Wisdom, saying that He was 'rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth'

(Prov. 8:31), where the words tebel or oikoumene are translated 'habitable

part'.  Bildad the Shuhite has a strange expression, he speaks of the wicked

being driven from light to darkness, and 'chased out of the world' (Job

If tebel refers to the habitable part of the earth, and particularly

that which was promised to Abraham or ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar later,

then we can understand the expression, but if we interpret the word 'world'

in its widest sense, how can one be chased 'out of it'?  The parallel which

is instituted between 'darkness' and 'out of the world' calls to mind and

illuminates the words 'outer darkness' (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30), and

probably also such expressions as 'the four corners of the earth'.  These

terms must be interpreted with the land of promise as the centre.  In Psalm

89:11, tebel, 'the world', is differentiated from both 'the heavens' and 'the

earth'.  Again in Psalm 90:2, 'the earth and the world' are spoken of as

distinct, 'or ever Thou hast formed the earth and the world' (see also Psa.

93:1; 96:10,13; 98:7).  The Hebrew word tebel occurs in places where the LXX

translates it other than oikoumene, some of these passages are somewhat

vaguely rendered, but here are a few.  We have given one quotation from Job,

but two others must be added:

'Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the

whole world?' (34:13).

'The face of the world in the earth' (37:12).

Job 18:18 already quoted is parallel with the punishment of Cain, who

became a fugitive or a vagabond, 'driven ... from the face of the earth'

(Gen. 4:14).  The LXX translates the Hebrew word tebel in Job 34:13 by the

Greek ten hup' ouranon, 'that which is under heaven'.

Note in this connection Acts 2:5, 'every nation under heaven' with the

limited extent of the earth that follows in Acts 2:9 -11.  Job and Luke

appear to agree.

From what we have gathered there appears a strong presumption in favour

of interpreting the references to the prophetic earth so that they fall

within the borders of the Babylonian Empire on the east, to the extremes of

the Roman Empire in the west.  If, as we believe, the prophetic image of

Daniel 2 is about to be resumed after its veiled history during Israel's

blindness, it will be misleading to read into the Prophets or the Apocalypse

references to the nations of the wide earth, when a far more limited sphere

is intended.  We must examine these references afresh and seek the light that

comes from truth alone.

Before we can go further in this investigation and reach some

conclusion as to the area covered by the Prophetic Earth, certain debatable

matters pertaining to the prophecy of Daniel must be considered.  The

question of the area of the prophetic earth is linked with the question of

the composition of the Gentile dynasty as symbolized in the image of Daniel

2.  There are many expositors who see four, and no more than four successive

kingdoms in this symbol, namely Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.  These look

for a revival of the Roman empire at the time of the end.  Some derive

support for this number 'four' from the subsequent vision of Daniel 7.  Let

us consider the second chapter.