Topical Bible: Eastern

◄ Eastern ►

Jump to: ISBE • Webster's • Concordance • Thesaurus • Greek • Hebrew • Library • Subtopics • Terms

Topical Encyclopedia

The term "Eastern" in the biblical context often refers to the geographical and cultural regions located to the east of Israel. This includes areas such as Mesopotamia, Persia, and parts of Arabia. The Bible frequently mentions these regions, highlighting their significance in the historical and spiritual narrative of the Scriptures.

Geographical Significance

The "East" or "Eastern" lands are often associated with the origins of various peoples and cultures mentioned in the Bible. For instance, Genesis 2:8 states, "Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man He had formed." This reference to the east as the location of Eden underscores its foundational role in the biblical creation narrative.

Additionally, the Eastern regions were known for their wealth and resources. The visit of the Magi, or wise men from the East, to worship the newborn Jesus (Matthew 2:1-2) illustrates the connection between the East and the recognition of divine events. These Magi, likely from Persia or Babylon, brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, symbolizing the richness and spiritual insight associated with the East.

Cultural and Spiritual Influence

The Eastern lands were home to several significant biblical figures and events. Abraham, the patriarch of Israel, originated from Ur of the Chaldeans, located in Mesopotamia (Genesis 11:31). This connection highlights the Eastern roots of the Israelite nation and the broader narrative of God's covenant with His people.

The Eastern regions also played a role in the dispersion and exile of the Israelites. The Babylonian Exile, a pivotal event in Jewish history, saw the people of Judah taken captive to Babylon, an Eastern empire (2 Kings 24:14). This period of exile and eventual return to the Promised Land is a recurring theme in the prophetic books, emphasizing themes of judgment, repentance, and restoration.

Symbolism and Prophecy

In biblical prophecy, the East often symbolizes both judgment and hope. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the "kings of the East" as instruments of God's judgment (Isaiah 41:2), while also envisioning a future where the glory of the Lord will be revealed to all nations, including those in the East (Isaiah 60:1-3).

The book of Revelation also references the East in its apocalyptic visions. Revelation 16:12 describes the drying up of the Euphrates River to prepare the way for the kings from the East, indicating a significant role for Eastern powers in the end times.

Conclusion

The concept of "Eastern" in the Bible encompasses a rich tapestry of geographical, cultural, and spiritual elements. From the origins of humanity in Eden to the prophetic visions of the end times, the East serves as a backdrop for God's unfolding plan of redemption and His interactions with humanity throughout history.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (a.) Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental; as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries.

2. (a.) Going toward the east, or in the direction of east; as, an eastern voyage.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

EAST (EASTERN), SEA

es'-tern (Zechariah 14:8).

See DEAD SEA.

SEA, DEAD; EASTERN

es'-tern.

See DEAD SEA.

Greek

2135. eunouchos -- a eunuch
... yoo-noo'-khos) Short Definition: a eunuch, keeper of the bed-chamber Definition:
(a) a chamberlain, keeper of the bed-chamber of an eastern potentate, eunuch ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2135.htm - 7k

5435. Phrugia -- Phrygia, a region of Asia Minor
... Phrygia Definition: Phrygia, an ethnic district in Asia Minor, the north-western
part of which was in the Roman province Asia and the south-eastern part in the ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5435.htm - 6k

4529. Salamis -- Salamis, the chief city of Cyprus
... of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: Salamis Phonetic Spelling: (sal-am-ece')
Short Definition: Salamis Definition: Salamis, a city at the eastern end of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4529.htm - 6k

3934. Parthos -- a Parthian, an inhabitant of Parthia
... Parthos Phonetic Spelling: (par'-thos) Short Definition: a Parthian Definition:
a Parthian, an inhabitant of the country beyond the eastern boundary of the ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3934.htm - 6k

2587. Kappadokia -- Cappadocia, a province of Asia Minor
... Kappadokia Phonetic Spelling: (kap-pad-ok-ee'-ah) Short Definition: Cappadocia
Definition: Cappadocia, a large Roman province in the central eastern part of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2587.htm - 6k

3459. mulon -- mill.
... stone (it occurs only in Mt 24:41). See 3458 (). The old-styled, Eastern
#NAME? people. One person dropped a handful of grain on ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3459.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

6930. qadmon -- eastern
... 6929, 6930. qadmon. 6931 . eastern. Transliteration: qadmon Phonetic
Spelling: (kad-mone') Short Definition: eastern. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/6930.htm - 6k

6931. qadmoni -- former, eastern
... 6930, 6931. qadmoni or qadmoni. 6932 . former, eastern. Transliteration: qadmoni
or qadmoni Phonetic Spelling: (kad-mo-nee') Short Definition: east. ...
/hebrew/6931.htm - 6k

6252b. Ashtoreth -- an ancient Near Eastern goddess
... 6252a, 6252b. Ashtoreth or Ashtaroth. 6253 . an ancient Near Eastern goddess.
Transliteration: Ashtoreth or Ashtaroth Short Definition: Ashtaroth. ...
/hebrew/6252b.htm - 5k

6924b. qedem -- eastward, toward the east
... Word Origin from the same as qedem Definition eastward, toward the east NASB Word
Usage east (9), east side (2), east* (2), eastern (1), eastward (10), side (1 ...
/hebrew/6924b.htm - 5k

6539. Paras -- a country in W. Asia which conquered Bab.
... Persia, Persians. Of foreign origin; Paras (ie Persia), an Eastern country, including
its inhabitants -- Persia, Persians. 6538, 6539. Paras. 6540 . ...
/hebrew/6539.htm - 6k

6932. Qedemoth -- a city in Reuben
... Kedemoth. From qadam; beginnings; Kedemoth, a place in eastern Palestine -- Kedemoth.
see HEBREW qadam. 6931, 6932. Qedemoth or Qedemoth. 6933 . ...
/hebrew/6932.htm - 6k

4217. mizrach -- place of sunrise, the east
... Word Origin from zarach Definition place of sunrise, the east NASB Word Usage east
(41), east side (2), east side* (2), east* (9), eastern (2), eastward (5 ...
/hebrew/4217.htm - 6k

2341. Chavilah -- a son of Cush, also a son of Joktan, also ...
... Havilah. Probably from chuwl; circular; Chavilah, the name of two or three eastern
regions; also perhaps of two men -- Havilah. see HEBREW chuwl. 2340, 2341. ...
/hebrew/2341.htm - 6k

Library

Hymns of the Eastern Church
Hymns of the Eastern Church. <. Hymns of the Eastern Church John Mason
Neale. Table of Contents. Title Page. PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/neale/hymns of the eastern church/

Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church
Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church. <. Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church John
Brownlie. Table of Contents. Title Page. PREFACE. GREEK INDEX. INTRODUCTION. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/brownlie/hymns of the holy eastern church/

The Morn Awakes; from Eastern Hills
... MORNING The morn awakes; from eastern hills. tr., John Brownlie 8.8.8.8. I. The
morn awakes; from eastern hills. The golden light creation fills; ...
/.../brownlie/hymns of the apostolic church/the morn awakes from eastern.htm

See, from the Eastern Hills, the Morn
... MORNING See, from the eastern hills, the morn. tr., John Brownlie 8.8.8.8.8.8. I.
See, from the eastern hills, the morn. Its glowing shafts unsparing flings; ...
/.../brownlie/hymns of the apostolic church/see from the eastern hills.htm

The Morn Awakes; from Eastern Hills
... HYMNS OF THE EARLY CHURCH The morn awakes; from eastern hills. 8,8,8,8. The morn
awakes; from eastern hills. The golden light creation fills; ...
/.../brownlie/hymns of the early church/the morn awakes from eastern.htm

Epiphany 92. From the Eastern Mountains
... II. THE CHRISTIAN YEAR Epiphany 92. From the eastern mountains. 6.5, twelve lines ...
Godfrey Thring (1873-). From the eastern mountains,. Pressing on they come,. ...
/.../epiphany 92 from the eastern.htm

The Eastern Sects: Nestorians, Jacobites, Copts, Armenians.
... The Eastern Sects: Nestorians, Jacobites, Copts, Armenians. Literature. ... Also, A History
of the Holy Eastern Church, London, 1850, 2 vols. (Vol. II. ...
/.../ 21 the eastern sects .htm

Arrival of the Eastern High Priests at Rome; Letter of Julius ...
... Chapter VIII."Arrival of the Eastern High Priests at Rome; Letter of Julius, Bishop
of Rome, concerning them; by means of the Letters of Julius, Paul and ...
/.../the ecclesiastical history of sozomenus/chapter viii arrival of the eastern.htm

Appended Note on the Eastern Editions of Synodical Literature.
... Appended Note on the Eastern Editions of Synodical Literature. From the
presses of the East, especially those at Athens, a number ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/appended note on the eastern.htm

Personal Characteristics (See Stanley's Eastern Church, Lect. vii. ...
... Chapter III. Writings and Personal Characteristics of S. Athanasius Section 3. Personal
characteristics (see Stanley's Eastern Church, Lect. vii.). ...
/.../section 3 personal characteristics see.htm

Thesaurus

Eastern (22 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (a.) Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental;
as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries. ... EAST (EASTERN), SEA. ...
/e/eastern.htm - 14k

Seir (38 Occurrences)
... (2.) The name of a mountainous region occupied by the Edomites, extending along
the eastern side of the Arabah from the south-eastern extremity of the Dead Sea ...
/s/seir.htm - 21k

Zobah (15 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary =Aram-Zobah, (Psalm 60, title), a Syrian province or kingdom
to the south of Coele-Syria, and extending from the eastern slopes of ...
/z/zobah.htm - 15k

Ophel (6 Occurrences)
... This wall has been discovered by the engineers of the Palestine Exploration
Fund at the south-eastern angle of the temple area. ...
/o/ophel.htm - 14k

Lycaonia (2 Occurrences)
... of a level plain, waterless and treeless, rising at its southern fringe for some
distance into the foothills of Taurus, and broken on its eastern side by the ...
/l/lycaonia.htm - 10k

Riblah (12 Occurrences)
... Fruitful, an ancient town on the northern frontier of Palestine, 35 miles
north-east of Baalbec, and 10 or 12 south of Lake Homs, on the eastern bank of the ...
/r/riblah.htm - 14k

Edomites (22 Occurrences)
... This district was traversed by the ancient caravan road to South Palestine; and
along the eastern side traces of the former civilization are still to be seen. ...
/e/edomites.htm - 23k

Hinnom (11 Occurrences)
... In favor of the eastern or Kidron valley we have the facts that Eusebius and Jerome
(Onom) place "Gehennom" under the eastern wall of Jerusalem and the Moslem ...
/h/hinnom.htm - 18k

East (228 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) The eastern parts of the earth; the regions or countries which lie
east of Europe; the orient. ... AW Fortune. EAST (EASTERN), SEA. ...
/e/east.htm - 51k

Manasseh (140 Occurrences)
... Ephraim (Joshua 16). Thus the western Manasseh defended the passes of Esdraelon
as the eastern kept the passes of the Hauran. (2.) The ...
/m/manasseh.htm - 68k

Resources

What is the significance of the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem? | GotQuestions.org

What is the Eastern Star organization, and are they related to the Free Masons? | GotQuestions.org

What is the Eastern Orthodox Church and what are the beliefs of Orthodox Christians? | GotQuestions.org

Eastern: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Eastern (22 Occurrences)

Genesis 10:30
And their dwelling was from Mesha, as one goes to Sephar, the eastern mountain.
(DBY NIV)

Genesis 29:1
Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east.
(See NIV)

Numbers 23:7
And he took up his parable, and said: From Aram Balak bringeth me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: 'Come, curse me Jacob, and come, execrate Israel.'
(See RSV NIV)

Numbers 34:10
And ye shall mark out for you as eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham:
(DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:19
And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the eastern extremity of Jericho.
(DBY NAS NIV)

Joshua 12:1
Now these are the kings of the land, whom the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising, from the valley of Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the Arabah eastward:
(See NIV)

Joshua 12:3
and the Arabah unto the sea of Chinneroth, eastward, and unto the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward, the way to Beth-jeshimoth; and on the south, under the slopes of Pisgah;
(See NIV)

Joshua 15:5
And the eastern border was the salt sea as far as the end of the Jordan. And the border on the north side was from the tongue of the salt sea, at the end of the Jordan;
(DBY NIV)

Joshua 18:20
And the Jordan was to be the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the borders thereof round about, according to their families.
(See RSV NIV)

Judges 6:3
And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
(See NIV)

Judges 6:33
Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
(See NIV)

Judges 7:12
Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude.
(See NIV)

Judges 8:10
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
(See NIV)

Judges 11:18
Then he walked through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they pitched on the other side of the Arnon; but they came not within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
(See NIV)

2 Chronicles 31:14
And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter at the east gate, was over the freewill-offerings of God, to distribute the offerings of the LORD, and the most holy things.
(See NAS)

Ezekiel 45:7
As to the prince, on this side, and on that side, of the heave-offering of the holy place, and of the possession of the city, at the front of the heave-offering of the holy place, and at the front of the possession of the city, from the west corner westward, and from the east corner eastward -- and the length 'is' over-against one of the portions from the west border unto the east border --
(See RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 47:8
Then said he to me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 47:18
And the east quarter 'is' from between Havran, and Damascus, and Gilead, and the land of Israel, 'to' the Jordan; from the border over-against the eastern sea ye measure: and 'this is' the east quarter.
(YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 48:10
And of these is the holy heave-offering for the priests, northward five and twenty thousand, and westward 'in' breadth ten thousand, and eastward 'in' breadth ten thousand, and southward 'in' length five and twenty thousand: and the sanctuary of Jehovah hath been in its midst.
(See RSV)

Ezekiel 48:21
And the residue 'is' for the prince, on this side and on that side of the heave-offering of the holy 'portion', and of the possession of the city, on the front of the five and twenty thousand of the heave-offering unto the east border, and westward, on the front of the five and twenty thousand on the west border, over-against the portions of the prince; and the heave-offering of the holy 'portion', and the sanctuary of the house, hath been in its midst.
(See NIV)

Joel 2:20
But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise." Surely he has done great things.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Zechariah 14:8
It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Eastern

Related Terms

Eastern (22 Occurrences)

Westerns (1 Occurrence)

East-gate (1 Occurrence)