Hebrew word · H4628
מַעֲרָב
umima'arav
west
'Place of the sun's going in / setting', so 'west'. It is connected with ʿerev, 'evening'. It is relatively rare (about 14 times), several of them in Isaiah 40–66 and Chronicles, usually paired with mizraḥ.
Appears 14 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
setting place, west, westward
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Psalm 103:12
- Range of meaning
'Place of the sun's going in / setting', so 'west'. It is connected with ʿerev, 'evening'. It is relatively rare (about 14 times), several of them in Isaiah 40–66 and Chronicles, usually paired with mizraḥ.
- Against the English
As with 'east', the English points to a direction. The Hebrew names the sunset horizon.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Isa 43:5; 45:6; 59:19, 'from the west… from the rising of the sun', meaning everywhere; 1 Chr 7:28; 12:15.
- Range of meaning
The place of evening or sunset, so 'west'. It is related to ʿerev, 'evening'. In Israel the west is also the direction of the Mediterranean Sea.
- Against the English
'West' in all versions, which is accurate.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Isa 43:5; 45:6 ('from the rising of the sun and from the west'); 59:19; Ps 103:12 and 107:3, where east and west together mean the whole earth.
Where it appears
1 Chronicles · 5
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1 Chronicles 7:28 וְלַֽמַּעֲרָ֗ב and to the west
Their holdings and settlements included Bethel and its villages, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its villages as far as Ayyah and its villages.
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1 Chronicles 12:15 וְלַֽמַּעֲרָֽב׃ ס and to the west
These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.
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1 Chronicles 26:16 לַֽמַּעֲרָ֔ב to the west
The lots for the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the ascending highway fell to Shuppim and Hosah. There were guards stationed at every watch.
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1 Chronicles 26:18 לַֽמַּעֲרָ֑ב to the west
As for the court on the west, there were four at the highway and two at the court.
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1 Chronicles 26:30 מַעְרָ֑בָה west -ward
From the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 capable men, had charge of the affairs of Israel west of the Jordan for all the work of the LORD and for the service of the king.
2 Chronicles · 2
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2 Chronicles 32:30 מַּעְרָ֖בָה west -ward
It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.
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2 Chronicles 33:14 מַעְרָבָה֩ west -ward
After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
Psalms · 3
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Psalm 75:6 וּמִֽמַּעֲרָ֑ב and from [the] setting place
For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,
Here: 'And from the setting-place', the place of evening (from ʿerev, 'evening'), so 'from the west'. With the previous word it covers the whole sweep from sunrise to sunset.
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Psalm 103:12 מִֽמַּֽעֲרָ֑ב from west
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Here: 'From the place where the sun goes in', from a root linked to evening (*ʿarav*). Sunrise and sunset together mark the two farthest ends of the visible world.
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Psalm 107:3 וּמִֽמַּעֲרָ֑ב and from west
and gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Isaiah · 3
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Isaiah 43:5 וּמִֽמַּעֲרָ֖ב and from [the] west
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
Here: 'And from the place where the sun goes in/sets', paired with 'sunrise' to span the whole horizon. From Judah's point of view the west was the Mediterranean and its coasts.
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Isaiah 45:6 וּמִמַּ֣עֲרָבָ֔ה and from setting place its
so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Here: 'And from its setting place.' The root means 'to go in', so the west is where the sun 'goes in' at evening. The ending is probably 'its' (the sun's setting), as the supplied parsing has it. Paired with 'sunrise', it names the whole earth from end to end.
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Isaiah 59:19 מִֽמַּעֲרָב֙ from [the] setting place
So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.
Here: Literally 'from the place of the sun's going in', where it sets. It is one end of the earth, paired with the sunrise to mean everywhere.
Daniel · 1
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Daniel 8:5 הַֽמַּעֲרָב֙ the west
As I was contemplating all this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground.
Here: Literally 'the place of sunset'. Seen from Susa in Persia, where the vision is set (8:2), the west is the Aegean world: Greece and Macedonia (identified in 8:21).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.