GRASSHOPPER

('pasture land'), Dn 4i6- '' {'tender grass'). (3) yereq, tr. 'grass,' Nu 22<; see Herb. (4) 'iseb, Dt 11" 322 etc., but tr. 'herb' in other places; see Herb. (5) charlos, Mt 6'°, Mk 6^' etc. Pasturage, as it occurs in Western lands, is unknown in Palestine. Such green herbage appears only for a few weeks, and when the rains cease soon perishes. Hence grass is in the OT a frequent symbol of the shortness of human life (Ps 905-' 103>6, Is 405; cf. 1 P 1«). Even more brief is the existence of ' the grass upon the [mud-made] house-tops, which withereth afore it groweth up' (Ps 129«). E. W. G. Masteeman.

GRASSHOPPER.— See Locust.

GRATE, GRATING.— See Tabernacle, § 4 (a).

GRAVE. — See Motjrninq Customs, Tomb.

GRAVEN IMAGE.— See Images.

GRAY.— See Colours, § 1.

GREAT BIBLE.— See Enqlish Versions, § 22.

GREAT SEA.— See Sea.

GREAT SYNAGOGUE.— See Synaqoqub.

GREAVES.— See Armour, § 2 ((i).

GREECE represents in English the Latin word Grwcia, which is derived from Ormci. This name Graci properly belonged only to a small tribe of Greeks, who lived in the north-west of Greece ; but as this tribe was apparently the first to attract the attention of Rome, dwelling as it did on the other side of the Adriatic from Italy, the name came to be applied by the Romans to the whole race. The term Grwcia, when used by Romans, is equivalent to the Greek name Hellas, which is still used by the Greeks to describe their own country. In ancient times Hellas was frequently used in a wide sense to include not only Greece proper, but every settlement of Greeks outside their own country as well. Thus a portion of the Crimea, much of the west coast of Asia Minor, settlements in Cyrene, Sicily, Gaul, and Spain, and above all the southern half of Italy, were parts of Hellas in this wide sense. Southern Italy was so studded with Greek settlements that it became known as Magna Grwcia. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, who died 323 b.c, all the territory annexed by him, such as the greater part of Asia Minor, as well as Syria and Egypt, could be regarded as in a sense Hellas. Alexander was the chief agent in the spread of the Greek civilization, manners, language, and culture over these countries. The dynasties founded by his generals, the Seleucids and Ptolemys for example, continued his work, and when Rome began to interfere in Eastern politics about the begiiming of the 2nd cent. B.C., the Greek language was already firmly estabUshed in the East. When, about three centuries after Alex-ander's death, practically all his former dominions had become Roman provinces, Greek was the one language which could carry the traveller from the Euphrates to Spain. The Empire had two official languages, Latin for Italy and all provinces north, south-west, and west of it; Greek for all east and south-east of Italy. The Romans wisely made no attempt to force Latin on the Eastern peoples, and were content to let Greek remain in undisputed sway there. All their officials understood and spoke it. Thus it came about that Christianity was preached in Greek, that our NT books were written in Greek, and that the language of the« Church, according to all the available evidence, remained Greek till about the middle of the 2nd cent. a.d.

As Galilee was thickly planted with Greek towns, there can be little doubt that Jesus knew the language, and spoke it when necessary, though it is probable that He commonly used Aramaic, as He came first to ' the lost tribes of Israel.' With St. Paul the case was different. Most of the Jews of the Dispersion were probably unable to speak Aramaic, and used the OT in the Greek trans-lation. These would naturally be addressed in Greek

GREEK VERSIONS OP OT

at least, but this occasion was exceptional. It was a piece of tact on his part, to secure the respectful attention of his audience. Probably only the inhabitants of the villages in the Eastern Roman provinces were unable to speak Greek, and even they could doubtless understand it when spoken. The Jews were amongst the chief spreaders of the language. Some of the successors of Alexander esteemed them highly as colonists, and they were to be found in large numbers over the Roman Empire, speaking in the first instance Greek (ct. Ac 2»). When they wrote books, they wrote them in Greek: Philo and Josephus are examples. It is not meant that Greek killed the native languages of the provinces: these had their purpose and subsisted.

The name Hellas occurs only once in the NT (Ac 20'). There it is used in a narrow sense of the Greek peninsula, exclusive even of Macedonia: it is in fact used in the sense of Achaia (wh. see). A. Souteh.

GREEKS, GRECIANS.- Both these terms are used indifferently in AV of OT Apocr. to designate persons of Gr. extraction (1 Mac 1" 6^ 8», 2 Mao i^ etc.). In NT the linguistic usage of EV makes a distinction between the terms 'Greeks' and 'Grecians.' 'Greeks' uniformly represents the word HellSrils, which may denote persons of Gr. descent in the narrowest sense (Ac 16' 18*, Ro 1"), or may be a general designation for all who are not of Jewish extraction (Jn 12S", Ro !« lO'^, Gal 32'). 'Grecians,' on the other hand (Ac 6' QM), is AV tr. of HdKnistai, which means Gr.-speaking Jews (RV 'Grecian Jews'). See preced. art. and Dispersion. An interesting question is that of the correct reading of Ac 112". Were those to whom the men of Cyprus and Cyrene preached, Grecians or Greeks? In other words, were they Jews or Gentiles? The weight of MS authority is in favour of 'Grecians,' but it is held by many that internal evidence necessitates ' Greeks.'

GREEK VERSIONS OF OT.— I. The Septuagint

(LXX). — 1. The Septuagint, or Version of the Seventy, has special characteristics which differentiate it strongly from all other versions of the Scriptures. Not only are its relations to the original Hebrew of the OT more diffi-cult and obscure than those of any other version to its original, but, as the Greek OT of the Christian community from its earliest days, it has a special historical import-ance which no other version can claim, and only the Vulgate can approach. Its history, moreover, is very obscure, and its criticism bristles with difficulties, for the removal of which much work is still needed. The present article can aim only at stating the principal questions which arise in relation to it, and the provisional con-clusions at which the leading students of the subject have arrived.

2. There is no doubt that the LXX originated in Alexandria, in the time of the Macedonian dynasty in Egypt. Greeks had been sporadically present in Egypt even before the conquest of the country by Alexander, and under the Ptolemys they increased and multipUed greatly. Hundreds of documents discovered in Egypt within the last few years testify to the presence of Greeks and the wide-spread knowledge of the Greek language from the days of Ptolemy Soter onwards. Among them, especially in Alexandria, were many Jews, to whom Greek became the language of daily hfe, while the knowledge of Aramaic, and still more of Uterary Hebrew, decayed among them. It was among such surroundings that the LXX came into existence. The principal authority on the subject of its origin is the Letter of Aristeas (edited by H. St. J. Thackeray in Swete's Introduction to theOT in Greek [1900], and by P. Wendland in the Teubner series [1900]). This document, which purports to be written by a Greek official of high rank in the court of Ptolemy ii. (Philadelphus, B.C. 285-247), describes how the king, at the suggestion of his Ubrarian, Demetrius of Phalerum, resolved to obtain a Greek translation of the laws of the

It is true that he spoke Aramaic on one occasion (Ac 21*») I Jews for the library of Alexandria ; how, at the instigation

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