Genesis 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ¹  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ²  this land, from the river of Egypt ³  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Exodus 23:31

23:31 I will set ⁴  your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, ⁵  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 ⁶  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. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 11:1

Reiteration of the Call to Obedience

11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments ⁸  at all times.

Deuteronomy 4:21

4:21 But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he ⁹  is about to give you. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 72:8

72:8 May he rule ¹¹  from sea to sea, ¹² 

and from the Euphrates River ¹³  to the ends of the earth!

¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

² 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”).

³ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

⁴ tn The form is a perfect tense with vav consecutive.

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.”

⁸ tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsot).

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text includes “(as) an inheritance,” or “(as) a possession.”

¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is a (shortened) jussive form, indicating this is a prayer of blessing.

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Heb “the river,” a reference to the Euphrates.