BELLY

bel'-i: gachon = "the external abdomen" (Genesis 3:14; Leviticus 11:42). qobhah = "the abdominal cavity" (Numbers 25:8 the American Standard Revised Version "body"). beTen = "the internal abdomen," "the womb" (1 Kings 7:20; Job 15:2,35 the King James Version; Job 20:15,23; 40:16; Psalms 17,14; Proverbs 13:25; 18:20; Jeremiah 1:5; Ezekiel 3:3); also figuratively "the internal regions," "the body of anything" (Jonah 2:2). me`eh = "intestines," "abdomen" (Daniel 2:32; Jonah 1:17; 2:1-2). In the New Testament koilia = "a cavity," espec ially the abdominal (Matthew 12:40; 15:17; Mark 7:19); the seat of appetite and of the carnal affections (Romans 16:18; 1 Corinthians 6:13; Philippians 3:19; Revelation 10:9-10); the innermost of the soul (the American Revised Version, margin John 7:38).

Frank E. Hirsch

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.