The Deep
Holman Bible Dictionary [1]
Genesis 1:2 Psalm 104:5-7 Proverbs 8:22-31 Psalm 33:7
In the account of the Exodus from Egypt, God's action in parting the waters for the Israelites to pass is expressed poetically as a dividing of the waters of the deep ( Exodus 15:8 ). God held the waters in place as the Israelites crossed the sea, and released the waters when they reached the other side, shielding them from the Egyptians ( Psalm 77:16-20 ). This was, theologically speaking, an act of creation—creating a people for the Lord, by freeing them from slavery in Egypt.
The waters of the deep can be destructive or constructive, curse or blessing. When the waters of the deep burst their bounds, the result is a flood ( Genesis 7:11 ). At the extreme described in Genesis 7:1 , it is a reversal of creation which can only be checked when God again sends the wind or spirit ( ruah ) which began creation ( Genesis 1:2 ) and closes the fountains of the deep ( Genesis 8:1-3 ). Storms at sea are also associated with the deep ( Psalm 107:23-26; compare Jonah 2:6 ). In the poetry of the Psalms, the deep is a metaphor for the trials of life which seem overwhelming ( Psalm 69:14-15 ). It could even represent the abode of the dead ( Psalm 71:20 ).
On the other hand, the waters of the deep are a blessing, without which life could not continue. Deuteronomy 8:7 describes the Promised Land as a land of brooks, fountains, and deeps, which irrigate the land so that grain and fruit can be grown ( Ezekiel 31:4 ). When Jacob blessed his son Joseph with “blessings of the deep that lieth under,” he was attempting to bestow fertility on Joseph and his offspring and on their land ( Genesis 49:25; compare Deuteronomy 33:13-17 ). As blessing and as curse, the deep reflects as power which only the creator God can control ( Psalm 95:4 ).
The Greek Bible or Septuagint translated tehom as “abyss,” bringing it into relationship with the pit, the abode of the dead ( Romans 10:7 ) and place of evil spirits ( Luke 8:31 ), including the beast of the apocalypse ( Revelation 17:8 ).
Wilda W. Morris
Morrish Bible Dictionary [2]
ἄβυσσος. In Romans 10:7 'the deep' probably refers to the deep sea, for in Deuteronomy 30:13 (from whence the quotation is made) it is "Who shall go over the sea for us?" and the sea is called 'the deep' elsewhere, as Isaiah 51:10; Isaiah 63:13 , etc. In Luke 8:31 'the deep' refers to the abyss where evil spirits are confined. It is probably the place where the fallen angels are reserved in chains of darkness, 2 Peter 2:4 , where the reference is to tartarus, not gehenna. See Bottomless PIT.
