H776 — אֶרֶץ (ʾerets)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H776
Original: אֶרֶץ
Transliteration: ʾerets
Pronunciation: eh'-rets
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: From an unused root probably meaning to be firm
Occurrences: 2,190 unique verses (2,665 tokens) across 39 OT books
First Occurrence: Gen 1:1 — "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):— common, country, earth, field, ground, land, nations, way, wilderness, world.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
the land	412	18.8%
in the land	271	12.4%
the earth	266	12.1%
of the land	202	9.2%
of the earth	189	8.6%
land	141	6.4%
out of the land	75	3.4%
in the earth	53	2.4%
earth	46	2.1%
to the ground	42	1.9%
a land	40	1.8%
country	31	1.4%
into the land	28	1.3%
to the earth	23	1.1%
the country	22	1.0%
from the land	19	0.9%
their land	19	0.9%
the ground	18	0.8%
his land	17	0.8%
lands	16	0.7%
countries	15	0.7%
upon the earth	15	0.7%
(other combinations)	510	23.3%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Habakkuk	10	17.9
Deuteronomy	171	17.8
Jeremiah	236	17.3
Genesis	252	16.4
Joel	12	16.4
Zechariah	32	15.2
Amos	21	14.4
Joshua	91	13.8
Ezekiel	173	13.6
Zephaniah	7	13.2
Haggai	5	13.2
Isaiah	166	12.8
Micah	13	12.4
Hosea	19	9.6
Exodus	111	9.2
Judges	53	8.6
2 Chronicles	69	8.4
2 Kings	59	8.2
Numbers	104	8.1
Leviticus	67	7.8
Psalms	188	7.6
Lamentations	10	6.5
Nahum	3	6.4
1 Kings	51	6.2
Ecclesiastes	13	5.9
1 Samuel	45	5.6
2 Samuel	37	5.3
Job	57	5.3
Daniel	17	4.8
Obadiah	1	4.8
Jonah	2	4.2
1 Chronicles	38	4.0
Nehemiah	16	3.9
Ezra	11	3.9
Malachi	2	3.6
Proverbs	21	2.3
Esther	2	1.2

Patterns: Highest concentration in Torah and Prophets, especially Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and Genesis. Densest per capita in Habakkuk, Deuteronomy, and Jeremiah. Absent from Song of Solomon (except Sng 2:12 in some texts) and Ruth has only 4 occurrences.

Semantic Categories¶

1. The Earth / The World (cosmic whole)¶

The broadest sense: the entire terrestrial realm, often paired with heaven. - Gen 1:1 — "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." - Gen 6:11 — "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." - Psalm 24:1 — "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." - Isaiah 66:1 — "Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool."

2. A Land / Country (geographic territory)¶

A specific region, nation, or political domain — the most frequent usage. - Gen 12:1 — "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house." - Gen 12:5 — "Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot... into the land of Canaan." - Exodus 3:8 — "I am come down to deliver them... unto a good land and a large." - Jeremiah 50:3 — "out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate."

3. The Ground / Soil (surface, dust)¶

The physical surface of the earth, especially in contexts of falling, bowing, or agricultural ground. - Genesis 4:12 — "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength." - Exodus 4:3 — "Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent." - 1 Samuel 5:3 — "Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD." - Psalm 141:7 — "Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth."

4. The Promised Land (theological)¶

The land promised to Abraham and his seed, later identified with Israel/Canaan. - Genesis 12:7 — "Unto thy seed will I give this land." - Exodus 6:4 — "give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers." - Joshua 1:2 — "go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them." - Ezekiel 36:28 — "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people."

5. Directional Suffix — ʾarṣāh (-âh, "to/toward the earth/ground")¶

The noun takes the directional/locative suffix -âh (Hebrew ה locale, often with compensatory lengthening and vowel change: אֶרֶץ → אֲרָצָה / אַרְצָה, ʾarṣāh), meaning "to the earth/ground" or "downward." This form appears ~90× across narrative, poetic, and prophetic texts, overwhelmingly with verbs of bowing, falling, casting, or coming down.

Genesis 18:2 — "ran to meet them... and bowed himself toward the ground" (וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אָֽרְצָה)
Genesis 33:3 — "bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother" (וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אֲרָצָה)
Exodus 4:3 — "Cast it on the ground" (הַשְׁלִיכֵהוּ אַ֔רְצָה)
Exodus 34:8 — "Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped" (וַיִּקֹּד אַ֖רְצָה)
Ruth 2:10 — "she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground" (וַתִּשְׁתַּחוּ אָ֑רְצָה)
Daniel 8:18 — "I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground" (עַל־פָּנַי אָ֑רְצָה)
2 Chronicles 7:3 — "bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement" (וַיִּכְרְעוּ אַפַּ֤יִם אַ֤רְצָה)

Morphological note: The directional form is distinct from the 3fs pronominal suffix -āh (her land), which is spelled with mappiq in the final he (אַרְצָהּ, e.g., Deut 29:22; Jer 50:3; Ezek 12:19). The directional suffix lacks the mappiq and carries locative sense ("toward the ground/earth"), while the pronominal suffix means "her land."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
כֹּל (kôl)	H3605	632x	"all the earth / all the land"
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	624x	"the LORD... the land / earth"
עַל (ʿal)	H5921	528x	"upon the earth / upon the ground"
בּוֹא (bôʾ)	H935	340x	"come into the land"
נָתַן (nâthan)	H5414	332x	"give the land"
אֱלֹהִים (ʾĕlôhîym)	H430	304x	"God of the earth / land"
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrâʾêl)	H3478	262x	"land of Israel"
מִצְרַיִם (Mitsrayim)	H4714	255x	"land of Egypt"
פָּנִים (pânîym)	H6440	254x	"face of the earth / ground"
יָשַׁב (yâshab)	H3427	245x	"dwell in the land"
עַם (ʿam)	H5971	244x	"people of the land"
שָׁמַיִם (shâmayim)	H8064	180x	"heaven and earth"
יָצָא (yâtsâʾ)	H3318	161x	"go out of the land"

Word Family / Cognates¶

H772 אֲרַע (ʾăraʿ) — Aramaic corresponding word for "earth, land" (e.g., Dan 2:35, Ezra 4:15)
H778 אֲרַק (ʾăraq) — Aramaic by transmutation for H776 (Dan 6:25)

Synonyms¶

H127 אֲדָמָה (ʼădâmâh) — soil, ground, land; narrower than ʾerets, focusing on earth/soil rather than the full land/world range.
H1366 גְּבוּל (gᵉbûwl) — border, boundary, territory; overlaps with ʾerets when the land is viewed as bounded space.
H6083 עָפָר (ʻâphâr) — dust, earth, ground; overlaps when ʾerets denotes loose earth or the ground surface.
H7704 שָׂדֶה (sâdeh) — field, open country; overlaps with ʾerets in "land/country" settings but is more rural and local.
H8398 תֵּבֵל (têbêl) — world, habitable earth; overlaps with ʾerets in cosmic-whole contexts.

Antonyms¶

H3220 יָם (yâm) — sea; the watery sphere contrasted with dry land.
H8064 שָׁמַיִם (shâmayim) — heaven(s); the standard cosmic counterpart in "heaven and earth."

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
אֲדָמָה (ʾădâmâh)	H127	earth, ground, land	More specific: soil, cultivated ground, field; closely related but narrower than ʾerets
אֲרַע (ʾăraʿ)	H772	earth, land	Aramaic equivalent; same semantic range but in Aramaic portions of Daniel/Ezra
עָפָר (ʿâphâr)	H6083	earth, ground	Dust, dry earth, loose soil; often "dust of the earth/ground"
שָׂדֶה (sâdeh)	H7704	country, field	Open field, pasture, country; rural rather than national/political
תֵּבֵל (têbêl)	H8398	world	Poetic term for the habitable world; rare (36x), mostly Psalms/Isaiah

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
001002001	Land	Core field for ʾerets as earth, land, territory, and country.
003002005	Spatial Referents	Covers locative and directional uses, including movement "toward the ground" in the ʾarṣāh form.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Frequency	Notes
γῆ (gē) G1093	primary (~1975 co-occ)	Default rendering for ʾerets in ~90% of LXX occurrences
Αἴγυπτος (Aígyptos) G125	244	Contextual rendering when ʾerets refers specifically to Egypt
Χαναάν (Chanaán) G5477	64	Contextual rendering for the land of Canaan
οὐρανός (ouranós) G3772	192	In "heaven and earth" paired constructions
χώρα (chṓra) G5561	69	Region, countryside; overlaps with "land" as territory
κληρονομέω (klēronoméō) G2816	72	"Inherit the land" — Greek verb renders Hebrew idiom
κατοικέω (katoikéō) G2730	174	"Dwell in the land" — Greek verb renders Hebrew idiom
σείω (seíō) G4579	20	"The earth is moved/shaken" — Greek verb renders Hebrew phrase