And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
And Cain ... dwelt in the land of Nod. This name, derived from a cognate verb, to wander, go be a fugitive, denotes merely the land of flight or exile, No conclusion, therefore, can be drawn from it as to the locality of this region: and although the words "on the east of Eden," which the Septuagint renders 'opposite to' (the closed gate of), Eden, may seem to afford a clue to the direction in which it lay, yet it is vain to attempt identifying it with any particular spot, so long as the site of the primeval paradise remains undetermined. The Septuagint terms it Naid, which M. Cahen, in his French version, suggests to be Nedida, in Arabia, which is to the east of Nubia. The Vulgate considers the original term "Nod" to be applied, not to a country, but to Cain himself. 'And the fugitive dwelt in the land on the east of Eden.'