What does γῆ (gē) mean in the Bible?
Ge names the earth, a region of land, the ground beneath someone, or soil that receives seed. Context decides which scale is intended.
Greek · G1093
γῆ
Earth: soil
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γῆ G1093
Pronunciation gē
What does γῆ (gē) mean in the Bible?
Ge names the earth, a region of land, the ground beneath someone, or soil that receives seed. Context decides which scale is intended.
Reader summary
Full entry for γῆ (G1093) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1093?
The BSB source-word alignment has 250 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include earth (152), Land (28), ground (18), soil (10), [the] land (8).
Where does γῆ (gē) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (82), Matthew (43), Acts (33), Luke (25).
Are there verse guides for γῆ (gē)?
This entry includes 3 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
Ge names the earth, a region of land, the ground beneath someone, or soil that receives seed. Context decides which scale is intended. In the Sermon on the Mount, the meek inherit the earth and disciples pray for God’s will to be done on earth. In Jesus’ grain saying, the same noun names the ground into which seed falls. Paul can place things on earth alongside things in heaven, while Revelation speaks of a new earth after the former order passes away.
These uses make the material world important within God’s purposes, but the noun by itself does not settle every question about creation, land, judgment, or the precise continuity of the new creation. Faithful teaching begins with the local sense, then traces the passage’s larger claim through creation, Christ’s reconciling work, embodied discipleship, and promised renewal.
How the Bible Uses It
Ge ranges from soil and local territory to the earth as a whole. Its scale changes with the sentence, yet the selected passages together show creation under God’s rule, earth included in Christ’s reconciling purpose, and a renewed dwelling for God’s people.
- Rev.21.1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
John sees a new heaven and new earth after the former order passes away. The verse promises decisive new-creation change, but ge alone does not define the mechanics or degree of continuity between the former and new earth.
- Matt.5.5
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Jesus promises that the meek will inherit the earth, echoing Psalm 37. The promise reverses present patterns of grasping and violence; inheritance is received from God rather than seized by human power.
- Matt.6.10
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The prayer asks that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven. Earth is the sphere in which disciples seek obedient alignment with the Father’s reign, not merely a place to discuss future events.
- John.12.24
Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Here ge is the ground that receives a grain of wheat. Jesus uses an ordinary agricultural image to explain fruitful life through His approaching death, so the theological force comes from His interpretation of the image.
- Col.1.20
And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
Paul includes things on earth within the scope of reconciliation through the blood of Christ’s cross. The phrase supports a cosmic horizon for Christ’s work without erasing the passage’s focus on His supremacy and peacemaking.
- Acts.17.24
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.
Paul identifies the Maker of the world as Lord of heaven and earth. The claim denies that the Creator can be contained by human temples and places earthly life under His sovereign generosity.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It earth 152× Matthew 5:5, Matthew 5:13, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 5:35
Land 28× Matthew 4:15, Matthew 9:31, Matthew 14:24, Matthew 27:45
ground 18× Matthew 10:29, Matthew 15:35, Matthew 25:25, Mark 4:26
soil 10× Matthew 13:5, Matthew 13:8, Matthew 13:23, Mark 4:5
[the] land 8× Matthew 2:20, Matthew 2:21, Acts 7:4, Acts 7:29
- 5× Matthew 10:15, Matthew 11:24, Acts 13:17, Acts 13:19
. . . 4× Matthew 14:34, Mark 4:31, Mark 6:53, John 21:9
[the] earth 3× 1 Corinthians 15:47, 2 Peter 3:5, 2 Peter 3:10
ashore 3× Luke 5:11, Luke 8:27, John 21:11
shore 3× Mark 4:1, Luke 5:3, John 6:21
[them] 2× Revelation 11:10, Revelation 13:14
the soil 2× Matthew 13:5, Mark 4:5
[in the] land 1× Matthew 2:6
[its] 1× Revelation 7:1
[the] soil 1× Luke 14:35
country 1× Acts 7:3
countryside 1× John 3:22
earthly 1× Colossians 3:2
earthly nature 1× Colossians 3:5
in the ground 1× Matthew 25:18
of [the] earth 1× Mark 13:27
region 1× Matthew 9:26
the earth 1× Revelation 8:7
world 1× Revelation 13:3
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 2:6 γῆ to [in the] land Noun - Vocative Feminine Singular Matthew 2:20 γῆν to [the] land Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Matthew 2:21 γῆν to [the] land Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Matthew 4:15 Γῆ to Land Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 4:15 γῆ to land Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 5:5 γῆν to earth Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Matthew 5:13 γῆς to earth Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Matthew 5:18 γῆ to earth Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 5:35 γῇ to earth Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 6:10 γῆς to earth Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 2:6
Aligned rows 250
Books represented 14
Matthew 43 Mark 19 Luke 25 John 13 Acts 33 Romans 3 1 Corinthians 3 Ephesians 4 Colossians 4 Hebrews 11 James 5 2 Peter 4 Jude 1 Revelation 82
Source forms
γῆς 133x gēs Matthew 5:13, Matthew 6:10, Matthew 6:19, Matthew 9:6
γῆν 78x gēn Matthew 2:20, Matthew 2:21, Matthew 5:5, Matthew 9:26
γῆ 22x gē Matthew 2:6, Matthew 4:15, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 24:35
γῇ 13x gē Matthew 5:35, Matthew 9:31, Matthew 10:15, Matthew 11:24
Γῆ 2x Gē Matthew 4:15, Hebrews 6:7
ΓΗΣ 1x GĒS Revelation 17:5
γῆς» 1x gēs Mark 2:10
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 135x Matthew 5:13, Matthew 6:10, Matthew 6:19, Matthew 9:6
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 78x Matthew 2:20, Matthew 2:21, Matthew 5:5, Matthew 9:26
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 23x Matthew 4:15, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 24:35, Matthew 27:51
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 13x Matthew 5:35, Matthew 9:31, Matthew 10:15, Matthew 11:24
Noun - Vocative Feminine Singular 1x Matthew 2:6
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask whether the passage means soil, a region, or the earth before drawing a larger conclusion.
- Let creation care and new-creation hope remain centered on God’s rule and Christ’s reconciling work.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that every use of ge teaches the same doctrine of creation or land.
- Do not claim that this noun settles the precise physical relationship between the present and new earth.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Matthew 5:5 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
γῆν. gen earth: soil The noun supplies the stated object of the meek's inheritance. Read verse guide Matthew 5:13 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
γῆς· ges earth: soil widens the salt image beyond private identity. Read verse guide Matthew 28:18 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
γῆς. ges earth: soil The genitive prepositional object contributes the earthly half of the universal scope in Jesus' authority claim. Read verse guide Evidence Summary
Greek word. earth: soil
Source Gloss
earth: soil
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 252 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 2:6 Noun Singular Feminine
γῆ gh
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 2:20 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
γῆν ghn
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 2:21 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
γῆν ghn
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 4:15 Noun Singular Feminine
Γῆ gh
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 4:15 Noun Singular Feminine
γῆ gh
the earth, soil, land
Read verse ghn
the earth, soil, land
Read verse ghv
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 5:18 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
γῆ, gh
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 5:35 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
γῇ, gh
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 6:10 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
γῆς· ghv
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 6:19 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
γῆς, ghv
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 9:6 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
γῆς ghv
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 9:26 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
γῆν ghn
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 9:31 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
γῇ gh
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 10:15 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
γῇ gh
the earth, soil, land
Read verse Matthew 10:29 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
γῆν ghn
the earth, soil, land
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 5 Aligned forms 248 Case pattern Genitive (135) Number pattern Singular (248)
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Matt 4:15 · Matt 5:18 · Matt 24:35 · Matt 27:51 · Mark 4:28 · Mark 13:31 · Luke 21:33 · Acts 7:33 · Acts 7:49 · 1 Cor 10:26 · Heb 6:7 · Jas 5:18 · 2 Pet 3:5 · 2 Pet 3:7 · 2 Pet 3:10 · Rev 12:16 23×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Matt 5:13 · Matt 6:10 · Matt 6:19 · Matt 9:6 · Matt 11:25 · Matt 12:40 · Matt 12:42 · Matt 13:5 · Matt 14:24 · Matt 16:19 · Matt 17:25 · Matt 18:18 · Matt 18:19 · Matt 23:9 · Matt 23:35 · Matt 24:30 135×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Matt 5:35 · Matt 9:31 · Matt 10:15 · Matt 11:24 · Matt 25:25 · Luke 8:15 · Luke 12:51 · Acts 7:6 · Acts 7:29 · Acts 7:36 · Acts 13:17 · Acts 13:19 · Rom 9:17 13×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Matt 2:20 · Matt 2:21 · Matt 5:5 · Matt 9:26 · Matt 10:29 · Matt 10:34 · Matt 13:5 · Matt 13:8 · Matt 13:23 · Matt 14:34 · Matt 15:35 · Matt 25:18 · Matt 27:45 · Mark 4:5 · Mark 4:8 · Mark 4:20 76×
Vocative · Singular · Feminine Matt 2:6 1×
Word Origins
γῆ is a primary word - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Ge teaches readers to respect scale. The ground receiving seed in John 12 is not automatically the whole created order, and a named land is not automatically a universal earth. Yet Scripture can gather these concrete senses into a wide canonical horizon. The Maker is Lord of heaven and earth, disciples pray for His will on earth, Christ reconciles things on earth through His blood, and Revelation promises a new earth.
Christian hope therefore does not treat created life as spiritually irrelevant. At the same time, responsible teaching refuses to load the noun with conclusions supplied only by a larger theological system. Matthew 5 receives Psalm 37’s inheritance promise through Jesus’ kingdom teaching; Colossians centers reconciliation on Christ’s supremacy; Revelation describes radical removal of death and sorrow.
The word helps readers see where the action occurs, while each passage explains what God is doing there.
Anchor passage
Rev.21.1
Doctrinal connections
- Acts.17.24 identifies the Creator as Lord of heaven and earth rather than a deity contained by human craftsmanship.
- Matt.5.5 receives Psalm 37’s inheritance promise within Jesus’ blessing of the meek.
- Matt.6.10 directs disciples to desire the Father’s will on earth as it is done in heaven.
- John.12.24 uses earthly soil within Jesus’ explanation of fruitful life through His death.
- Col.1.20 places things on earth within the reconciling scope of peace made through Christ’s blood.
- Rev.21.1 announces a new earth within the final removal of the former order’s death and sorrow.
Ge is a feminine noun whose sense may be soil, ground, territory, land, or the earth. Contrasts with heaven often widen its scale, while agricultural and travel settings usually narrow it. The local Greek index records about 248 occurrences for exact G1093.
From Old to New Testament
The Septuagint frequently uses ge for Hebrew erets, which can likewise name earth or a particular land. Psalm 37:11 stands behind Matthew 5:5, Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 inform Revelation’s new-earth language, and Genesis 1 supplies the Creator-creature frame heard in Acts 17.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain