| Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin, 2. (n.) That which swallows; the gullet. 3. (n.) That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy. 4. (n.) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially land-locked sea; as, the Gulf of Mexico. 5. (n.) A large deposit of ore in a lode. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia GULF (chasma, "a chasm," "vent," "a gaping opening"-a great interval; from chaino, "to gape" or "yawn"): Occurs only in Luke 16:26, "Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed" (compare "afar off" in 16:23). This is very different from, though it probably reflects, the rabbinical conception of the separation between the two compartments of Hades (Sheol) by "a hand's breadth," "a wall," or even, later, "a chasm," as the parable can be given here only a figurative significance, and is of purely ethical import. The fundamental difference between the Rich Man and Lazarus lies not in their conditions but in their characters. For "besides all this" (16:26) the Revised Version, margin gives "in all these things," thus implying that the moral distinctions which exist in this life (16:25) become more pronounced ("fixed") in the next world, and the "gulf" is impassable in the sense that a change of condition will not necessarily produce a change of soul.
See also ABRAHAM'S BOSOM; HADES.
M. O. Evans | Multi-Version Concordance Gulf (3 Occurrences) Luke 16:26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.' (WEB KJV ASV WBS) Psalms 5:9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is very wickedness; Their throat is an open sepulchre; They flatter with their tongue. (See JPS) Isaiah 11:15 And the Lord will make the tongue of the Egyptian sea completely dry; and with his burning wind his hand will be stretched out over the River, and it will be parted into seven streams, so that men may go over it with dry feet. (See NIV) | 
