13:21 So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, 1 at the entrance of Hamath. 2
14:1 The following is a record of the territory assigned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders. 12
47:15 “This will be the border of the land: 17 On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Zedad; 47:16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath, as far as Hazer-hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran. 47:17 The border will run from the sea to Hazar-enan, at the border of Damascus, and on the north is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. 47:18 On the east side, between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, will be the Jordan. You will measure from the border to the eastern sea. This is the east side. 47:19 On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, the river, 18 to the Great Sea. This is the south side. 47:20 On the west side the Great Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This is the west side.
1 sn Zin is on the southern edge of the land, but Rehob is far north, near Mount Hermon. The spies covered all the land.
2 tn The idiom uses the infinitive construct: “to enter Hamath,” meaning, “on the way that people go to Hamath.”
3 tn Heb “and the land of the Gebalites.”
4 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.”
5 tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).
6 tn Heb “only you, assign it by lots to Israel as an inheritance as I commanded you.”
7 tn Or “the place of ambush.”
8 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
9 tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.”
10 tn Heb “in the midst of the people.”
11 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
12 tn Heb “These are [the lands] which the sons of Israel received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes assigned as an inheritance to the sons of Israel.”
13 tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
14 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
15 sn 2 Kgs 25:5 and Jer 52:8 mention that the soldiers all scattered from him. That is why the text focuses on Zedekiah here.
16 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
17 sn The measurements resemble those in Num 34:1-2.
18 tn Or “valley.” The syntax is difficult. Some translate “to the river,” others “from the river”; in either case the preposition is supplied for the sake of English.