Smith's Bible Dictionary

(Frankie) #1

•The site of the first camp of the Israelites on the west of the Jordan, the place at which they passed
the first night after crossing the river, and where the twelve stones were set up which had been
taken from the bed of the stream, (Joshua 4:19,20) comp. Josh 4:3 Where also they kept the first
passover in the land of Canaan ch. (Joshua 5:10) It was “in the east border of Jericho,” apparently
on a hillock or rising ground, (Joshua 5:3) comp. Josh 5:9 In the Arboth-Jericho (Authorized
Version “the plains”), that is, the hot depressed district of the Ghor which lay between the town
and the Jordan. ch. (Joshua 5:10) Here Samuel was judge, and Saul was made king. We again
have a glimpse of it, some sixty years later, in the history of David’s return to Jerusalem. (2 Samuel
19:40) A Gilgal is spoken of in (Joshua 15:7) in describing the north border of Judah. In (Joshua
18:17) it is given as Geliloth. Gilgal near Jericho is doubtless intended.
•In (2 Kings 2:1,2; 4:38) is named a Gilgal visited by Elijah and Elisha. This could not be the Gilgal
of the low plain of the Jordan, for the prophets are said to have gone down to Bethel, which is
3000 feet above the plain. It haa been identified with Jiljilia, about four miles from Bethel and
Shiloh respectively.
•The “king of the nations of Gilgal” or rather perhaps the “king of Goim at Gilgal,” is mentioned
in the catalogue of the chiefs overthrown bv Joshua. (Joshua 12:23) Possibly the site of this place
is marked by the modern village Jiljulieh, about four miles south of Antipatris, which lies 16 miles
northeast of Joppa. But another Gilgal, under the slightly-different form of Kilkilieh, lies about
two miles east of Antipatris.
Giloh
(exile), a town in the mountainous part of Judah, named in the first group with Debir and
Eshtemoh, (Joshua 16:51) it was the native place of the famous Ahithophel. (2 Samuel 15:12)
Gilonite, The
native of Giloh. (2 Samuel 15:12; 23:34)
Gimzo
(fertile in sycamores), a town which with its dependent villages was taken possession of by the
Philistines in the reign of Ahaz. (2 Chronicles 28:18) The name (Jimzu) still remains attached to a
large village between two and three miles southwest of Lydda, south of the road between Jerusalem
and Jaffa.
Gin
a trap for birds or beasts; it consisted of a net, (Isaiah 8:14) and a stick to act as a spring. (Amos
3:5)
Ginath
(protection), father of Tibni. (1 Kings 16:21,22)
Ginnetho
(gardner), one of the chief of the priests and Levites who returned to Judea with Zerubbabel.
(Nehemiah 12:4) He is doubtless the same person as
Ginnethon
(gardener), a priest who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:6) (B.C. 410.)
Girdle
an essential article of dress in the East, and worn by both men and women. The common girdle
was made of leather, (2 Kings 1:8; Matthew 3:4) like that worn by the Bedouins of the present day.
A finer girdle was made of linen, (Jeremiah 13:1; Ezekiel 16:10) embroidered with silk, and
sometimes with gold and silver thread, (Daniel 10:5; Revelation 1:13; 15:6) and frequently studded

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