χώρα

χώρα — chṓra

χώρα, χώρας, ἡ (ΧΑΩ (cf. Curtius, § 179), to lie open, be ready to receive), from Homer down, the Sept. for אֶרֶץ, מְדִינָה 'a province';

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, Joh 11:54; (in an elliptical phrase, ἡ ἀστραπή (ἡ) ἀστράπτουσα ἐκ τῆς ὑπό τόν οὐρανόν εἰς τήν ὑπ' οὐρανόν λάμπει, A. V. part... part, Luk 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, Act 27:27; land as inhabited, a province or country, Mar 5:10; ( L marginal reading T Tr WH); Luk 15:13-15; Luk 19:12; Act 13:49; with a genitive of the name of the region added: Τραχωνίτιδος, Luk 3:1; τῆς Ἰουδαίας, Act 26:20; ((or an equivalent adjective)) Γαλατικη, Act 16:6; Act 18:23; τῶν Ἰουδαίων, Act 10:39; plural τῆς Ἰουδαίας καί Σαμαρείας (A. V. regions), Act 8:1; ἐν χώρα καί σκιά θανάτου, in a region of densest darkness (see σκιά, a), Mat 4:16; τίνος, the country of one, Mat 2:12; χώρα for its inhabitants, Mar 1:5; Act 12:20; the (rural) region environing a city or village, the country, Luk 2:8; Γεργεσηνῶν, Γερασηνῶν, Γαδαρηνῶν, Mat 8:28; Mar 5:1; Luk 8:26; the region with towns and villages which surrounds the metropolis, Joh 11:55.

3. land which is plowed or cultivated, ground: Luk 12:16; plural, Luk 21:21 (R. V. country); Joh 4:35 (A. V. fields); Jas 5:4 (A. V. fields). (Synonym: see τόπος, at the end.)