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.

Joshua 13:2-7

13:2 This is the land that remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all the Geshurites, 13:3 from the Shihor River ⁶  east of ⁷  Egypt northward to the territory of Ekron (it is regarded as Canaanite territory), ⁸  including the area belonging to the five Philistine lords who ruled in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as Avvite land ⁹  13:4 to the south; ¹⁰  all the Canaanite territory, ¹¹  from Arah ¹²  in the region of Sidon ¹³  to Aphek, as far as Amorite territory; 13:5 the territory of Byblos ¹⁴  and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath. ¹⁵  13:6 I will drive out before the Israelites all who live in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, ¹⁶  all the Sidonians; you be sure to parcel it out to Israel as I instructed you.” ¹⁷  13:7 Now, divide up this land ¹⁸  among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

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 Shihor”; the word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

⁷ tn Heb “in front of.”

⁸ tn Heb “it is reckoned to the Canaanites.”

⁹ tn Heb “the five lords of the Philistines, the Gazaite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gathite, and the Ekronite, and the Avvites.”

¹⁰ tn Or “from Teman.” The phrase is especially problematic if taken with what follows, as the traditional verse division suggests. For further discussion see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 146.

¹¹ tn Heb “all the land of the Canaanites.”

¹² tc The reading “Arah” assumes a slight emendation of the Hebrew vowel pointing. The MT reads, “and a cave,” or “and Mearah” (if one understands the word as a proper noun).

¹³ tn Heb “which belongs to the Sidonians.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and the land of the Gebalites.”

¹⁵ tn Or “the entrance to Hamath.” Most modern translations take the phrase “Lebo Hamath” to be a proper name, but often provide a note with the alternative, where “Hamath” is the proper name and לְבוֹא (lÿvo’) is taken to mean “entrance to.”

¹⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).

¹⁷ tn Heb “only you, assign it by lots to Israel as an inheritance as I commanded you.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “now apportion this land as an inheritance.”