Geder A walled place, (Jos 12:13), perhaps the same as Gederah or Gedor (Jos 15:58).

Gederah The fortress; a fortified place, a town in the plain (shephelah) of Judah (Jos 15:36). This is a very common Canaanite and Phoenician name. It is the feminine form of Geder (Jos 12:13); the plural form is Gederoth (Jos 15:41). This place has by some been identified with Jedireh, a ruin 9 miles from Lydda, toward Eleutheropolis, and 4 miles north of Sur'ah (Zorah), in the valley of Elah.

Gederathite An epithet applied to Josabad, one of David's warriors at Ziklag (Ch1 12:4), a native of Gederah.

Gedor A wall. (1.) A city in the mountains or hill country of Judah (Jos 15:58), identified with Jedar, between Jerusalem and Hebron. (2.) Ch1 4:39, the Gederah of Jos 15:36, or the well-known Gerar, as the LXX. read, where the patriarchs of old had sojourned and fed their flocks (Gen 20:1, Gen 20:14, Gen 20:15; Gen 26:1, Gen 26:6, Gen 26:14). (3.) A town apparently in Benjamin (Ch1 12:7), the same probably as Geder (Jos 12:13).

Gehazi Valley of vision, Elisha's trusted servant (Kg2 4:31; Kg2 5:25; Kg2 8:4, Kg2 8:5). He appears in connection with the history of the Shunammite (Kg2 4:14, Kg2 4:31) 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 (Kg2 5:20). He afterwards appeared before king Joram, to whom he recounted the great deeds of his master (Kg2 8:1).

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 (Ch2 28:3; Ch2 33:6; Jer 7:31; Jer 19:2). 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 Mat 5:22, Mat 5:29, Mat 5:30; Mat 10:28; Mat 18:9; Mat 23:15, Mat 23:33; Mar 9:43, Mar 9:45, Mar 9:47; Luk 12:5. In these passages, and also in Jam 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 (Jos 18:17); called Gilgal in Jos 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 (Jer 36:10; Kg2 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 (Jer 36:11), 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 (Jer. 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 (Jer 29:3, Jer 29:4).

Generation Gen 2:4, "These are the generations," means the "history." Gen 5:1, "The book of the generations," means a family register, or history of Adam. Gen 37:2, "The generations of Jacob" = the history of Jacob and his descendants. Gen 7:1, "In this generation" = in this age. Psa 49:19, "The generation of his fathers" = the dwelling of his fathers, i.e., the grave. Psa 73:15, "The generation of thy children" = the contemporary race. Isa 53:8, "Who shall declare his generation?" = His manner of life who shall declare? or rather = His race, posterity, shall be so numerous that no one shall be able to declare it. In Mat 1:17, the word means a succession or series of persons from the same stock. Mat 3:7, "Generation of vipers" = brood of vipers. Mat 24:34, "This generation" = the persons then living contemporary with Christ. Pe1 2:9, "A chosen generation" = a chosen people. The Hebrews seem to have reckoned time by the generation. In the time of Abraham a generation was an hundred years, thus: Gen 15:16, "In the fourth generation" = in four hundred years (compare Gen 15:13 and Exo 12:40). In Deu 1:35 and Deu 2:14 a generation is a period of thirty-eight years.

Genesis The five books of Moses were collectively called the Pentateuch, a word of Greek origin meaning "the five-fold book." The Jews called them the Torah, i.e., "the law." It is probable that the division of the Torah into five books proceeded from the Greek translators of the Old Testament. The names by which these several books are generally known are Greek. The first book of the Pentateuch (q.v.) is called by the Jews Bereshith, i.e., "in the beginning", because this is the first word of the book. It is generally known among Christians by the name of Genesis, i.e., "creation" or "generation," being the name given to it in the LXX. as designating its character, because it gives an account of the origin of all things. It contains, according to the usual computation, the history of about two thousand three hundred and sixty-nine years. Genesis is divided into two principal parts. The first part (Gen. 1 - 11) gives a general history of mankind down to the time of the Dispersion. The second part presents the early history of Israel down to the death and burial of Joseph (Gen. 12 - 50). There are five principal persons brought in succession under our notice in this book, and around these persons the history of the successive periods is grouped, viz., Adam (Gen. 1 - 3), Noah (Gen. 4 - 9), Abraham (Gen. 10 - 25:18), Isaac (Gen. 25:19 - 35:29), and Jacob (Gen. 36 - 50). In this book we have several prophecies concerning Christ (Gen 3:15; Gen 12:3; Gen 18:18; Gen 22:18; Gen 26:4; Gen 28:14; Gen 49:10). The author of this book was Moses. Under divine guidance he may indeed have been led to make use of materials already existing in primeval documents, or even of traditions in a trustworthy form that had come down to his time, purifying them from all that was unworthy; but the hand of Moses is clearly seen throughout in its composition.