- GEHAZI valley of vision, Elisha’s trusted servant (2 Kings 4:31; 5:25;
8:4, 5). He appears in connection with the history of the Shunammite (2
Kings 4:14, 31) and of Naaman the Syrian. On this latter occasion he was
guilty of duplicity and dishonesty of conduct, causing Elisha to denounce
his crime with righteous sternness, and pass on him the terrible doom that
the leprosy of Naaman would cleave to him and his for ever (5:20-27).
He afterwards appeared before king Joram, to whom he recounted the great
deeds of his master (2 Kings 8:1-6).
- GEHENNA (originally Ge bene Hinnom; i.e., “the valley of the sons of
Hinnom”), a deep, narrow glen to the south of Jerusalem, where the
idolatrous Jews offered their children in sacrifice to Molech (2 Chronicles
28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:2-6). This valley afterwards became the
common receptacle for all the refuse of the city. Here the dead bodies of
animals and of criminals, and all kinds of filth, were cast and consumed by
fire kept always burning. It thus in process of time became the image of
the place of everlasting destruction. In this sense it is used by our Lord in
Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke
12:5. In these passages, and also in James 3:6, the word is uniformly
rendered “hell,” the Revised Version placing “Gehenna” in the margin. (See
HELL; HINNOM.) - GELILOTH circles; regions, a place in the border of Benjamin (Joshua
18:17); called Gilgal in 15:7. - GEMARIAH Jehovah has made perfect. (1.) The son of Shaphan, and one
of the Levites of the temple in the time of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36:10; 2
Kings 22:12). Baruch read aloud to the people from Gemariah’s chamber,
and again in the hearing of Gemariah and other scribes, the prophecies of
Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:11-20), which filled him with terror. He joined with
others in entreating the king not to destroy the roll of the prophecies
which Baruch had read (21-25).
(2.) The son of Hilkiah, who accompanied Shaphan with the
tribute-money from Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar, and was the bearer at
the same time of a letter from Jeremiah to the Jewish captives at Babylon
(Jeremiah 29:3, 4).
- GENERATION Genesis 2:4, “These are the generations,” means the
“history.” 5:1, “The book of the generations,” means a family register, or