This word, which is used by English writers in only two senses, viz. to denote either the quarter of the heavens where the sun rises, or the regions in the eastern part of the world, has frequently three senses in the Authorized Version of the Bible. Thus, it is sometimes used to mean the sun-rising (), 'as far as the east is from the west;' and very frequently it corresponds to kedem, the name given by the ancient Hebrews to a certain region, without any regard to its relation to the eastern part of the heavens, comprehending not only Arabia Deserta and the lands of Moab and Ammon, which really lay to the east of Palestine, but also Armenia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Chaldea, which were situated rather to the north than the east of Judea. Its geographical boundaries include Syria, the countries beyond the Tigris and Euphrates, the shores of the Indian Ocean and of the Arabian Gulf. The name given to this entire region by the Hebrews was the land of Kedem or East, and its miscellaneous population were called by them Sons of the East, or Orientals. It seems that the inhabitants of this region were distinguished for their proficiency in the arts and sciences (comp. ), and were addicted in the time of Isaiah to superstition (). The wise men, who came from the East to Jerusalem at the birth of the Savior, no doubt belonged to this tract of country, 'saying, We have seen his star in the East.' Campbell remarks that 'to see either star or meteor in the east,' means, in English, to see it in the East-quarter of the heavens, or looking eastward. But this cannot be the Evangelist's meaning. The meaning manifestly is, that when the magians themselves were in the East, they saw the star. So far were they from seeing the star in the East, according to the English acceptation of the phrase, that they must have seen it in the West, as they were by its guidance brought out of the East country westwards to Jerusalem.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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