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Bible Encyclopedias
Geography
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or considered as a systematic description of the earth, took its rise at a much later period than other sciences, probably because it is of less essential necessity to man; yet the elements of the knowledge out of which scientific geography is constructed must have existed as soon as men turned their attention to the earth on which they dwelt, and found it necessary to journey from one part of its surface to another. (See COSMOLOGY).
1. In the absence of positive statements, we have to gather the views of the Hebrews as to the form of the carth from scattered allusions, and these for the most part in the poetical books, where it is difficult to decide how far the language is to be regarded as literal, and bow far as metaphorical. There seem to be traces of the same ideas as prevailed among the Greeks, that the world was a disk (Isaiah 40:22; the word חוּג, circle, is applied exclusively to the circle of the horizon, whether bounded by earth, sea, or sky), bordered by the ocean (Deuteronomy 30:13; Job 26:10; Psalms 139:9; Proverbs 8:27), with Jerusalem as its center (Ezekiel 5:5), which was thus regarded, like Delphi, as the navel (טִבּוּר; Judges 9:37; Ezekiel 38:12), or, according to another view (Gesenius, Thesaus. s.v.), the highest point of the world. The passages quoted in support of this view admit of a different interpretation; Jerusalem might be regarded as the center of the world, not only as the seat of religious light and truth, but to a certain extent in a geographical sense; for Palestine was situated between the important empires of Assyria and Egypt; and not only between them, but alcove them, its elevation above the plains on either side contributing to the appearance of its centrality. A different view has been gathered from the expression "four-corners" (כְּנָפוֹת, generally applied to the skirts of a garment), as though implying the quadrangular shape of a garment stretched out, according to Eratosthenes's comparison; but the term "corners" may be applied in a metaphorical sense for the extreme ends of the world (Job 37:3; Job 38:13; Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 24:16; Ezekiel 7:2). Finally, it is suggested by Bä hr (Symbolik, 1:170) that these two views may have been held together, the former as the actual and the latter as the symbolical representation of the earth's form. (See EARTH).
In the account of creation mention is made of a spot called Eden, out of which a river, after watering Paradise, ran, and "from thence it was parted, and became into four heads" (fountains), which sent forth as many rivers — Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, Phrat or Euphrates. (See EDEN). Josephus, on this point, says (Ant. 1:2), "The garden was watered by one river which ran round about the whole earth and was parted into four parts." The idea here presented is that of a vast circular plain (the earth), with water, a river, or the sea (ὠκεανός in Homer, 11. 21:196) encircling it, from which encircling body of water ran the said four rivers. Such, whether derived from the Hebrew Scriptures or not, was the earliest conception entertained of the earth. That some such idea was entertained among the Hebrews, even at a later period, appears from the words found in Psalms 24:2 : "He hath founded it (the earth) upon the seas, and established it upon the floods" (see also Proverbs 8:27); though Job 26:7, "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing" (compare Job 37:4; Job 37:6), would seem to intimate that the writer of that book entertained superior notions on the point. That, however, the general idea was that the earth; formed an immense disk ("the circle of the earth"), above which were the substantial and firmly-fixed heavens, the abode of God, while the earth beneath was his footstool, appears from the general phraseology employed in the sacred books, and may be found specially exhibited or implied in the following passages: Isaiah 40:21 sq.; Job 37:18; Psalms 102:25. (See ASTRONOMY).
As to the size of the earth, the Hebrews had but a very indefinite notion; in many passages the "earth," or "whole earth," is used as co-extensive with the Babylonian (Isaiah 13:5; Isaiah 14:7 sq.; Isaiah 24:17) or Assyrian empires (Isaiah 10:14; Isaiah 14:26; Isaiah 37:18), just as at a later period the Roman empire was styled orbis terrarum; the "ends of the earth" (קְצוֹת ) in the language of prophecy was applied to the nations on the border of these kingdoms, especially the Medes (Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 13:5) in the east, and the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean in the west (Isaiah 41:5; Isaiah 41:9); but occasionally the boundary was contracted in this latter direction to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean (Isaiah 24:16; Zechariah 9:10; Psalms 72:8). Without unduly pressing the language of prophecy, it may be said that the views of the Hebrews as to the size of the earth extended but little beyond the nations with which they came in contact; its solidity is frequently noticed, its dimensions but seldom (Job 38:18; Isaiah 42:5). The world in this sense was sometimes described by the poetical term tebel (תֵּבֵל ), corresponding to the Greek οἰκουμένη (Isaiah 14:21).
The earth was divided into four quarters or regions corresponding to the four points of the compass; these were described in various ways, sometimes according to their positions relatively to a person facing the east, before (קֶרֶם ), behind (אָחוֹר ), the right hand (יָמַין ), and the left hand (שְׂמאֹל ), representing respectively E.,W.,S., and N. (Job 23:8-9); sometimes relatively to the sun's course, the rising (מַזְרָח ), the setting (מָבוֹא, Psalms 1:1), the brilliant quarter (רָּרוֹם, Ezekiel 40:24), and the dark quarter (צָפוֹז, Exodus 26:20; comp. the Greek ζόφος, Hom. II. 12:240); sometimes as the seat of the four winds (Ezekiel 37:9); and sometimes according to the physical characteristics, the sea (יָם ) for the W. (Genesis 28:14), the parched (נֶגֶב ) for the S. (Exodus 27:9), and the mountains (הָרַים ) for the N. (Isaiah 13:4). The north appears to have been regarded as the highest part of the earth's surface, in consequence, perhaps, of the mountain ranges which existed there, and thus the heaviest part of the earth (Job 26:7). The north was also the quarter in which the Hebrew El-Dorado lay, the land of gold mines (Job 37:22, margin; comp. Herod. 3:116).
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