Earthen [oarpa.Kivo'i, fr. ScrrpaAcoi' = ' burnt clay,' or anything made therefrom). — The Gr. word occurs twice in the NT, but in EV is only once translated 'earthen.' In 2 Ti 2-" the rendering is 'of earth,' and the reference is simply to the material of the earthen vessels in contrast with those of gold and silver and wood. In 2 Co 4'', where ' earthen ' is used, there appears to be a suggestion not only of the meanness of the earthen vessels in contrast with the preciousness of the treasure they con- tain, but of their frailty in contrast with the ex- ceeding greatness of the Divine power of God who uses them as His instruments.
Earthy (xo''^o5, ' made of earth,' fr. xoi'J = * earth,' 'dust,' by which in the LXX -i^'j, is rendered in Gn 2'', etc. ; though in other passages 777 is frequently employed for the same purpose, just as it is by St. Paul in 1 Co lo'"). — The only occurrence of the word is in 1 Co 15*^- ^ •"*, where Adam is called 'earthy,' i.e. consisting of earth-material, in con- trast with Christ, the 'heavenly,' i.e. of heavenly origin. The meaning of ' earthy ' here is thus sug- gested by (7) above as well as by (1).
Earthly {iiriyei.os, 'upon the earth,' 'terrestrial,' 2 Co 5', Ph 318, Ja 3'5).— Outside of the Fourth Gospel ' earthly ' occurs only 3 times in the NT, but e7ri7«os is found also in 1 Co 15*", where EV renders ' terrestrial,' and Ph 2'", where EV gives ' things on earth.' In all these passages there is a contrast of the earthly with the heavenly. In 1 Co Xh'^, 2 Co 5^ the contrast is that suggested under (7). In Ph 3'8, Ja 3'^ it is that suggested under (9). In Ph 2^", while 'things on earth' are contrasted with 'things in heaven,' the meaning of i-rrlyeLos itself is that suggested by (5), the ' things on earth ' being the inhabitants of the whole world ; and there is a further contrast with the ' things under the earth,' the inhabitants of the under world (cf. (8)). J. C. Lambert.
EARTHQUAKE (o-ettr/wj, from o-et'w, ' to shake '). — In the ancient East all abnormal phenomena were regarded as supernatural, and any attempt to explain them by secondaiy causes was dis- couraged as savouring of irreverent prying into hidden things. Being at once so mysterious and so terrible, earthquakes and volcanoes were traced to the direct activity of One ' who looketh upon the earth and it trembleth ; he toucheth the mountains and they smoke ' (Ps 104^-). Minor tremors were not, indeed, always interpreted as signs of the Divine displeasure ; sometimes quite the contrary. When a company of disciples were praising God and praying after the release of St. Peter and St. John from prison, the shaking of the room was regarded as a token that the Lord Himself was at hand to defend His cause. But
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more severe shocks were always apt to cause a panic fear, which was naturally greatest in the breasts of those who were conscious of guilt. When St. Paul and Silas were praying and singing in a Philippian gaol, the place was shaken by an earthquake violent enough to open the doors and loose every man's bands (Ramsay's explanations [Si. Paul, 1895, p. 221] are interesting) ; but terror prevented the prisoners from seizing the oppor- tunity of escaping, and the chance was past before they had recovered their Avits.
Earthquakes play a great r6Ie in prophetic and apocalyptic literature. God's last self-manifesta- tion, like the first at Sinai, is to be in an earth- quake, and His voice will make not only the earth but also the heaven tremble. While the things that are shaken will be removed, those that are unshaken (rd /irj <Ta.\ev6iJ.eva) will remain, the tem- poral giving place to the eternal (He \<2r^-^^; cf. Hag 28'-), When the sixth seal of the Book of Destiny is opened, there is a great earthquake (Rev 6'^). When the censer filled with fire is cast upon the earth, there follow thunders and an earthquake (8®). In another earthquake the tenth part of a great city falls (probably Jerusalem is meant, though some think of Rome) and 7000 persons are killed (11"). When the last bowl is poured upon the air, the greatest earthquake ever felt cleaves Jerusalem into three parts, and en- tirely destroys the pagan cities (16'^*').
The writer of the Revelation may himself have experienced many earthquakes, and at any rate he could not but be familiar with reports of such visitations, for in Asia Minor they were frequent and disastrous. In a.d. 17 ' twelve populous cities of Asia' — among them Sardis and Philadelphia — ' fell in ruins from an earthquake which happened by night ' (Tac. Ann. ii. 47). In A.D. 60 ' Laodicea, one of the famous cities of Asia,' was ' prosti'ated by an earthquake' {ib. xiv. 27). Palestine and Syria were very liable to similar disturbances ; regard- ing earthquakes in Jerusalem see G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, 1907-08, i. 61 ft".
The religious impression made by earthquakes in pre-scientific ages was profound (see e.g. Mt 27"^). They were regarded as judgments or warnings, it might be as signs of the approaching end of the world, ' the beginning of travail ' (Lk 138=Mt 24^). Even Pliny, the ardent student of Nature, asserts that they are invariably precursors of calamity (HN ii. 81-86). The just man of the Stoics was undismayed by them : ' si fractus illabatur orbis, impavidum ferient ruinae' (Hor. Car. III. iii, 7f.). Jesus assured His disciples that amid all the 'Mes- sianic woes' not a hair of their head should perish (Lk21'8).