THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

ranj: "Range" and "rank" have the same derivation, and in the sense of a "row" (of men, etc.) they were formerly interchangeable. "Range" with this meaning is found in 2Ki 11:8,15 the King James Version parallel 2Ch 23:14 (the Revised Version (British and American) "rank"; sedherah, "row"). Hence, "to range" is "to set in a line" (Judith 2:16; 2 Macc 12:20, diatasso) or "to move in a line" or, simply, "to roam," whence "a ranging bear" (Pr 28:15; shaqaq, "run to and fro"). A cooking "range" is a stove on which pots, etc., can be set in a row, but the kirayim of Le 11:35 is a much more primitive affair, composed, probably, of two plates (kirayim is a dual). In Job 39:8 "range of the mountains" is good modern use, but ythr, should be pointed yathur (not yethur as in Massoretic Text) and connected with tur, "search." So translate. "He searcheth out the mountains as his pasture."

Burton Scott Easton