Hebrew word · H6926

קִדְמָה

kidmat

east

Front, what lies ahead; east (the direction one faces when oriented to the sunrise); also 'ancient times' (what is 'before' in time).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) forward, front, east, antiquity, East

1a) in front of, over against, front

1b) on the east of, east

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 Genesis 4:16

Range of meaning

Front, what lies ahead; east (the direction one faces when oriented to the sunrise); also 'ancient times' (what is 'before' in time).

Against the English

'East of Eden' is correct, but English loses the double sense 'in front of / east of', and with it the link to other 'eastward' moments in Genesis.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 2:8: the garden was planted 'in Eden, in the east (miqqedem)'. 3:24: cherubim are placed 'east of (miqqedem) the garden'. 11:2: humanity journeys 'from/in the east' to Shinar and builds Babel. 13:11: Lot chooses the eastern plain and moves toward Sodom. The LXX here has κατέναντι Εδεμ, 'opposite Eden'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 2:14 קִדְמַ֣ת [the] east of

    The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

  2. Genesis 4:16 קִדְמַת־ [the] east of

    So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

    Here: From qedem, 'front', which in Hebrew also means 'east' because one oriented oneself facing the sunrise. So 'east of Eden' or 'in front of Eden'. It repeats the direction of Adam and Eve's expulsion (the cherubim were stationed 'east of the garden', 3:24): Cain goes further out along the same exit route.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 13:5 קִדְמַ֖ת [the] east of

    Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

    Here: 'East of.' The root also means 'front', because Hebrew speakers faced east to take their bearings.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 39:11 קִדְמַ֣ת [the] east of

    And on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.