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west

The first word, ma•a•rav, is used both in the Bible and in modern Hebrew. It comes from the word ‘e•rev,’ which means ‘evening.’ If you are familiar with the basic geography of Israel, you can easily tell why the west is called ma•a•rav. If you are not...

east

The word miz•rach comes from the root za•rach, which means to shine. The most common word that connects to za•rach is ‘she•mesh’ (sun). East in Hebrew is then the direction from which the sun shines. “The two tribes and the half tribe have received their...

south

Tey•man is actually the name of the country, Yemen, that is found in the Arab Peninsula, south of the Land of Israel. In the Bible, it only means south in its geographical context. “Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south,...

south

The south direction has more names than all other directions. Because they are all biblical and used in different connotations, we’ll dedicate a separate entry to each pair. The common word for the south that is used today is ‘da•rom.’ It is a biblical...

north

The word tza•fon is more than just a mere direction. The root of this word is tza•fan, which means code, encode, cypher (or cipher). The connection between ‘north’ and ‘code’ is very apparent in the Bible and plays a major role in prophecy. Many prophecies, especially...

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Ma•zal tov (in Yiddish it is Ma•zel Tov) is perhaps the most common Hebrew blessing that there is. Most people use it innocently, without knowing what it really means. Truly, the connotation that is known to most Hebrew speakers and to non-speakers who use the...