par ́a-dīs (פּרדּס, pardēṣ; παράδεισος, parádeisos):
A word probably of Persian origin meaning a royal park. See GARDEN. The word occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures but 3 times: Song of Solomon 4:13, where it is translated “an orchard”; Nehemiah 2:8, where it is translated “a forest” (the Revised Version margin “park”); Ecclesiastes 2:5, where it is in the plural number (the King James Version “orchards,” the Revised Version “parks”). But it was early introduced into the Greek language, being made specially familiar by Xenophon upon his return from the expedition of Cyrus the Younger to Babylonia (see Anab. i. 2, section 7; 4, section 9; Cyrop. i. 3, section 14). In Septuagint the word is of frequent use in translating other terms of kindred significance. The Garden of Eden became “the paradise of pleasure or luxury” (Genesis 2:15; 3:23; Joel 2:3). The valley of the Jordan became ‘the paradise of God’ (Genesis 13:10). In Ezekiel 31:8-9, according to Septuagint, there is no tree in the ‘paradise of God’ equal to that which in the prophet’s vision symbolizes the glory of Assyria. The figures in the first 9 verses of this chapter may well have been suggested by what the prophet had himself seen of parks in the Persian empire.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Paradise, Garden of Eden, Eden, Heaven, River of life, Paradise garden Eden, Persian garden
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.