East is the rendering of the following terms in the English Bible. See GEOciR.vriiy.
1. ri~7"9, miz)-ach', properly denotes the rising, sc.
of the sun, and strictly corresponds with the Gr. c'lva-. ToXij, and the Lat. oricns. It is used tropically for the east indefinitely (Psa. ciii, 12 ; Dan. viii, 9 ; Amos viii, 12, etc.) ; also definitely for some place in rela- tion to others, thus, "The land of the east," i. e. the country lying to the east of Syria, the Elymais (Zech. viii, 7); "tlie east of Jericho" (Josh, iv, 19); "the east gate" (Neh. iii, 29), and adverbially "eastward" (1 Chron. vii, 28 ; ix, 24, etc.). Sometimes the full expression d^d~n'nT'2, sun-rise, is used (indefinitely, Isa. xli, 25 ; definitely, Judg. xi, 18). See below.
2. S"1J5, le'dem (with its modifications), properly means what is in front of, before (comp. Psa. cxxxix, 5 ; Isa. ix, 11 fl2]). As the Hebrews, in pointing out the quarters, looked towards the east, t:''['^,fore, came to signifj' the east, as ^'^MX, lehind, the west, and ■|""C|^, the right hand, the south. In this sense kedem is used («) indefinitely. Gen. xi, 2 ; xiii, 11, etc. ; (6) relativel}-. Num. xxxiv, 11, etc. ; (c) definitely, to de- note the regions lying to the east of Palestine (Gen. xxix, 1 ; Num. xxiii, 7 ; Isa. ix, 11 ; sometimes in the full form, n"!!?"""^?*;, ^^ land of the east" (Gen xxv, 6), the inhabitants of which are denominated C'lp~":3. ^'■children of the east." See Bene-Kedem.
Sometimes kedem and mizrach are iised together (c. g. Exod. xxvii, 13; Josh, xix, 12), which is, after all, not so tautological as it appears to be in our transla- tion "on the east side eastward." Bearing in mind this etymological distinction, it is natural that kedem should be used when the /c.«r quarters of the world are described (as in Gen. xiii, 14 ; xxviii, 14 ; Job xxiii, 8, 9 ; Ezek. xlvii, 18 sq.), and mizrach when the cast is onl}' distinguished from the urst (Josh, xi, 3 ; Psa. 1, 1 ; ciii, 12; cxiii, 3; Zech. viii, 7), or from some other one quarter (Dan. viii, 9; xi, 44; Amos viii, 12); exceptions to this usage occur in Psa. cvii, 3, and Isa. xliii, 5, each, however, admitting of explanation. Again, kedem is used in a strictly geographical sense to describe a spot or country immediately bifore an- other in an easterh' direction ; hence it occurs in such passages as Gen. ii, 8; iii, 24; xi, 2; xiii, 11; xxv, C ; and hence the subsequent application of the term, as a proper name (Gen. xxv, C, castirard, unto the land of Kedem), to the lands lying immediately eastward of Palestine, viz. Arabia, Mesojjotamia, Babylonia, etc. ; on the other hand, mizrach is used of the far east with a less definite signification (Isa. xli, 2, 25; xliii, 5; xlvi, 11). In describing aspiect or direction, the terms are used indifferently (comp. kedem in Lev. i, IG, and Josh, vii, 2, with mizrach in 2 Chron. v, 12, and 1 Chron. V, 10). See AVest, etc.
" The East" is the name given by the ancient He- brews to a certain region, without any regard to its relation to the eastern part of the heavens, conqire- hending not only Arabia Deserta and the lands of Moab and Ammon, which really lay to the east of Pal- estine, but also Armenia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Bab- ylonia, and Chalda>a, which were situated rather to the north than the cast of Judaea. Its geograi)hicaI boundaries include Syria, the countries bejoud the Tigris and Euphrates, and the shores of the Indian Ocean and of the Arabian Gulf The name given to this entire region by the Hebrews was Cli? ""X {avaToXij), or the land of Kedem or East ; hj the Bab- ylonians it was called "*i^', or 'Apaj-iia, Arabia. Its miscellaneous population were called by the former "sons of the East," or Orientals, and by the latter either Arnhians, or the "people of the West." The .Jews themselves also applj' to them the Babylonian name in some of their books written after the Cajitiv- ity (2 Chron. xxii, 1 ; Neh. ii, 9). The Arabs ancient- ly denominated themselves, and do to this day, by cither of these names. To this region belong the "kings of the East" (Isa. xix, 11; Jer. xxv, 19-25,
EAST
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EAST
Heb.). The following passages maj' suffice as in- stances showing the arbitrarj' application of the temi "east" to this region. Balaam says that Balak, king of Moab, had brought him from the mountains of the east (Num. xxiii, 7), i. e. from Pethor on the Euphra- tes. Isaiah places Syria in the east (ix, 11), " the Syr- ians from the east" (bishop Lowth). Tlie distinction seems evident in Gen. xxix, 1, " Jacob came unto the land of the cliildren of the East." It occurs again in Judg. vi, 3, " Even the children of the East came against them" (Sejjt. ol vloi dvaroXioi' ; Vulg. caieri Orientalium nationum). The preceding facts enable us to account for the prodigious numbers of persons some- times assembled in war against the Israelites (Judg. vi, 5 ; vii, 12), "and the children of the East were like grasshoppers for multitude," and for the astonishing carnage recorded (Judg. viii, 10), "there fell a hun- dred and twenty thousand men that drew the sword." It seems that the inhabitants of this region were dis- tinguished for their proficiency in the arts and sciences (comp. 1 Kings i, 4, 30), and were addicted in the time of Isaiah to superstition (Isa. xxvi). See Arabia.