53; Matthew and Luke, 21; Matthew and Mark, 20; Mark and Luke, 6.
Looking only at the general result, it may be said that of the contents of
the synoptic Gospels [i.e., the first three Gospels] about two-fifths are
common to the three, and that the parts peculiar to one or other of them
are little more than one-third of the whole.”
Origin. Did the evangelists copy from one another? The opinion is well
founded that the Gospels were published by the apostles orally before
they were committed to writing, and that each had an independent origin.
(See MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF.)
- GOURD (1.) Jonah’s gourd (Jonah 4:6-10), bearing the Hebrew name
kikayon (found only here), was probably the kiki of the Egyptians, the
croton. This is the castor-oil plant, a species of ricinus, the palma Christi,
so called from the palmate division of its leaves. Others with more
probability regard it as the cucurbita the el-keroa of the Arabs, a kind of
pumpkin peculiar to the East. “It is grown in great abundance on the
alluvial banks of the Tigris and on the plain between the river and the ruins
of Nineveh.” At the present day it is trained to run over structures of mud
and brush to form boots to protect the gardeners from the heat of the
noon-day sun. It grows with extraordinary rapidity, and when cut or
injured withers away also with great rapidity.
(2.) Wild gourds (2 Kings 4:38-40), Hebrews pakkuoth, belong to the
family of the cucumber-like plants, some of which are poisonous. The
species here referred to is probably the colocynth (Cucumis colocynthus).
The LXX. render the word by “wild pumpkin.” It abounds in the desert
parts of Syria, Egypt, and Arabia. There is, however, another species,
called the Cucumis prophetarum, from the idea that it afforded the gourd
which “the sons of the prophets” shred by mistake into their pottage.
- GOVERNMENT OF GOD See PROVIDENCE.
- GOVERNMENTS (1 Corinthians 12:28), the powers which fit a man for a
place of influence in the church; “the steersman’s art; the art of guiding
aright the vessel of church or state.” - GOVERNOR (1.) Hebrews nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person,
whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chronicles 28:7;
comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chronicles 9:11; Jeremiah 20:1),
the leader of the Aaronites (1 Chronicles 12:27), keeper of the sacred