THE INBUILT DICTIONARY OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE
aka
THE RICHER NUGGETS OF THE ENGLISH
The King James Bible has three words … “upper”,
“lower” and “nether” with the last two being taken as
meaning the
same.
The word “nether” is always explained away as
an archaic word that simply means “lower” as in the following
verses
1. The lower
wheel of a grinding millstone
“His heart
is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether
millstone.” (Job 41:24)
Deuteronomy
24:6 No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone
to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge.
2. The lower
of two springs
“Who
answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land;
give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs,
and the
nether springs.” (Joshua 15:19)
“And she said unto him, Give me a
blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of
water.
And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.”
(Judges
1:15)
3. Somewhere
below the earth as opposed to above the ground
“… for
they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts
of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them
that go
down to the pit.” (Ezekiel 31:14)
“Is there
more to the meaning of the word “nether” than just “lower”?
Of course
the Bible uses the word “lower” to mean
simply a position as follows:
UPPER – simply a position
Exodus
12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and
strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the
houses,
wherein they shall eat it.
LOWER – simply a position
Genesis
6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark,
and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark
shalt thou
set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories
shalt thou
make it.
Why not
just ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ springs; or
‘upper’ and ‘lower’ millstones?
The
explanation is as follows:
The
word “nether” = position PLUS to be cast down as evidenced by these
scriptures:
Ezekiel
31:18 To whom art thou thus like in glory
and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be BROUGHT
DOWN
with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth:
thou
shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by
the
sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel
32:18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of
Egypt, and CAST THEM DOWN, even her, and the daughters
of the
famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them
that go
down into the pit.
Ezekiel
32:24 There is Elam and all her multitude
round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth,
which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet
have they
borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
In fact, the word “nether” has the following
connotations and meanings as well:
NETHER is to cast down; a withering or stunting
influence; to bring or thrust down; to bring or make low or
lower; abase;
humble; to depreciate; disparage; be of less
value; undervalue;
vex; opposition; harass; straiten; confine; stress; keep under;
oppress; check
in growth; to tremble; to shrink or huddle
The King James Bible in-built dictionary gives the
context and the meaning for a so-called “difficult” word … of which
there are
none.
Mathematically
speaking, the word “nether” is a
subset of “lower”.
Everything
“nether” is “lower” but not everything
“lower is “nether”!
It’s
called the richer and richest nuggets of
the English over and above what the Greek can supply.
The
English gives you the reasons, motivations and
delicate nuances that the Greek can never give.
Dear
Reader, please examine the following words in
the light of the above:
Why “besom”
and not “broom”?
Why “haling”
and not “hauling”?
Dear Reader, please write in if you have different opinion. At ABM we are always willing to learn.
Harley
Hitchcock
www.
Australian Bible Ministries, PO
Box 5058 Mt. Gravatt East 4122 Qld, Australia
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com
