Earth

VIEW:52 DATA:01-04-2020

EARTH in OT usually stands for one or other of the Heb. words ’eretz and ’adâmâh. In AV [Note: Authorized Version.] these are rendered indiscriminately ‘earth’ and ‘ground,’ but RV [Note: Revised Version.] distinguishes them by using, to some extent, ‘earth’ for the former, and ‘ground’ for the latter. Both words have a wide range of meanings, some of which they possess in common, while others are peculiar to each. Thus ’eretz denotes: (a) earth as opposed to heaven (Gen_1:1), and (b) dry land as opposed to sea. (Gen_1:20). ’adâmâh is specially used: (a) for earth as a specific substance (Gen_2:7, 2Ki_5:17); and (b) for the surface of the ground, in such phrases as ‘face of the earth.’ Both words are employed to describe: (a) the soil from which plants grow, ’adâmâh being the more common term in this sense; (b) the whole earth with its inhabitants, for which, however, ’adâmâh is but rarely used; and (c) a land or country, this also being usually expressed by ’eretz. In one or two cases it is doubtful in which of the two last senses ’eretz is to be taken, e.g. Jer_22:29 (EV [Note: English Version.] ‘earth,’ RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘land’).
In NT the Gr. words for ‘earth’ are gç and oikoumenç, the former having practically all the variety of meanings mentioned above, while the latter denotes specially the whole inhabited earth, and is once used (Heb_2:5) in a still wider sense for the universe of the future. See, further, art. World.
James Patrick.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

'erets in Hebrew; gee in Greek, designating either the whole globe, or land as opposed to sea, or a particular land; to be distinguished by the context. A distinct term expresses the material of which the earth consists damaah, the "ground," "soil," from whence Adam was named (Gen_2:7), his body coming from and returning to the earth (Gen_3:19), a different word "dust" (Job_10:9; Ecc_12:7). Naaman desired to have two mules' burden of earth of the Holy Land ('Eretz Israel), whether for an altar or other sacred purpose (Exo_20:24), a half-paganish nation that God would accept devotions in connection with that soil rather than with any other.
In Jas_5:17 it is translated: "it rained not on the land (of Israel)"; for the drought was a judgment, not on the whole earth, but on Israel; compare Luk_4:25. So in Luk_23:44 "there was darkness over all the land," not "all the earth"; compare Mat_27:45. In 1Co_15:47-49, "the first man is of the earth, earthy," contrasted with "the Lord from heaven" and "the heavenly," the term is choikos, not merely earthly, i.e. born upon earth, but "earthy," literally, "of heaped clay," answering to the surface "dust" in the Old Testament of which man is made; not merely terrestrial, but terrene, therefore, transitory.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Earth. The term is used in two widely-different senses:
(1) for the material of which the earth's surface is composed;
(2) as the name of the planet on which man dwells.
The Hebrew language discriminates between these two by the use of separate terms, adamah for the former, erets for the latter.
1. Adamah is the earth in the sense of soil or ground, particularly as being susceptible of cultivation. Gen_2:7.
2. Erets is applied in a more or less extended sense ?
(1) to the whole world, Gen_1:1,
(2) to land as opposed to sea, Gen_1:10,
(3) to a country, Gen_21:32,
(4) to a plot of ground, Gen_23:15, and
(5) to the ground on which a man stands. Gen_33:3.
The two former senses alone concern us, the first involving an inquiry into the opinions of the Hebrews on cosmogony, the second on geography.
I. Cosmogony. ? (1) The Hebrew cosmogony is based upon the leading principle that the universe exists, not independently of God, nor yet co-existent with God, nor yet in opposition to him as a hostile element, but dependently upon him, subsequently to him and in subjection to him.
(2) Creation was regarded as a progressive work ? a gradual development from the inferior to the superior orders of things.
II. Geography. ? There seems to be traces of the same ideas as prevailed among the Greeks, that the world was a disk, Isa_40:22, bordered by the ocean, with Jerusalem as its centre, like Delphi as the navel, or, according to another view, the highest point of the world. As to the size of the earth, the Hebrews had but a very indefinite notion.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

is used for that gross element which sustains and nourishes us by producing plants and fruits; for the continent as distinguished from the sea, “God called the dry land earth,” Gen_1:10; for the terraqueous globe, and its contents, men, animals, plants, metals, waters, &c, “The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof,” Psa_24:1; for the inhabitants of the earth, or continent, “The whole earth was of one language,” Gen_11:1; for Judea, or the whole empire of Chaldea and Assyria. Thus Cyrus says, Ezr_1:2, “The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth.” The restriction of the term “earth” to Judea is more common in Scripture than is usually supposed; and this acceptation of it has great effect on several passages, in which it ought to be so understood.
Earth in a moral sense is opposed to heaven, and to what is spiritual. “He that is of the earth is earthy, and speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from above is above all.” Joh_3:31. “If ye then be risen with Christ, set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth,” Col_3:1,
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

ûrth (אדמה, 'ădhāmāh, ארץ, 'erec, עפר, ‛āphār; γῆ, gḗ, οἰκουμένη, oikouménē): In a hilly limestone country like Palestine, the small amount of iron oxide in the rocks tends to be oxidized, and thereby to give a prevailing reddish color to the soil. This is especially the case on relatively barren hills where there is little organic matter present to prevent reddening and give a more blackish tinge.
'Ǎdhāmāh (compare 'ādhām, ?a man,? and Adam) is from 'ādham, ?to be red,? and is used in the senses: ?earth? (Exo_20:24), ?land? (Psa_105:35), a ?land? or country (Isa_14:2), ?ground? (Gen_4:11), ?the earth? (Gen_7:4).
The word most in use is 'erec, undoubtedly from a most ancient root occurring in many languages, as English ?earth,? German Erde, Arabic 'ard. It is used in most of the senses of 'ădhāmāh, but less as ?soil? and more as ?the earth? as a part of the universe; frequently with shāmayim, ?heavens,? as in Gen_1:1 : ?In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.?
‛Āphār and its root word and derivatives are closely paralleled in the Arabic, and refer mainly to ?dust? or ?dry earth? (compare Arabic ‛afir, ?to be of the color of dust?; ‛afar ?dust?; ya‛fūr, ?a gazelle?; Hebrew ‛ōpher, ?a gazelle?). Compare Gen_2:7 : ?Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground?; Job_2:12 : ?.... sprinkled dust upon their heads?; Psa_104:29 : ?.... they die, and return to their dust?; Gen_18:27 : ?dust and ashes.?
In the Septuagint and New Testament, gē is used in nearly all cases, oikoumenē being used a few times for the ?habitable earth,? as in Luk_21:26 the King James Version. See further ANTHROPOLOGY; ASTRONOMY; EVOLUTION; WORLD.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Besides the ordinary senses of the word or words rendered 'earth' in our translation?namely, as denoting mold, the surface of the earth, and the terrestrial globe?there are others in Scripture which require to be discriminated.
1. 'The earth' denotes 'the inhabitants of the earth' (Gen_6:11; Gen_11:1).
2. Heathen countries, as distinguished from the land of Israel, especially during the theocracy, i.e. all the rest of the world excepting Israel (2Ki_18:25; 2Ch_13:9, etc.).
3. In the New Testament especially, 'the earth' appears in our translation as applied to the land of Judea. As in many of these passages it might seem as if the habitable globe were intended, the use of so ambiguous a term as 'the earth' should have been avoided, and the original rendered by 'the land,' as in Lev_25:23; Isa_10:23; and elsewhere. This is the sense which the original bears in Mat_23:35; Mat_27:45; Mar_15:33; Luk_4:25; Luk_21:23; Rom_9:28; Jam_5:17.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Exo_15:12 (a) This statement probably refers to the incident in the life of Moses when the earth opened up a cavity and Korah, Dothan and Abiram went down alive into hell. (See Num_16:29-33).

Deu_32:1 (a) The word refers to the peoples of the earth in every nation, for it is the desire of our Lord that all shall hear His Word. (See also 1Ch_16:31; Job_20:27; Psa_96:11; Isa_24:4; Isa_45:22).

Psa_63:9 (a) This statement clearly indicates that hell is in the heart of the earth. There are many other passages that confirm this truth. (See under "HELL").

Mat_13:5 (c) The teaching probably is that there was nothing in the heart of the hearer, nor in his mind, which would enable him to receive or understand GOD's Word. (See also Mar_4:5).
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.

Earth
properly the name of the planet on which we dwell. SEE GEOGRAPHY.
I. There are two Hebrew words thus rendered in the A.V., both of which are rendered by γῆ in the Sept., and this γῆ is rendered by "earth," "land," " ground, "in the New Testament. SEE DUST.
1. אֲדָמָה, adamah', is the earth in the sense of soil or ground, particularly as being susceptible of cultivation; hence the expression אַישׁ אֲדָמָה, lit. "man of the ground," for an agriculturist (Gen_9:20). The; earth supplied the elementary substance of which man's body was formed, and the terms adam and adamah are brought into juxtaposition, implying an etymological connection (Gen_2:7). SEE ADAM. The opinion that man's body was formed of earth prevailed among the Greeks (Hesiod, Op. et Di. 61, 70; Plato, Rep. page 269), the Romans (Virgil, Georg. 2:341; Ovid, Met. 1:82), the Egyptians (Diod. Sic. 1:10), and other ancient nations. It is evidently based on the observation of the material into which the body is resolved after death (Job_10:9; Ecc_12:7). The law prescribed earth as the material out of which altars were to be raised (Exo_20:24); Bahr (Symb. 1:488) sees in this a reference to the name adam: others, with more reason, compare the ara de cespite of the Romans (Ovid, Trist. 5:5, 9; Horace, Od. 3:8, 4, 5), and view it as a precept of simplicity. Naaman's request for two mules' burden of earth (2Ki_5:17) was based on the idea that Jehovah, like the heathen deities, was a local god, and could be worshipped acceptably only on his own soil. SEE GROUND.
2. More generally אֶרֶוֹ, e'rets, which is explained by Von Bohlen (Introduction to Gen_2:6) as meaning etymologically the low in opposition to the high, i.e., the heaven. It is applied in a more or less extended sense: 1, to the whole world (Gen_1:1); 2, to land as opposed to sea (Gen_1:10); 3, to a country (Gen_21:32); 4, to a plot of ground (Gen_23:15); and, 5, to the ground on which a man stands (Gen_33:3); also, in a more general view, 6, to "the inhabitants of the earth" (Gen_6:11; Gen_11:1); 7, to heathen countries, as distinguished from the land of Israel, especially during the theocracy; i.e., all the rest of the world excepting Israel (2Ki_18:25; 2Ch_13:9, etc.); particularly the empire of Chaldaea and Assyria (Ezr_1:2); 8, in the New Testament especially, "the earth" appears in our translation as applied to the land of Judea. As in many of these passages it might seem as if the habitable globe were intended, the use of so ambiguous a term as "the earth" should have been avoided, and the original rendered by "the land," as in Lev_25:23; Isa_10:23, and elsewhere. This is the sense which the original bears in Mat_23:35; Mat_27:45; Mar_15:33; Luk_4:25; Luk_21:23; Rom_9:28; Jam_5:17. 9. Finally, in a spiritual sense, the word is employed (in the N.T.) in contrast with heaven, to denote things earthly and carnal (Joh_3:31; Col_3:1-2). See Wemyss, Symbol. Dict. s.v.; SEE WORLD.
To demand earth and water was a custom of the ancient Persians, by which they required a people to acknowledge their dominion; Nebuchodonosor, in the Greek of Judith (2:7), commands Holofernes to march against the people of the West, who had refused submission, and to declare to them that they were to prepare earth and water. Darius ordered his envoys to demand earth and water of the Scythians; and Megabysus required the same of Amyntas, king of Macedonia, in the name of Darius. Polybius and Plutarch notice this custom among the Persians. Some believe that these symbolical demands denoted dominion of the earth and sea; others, that the earth represented the food received from it, corn and fruits; the water, drink, which is the second part of human nourishment. Sir_15:16, in much the same sense, says, " The Lord hath set fire and water before thee; stretch forth thy hand unto whether thou wilt; and chapter 39:26, "Fire and water are the most necessary things to life." Fire and water were considered by the ancients as the first principles of the generation, birth; and preservation of man. Proscribed persons were debarred from their use; as, on the contrary, wives in their nuptial ceremonies were obliged to touch them. SEE ELEMENT.
II. The idea which the ancient Hebrews had of the figure of the earth can only be conjectured from incidental hints occasionally given in Scripture (Isa_40:22; Pro_8:27; Job_26:10; Psa_24:2; Psa_136:6). From these passages, taken together, says Rosenmuller (Alterthumsk. I, 1:133 sq.), we obtain the notion of the earth's disk as circular, rising out of the water, and surrounded with the ocean, the heaven being spread over it as a canopy. Though floating free in the boundless immensity of space, yet, through the Creator's might, it remains firmly fixed, without moving (1 Chronicles 17:30; Psa_93:1; Psa_104:5; Psa_119:90). It is rather inconclusive, however, to infer the popular notions of the earth's figure from what may have been nothing more than the bold imagery of poets. Some have supposed that so long as the Hebrews were a nomadic race, they conceived of the earth as resembling a round tent, with the expanse as its covering; but that in later times, when domiciled in Palestine, they spoke of it as a splendid palace resting upon its many pillars (2Sa_22:8; Psa_75:3; Psa_104:5; Proverbs 5:25-29). The Greek and Roman writers (Hesiod, Theogn. 116 sq.; Ovid, Metam. 1:5 sq.; comp. Euseb. Prasp. Ev. 1:10 [Sanchoniathon, ed. Orelli, p. 9 sq.] Zendavesta, 1:170 sq.) also vary in their representations on this point, describing the earth sometimes as an oblong square, sometimes as a cube, sometimes as; a pyramid, sometimes as a chlamys, or outspread mantle. (See Eichhorn, Urgesch. ed. Gabler, Nurnb. 1790; Doderlein Rel. — Unterr. 7:59 sq.; Beck, Weltgesch. 1:99 sq.; Bauer, Hebr. Mythol. 1:63 sq.; De Wette, Bibl. Dogm. page 76 sq.; Baumgarten-Crusius, Bibl. Theolog. p. 264 sq.; Colln, Bibl. Theol. 1:166; Mignot, in the Memoires de l'Acad. des Inscr. 34:352 sq.; Anquetil, Oupnekhat, 1:409 sq.; Johannsen, Die kosmog., Ansichten d. Inder u. Hebr. Altona, 1833, Dornedden, in Eichhorn's Bibl. 10:284 sq., 548 sq.; Gessner, in the Comment. Soc. Goett. volume 2; Corrodi, Beitr. zum vern. Denken, 18:15 sq.; Link, Urwelt, 1:268 sq.; Wagner, Geschichte d. Urgesch. p. 496 sq.; Umbreit, in the Stud. u. Kritiken, 1839, p. 189 sq.; Ballenstedt, Die Urwelt, 3d ed. Quedlinb. 1819; Von Schrank, Physik. theolog. Erkldr. der 6 Schopfungstage, Augsburg, 1829; Beke, Researches in Primeval History, London, 1834; Burton, View of the Creation, London, 1836; Tholuck, Literar. Anzeig. 1833, No. 67-78; Keil, apologia Mos. traditionis, Dorpat, 1839; Benner, De censura Longini in verba Gen_1:3, Giess. 1739; Burmeister, Gesch. d. Schopfung, Lips. 1843; Waterkeyn, Kosmos Hieros Grimma, 1846; Goguet, Urspr. d. Gesetze, 2:227.) SEE COSMOGONY.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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