The meaning of West in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
(1) Usually (yam), "sea" because the Mediterranean lies to the West of Palestine; not usually in figurative expressions; but compare Hosea 11:10. (2) Often (ma'arabh); compare Arabic (gharb), and (maghrib), "west" (maghrib-ush-shems), or simply (maghrib), "sunset." (3) (mebho' ha-chemesh), "entrance of the sun," (mabho', bo'), "to come in." (Just as mizrach, is the rising of the sun, or east, so mabho' (or ma'arabh), is the setting of the sun, or west: "From the rising of the sun (mizrach-shemesh) unto the going down (mabho) thereof" (Psalms 50:1; compare Psalms 113:3; Malachi 1:11).) (4) (dusme, from duo), "to enter," "sink," "set." The Greek usage is parallel to the Hebrew just cited: "Many shall come from the east anatole, "rising") and the west" (dusme, "setting") (Matthew 8:11).
The chief figurative use of the word "west" is in combination with "east" to denote great or infinite distance, as:
"As far as the east is from the west,
So far hath he removed our transgressions
from us" (Psalms 103:12).
Alfred Ely Day
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