Nature

Bibliography

E. Griffith-Jones, “Nature and Natural Phenomena,” HDCG (1908), II, 233-235; W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1957); M. H. Cressey, “Nature,” NBD (1962), 869, 870.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

nat’-u-ral, na’-tur (leach; psuchikos, phusikos, phusis) :

1. As Used in the Old Testament:

"Natural" is the translation of leach, "freshness or vigor" (De 34:7). Of Moses it is said, "His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated."

"Nature" in the sense of a system or constitution does not occur in the Old Testament. The world and men, each individual, were conceived as being the direct creation of a supra-mundane God, and conserved by His power and Spirit. The later conception of "nature" came in through Greek influences.

In the Apocrypha, we find "nature" in the sense of innate character or constitution (The Wisdom of Solomon 7:20, "the natures (phuseis) of living creatures"; The Wisdom of Solomon 13:1, "Surely vain are all men by nature" (phusei), 3 Macc 3:29, "mortal nature" (phusis)).

2. As Used in the New Testament: