1 Kings 4:24

4:24 His royal court was so large because ¹  he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah ²  to Gaza; he was at peace with all his neighbors. ³ 

Genesis 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ⁴  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ⁵  this land, from the river of Egypt ⁶  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Exodus 23:31

23:31 I will set ⁷  your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, ⁸  for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

Deuteronomy 11:24

11:24 Every place you set your foot ⁹  will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea. ¹⁰ 

Joshua 1:4

1:4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) ¹¹  and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea ¹²  in the west. ¹³ 

Joshua 1:2

1:2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! ¹⁴  Cross the Jordan River! ¹⁵  Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. ¹⁶ 

Joshua 9:26

9:26 Joshua did as they said; he kept the Israelites from killing them ¹⁷ 

Ezra 4:20

4:20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates ¹⁸  and who were the beneficiaries of ¹⁹  tribute, custom, and toll.

Psalms 72:8-11

72:8 May he rule ²⁰  from sea to sea, ²¹ 

and from the Euphrates River ²²  to the ends of the earth!

72:9 Before him the coastlands ²³  will bow down,

and his enemies will lick the dust. ²⁴ 

72:10 The kings of Tarshish ²⁵  and the coastlands will offer gifts;

the kings of Sheba ²⁶  and Seba ²⁷  will bring tribute.

72:11 All kings will bow down to him;

all nations will serve him.

¹ tn Heb “because.” The words “his royal court was so large” are added to facilitate the logical connection with the preceding verse.

² sn Tiphsah. This was located on the Euphrates River.

³ tn Heb “for he was ruling over all [the region] beyond the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kingdoms beyond the River, and he had peace on every side all around.”

⁴ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

⁵ tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).

⁶ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

⁷ tn The form is a perfect tense with vav consecutive.

⁸ tn In the Hebrew Bible “the River” usually refers to the Euphrates (cf. NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). There is some thought that it refers to a river Nahr el Kebir between Lebanon and Syria. See further W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:447; and G. W. Buchanan, The Consequences of the Covenant (NovTSup), 91-100.

⁹ tn Heb “the sole of your foot walks.” The placing of the foot symbolizes conquest and dominion, especially on land or on the necks of enemies (cf. Deut 1:36; Ps 7:13; Isa 63:3 Hab 3:19; Zech 9:13). See E. H. Merrill, NIDOTTE 1:992.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation. Cf. ASV “the hinder sea.”

¹¹ tn Heb “all the land of the Hittites.” The expression “the land of the Hittites” does not refer to Anatolia (modern Turkey), where the ancient Hittite kingdom of the second millennium b.c. was located, but rather to Syria, the “Hatti land” mentioned in inscriptions of the first millennium b.c. (see HALOT 1:363). The phrase is omitted in the LXX and may be a scribal addition.

¹² tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.

¹³ tn Heb “From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, even to the great sea [at] the place where the sun sets, your territory will be.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Get up!”

¹⁵ tn Heb “this Jordan”; the word “River” has been supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in v. 11).

¹⁶ tc Heb “Cross over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.” The final phrase, “to the children of Israel,” is probably a later scribal addition specifying the identity of “these people/them.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “And he did to them so and he rescued them from the hand of the sons of Israel and they did not kill them.”

¹⁸ sn The statement that prior Jewish kings ruled over the entire Trans-Euphrates is an overstatement. Not even in the days of David and Solomon did the kingdom of Israel extend its borders to such an extent.

¹⁹ tn Aram “were being given to them.”

²⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form is a (shortened) jussive form, indicating this is a prayer of blessing.

²¹ sn From sea to sea. This may mean from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east. See Amos 8:12. The language of this and the following line also appears in Zech 9:10.

²² tn Heb “the river,” a reference to the Euphrates.

²³ tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.

²⁴ sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.

²⁵ sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.

²⁶ sn Sheba was located in Arabia.

²⁷ sn Seba was located in Africa.