Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 6.djvu/69

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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
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S9

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

aoUath QoUaucz

existence to the epithet hy which Elhanan is distin- guished in II Sam. xxi. 19, namely, the " Beth-lehem- ite " eonpn n'3). The confusion in the text is plain in the repetition of "oregim" after the name of Elhanan's father, Jaare (Jair), from the end of the verse " the stall of whose spear was like a weaver's beam."

The brief sketch in II Sam. xxi. is the more trust- worthy. The men of David — freebooters — mani- fest no fear in their movements against the enemies. The story of David's duel exliibits great literary skill, and the purpose is plainly to exalt David. The giant and the mere lad — the one in heavy, for- midable equipment, the other with Literary the simple outfit of a shepherd; the Treatment, insolence of the Philistine; the faith and fortitude of David ; the cowardice of Israel; the distrust of David's own brothers; the helplessness of Saul ; the blind animal passion of the champion; the shrewd, calm strategy of the shep- herd — all these are contrasted effects worked out with consummate art. But they point to the fact that in this version reflection and tendency had the dominating part. From the point of view of liter- ary effectiveness, few portions of Old Testament literature equal this.

Underlying this tradition concerning Goliath and other giants is the undoubted fact that many huge weapons of bronze (brass) and iron were found by the invading shepherd tribes of Israel. Many of these were stored away at old shrines, perhaps be- cause they were votive gifts of former generations (I Sam. xvii. 54). The sword incident in the ver- sion of I Sam. xvii. reflects, according to Cheyne, the religious temper of late Psalms (Ps. xx. 7 [A. V. 8], xliv. 5 [6]). The battle-cry in Gideon's army (Judges vii. 20) may be remembered as significant in tliis connection. The later religious construction of the David-Goliath incident (see Ecclus. [Sirach] xlvii. 2-11) is indeed woven into the account in I Sam. xvii., just as the valorous deed of David furnished the basis for the late superscriptions of psalms within and without the Hebrew canon (Ps. cxiiv. [cxliii.]) and of one in the Greek psalter, l^u-dsv Toi apiSfiov: "when David fought against ToTnaS" (Goliad[thJ).

The text of the Septuagint differs materially from the Hebrew: verses 12-31, 41, 48b, and 50 are miss- ing. These omitted, a coherent and consistent nar- rative is presented, recounting how David, a mere recruit, becomes suddenly a renowned warrior. Some critics have assumed that these omissions were made intentionally (so Wellhausen, " Die Composi- tion des Hexateuchs," etc., 3d ed., p. 249; Kuenen, " Historisch-Kritische Einleitung in die Bucher des Alten Testaments," i., part 2, p. 61; Budde, "Richter und Samuel," p. 210). Others (W. R. Smith and Cornill) believe that the Hebrew verses not found in the Septuagint represent a second David-Goliath tradition.

E. c. E. Q. H.

GOLITZYN, COUNT NICHOLAS: Rus- sian writer; born in tlie second half of the nineteenth century. He became notorious through his history of Russian legislation dealing with the Jews, entitled "IstoriaRusskavo Zakonodatelstva O Yevreyakh,"

of which only the first volume, covering the period from Alexis Mikhailovich (1649) to 1825, has ap- peared. His work is anti-Semitic in tendency. Al- though Golitzyn assumes that his compilation will be of historical value to students of the Jewish question, he does not conceal his prejudice against the Jews, and he even admits in the preface that the question, because of its vitality and urgency, can hardly be studied in a cold, impartial spirit. In speaking of the attitude of the Russian Jews toward the inva- sion of Napoleon, he belittles their patriotism and, in spite of direct testimony to the contrary (see Albxander I. ; Russia), even accuses them of self- ish motives. Referring to the attempts of the Senate under Elizabeth and Catherine II. to revise the laws concerning the Jews, Golitzyn neglects the facts which made such attempts necessary, and ascribes the action of the Senate to the intrigues of the Jews. The work is a compilation from the writings of Or- slianski, Leontovich, Dobrynin, Bershadski, Nikitin, Derzhavin, Levanda, and others, supplemented by speculations of the author utterly at variance with the facts. Count Golitzyn, however, styles his work original, and claims, for instance, that Bershadski's "Litovskiye Yevreii" is strongly in favor of the Jews. Using Nikitin's history of the Jewish agri- cultural colonies in 1804-25, lie not only imposes a different and unwarranted meaning upon the facts brought out by that author, but accuses him of par- tiality and lack of thoroughness, though admitting at the same time that Nikitin's work possesses great value as an extensive collection of interesting facts.

Bibliography: Voslchod, 1887, ill. 29, Iv. 15; Entzilclopedi- cheslii Slovar, s.v. St. Peternhiirg.

H. B. J. G. L.

GOLLANCZ, HERMANN: English rabbi; born at Bremen Nov. 30, 1852 ; educated at Jews' and University colleges, London. He officiated at several synagogues in England, and on the death of the late chief rabbi succeeded Dr. Hermann Adler aa rabbi at Bayswater Synagogue, London. In Jan. , 1900, he obtained the degree of Lit.D. from the Uni- versity of London, being the first Jew to obtain that honor. GoUancz was secretary to the International Congress of Orientalists (Semitic Section) held in London in 1891, and was appointed to represent the University of London as delegate at the Oriental Congress held at Rome. He is professor of Hebrew at University College, London. He lias published " Selections of Charms from Unedited Syriac MSS.," 1891 ; English translations of " The Syriac Version of Sindt)an," 1892; "The Ethical Treatises of Ber- achyah" (with Eng. transl.), London, 1902; and "Clavis Solomonis," 1902. In 1902 he edited an English version of the Bible for use in Jewish families.

BiBi.iOGKAPHT : Jmv. Chron. Jan. .5, 1900 ; Jew. Year-BooK 1899. J. G. L.

GOLLANCZ, ISRAEL : Secretary of the Brit- ish Academy ; born in Lond(m 1864. He was edu- cated at the City of London School and Cambridge University (B. A., 1887). He was lecturer in English at University College 1892-95 ; lecturer at Cambridge