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In the Bible, as we might expect, the points of the compass are spoken of as they refer to the land of Palestine. The south would therefore indicate the part of the land which contained Judah's and Simeon's portions, or to the district still further south, a country little known. Gen. 12: 9. It is called negeb in the Hebrew. Two other words are yamin and teman, signifying 'the right hand,' and are translated 'south' because the Israelites considered themselves as looking toward the East when speaking of the points of the compass.
1 Sam. 23: 19, 24; Ps. 89: 12; Joshua 12: 3; Joshua 13: 4; Ps. 78: 26;
Isa. 43: 6. Another word is darom, 'bright, sunny region,' hence 'the south.' Deut. 33: 23; Job 37: 17; Ezek. 40: 24-45. In the N.T., except in Acts 8: 26 (where the word is μεσημβρία, 'mid-day,' because the sun is then in the south: as the Latin meridies, 'mid-day,' also signifies 'south'), the word is νότος, 'the south.' Matt. 12: 42; etc.