GENEVA
BIBLE
to
a
comparatively'late
period
of
Hebrew
literature,
and
is
generally
assigned
by
critics
to
the
early
post-exilic
age.
3.
Nature
of
the
material.
—
That
the
contents
of
Genesis
are
not
historical
in
the
technical
sense,
is
implied
in
the
fact
that
even
the
oldest
of
its
written
documents
are
far
from
being
contemporary
with
the
events
related.
They
consist
for
the
most
part
of
traditions
which
for
an
indefinite
period
had
circulated
orally
amongst
the
Israelites,
and
which
(as
divergences
in
the
written
records
testify)
had
undergone
modification
in
the
course
of
transmission.
No
one
denies
that
oral
tradi-tion
may
embody
authentic
recollection
of
actual
occur-rences;
but
the
extent
to
which
this
is
the
case
is
un-certain,
and
will
naturally
vary
in
different
parts
of
the
narrative.
Thus
a
broad
distinction
may
be
drawn
between
the
primitive
traditions
of
chs.
1-H
on
the
one
hand,
and
those
relating
to
the
patriarchs
on
the
other.
The
accounts
of
the
Creation,
the
Fall,
the
Flood,
and
the
Dispersion,
all
exhibit
more
or
less
clearly
the
influence
of
Babylonian
mythology;
and
with
regard
to
these
the
question
is
one
not
of
trust-worthy
historical
memory,
but
of
the
avenue
through
which
certain
mythical
representations
came
to
the
knowledge
of
Israel.
For
the
patriarchal
period
the
conditions
are
different:
here
the
tradition
is
ostensibly
national;
the
presumed
interval
of
oral
transmission
is
perhaps
not
beyond
the
compass
of
the
retentive
Oriental
memory;
and
it
would
be
surprising
if
some
real
knowledge
of
its
own
antecedents
had
not
persisted
in
the
national
recollection
of
Israel.
These
considera-tions
may
be
held
to
justify
the
behef
that
a
substratum
of
historic
fact
underhes
the
patriarchal
narratives
of
Genesis;
but
it
must
be
added
that
to
distinguish
that
substratum
from
legendary
accretions
is
hardly
possible
in
the
present
state
of
our
knowledge.
The
process
by
which
the
two
elements
came
to
be
blended
can,
however,
partly
be
explained.
The
patriarchs,
for
instance,
are
conceived
as
ancestors
of
tribes
and
nations;
and
it
is
certain
that
in
some
narratives
the
characteristics,
the
mutual
relations,
and
even
the
history,
of
tribes
are
reflected
in
what
is
told
as
the
personal
biography
of
the
ancestors.
Again,
the
patriarchs
are
founders
of
sanctuaries;
and
it
is
natural
to
suppose
that
legends
explanatory
of
customs
observed
at
these
sanctuaries
are
attached
to
the
names
of
their
reputed
founders
and
go
to
enrich
the
traditional
narrative.
Once
more,
they
are
types
of
character;
and
in
the
inevitable
simplification
which
accompanies
popular
narration
the
features
of
the
type
tended
to
be
emphasized,
and
the
figures
of
the
patriarchs
were
gradually
ideaUzed
as
patterns
of
Hebrew
piety
and
virtue.
No
greater
mistake
could
be
made
than
to
think
that
these
non-historical,
legendary
or
imaginative,
parts
of
the
tradition
are
valueless
for
the
ends
of
revelation.
They
are
inseparably
woven
into
that
ideal
background
of
history
which
bounded
the
horizon
of
ancient
Israel,
and
was
perhaps
more
influential
in
the
moulding
of
national
character
than
a
knowledge
of
the
naked
reality
would
have
been.
The
inspiration
of
the
Biblical
narrators
is
seen
in
the
fashioning
of
the
floating
mass
of
legend
and
folklore
and
historical
reminiscences
into
an
expression
of
their
Divinely
given
apprehension
of
religious
truth,
and
so
transforming
what
would
other-wise
have
been
a
constant
source
of
religious
error
and
moral
corruption
as
to
make
it
a
vehicle
of
instruc-tion
in
the
knowledge
and
fear
of
God.
Once
the
principle
is
admitted
that
every
genuine
and
worthy
mode
of
literary
expression
is
a
suitable
medium
of
God's
word
to
men,
it
is
impossible
to
suppose
that
the
mythic
faculty,
which
plays
so
Important
a
part
in
the
thinking
of
all
early
peoples,
was
alone
ignored
in
the
Divine
education
of
Israel.
J.
Skinner.
GENEVA
BIBLE.—
See
English
Vehsions,
§
26.
GENN.^TTS.
—
The
father
of
Apollonius,
a
Syrian
commander
of
a
district
in
Palestine
(2
Mac
12^).
GEOLOGY
OF
PALESTINE
GENNESARET,
LAKE
OF.—
See
Galilee
[Sea
of]'
GENNESARET,
LAND
OP.—
Mentioned
only
in
the
parallel
passages
Mt
14",
Mk
6=3,
as
the
place
whither
the
disciples
sailed
after
the
stilUng
of
the
second
storm
on
the
Lake.
It
was
somewhere
on
the
W.
bank
of
the
Lake
of
Galilee,
as
the
feeding
of
the
five
thousand
had
taken
place,
just
before
the
crossing,
on
the
E.
side;
it
was
also
near
habitations,
as
sick
people
were
brought
for
healing
to
Christ
on
His
landing.
It
is
usually,
and
with
reason,
identified
with
the
low
land
at
the
N.W.
corner
of
the
Lake.
R.
A.
S.
Macalister.
GENTILES.—
See
Nations.
Gentiles,'
see
Temple.
GENTLENESS.—
The
word
'gentle'
occurs
five
times
in
NT
(AV).
In
1
Th
2'
and
2
Ti
2"
it
corre-sponds
to
Gr.
dpios;
it
is
the
character
proper
to
a
nurse
among
trying
children,
or
a
teacher
with
refractory
pupils.
In
Tit
3^,
Ja
3",
1
P
2^»
'gentle'
is
the
AV
tr.
of
epieikSs,
which
is
uniformly
so
rendered
in
EV.
The
general
idea
of
the
Gr.
word
is
that
which
is
suggested
by
equity
as
opposed
to
strict
legal
justice;
it
expresses
the
quality
of
considerateness,
of
readiness
to
look
humanely
and
reasonably
at
the
tacts
of
a
case.
There
is
a
good
discussion
of
it
in
Trench,
Syn.
§
xliii.;
he
thinks
there
are
no
words
in
English
which
answer
exactly
to
it,
the
ideas
of
equity
and
fairness,
which
are
essential
to
its
import,
usually
getting
less
than
justice
in
the
proposed
equivalents.
In
2
S
22^6
=
Ps
18=5
('Thy
gentleness
hath
made
me
great')
RV
keeps
'gentleness'
in
the
text,
but
gives
'condescension'
In
the
margin,
which
is
much
better.
The
key
to
the
meaning
is
found
in
comparing
such
passages
as
Ps
113"-,
Is
67",
Zee
9',
Mt
11".
GENUBATH.—
Son
of
Hadad,
the
fugitive
Edomlte
prince,
by
the
sister
of
queen
Tahpenes
(1
K
ll"-
^o).
GEOGRAPHY
OF
PALESTINE.—
See
Palestine.
GEOLOGY
OF
PALESTINE
.—I.
Natural
divisions.
—
The
land
of
Palestine
(using
the
name
in
its
widest
sense
to
include
the
trans-Jordanic
plateau
and
the
Sinai
Peninsula)
is
divided
by
its
configuration
and
by
natural
boundary
lines
into
five
strongly
contrasted
divisions.
These
are
(1)
the
Coast
Plain,
(2)
the
Western
Table-land,
(3)
the
GhOr,
(4)
the
Eastern
Table-land,
(5)
the
Sinai
Peninsula.
1.
The
Coast
Plain
extends
from
the
mouth
of
the
Nile
to
Carmel
(the
poUtical
boundary
Une,
the
valley
known
as
Wady
el-'AfUh,
or
the
River
of
Egypt,
is
of
no
impor-tance
geologically).
North
of
Carmel,
Esdraelon
and
the
narrow
strip
that
extends
as
far
as
Beyrout
is
the
con-tinuation
of
the
same
division.
It
is
characterized
by
sandhills
along
the
coast,
and
by
undulating
ground
in-land.
2
.
The
Western
Table
-land
extends
from
Lebanon
to
the
northern
border
of
Sinai:
the
headland
of
Carmel
is
an
intrusion
from
this
division
on
to
the
pre-ceding.
It
consists
of
a
ridge
of
limestone
with
deep
valleys
running
into
it
on
each
side,
and
at
Hebron
it
attains
a
height
of
3040
feet
above
the
sea-level;
it
broadens
out
into
the
desert
of
the
Tih
(or
of
the
'
wanderings')
—
an
almost
barren
expanse
of
an
average
level
of
4000
feet.
3.
The
Ghor
is
the
line
of
a
fault
wherein
the
strata
on
the
Eastern
side
have
been
raised,
or
on
the
western
side
depressed.
It
runs
from
the
base
of
Lebanon
to
the
Dead
Sea,
where
it
is
1292
feet
below
the
level
of
the
Mediterranean;
thence
it
rises
to
640
feet
above
the
same
plane
at
er-Rishi,
whence
it
descends
by
a
gentle
slope
to
the
Gulf
of
'Akabah.
4.
The
Eastern
Table-land
runs
along
the
W.
side
of
the
Arabian
desert
from
Hermon
to
the
Gulf
of
'Akabah.
It
is
chiefly
volcanic
in
the
character
of
its
rocks.
5.
The
Sinai
Peninsula
is
composed
of
Archasan
rocks,
which
form
bare
mountains
of
very
striking
outline.
Each
of
these
divisions
has
special
characters
of
its
own.
The
Coast
Plain
is
composed
of
sand,
gravel,
or
calcareous
sandstone,
overlaid
in
many
places
with
rich
