Reference: Gift
Easton
(1.) An gratuity (Pr 19:6) to secure favour (Pr 18:16; 21:14), a thank-offering (Nu 18:11), or a dowry (Ge 34:12).
(2.) An oblation or proppitatory gift (2Sa 8:2,6; 1Ch 18:2,6; 2Ch 26:8; Ps 45:12; 72:10).
(3.) A bribe to a judge to obtain a favourable verdict (Ex 23:8; De 16:19).
(4.) Simply a thing given (Mt 7:11; Lu 11:13; Eph 4:8); sacrifical (Mt 5:23-24; 8:4); eleemosynary (Lu 21:1); a gratuity (Joh 4:10; Ac 8:20). In Ac 2:38 the generic word dorea is rendered "gift." It differs from the charisma (1Co 12:4) as denoting not miraculous powers but the working of a new spirit in men, and that spirit from God.
The giving of presents entered largely into the affairs of common life in the East. The nature of the presents was as various as were the occasions: food (1Sa 9:7; 16:20), sheep and cattle (Ge 32:13-15), gold (2Sa 18:11), jewels (Ge 24:53), furniture, and vessels for eating and drinking (2Sa 17:28); delicacies, as spices, honey, etc. (1Ki 10:25; 2Ki 5:1; 22). The mode of presentation was with as much parade as possible: the presents were conveyed by the hands of servants (Jg 3:18), or still better, on the backs of beasts of burden (2Ki 8:9). The refusal of a present was regarded as a high indignity; and this constituted the aggravated insult noticed in Mt 22:11, the marriage robe having been offered and refused.
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and the servant taketh out vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and giveth to Rebekah; precious things also he hath given to her brother and to her mother.
And he lodgeth there during that night, and taketh from that which is coming into his hand, a present for Esau his brother: she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty, read more. suckling camels and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bullocks ten, she-asses twenty, and foals ten;
multiply on me exceedingly dowry and gift, and I give as ye say unto me, and give to me the young person for a wife.'
And a bribe thou dost not take; for the bribe bindeth the open -eyed, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
And this is thine: the heave-offering of their gift, to all the wave-offerings of the sons of Israel, to thee I have given them, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute age-during; every clean one in thy house doth eat it;
Thou dost not turn aside judgment; thou dost not discern faces, nor take a bribe, for the bribe blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
And it cometh to pass, when he hath finished to bring near the present, that he sendeth away the people bearing the present,
And Saul saith to his young man, 'And lo, we go, and what do we bring in to the man? for the bread hath gone from our vessels, and a present there is not to bring in to the man of God -- what is with us?'
And Jesse taketh an ass, with bread, and a bottle of wine, and one kid of the goats, and sendeth by the hand of David his son unto Saul.
And he smiteth Moab, and measureth them with a line, causing them to lie down on the earth, and he measureth two lines to put to death, and the fulness of the line to keep alive, and the Moabites are to David for servants, bearers of a present.
and David putteth garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and Aram is to David for a servant, bearing a present; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone;
couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted corn, and beans, and lentiles, and roasted pulse,
And Joab saith to the man who is declaring it to him, 'And lo, thou hast seen -- and wherefore didst thou not smite him there to the earth -- and on me to give to thee ten silverlings and one girdle?'
and they are bringing each his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, the matter of a year in a year.
And Hazael goeth to meet him, and taketh a present in his hand, even of every good thing of Damascus, a burden of forty camels, and he cometh in and standeth before him, and saith, 'Thy son Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Do I revive from this sickness?'
And the daughter of Tyre with a present, The rich of the people do appease thy face.
Kings of Tarshish and of the isles send back a present. Kings of Sheba and Seba a reward bring near.
The gift of a man maketh room for him, And before the great it leadeth him.
Many entreat the face of the noble, And all have made friendship to a man of gifts.
A gift in secret pacifieth anger, And a bribe in the bosom strong fury.
'If, therefore, thou mayest bring thy gift to the altar, and there mayest remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go -- first be reconciled to thy brother, and then having come bring thy gift.
if, therefore, ye being evil, have known good gifts to give to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those asking him?
And Jesus saith to him, 'See, thou mayest tell no one, but go, thyself shew to the priest, and bring the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.'
'And the king having come in to view those reclining, saw there a man not clothed with clothing of the marriage-feast,
If, then, ye, being evil, have known good gifts to be giving to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!'
And having looked up, he saw those who did cast their gifts to the treasury -- rich men,
Jesus answered and said to her, 'If thou hadst known the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked him, and he would have given thee living water.'
and Peter said unto them, 'Reform, and be baptized each of you on the name of Jesus Christ, to remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
And Peter said unto him, 'Thy silver with thee -- may it be to destruction! because the gift of God thou didst think to possess through money;
And there are diversities of gifts, and the same Spirit;
wherefore, he saith, 'Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,' --
Smith
Gift.
The giving and receiving of presents has in all ages been not only a more frequent but also a more formal and significant proceeding in the East than among ourselves. We cannot adduce a more remarkable proof of the important part which presents play in the social life of the East than the fact that the Hebrew language possesses no less than fifteen different expressions for the one idea. The mode of presentation was with as much parade as possible. The refusal of a present was regarded us a high indignity. No less an insult was it not to bring a present when the position of the parties demanded it.
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and the sons of worthlessness have said, 'What! this one doth save us!' and they despise him, and have not brought to him a present; and he is as one deaf.