SEA

ISBE

se (yam; thalassa; in Ac 27:5 pelagos): The Mediterranean is called ha-yam ha-gadhol, "the great sea" ( Nu 34:6 ; Jos 1:4 ; Eze 47:10 , etc.); ha-yam ha-'acharon, "the hinder," or "western sea" ( De 11:24 ; 34:2 ; Joe 2:20 ; Zec 14:8 ); yam pelishtim, "the sea of the Philis" ( Ex 23:31 ); the King James Version translates yam yapho' in Ezr 3:7 by "sea of Joppa," perhaps rightly. The Dead Sea is called yam ha-melach, "the Salt Sea" ( Nu 34:3 ; De 3:17 ; Jos 3:16 , etc.); ha-yam ha-qadhmoni, "the east sea" ( Eze 47:18 ; Joe 2:20 ; Zec 14:8 ); yam ha-`arabhah,"the sea of the Arabah" ( De 3:17 ; Jos 3:16 ; 12:3 ; 2Ki 14:25 ). The Red Sea is called yam cuph, literally, "sea of weeds" ( Ex 10:19 ; Nu 14:25 ; De 1:1 ; Jos 2:10 ; Jud 11:16 ; 1Ki 9:26 ; Ne 9:9 ; Ps 106:7 ; Jer 49:21 , etc.); (eruthra thalassa), literally, "red sea" (The Wisdom of Solomon 19:7; Ac 7:36 ; Heb 11:29 ); yam mitsrayim, "the Egyptian sea" ( Isa 11:15 ). Yam is used of the Nile in Na 3:8 and probably also in Isa 19:5 , as in modern Arabic bachr, "sea," is used of the Nile and its affluents. Yam is often used for "west" or "westward," as "look from the place where thou art, .... westward" ( Ge 13:14 ); "western border" ( Nu 34:6 ). Yam is used for "sea" in general ( Ex 20:11 ); also for "molten sea" of the temple ( 1Ki 7:23 ). The Sea of Galilee is called kinnereth, "Chinnereth" ( Nu 34:11 ); kinaroth, "Chinneroth" ( Jos 11:2 ); kinneroth, "Chinneroth" ( 1Ki 15:20 ); yam kinnereth, "the sea of Chinnereth" ( Nu 34:11 ; Jos 13:27 ); yam kinneroth, "the sea of Chinneroth ( Jos 12:3 ); (he limne Gennesaret), "the lake of Gennesaret" ( Lu 5:1 ); and (to hudor Gennesar), "the water of Gennesar" (1 Macc 11:67), from late Hebrew ginecar, or (genecar; he thalassa tes Galilaias), "the sea of Galilee" ( Mt 4:18 ; 15:29 ; Mr 1:16 ; 7:31 ; Joh 6:1 ); (he thalassa tes Tiberiados), "the sea of Tiberias" ( Joh 21:1 ; compare Joh 6:1 ). In Jer 48:32 we have yam ya`zer, "the sea of Jazer." Jazer is a site East of the Jordan, not satisfactorily identified ( Nu 21:32 ; 32:1 , 3 , 15 ; Jos 13:25 ; 21:39 ; 2Sa 24:5 ; 1Ch 6:81 ; 26:31 ; Isa 16:8 , 9 ). See SEA OF JAZER . In midhbar yam, "the wilderness of the sea" ( Isa 21:1 ), there may perhaps be a reference to the Persian Gulf. Alfred Ely Day

Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)

The sea, yam, is used in Scripture to denote—

Scripture References