There is no single word in OT which describes the material universe, even as it was conceived by the Hebrews. The phrase ' heaven and earth' is used to convey that notion (Gn 1', Ps 89", Jer 10" 51" etc.). Both ["IN and Vsg are also distinguished from the seas or the sea (Gn 1", Ps 98").
Heaven and earth by their vastness and stability, and by the rich variety, excellence, and beauty of that which they contain (cf. the expression ' the fulness of the world' and 'of the earth,' Ps 50"* and 21' etc., as also ' the sea and its fulness,' Ps 98') ; the sea kept under firm restraint for all its raging; the sun, moon, and stars observing their regular times and seasons, were felt to be con- stant witnesses to the power and wisdom of God, of Jehovah the God of Israel, who is the Creator and ruler of all (Am 4" 5", Is 48" 51", Jer 5-" 10'= 51", Ps 19'-« 24'-'' 8. 33«» 29. 89" 93. 95*- » 104). To their testimony even the heathen might be ex- pected to pay heed (see esp. Ps 19'"). In this 8en.so even inanimate things praise God (Ps 96'"'" OS"' " 148). Moreover, His care for His creatures was recognized, as shown in the regular provision which lie hn-smade for their sustenance. He is their guardian, the source of life and hapfiine-ss to all
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l=ving things (Gn 8'^, Ps 33' 36'» 65'-" 103»- » 104=''» 147*-", Job 10'2). But He was believed, too, to manifest Himself in a special manner in the more exceptional and terrible aspects of Nature, in storm and earthquake, in drought and pestilence. Bj' means of these He had fought and was expected to light on the side of His own people against their enemies (Ex 15, Jg S^"- -', Am 9»- *, Ps 18'-" 48«- ' 68711 7g3-9 77n...o 7^ §3"-" 97'-» 105. 106'-'° 111. 114. 144*-*), or punished Judah and Israel {Am 4"-") or individuals (Ps 107) for their sins. Those proofs of His presence and operation which are regular, and those more unusual ones where there has evidently been some particular end in view, are remarkably brought together in some passages (Ps74"-ias9'«-" 136).
With the rise and development of the doctrine of Wisdom, interest in Nature was greatly stinm- lated, a more careful observation of particular facts, and even a certain kind of speculation u]ion her laws, were encouraged, but all under the guid- ance of a strongly religious spirit (Pr 8**-", Job 26'-''' 2S. 36---39.''40«-41. Corap. Wis 7"-=^, Sir 43. A similar bent may be noted in a work belonging to another class of literature, En. 72-82 and 2-5).
So far we have spoken of the imjjression made upon the minds of devout and inspired Heb. pro- phets, psalmists, and philosophers by the contem- plation of that order of which the earth forms a part. But the earth itself was specially thought of by them as the spacious dwelling-place of man- kind, divided into its many races, tribes, and king- doms. [See such expressions as ' kingdoms,' 'peoples,' 'inhabitants' of 'the earth,' or 'the world,' Gn 22'*, Jos 4«, 2 K 10"- ", Is 26»- " 37=" etc.]. Hence, further, both Sjb and yiV (■"') are used by themselves for mankind, which is capable of doing right and wrong and of knowing God, and which shall be judged by God (Gn 6", Ex 9"', Nu 14=', Gn 18-», 1 S 2'", Ps 2*, Is 38", Ps 9« 10" 33* 96'^ etc.). But when we speak of mankind in these relations we must beware of thinking primarily of a collection of responsible individuals, as from our modern habits of thought we may be apt to do. In accordance with the point of view of the OT, ' the earth ' in this use of the term must be imder- stood to mean ' the nations of the earth ' ; the judgment of nations and the homage that sliould be paid by the nations generally to the God of Israel are intended in the passages in question. ' Earth ' is also used in a sense akin to our phrase ' human society' in Ps 75' ('the foundations of the earth '=' the principles on which human society rests'; cf. Pr 30"). In the following places, how- ever, it seems to describe men as men — Jos 23'^, Is 24'*-=° 2(i'*, Jer 50« 51=°.
Tlie last-mentioned use may possibly be associ- ated with the idea of man's origin (Gn 2' and 3", Ps 146^), though it is to be remembered that in these places the words used are nijis and irj;. But at Ps 10'* the expression n^C'P ^"•■* 'mortal man from the earth ' may most naturally be explained thus. The little value of man and his transitori- ness are in this way brought home to the mind. No moral signification seems to attach to this ' earthiness ' of man. It does not implj- earthliness of aims and principles. On the oilier hand, a notion analogous to this is suggested in at least one passage (Ps 17") where another word -hn, some- times translated 'world,' in sense of tiyne (Arab. khnlada ' abide,' ' endure ') is used. [At Ps 39' 89" and Job 11" it is rendered 'age,' 'time,' 'life'; but at Ps 17" 49' and Is 38" (implying here i^n for ^-in) 'world' both in AV and KV. In the former of these passages, however, ' mortals of time ' would give a good sense]. An excessive devotion to the things of this present life, which are the things of sense, is here indicated such as to I