International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Multi-Version Concordance

COUNTRY

kun'-tri ('erets, "land," sadheh, "field"; agros, "field," chora, "region"): The foregoing are the principal words rendered "country" in English Versions of the Bible, though we find also 'adhamah, "earth" (Jonah 4:2); 'i, "island" (Jeremiah 47:4 the King James Version); gelilah, "circuit" (Ezekiel 47:8 the King James Version); chebhel, "rope" (Deuteronomy 3:14); maqom, "place" (Genesis 29:26 the King James Version); nepheth,"hill" or "height" (Joshua 17:11 the King James Version); genos, "race" (Acts 4:36 the King James Version); ge, "earth" (Matthew 9:31 the King James Version; Acts 7:3 the King James Version); patris, "native land" (Luke 4:23 John 4:44 Hebrews 11:14); perichoros, "country (the American Standard Revised Version "region") round about" (Matthew 14:35 Luke 3:3; Luke 4:37; Luke 8:37). In Hebrews 11:14, "heaven" is referred to as a country. Egypt and Assyria were "far countries" (Jeremiah 8:19 the King James Version; Zechariah 10:9). The hill country (compare the numerous Gibeahs (gibh`ah, "a hill")) was the mountainous region to the North or to the South of Jerusalem. The low country, shephelah (see SHEPHELAH), consisted of the foothills to the west of the hill country. The south country or NEGEB (neghebh), which see, was the dry, extreme southern part of Palestine, approximately between Beersheba and Kadesh-barnea.

Alfred Ely Day

EAST COUNTRY

kun'-tri ('erets mizrach):

Lit. "country of the sunrise" over against the "country of the sunset" (Zechariah 8:7). The two together form a poetical expression indicating the whole earth.

HILL, HILL COUNTRY

hil'-kun-tri: The common translation of three Hebrew words:

(1) gibh`ah, from root meaning "to be curved," is almost always translated "hill"; it is a pecuIiarly appropriate designation for the very rounded hills of Palestine; it is never used for a range of mountains. Several times it occurs as a place-name, "Gibeah of Judah" (Joshua 15:20, 57); "Gibeah of Benjamin" or "Saul" (Judges 19:12-16, etc.); "Gibeah of Phinehas" (Joshua 24:33 margin), etc. (see GIBEAH). Many such hills were used for idolatrous rites (1 Kings 14:23 2 Kings 17:10 Jeremiah 2:20, etc.).

(2) har, frequently translated in the King James Version "hill," is in the Revised Version (British and American) usually translated "mountain" (compare Genesis 7:19 Joshua 15:9; Joshua 18:15, and many other references), or "hillcountry." Thus we have the "hill-country of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy 1:7, 19, 20); the "hill-country of Gilead" (Deuteronomy 3:12); the "hill-country of Ephraim" (Joshua 17:15, 16, 18; Joshua 19:50; Joshua 20:7, etc.); the "hill-country of Judah" (Joshua 11:21; Joshua 20:7; Joshua 21:11 2 Chronicles 27:4, etc.; and (he oreine) Luke 1:39, 65); the "hill-country of Naphtali" (Joshua 20:7). For geographical descriptions see PALESTINE; COUNTRY; EPHRAIM; JUDAH, etc.

(3) `ophel, is translated by "hill" in 2 Kings 5:24 Isaiah 32:14 Micah 4:8, but may possibly mean "tower" or "fort." In other passages the word occurs with the article as a place-name.

See OPHEL.

E. W. G. Masterman

NORTH; NORTH COUNTRY

north, (tsaphon, from tsaphan, "to hide," i.e. "the hidden," "the dark" (Gesenius); borrhas, boreas (Judith 16:4); septentrio (2 Esdras 15:43)): In addition to the many places where "north" occurs merely as a point of the compass, there are several passages in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah, where it refers to a particular country, usually Assyria or Babylonia: Jeremiah 3:18, "They shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers"; Jeremiah 46:6, "In the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen"; Ezekiel 26:7, "I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north"; Zechariah 2:13, "He will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation."

While the site of Nineveh was Northeast of Jerusalem, and that of Babylon almost due East, it was not unnatural for them to be referred to as "the north," because the direct desert routes were impracticable, and the roads led first into Northern Syria and then eastward (compare however Genesis 29:1, "Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east").

In Ezekiel 38:6, we have, "Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north." It is uncertain what country is here referred to. Some have supposed Armenia (compare Genesis 10:3 1 Chronicles 1:6; Ezekiel 27:14).

The north border of the promised land, as outlined in Numbers 34:7-9 and Ezekiel 47:15-17, cannot be determined with certainty, because some of the towns named cannot be identified, but it was approximately the latitude of Mt. Hermon, not including Lebanon or Damascus. For North (mezarim) see ASTRONOMY.

Alfred Ely Day