Arabians
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(2 Chron. 9:14; Neh. 2:19; Isa. 13:20; Acts 2:11). The Arabians were in antiquity called generally the sons of the East (Gen. 29:1); in Arabic they were afterward called Sharkiyin, that is, “Easterners,” from which the word “Saracens” was formed. They all lived in Arabia and formed a people partly nomadic, partly settled. Both in antiquity and to this day they are reckoned as one people, but by their original descent they traced their lineage from various patriarchs, such as Joktan, son of Eber, Ishmael, son of Hagar, and others.