GUTTER (ginger), (Heb, 11:4, tsin-noor').
1. A dam or trough for watering flocks or herds (Gen. xxx:38, 4t), but the "gutter through which one might enter the city of Jerusalem was perhaps some privy entrance, by which the filth of the city ran out (2 Sam. v:6-8), or probably a water course.
2. Rah'hat (Heb. t::7_1"% drinking troughs, Exod.
ii:16), into which Jacob placed peeled rods when the sheep came to drink (Gen. xxx:38, 40).
In 2 Sam. v:6-8 we have in the Authorized Version as follows: "And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhab itants of the land: which spake unto David, say ing, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and srniteth the Jebusites, and the lame, and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain." This has been considered by all com mentators for many years as very obscure, and while we will not attempt a full discussion of the subject, we may perhaps understand it better by observing the following points: (r) The two clauses "except thou take away the lame and the blind," and "thou shalt not come in hither" are improperly transposed, and the transposition ren ders the next clause meaningless. (2) Instead of "except thou take away the laine and the blind," read, "the lame and the blind shall turn thee away." (3) In verse there is also a trans position of the two clauses, "whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites." (4) Instead of " the Jebusites," with definite article "the" it should be rendered "a Jebusite." (5) The word translated gutter would be here very properly rendered watercourse. It comes from a verb expressing the sense of rushing water, and is found only in one other place in the I3ible (Ps. xlii:8), and is there translated " waterspouts." The following we believe to be a fair and correct ren dering of the same by De \Vette: "And the king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusite inhabiting the land. And Ile spoke to David, saying: Thou shalt not come in hither ; but the blind and the lame will turn thee away, saying, David shall not come in hither. And David took the stronghold of Zion; that is, the city of David. And David said on that day, Any one that smites a Jebusite and gets to the water course, and the larne and the blind hated of David's soul, Ile shall be chief and captain." The Jebusites had long held this stronghold and were so confident that no one could come in thither that they contemptuously shouted, "The lame men and the blind men can easily keep the place."
David, however, with a keen, strategic eye saw if his men only got to the "gutter" oi waterway and shut off the water supply the Jebusite would soon be compelled to surrender. His men soon took the gutter, or waterway, and the impregnable fortress was surrendered and became the strong hold of Zion. And by being the first to climb up to the waterway, Joab became the commander in chief or captain of David's army, according to David's promise.
GYMNASIIThl (jim-na'zi-inn), (Gr. yuyvdcriov, in A. V. place of exercise).
A public place in Jerusalem for athletic exer cise and exhibitions, below the western cloister of the•temple (Josephus, Bell. !ltd. iv :9, 12; V1:3, 2; 6, 2), below the palace of the Asmonwans (Antiq. xx :8, ; Bell. Jud. :t6, 3), below the citadel Or acropolis (2 Mace. iv :12, 27; not the Syrian fortress called the Acra, which was erected later, Macc. i :33). It was situated near the council house, by the first or innermost wall, and at the end of the bridge which led from the tem ple across the Tyropceon valley (Bell. Jud. V :4, 2; cp. v1:6, 2). It was erected by Hellenizing Jews, under the leadership of Jason, by permis sion of Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Mace. i :to, 14 ; 2 Mace. iv :7 sq.). The essential features of a gymnasium were: (a) An open court for boxing, wrestling, pitch ing quoits and throwing the javelin (2 Mace. iv: 14, palwstra, discus). (b) A stadium or course for the foot race. (c) A colonnade for a place of recreation and for athletic exercises in winter. (ilatiq. and Bell.Jud., passim: its Greek name was xystos). (d) A bathroom.
The gymnasium at Jerusalem was condemned by strict Jews because it introduced heathen cus toms ; led Jewish youth to wear the hat of Hermes, to exercise stark naked in public, and to be ashamed of the mark of their religion ; and infected even the priests and caused them to neglect their official duties (1 Mace. 1:I4, 15 ; 2 Mace. iv :I3-17). It existed until the overthrow of the city by Titus; and was not only resorted to for athletic sports, but was also occasionally used for popular assemblies (Josephus, Bell. Jud. 16, 3), (Davis, Bib. Dia.) HA (ha). The Heb. interjection nri, heh-awkh', is once translated 'ha, lia,' Job xxxix:25 'He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha,' referring to the neighing of the war horse.
The revisers have changed this into 'Aha!' and have been taken to task for giving the horse a human cry. The older versions were still more 'human,' as Wycliffe (1382) 'Fy!' or (1388) 'Joie!' Coverdale 'tush,' Douay, 'Vah."Ha, ha' comes from the Geneva Bible (Hastings' Bib. Dict.)