EARTH
(a) HOLY LAND.
(See CANAAN, ISRAEL, JUDAH, and especially PALESTINE.)
(b) LAND.
There are several Hebrew terms that are translated “earth,” but they are not used to distinguish the earth as a sphere from the surface of the earth, or soil; nor to discriminate between the general surface of the earth and any part of it, or territory, or the material that constitutes it.
Thus, “adamah” generally refers to the earth as material or soil: rain falls on “the earth” (Gen. 7:4); “an altar of earth” (Ex. 20:24); man “returns to the earth” (Ps. 146:4); However, it frequently refers to “the land” of Israel: “you shall not prolong your days on the land” (Deut. 30:18); “so that you may dwell on the earth” (Deut. 30:20); “the days that you live on the earth” (Deut. 31:13); “the land that I swore to their fathers” (Deut. 31:20).
Another term, “erets,” has a broader meaning: sometimes the earth as a sphere, the terrestrial globe (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 40:22; Jb. 26:7, in particular, states: “Hangs the earth above nothing”; also in Isaiah 40:15, 25-26 the smallness of the earth compared to the army of heaven is affirmed). In other places, this same term is used of districts (cf. Gen. 10:11, 20).
In the NT, the term “gê” is used for all of the above meanings. It is used symbolically as a characteristic of man in his natural state. “He who is of the earth is earthly, and speaks earthly things” (John 3:31).
In each case, due to the broadness of each term used, the true extension must be determined by the context.