East. The Hebrew term, kedem, properly means that which is before or in front of a person, and was applied to the east, from the custom of turning in that direction, when describing the points of the compass, before, behind, the right and the left representing respectively east, west, south and north. Job 23:8-9.

The term as generally used refers to the lands lying immediately eastward of Palestine, namely, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Babylonia; on the other hand, mizrach, is used of the far east with a less definite signification. Isaiah 42:2; Isaiah 42:25; Isaiah 43:5; Isaiah 46:11.