The Bible Commentaries and Others: Earth

Earth

EARTH. The habitation of human beings, viewed physically as land, soil, or ground, geographically as a region, politically as a state, territory, or country, cosmically as the opposite of heaven, and symbolically as the entirety of material existence.

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A. Earth in the OT

1. Terminology

2. Cosmology

3. Theology

B. Earth in the NT

1. Terminology

2. Cosmology

3. Theology

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A. Earth in the OT

1. Terminology. “Earth” is generally (approximately 660x in RSV) a translation of Heb ˒ereṣ, a word that derives from a base common to the Semitic languages (Akk erṣ-; Ar ˒arḍ-). Hebrew ˒ereṣ has a broad range of meaning, and is most frequently (about 1620x in RSV) rendered “country” or “land” (see further TDOT 1: 388–405). Less often, “earth” translated Heb ˒ădāmâ (also translated “country,” “ground,” “land,” and “soil” in RSV; see TDOT 1: 88–98). Once in Genesis (26:15) and six times in Job (7:21; 8:19; 19:25; 28:2; 30:6; 41:33) the English word “earth” represents Heb ˓āpār, elsewhere translated “ash,” “dust,” “ground,” “rubbish,” and “soil” in RSV.

In the Aramaic portions of the OT, “earth” renders Aram ˒ăra˓ (Jer 10:11 and seventeen times in Daniel), and, uniquely, ˒ăraq (Jer 10:11a). The sole occurrence of Aram yabešet (Dan 2:10) is also translated “earth.”

The extremely wide range of meaning embraced by Heb ˒ereṣ has been explained in two ways. Possibly the word originally designated the Semitic speaker’s home region or country, from which it was extended to the territories of neighboring peoples, eventually including the whole expanse of human habitation, i.e., the “earth” below, as contrasted to heaven above (Rost 1965: 85; IDB 4: 874). However, the early and firm association of “earth” with “heaven” in the formula “heaven and earth” in several Semitic languages from earliest times on may suggest that its primary meaning embraced the inhabited surface of the cosmos, each subsection of it, or “country,” constituting a microcosm (Stadelmann 1970: 127). While neither option can be advanced with full confidence, the vast predominance of the singular in Hebrew as compared to a few late instances of the plural (e.g., Ezra 9:1; 2 Chr 32:13) makes it abundantly clear that the OT perceives as continuous what English distinguishes with the words “earth” and “land, country.” In a number of passages the choice between the translation “earth” or “land” is a difficult one.

2. Cosmology. On the whole, Israel shared the world view of the ancient Near East. The earth was perceived as a flat expanse, seen either in the image of a disk or circle upon the primeval waters (Isa 40:22; Job 26:10; Prov 8:27; cf. “circle of the heavens,” Job 22:14) or of an outstreched garment spanning the void (Job 26:7; 38:13). According to H. H. Schmidt (THAT 1: 230–31), these two images, present also in Mesopotamia, derive from different but compatible conceptions of the cosmos which are intertwined without tension in the OT. References to the earth’s (four) corners/rims/hems ([˒arba˓ kanĕpôt hā˒āreṣ; Isa 11:12; Job 37:3; 38:13; cf. Isa 24:16), its end(s), border(s), edge(s) (qĕṣê/qĕṣôt; Job 28:24; Ps 135:7; Isa 5:26; 40:28; 41:5, 9; Jer 10:13; 51:16), combinations of these images (Jer 49:36; also Ps 48:11—Eng 48:10; 65:6—Eng 65:5), its ends (where it ceases: ˒apsê [hā] ˒āreṣ; Deut 33:17; 1 Sam 2:10, etc.) its boundaries (Ps 74:17), or its remotest parts (Jer 6:22; 25:32; 31:8; 50:41) depict the vast expanse of the earth and its outer limits, rather than a firm conception of its shape. T. Boman (1960: 157–59) has pointed out that naming the outer limits of any area includes the whole area, so that the above terms function almost as synonyms for “earth,” “world.” The modern concept of an infinite or open-ended universe was not known in the OT; on the contrary, heaven and earth were thought to be sealed together at the rim of the horizon to prevent the influx of the cosmic waters (Stadelmann 1970: 43).

In contrast to this preoccupation with the earth’s outer limits, a center or navel of the earth (Heb ṭabbûr) is mentioned only once (Ezek 38:12; cf. Judg 9:37; Jub. 8:19). L. Stadelmann (1970: 147–54) suggests that Jerusalem (cf. Ezek 5:5), and possibly Bethel at an earlier time (cf. Gen 28: 10–12, 17–18), were considered in this light, in keeping with the views of many ANE and other peoples that their central sanctuary or capital city represented such a center. However this theme is not prominent in the Old Testament; that Jerusalem, as the center of worship of the universal God, held a position of central prominence (Isa 2:2–3 = Mic 4:1–2) is a theological rather than a cosmological observation.

Over the earth and its surrounding sea(s) arches the firm vault (or firmament, Heb raqı̂a˓ [Gen 1:6]) of (the) heaven(s). Together, heaven and earth make up what we would call world, universe, cosmos (Gen 1:1; 2:1, 4; Exod 31:17; Ps 102:26—Eng 102:25; Isa 48:13; 51:13, 16 and often). Occasionally, earth alone seems to enhance the whole cosmos (e.g., Isa 6:3; 54:5; Zeph 1:2–3, 18[?]). The vault of heaven rests on the earth (Amos 9:6; cf. 2 Sam 22:8: “the foundations of the heavens” = the earth) which in turn is firmly set on pillars (1 Sam 2:8) or foundations (Isa 24:18; 40:21; Jer 31:37; Mic 6:2, etc.). The foundations are associated with the “heavens” (2 Sam 22:8) or the “world” (Heb tēbēl; 2 Sam 22:16 = Ps 18:16—Eng 18:15), and with “mountains” (Deut 32:22; Ps 18:8—Eng 18:7). The verb yāsad “to found” is used with reference to God’s founding of the earth (Job 38:4; Ps 24:2; 102:26—Eng 102:25, etc.).

Somewhat ambivalent in this structure is the place of the sea(s) or water(s), the deep, and the underworld. The seas can be spoken of as familiar reality, in which the fish and other water creatures swarm (Gen 1:20, 22, 26, etc.) and on which humans move in ships (Ps 104:25–26; 107:23; Prov 30:19; Ezek 27:9). As such, the sea forms part of the earth, i.e., the flat surface below juxtaposed to the heavens above. A transitional position between earth and the surrounding sea is occupied by the islands or coastlands (Heb ˒iyyı̂m; Isa 24:14–16; 41:5; 42:4, 10). Elsewhere in the OT the sea(s) or water(s) take on the character of a third cosmic realm in addition to heaven and earth, the extension of the cosmic chaos waters surrounding everything (see EASTERN SEA; SEA; WESTERN SEA).

The underworld is often spoken of as part of the earth, a lower cavern, grave, pit, (called in Heb Sheol) where the dead lead a shadowy existence; it can even be referred to simply as “earth” (1 Sam 28:13; Ps 71:20; 106:17; Isa 29:4). In other texts, Sheol is treated as a separate cosmic realm besides heaven and earth (Job 26:5; Ps 139:8; Amos 9:2). The OT conception of the world, then, is basically bipartite (heaven and earth), variously extended to a tripartite cosmos (heaven-earth-sea, or heaven-earth-underworld). Although certain later books and sections (Job, Proverbs 8, several postexilic Psalms, Isaiah 24–27; 40–55) are more explicit in their cosmological descriptions than the earlier documents, the general view of the cosmos does not show any significant change or development throughout the OT period.

3. Theology. Even though ˒ereṣ is generally a feminine noun, the writings of the OT nowhere acknowledge a divine “Mother Earth” or earth goddess related as female consort to a sky god or other male deity, a widespread Near Eastern conception (RGG3 2: 548–50), though not universal. (Egyptian mythology had a female sky goddess and a male earth god [TDOT 1: 390].) Where heaven and earth conjoin to produce fertility, they are never more than mere created instruments of God (Hos 2:23–24—Eng 2:21–22). At the same time, Israel was well aware of the fertility practices of its neighbors and their divinizing of the earth and its features. Literary remnants of that divinizing are employed occasionally as metaphors. For example, heaven and earth are called as witnesses in God’s lawsuit (Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; Ps 50:4, etc.) and exhorted to “shout for joy” (Isa 44:23; Jer 51:48). Actual divinizing of the earthly realm, however, was firmly rejected (implicitly in Exod 20:4–5 = Deut 5:8–9). Schmidt (THAT 1: 233) considers possible allusions to the Mother Earth motif in Job 1:21; Eccl 5:14—Eng 5:14; Ps 139:15 (cf. also Gen 3:19; Sir 40:1), while Eliade (RGG3 2: 550) allows only Job 1:21; Ps 139:15.

Israel also knew of the localization of deities in certain parts of the earth/land by its neighbors (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:24–41), but the God of Israel is rarely so localized (1 Sam 26:19 may be such a case). He is the ˒ādōn kol-hā˒āreṣ “Lord/Master of the whole earth,” a firmly coined epithet (Josh 3:11, 13; Ps 97:5; Mic 4:13; Zech 4:14). That his rule proceeds from Zion (Pss 48, 76, 84, 87, 122; Isa 2:2–4), a foundational assumption of the royalist Jerusalem theology, constitutes no limiting localization; it belongs to the theme of election of instruments (including places) towards the accomplishment of his universal ends (cf. Deut 10:14–15; 1 Kgs 8:27–30).

God is the creator, owner, ruler, and sustainer of “heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in it” (Ps 146:6). He created them a cosmos in contrast to chaos (Gen 1:1–2:4a; Job 38:4–6; Ps 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; 146:6; Prov 8:24–29; Isa 45:18–19; 48:13), keeping chaos at bay (Job 38:8–13; Ps 33:7, etc.) yet not in a struggle or contest among near-equals (as in ANE mythology) but by his wisdom (Prov 3:19–20; 8:30–31) and his sovereign, commanding word (Gen 1:1–2:4a; Job 26:12–13; Ps 33:6, 9; 104:7; Isa 51:9–10; Jer 32:17 [? power, outstretched arm]). This is true even though the language of combat has been preserved now and then (Job 38:8; Ps 74:12–17; Isa 27:1; Heb 3:8–11). In his sovereignty he may, however, employ the chaos powers as instruments of judgment, as is evidenced particularly, but not only, in the great Flood and as it is threatened for the eschaton (Gen 6:5–8:22; Isa 24:17–23; Jer 4:23–28; Ezek 26:19–20; Amos 9:13).

In the present eon, however, God willed the earth’s stability and permanence as a sign of his grace towards his creatures (Gen 8:22; Ps 74:12–17; 104:5–6). That the earth is “founded” on “pillars” or “foundations” gains theological relevance here. He set the earth’s bounds against chaos and sea (Ps 33:6–7; 104:7–9; Isa 40:12), making “earth” synonymous with the realm of the living; note the phrase ˒ereṣ ḥayyı̂m “land of the living” (Job 28:13; Ps 27:14—Eng 27:13, etc.). God the Creator is therefore not to be contrasted with God the Savior, for his work of creation in itself constitutes salvation from the rule of the chaos powers (Ps 74:12–17; 89:9–15—Eng 89:8–14; 104:5–9; Isa 40:28–31; 51:9–11). The frequent expression “the ends of the earth” marks the all-inclusiveness of his rule, both for judgment and salvation, a rule that is not limited, however, to the earth, but includes the heavens and the netherworld (1 Sam 2:10; 2 Chr 16:9; Job 28:24; Ps 46:10—Eng 46:9; 98:3; 139:7–12; Isa 41:5, 9; 45:22; 49:6; 52:10; Amos 9:2–3; Mic 5:3—Eng 5:4; Zech 9:10).

God himself is consistently associated with the heavens, his dwelling place, which are “above,” juxtaposed to the earth “beneath,” a characterization expressive not only of ancient perceptions of world structure, but also of rank. In remarkable contrast to Mesopotamian beliefs, however, as well as to the NT (see B.3 below), heaven in the OT does not become a prototype for life on earth. In Mesopotamia, life on earth was seen as a participation in, and reflection of, a model in heaven (Jacobsen 1946: 185–201). In the OT, the notion of heaven is devoid of such content, and life on earth, supremely under God’s lordship, is called to imitate God only in his works on the earthly plane (as in his care for oppressed Israel in Egypt), and never in his heavenly existence (Harrelson 1970: 237–52). Nor is the petition “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10) imaginable in the OT context. Even when God is presented in the metaphorical setting of the Heavenly Council (e.g., 1 Kgs 22:19–22; Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6; Isaiah 6; 40:1–11), we hear only of deliberations concerning events on earth; we learn nothing about a heavenly world. And further, even the heavens, as God’s creation, are subject to his verdict of destruction (Ps 102:26–27—Eng 102:25–26; Isa 13:5; 14:26; 24:18; 51:6; Jer 4:23–28; Zeph 1:2–3, 18), so that God transcends both heaven and earth (Isa 65:17; 66:22).

B. Earth in the NT

1. Terminology. In the NT “earth” renders Greek gē. In the LXX gē translates both Heb ˒ereṣ and ˒ădāmâ. The Greek word can also mean “land, country, region” and “soil, ground.” As ˒ereṣ in the OT, gē can mean both a particular country or region and the whole inhabited earth.

2. Cosmology. In most respects the NT shares the cosmology of the OT without devoting extensive discussion to it. While certain passages allude to a tripartite universe (heaven, earth, “under the earth,” Rev 5:3, 13 [cf. Phil 2:10]), the bipartite designation (heaven, earth) is dominant throughout. Hades, the LXX’s name for Sheol, was undoubtedly conceived of as a subterranean abode of the dead, but its place as a tier in the tripartite universe (heaven, earth, Hades) can be discerned only in Matt 16:18–19, and there uncertainly. Matt 1:23 (= Luke 10:15) uses heaven and Hades as the extremes of exaltation and humiliation, possibly implying that earth is the middle tier (cf. also Rev 5:3).

As in the OT, the earth itself can be regarded as the realm of the dead; thus the Son of man will spend three days and nights “in the heart of the earth” (en tệ kardiạ tês gês; Matt 12:40) or descend “into the lower parts of the earth” (eis ta katōtera merē tês gês; Eph 4:9). On the other hand, hell or Gehenna (geenna; Matt 5:22, etc.), though the destiny of the condemned dead and therefore a third state of human beings (as contrasted with life on earth, and redeemed existence in heaven), is apparently not visualized very concretely as a tier in the cosmic structure, though it is certainly associated with neither regions rather than higher realms.

We conclude, then, that the NT generally understands the universe as comprehended in the duality of (the) heaven(s) and (the) earth, an expression that is often coextensive with “world” (Gk kosmos), although the latter can also be used for the arena of human life, and thus as a synonym for “earth” alone, as well as for “world” (Gk oikoumenē; see TDNT 3:884, 888).

Only occasionally do we find reminiscences of the OT’s vivid structural details of the cosmos, such as the earth’s “four corners” (Rev 7:1; 20:8), its “end” or “uttermost parts” (Acts 1:8; 13:47, cf. Isa 49:6), its “(four) ends” (Matt 12:42 = Luke 11:31) or its “face” (Acts 17:26). Mark 13:27 and Rev 7:1 mention the “four winds.”

3. Theology. Presupposing the OT throughout, the NT views earth as the creation and possession of God, ultimately subject to his sovereign rule (Matt 5:35; 11:25 = Luke 10:21; Acts 2:19; 4:24; 7:49; 14:15; 17:24; Rom 9:17; 1 Cor 8:5–6; 10:26; Eph 3:15; Rev 11:4; 14:7), yet a rule challenged by the power of Satan. Due to this challenge, the earth, as to its theological status, “lags behind” heaven, where God reigns unimpeded.

As the battlefield between God and Satan, the earth becomes the arena of human probation, the scene of either obedience or disobedience. The pervasiveness of the latter, in turn makes the earth the target of God’s judgment and salvation, especially through the agency of Jesus, the Christ/Messiah. The adjective “earthly” (Gk epigeios), often designating anything located on the earthly plane of the universe (Phil 2:10), can consequently also refer to that which is the opposite of what is heavenly (1 Cor 15:40; 2 Cor 5:1; Phil 3:19; TDNT 1:680–81).

Christ’s mission originates in heaven and is marked by his bringing what is qualitatively of heaven (in harmony with the rule of God) onto the earthly scene (Mark 2:10–11 = Luke 5:24; Luke 12:49; 18:8[?]; John 3:31–36; 17:4; Rom 10:18 [Ps 19:4]; 1 Cor 15:47; Eph 4:9–13, 24). Here he establishes signs of the incipient rule of God, destined to become visible to the ends of the earth. Ultimately, however, it is not the complete transformation of earth that constitutes the end (telos) of Christ’s mission, but a redeemed state that transcends heaven and earth, both of which are divinely ordained to pass away (Matt 5:18; 24:35 = Mark 13:31 = Luke 21:33; Luke 16:17[?]; Heb 12:26 [will be shaken]; 2 Pet 3:7, 10), or to be transformed into a new heaven and earth (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1). In the book of Revelation more than elsewhere the earth moves increasingly toward becoming the realm of the evil posers, and thereby the target of God’s judging wrath (Rev 3:10; 6:10; 7:2; 11:6; 14:15–20; 16:1; 19:2). The faithful are preserved through God’s grace (Rev 7:3; 9:4) and ultimately saved from the earth (Rev 14:3; cf. Heb 11:13).

Short of this apocalyptic drama, however, the realms of heaven and earth are frequently characterized as standing in sort of cosmic correspondence, heaven constituting divine perfection to be emulated on earth (Matt 6:10; 23:9; Luke 2:14; 11:2; 18:8[?]; John 3:31; 1 Cor 15:47; Col 3:2, 5; Heb 12:25). Yet at times the initiative can be taken on earth, evoking its validation by the heavenly world (Matt 16:19; 18:18, 19; Mark 2:10 = Luke 5:24). Clearly, heaven and earth do not function only as cosmological realms here, but as theological horizons. Jesus Christ is the prime agent to effect the permeation of earth by heaven, and his church takes up this task. Christ’s mission can be described, from one perspective, as removing the discrepancy and uniting (theologically speaking) the realms of heaven and earth (Matt 28:18; 1 Cor 8:5–6; Eph 1:9–10; Col 1:16, 20).

Bibliography

Boman, T. 1960. Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek. Trans. J. L. Moreau. London.

Harrelson, W. 1970. The Significance of Cosmology in the Ancient Near East. Pp. 237–52 in Translating and Understanding the Old Testament, ed. H. T. Frank and W. L. Reed. Nashville.

Jacobsen, T. 1946. Mesopotamia: The Cosmos as a State. Pp. 185–201 in The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, ed. H. Frankfort. Chicago.

Rost, L. 1934. Die Bezeichnungen für Land und Volk im Alten Testament. Pp. 125–48 in O. Procksch-Festschrift. Repr. pp. 76–101 in Das kleine Credo und andere Studien zum Alten Testament. Heidelberg. 1965.

Stadelmann, J. I. L. 1970. The Hebrew Conception of the World. AnBib 39. Rome.

W. Janzen

Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (2:246). New York: Doubleday.

Earth — (1.) In the sense of soil or ground, the translation of the word adamah’. In Gen. 9:20 “husbandman” is literally “man of the ground or earth.” Altars were to be built of earth (Ex. 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 (Gen. 1:2); the land as opposed to the sea (1:10). Erets also denotes a country (21:32); a plot of ground (23:15); the ground on which a man stands (33:3); the inhabitants of the earth (6:1; 11:1); all the world except Israel (2 Chr. 13:9). In the New Testament “the earth” denotes the land of Judea (Matt. 23:35); also things carnal in contrast with things heavenly (John 3:31; Col. 3:1, 2).

Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

EARTH Term used for our inhabited planet; the world, as distinguished from heaven and hell; land; soil; and in several other ways. Biblical usage is as broad as modern usage.

One Hebrew word translated “earth” is also used generically for “man,” or Adam (Gn 2:7, 19). That word refers to reddish soil from which Adam’s body was made. Another Hebrew word translated “earth” or “land” can refer to a country (21:21). A word translated “dust” can mean simply earth or dry ground (3:19). In the NT one Greek word translated “earth” can refer to a land or country (Mt 27:45). The Greek word from which “ecumenical” is derived refers to the whole inhabited earth (Lk 21:26) or the Roman Empire of those days (2:1).

In the beginning “God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas …. And God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation’ ” (Gn 1:10–11, rsv). In some passages “the earth” is used in essentially the modern sense for the whole planet (Jb 1:7), hanging in empty space (26:7). References to the earth’s four corners (Is 11:12; Ez 7:2) allude to the points of a compass, not to the earth’s shape. The circle of the earth probably refers to the circumference of the horizon (Is 40:22; cf. Jb 38:13). The earth is sometimes pictured as supported on pillars (Jb 9:6; Ps 75:3) or foundations (Ps 104:5; Prv 8:29; Is 24:18; Jer 31:37). Since many of the biblical usages are found in figurative passages of poetry or prophecy, they reveal little about the Hebrews’ cosmological understanding.

“Earth” sometimes refers to the soil or ground that a farmer works (cf. 2 Kgs 5:17). According to the Bible, the original condition of the earth (Gn 2:6) was affected by the curse of human sinfulness (3:17–19). (Modern ecologists seem to agree that the earth suffers because of human greed and arrogance.) After Abel’s blood was spilled on the ground, Cain’s difficulty in making the soil produce for him was a constant reminder that he had murdered his brother (4:8–12).

The Israelites were instructed to let the land rest every seventh year (Ex 23:10–12; Lv 25:4–5), allowing the soil to replenish nutrients used up by crops. After seven such “sabbath years,” in the 50th “jubilee year” the land reverted back to original family holdings (Lv 25:10–17). That provision not only reminded the people of God’s ultimate ownership but kept potential “land barons” from amassing huge estates.

The Mosaic law instructed the Israelites that the land’s condition would be a spiritual barometer of their relationship with God. Drought or lack of productivity was a sign that the relationship had been broken (Lv 26; Dt 28). Israel was warned that their wickedness could become so great that the Lord would evict them from his land (cf. Lv 26:37; Dt 28:64). Even if that happened, however, God would eventually restore his people so they could again be “wedded” to the land (Is 62:4).

Many passages point to a “coming age,” when the earth will be set free from its “bondage to decay,” a deliverance for which the whole creation is said to be “groaning” in anticipation (Rom 8:19–23). The Bible pictures a period of prodigious renewal of the earth’s fertility (Ez 47; Jl 3:18; Am 9:13–15; Zec 14:6–9). One day, however, “the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up” (2 Pt 3:10, rsv). Yet in the apostle John’s apocalyptic vision, he saw “a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared” (Rv 21:1, nlt).