The
East in the Bible
In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words meaning east.
Hebrew: מִזְרָח —transliteration: mizrach or mizrah —meaning: place of sunrise, the east —occurrences: 74
The mizrah is in the direction of the rising of the sun.
Thus for people in the land of Israel, “the east country” is the lands lying to its east.
Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land where the sun rises and from the land where the sun sets —Zechariah 8:7
Hebrew: קֶדֶם —transliteration: kedem or qedem —meaning: east, front
So for an Israelite giving directions, the east is properly what is in front of him, or a country that is before or in front of another.
In pointing out the quarters of the Earth, a Hebrew always looked with his face toward the east.
In the Bible, the word kedem is used when the 4 quarters of the world are described (Genesis 13:14; 28:14); and mizrah when the east only is distinguished from the west (Josh. 11:3; Psalm 50:1; 103:12, etc.).
In Genesis 25:6 “eastward” is literally “unto the land of kedem;” i.e., the lands lying east of Israel, namely, Arabia, Mesopotamia, etc.
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