אֶ֫רֶץ
land
‘land’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Both
- Attested as both masculine and feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
31 verses where H776 appears in the Absolute state in the Book of Judges. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Judges
- Judges 1:2 הָ/אָ֖רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs Yahweh said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
- Judges 1:27 בָּ/אָ֥רֶץ prep det + n c bs Manasseh did not drive out [the inhabitants of] Beth-shean and its towns, nor [of] Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
- Judges 1:32 הָ/אָ֑רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
- Judges 1:33 הָ/אָ֑רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs Naphtali didn't drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor.
- Judges 2:1 הָ/אָ֗רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs The angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you:
- Judges 2:2 הָ/אָ֣רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not listened to my voice: why have you done this?
- Judges 2:6 הָ/אָֽרֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.
- Judges 3:11 הָ/אָ֖רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs The land had rest forty years. Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
- Judges 3:25 אַ֖רְצָ/ה n c bs + sfx dem They waited until they were ashamed; and, behold, he didn't open the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened [them], and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
- Judges 3:30 הָ/אָ֖רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. The land had rest eighty years.
- Judges 4:21 בָּ/אָ֑רֶץ prep det + n c bs Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died.
- Judges 5:4 אֶ֣רֶץ n c bs Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir, When you marched out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the sky also dropped, Yes, the clouds dropped water.
- Judges 5:31 הָ/אָ֖רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh: But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. The land had rest forty years.
- Judges 6:4 הָ/אָ֔רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.
- Judges 6:5 בָ/אָ֖רֶץ prep det + n c bs For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.
- Judges 6:37 הָ/אָ֨רֶץ֙ ptcl def.art + n c bs behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.
- Judges 6:39 הָ/אָ֖רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs Gideon said to God, Don't let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.
- Judges 6:40 הָ/אָ֖רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
- Judges 8:28 הָ/אָ֛רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
- Judges 9:37 הָ/אָ֑רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs Gaal spoke again and said, Behold, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.
- Judges 11:21 אֶ֣רֶץ הָ/אָ֥רֶץ n c bs cs ptcl def.art + n c bs Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
- Judges 13:20 אָֽרְצָ/ה n c bs + sfx dem For it happened, when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, that the angel of Yahweh ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
- Judges 18:2 הָ/אָ֨רֶץ֙ הָ/אָ֑רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs ptcl def.art + n c bs The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land. They came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
- Judges 18:7 בָּ/אָ֨רֶץ֙ prep det + n c bs Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were therein, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put [them] to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man.
- Judges 18:9 הָ/אָ֔רֶץ הָ/אָֽרֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs ptcl def.art + n c bs They said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are you still? don't be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.
- Judges 18:10 וְ/הָ/אָ֨רֶץ֙ בָּ/אָֽרֶץ conj + ptcl def.art + n c bs prep det + n c bs When you go, you shall come to a people secure, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth.
- Judges 18:14 הָ/אָ֣רֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do.
- Judges 18:17 הָ/אָרֶץ֒ ptcl def.art + n c bs The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
- Judges 18:30 הָ/אָֽרֶץ ptcl def.art + n c bs The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
- Judges 20:21 אָֽרְצָ/ה n c bs + sfx dem The children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day Twenty-two thousand men.
- Judges 20:25 אָ֑רְצָ/ה n c bs + sfx dem Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, ארץ (ʼerets) means “land.” Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. Spanning 2,190 verses in 39 books, it ranks among the most common words of the Hebrew Bible. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 1:1. From the same root come ארע and ארצא. See the sense tree, 2,190-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H776 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 2,190
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 2,190 distinct verses.
- 39 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 39 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #17
- by frequency
- Top 25 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 17 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 2,190 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 2,190 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 1,038 verses · 47%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 705 verses · 32%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 447 verses · 20%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Land 1,210×, Earth 543×, Ground 82×
- American Standard Version: Land 1,137×, Earth 505×, Ground 73×
- Berean Standard Bible: Land 1,415×, Earth 544×, Ground 117×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Land 994×, Earth 596×, Land of 491×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H776 across 2,504 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 180 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H776 across 2,502 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 304 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H776 across 2,375 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 82 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 108 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H776 across 2,463 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 60 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
18 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 18 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1.
- a. earth, whole earth (opp. to a part) Gn 18:18, 25; 22:18 (= הָאֲדָמָה 12:3) Je 25:26, 29, 30; 26:6 Is 37:16, 20 = 2 K 19:15, 19 Zc 4:10, 14 +. e.g. Genesis 18:18
- b. earth, opp. to heaven, sky Gn 1:2 Ex 20:4 Dt 5:8; 30:19 Ju 5:4 La 2:1 Is 37:16 = 2 K 19:15 ψ 146:6 1 Ch 21:16; 29:11 2 Ch 2:11 +; as permanent Ec 1:4; built on foundations, or pillars 1 S 2:8 ψ 104:5 Jb 38:4 Is 48:13; 51:13, 16 cf. also Is 24:18 ψ 82:5; firm, so that its shaking is something terrible, & token of terrible power 1 S 14:5 2 S 22:8 = ψ 18:8 Jb 9:6 cf. ψ 46:3 & v 7; so also Am 8:8 Is 2:19, 21; 24:18, 19, 20 ψ 60:4; 77:19; 99:1; 114:7; as hung on nothing Jb 26:7; with waters under it Ex 20:4 = Dt 5:8 cf. Gn 7:11; personified, especially as addressed, called to witness, etc. Dt 32:1 Je 6:19; 22:29 Is 1:2 Mi 1:2 Jb 16:18. e.g. Genesis 1:2
- c. earth = inhabitants of earth Gn 6:11; 11:1 1 K 2:2; 10:24 ψ 33:8; 66:4 + cf. תֵּבֵל א׳ Pr 8:31 Jb 37:12. e.g. Genesis 6:11
- 2. land =
- a. country, territory, א׳ שִׁנְעָר Gn 10:10, א׳ מִצְרַיִם 21:21; cf. also 10:11; 11:28, 31; 13:10; 47:6, 27; 50:8 Is 7:18; 23:1, 13; 27:13 ψ 78:12 Je 25:20 1 Ch 1:43; personif. Is 62:4 Ec 10:16, 17. e.g. Genesis 10:10
- b. district, region Gn 19:28; 22:2 Jos 11:3 ψ 42:7. e.g. Genesis 19:28
- c. tribal territory Dt 34:2 Ju 21:21 1 S 9:4, 16; 13:7 1 K 15:20 Is 8:23; and still smaller territories 1 S 9:4, 5. e.g. Deuteronomy 34:2
- d. piece of ground Gn 23:15. e.g. Genesis 23:15
- e. specif. land of Canaan, or Israel Gn 11:31; 12:1, 5, 6, 7; 31:3 Lv 14:34 Dt 17:14; 18:9 2 K 5:2, 4 +; especially obj. of יָרַשׁ possess Dt 3:20 + often Dt ψ al.; so after נָחַל Jos 19:49 +; נָתַן Dt 1:21 +. f. = inhabitants of land Lv 19:29 Ez 14:13 + cf. Dt 24:4 Zc 12:12 etc. g. used even of Sheʾôl Jb 10:21, 22 (cf. Assyrian irṣit la târat, land without return, in Descent of Ishtar, v. Jr 10.65); v. also ψ 139:15 Is 44:23. e.g. Genesis 11:31
- 3.
- a. ground, surface of ground = אֲדָמָה q.v. Gn 1:26, 30; 18:2; 33:3; 38:9 Ex 4:3; 16:14 Ru 2:10 1 S 5:4 + very often in S. e.g. Genesis 1:26
- b. soil, as productive = אֲדָמָה Gn 1:11, 12 Lv 19:9; 25:19; 26:4 cf. Nu 14:7, 8 Is 36:17 = 2 K 18:32 ψ 72:6, 16; 107:34, 35 Ezr 9:12 Ne 9:35. e.g. Genesis 1:11
- 4. אֶרֶץ in phrases:
- a. people of the land עַם־הָא׳ of non-Israelites Gn 23:7, 12, 13 (P) Nu 14:9 (JE); as well as Isr. Lv 20:4 (H) 2 K 15:5; 16:15; 21:24(×2); especially common people, opp. officials, princes Lv 4:27 (P) Ez 7:27 2 K 11:18, 19. e.g. Genesis 23:7
- b. in measurements of distance, כִּבְרַת הָא׳ the space or distance of country (v. כּברה) Gn 35:16, so כִּבְרַת א׳ some distance Gn 48:7 2 K 5:19. e.g. Genesis 35:16
- c. אֶרֶץ הַמִּישׁוֹר the country of the plain, level or plain country Dt 4:33 Je 48:21; א׳ מִישׁוֹר fig. ψ 143:10 (but read אֹרַח 𝔖 Bi Gr Che, cf. ψ 27:11). e.g. Deuteronomy 4:33
- d. א׳חַיִּים land of the living ψ 27:13; א׳ הַחַיִּים ψ 142:6 +. e.g. Psalms 27:13
- e. קְצֵה הָא׳ end(s) of the earth Is 42:10; 43:6 (‖ רָחוֹק) ψ 135:7 Pr 17:24, so אַפְסֵי א׳ Pr 30:4 +; קְצוֹת הָא׳ Is 40:28; 41:5, 9. e.g. Isaiah 42:10
- 5. pl. אֲרָצוֹת is almost wholly late, Je 16:15 + 6 times Je; 23 times Ez; Is 36:20; 37:11 = 2 K 18:35; 19:11 (Is 37:18 read הַגּוֹיִם v. Che Di & cf. 2 K 19:17); 22 times Chr; Dn 9:7; 11:40, 42; ψ 105:44; 106:27; 107:3; 116:9; besides these only P Gn 10:5, 20, 31 Lv 26:36, 39, except Gn 26:3, 4 (JR) 41:54 (JE); it denotes lands, countries, often in contrast to Canaan, lands of the nations, etc., v. especially abs. Ez 20:32; 22:4; = the various petty divisions of Canaan afterward united under Israel’s control Gn 26:3, 4, cf. 1 Ch 13:2 אַרְצוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל, 2 Ch 11:23 אַרְצוֹת יְהוּדָה. e.g. Jeremiah 16:15
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.f. Gn 10:11 & (seld.) m. Ez 21:24 earth, land (Ph. MI ארץ, Assyrian irṣitu COTGloss, Arabic أَرْضٌ, Sab. ארץֿ e.g. Os 9 DHMZMG 1875, 594, 614; Sem. Sprachf. 12, cf. PräBAS i. 374 n., Aramaic אֲרַע, ܐܰܪܥܳܐ )—א׳ abs. Gn 1:24 +; cstr. 2:11 +; אָ֑רֶץ 1:10 +; c. art. always הָאָ֫רֶץ 1:11 +; c. ה—ָloc. אַ֫רְצָה 11:31 +, (poet. = אָרֶץ Jb 34:13; cf. 1 S 25:23 1 K 1:31); sf. אַרְצִי 20:15 + אַרְצְךָ (אַרְצֶ֑ךָ) 12:1 +, etc.; pl. אֲרָצוֹת Je 28:8 + 65 times; cstr. אַרְצוֹת Ez 39:27 + 6 times; sf. אַרְצֹתָם Gn 10:5 + 2 times;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
אֶרֶץ
- רצץ; Ch. a. oth. dial. ארע fr. רעע to press together, stamp—from the rugged appearance of the surface after the subsidence of the waters) earth, dry land; country, land, field (opp. to town). Ex. R. s. 13 … threw dust upon the waters ונעשה א׳ and earth (crust) was formed.—א׳ ישראל (abbr. א"י) Palestine, opp. חוצה לָאָ׳, or מדינת הים foreign countries, or distant countries. Gitt. I, 2. Ib. 6ᵃ; a. fr.—הָאָרֶץ Palestine, Ḥull. 16ᵇ משנכנסו לא׳ since entering Palestine (under Joshua); a. fr.—עם הָאָ׳ (abbr. ע"ה) country people, hence illiterate, coarse, unrefined (often applied to an individual); pl. עַמֵּי הא׳, opp. תלמיד חכם. Sabb. 63ᵃ. Ḥull. 92ᵃ; a. v. fr.—Esp. ע"ה those not observing certain religious customs regarding tithes, levitical cleanness &c., opp. חָבֵר q. v. Dem. I, 2; a. fr.—Pl. אֲרָצוֹת. Shebi. IX, 2 שלש א׳ וכ׳ Palestine is divided into three countries with reference to the laws of the Sabbath year. Keth. 111ᵃ; a. e., v. עִיסָה; a. fr.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 297 distinct written forms H776 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 237 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H776, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 2,063 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 2,190 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 1:1
- Exodus 1:7
- Leviticus 4:27
- Numbers 1:1
- Deuteronomy 1:5
- Joshua 1:2
- Judges 1:2
- Ruth 1:1
- 1 Samuel 2:8
- 2 Samuel 1:2
- 1 Kings 1:23
- 2 Kings 2:15
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
