Foundation - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

FOUNDATION

foun-da'-shun:

In Hebrew the words for "foundation" are mostly derivatives from yacadh, "to found," and in Greek two words are used:

one, katabole, of "foundation of the world" (Mark 13:35; 15:34; Luke 11:50; John 17:24, etc.); the other, themelios, of the foundation of a building (Luke 6:48,49; 14:29; Acts 16:26, etc.), in which sense it is also used metaphorically in various connections (Christ the foundation of the church, 1 Corinthians 3:11; or the apostles and prophets the foundation, with Christ as corner-stone, Ephesians 2:20; the foundation of repentance, Hebrews 6:1, etc.). In Psalms 11:3, "if the foundations be destroyed," the Hebrew word is shath. In Jeremiah 50:15, the Revised Version (British and American) reads "bulwarks" for "foundations"; conversely in Psalms 89:14; 97:2, for the King James Version "habitation," the Revised Version (British and American) reads "foundation," and in Isaiah 6:4 for the King James Version "posts," reads "foundations."

James Orr

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'FOUNDATION'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.