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Texts -- Numbers 34:1-12 (NET)

Context
The Southern Border of the Land
34:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses : 34:2 “Give these instructions to the Israelites , and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan , the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance , the land of Canaan with its borders , 34:3 your southern border will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the Edomite border , and your southern border will run eastward to the extremity of the Salt Sea , 34:4 and then the border will turn from the south to the Scorpion Ascent , continue to Zin , and then its direction will be from the south to Kadesh Barnea . Then it will go to Hazar Addar and pass over to Azmon . 34:5 There the border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt , and then its direction is to the sea .
The Western Border of the Land
34:6 “‘And for a western border you will have the Great Sea . This will be your western border .
The Northern Border of the Land
34:7 “‘And this will be your northern border : From the Great Sea you will draw a line to Mount Hor ; 34:8 from Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath , Hamath , and the direction of the border will be to Zedad . 34:9 The border will continue to Ziphron , and its direction will be to Hazar Enan . This will be your northern border .
The Eastern Border of the Land
34:10 “‘For your eastern border you will draw a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham . 34:11 The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah , on the east side of Ain , and the border will descend and reach the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth . 34:12 Then the border will continue down the Jordan River and its direction will be to the Salt Sea . This will be your land by its borders that surround it.’”

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Palestine

    [ebd] originally denoted only the sea-coast of the land of Canaan inhabited by the Philistines (Ex. 15:14; Isa. 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4), and in this sense exclusively the Hebrew name Pelesheth (rendered "Philistia" in Ps. 60:8; 83:7;...

  • JOSHUA (2)

    [isbe] JOSHUA (2) - || I. FORM AND SIGNIFICANCE OF NAME II. HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF JOSHUA 1. First Appearance 2. The Minister of Moses 3. One of the Spies 4. The Head of the People (1) His First Act--Sending of the Spies (2) Crossi...

  • Canaanites

    [nave] CANAANITES Eleven nations, descended from Canaan, Gen. 10:15-19; Deut. 7:1; 1 Chr. 1:13-16. Territory of, Gen. 10:19; 12:6; 15:18; Ex. 23:31; Num. 13:29; 34:1-12; Josh. 1:4; 5:1; given to the Israelites, Gen. 12:6, 7; 15:18...

  • Shepham

    [ebd] a treeless place, Num. 34:10, 11: "The coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah."
    [isbe] SHEPHAM - she'-fam (shepham; Sepphamar): A place, probably a hill town, on the ideal eastern boundary of Israel, named in Nu 34:10, but omitted in Ezek 47:15-18. It lay between Hazar-enan and Harbel (Massoretic Text: "Haribl...
    [smith] (fruitful), a place on the eastern boundary of the promised land. (Numbers 34:10,11)
    [nave] SHEPHAM, a place on the eastern boundary of the promised land, Num. 34:10, 11.

  • Hor

    [ebd] mountain. (1.) One of the mountains of the chain of Seir or Edom, on the confines of Idumea (Num. 20:22-29; 33:37). It was one of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness (33:37), which they reached in the circuitous...
    [smith] (mountain), Mount. The mountain on which Aaron died. (Numbers 20:25,27) It was "on the boundary line," (Numbers 20:23) or "at the edge," ch. (Numbers 33:37) of the land of Edom. It was the halting-place of the people next af...
    [nave] HOR, mountain on which Aaron died, Num. 20:22-29; 21:4; 33:38, 39; 34:7, 8; Deut. 32:50.

  • Azmon

    [isbe] AZMON - az'-mon `atsmon; Asemona, "strong": On the Southwest border of Israel (Nu 34:4,5; Josh 15:4). Trumbull identifies it with `Ain el-Qaseimeh, Northwest of Kadesh Barnea (Kad. Baruch., 117, 289 f).
    [smith] (strong), a place named as being on the southern boundary of the Holy Land, apparently near the torrent of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish). (Numbers 34:4,5; Joshua 15:4) It has not yet been identified.
    [nave] AZMON, a place on the S. of Canaan, Num. 34:4, 5; Josh. 15:4.

  • RIVER OF EGYPT

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. nahar mitsraim, denotes in Gen. 15:18 the Nile, or its eastern branch (2 Chr. 9:26). (2.) In Num. 34:5 (R.V., "brook of Egypt") the Hebrew word is nahal, denoting a stream flowing rapidly in winter, or in the rainy...
    [smith] The Nile. (Genesis 15:18) [NILE] A desert stream on the border of Egypt, still occasionally flowing in the valley called Wadi-l-?Areesh . The centre of the valley is occupied by the bed of this torrent, which only flows afte...

  • Riblah

    [ebd] fruitful, an ancient town on the northern frontier of Palestine, 35 miles north-east of Baalbec, and 10 or 12 south of Lake Homs, on the eastern bank of the Orontes, in a wide and fertile plain. Here Nebuchadnezzar had his h...
    [isbe] RIBLAH - rib'-la (ribhlah; Rheblatha, with variants): (1) Riblah in the land of Hamath first appears in history in 608 BC. Here Pharaoh-necoh, after defeating Josiah at Megiddo and destroying Kadytis or Kadesh on the Orontes...
    [smith] (fertility), One of the landmarks on the eastern boundary of the land of Israel, as specified by Moses. (Numbers 34:11) It seems hardly possible, without entirely disarranging the specification or the boundary, that the Ribla...
    [nave] RIBLAH A border town of the promised land, Num. 34:10-11. King Jehoahaz overthrown in, by Pharaoh, 2 Kin. 23:33. Headquarters of Nebuchadnezzar in siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kin. 25:6, 20, 21; Jer. 39:5, 6; 52:9, 26.

  • Zin

    [isbe] ZIN - zin (tsin; Sin): (1) A town in the extreme South of Judah, on the line separating that province from Edom, named between the ascent of Akrabbim and Kadesh-barnea (Nu 34:4; Josh 15:3). It must have lain somewhere betwee...
    [smith] (flat), the name given to a portion of the desert tract between the Dead Sea, Ghor , and Arabah on the east, and the general plateau of the Tih which stretches westward. The country in question consists of two or three succes...
    [nave] ZIN, a desert S. of Judah, Num. 13:21; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; 34:3, 4; Deut. 32:51; Josh. 15:1, 3.

  • Mediterranean Sea

    [isbe] MEDITERRANEAN SEA - med-i-te-ra'-ne-an (he thalassa): To the Hebrews the Mediterranean was the sea, as was natural from their situation. Hence, they speak of it simply as "the sea" (ha-yam), e.g. Gen 49:13; Nu 13:29; 34:5; J...
    [nave] MEDITERRANEAN SEA Mentioned in scripture as the great sea, Num. 34:6, 7; Josh. 1:4; 9:1; 15:12, 47; 23:4; Ezek. 47:10, 15, 20; 48:28; Sea of the Philistines, Ex. 23:31; Sea of Joppa, Ezra 3:7; the hinder sea, Zech. 14:8; the...

  • Sea, The

    [ebd] (Heb. yam), signifies (1) "the gathering together of the waters," the ocean (Gen. 1:10); (2) a river, as the Nile (Isa. 19:5), the Euphrates (Isa. 21:1; Jer. 51:36); (3) the Red Sea (Ex. 14:16, 27; 15:4, etc.); (4) the Medit...

  • Akrabbim

    [ebd] scorpions, probably the general name given to the ridge containing the pass between the south of the Dead Sea and Zin, es-Sufah, by which there is an ascent to the level of the land of Palestine. Scorpions are said to abound...
    [isbe] AKRABBIM - ak-rab'-im (once in the King James Version, Acrabbim (Josh 15:3); `aqrabbim, "scorpions"): Three times found (Nu 34:4; Josh 15:3; Jdg 1:36), and always with ma`aleh, "ascent" or "pass"; and so "Ascent of the Scorp...
    [smith] (the ascent of , or the going up to); also MAALEH-ACRABBIM (the scorpion pass), A pass between the south end of the Dead Sea and Zin, forming one of the landmarks on the south boundary at once of Judah, (Joshua 15:3) and of t...
    [nave] AKRABBIM, a chain of hills in the south of Palestine, Num. 34:4; Josh. 15:3; Judg. 1:36.

  • PALESTINE, 3

    [isbe] PALESTINE, 3 - IV. Palestine in the Poetic Books of the Old Testament. 1. Book of Job: In Job the scene is distinctively Edomite. Uz (Job 1:1; compare Gen 22:21 the English Revised Version; Jer 25:20; Lam 4:21) and Buz (Job ...

  • Zedad

    [ebd] side; sloping place, a town in the north of Palestine, near Hamath (Num. 34:8; Ezek. 47:15). It has been identified with the ruins of Sudud, between Emesa (Hums) and Baalbec, but that is uncertain.
    [isbe] ZEDAD - ze'-dad (tsedhadhah, only found with He locale; Samaritan tseradhah; Septuagint Saradak, Sadadak, Saddak): A town or district named in Nu 34:8; Ezek 47:15 as on the ideal northern boundary of Israel. The uncertainty ...
    [smith] (mountain side), one of the landmarks on the north border of the land of Israel, as Promised by Moses, (Numbers 34:8) and as restored by Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 47:15) A place named Sudud exists to the east of the northern extremit...
    [nave] ZEDAD, a place near Hamath, Num. 34:8; Ezek. 47:15.

  • GOING; GOINGS

    [isbe] GOING; GOINGS - go'-ing, go'-ingz: Besides, occasionally, forms of the common words for "go" (see Go), for "going" and "goings," the Hebrew has 'ashshur ('ashur, 'ashur), "step," motsa', totsa'oth, "goings out," "outgoings."...

  • Hazar-enan

    [ebd] village of fountains, a place on the north-east frontier of Palestine (Num. 34:9, 10). Some have identified it with Ayan ed-Dara in the heart of the central chain of Anti-Libanus. More probably, however, it has been identifi...
    [nave] HAZAR-ENAN, the N.E. boundary point of the promised land, Num. 34:9, 10; Ezek. 47:17; 48:1.

  • GALILEE, SEA OF

    [ebd] (Matt. 4:18; 15:29), is mentioned in the Bible under three other names. (1.) In the Old Testament it is called the "sea of Chinnereth" (Num. 34:11; Josh. 12:3; 13:27), as is supposed from its harp-like shape. (2). The "lake ...
    [isbe] GALILEE, SEA OF - (he thalassa tes Galilaias): 1. The Name: This is the name 5 times given in the New Testament (Mt 4:18; 15:29; Mk 1:16; 7:31; Jn 6:1) to the sheet of water which is elsewhere called "the sea of Tiberias" (J...
    [smith] So called from the province of Galilee, which bordered on the western side. (Matthew 4:18) It was also called the "Sea of Tiberias," from the celebrated city of that name. (John 6:1) At its northwestern angle was a beautiful ...

  • SEA

    [isbe] SEA - se (yam; thalassa; in Acts 27:5 pelagos): The Mediterranean is called ha-yam ha-gadhol, "the great sea" (Nu 34:6; Josh 1:4; Ezek 47:10, etc.); ha-yam ha-'acharon, "the hinder," or "western sea" (Dt 11:24; 34:2; Joel 2:...

  • Hamath

    [ebd] fortress, the capital of one of the kingdoms of Upper Syria of the same name, on the Orontes, in the valley of Lebanon, at the northern boundary of Palestine (Num. 13:21; 34:8), at the foot of Hermon (Josh. 13:5) towards Dam...
    [isbe] HAMATH - ha'-math (chamath; Hemath, Haimath; Swete also has Hemath): The word signifies a defense or citadel, and such designation was very suitable for this chief royal city of the Hittites, situated between their northern ...
    [nave] HAMATH, called also Hemath. A city of upper Syria, Num. 13:21; 34:8; Josh. 13:5; 1 Kin. 8:65; Ezek. 47:16. Inhabited by Canaanites, Gen. 10:18. Prosperity of, Amos 6:2. David receives gifts of gold and silver from Toi, kin...

  • HAZER

    [smith] topographically, seems generally employed for the villages of people. As a proper name it appears in the Authorized Version -- In the plural, HAZERIM and HAZEBOTH, for which see below. In the slightly different form of HAZOR...
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Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • This chapter records how Abram, though threatened with major conflict with Lot because of their herdsmen's strife, magnanimously gave his nephew his choice of what land he wanted. Lot took an area that was very fertile, thoug...
  • Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
  • To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.The first major value of Numbers is th...
  • I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-101. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-42. Commands and rituals t...
  • God gave the final laws governing Israel's entrance into the Promised Land (33:50-36:13). However first Moses recorded at God's command this list of places from which the Israelites had set out on their journey from Egypt to ...
  • "The section breaks down into two groups of three laws each, carefully introduced by the clause and Yahweh spoke to Moses' (. . ., 33:50; 34:1, 16; 35:1, 9; cf. 36:6) and surrounded by the phrase on the plains of Moab by the ...
  • This brief section of instructions introduces specific directions concerning the division of the land and its towns that follow in chapters 34-36.The repetition of "all"(v. 52) stresses the importance of completely clearing t...
  • Moses described the border of the land from south (vv. 3-5) to west (v. 6) to north (vv. 7-9) to east (v. 12). This boundary encompassed the territory the people would divide among the nine and one-half tribes. This was not t...
  • These verses conclude the account of the division of the land proper (chs. 13-21; cf. 1:2-6; 11:23). They bind the two parts of the second half of the book together. They form a theological conclusion to the entire book up to...
  • This is the sixth and last message that Ezekiel received from the Lord the night before the refugees reached the exiles with the message that Jerusalem had fallen (cf. 33:21-22). It too deals with God's plans for Israel in th...
  • God promised Abraham that He would give a particular piece of real estate to his descendants (Gen. 12:7). Later He reiterated this promise and became more specific about its boundaries (Gen. 15:7, 18-21; 17:8; Num. 34:1-12). ...
  • "There are two special areas of attention in this passage: (1) the concern that God's people occupy their full boundaries, and (2) the concern that Gentiles will have an inheritance."57447:13-14 The Lord instructed the future...
  • 7:1 We have already read of two dreams that Nebuchadnezzar had (2:1; 4:5). Now God gave one to Daniel. It too was a vision from God that came to Daniel as he slept."In referring to the experience as a dream' (sing.) Daniel wa...
  • The first four verses of this poem deal with the north and the last four with the south. The first two verses and the last two speak of salvation, and the middle four speak of judgment. The passage begins and ends with a refe...
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