Easton's Bible Dictionary

Goodness In man is not a mere passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right to wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good.

Gopher A tree from the wood of which Noah was directed to build the ark (Gen 6:14). It is mentioned only there. The LXX. render this word by "squared beams," and the Vulgate by "planed wood." Other versions have rendered it "pine" and "cedar;" but the weight of authority is in favour of understanding by it the cypress tree, which grows abundantly in Chaldea and Armenia.

Goshen (1.) A district in Egypt where Jacob and his family settled, and in which they remained till the Exodus (Gen 45:10; Gen 46:28, Gen 46:29, Gen 46:31, etc.). It is called "the land of Goshen" (Gen 47:27), and also simply "Goshen" (Gen 46:28), and "the land of Rameses" (Gen 47:11; Exo 12:37), for the towns Pithom and Rameses lay within its borders; also Zoan or Tanis (Psa 78:12). It lay on the east of the Nile, and apparently not far from the royal residence. It was "the best of the land" (Gen 47:6, Gen 47:11), but is now a desert. It is first mentioned in Joseph's message to his father. It has been identified with the modern Wady Tumilat, lying between the eastern part of the Delta and the west border of Palestine. It was a pastoral district, where some of the king's cattle were kept (Gen 47:6). The inhabitants were not exclusively Israelites (Exo 3:22; Exo 11:2; Exo 12:35, Exo 12:36). (2.) A district in Palestine (Jos 10:41; Jos 11:16). It was a part of the maritime plain of Judah, and lay between Gaza and Gibeon. (3.) A town in the mountains of Judah (Jos 15:51).

Gospel A word of Anglo-Saxon origin, and meaning "God's spell", i.e., word of God, or rather, according to others, "good spell", i.e., good news. It is the rendering of the Greek evangelion , i.e., "good message." It denotes (1.) "the welcome intelligence of salvation to man as preached by our Lord and his followers. (2.) It was afterwards transitively applied to each of the four histories of our Lord's life, published by those who are therefore called 'Evangelists', writers of the history of the gospel (the evangelion). (3.) The term is often used to express collectively the gospel doctrines; and 'preaching the gospel' is often used to include not only the proclaiming of the good tidings, but the teaching men how to avail themselves of the offer of salvation, the declaring of all the truths, precepts, promises, and threatenings of Christianity." It is termed "the gospel of the grace of God" (Act 20:24), "the gospel of the kingdom" (Mat 4:23), "the gospel of Christ" (Rom 1:16), "the gospel of peace (Eph 6:15), "the glorious gospel," "the everlasting gospel," "the gospel of salvation" (Eph 1:13).

Gospels The central fact of Christian preaching was the intelligence that the Saviour had come into the world (Mat 4:23; Rom 10:15); and the first Christian preachers who called their account of the person and mission of Christ by the term evangelion (= good message) were called evangelistai (= evangelists) (Eph 4:11; Act 21:8). There are four historical accounts of the person and work of Christ: "the first by Matthew, announcing the Redeemer as the promised King of the kingdom of God; the second by Mark, declaring him 'a prophet, mighty in deed and word;' the third by Luke, of whom it might be said that the represents Christ in the special character of the Saviour of sinners (Luk 7:36; Luk 15:18); the fourth by John, who represents Christ as the Son of God, in whom deity and humanity become one. The ancient Church gave to Matthew the symbol of the lion, to Mark that of a man, to Luke that of the ox, and to John that of the eagle: these were the four faces of the cherubim" (Eze 1:10). Date. The Gospels were all composed during the latter part of the first century, and there is distinct historical evidence to show that they were used and accepted as authentic before the end of the second century. Mutual relation. "If the extent of all the coincidences be represented by 100, their proportionate distribution will be: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 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 (Jon 4:6), 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 (Kg2 4:38), Heb. 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). Thus). 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 (Co1 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.) Heb. nagid , a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (Ch2 28:7; compare Kg1 4:6), chief of the temple (Ch1 9:11; Jer 20:1), the leader of the Aaronites (Ch1 12:27), keeper of the sacred treasury (Ch1 26:24), captain of the army (Ch1 13:1), the king (Sa1 9:16), the Messiah (Dan 9:25). (2.) Heb. nasi , raised; exalted. Used to denote the chiefs of families (Num 3:24, Num 3:30, Num 3:32, Num 3:35); also of tribes (Num 2:3; Num 7:2; Num 3:32). These dignities appear to have been elective, not hereditary. (3.) Heb. pakid , an officer or magistrate. It is used of the delegate of the high priest (Ch2 24:11), the Levites (Neh 11:22), a military commander (Kg2 25:19), Joseph's officers in Egypt (Gen 41:34). (4.) Heb. shallit , one who has power, who rules (Gen 42:6; Ezr 4:20; Ecc 8:8; Dan 2:15; Dan 5:29). (5.) Heb. aluph , literally one put over a thousand, i.e., a clan or a subdivision of a tribe. Used of the "dukes" of Edom (Gen. 36), and of the Jewish chiefs (Zac 9:7). (6.) Heb. moshel , one who rules, holds dominion. Used of many classes of rulers (Gen 3:16; Gen 24:2; Gen 45:8; Psa 105:20); of the Messiah (Mic 5:2); of God (Ch1 29:12; Psa 103:19). (7.) Heb. sar , a ruler or chief; a word of very general use. It is used of the chief baker of Pharaoh (Gen 40:16); of the chief butler (Gen 40:2, etc. See also Gen 47:6; Exo 1:11; Dan 1:7; Jdg 10:18; Kg1 22:26; Kg1 20:15; Kg2 1:9; Sa2 24:2). It is used also of angels, guardian angels (Dan 10:13, Dan 10:20, Dan 10:21; Dan 12:1; Dan 10:13; Dan 8:25). (8.) Pehah , whence pasha, i.e., friend of the king; adjutant; governor of a province (Kg2 18:24; Isa 36:9; Jer 51:57; Eze 23:6, Eze 23:23; Dan 3:2; Est 3:12), or a perfect (Neh 3:7; Neh 5:14; Ezr 5:3; Hag 1:1). This is a foreign word, Assyrian, which was early adopted into the Hebrew idiom (Kg1 10:15). (9.) The Chaldean word segan is applied to the governors of the Babylonian satrapies (Dan 3:2, Dan 3:27; Dan 6:7); the prefects over the Magi (Dan 2:48). The corresponding Hebrew word segan is used of provincial rulers (Jer 51:23, Jer 51:28, Jer 51:57); also of chiefs and rulers of the people of Jerusalem (Ezr 9:2; Neh 2:16; Neh 4:14, Neh 4:19; Neh 5:7, Neh 5:17; Neh 7:5; Neh 12:40). In the New Testament there are also different Greek words rendered thus. (1.) Meaning an ethnarch (Co2 11:32), which was an office distinct from military command, with considerable latitude of application. (2.) The Procurator of Judea under the Romans (Mat 27:2). (Compare Luk 2:2, where the verb from which the Greek word so rendered is derived is used.) (3.) Steward (Gal 4:2). (4.) Governor of the feast (Joh 2:9), who appears here to have been merely an intimate friend of the bridegroom, and to have presided at the marriage banquet in his stead. (5.) A director, i.e., helmsman; Lat. gubernator , (Jam 3:4).

Gozan A region in Central Asia to which the Israelites were carried away captive (Kg2 17:6; Ch1 5:26; Kg2 19:12; Isa 37:12). It was situated in Mesopotamia, on the river Habor (Kg2 17:6; Kg2 18:11), the Khabur, a tributary of the Euphrates. The "river of Gozan" (Ch1 5:26) is probably the upper part of the river flowing through the province of Gozan, now Kizzel-Ozan.