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Gossip, SlanderAid to Bible Understanding
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the congregation of his people. A case in point is that of Korah and his associates, who spoke in slanderous terms against Moses and Aaron in rebelling against God’s arrangement. (Num. 16:1-3, 12-14) Jude calls attention to these rebellious ones and their end as a pattern of warning to Christians against abusive speech, murmuring and complaining and speaking “swelling things.”—Jude 10, 11, 14-16.
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GourdAid to Bible Understanding
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GOURD
The Hebrew word paq·qu·ʽoth’, rendered “wild gourds,” appears in the Bible only with reference to an incident occurring during a time of famine in Elisha’s day. Someone had gathered some unfamiliar wild gourds and sliced them in with a stew. Upon tasting it, the “sons of the prophets” feared food poisoning and stopped eating, but Elisha miraculously saved the stew from being wasted.—2 Ki. 4:38-41.
Although a number of other suggestions have been made, the colocynth (Citrullis colocynthus), a plant related to the watermelon, is generally favored as the plant the fruit of which probably corresponds to the “wild gourds” of the Scriptural record. The vine of the colocynth trails like the cucumber and also has similar foliage. The orangelike fruit has a thick, smooth rind with green and yellow mottlings, and contains a very bitter and poisonous spongy pulp, from which the colocynth of medicine is derived. The characteristics of the colocynth would fit the Bible narrative of a wild gourd, apparently poisonous, as suggested by its very taste. (2 Ki. 4:40) When most other plants have withered, it is still green, hence a temptation to one unfamiliar with it. When stepped on, the dry fruit bursts noisily. This feature would harmonize with the meaning of the Hebrew root pa·qaʽʹ (“to split,” “to burst”), from which the word paq·qu·ʽothʹ is thought to be derived.
The gourd-shaped ornaments (Heb., peqa·ʽimʹ) adorning the molten sea and the cedarwood paneling inside Solomon’s temple may have been round like the fruit of the colocynth.—1 Ki. 6:18; 7:24; 2 Chron. 4:3.
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GovernmentAid to Bible Understanding
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GOVERNMENT
The authoritative direction and restraint exercised over the actions of men in communities, societies and states. Also, the person or body of persons or the organizations constituting the governing authority.
In the Christian Greek Scriptures forms of the word ar·kheʹ (“beginning”) are variously translated “principalities,” “governments,” “rulers,” “Sovereignties.” (AV; Dy; NW; AT; JB) Ky·berʹne·sis and ky·ri·oʹtes, rendered “government” in some translations, more correctly mean “steering [guiding or directing]” and “lordship,” respectively. In the Hebrew Scriptures, “government” is the English term sometimes used to translate mem·sha·lahʹ, “dominion” (Isa. 22:21), and mis·rahʹ, “dominion” or “princely rule [or power].”—Isa. 9:6.
The Bible reveals that there are invisible governments that are good, as established by God (Eph. 3:10), as well as those that are wicked, established by Satan and the demons. (Eph. 6:12) Jesus Christ was the active agent of God in originally setting up all righteous governments and authorities, invisible and visible. (Col. 1:15, 16) He has been placed by his Father Jehovah as head of all government (Col. 2:8-10), and he must rule until all opposing governments, invisible and visible, are brought to nothing. (1 Cor. 15:24) The apostle Paul indicated that there was a system of things to come in which there would be a government under the authority of Christ.—Eph. 1:19-21.
WORLD GOVERNMENTS
The Bible pictures world governments as ‘beasts’ and says that they get their authority from the Dragon, Satan the Devil. God has permitted them to remain and has limited their scope and duration of rule, in harmony with his purpose.—Dan. chaps. 7, 8; Rev. chaps. 13, 17; Dan. 4:25, 35; John 19:11; Acts 17:26; 2 Cor. 4:3, 4; see BEASTS, SYMBOLIC.
CHRISTIANS AND GOVERNMENTS
Jesus Christ and the early Christians did nothing to interfere with the governments of their day. (John 6:15; 17:16; Jas. 1:27; 4:4) They recognized the fact that some form of government is necessary for the existence of society, and they never fomented revolution or civil disobedience. (Rom. 13:1-7; Titus 3:1) Jesus set forth the guiding principle for true worshipers of God to follow when he said: “Pay back, therefore, Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.” (Matt. 22:21) This principle enabled the early Christians (and Christians since then) to maintain a right balance as to relations with the two authorities, that of the civil governments and that of God. Jesus showed further that, while he was on earth, his position and, therefore, that of his disciples, was to be not one of rebellion toward the “Caesar” governments, but, rather, one of compliance with their regulations that did not conflict with God’s law. Pilate himself recognized this fact when he said: “I find no fault in him.” (John 18:38) The apostles followed this principle.—Acts 4:19, 20; 5:29; 24:16; 25:10, 11, 18, 19, 25; 26:31, 32; see ADMINISTRATION; KINGDOM; SUPERIOR AUTHORITIES.
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GovernorAid to Bible Understanding
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GOVERNOR
Governors in Bible times generally had military and judicial powers and were responsible to see that the tribute, tax or revenue to the king or superior ruler was paid by the jurisdictional districts or provinces that the governors ruled. (Luke 2:1, 2) Often they put a heavy load on the people to supply food for themselves and their large body of attendants.—Neh. 5:15-18.
King Solomon appointed governors over the districts of Israel. They are mentioned at 1 Kings 10:15, and may be the same as the twelve deputies of 1 Kings 4:7-19, whose duty it was to provide food for the king and his household, each for one month in the year.
Practically all the world powers of Biblical times are spoken of as having rulers of the order of governors, either as local native rulers or as governors controlling occupied territories. (Syrian, 1 Ki. 20:24; Assyrian, Ezek. 23:5, 6, 12, 23; Babylonian, Jer. 51:57; Persian, Ezra 8:36, Neh. 2:7, 9; Arabian, 2 Cor. 11:32; Roman, Luke 3:1) Joseph was a governor in a large sense, over all Egypt, subject to the king only. (Gen. 41:40, 41; Acts 7:9, 10) Rabshakeh, an officer of King Sennacherib of Assyria, taunted Hezekiah about Jerusalem’s weakness, saying that it would be unable to turn back even one of Sennacherib’s lesser governors. But Rabshakeh failed to take into account the overwhelming force of Jehovah on Hezekiah’s side.—Isa. 36:4, 9; 37:36.
Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah to govern the remaining Israelites left in the land after carrying many of the people into captivity in 607 B.C.E. Gedaliah was assassinated about two months later. (2 Ki. 25:8-12, 22, 25) Following the seventy-year period of exile, King Cyrus of Persia appointed Sheshbazzar (probably Zerubbabel) as governor of the Jews who returned to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. (Ezra 5:14; Hag. 1:1, 14; 2:2, 21) Nehemiah was made governor under King Artaxerxes of Persia when he went back to rebuild the wall, in 455 B.C.E.—Neh. 5:14.
Under Roman rule, Judea was an imperial province, the governors there being directly responsible to the emperor for their actions and ruling as long as he willed. Pilate was the fifth of the line of governors of Judea. (Matt. 27:2; Luke 3:1) Felix and Festus were Judea’s eleventh and twelfth governors (if we do not count Publius Petronius and his successor Marsus, who, appointed as governors of Syria, at the same time managed the affairs of the Jews.) (Acts 23:24-26; 24:27) These Roman governors had the power to execute capital punishment, as we see in
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