χώρα
chṓra · G5561 · Greek · 28 occurrences
Meanings
-
land
Dry land, in contrast with the sea
ExamplesActs 27:27 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.
-
Region or regions of the earth, normally in relation to some ethnic group or geographical center, but not necessarily constituting a unit of governmental administration (region, territory, land, district (though this might imply too precisely a governmental area))
ExamplesMark 5:1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes.
Mark 5:10 And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the region.
Mark 6:55 and ran about that entire country and began carrying here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to wherever they heard He was.
-
countryside, fields, rural area
A rural area in contrast with a population center
ExamplesLuke 21:21 “Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city;
John 11:54 Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.
-
field, land
Land under cultivation or used for pasture
ExamplesLuke 12:16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.
John 4:35 “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white for harvest.
James 5:4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of armies.
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region, inhabitants of a region
The inhabitants of a region
ExamplesMark 1:5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
How it’s used In 9 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
11 occurrences in 9 groups
- Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
11 occurrences in 8 groups
- ἐκεῖνοςthat, that one, there 3
- ΓαλατικόςGalatic or relating to Galatia 2
- μακρόςlong 2
- ἸουδαίαJudea 1
- ἸτουραΐαIturæa 1
- τὶςsomeone 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- εἰμίto be 1
What it doesIt is the subject
5 occurrences in 5 groups
- εἰσέρχομαιto enter, to go into, to come into 1
- ἐκπορεύομαιto go out, to come out 1
- εὐφορέωto yield plenty of fruit 1
- προσάγωto lead before 1
- τρέφωto provide food for 1
What is done to itIt is the object
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- θεάομαιto see, to look at 1
- ἀμάωto mow 1
It is given or told toIndirect object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἀπαγγέλλωto tell 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ποιμήνshepherd, pastor 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
16 occurrences in 6 groups
- εἰςto 14
- ἐνin 5
- κατάaccording to, against, down 4
- διάthrough 2
- ἐκfrom 2
- ἔξωoutside 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- πολίτηςcitizen 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- ἀγρός agrós · G68 · field, land, countryside
- Both terms can refer to rural countryside or open land, but χώρα typically denotes a broader spatial territory or region (sometimes including its inhabitants), while ἀγρός more specifically indicates a cultivated field or agricultural plot. The overlap is strongest when χώρα is used for rural countryside as opposed to urban areas.
In the other Testament 3 words
- אֶרֶץ ʼerets · H776 · earth, ground, land
- Greek χώρα denotes a delimited region or territory, often with a focus on inhabited space, while Hebrew אֶרֶץ has a broader range including earth or world, ground, and country or territory. The two converge specifically in the shared sense of 'territory' or 'region,' where χώρα regularly renders אֶρֶץ in the Septuagint.
- מְדִינָה mᵉdîynâh · H4082 · district, province
- Greek χώρα denotes territory or region with spatial/geographic emphasis (often smaller-scale countryside or land), while Hebrew מְדִינָה specifically denotes an administrative province within a larger political entity (Persian/imperial context).
- מְדִינָה mᵉdîynâh · H4083 · province
- χώρα (chṓra, G5561) denotes a general territorial region or district, while מְדִינָה (mᵉdîynâh, H4083) specifically refers to an administrative province within a larger political entity (particularly in Persian imperial contexts), representing a more formally organized territorial subdivision.
Semantic domains 5 entries
- Land1.60
- Matthew 4:16 quotes the prophet, “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
- Region, territory, land (and even district, though this might imply too precisely a governmental area)1.79
- Luke 3:1 says that Philip was tetrarch “of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis”.
- Countryside, fields, rural area1.87
- Luke 15:13 recounts that the younger son gathered everything together “and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in wild living”.
- Field, land1.95
- Luke 12:16 has Jesus tell the parable, “The land of a rich man was very productive.”
- Region, inhabitants of a region11.64
- Acts 8:1 recounts that a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and “they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles”.
Word family 19 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Also from the root χάσμα
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon χώρας, ἡ (ΧΑΩ (cf. Curtius, § 179), to lie open, be ready to receive), from Homer down,…
1. properly, the space lying between two places or limits.
2. a region or country; i. e. a tract of land: ἡ χώρα ἐγγύς τῆς ἐρήμου, Jn 11:54; (in an elliptical phrase, ἡ ἀστραπή (ἡ) ἀστράπτουσα ἐκ τῆς ὑπό τόν οὐρανόν εἰς τήν ὑπ' οὐρανόν λάμπει, A. V. part... part, Lk 17:24 (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 64, 5); on the ellipsis of χώρα in other phrases (ἐξ ἀναντιας, ἐν δεξιά, etc.), see Winers Grammar, the passage cited; Buttmann, 82 (72)); land as opposed to the sea, Acts 27:27; land as inhabited, a province or country, Mk 5:10; ( L marginal reading T Tr WH); Lk 15:13-15; Lk 19:12; Acts 13:49; with a genitive of the name of the region added: Τραχωνίτιδος, Lk 3:1; τῆς Ἰουδαίας, Acts 26:20; ((or an equivalent adjective)) Γαλατικη, Acts 16:6; Acts 18:23; τῶν Ἰουδαίων, Acts 10:39; plural τῆς Ἰουδαίας καί Σαμαρείας (A. V. regions), Acts 8:1; ἐν χώρα καί σκιά θανάτου, in a region of densest darkness (see σκιά, a), Mt 4:16; τίνος, the country of one, Mt 2:12; χώρα for its inhabitants, Mk 1:5; Acts 12:20; the (rural) region environing a city or village, the country, Lk 2:8; Γεργεσηνῶν, Γερασηνῶν, Γαδαρηνῶν, Mt 8:28; Mk 5:1; Lk 8:26; the region with towns and villages which surrounds the metropolis, Jn 11:55.
3. land which is plowed or cultivated, ground: Lk 12:16; plural, Lk 21:21 (R. V. country); Jn 4:35 (A. V. fields); Jas 5:4 (A. V. fields). (Synonym: see τόπος, at the end.)
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 5 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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