Jump to: Nave's • ISBE • Webster's • Concordance • Thesaurus • Greek • Hebrew • Library • Subtopics • Terms Topical Encyclopedia In the Bible, the concept of "land" holds significant theological, historical, and symbolic importance. It is not merely a geographical term but is deeply intertwined with God's promises, covenants, and the unfolding of His divine plan.Creation and Ownership The Bible begins with the creation of the earth, establishing God's ultimate ownership of all land. Genesis 1:9-10 states, "And God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.' And it was so. God called the dry land 'earth,' and the gathering of waters He called 'seas.' And God saw that it was good." This passage underscores the divine origin and inherent goodness of the land. The Promised Land One of the most significant themes related to land in the Bible is the Promised Land, a central element of God's covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 12:1-3 , God calls Abram to leave his country and promises, "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." The land of Canaan is later specified as the inheritance for Abraham's descendants (Genesis 15:18-21). The promise of land is reiterated to Isaac and Jacob, emphasizing its role in God's covenantal relationship with the patriarchs. The land is not only a physical inheritance but also a place where God's people are to live in obedience and worship. The Exodus and Conquest The narrative of the Exodus is a pivotal moment in the history of Israel, where God delivers His people from slavery in Egypt to bring them into the Promised Land. The journey through the wilderness and the eventual conquest of Canaan under Joshua's leadership are seen as the fulfillment of God's promise. In Joshua 1:3 , God assures Joshua, "I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses." Land as a Blessing and Responsibility The land is often depicted as a blessing from God, contingent upon the obedience of His people. Deuteronomy 28 outlines the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience, with the land playing a central role in both. The Israelites are called to steward the land according to God's laws, ensuring justice, rest, and care for the poor and the stranger (Leviticus 25:23-24). Exile and Restoration The loss of the land through exile is a significant theme in the prophetic literature. The Babylonian exile is portrayed as a consequence of Israel's unfaithfulness. However, the prophets also speak of a future restoration, where God will bring His people back to the land. Jeremiah 29:14 promises, "I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you." Eschatological Significance In the New Testament, the concept of land takes on an eschatological dimension. While the physical land of Israel remains significant, the focus shifts to a heavenly inheritance. Hebrews 11:16 speaks of the patriarchs desiring "a better country, a heavenly one." This reflects the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises in the new heavens and new earth, where believers will dwell eternally with God. Symbolism and Spiritual Lessons Throughout Scripture, land serves as a symbol of God's provision, faithfulness, and the spiritual journey of His people. It represents both a physical place of dwelling and a spiritual state of rest and blessing. The land is a reminder of God's sovereignty and the call to live in accordance with His will, reflecting His glory to the nations. Nave's Topical Index Ezekiel 47:22And it shall come to pass, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be to you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. Nave's Topical Index Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1. (n.) Urine. See Lant.2. (n.) The solid part of the surface of the earth; -- opposed to water as constituting a part of such surface, especially to oceans and seas; as, to sight land after a long voyage. 3. (n.) Any portion, large or small, of the surface of the earth, considered by itself, or as belonging to an individual or a people, as a country, estate, farm, or tract. 4. (n.) Ground, in respect to its nature or quality; soil; as, wet land; good or bad land. 5. (n.) The inhabitants of a nation or people. 6. (n.) The mainland, in distinction from islands. 7. (n.) The ground or floor. 8. (n.) The ground left unplowed between furrows; any one of several portions into which a field is divided for convenience in plowing. 9. (n.) Any ground, soil, or earth whatsoever, as meadows, pastures, woods, etc., and everything annexed to it, whether by nature, as trees, water, etc., or by the hand of man, as buildings, fences, etc.; real estate. 10. (n.) The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; -- called also landing. 11. (n.) In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, as the level part of a millstone between the furrows, or the surface of the bore of a rifled gun between the grooves. 12. (v. t.) To set or put on shore from a ship or other water craft; to disembark; to debark. 13. (v. t.) To catch and bring to shore; to capture; as, to land a fish. 14. (v. t.) To set down after conveying; to cause to fall, alight, or reach; to bring to the end of a course; as, he landed the quoit near the stake; to be thrown from a horse and landed in the mud; to land one in difficulties or mistakes. 15. (v. i.) To go on shore from a ship or boat; to disembark; to come to the end of a course. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia GENNESARET, LAND OFge-nes'-a-ret he ge Gennesaret): LAND ((1) 'erets; MORIAH, LAND OF mo-ri'-a ('erec ha-moriyah; eis ten genitive ten hupselen): Abraham was directed by God to take his son Isaac, to go into the land of Moriah, and there to offer him for a burnt offering (Genesis 22:2) upon a mountain which God would show him. This land is mentioned only here, and there is little to guide us in trying to identify it. A late writer (2 Chronicles 3:1) applies the name of Moriah to the mount on which Solomon's Temple was built, possibly associating it with the sacrifice of Isaac. A similar association with this mountain may have been in the mind of the writer of Genesis 22 (see 22:14), who, of course, wrote long after the events described (Driver). But in 22:2 no special mountain is indicated. SHAALIM, LAND OF sha'-a-lim ('erets sha`alim; Codex Vaticanus tes ges Easakem; Codex Alexandrinus tes ges Saaleim; the King James Version Shalim): Saul in search of his father's asses passed through Mt. Ephraim and the land of Shalishah, then through the land of Shaalim and the land of yemini. This last name English Versions of the Bible renders "Benjamin" (1 Samuel 9:4). The whole passage is so obscure that no certain conclusions can be reached. The search party may have proceeded northward from Gibeah, through the uplands of Ephraim, turning then westward, then southward, and finally eastward. We should thus look for the land of Shalishah and the land of Shaalim on the west side of the mountain range: and the latter may have been on the slopes to the East of Lydda. Possibly we ought here to read "Shaalbim," instead of "Shaalim." SHALISHAH, LAND OF sha-li'-sha, shal'-i-sha ('erets shalishah; Codex Vaticanus he ge Selcha; Codex Alexandrinus he ge Salissa): If the general indication of the route followed by Saul, given under SHAALIM, is correct, the land of Shalishah (1 Samuel 9:4) will lie to the Northeast of Lydda on the western slope of the range. Baal-shalishah would most likely be in the district, and may indeed have given its name to it. If Conder is right in identifying this city with Khirbet Kefr Thilth, about 19 miles Northeast of Jaffa, it meets well enough the general indication given above. Eusebius, Onomasticon knows the name, but gives no guidance as to where the district is. Baal-shalishah it places in the Thamnite region, 15 miles North of Diospolis (Lydda). No boundaries can be laid down, but probability points to this neighborhood. SHUAL, LAND OF ('erets shu`al; he Sogal): From their encampment at Michmash the Philistines sent out marauding bands, one going westward toward Beth-horon, another eastward, "the way of the border that looketh down upon the valley of Zeboim." The pass to the South was held against them by Israel. The third party therefore went northward, turning "unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual" (1 Samuel 13:17 f). Ophrah is probably identical with et-taiyibeh, a village which lies some 5 miles East of Beitin (Bethel). It is in this district therefore that the land of Shual must be sought, but no definite identification is possible. SINIM, LAND OF si'-nim, sin'-im ('erets cinim; ge Person): The name occurs in Isaiah's prophecy of the return of the people from distant lands: "Lo, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim" (Isaiah 49:12). The land is clearly far off, and it must be sought either in the South or in the East. Septuagint points to an eastern country. Many scholars have favored identification with China, the classical Sinae. It seems improbable that Jews had already found their way to China; but from very early times trade relations were established with the Far East by way of Arabia and the Persian Gulf; and the name may have been used by the prophet simply as suggesting extreme remoteness. Against, this view are Dillmann (Commentary on Isaiah), Duhm, Cheyne and others. Some have suggested places in the South: e.g. Sin (Pelusium, Ezekiel 30:15) and Syene (Cheyne, Introduction to Isaiah, 275). But these seem to be too near. In harmony with his reconstruction of Biblical history, Cheyne finally concludes that the reference here is to the return from a captivity in North Arabia (EB, under the word). While no certain decision is possible, probability points to the East, and China cannot be quite ruled out. See article "China," Encyclopedia Brittanica (11th edition), 188b. TOB, THE LAND OF tob, tob ('erets Tobh, "a good land"; ge Tob): Hither Jephthah escaped from his brethren after his father's death (Judges 11:3), and perfected himself in the art of war, making forays with "the vain fellows" who joined him. Here the elders of Gilead found him, when, reduced to dire straits by the children of Ammon, they desired him to take command of their army (Jsg 11:5;). This country contributed 12,000 men to the forces of the allies, who with the Ammonites were defeated by Israel (2 Samuel 10:8). In 1 Maccabees 5:13 we read of the land of Tubins where the Jews, about 1,000 men, were slain by the Gentiles, their wives and children being carried into captivity. The Tubieni, "men of Tobit" of 2 Maccabees 12:17, were probably from this place. Ptolemy (v.19) speaks of Thauba, a place to the Southwest of Zobah, which may possibly be Tobit. The Talmud (Neubauer, Geog. du Talmud, 239) identifies the land of Tobit with the district of Hippene. Tobit would then be represented by Hippos, modern Susiyeh, to the Southwest of Fiq on the plateau East of the Sea of Galilee. Perhaps the most likely identification is that supported by G. A. Smith (HGHL, 587), with eT-Taiyibeh, 10 miles South of Umm Qeis (Gadara). The name is the same in meaning as Tobit. CROCODILE, LAND See CHAMELEON. LAND LAWS See AGRARIAN LAWS. Greek 5561. chora -- a space, place, land ... a space, place, land. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: chora Phonetic Spelling: (kho'-rah) Short Definition: region, land, fields Definition: (a ... //strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5561.htm - 7k 1093. ge -- the earth, land 3978. pezeuo -- to travel on foot or by land 125. Aiguptos -- Egypt, the land of the Nile 3979b. pezos -- on foot, by land. 3979a. peze -- on foot, by land 2474. Israel -- Israel, the name of the Jewish people and their ... 3979. peze -- on foot, by land 3625. oikoumene -- the inhabited earth 68. agros -- a field, the country Strong's Hebrew 776. erets -- earth, land... 775, 776. erets. 777 . earth, land. Transliteration: erets Phonetic Spelling: (eh'-rets) Short Definition: land. Word Origin a prim. ... /hebrew/776.htm - 6k 3004. yabbashah -- dry land, dry ground 127. adamah -- ground, land 6707. tsechichah -- scorched land 7704. sadeh -- field, land 3006. yabbesheth -- dry land, dry ground 4054. migrash -- a common, common land, open land 4031. Magog -- perhaps "land of Gog," a son of Japheth, also his ... 3759. karmel -- a plantation, garden land, fruit, garden growth 4074. Maday -- a son of Japheth, also his desc. and their land Library Hymns from the Land of Luther Adventures in the Land of Canaan The Land of Promise The Land of Dreams Entangled in the Land The Quiet Land He Division of the Land. The Land of Rest Emmanuel's Land Approaching Land. Thesaurus Land (19790 Occurrences)... solid part of the surface of the earth; -- opposed to water as constituting a part of such surface, especially to oceans and seas; as, to sight land after a ... /l/land.htm - 21k Grass-land (9 Occurrences) Sea-land (5 Occurrences) Table-land (8 Occurrences) Land-crocodile (1 Occurrence) South-land (2 Occurrences) Coast-land (3 Occurrences) Mountain-land (2 Occurrences) Spied (14 Occurrences) Sojourned (20 Occurrences) Resources Why is Israel called the Holy Land? | GotQuestions.orgWhy was Abraham promised land that belonged to others (Genesis 12)? | GotQuestions.org What is the significance of the land of Canaan in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org Land: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus Concordance Land (19790 Occurrences)Land is used 19790 times in 12 translations. You can narrow your search using the Advanced Bible Search. Subtopics Continents: General Scriptures Concerning Land: Appeared on the Third Creative Day Land: Conveyance of, by Written Deeds and Other Forms Land: Original Title To, from God Land: Sale and Redemption of, Laws Concerning Land: To Rest Every Seventh Year for the Benefit of the Poor People Land: Unmarried Woman's Rights In Related Terms |