EAST. The Hebrews express the East, West, North, and South, by words which signify, before, behind, left, and right, according to the situation of a man with his face turned towards the East. By the East they describe frequently not only Arabia Deserta, and the lands of Moab and Ammon, which lay indeed to the East of Palestine; but Assyria likewise, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Chaldæa, which lie rather to the North than to the East of Judæa. See hereafter KEDEM; where we shall shew that by the word Kedem, or East, the Hebrews often understood the countries beyond the Euphrates, and those which, rigorously speaking, are rather to the North than East of Palestine.
Library / Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged
Volume I · E
East
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Augustin Calmet, O.S.B., “East,” in Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged, English translation, Mind of the Church, https://mindofthechurch.com/works/calmet-dictionary/e/east/.