What the Biblical Authors Meant by the Word “Earth”.
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This session is from the BibleProject Classroom class Heaven and Earth, taught by Dr. Tim Mackie. The whole class is available totally free on the BibleProject app at http://classroom-beta.bibleproject.com/heaven-and-earth.
What did the biblical authors intend to communicate when they used the word “earth?” Genesis 1 is an ancient cosmology that utilizes particular words and images to describe the purchased world as understood by ancient people. We can discover how the authors of the Bible understood the structure of the world and its origins when we study this chapter.
In Hebrew, the word for “earth” (‘ erets) typically suggests land rather than a globe or sphere drifting in space. The raqia’ is the solid dome above the land that holds back the waters above, and the development of the raqia’ produces a place where life can flourish.
