Eden
Bible References
- The first residence of man, called in the Septuagint Paradise. The latter is a word of Persian origin and describes an extensive tract of pleasure land, somewhat like an English park, and the use of it suggests a wider view of man’s first abode than a garden. The description of Eden is found in Genesis 2:8-14. In the eastern portion of the region of Eden was the garden planted. The Hiddekel, one of its rivers, is the modern Tigris, and the Euphrates is the same as the modern Euphrates. With regard to the Pison and Gihon a great variety of opinion exists, but the best authorities are divided between (1) Eden as in northeast Arabia, at the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris, and their separation again, making the four rivers of the different channels of these two, or (2) and most probably, Eden as situated in Armenia, near the origin of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, and in which same region rise the Araxes (Pison of Genesis) and the Oxus (Gihon).
- One of the marts which supplied the luxury of Tyre with richly-embroidered stuffs. In 2 Kings 19:12 and Isaiah 37:12 “The sons of Eden” are mentioned with Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph as victims of the Assyrian greed of conquest. Probability seems to point to the northwest of Mesopotamia as the locality of Eden.
- Beth-Eden, “house of pleasure,” probably the name of a country residence of the kings of Damascus (Amos 1:5)
Smith's Bible Names Dictionary (1866)