DEPTHS (מְצﯴלָה, H5185, meaning deep [Exod 15:5; Ps 68:22]; עֵ֫מֶק, H6677, meaning deep area or valley [Prov 9:18]; תְּהﯴם, H9333, meaning depth of sea or primeval ocean [Job 28:14]; ἄβυσσος, G12, meaning bottomless abyss [Luke 8:31]; βάθος, G958, [Mark 4:5; Rom 8:39]). The concept of “depths” or the “deep” in the Biblical world verged on the mysterious. The Babylonians believed that the primeval ocean is that which was the source of the universe. The ocean personified as Tiamat is ultimately defeated by Marduk, the god of Babylon, and becomes divided into the heavens above and the earth beneath. The ancient Hebrews along with other Near Eastern peoples thought of the earth as lying flat on top of a subterranean ocean. In Egyp. funerary texts part of the nether world is an underground body of water. Tehom in Ugaritic appears as thm and as the dual thmtm (the two deeps, U.T. #2537) and shows the division of heaven and earth.

Even though there are three Heb. words tr. as “depths” or “deep,” tehom is by far the most common word. It is almost always in a context, either literally or figuratively, of primordial waters. Leviathan, the mythological sea monster often referred to symbolically, is said to dwell in the depths (Isa 27:1). It is evident that the concept of the after-life or the nether world is not quite as developed in the OT as it is in the NT. The spiritual world beyond the grave is somewhat obscure, even though the God of the ages has a place for believers quite separate from the dwelling place of the wicked.

Abussos is the Gr. word which is parallel to the Heb. tehom. It is the bottomless pit of the Book of Revelation and a place of punishment. Bathos is not quite as “negative” as abussos and is used often in a fig. way as illustrated in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “...nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God...” (Rom 8:39).

Bibliography J. Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (1957); C. F. Pfeiffer, “Lotan and Leviathan,” EQ 32 (1960), 208f; G. L. Archer, A Survey of the Old Testament Introduction (1964); C. H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook (1965), 497; T. H. Gaster, Myth, Legend and Custom in the OT (1969).