gē · earth, land

What it means

gē (γῆ) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “earth, land”.

Earth: the ground, a country, or the whole world.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. The whole earth under heaven, where human beings live.
2. What is underfoot, dry land.
3. A country or a region.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Earth: the ground, a country or the whole world.

• The ground where the seed falls Matthew 13:5John 12:24
• A country: “the land of Israel” Matthew 2:20
• The earth over against heaven Matthew 6:10
• The whole world: “to the end of the earth” Acts 1:8
• “They will inherit the earth” Matthew 5:5

How we translate it

“Earth” 168 times, “land” 51, “ground” 18, “soil” 11. English divides what Greek says with one word: “earth” for the world or over against heaven, “land” for a country (“the land of Israel”), and “ground” or “soil” where the seed falls (Matthew 13:5).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• earth ×168
• land ×51
• ground ×18
• soil ×11

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×43
• Mark×19
• Luke×25
• John×11
• Acts×33
• Romans×3
• 1 Corinthians×3
• Ephesians×4
• Colossians×4
• Hebrews×11
• James×5
• 2 Peter×4
• Jude×1
• Revelation×82

• Matthew 2:6

  ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

• Matthew 2:20

  saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life have died.”

• Matthew 2:21

  And he got up, took the child and his mother, and went into the land of Israel.

• Matthew 4:15

  “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:

• Matthew 5:5

  Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

• Matthew 5:13

  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt becomes tasteless, with what will it be salted? It is good for nothing any longer except to be thrown out and trampled by people.

• Matthew 5:18

  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or one stroke will ever pass from the law until all things take place.

• Matthew 5:35

  nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

• Matthew 6:10

  may your kingdom come; may your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

• Matthew 6:19

  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy, and where thieves dig through and steal;

• Matthew 9:6

  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”— then he says to the paralytic— “Get up, pick up your bed, and go to your home.”

• Matthew 9:26

  And this report went out into all that land.

• Matthew 9:31

  But they went out and spread the news about him in all that land.

• Matthew 10:15

  Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

• Matthew 10:29

  Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

• Matthew 10:34

  Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

• Matthew 11:24

  But I tell you that it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

• Matthew 11:25

  At that time Jesus responded and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you hid these things from the wise and the intelligent and revealed them to little children.

• Matthew 12:40

  For just as Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

• Matthew 12:42

  The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look, something greater than Solomon is here.

• Matthew 13:5

  Other seeds fell on the rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; and at once they sprang up, because they did not have depth of soil.

• Matthew 13:8

  And other seeds fell on the good soil and were producing fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

• Matthew 13:23

  And the one sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”

• Matthew 14:24

  But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, battered by the waves, for the wind was against it.

• Matthew 14:34

  And crossing over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

• Matthew 15:35

  And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground,

• Matthew 16:19

  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

• Matthew 17:25

  He says, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke first to him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or tribute? From their sons or from strangers?”

• Matthew 18:18

  Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.

• Matthew 18:19

  Again, truly I tell you that if two of you agree on earth about any matter that they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 23:9

  And do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your Father, the heavenly one.

• Matthew 23:35

  so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

• Matthew 24:30

  And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

• Matthew 24:35

  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

• Matthew 25:18

  But the one who had received the one went away, dug in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

• Matthew 25:25

  and being afraid, I went off and hid your talent in the ground; look, you have what is yours.’

• Matthew 27:45

  Now from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.

• Matthew 27:51

  And look, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split;

• Matthew 28:18

  And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

• Mark 2:10

  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he says to the paralyzed man—

And 208 more times.