“gift.” It differs from the charisma (1 Corinthians 12:4) as denoting not
miraculous powers but the working of a new spirit in men, and that spirit
from God.
The giving of presents entered largely into the affairs of common life in the
East. The nature of the presents was as various as were the occasions:
food (1 Samuel 9:7; 16:20), sheep and cattle (Genesis 32:13-15), gold (2
Samuel 18:11), jewels (Genesis 24:53), furniture, and vessels for eating and
drinking (2 Samuel 17:28); delicacies, as spices, honey, etc. (1 Kings 10:25;
2 Kings 5: 22). The mode of presentation was with as much parade as
possible: the presents were conveyed by the hands of servants (Judges
3:18), or still better, on the backs of beasts of burden (2 Kings 8:9). The
refusal of a present was regarded as a high indignity; and this constituted
the aggravated insult noticed in Matthew 22:11, the marriage robe having
been offered and refused.
- GIFTS, SPIRITUAL (Gr. charismata), gifts supernaturally bestowed on
the early Christians, each having his own proper gift or gifts for the
edification of the body of Christ. These were the result of the
extraordinary operation of the Spirit, as on the day of Pentecost. They
were the gifts of speaking with tongues, casting out devils, healing, etc.
(Mark 16:17, 18), usually communicated by the medium of the laying on
of the hands of the apostles (Acts 8:17; 19:6; 1 Timothy 4:14). These
charismata were enjoyed only for a time. They could not continue always
in the Church. They were suited to its infancy and to the necessities of
those times. - GIHON a stream. (1.) One of the four rivers of Eden (Genesis 2:13). It
has been identified with the Nile. Others regard it as the Oxus, or the
Araxes, or the Ganges. But as, according to the sacred narrative, all these
rivers of Eden took their origin from the head-waters of the Euphrates and
the Trigris, it is probable that the Gihon is the ancient Araxes, which,
under the modern name of the Arras, discharges itself into the Caspian Sea.
It was the Asiatic and not the African “Cush” which the Gihon compassed
(Genesis 10:7-10). (See EDEN.)
(2.) The only natural spring of water in or near Jerusalem is the “Fountain
of the Virgin” (q.v.), which rises outside the city walls on the west bank of
the Kidron valley. On the occasion of the approach of the Assyrian army
under Sennacherib, Hezekiah, in order to prevent the besiegers from finding