The Ivriyt word תֵּבֵל têbêl is a word that is construed by Strong’s as meaning the world. In the 36 instances in which this word appears in the Tanakh, 35 times it is interpreted as world. But in one instance, it isn’t. Let’s look at that verse for a minute and see what we can make of it.
Mishlei (Proverbs) 8:31
Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with את eth-the sons of men.
Pro 8:31 משׂחקת m’sachaq’oth בתבל b’tebel ארצו erets’u ושׁעשׁעי v’shasha’i את eth בני beni אדם Adam
Here, we see the interpreters suddenly discover that the word tebel now means the habitable part. How did they reach such a distinction?
Let us look a little closer at this word to gather its true meaning. Using a common Ivriyt (Hebrew) analytic, we can see the three letters found in this word to have the following meanings:
Tav: the mark of salvation;
Beyt: the house;
Lamed: the shepherd’s staff.
Therefore, the sod meaning of the word tebel is the house of the shepherd’s staff and the mark of salvation. Maybe that does mean habitable. While the Strong’s concordance shows its common interpretation as world, the true meaning is not a reference to the earth (erets) or the land (adamah); rather, it is a reference to that portion of the earth that is marked with salvation, and where the shepherd’s staff can be found.
Now let’s take a look at those critical passages where this word is found:
Divrei Hayamiym Ri’shon (1 Chronicles) 16:30
Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
Let’s consider this same verse with the hidden meaning installed and see if we can pull out more of this richness of this passage:
Fear before him, all the earth: that the house of the shepherd’s staff and the mark of salvation also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
Tehilliym (Psalms) 96:10
Say among the heathen that YAHUAH reigns: the [world] house of the shepherd’s staff and the mark of salvation also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
As we continue to explore this idea, let’s take a look at the Greek word which corresponds to this word tebel; and the word is kosmos!
The word κόσμος (kosmos) (G2889) is generally interpreted as an orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally). One could easily see that the word Kosmos means the moral, inhabited world; or the world of moral inhabitants; i.e., the house of the shepherd’s staff and the mark of salvation.
Here are a couple of key passages:
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 4:8
Again, the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world (the house of salvation), and the glory of them;
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 5:14
Ye are the light of the world (the house of salvation). A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 13:35
That it might be fulfilled את eth which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world (the house of salvation).
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 13:38
The field is the world (the house of salvation); the good seed are the children of the Kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Yahuchanon (John) 1:10
He was in the world (the house of salvation) and the world (the house of salvation) was made by him, and the world (the house of salvation) knew him not.
Yahuchanon (John) 3:16-17
For YAH so loved את eth-the world (the house of salvation), that he gave את eth-his את eth-yachiyd, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For YAH sent not his את eth-yachiyd into the world (the house of salvation) to condemn the world (the house of salvation); but that the world (the house of salvation) through him might be saved.
Of course, this is not necessarily an understanding set in stone, but one of several possibilities; yet this is the one which gives a spiritual meaning to the words tebel and kosmos when they are interpreted as the word world.