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 –

Numbers 34:5-8

34:5 There the border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and then its direction is to the sea. ⁴ 

The Western Border of the Land

34:6 “‘And for a western border ⁵  you will have the Great Sea. ⁶  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, ⁷  and the direction of the border will be to Zedad.

Joshua 13:3-5

13:3 from the Shihor River ⁸  east of ⁹  Egypt northward to the territory of Ekron (it is regarded as Canaanite territory), ¹⁰  including the area belonging to the five Philistine lords who ruled in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as Avvite land ¹¹  13:4 to the south; ¹²  all the Canaanite territory, ¹³  from Arah ¹⁴  in the region of Sidon ¹⁵  to Aphek, as far as Amorite territory; 13:5 the territory of Byblos ¹⁶  and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath. ¹⁷ 

Joshua 13:1

The Lord Speaks to Joshua

13:1 When Joshua was very old, ¹⁸  the Lord told him, “You are very old, and a great deal of land remains to be conquered.

Joshua 4:21

4:21 He told the Israelites, “When your children someday ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones represent?’ ¹⁹ 

Amos 6:14

6:14 “Look! I am about to bring ²⁰  a nation against you, family ²¹  of Israel.”

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking.

“They will oppress ²²  you all the way from Lebo-Hamath ²³  to the Stream of the Arabah.” ²⁴ 

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 sn That is, the Mediterranean.

⁵ tn The word for west is simply “sea,” because the sea is west of Israel.

⁶ sn That is, the Mediterranean Sea (also in the following verse).

⁷ tn Or “to the entrance to Hamath.”

⁸ tn Heb “the Shihor”; the word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

⁹ tn Heb “in front of.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “it is reckoned to the Canaanites.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the five lords of the Philistines, the Gazaite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gathite, and the Ekronite, and the Avvites.”

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Heb “all the land of the Canaanites.”

¹⁴ 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).

¹⁵ tn Heb “which belongs to the Sidonians.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and the land of the Gebalites.”

¹⁷ 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.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “was old, coming into the days.” This expression, referring to advancing in years, also occurs in the following clause.

¹⁹ tn Heb “What are these stones?”

²⁰ tn Or “raise up” (KJV, NASB); NIV “stir up.”

²¹ tn Heb “house.”

²² sn Once again there is irony in the divine judgment. The oppressive nation itself will suffer oppression. The verb “oppress” (לָחַץ, lakhats) in this verse is not the same as that used in 4:1 (עָשַׁק, ’ashaq).

²³ tn Or “from the entrance to Hamath.” The Hebrew term לְבוֹא (lÿvo’) can either be translated or considered a part of the place name.

²⁴ sn Lebo-Hamath refers to the northern border of Israel, the Stream of the Arabah to its southern border. See 2 Kgs 14:25. Through this invader the Lord would reverse the victories and territorial expansion Israel experienced during the reign of Jeroboam II.