North & South, where did it originate & has it been changed?

Question

For ex. in the Bible it speaks of the "NORTHERN TEN TRIBE KINGOMS". And King of the North and King of the South.

The concept of north and south. Is todays N S E W the same as in the days of Jesus or Moses? For ex. various Languages came from Babylon.

Answer 1

There were twelve tribes of of Israel. Two lived in the south and had their own ruler and ten lived in the north and had their own ruler.

Answer 2

the Bible conveniently uses the expressions “king of the north” and “king of the south” to designate a succession of rival political powers. Originally these two “kings” were located north and south of the land of Daniel’s people in the Middle East.

The prophecy began its fulfillment after the death of Alexander the Great and the dividing up of the Macedonian Empire among his four successors. Two of these, Seleucus I and Ptolemy I, became respectively the first “king of the north” and “king of the south.” One of these men founded the northern Seleucid Empire and the other became the first of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs of Egypt, to the south.

Naturally, with the passing of time, the powers symbolized by the “king of the north” and the “king of the south” continually changed. But the conflict for domination went on, down through the centuries. This prophecy also foretold that the struggle between the “two kings” would continue right up until “the time of the end.”

In addition to the usual term tsa‧phohn′, north was also indicated by the direction “left,” since the orientation was facing toward the rising sun in the east. (Ge 14:15, ftn) In Scriptural usage, “north” may denote a section of the earth (Ps 107:3; Isa 43:6; Lu 13:29), a northerly direction (Ex 26:20; 1Ki 7:25; Re 21:13), the northern sky (Job 26:7), and various lands or kingdoms (including Assyria [Zep 2:13] and Babylon [Jer 46:10]) that were situated somewhat N and E of the land inhabited by the Israelites. Though Babylon on the Euphrates River actually lay E of Tyre, Ezekiel 26:7 speaks of the king of Babylon as coming against Tyre from the north. Likewise, the calamity that Judah and Jerusalem were to experience from the Babylonians is referred to as coming “out of the north.” (Jer 1:14, 15) The reason for this appears to be that, when marching westward, the Babylonian armies took a northerly route and thus avoided passing through the desert. This was, in fact, the customary way, as Babylonian records show.

Since various lands and kingdoms are assigned a northern location, the context and other related scriptures are often helpful in determining what is meant by “north” or “land of the north.” For example, Isaiah 21:2, 9 and Daniel 5:28 show that the nations from “the land of the north” mentioned at Jeremiah 50:9 include the Medes, Persians, and Elamites. Apparently the nations attacking Babylon are viewed as a united army or common foe of Babylon, “a congregation.” Many of the nations involved were far N of Babylon (Jer 51:27, 28), and much of Media was at least NE of Babylon. The attack, too, evidently came from a northern direction, since Cyrus stopped the flow of the river N of the city.

It was the practice of the Hebrews to face the rising sun when determining direction, which meant that E was in front of them, W was behind, N on the left hand, and S on the right hand.

Answer 3

It also speaks of the four corners of the earth - North, South, East and West.

Answer 4

Do you mean who decided the upper pole and the direction toward it should be called "north" rather than some other word? Maybe the question should be under "languages"?