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(1.) The orient (mizrah); the rising of the sun. Thus "the east country" is the country lying to the east of Syria, the Elymais (Zechariah 8:7).
(2). Properly what is in front of one, or a country that is before or in front of another; the rendering of the word kedem. In pointing out the quarters, a Hebrew always looked with his face toward the east. The word kedem is used when the four quarters of the world are described (Genesis 13:14; 28:14); and mizrah when the east only is distinguished from the west (Joshua 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 Palestine, namely, Arabia, Mesopotamia, etc.
East, Children of the
The Arabs as a whole, known as the Nabateans or Kedarenes, nomad tribes (Judges 6:3, 33; 7:12; 8:10).
East gate
(Jeremiah 19:2), properly the Potter's gate, the gate which led to the potter's field, in the valley of Hinnom.
East sea
(Joel 2:20; Ezek. 47:18), the Dead Sea, which lay on the east side of the Holy Land. The Mediterranean, which lay on the west, was hence called the "great sea for the west border" (Numbers 34:6).
East wind
The wind coming from the east (Job 27:21; Isaiah 27:8, etc.). Blight caused by this wind, "thin ears" (Genesis 41:6); the withered "gourd" (Jonah 4:8). It was the cause and also the emblem of evil (Ezek. 17:10; 19:12; Hosea 13:15). In Palestine this wind blows from a burning desert, and hence is destitute of moisture necessary for vegetation.
