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Earth
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urth (('Adhamah) man of the ground, land, earth, ('erets) whole world, (Aphar) dust, dry earth)
RELATED: Adam, World |
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
(1) In the sense of soil or ground, the translation
of the word 'adamah'. In Genesis
9:20 "husbandman" is literally "man of the ground or earth." Altars were to
be built of earth ( Exodus
20:24 ). Naaman asked for two mules' burden of earth ( 2
Kings 5:17 ), under the superstitious notion that Jehovah, like the gods of
the heathen, could be acceptably worshipped only on his own soil.
(2). As the rendering of 'erets, it means the whole world ( Genesis
1:2 ); the land as opposed to the sea ( Genesis
1:10 ). Erets also denotes a country ( Genesis
21:32 ); a plot of ground ( Genesis
23:15 ); the ground on which a man stands ( Genesis
33:3 ); the inhabitants of the earth ( Genesis
6:1 ; 11:1
); all the world except Israel ( 2
Chronicles 13:9 ). In the New Testament "the earth" denotes the land of Judea
( Matthew
23:35 ); also things carnal in contrast with things heavenly ( John
3:31 ; Colossians
3:1 , 3:2
).
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The term is used in two widely-different senses: (1)
for the material of which the earths 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.
Adamah is the earth in the sense of soil or ground, particularly
as being susceptible of cultivation. ( Genesis
2:7 )
Erets is applied in a more or less extended sense--
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The two former senses alone concern us, the fairest involving an inquiry into
the opinions of the Hebrews on cosmogony, the second on geography.
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. |
Geography. --
There seems to be traces of the same ideas as prevailed among the Greeks, that
the world was a disk, ( Isaiah
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. |
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
urth ('adhamah, 'erets, 'aphar; ge, oikoumene):
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.
'Adhamah (compare 'adham, "a man," and Adam) is from 'adham, "to be red," and
is used in the senses: "earth" (Exodus 20:24), "land" (Psalms 105:35), a "land"
or country (Isaiah 14:2), "ground" (Genesis 4:11), "the earth" (Genesis 7:4).
The word most in use is 'erets, 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 'adhamah, but less as "soil" and more as "the earth" as
a part of the universe; frequently with shamayim, "heavens," as in Genesis 1:1:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
'Aphar 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'fur, "a gazelle"; Hebrew 'opher, "a gazelle").
Compare Genesis 2:7: "Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground"; Job 2:12:
".... sprinkled dust upon their heads"; Psalms 104:29: ".... they die,
and return to their dust"; Genesis 18:27: "dust and ashes."
In the Septuagint and New Testament, ge is used in nearly all cases, oikoumene
being used a few times for the "habitable earth," as in Luke 21:26 the King James
Version.
See further ANTHROPOLOGY; ASTRONOMY; EVOLUTION; WORLD.
Alfred Ely Day
Tags:
'adhamah, aphar, bible commentary, bible reference, bible study, define, earth, 'erets
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