Bible Dictionary: Features

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

NATURAL FEATURES

fe'-turz: As has been pointed out by various authors (compare HGHL), the principal physical features of Palestine run in North and South lines, or rather about from South-Southwest to North-Northeast.

The lowland or Shephelah (the King James Version "vale, valley, plain, or low country") includes the maritime plain and the western foothills.

The hill country consists of the mountains of Judea, and its features are continued northward to the plain of Esdraelon and southward to the Sinaitic peninsula. It is rocky and has very little water. Except for the few fountains, the scanty population depends upon rain water collected during the winter months.

The Arabah (Revised Version) includes the Jordan valley from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, as well as the depression running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah. It is to the latter depression that the name Wady-ul-`Arabah is now applied by the Arabs. It is bounded on the East by Mt. Seir or Edom, and on the West by the mountains of the Sinaitic peninsula. Its highest point, about halfway between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akabah, is a few hundred ft. higher than the level of the Mediterranean, but nearly 2,000 ft. above the level of the Dead Sea. From this point the valley slopes southward to the Gulf of Akabah, and northward to the Dead Sea. The lower Jordan valley slopes from about 600 ft. below ocean-level at the Sea of Galilee to about 1,300 ft. below ocean-level at the Dead Sea.

To the East are the highlands of Gilead and Moab rising abruptly from the valley, as does the hill country of Judea on the West. The country to the East of the Jordan-Dead Sea-Arabah depression, to the whole of which the name Ghaur (Ghor) is applied by the Arabs, is a great table-land sloping gradually to the East from the sharp edge which overlooks the Ghaur. It has no conspicuous peaks. What appear to be peaks when viewed from the Ghaur are irregularities of its western contour, which are invisible or appear as slight mounds to the observer who looks westward from any point some miles to the East Mt. Nebo, for instance, when seen from Medeba is not readily distinguishable. This is because it really does not rise above the general level of the table-land. The small annual rainfall on the heights near the Ghaur diminishes eastward, and the desert begins within from 20 to 40 miles.

Another term much used by Old Testament writers is South or Negeb, which embraces the southernmost portion of the promised land, and was never effectively occupied by the Israelites. Its uttermost boundary was the "river of Egypt" (al-`Arish), and coincides roughly with the present boundary between the Ottoman territory on the East and the Anglo-Egyptian territory of Sinai on the West.

The term slopes, 'ashedhoth, the King James Version "springs," occurs in Joshua 10:40, "So Joshua smote all the land, the hill country.... and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings"; and again in Joshua 12:7, 8, "And Joshua gave it.... for a possession according to their divisions; in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South." In the former passage, it seems to refer to the foothills which form the eastern or higher part of the lowland or Shephelah. In the latter passage, it might mean the same, or it might mean the descent from the Judean hills to the Ghaur. In Deuteronomy 3:17; Deuteronomy 4:49 Joshua 12:3; Joshua 13:20, we have "the slopes of Pisgah" ('ashdoth-ha-pisgah, "springs of Pisgah"), which denotes the descent from the heights of Moab to the Ghaur. The same word occurs in the sing in Numbers 21:15, referring to the descent to the Arnon. "Slopes," therefore, does not seem to be a term applied to any particular region.

The wilderness is usually the desert of the wandering, including the central part of the Sinaitic peninsula, but it is by no means always used in this sense,. e.g. Joshua 8:15, 20, 24, where it clearly refers to a region near Ai. "The wilderness" of Matthew 4:1 is thought to be the barren portion of Judea between Jerusalem and the Jordan.

See CHAMPAIGN; COUNTRY; DESERT; EAST; HILL; LOWLAND; SOUTH.

Alfred Ely Day

Greek

3799. opsis -- the act of seeing, the sense of sight
... the sense of sight. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: opsis Phonetic
Spelling: (op'-sis) Short Definition: the features, outward appearance ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3799.htm - 6k

Library

Other Capricious Features in the System the Æons Unequal in ...
... Chapter IX."Other Capricious Features in the System The Æons Unequal in Attributes.
The Superiority of Nus; The Vagaries of Sophia Restrained by Horos. ...
/.../tertullian/against the valentinians/chapter ix other capricious features in.htm

Sundry Features of the Prophetic Style: Principles of Its ...
... Wherein Christ is shown to be the Son of God, Who created the world Chapter V."Sundry
Features of the Prophetic Style: Principles of Its Interpretation. ...
/.../tertullian/the five books against marcion/chapter v sundry features of the.htm

Positive Features of John's Gospel.
... II. Positive Features of John's Gospel. 1. The Titles of Christ are very
significant Only here (in the four Gospels) is the Lord ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/pink/why four gospels/ii positive features of johns.htm

Christ's Flesh Perfectly Natural, Like Our Own None of the ...
... Chapter IX."Christ's Flesh Perfectly Natural, Like Our Own None of the Supernatural
Features Which the Heretics Ascribed to It Discoverable, on a Careful View ...
/.../ on the flesh of christ/chapter ix christs flesh perfectly natural.htm

Achamoth in Love with the Angels a Protest against the Lascivious ...
... Chapter XVII."Achamoth in Love with the Angels A Protest Against the Lascivious
Features of Valentinianism. Achamoth Becomes the Mother of Three Natures. ...
/.../tertullian/against the valentinians/chapter xvii achamoth in love with.htm

The Story of the Purging of the Temple Spiritualized. Taken ...
... Tenth Book. 16. The Story of the Purging of the Temple Spiritualized. Taken Literally,
It Presents Some Very Difficult and Unlikely Features. ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of john/16 the story of the.htm

The Ass and the Colt are the Old and the New Testament. Spiritual ...
... Tenth Book. 18. The Ass and the Colt are the Old and the New Testament.
Spiritual Meaning of the Various Features of the Story. ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of john/18 the ass and the.htm

Image and Likeness.
... According to the universal significance of the word, a person's image is such a
concentration of his essential features as to make it the very impress of his ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/iv image and likeness.htm

Sin a Power in Reversed Action.
... Our nature did not disappear, nor cease to be our nature, but in its orignal features
and organs it remained the same; the divine image was not lost, not even ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/xiii sin a power in.htm

And Whence, Finally, do You Know Whether all These Images which ...
... For it is not right to call or name that an image which does not derive from the
face of the original features like it; which [4629] can be recognised to be ...
/.../the seven books of arnobius against the heathen/10 and whence finally do.htm

Thesaurus

Features (3 Occurrences)
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia NATURAL FEATURES. ... Alfred Ely Day. Multi-Version
Concordance Features (3 Occurrences). 1 Samuel 16:12 He sent, and brought him in ...
/f/features.htm - 12k

Pharaoh (245 Occurrences)
... When this mummy was unwound "once more, after an interval of thirty-six centuries,
human eyes gazed on the features of the man who had conquered Syria and ...
/p/pharaoh.htm - 60k

Type (12 Occurrences)
... Standard Bible Encyclopedia. TYPE. tip: 1. Definition of Type 2. Distinctive Features
3. Classification of Types 4. How Much of the Old Testament Is Typical? ...
/t/type.htm - 23k

Demonology
... Testament demonology "is in all its broad characteristics the demonology of the
contemporary Judaism stripped of its cruder and exaggerated features." How much ...
/d/demonology.htm - 24k

Demoniac (7 Occurrences)
... Testament demonology "is in all its broad characteristics the demonology of the
contemporary Judaism stripped of its cruder and exaggerated features." How much ...
/d/demoniac.htm - 26k

Parable (52 Occurrences)
... The fourth Gospel contains no parable properly so called, although the illustration
of the good shepherd (John 10:1-16) has all the essential features of a ...
/p/parable.htm - 38k

Demon (26 Occurrences)
... Testament demonology "is in all its broad characteristics the demonology of the
contemporary Judaism stripped of its cruder and exaggerated features." How much ...
/d/demon.htm - 32k

Wood (226 Occurrences)
... southward. Those who have ridden from `Ain Jidy to Jebel Usdum will never
forget these most striking features of the landscape. ...
/w/wood.htm - 42k

Territory (140 Occurrences)
... These districts are differentiated to some extent by distinctive physical features
which have in no small degree influenced the history of their inhabitants. ...
/t/territory.htm - 56k

Edomites (22 Occurrences)
... is impossible to say. 2. Character and Features: The land thus indicated
varies greatly in character and features. South of the ...
/e/edomites.htm - 23k

Bible Concordance

Features (3 Occurrences)

1 Samuel 16:12 He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. Yahweh said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he."
(See NIV)

Esther 2:7 He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.
(See NIV)

Job 38:14 It is changed as clay under the seal, and stands forth as a garment.
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Features

Related Terms

Pharaoh (245 Occurrences)

Type (12 Occurrences)

Demonology

Demoniac (7 Occurrences)

Parable (52 Occurrences)

Demon (26 Occurrences)

Wood (226 Occurrences)

Territory (140 Occurrences)