Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical terminology, the term "gulf" is primarily associated with a significant chasm or divide, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. The most notable reference to a "gulf" in the Bible is found in the New Testament, specifically in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, as recounted by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke 16:26 : "And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us."
In this passage, the "gulf" or "chasm" (Greek: χάσμα, chasma) represents the insurmountable divide between the abode of the righteous and the place of torment. This gulf underscores the finality of one's eternal destiny after death, emphasizing the irreversible separation between those who are saved and those who are not. The imagery of the gulf serves to illustrate the consequences of one's choices in life and the importance of repentance and faith.
Theologically, the concept of the gulf highlights the justice and holiness of God. It serves as a sobering reminder of the eternal consequences of sin and the necessity of salvation through Jesus Christ. The parable conveys the urgency of responding to God's call in this life, as the opportunity for reconciliation and redemption is limited to one's earthly existence.
While the term "gulf" is not frequently used in other parts of Scripture, the idea of separation between the righteous and the wicked is a recurring theme. The Old Testament often speaks of the distinction between those who follow God's commandments and those who do not, with blessings and curses delineating the two paths (Deuteronomy 28).
In a broader sense, the concept of a gulf can also be applied to the spiritual separation between humanity and God due to sin. This separation is bridged by the atoning work of Jesus Christ, who reconciles believers to God, as expressed in
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 : "All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them."
Thus, the biblical notion of a gulf serves as a powerful metaphor for the spiritual realities of sin, judgment, and redemption, urging individuals to seek reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin,
2. (n.) That which swallows; the gullet.
3. (n.) That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
4. (n.) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially land-locked sea; as, the Gulf of Mexico.
5. (n.) A large deposit of ore in a lode.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
GULF(chasma, "a chasm," "vent," "a gaping opening"-a great interval; from chaino, "to gape" or "yawn"): Occurs only inLuke 16:26, "Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed" (compare "afar off" in 16:23). This is very different from, though it probably reflects, the rabbinical conception of the separation between the two compartments of Hades (Sheol) by "a hand's breadth," "a wall," or even, later, "a chasm," as the parable can be given here only a figurative significance, and is of purely ethical import. The fundamental difference between the Rich Man and Lazarus lies not in their conditions but in their characters. For "besides all this" (16:26) the Revised Version, margin gives "in all these things," thus implying that the moral distinctions which exist in this life (16:25) become more pronounced ("fixed") in the next world, and the "gulf" is impassable in the sense that a change of condition will not necessarily produce a change of soul.
See alsoABRAHAM'S BOSOM;HADES.
M. O. Evans
Greek
5490. chasma -- a chasm, wide space... a chasm, wide space. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: chasma Phonetic
Spelling: (khas'-mah) Short Definition: a gap,
gulf, chasm Definition: a gap
...2859. kolpos -- the bosom
... Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: kolpos Phonetic Spelling:
(kol'-pos) Short Definition: bosom, bosom of a garment, a bay,gulf Definition: (...
2747. Kegchreai -- Cenchrea, a port of Corinth
... Transliteration: Kegchreai Phonetic Spelling: (keng-khreh-a'-hee) Short Definition:
Cenchreae Definition: Cenchreae, the port of Corinth on the SaronicGulf....
3934. Parthos -- a Parthian, an inhabitant of Parthia
... a Parthian Definition: a Parthian, an inhabitant of the country beyond the eastern
boundary of the Roman Empire between the Caspian Sea and the PersianGulf....
1639. Elamites -- an Elamite, an inhabitant of Elam
... Phonetic Spelling: (el-am-ee'-tace) Short Definition: an Elamite Definition: an
Elamite, one of a people living to the north of the PersianGulf in the...
Strong's Hebrew
6100. Etsyon Geber -- a city on the shore of theGulf of Aqaba... a city on the shore of the
Gulf of Aqaba. Transliteration: Etsyon Geber Phonetic
Spelling: (ets-yone' gheh'ber) Short Definition: Ezion-geber.
...Library
1872-1874. Letter from Rev. AMW Christopher --Letter fromGulf of...
... CHAPTER V. 1872-1874. Letter from Rev. AMW Christopher"Letter fromGulf of
St.... Letter from Rev. AMW Christopher"Letter fromGulf of St....
Being Swallowed up Therefore in the MiserableGulf of Idle Talk...
... THE THIRD CENTURY 14 Being swallowed up therefore in the miserablegulf of idle
talk and worthless vanities. Being swallowed up therefore...
The Advance of Xerxes into Greece.
... BC480 Advance of the army."Sailing of the fleet."Sciathus."Euboea."Straits of
Artemisium and Euripus."Attica."SaronicGulf."Island of Salamis...
A God in Pain
... There was a greatgulf fixed between every man and his neighbour.... And so on
Good Friday did God bridge over thegulf between God and men....
Missed Ends
... And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the
green grass seemed blood-red to me, and thegulf yawned like the mouth of hell....
The Project of French Empire and Evangelization --Its Wide and...
... banks of Newfoundland kept in mind such rights of discovery as were alleged by France,
and kept attention fixed in the direction of the greatgulf and river of...
How Far Christians Ought to be from Boasting, if they have done...
... If Curtius, spurring on his steed, threw himself all armed into a precipitousgulf,
obeying the oracles of their gods, which had commanded that the Romans...
Advice for the Direction of Holy Zeal.
... a great throne, surrounded with a multitude of angels, who attended him in human
form; then he saw below, the earth gaping as a horrid and vastgulf; and the...
Our Glorious Transforming
... In addition to these mountains, there was, on the other side nearest to God,
a greatgulf of divine wrath.... There was a deepgulf. Ah!...
Practical Righteousness
... And there is a wholegulf, wide enough to drown a world in, between the two
attitudes of mind. On the one side of thegulf is salvation...
Thesaurus
Gulf (3 Occurrences)... 4. (n.) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially land-locked
sea; as, the
Gulf of Mexico.
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
GULF.
...Euphrates (36 Occurrences)
... From its source in the Armenian mountains to the PersianGulf, into which
it empties itself, it has a course of about 1,700 miles....
Tigris (2 Occurrences)
... It now joins the Euphrates about 40 miles Northwest of the PersianGulf, the two
streams there forming the Shat el Arab, but in early historical times they...
Tikvath (1 Occurrence)
... It now joins the Euphrates about 40 miles Northwest of the PersianGulf, the two
streams there forming the Shat el Arab, but in early historical times they...
Tikvah (2 Occurrences)
... It now joins the Euphrates about 40 miles Northwest of the PersianGulf, the two
streams there forming the Shat el Arab, but in early historical times they...
Miletus (3 Occurrences)
... Thegulf into which the river flows has thus been nearly filled with the
deposit. In the ancientgulf stood a little island called...
Persia (30 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary An ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace,
and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the PersianGulf....
Edom (108 Occurrences)
... It extended from the head of theGulf of Akabah, the Elaniticgulf, to the foot
of the Dead Sea (1 Kings 9:26), and contained, among other cities, the rock...
Cush (31 Occurrences)
... Three branches of the Cushite or Ethiopian stock, moving from Western Asia,
settled in the regions contiguous to the PersianGulf....
Graecia
... in Thessaly; Central Greece, the Achelous and the Evenus, in Aetolia; the Spercheius,
flowing between Oeta and Othrys into the MaliacGulf; the storied, but...
Resources
Did the Israelites in the book of Exodus cross the Red Sea or the Reed Sea? | GotQuestions.orgWhere was Ur of the Chaldees? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is significance of Mount Seir? | GotQuestions.orgGulf: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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