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אֶרֶץ

𐤀𐤓𐤑

ʼerets

H776 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Physical ground, earth, or land; refers to soil or terrain, as well as to a specific territory, region, or country. In broader contexts, can denote the inhabited world or the entirety of the earth, in contrast to the heavens. Semantic range includes the literal earth’s surface, a portion of the earth as a land or country (often with reference to named territories, such as the land of Egypt or the land of Canaan), and, in more abstract senses, the general concept of the earth as the habitation or realm of humanity.

Semantic Range

earth (planet), land (as territory or country), region, ground, soil, dry land (in contrast to sea), inhabited world, field, area under control or possession, world as opposed to heavens

Root / Etymology

Root/Etymology: Root: ארץ (ʼ-r-ts). The precise verbal form is not attested in extant Hebrew; tradition and comparative Semitics suggest a root meaning related to 'firmness, solidity,' but this remains uncertain and many modern lexicons note the root as unused. The noun אֶרֶץ developed to mean both the earth (as ground or planet) and a specific land or territory.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, אֶרֶץ refers diversely to the general earth (e.g., Gen 1:1 'the earth and the heavens'), to particular territories ('land of Egypt'), to a region or country inhabited by a people group, or more broadly as the entire realm opposed to the heavenly domain. The distinction between ׳erets (land/earth) and related terms such as אֲדָמָה (adamah, soil, cultivated ground) is noteworthy: while אֲדָמָה stresses the arable, life-giving soil and has particular theological associations with the human (adam) formed from dust, אֶרֶץ emphasizes spatial extent, geography, and, often, political or cultural boundaries. In later biblical periods (especially post-exilic), אֶרֶץ could also function somewhat abstractly, as in the phrase אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל (the land of Israel), which begins to carry connotations of collective homeland. English translations may render אֶרֶץ as 'earth,' 'land,' 'country,' or occasionally 'ground' or 'world,' depending on context; no single English term captures the full semantic range. In poetic and prophetic literature, it may carry cosmological or eschatological overtones.

Translation Consistency

primary "land" 1928 occurrences

'Land' is the most natural, common rendering of אֶרֶץ in biblical contexts (covers territory, country, region, and ground) and is by far the most frequent choice in existing P2 renderings. It fits the typical usage (the land of Canaan, the land/ground, lands) while still allowing broader senses (the inhabited world) to be expressed contextually. Using 'land' maximizes consistency and natural English.

Alternatives (577 occurrences):
"earth" (492x) "ground" (45x) "earthward" (28x) "land-of" (9x) "like the ground" (1x) "than earth" (1x) "than the earth" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land); [idiom] common, country, earth, field, ground, land, [idiom] natins, way, [phrase] wilderness, world.

Bantu Hebrew

Language Bantu Word Transliteration Meaning
Yoruba Ayé the world, the earth

Root Family

ארץ (ʾ-r-ts) — firmness, solidity, ground, land

Root ארץ to be firm, to be solid (root-level; uncertain)
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H777 אַרְצָא Artsa

Word Forms

62 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H776-26 הָ/אָֽרֶץ haarets HTd/Ncbsa the land the earth the land 935
H776-24 אֶ֔רֶץ erets HNcbsa land land land 379
H776-23 בְּ/אֶֽרֶץ beerets HR/Ncbsc in the land in land in land 229
H776-41 מֵ/אֶ֥רֶץ meerets HR/Ncbsc from the land from land from land 158
H776-13 בָּ/אָֽרֶץ baarets HRd/Ncbsa in the land in the land in the land 155
H776-02 אָֽרֶץ arets HNcbsa earth land land 110
H776-03 אַ֣רְצָ/ה aretsah HNcbsc/Sd to the ground earthward to the land 93
H776-31 לָ/אָ֔רֶץ laarets HRd/Ncbsa to the ground to the land to the land 51
H776-25 הָֽ/אֲרָצֹ֣ת haaratsot HTd/Ncbpa the lands the lands the lands 47
H776-54 בָ/אָ֔רֶץ vaarets HRd/Ncbsa in the land in the land in the land 45

Occurrences in Scripture

2505 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H776-26 Genesis 1:1 הָ/אָֽרֶץ haarets HTd/Ncbsa the earth the earth the earth
H776-61 Genesis 1:2 וְ/הָ/אָ֗רֶץ vehaarets HC/Td/Ncbsa and the earth and the earth and the earth
H776-24 Genesis 1:10 אֶ֔רֶץ erets HNcbsa Earth land land
H776-26 Genesis 1:11 הָ/אָ֨רֶץ֙ haarets HTd/Ncbsa the earth the earth the earth
H776-26 Genesis 1:11 הָ/אָ֑רֶץ haarets-2 HTd/Ncbsa the earth the earth the earth
H776-26 Genesis 1:12 הָ/אָ֜רֶץ haarets HTd/Ncbsa the earth the earth the earth
H776-26 Genesis 1:15 הָ/אָ֑רֶץ haarets HTd/Ncbsa the earth the earth the earth
H776-26 Genesis 1:17 הָ/אָֽרֶץ haarets HTd/Ncbsa the earth the earth the earth
H776-26 Genesis 1:20 הָ/אָ֔רֶץ haarets HTd/Ncbsa the earth the earth the earth
H776-13 Genesis 1:22 בָּ/אָֽרֶץ baarets HRd/Ncbsa on the earth in the land in the land
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