earth / world

[bob144]

Reply from earlier question: The Greek word for "world" is «κόσμος» and is often used in the New Testament, for example in Matthew, 13:38:

(K.J.V.) The field is the world = ο δε αγρός εστίν ο κόσμος

Brings up an Additional question: what is the difference then between the Greek word for world and earth? the greek translation for earth in these quotes is different than "κόσμος"  "γης"

 Acts 1,vs 8 "and unto the uttermost part of the earth." γης

Mt 12:40 "three nights in the heart of the earth."

Thanks from Bob

[billberg23]

Bob, κόσμος originally meant "order," "good order."  It was Pythagoras (closely followed by Heraclitus) who first used it to designate the "order of the universe."  Later writers blurred the distinction (if any) between "world order" and "world," though it was the universe, including our little "world," that was always meant.  It was especially attractive to use as a word for the universe as we perceive it from here "below" — the brilliant day sky and especially the dazzling night sky, since those seemed to fit with a growing use of κόσμος to mean "(orderly) adornment," "decorative perfection."
Γῆ or (to use her full name) Γαῖα was the fruitful and nurturing Goddess who sustains us all as we pass from, over, and back into her body.  She is the material of our world.  To see mountains, forests, fields of grain, is to look down and around and see Γαῖα.  To look up is to see the ethereal order, the κόσμος.

[bob144]

Thanks, that puts a much bigger picture to those verses when you read earth or world~!

[banned8]

Thanks, Bill. Some linguistic explanations can be poetry in their own right.

[treandafilia]

Thanks, Bill. Some linguistic explanations can be poetry in their own right.

I agree!  And it suddenly dawns upon me as to why cosmetics are called thus.