makh'obh "sorrows," "pain," "suffering" (2 Chronicles 6:29, the Revised Version (British and American) "sorrow"; Psalms 69:26, the Revised Version, margin "or pain"; Isaiah 53:3, "a man of sorrows"; Isaiah 53:4, "Surely he hath carried our sorrows"); marah and marar indicate "bitterness" (Genesis 26:35; 49:23; 1 Samuel 30:6; Ruth 1:13; Proverbs 14:10, "The heart knoweth its own bitterness, marah); puqah implies staggering, or stumbling, only in 1 Samuel 25:31, "This shall be no grief unto thee," the Revised Version, margin Hebrew "cause of staggering"; ra` (a common word for "evil") denotes an evil, a calamity, only once in the King James Version translated "grief," namely, of Jonah's gourd, "to deliver him from his grief," the Revised Version (British and American) "from his evil case" (Jonah 4:6); yara`, "to be evil," Deuteronomy 15:10, the Revised Version (British and American) "Thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him" (also 1 Samuel 1:8; Nehemiah 2:10; 13:8; several times translated "grievous"); charah, "to burn," "to be wroth" (e.g. Genesis 4:6, "Why art thou wroth?"), is translated "grieved" in Genesis 45:5, and 1 Samuel 15:11 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "Samuel was wroth"); the same word is often used of the kindling of anger; la'ah, "to be weary," "tired," "faint" (Proverbs 26:15), the King James Version "The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth," the Revised Version (British and American) "wearieth"; also Job 4:2; atsabh, "to grieve," "to be vexed," occurs in Genesis 6:6; 34:7; 45:5, etc.; Psalms 78:40, "How oft did they .... grieve him in the desert." Of other words sometimes translated "grief" may be mentioned quT, "to weary of," "to loathe" (Psalms 95:10), "Forty long years was I grieved with that generation"; in Psalms 119:158; 139:21, the Revised Version, margin "loathe"; chamets, implying to be bitterly or violently moved, sour (often translated "leavened"), only in Psalms 73:21, the Revised Version (British and American) "For my soul was grieved," margin, Hebrew "was in a ferment."ISBE Grief; Grieve.3
(2) In the New Testament "grief," "grieve," etc., are infrequent. The commonest words are lupe (1 Peter 2:19), the Revised Version (British and American) "griefs," elsewhere translated "sorrow"; lupeo, "to grieve," "afflict" (Mark 10:22, the Revised Version (British and American) "sorrowful"; John 21:17 "Peter was grieved"; Romans 14:15; 2 Corinthians 2:4, the Revised Version (British and American) "made sorry"; 2 Corinthians 2:5, "caused sorrow"; Ephesians 4:30, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God"); diaponeomai, literally, "to labor through," "to grieve self" occurs twice (Acts 4:2; 16:18 the Revised Version (British and American) "sore troubled"); stenazo, "to groan, or sigh," once only translated "grief" (Hebrews 13:17), the Revised Version, margin "groaning"; prosochthizo, "to be indignant," etc., twice (Hebrews 3:10, 17, the Revised Version (British and American) "displeased"). The reference is to Psalms 95:10, where the Septuagint by this Greek word translates quT (see above).ISBE Grief; Grieve.4
The less frequency in the New Testament of words denoting "grief" is significant. Christ came "to comfort all that mourn--to give a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Christians, however, cannot but feel sorrow and be moved by grief, and it is to be noted that in both the Old Testament and New Testament, God Himself is said to be susceptible to grief.ISBE Grief; Grieve.5
W. L. WalkerISBE Grief; Grieve.6
Grievance - grev'-ans (`amal): Occurs only in the King James Version as a translation of Habakkuk 1:3, "Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?" (the Revised Version (British and American) "look upon perverseness"); `amal is also translated "perverseness" by the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) in Numbers 23:21, "perverseness in Israel"; Isaiah 10:1, the King James Version "grievousness," the Revised Version (British and American) "perverseness." In Habakkuk 1:13, the King James Version translates the same word "iniquity" (margin "grievance"), "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity" (margin "grievance"), the Revised Version (British and American) "perverseness." The word means originally "toil," "labor" with sorrow, misery, etc., as the consequence, and is often so translated. It is the word in Isaiah 53:11, "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied."ISBE Grievance.2
Grievous; Grievously; Greievousness
Grievous; Grievously; Greievousness - grev'-us; grev'-us-li; grev'-us-nes: In addition to several of the words mentioned under GRIEF (which see), we have kabhedh ("heavy") 8 t, e.g. Genesis 12:10, "The famine was grievous in the land," the Revised Version (British and American) "sore"; marats ("powerful"), "a grievous curse" (1 Kings 2:8); cur, "to turn aside" (Jeremiah 6:28), "grievous revolters"; qasheh, "to make sharp" (1 Kings 12:4; 2 Chronicles 10:4); tachalu'im (Jeremiah 16:4), "They shall die grievous deaths," the Revised Version, margin "deaths of sicknesses"; `athaq (Psalms 31:18), "which speak grievous things proudly," the Revised Version (British and American) "against the righteous insolently"; cheT, "sin" (Lamentations 1:8), "Jerus hath grievously sinned" (literally, "hath sinned a sin"); ma`al, "trespass" (Ezekiel 14:13), "trespassing grievously" (literally, "trespassing a trespass") the Revised Version (British and American) "committing a trespass"; kobhedh, "weight" (Isaiah 21:15), "grievousness"; barus, "heavy," "grievous wolves" (Acts 20:29), "grievous charges" (Acts 25:7), "His commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3); okneros, the Revised Version (British and American) "irksome" (Philippians 3:1); poneros, "evil" (Revelation 16:2), "a grievous sore"; dusbastaktos, "grievous to be borne" (Matthew 23:4; Luke 11:46); deinos, "greatly," "grievously tormented" (Matthew 8:6); kakos, "badly," "grievously vexed" (Matthew 15:22).ISBE Grievous; Grievously; Greievousness.2
W. L. WalkerISBE Grievous; Grievously; Greievousness.3
Grinder - grin'-der.ISBE Grinder.2
Grinding - grind'-ing.ISBE Grinding.2
Grisled; Grizzled - griz'-'-ld.ISBE Grisled; Grizzled.2
See COLORS .ISBE Grisled; Grizzled.3
Groan - gron (na'aq, 'anaq; stenazo, embrimaomai): The English word, noun and verb, is an attempt to imitate the vocal sound which is expressive of severe pain or distress, physical or mental. It is cognate with the Scottish dialect word girn, and with grin in its original obsolete sense, as used in the Anglican Prayer-book version of Psalms 59:6, 14, "grin like a dog and go about the city"; here "grin" is a translation of hamah, and means the sound of the nightly howling of the pariah dogs in Jerusalem and other oriental cities. It is used in the Old Testament:ISBE Groan.2
(1) To denote the expression accompanying physical suffering, as in the case of the Israelites in Egypt oppressed by Pharaoh's taskmasters (Exodus 2:24; 6:5), or in Palestine under the yoke of the Canaanites (Judges 2:18, neqaqah). It is also used in Job's description of the sufferings and wretchedness of the poor (Job 24:12) as well as in his complaint concerning his own suffering when smitten by the hand of God (Job 23:2). The Psalmist speaks of groaning when fever-stricken and remorseful, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "roaring all the day long" (Psalms 32:3; 38:9; 102:5; 22:1).ISBE Groan.3
(2) The expression of suffering on the part of beasts, hungry and thirsty in drought (Joel 1:18).ISBE Groan.4
(3) The manifestation of mental and spiritual distress as in Psalms 6:6; 102:20 (the Revised Version (British and American) "sighing").ISBE Groan.5
(4) Metaphorically groaning is the despairing note of Egypt in the prophecy of her overthrow by Babylon, the sound being that uttered by a deadly wounded man (Ezekiel 30:24; similarly in the prophecy of the Persian conquest the misery of Babylon is thus represented by Jeremiah 51:52); and the misery of Tyre when taken by Babylon is similarly described (Ezekiel 26:15, the King James Version "cry").ISBE Groan.6
The word for "sigh" ('anachah) is closely allied, and the meanings are sufficiently akin, so that the terms seem interchangeable. A sigh is physically a sign of respiratory distress due to depressed action of the heart; sighing is consequently the indication of physical weakness or mental disquietude, as Psalms 12:5; 31:10; 79:11; Isaiah 21:2; 24:7; 35:10; Jeremiah 45:3.ISBE Groan.7
Na'aq is the crying of persons dying or starving, as in Ezekiel 30:24; Job 24:12. A somewhat similar word, haghah, means the complaining sound like that of the cooing of doves (Isaiah 59:11; Nahum 2:7). Nehi is the sound of lamentation of the dead (Jeremiah 9:10; 31:15; Amos 5:16).ISBE Groan.8
In the New Testament "groaning" is used for the expression of mental distress. In John 11:33, 15 the word used is part of the verb embrimaomai, which conveys the idea of deep and earnest emotion. The same word in two other passages is translated "strictly charged," and indicates the emphasis of the charge (Matthew 9:30; Mark 1:43). Elsewhere "sighing" and "groaning" are renderings of words derived from the verb stenazo, as in Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 5:2, 4; Mark 7:34; 8:12. Stephen calls the groaning of Israel in Egypt stenagmos (Acts 7:34), and the united wail of the travailing creation is expressed by Paul by the word sunstenazei (Romans 8:22). The sigh is a characteristic sign of woe in Isaiah 21:2; 24:7; Jeremiah 45:3; Lamentations 1:14, Jeremiah 8:1-22, 11, 12; Ezekiel 9:4; 21:6 f.ISBE Groan.9
Alexander MacalisterISBE Groan.10
Gross - gros (`araphel): Used twice with "darkness" in Isaiah 60:2; Jeremiah 13:16. In the New Testament the verb pachuno, "to make fat," is applied twice to "making gross" the heart (Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27).ISBE Gross.2
Ground; Grounded - ground, ground'-ed ('adhamah, 'erets; ge):ISBE Ground; Grounded.2
(1) "Ground" is in the King James Version the translation of 'adhamah, "the soil," the ground so called from its red color, frequently also translated "earth" and "land" (Genesis 2:5 f, etc.; Exodus 3:5; 8:21, etc.); it is more often the translation of 'erets, which means rather the earth, most often translated "earth" and "land" (Genesis 18:2; Psalms 74:7; Isaiah 3:26, etc.); other words are chelqah, "portion," "field" (2 Samuel 23:12, the Revised Version (British and American) "plot"); charish, "ploughing" (1 Samuel 8:12); sadheh, "a plain," "a field" (1 Chronicles 11:13, the Revised Version (British and American) "plot of ground"); for other special words see DRY ; FALLOW; PARCHED.ISBE Ground; Grounded.3
(2) In the New Testament the common word for "ground" is ge, "earth," "soil," "land" (Matthew 13:8; Acts 7:33, "holy ground," etc.); other words are agros, "field" (Luke 14:18, "I have bought a piece of ground" the Revised Version (British and American) "field"); chorion, "spot," "place" (John 4:5, "parcel of ground").ISBE Ground; Grounded.4
(3) As past participle of "to grind," "ground" appears as the translation of riphoth, pounded grain (2 Samuel 17:19, the Revised Version (British and American) "bruised"); "ground" is also the translation of Tachan (Exodus 32:20; Numbers 11:8; Deuteronomy 9:21, the Revised Version (British and American) "grinding").ISBE Ground; Grounded.5
(4) "Ground," as the basis or foundation of anything, occurs in 1 Timothy 3:15 as the translation of hedraioma (from edaphos), "the pillar and ground of the truth," the Revised Version, margin "stay."ISBE Ground; Grounded.6
"Grounded" is used in the sense of founded, based, fixed in (Isaiah 30:32), "and in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him," the King James Version margin "Hebrew every passing of the rod founded," the Revised Version (British and American) "and every stroke (margin "Hebrew passing") of the appointed staff (margin "Or staff of doom (Hebrew foundation)"), which Yahweh shall lay upon him"; following, Isaiah 30:31, "with his rod will he (Yahweh) smite him"; Delitzsch, "every stroke of the rod of destiny which Yahweh causes to fall upon Asshur"; the word is mucadhah, from yacadh, "to place," "to found," "to appoint," "to ordain," hence, "appointed rod (of punishment)," seems the simplest rendering.ISBE Ground; Grounded.7
In Ephesians 3:17 we have "rooted and grounded in love," and in Colossians 1:23, "if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled," the Revised Version (British and American) "steadfast," both themelioo, "to lay a foundation." In Ecclesiasticus 18:6 "ground" is used for the "bottom of things," but the Revised Version (British and American) has "to track them out" (exichneuo), "to trace out."ISBE Ground; Grounded.8
(5) Figurative uses of "ground" are as representing the heart in relation to its reception of words of truth and righteousness (Jeremiah 4:3; Hosea 10:12, "Break up your fallow ground"); to the word of the kingdom as preached by Christ (Matthew 13:8, 23); dry, parched, thirsty ground stands for a poor condition (Psalms 107:33, 15; Isaiah 35:7; 44:3; 53:2; Ezekiel 19:13).ISBE Ground; Grounded.9
W. L. WalkerISBE Ground; Grounded.10
(2) 'eshel (Genesis 21:33 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "a tamarisk tree").ISBE Grove.5
Grudge - gruj (naTar; stenazo, goggusmos): "Grudge" (perhaps a mimetic word, compare Greek gru) is "to grumble" or "murmur" at any person or thing, to entertain an envious or covetous feeling, to do or give anything unwillingly, etc. It occurs in the King James Version as the translation of naTar, "to keep (anger)" (Leviticus 19:18, "Thou shalt not .... bear any grudge against the children of thy people"); in Psalms 59:15, as the translation, in text, of Hebrew lun or lin, "to pass the night," "to tarry," Niphal, "to show oneself obstinate," "to murmur or complain" (of the enemies who were hunting David like dogs), "Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied," margin "If they be not satisfied then will they stay all night," the Revised Version (British and American) "And tarry all night if they be not satisfied"; but see Exodus 15:24; 16:2; Numbers 14:2; Joshua 9:18, etc., where the translation is "murmur"; may not the meaning be "and growl (or howl) if they be not satisfied"? "Grudge" formerly implied open expression of discontent, etc., e.g. Wyclif has in Luke 15:2, "The farisies and scribis grucchiden seiynge," etc.ISBE Grudge.2
In James 5:9, stenazo, "to groan," "to complain" (from affliction or from impatience or ill-humor), is translated "grudge," "Grudge not one against another, brethren," the Revised Version (British and American) "murmur not"; goggusmos, "a murmuring" (compare John 7:12 f; Acts 6:1), is rendered "grudging" (1 Peter 4:9), "Use hospitality one to another without grudging," the Revised Version (British and American) "murmuring"; compare Philippians 2:14; me ek lupes, "not out of grief," is "without grudging" (2 Corinthians 9:7, the Revised Version (British and American) "not grudging" margin, Greek "of sorrow"); in Ecclesiastes 10:20 we have "will not grudge" (gogguzo), the Revised Version (British and American) "murmur."ISBE Grudge.3
"Grudge" was frequent in the earlier VSS, but is changed in the King James Version for the most part into "murmur"; the Revised Version (British and American) completes the change, except Leviticus 19:18, and text of 2 Corinthians 9:7.ISBE Grudge.4
Guard - gard: (1) sar ha-Tabbachim, "captain of the guard," literally, "slaughterers" (Genesis 37:36; 39:1; 3, 1; 10, 12); rabh Tabbachim (2 Kings 25:8, 11, 20; Jeremiah 39:9, etc.); rabh tabbachayyah (Daniel 2:14); ratsim, "guard," the King James Version "footmen" (1 Samuel 22:17); sare ha-ratsim, "chief of the guard" the King James Version "captains of the guard" (1 Kings 14:27); ta' ha-ratsim, "guard-chamber" (1 Kings 14:28; compare Ezekiel 40:21, etc., where "lodges" are "guardrooms"; see A.B. Davidson at the place). (2) mishmar, "guard," a defense to a point of danger (Nehemiah 4:22 f; Ezekiel 38:7). (3) mishma`ath, "guard" (2 Samuel 23:23, where the American Revised Version, margin and the Revised Version, margin have "council," the body over which Benaiah was set by David and whose functions were perhaps those of consultation). (4) spekoulator, "guard" (Mark 6:27, "a man of Herod's guard," where, as in one or two other cases, Mark, writing for Romans, simply transliterates the Latin speculator "a scout," "an executioner," as in loc.). (5) stratopedarches, "captain of the guard" the King James Version, "captain of the praetorian guard" the Revised Version, margin, Acts 28:16. See CAPTAIN. (6) (koustodia), "watch" the King James Version, "guard" the American Standard Revised Version and the Revised Version (British and American) (Matthew 27:65-66; 28:11).ISBE Guard.2
1. Royal Body-Guard: An oriental monarch's body-guard consisted of picked men attached to his person and ready to fulfill his pleasure in important and confidential concerns. At the courts of Egypt and Babylon the members of the guard were known as "slaughterers," "executioners" (Genesis 37:36 King James Version margin, the American Revised Version, margin and the Revised Version, margin, where Potiphar is called their captain); 2 Kings 25:8, where Nebuzaradan is called their captain (King James Version margin "chief marshal"). Whether it had ever been the function of the body-guard to kill meat for the royal table there is little directly to show; that they acted as executioners can be well understood. In Israel they were known as "the footmen" (1 Samuel 22:17 the King James Version, the American Revised Version, margin and the Revised Version, margin "runners") who acted as royal messengers or couriers from the time of Saul onward (2 Kings 10:25; 11:6); and this designation connects them with the couriers of the kings of Persia (Esther 3:13, 15; 8:14, where our versions render "posts," though the Hebrew is ratsim).ISBE Guard.3
2. Composed of Foreigners: The men of the royal body-guard were usually foreigners like the janissaries of oriental monarchs down to modern times, who prefer to have around their persons warriors uninfluenced by family connection with the people of the land. Rameses II had such a body-guard whose commanders ranked with the great officers of the crown (Maspero, Struggle of the Nations, 766). David's body-guard of 600, known also as the gibborim or "mighty men," consisted of Cherethites, Pelethites, and Gittites (2 Samuel 15:18; 20:23), and we read of Carites (2 Kings 11:19), who may have been Carians or Cretans, as forming part of the guard at the coronation of King Jehoash.ISBE Guard.4
3. Connection with the Temple: That this guard had duties in connection with the temple as well as the king's house seems clear. That they were employed as slaughterers of the sacrifices before the Levites were entrusted with the office is unlikely, inasmuch as this guard is not said to have been composed of "slaughterers" but of "runners." But they accompanied King Rehoboam when he visited the temple (1 Kings 14:28), and to their captains were committed the shields of brass which took the place of the shields of gold which Solomon had hung up in the temple; Jehoiada employed their captains to put Athaliah to death and to exterminate the worshippers of Baal who had fled to the temple precincts (2 Kings 11:4 ff); the temple gate leading to the palace was called "the gate of the guard" (2 Kings 11:19). At this time, and for this occasion, at least, the royal body-guard were the temple guards; and when Ezekiel drew up his plans for the temple which he conceived to replace the temple destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar, the "lodges" or "little chambers" were rooms for the accommodation of the temple guard (Ezekiel 40:7, 10, 21, 33, etc.).ISBE Guard.5
Robertson Smith, OTJC, 262, and note.ISBE Guard.7
Guardian - gar'-di-an.ISBE Guardian.2
See FAMILY; ANGEL.ISBE Guardian.3
Gudgodah - gud-go'-da (gudhgodhah): A place in the wilderness journeyings (Deuteronomy 10:7), corresponding to Hor-haggidgad in Numbers 33:32. Septuagint in each case renders (Gadgad). The site cannot now be identified; but there may be an echo of the ancient name in that of Wady Gudaghid, a confluent of Wady Jerafeh, which comes down from et Tih into the `Arabah nearly due West of Petra. There are difficulties, however, as the consonants do not correspond.ISBE Gudgodah.2
Guest - gest (qara'; anakeimai): Oriental customs growing out of a nomadic life demand a greater abandon and freedom with respect to the relation of host and guest than are permitted by the conventionalities of western life. A householder is expected to entertain a traveler, and in turn the traveler may accept with perfect ease the hospitality shown without any obligation to pay. See HOSPITALITY. The significance of the word is that of one who is called or invited. A certain sacredness, unknown to modern western society, was attached to the guest, so that a special apartment was set aside for the guests. See GUEST-CHAMBER. In the Old Testament only 3 times is the word itself used, with reference to the guests of Adonijah (1 Kings 1:41, 49), of the foolish woman (Proverbs 9:18), and of Yahweh (Zephaniah 1:7). In the New Testament, 3 times (Matthew 22:10 f; Luke 19:7 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "to lodge"). Though but few actual uses of the word occur, there are abounding illustrations of the guest relation in both Old Testament and New Testament. Especially is this manifest in the striking social attitudes of Jesus on occasions. Notable among these are the hospitality of Matthew (Luke 5:29 ff); Jesus' relation to Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38 ff), and His entrance into the home of Zaccheus (Luke 19:1 ff). Likewise Jesus spoke frequently of the relation which should exist between the guest and his host (see Luke 7:44-46; Matthew 25:35; 10:40).ISBE Guest.2
Walter G. ClippingerISBE Guest.3
Guest-chamber - gest'-cham-ber: The translation of (1) (lishkah) (1 Samuel 9:22, the King James Version "parlor"), and (2) (kataluma) (Mark 14:14 parallel Luke 22:11). The lishkah was probably a room in which the sacrificial feasts were held. Kataluma is derived from kataluo, which means "to slacken," i.e. the ropes of the beasts of burden, and hence, "to lodge." Kataluma has accordingly often the sense of "inn," but as used in Mk and Lk it has the narrower meaning of a room in which to eat.ISBE Guest-chamber.2
Guide - gid ('alluph, nachal, nachah; hodegos, hodegeo): "Guide" (noun) is the translation of 'alluph, "an intimate," "a friend," the leader of a family or tribe: Psalms 55:13, "a man mine equal, my guide," the Revised Version (British and American) "my companion"; Proverbs 2:17, "the guide of her youth," the Revised Version (British and American) "friend," margin "or guide"; Jeremiah 3:4, "My father, thou (art) the guide of my youth," the Revised Version, margin "companion"; Micah 7:5, "Put ye not confidence in a guide," the American Standard Revised Version "in a friend," margin "confidant" (which the context shows to be the meaning), the English Revised Version "guide," margin "familiar friend"; once of katsin, "a judge," "a military leader or commander" (compare Joshua 10:24; Daniel 11:18); Proverbs 6:7, the Revised Version (British and American) "chief," margin "judge"; once nahagh, "to lead," is translated "guide" (Psalms 48:14). In the New Testament hodegos, "a way-leader," is translated "guide" (Matthew 23:16, "ye blind guides"; Matthew 23:24; Acts 1:16; Romans 2:19); "to guide" is the translation of nachah, "to lead forth" (Job 38:32; Psalms 73:24); once of 'ashar, Piel, "to guide" or "lead straight (Proverbs 23:19); of ya`ats, "to command," "to give counsel" ("I will guide thee with mine eye," the Revised Version (British and American) "I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee," Psalms 32:8); of kul, "to contain," "to sustain" (Psalms 112:5, "He will guide his affairs with discretion," the Revised Version (British and American) "He shall maintain his cause in judgment"); of nahagh, "to drive," "to lead" (Psalms 78:52); of hodegeo, "to show the way," "guide" (John 16:13, "He shall guide you into all truth," the Revised Version (British and American) "the truth"; Acts 8:31); oikodespoteo is translated "to guide the house" the Revised Version (British and American) "rule the household" (1 Timothy 5:14); the word means literally, to be a house-master (the head of the house).ISBE Guide.2
The Revised Version (British and American) has "guide" for "lead" (Psalms 25:5; Matthew 15:14; Luke 6:39; Revelation 7:17); "a guide to" for "more excellent than" (Proverbs 12:26); "guided" for "brought in" (Psalms 78:26); "guideth" for "maketh" (2 Samuel 22:33), for "leadeth" (Psalms 23:3); "my heart yet guiding me," margin "holding its course," for "yet acquainting mine heart" (Ecclesiastes 2:3).ISBE Guide.3
"Guide-posts" is substituted for "high heaps" (Jeremiah 31:21).ISBE Guide.4
Guile - gil (mirmah; dolos): "Guile" is twice the translation of mirmah, "fraud," "deceit" (Psalms 34:13, "Keep .... thy lips from speaking guile"; Psalms 55:11, "deceit and guile," the Revised Version (British and American) "oppression (margin "fraud") and guile"); once of `ormah, "craftiness," "guile" (Exodus 21:14); once of remiyah, "deception," "fraud" (Psalms 32:2, "in whose spirit there is no guile"); in the New Testament of dolos, "bait," hence, generally, "fraud," "guile," "deceit"; Septuagint for mirmah (Isaiah 53:9, English Versions of the Bible "deceit") and for remiyah (Job 13:7, English Versions of the Bible "deceitfully"; John 1:47; 2 Corinthians 12:16, "Being crafty, I caught you with guile"; 1 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Peter 2:1, 22; 3:10, quoted from Psalms 34:13; Revelation 14:5, "In their mouth was found no guile," the Revised Version (British and American) after corrected text, "no lie").ISBE Guile.2
Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:16 have sometimes been quoted in justification of "guile" in religious work, etc.; but he is not describing his actual procedure; but that which the Corinthians might have attributed to him; the lips of the Christian must be kept free from all guile (Psalms 34:13; 1 Peter 2:1, etc.; Wisdom of Solomon 1:5 "A holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit" (dolos), the Revised Version (British and American) "A holy spirit"). "Guile" does not appear in Apocrypha; dolos is frequently rendered "deceit."ISBE Guile.3
The Revised Version (British and American) has "guile" for "subtilty" (Genesis 27:35; Acts 13:10); "cover itself with guile" for "is covered by deceit" (Proverbs 26:26); "with guile" for "deceitfully" (Genesis 34:13); "spiritual milk which is without guile" for "sincere milk of the word," the English Revised Version, margin "reasonable," the American Revised Version, margin, Greek "belonging to the reason" (compare Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:2); "guileless" for "harmless" (Hebrews 7:26).ISBE Guile.4
Guilt - gilt: The Christian idea of guilt involves three elements: responsibility (Greek aitia, "cause," depending upon a man's real freedom), blameworthiness (Latin reatus culpae, depending upon a man's knowledge and purpose) and the obligation to make good through punishment or compensation (Latin reatus poenae; compare Greek opheilema, "debt," Matthew 6:12). In other words, in thinking of guilt we ask the questions of cause, motive and consequence, the central idea being that of the personal blameworthiness of the sinner.ISBE Guilt.2
I. In the Old Testament. 1. The Ritualistic and Legalistic Conception: Not all of this is found at once in the Old Testament. The idea of guilt corresponds to that of righteousness or holiness. When these are ritual and legal, instead of ethical and spiritual, they will determine similarly the idea of guilt. This legalistic and ritualistic conception of guilt may first be noted. Personal blameworthiness does not need to be present. "If any one sin, and do any of the things which Yahweh hath commanded not to be done; though he knew it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity" (Leviticus 5:17). The man is guilty, not because he might or should have known; he may merely have touched unwittingly the body of an unclean beast (Leviticus 5:2-3). The guilt is here because the law has been transgressed and must be made good (compare Leviticus 5:15-16; Leviticus 4:2-3, 13, 12, 27; see also Leviticus 5:2-3, 4, 17).ISBE Guilt.3
Moreover, the element of personal responsibility is sometimes lacking where guilt is assigned. The priest may sin "so as to bring guilt on the people" (Leviticus 4:3). One man's wrongdoing may "cause the land to sin" (Deuteronomy 24:4). Israel has sinned in Achan's greed and therefore suffers. Even when the guilty man is found, his children and his very cattle must bear the guilt and punishment with him, though there is no suggestion of their participation or even knowledge (Joshua 7:1-26; compare 2 Samuel 24:1-25). Here the full moral idea of sin and guilt is wanting because the idea of personality and personal responsibility has not come to its own. The individual is still merged here in the clan or nation.ISBE Guilt.4
The central idea in all this is not that of the individual, his responsibility, his motive, his blame. It is that of a rule and the transgression of it, which must be made good. For this reason we see the ú ideas of sin and guilt and punishment constantly passing over into each other. This may be seen by noting the use of the words whose common root is '-sh-m, the distinctive Hebrew term for guilt. In Leviticus 5:1-19 to 7 in the adjective form it is rendered "guilty," in the noun as "trespass offering." In Hosea 5:15 it seems to mean punishment (see margin, "have borne their guilt," and compare Ezekiel 6:6), while in Numbers 5:7-8 the idea is that of compensation (rendered "restitution for guilt").ISBE Guilt.5
2. Prophetic Teaching: With the prophets, the ideas of sin and righteousness come out more clearly as ethical and personal, and so we mark a similar advance in the conception of guilt. It is not ritual correctness that counts with God, incense and sacrifices and new moons and Sabbaths, but to cease to do evil, to learn to do well (Isaiah 1:1-31). Thus the motive and the inner spirit come in (Micah 6:8; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 58:1-12), and guilt gains a new depth and quality. At the same time the idea of personal responsibility comes. A man is to bear his own sins. The children's teeth are not to be set on edge because the fathers have eaten sour grapes (Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:29-32; 2 Kings 14:6; compare 2 Samuel 24:17).ISBE Guilt.6
II. In the New Testament. 1. With Jesus: Here as elsewhere Jesus came to fulfill. With Him it is the inner attitude of the soul that decides. It is the penitent publican who goes down justified, not the Pharisee with his long credit account (Luke 18:9-14). That is why His attitude is so kindly toward some notorious sinners and so stern toward some religious leaders. The Pharisees are outwardly correct, but their spirit of bigotry and pride prevents their entering the kingdom of heaven, while the penitent harlots and publicans take it by storm.ISBE Guilt.7
Because it is not primarily a matter of the outward deed but of the inner spirit, Jesus marks different degrees of guilt as depending upon a man's knowledge and motive (Luke 11:29-32; Luke 12:47-48; 23:34). And yet Jesus does not lighten the sense of guilt but rather deepens it. The strength of the Old Testament thought lay in this, that it viewed all transgression as a sin against God, since all law came from Him. This religious emphasis remains with Jesus (Luke 15:21; compare Psalms 51:4). But with Jesus God is far more than a giver of rules. He gives Himself. And so the guilt is the deeper because the sin is against this love and mercy and fellowship which God offers us. Jesus shows us the final depth of evil in sin. Here comes the New Testament interpretation of the cross, which shows it on the one hand as the measure of God's love in the free gift of His Son, and on the other as the measure of man's guilt whose sin wrought this and made it necessary.ISBE Guilt.8
2. With Paul: Paul also recognizes differences of degree in guilt, the quality of blameworthiness which is not simply determined by looking at the outward transgression (Acts 17:30; Ephesians 4:18; Romans 2:9; 3:26; 5:13; 7:13). He, too, looks within to decide the question of guilt (Romans 14:23). But sin is not a matter of single acts or choices with Paul. He sees it as a power that comes to rule a man's life and that rules in the race. The question therefore arises, Does Paul think of guilt also as native, as belonging to man because man is a part of the race? Here it can merely be pointed out that Romans 5:12-21 does not necessarily involve this. Paul is not discussing whether all men committed sin in Adam's fall, or whether all are guilty by virtue of their very place in a race that is sinful. It is not the question of guilt in fact or degree, but merely the fact that through one man men are now made righteous as before through one sin came upon them all. This no more involves native guilt as a non-ethical conception than it does the idea that the righteousness through Christ is merely forensic and non-ethical. Paul is simply passing over the other elements to assert one fact. Romans 1:1-32 suggests how Paul looked at universal sin as involving guilt because universal knowledge and choice entered in.ISBE Guilt.9
Mueller, Christian Doctrine of Sin, I, 193-267; Schultz, Old Testament Theology; Kaehler, article "Schuld," Hauck-Herzog, Realencyklopadie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche.ISBE Guilt.12
Harris Franklin RallISBE Guilt.13
Guilt Offering - See SACRIFICE.ISBE Guilt Offering.2
Guiltless - gilt'-les: The primary meaning of the Hebrew word is "to be clean." Sometimes the meaning is "freedom from blame," at other times to be "free from punishment," these two ideas running over into each other as with the word "guilt." The latter meaning seems to predominate in Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11; 2 Samuel 14:9; 1 Kings 2:9. The other meaning holds in Numbers 32:22; Joshua 2:19; 2 Samuel 3:28; Matthew 12:5, 7.ISBE Guiltless.2
Guilty - gil'-ti: In addition to the general discussion under GUILT (which see), several New Testament passages demand special notice because the word "guilty" is not used in the principal sense of blameworthy, but with one of the two lesser meanings noted above which go to make up the complete idea. In 3 of these passages the King James Version renders "guilty" and the Revised Version (British and American) gives another rendering. In Matthew 26:66 the King James Version, Jesus' foes declare he is "guilty of death" (enochos, "liable to"). Here "guilty" simply means the one who is legally held, and the reference is not to the blame but to the consequence. This is a true use of the word in the lower and legal sense. It does not correspond with our higher usage, and so we have it in the Revised Version (British and American) "worthy of death." So in Romans 3:19, "guilty" is changed to "under the judgment," and in Matthew 23:18, to "debtor."ISBE Guilty.2
In James 2:10 and 1 Corinthians 11:27, the word "guilty" is also used in the lesser or more primitive sense, not primarily as involving blame but as involving the sinner's authorship or responsibility. This is the first element suggested in the definition of guilt given above, just as the preceding passages illustrate the third element. The man who stumbles in one point is "guilty" of the whole law. James does not refer here to the degree of blameworthiness. "Guilty of" means transgressor of, and he has transgressed the whole because the law is one. So in 1 Corinthians 11:27, those "guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord" are those who have transgressed in the matter of the body and the blood of the Lord.ISBE Guilty.3
Harris Franklin RallISBE Guilty.4
Gulf - (chasma, "a chasm," "vent," "a gaping opening"--a great interval; from chaino, "to gape" or "yawn"): Occurs only in Luke 16:26, "Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed" (compare "afar off" in Luke 16:23). This is very different from, though it probably reflects, the rabbinical conception of the separation between the two compartments of Hades (Sheol) by "a hand's breadth," "a wall," or even, later, "a chasm," as the parable can be given here only a figurative significance, and is of purely ethical import. The fundamental difference between the Rich Man and Lazarus lies not in their conditions but in their characters. For "besides all this" (Luke 16:26) the Revised Version, margin gives "in all these things," thus implying that the moral distinctions which exist in this life (Luke 16:25) become more pronounced ("fixed") in the next world, and the "gulf" is impassable in the sense that a change of condition will not necessarily produce a change of soul.ISBE Gulf.2
See also ABRAHAM'S BOSOM; HADES.ISBE Gulf.3
Guni; Gunites - gu'-ni, gu'-nits (guni):ISBE Guni; Gunites.2
(1) The name of a Naphtalite clan (Genesis 46:24; Numbers 26:48; 1 Chronicles 7:13). In Numbers 26:48 the gentilic "Gunites" is also found, having in Hebrew the same form, with the article.ISBE Guni; Gunites.3
(2) The head of a Gadite family (1 Chronicles 5:15).ISBE Guni; Gunites.4
Gur; the Ascent, of - gur, a-sent', (ma`-aleh ghur): The place where the servants of Jehu mortally wounded Ahaziah, king of Judah (2 Kings 9:27). The ascent (the King James Version "going up") was hard by Ibleam, the site of which is identified about 1/2 mile South of Jenin.ISBE Gur; the Ascent, of.2
Gur-baal - gur-ba'-al (gur ba`-al): The residence of certain Arabs against whom God helped Uzziah, king of Judah (2 Chronicles 26:7). Its mention immediately after the Philistines may have suggested the "Gerar" of the Targum. Association with the Meunim points to the East. It may be taken as certain that Jebel Neby Harun, near Petra, has always been crowned by a sanctuary. This may have been "the dwelling place of Baal"; or, accepting Kittel's emendation (Tur ba`al), "the rock" or "mountain of Baal." The Arabs probably dwelt in the region before the days of Petra (EB, under the word)ISBE Gur-baal.2
Gutter - gut'-er.ISBE Gutter.2