FOUNDATION (יָסַד֒, H3569, to found; καταβολή, G2856, founding, and θεμέλιος, G2529, foundation stone).

The word is used in both a literal and a metaphorical sense. The ancients realized the necessity of sinking the foundations of a house down to the bedrock (Luke 6:48f.). The foundation of Solomon’s Temple consisted of large (12 x 15 ft.), costly, and carefully dressed blocks of stone (1 Kings 5:17). The Babylonian records show that the laying of a foundation was sometimes accompanied by human sacrifice; such sacrifice is prob. suggested in 1 Kings 16:34, where it is said that Hiel built Jericho “at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub.” The word is used metaphorically for the ultimate basis on which a thing rests (Job 4:19; Ezek 13:14; Matt 7:25; Luke 6:48) and for anything immovably established, like the inhabited world (Ps 18:15), the mountains (Deut 32:22), and the vault of heaven (Amos 9:6). The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20). See House.