The Word 'WORLD"
Many people are confused by the Scriptural use of the word "world".
This word is rendered from four different Greek words that have various meanings but often similar applications.
1. Kosmos - Regular, normal disposition, present order, harmonious arrangement, and often refers to the whole world and Universe.
2. Aion - An age, a course, a messianic period
3. Oikoumene - Land, the world, (in Scripture, generally referring to the Roman Empire), the inhabited earth.
4. Ge - soil, earth, ground, region, territory, a land within fixed boundaries.
GE Strongs G#1093
Jesus concentrated His efforts on the Jews to whom He was sent. In John 17:4, He says, "I have glorified thee on the earth ("ge"). I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."
In Matthew 24:30, it says, "And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth ("ge") mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
Luke 18:8 says, ...."I tell you that he will avenge them speedily, nevertheless; when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ("ge")?"
Jesus here was speaking a parable to the nation of Israel, a nation of tribes. He was speaking of God's judgment that was coming against them.
Two other notable references that exemplify the Greek word "ge" are Revelation 1:7 and Acts 3:25.
Kosmos Strongs G#2889
"Kosmos" is often used to refer to the Jews in a broader sense, that is to their present order or arrangement of Old Covenant Judaism. This Greek word "kosmos" is used by Jesus as He prays in the garden prior to His crucifixion in John 17:6. "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world ("kosmos"): thine they were, and thou gavest them me and they have kept thy word."
The Greek word "kosmos" was also used in John 17:14-16. Jesus' teaching was confined to the "kosmos" of the Jews. His disciples were in the world "kosmos" but no longer a part of the existing arrangement of Judaism; they were now followers of Jesus. (John 17:18) Jesus had come to reach for His "kosmos", to reach for those in the existing arrangement of Judaism. (Matthew 15:24, Luke 11:50)
Oikoumene Strongs G#3625
The Greek word "oikoumene" is used in the following Scriptures which illustrate the 1st century understanding of this word:
Acts 17:6, Romans 10:18, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 16:14
The Jewish historian Josephus verified the fact that the Romans ruled the whole world. Josephus said: “I am at amity with and well respected by the Romans, who, I may say so are rulers of the whole world”. ("oikoumene”) “And the inhabitable world ("oikoumene") was subjected to them”. (the Romans) Josephus, Antiquities 15.11.1 & 19.2.4
Aion Strongs G#165
The word "Aion" has its use in Scripture as age noting the end of the Old Covenant, not the end of time. Many people when they read the Scriptures mistake the word world, ("aion") to mean the end of this physical planet when it really means the end of the age. The end of their age was coming very soon, that is the end of the Old Covenant. The following Scriptures use the Greek word "aion" which means age:
Matthew 12:32, Matthew 13:39-40,49 (the harvest referred to here is the end of the world ("aion"), Matthew 24:3, Matthew 28:20, Mark 10:30, Acts 3:21, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 1:21, Hebrews 9:26.
As you can see, it is extremely important to consider the context when assigning a meaning to the terms rendered as world as well as the time and
understanding of the people being addressed.
If you notice above in Hebrews 9:26 there are two English words 'WORLD', However they have two different Greek words used. I have highlighted one in yellow and one in purple.
Many of the more modern translations of the English Bible have these words accurately rendered as "age" and not "world".
Above is Matthew 24:3 in the King James Version, Apocryphal New Testament, Young's Literal Translation and the Scriptures.
Please have a look at these verses for yourself and remember look into everything that has been presented and check for yourself as scripture says in 2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth".
