Numbers 34 commentary

NUMBERS 34 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Boundaries of Canaan
1 The Lord said to Moses,
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time that he ordered
him to direct the children of Israel, when they had passed over Jordan, to
drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, and divide their land among
them, he proceeded to give the limits and boundaries of the land:
HENRY 1-4, "We have here a particular draught of the line by which the
land of Canaan was meted, and bounded, on all sides. God directs Moses to
settle it here, not as a geographer in his map, merely to please the curious,
but as a prince in his grant, that it may be certainly known what passes, and
is conveyed, by the grant. There was a much larger possession promised
them, which in due time they would have possessed if they had been
obedient, reaching even to the river Euphrates, Deu_11:24. And even so far
the dominion of Israel did extend in David's time and Solomon's, 2Ch_9:26.
But this which is here described is Canaan only, which was the lot of the
nine tribes and a half, for the other two and a half were already settled,
Num_34:14, Num_34:15. Now concerning the limits of Canaan observe,
I. That it was limited within certain bounds: for God appoints the bounds
of our habitation, Act_17:26. The borders are set them, 1. That they might
know whom they were to dispossess, and how far the commission which
was given them extended (Num_33:53), that they should drive out the
inhabitants. Those that lay within these borders, and those only, they must
destroy; hitherto their bloody sword must go, and no further. 2. That they
might know what to expect the possession of themselves. God would not
have his people to enlarge their desire of worldly possessions, but to know
when they have enough, and to rest satisfied with it. The Israelites
themselves must not be placed alone in the midst of the earth, but must
leave room for their neighbours to live by them. God sets bounds to our lot;
let us then set bounds to our desires, and bring our mind to our condition.
II. That it lay comparatively in a very little compass: as it is here bounded,
it is reckoned to be but about 160 miles in length and about fifty in breadth;
perhaps it did not contain more than half as much ground as England, and
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yet this is the country which was promised to the father of the faithful and
was the possession of the seed of Israel. This was that little spot of ground in
which only, for many ages, God was known, and his name was great, Psa_
76:1. This was the vineyard of the Lord, the garden enclosed; but, as it is
with gardens and vineyards, the narrowness of the extent was abundantly
compensated by the extraordinary fruitfulness of the soil, otherwise it could
not have subsisted so numerous a nation as did inhabit it. See here then, 1.
How small a part of the world God has for himself. Though the earth is his,
and the fullness thereof, yet few have the knowledge of him and serve him;
but those few are happy, very happy, because fruitful to God. 2. How small a
share of the world God often gives to his own people. Those that have their
portion in heaven have reason to be content with a small pittance of this
earth; but, as here, what is wanting in quantity is made up in quality; a little
that a righteous man has, having it from the love of God and with his
blessing, is far better and more comfortable than the riches of many
wicked, Psa_37:16.
JAMISON, "Num_34:1-29. The borders of the land of Canaan.
K&D, "Boundaries of the Land of Canaan. - Num_34:2. “When ye come
into the land of Canaan, this shall be the land which will fall to you as an
inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries:” i.e., ye shall
receive the land of Canaan for an inheritance, within the following limits.
CALVIN, "1.And the Lord spake unto Moses. God here undertakes the office of a
prudent and careful father of a family, in fixing the boundaries of the land on every
side, lest their right to posses it should ever be called in question. He begins on the
southern side, where it must be observed that the district of Bashan is included in it,
and all that the Israelites had acquired before their passage of the Jordan, so that
this addition was approved of by God. He extends this part as far as the wilderness
of Sin, and the borders of Edom, and brings it round from Kadesh-barnea to Addar,
and the passage of Azmon, and, finally, to the stream which washes (228) the city of
Rhinocorura, in the immediate vicinity of Egypt; for by “the river of Egypt” the
Nile is by no means to be understood, the course of which was not at all in that
direction. The southern boundary, therefore, was from the Mediterranean Sea
towards Arabia. On the western side the land was washed by the Mediterranean
Sea, which is here called “the Great Sea,” in comparison with the Lake of
Gennesareth, and the Salt Sea, by which name the Lacus Asphaltires is here meant.
The beginning of the northern boundary was the promontory of Hor, for it would
not accord to suppose that the mountain is here referred to in which Aaron died,
and which was far away, and situated on the opposite side of the land. It extended
from hence to Epiphania in Syria, which is called Hamath; for I agree with Jerome
in thinking that there were two cities of this name, and it is undoubtedly probable
that Antioch is called “Hamath the great” by the Prophet Amos (Amos 6:2,) in
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comparison with the lesser city here mentioned, the name of which was given it by
that wicked and cruel tyrant (Antiochus) Epiphanes; whether, however, the greater
Antioch was formerly called Hamath and Riblab, as Jerome states, I leave
undecided. It then passed on to Zedad and Ziphron, and its extremity was the
village of Enan. The eastern boundary passed from thence through Shephan,
Riblah, and Ain, until it reached the Lake of Gennesareth, a lake sufficiently well
known, and here called the Sea of Chinnereth. Thus the eastern boundary pointed
from Arabia in the direction of Persia, and Babylon was situated to the north-east of
it.
COFFMAN, "This chapter features just two things: (1) the God-given boundaries of
the Promised Land; and (2) the appointment of the men who would divide the land
among the tribes of Israel. Here is the text of the chapter.
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say
unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan, (this is the land that shall fall
unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders
thereof,) then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the
side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward;
and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass
along to Zin; and the goings out thereof shall be southward of Kadesh-barnea; and
it shall go forth to Hazar-addar, and pass along the Azmon; and the border shall
turn about from Azmon unto the brook of Egypt, and the goings out thereof shall be
at the sea."
The only surprising thing about the southern border is that it made somewhat of a
detour to the south in order to encompass Kadesh-barnea. Aside from this, the
southern border of Canaan as defined by God Himself originated eastward from the
southern tip of the Dead Sea (how far eastward was not stated) and moved
southwestward to its terminus at the Mediterranean. In the terminology used in
these verses, "The goings forth (Numbers 33:2) and the goings out (as in Numbers
34:5) have the meaning of `starting point' and `termination'."[1]
COKE, "Numbers 34:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying— Having given, in
the foregoing chapter, a strict charge to the Israelites, how they should treat the
inhabitants of the land of Canaan; the Lord proceeds to describe to them the
bounds of the land, as it had been promised to Abraham; thereby to let them know
where to stop their conquests, and to prevent them from making any encroachments
upon their neighbours. This chapter would have begun more properly at the 50th
verse of the last; a division which, in future times, may be made, more consistently
with the 1st verse of that chapter. There is no way by which the sacred geography
can be well understood, but by the inspection of a correct and proper map; and
none, perhaps, will be found superior to those of Calmet, who has accurately
considered the subject. See his Comment and Dictionary.
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BENSON, "Verse 1-2
Numbers 34:1-2. God here directs Moses, and he is ordered to direct Israel,
concerning the line by which the land of Canaan was to be bounded on all sides. Its
limits, or bounds, are described, 1st, To guide and bound them in their wars and
conquests, that they might not seek the enlargement of their empire, after the
manner of other nations, but be contented with their own portion. 2d, To encourage
them in their attempt upon Canaan, and assure them of their success. There was a
much larger possession promised them, if they were obedient, even to the river
Euphrates; and even so far the dominions of Israel did extend in David’s and
Solomon’s time, 2 Chronicles 9:26. But this, which is properly Canaan, lay in a very
little compass. It is but about a hundred and sixty miles in length, and about fifty in
breadth. This was that little spot of ground, in which alone, for many ages, God was
known! But its littleness was abundantly compensated by its fruitfulness; otherwise
it could not have sustained so numerous a nation.
See how little a share of the world God often gives to his own people! But they that
have their portion in heaven, can be content with a small pittance of this earth.
PARKER, " Boundaries
Numbers 34:1-12
Life is marked all over with boundary lines. Two different views may be taken of
such lines,—that is to say, in the first place they may be regarded as limitations and
partial impoverishments, or, in the next place, they may be regarded as defining
rights and liberties, possessions and authorities. Thus, the low view or the high view
may be taken of everything in life. Men will work according to their imagination—
their noblest faculty. Where that is dull, everything will be dull; even God could not
sow stars in the leaden firmament of a dull imagination. Where that noblest faculty
is alive, bright, daring, devout, all labour will be rest, all pain will be a pledge of
reward nobly won. Song of Solomon , we may make the boundaries of life cages,
prisons,—very serious and depressing limitations; or we may accept those
boundaries as a pledge, a seal of inheritance,—standards and lines to be appealed to
when our claim to stand in the lineal sonship of God is questioned or disputed. Very
subtle and delicate things are boundaries oftentimes. They are invisible. Are not all
the greatest things invisible, as well as the best and most delicate and tender? Show
the line of love. There is no line to show. It is at this point that conscience comes into
active play. Where the conscience is dull, or imperfectly educated, or selfish, there
will be much dispute about boundaries; but where the conscience is sanctified by the
power of the Cross and is alive with the righteousness of God, there will be no
controversy, but large concession, noble interpretation, willingness to give, to take,
to arrange and settle, without the severity of the law or the cruelty of the sword.
Sometimes we say,—Let a certain line be imagined. We put imaginary lines upon
the very globe itself; the points of the compass cannot touch the lines, yet they are
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there, present to the spiritual sight, quite open and intelligible to the sanctified
conscience. And rights of an imperial and enduring kind are based upon what may
be called imaginary lines. Sometimes we are brought very near to the territories of
others; it requires more than the naked eye to distinguish between mine and thine in
some cases; the approach is very close; the naked eye could see no difference. There
are men who have nothing but a naked eye, nothing but a naked hand; they have
not the lens of heaven, or the touch that breaks the few loaves into a great feast;
rough, heartless men, seizing everything, but enjoying nothing,—slaves of their own
cupidity. Many a controversy may arise as to boundary in this matter, because the
lines do appear to run into one another: a sword could not divide them; the finest
edge ever made by most skilled workers in iron could not part them asunder; but
there is a sword that can do so—not iron or steel, but the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God, written in the book and set in the heart,—a wonderful tone that
gives vision to conscience, the marvellous perception which is a miracle of God in
the intellectual and moral constitution of human nature.
What differences there are in boundaries! We read of one, in the seventh verse,
whose boundary was "from the great sea"; in the twelfth verse, "the goings out of it
shall be at the salt sea." There is so much sea in some people"s limited possession.
What a boundary is the inhospitable sea! We cannot cut it up into acres, and lay it
out; we cannot sow it with wheat, and reap the harvest, and enjoy the bread; it is to
most of us but a spectacle—great, melancholy, unresponsive, pitiless; a liquid
emblem of cruel death. Is not this the case with many men? They know they have
great possessions, but their greatness is not the measure of their value. A little
garden-plot would be to some men more valuable, for purposes of living, than the
freehold of the Atlantic. Sometimes men are born to great estates that have nothing
in them—boundless nothings; a proprietorship of infinite bogs and wastes and
unanswering sterilities; sand that cannot be ploughed, water that cannot be sown
with seed, and bogs that cannot be built upon. Contrast with such allotments the
words of music which you find in the fifteenth verse: "toward the sunrising." That
is an inheritance worth having! The morning sun blesses it: early in the morning all
heaven"s glory is poured out upon it with the hospitality of God; whatever is
planted in it grows almost instantly; the flowers love to be planted there; all the
roots of the earth would say,—Put us in this place of the morning sun, and we will
show you what we can do in growth and fruitfulness; give us the chance of the sun,
and then say what we really are. We cannot all have our estates "toward the
sunrising"; we cannot wholly cut off the north and the north-east—the shady side of
the hill: somebody must be there. Does God plant a tabernacle in such sunless
districts? Is there any temple of God in the north-lands, where the storm blows with
a will and the tempests seem to have it all their own way, rioting in their tumultuous
strength, and, as it were, accosting one another in reduplications of infinite
thunderings and roarings of whirlwinds? Even there God"s footprint may be found.
Even a little may be so held as to be much. Quite a small garden may grow stuff
enough for a whole household. Gardens like to be cunningly handled, lovingly
arranged, quite embraced with love;—then the least plot of land looks up smilingly,
and says,—You have treated me to the best of your ability; if there had been more
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sun, we should have been as good as any other land in the world; still, let us be
friends; till me, culture me, sow me with seed,—do what you can for me, and my
answer shall be the brightest answer of love that is in my power to return. Yield not
to dejection. Some must live in the north; some must be towards the bleak quarter.
Is it not possible for us to have joy in the recollection of the fact, that brothers of
ours are living in the south, and that on their gardens, if not on ours, the morning
looks with benediction and heavenliness and approbation?
We cannot get rid of boundaries. Never listen to those who talk about equality—
simply because you have no time to waste. Equality is impossible. If we were all
equal one day, we should all be unequal before the sun went down. Let us listen only
to the truly reasonable in this matter. There is something better than outward and
nominal equality, and that is an intelligent appreciation of the fact that there must
be differences of personality and allotment and responsibility, and that in the end
the judgment will be divine in its righteousness. We find boundaries in gifts of all
kinds. "Why do you not paint a picture for the Royal Academy?" Suppose a great
artist put this inquiry to me, I should reply,—"Nothing would give me much greater
pleasure that is of an intellectual kind." Then the artist may say,—"Why do you not
realise your ideal of high enjoyment? "I answer interrogatively,—"How can I?" He
replies cordially,—"I will find the canvas, I will mix the colours, I will supply the
brushes—now what hinders you to be baptised, and to rise an artist?" Why talk
about equality? I would rise an artist in a moment, if I could, but it is impossible;
my brother must be artist: enough for me I may be but preacher. So I say to
him,—"Why do you not preach?" He says,—"I would like to." "Then why do you
not? I will find the church and a pulpit and a Bible—why not be baptised, and rise a
Voice?" He cannot: it is not born in him; another good gift of God is his, and it is a
great gift; and it is not becoming in us that we should put our gifts in hostile
opposition to one another, as if one were a gift of God and another a gift of some
lower power. All boundaries and divisions and distributions are divine, and the
acceptance of them is itself a religion. Why not write a book of exactly the same
quality as Paradise Lost?—here is ink enough; what hindereth me to be baptised for
poetic honours and Miltonic renown? I have as much right to the six-and-twenty
letters of the alphabet as any poet whose brows were ever covered with bays and
coronals. That is true. The poorest man is born to own as much of the sun as he can
get hold of; the feeblest cripple may wave his crutch in the face of the heavens, and
claim all the landscape; but we are limited, distributed, set in our places. One star
differeth from another star in glory: one man differeth from another man in mental
scope and force. Why rebel? Why call God"s attention to the fact that my boundary
on the one side is nothing but a great sea, and I have not a piece of south-looking
land in all my little estate? And why aggravate my discontent by pointing to the
largeness of my brother"s inheritance, and the sunniness of the aspect which his
dwelling-house commands? There is a better policy—a noble and devout emotion—
which says,—Not my will, thou great boundary-maker, thou God of allotment and
distribution, but thine be done. The tortoise may beat the hare; the poor widow may
do more excellently than all the rich men in the city. As for being little, Jesus took a
"little child," and set him in the midst of the disciples and said,—This is the
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standard of greatness; it were better for a man that a millstone were hanged about
his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea, than that he should
offend one of these little ones. Look for the bright spots; add up all the excellences;
totalise the attractions of the situation; and it is wonderful how things add up when
you know how to add them.
So we have boundaries in general character. Sometimes, one man is nearly as good
as another. Sometimes the son is almost mistaken for the father, in point of genuine
excellence, benevolence, and thorough goodness of soul; still, he is not his father; he
never will be so princely and so good, because there is not so much of him to work
upon; he is a less man altogether. Why are not men equal in good, equal in power of
prayer, equal in willingness in the direction of self-sacrifice? Why is it hard for some
men to pray? Why do they fall down in some pitiable fit if they try to pray aloud
and in the hearing of others? That miracle never can be wrought. Suggest to some
men that they should pray in public, and instantly they reply in expressions of
wonder too profound for words. Who made these differences? Are all these things
indications of chance, haphazard, mere experiment, without reason for a centre or
probability for an issue? What if the attentive eye should see the divine hand in all
these appointments, and, recognising that hand, should touch it reverently and say
to it,—O hand of the Lord, arrange everything for me: be my hand: when I write,
take hold of my hand with thine, and let us write together; and when war comes
upon me, let thine hand be outstretched in my protection and defence!
Boundary is disciplinary. Who would not like to add just one more shelf to his
library, and could do it if he were at liberty to take the books from another man"s
study? Who does not desire to have just the corner plot to make the estate
geometrically complete, and would do it if the owner of the plot were not looking?
But to retire within your own boundary!—to have nothing but a ditch between you
and the vineyard you covet! Who is stopped by a ditch? To have nothing but one
thin, green hedge between proprietorship actual and proprietorship desired! Why
not burn the hedge, or transfer it? "Whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite
him,"—saith the Proverbs , of Solomon. To be kept within our own lines, to build
our altar steadily there, and to bow down at that altar, and confess that "The earth
is the Lord"s, and the fulness thereof," and that, whether a man has much or little,
he may be God"s child, God"s servant, and Christ"s apostle;—that is the highest
discipline, and it is possible to every man.
Boundaries are suggestive. Every boundary, rightly-inter-preted, means: Your last
estate will be a very little one—a grave in the cemetery, a tomb in the silent place.
Does it come to this, that the man who wanted acres a thousand in number doubled
lies down in six feet, or seven, by four? Can a carpenter measure him for his last
house? Does there come a time when a man steals quietly upstairs with a two-foot
measure, and afterwards hurries out to build for him in the eventide his last
dwelling-place? It is impossible to exclude this thought from all our best reasoning.
There is no need to be mawkish, sentimental, foolishly melancholy about it; but
there is the fact, that there is an appointed time to man upon the earth, as well as an
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appointed place to man upon the earth, and that he is the wise man who looks at
that certain fact and conducts himself wisely in relation to it. Men have the power of
closing their eyes and not seeing the end, but to close the eyes is not to destroy the
inevitable boundary. Even the grave can be made beautiful. A man may so live that
when he is laid in his grave other men may go to see the tomb, and bedew it with
tears, and even stoop down and touch it with a loving hand as if it were a living
thing.
Then comes the other thought immediately upon this gloomy one, saying,—The man
is not there: he is risen; he has entered the boundless land, where every man may
have as much as he can receive, and still feel that he has not begun to realise the
infinite possibilities of immortal life. Our Christian contention Isaiah , that any man
who lives under the inspiration of all these thoughts is living a wise life; he can
defend himself by reasoning without a flaw, by eloquence noble, persuasive,
dignified. There is the difficulty of living up to this ideal;—there is the blessed
satisfaction of knowing that we never can live up to it. Let us take comfort in our
inability as well as in our ability. Who can overtake his prayers? When the mocker
says,—Could the suppliant live his prayers, he would be a noble Prayer of
Manasseh ,—it is Hebrews , not the suppliant, who talks irrationally and foolishly.
Our prayers are our impossible selves: our prayers are the selves we would be if we
could. To have our life set in their direction is itself a conquest; and that conquest is
possible to all of us. Poor life! Some seem to have nothing; they wonder why they
live; their bread is bitter; and as for the water they drink, there is hardly enough of
it to touch the fire of their thirst; they think they do not want much, and they
suppose they could do with a good deal more than they have. Who is right—the
distributing God or the receiving man? In whose hand does ail this business lie? The
Christian doctrine Isaiah , that it lies in the hands of God, and that he will withhold
no good thing from them that walk uprightly; and the motto he has written upon his
broad heavens is this: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you;" and they are the mighty preachers—
voices sent from eternity—who can read that writing, pronounce it accurately, and
so utter it as to bring men to thought, to reason, to prayer.
PETT, "Verses 1-6
3). Description of The Land To Be Inherited (Numbers 34:1-15).
Having commanded the purifying of the land by the driving out of its inhabitants
and their gods, the land in mind is now delineated. This was not just some vague
notion, it was a grand plan.
Analysis.
a Command concerning the inheritance of the land which will fall to them (Numbers
34:1-2).
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b Description of the south quarter (Numbers 34:3-5).
b Description of the western border (Numbers 34:6).
b Description of the northern border (Numbers 34:7-9).
b Description of the eastern border (Numbers 34:10-12).
a This is the land which they are to inherit by lot as Yahweh has commanded
(Numbers 34:13-15).
Chapter 34 Delineation of the Land To Be Possessed and the Names of Those Who
Will Divide It Up Once It Is Possessed.
The land of Canaan was in general a recognised entity in the ancient world. For
long periods it came under the control of Egypt to the south who considered that
they had rights over it. When they were strong those rights were exercised. Thus in
the Amarna letters Egypt expected to be kept in touch with affairs and were
regularly called on to give assistance, and their idea of Canaan corresponds with the
description here. Interestingly a later 12th century BC text of Pharaoh Merenptah
actually mentions the presence of Israel in the land, boasting that he had got rid of
them, ‘Israel lies desolate, its seed are no more’. But they had simply retired to the
hills awaiting his departure.
While its exact borders were nowhere mentioned it is made quite clear that it
occupies pretty much of what is described here.
Numbers 34:1
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,’
Again we are assured that we have Moses’ words given by Yahweh.
BI 1-15, "When ye come into the land of Canaan.
The Promised Land
I. The boundaries of this land were determined by God.
1. A reason for contentment.
2. A rebuke of selfish greed, whether on the part of individuals or of
nations.
II. The extent of this land was small. Mr. Grove thus speaks of its size, and
briefly sets forth its boundaries: “The Holy Land is not in size or physical
characteristics proportioned to its moral and historical position, as the
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theatre of the most momentous events in the world’s history. It is but a strip
of country about the size of Wales, less than a hundred and forty miles in
length and barely forty in average breadth, on the very frontier of the East,
hemmed in between the Mediterranean Sea on the one hand and the
enormous trench of the Jordan valley on the other, by which it is effectually
cut off from the mainland of Asia behind it. On the north it is shut in by the
high ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and by the chasm of the Litany,
which runs at their feet, and forms the main drain of their southern slope.
On the south it is no less enclosed by the arid and inhospitable deserts of the
upper part of the peninsula of Sinai, whose undulating wastes melt
imperceptibly into the southern hills of Judea.”
III. The position of this land was secure. It was surrounded by natural
fortifications. In one particular only was the position of this land perilous.
“The only road by which the two great rivals of the ancient world could
approach one another—by which alone Egypt could go to Assyria and
Assyria to Egypt—lay along the broad fiat strip of coast which formed the
maritime portion of the Holy Land, and thence by the plain of the Lebanon
to the Euphrates.” This road was undoubtedly a dangerous one for the
Israelites. And through this channel the destruction of the nation came at
length. But, with this exception, this land was naturally surrounded by
almost impregnable defences.
IV. The soil of this land was fertile. At present the face of the country
presents a rocky and barren aspect. For this there are two causes. “The first
is the destruction of the timber in that long series of sieges and invasions
which began with the invasion of Shishak (B.C. circa 970), and has not yet
come to an end. This, by depriving the soil and streams of shelter from the
burning sun, at once made, as it invariably does, the climate more arid than
before, and doubtless diminished the rainfall. The second is the decay of the
terraces necessary to retain the soil on the steep slopes of the round hills.
This decay is owing to the general unsettlement and insecurity which have
been the lot of this poor little country almost ever since the Babylonian
conquest. The terraces once gone, there was nothing to prevent the soil
which they supported being washed away by the heavy rains of winter; and
it is hopeless to look for a renewal of the wood, or for any real improvement
in the general face of the country, until they have been first re-established.”
V. The Israelites failed to take possession of the whole of this land assigned
to them by God. (W. Jones.)
Boundaries
Life is marked all over with boundary lines. Two different views may be
taken of such lines—that is to say, in the first place they may be regarded as
limitations and partial impoverishments, or, in the next place, they may be
regarded as defining rights and liberties, possessions and authorities. Very
subtle and delicate things are boundaries oftentimes. They are invisible. Are
not all the greatest things invisible, as well as the best and most delicate and
tender? Show the line of love. There is no line to show. It is at this point that
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conscience comes into active play. Where the conscience is dull, or
imperfectly educated, or selfish, there will be much dispute about
boundaries; but where the conscience is sanctified by the power of the Cross
and is alive with the righteousness of God, there will be no controversy, but
large concession, noble interpretation, willingness to give, to take, to
arrange and settle, without the severity of the law or the cruelty of the
sword. What differences there are in boundaries! We read of one, in the
seventh verse, whose boundary was “from the great sea”; in the twelfth
verse, “the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea.” There is so much sea in
some people’s limited possession. What a boundary is the inhospitable sea!
We cannot cut it up into acres, and lay it out; we cannot sow it with wheat,
and reap the harvest, and enjoy the bread; it is to most of us but a
spectacle—great, melancholy, unresponsive, pitiless; a liquid emblem of
cruel death. Is not this the case with many men? They know they have great
possessions, but their greatness is not the measure of their value. A little
garden-plot would be to some men more valuable, for purposes of living,
than the freehold of the Atlantic. Sometimes men are born to great estates
that have nothing in them—boundless nothings; a proprietorship of infinite
bogs and wastes and unanswering sterilities; sand that cannot be ploughed,
water that cannot be sown with seed, and bogs that cannot be built upon.
Contrast with such allotments the words of music which you find in the
fifteenth verse: “toward the sunrising.” That is an inheritance worth having!
The morning sun blesses it: early in the morning all heaven’s glory is poured
out upon it with the hospitality of God; whatever is planted in it grows
almost instantly; the flowers love to be planted there; all the roots of the
earth would say, “Put us in this place of the morning sun, and we will show
you what we can do in growth and fruitfulness; give us the chance of the
sun, and then say what we really are.” We cannot all have our estates
“toward the sunrising”; we cannot wholly cut off the north and the
northeast—the shady side of the bill: somebody must be there. Does God
plant a tabernacle in such sunless districts? Is there any temple of God in
the northlands, where the storm blows with a will and the tempests seem to
have it all their own way, rioting in their tumultuous strength, and, as it
were, accosting one another in reduplications of infinite thunderings and
roarings of whirlwinds? Even there God’s footprint may be found. Even a
little may be so held as to he much. Quite a small garden may grow stuff
enough for a whole household. Look for the bright spots; add up all the
excellences; totalise the attractions of the situation; and it is wonderful how
things add up when you know how to add them. Boundary is disciplinary.
Who would not like to add just one more shelf to his library, and could do it
if he were at liberty to take the books from another man’s study? Who does
not desire to have just the corner plot to make the estate geometrically
complete, and would do it if the owner of the plot were not looking? But to
retire within your own boundary!—to have nothing but a ditch between you
and the vineyard you covet! Who is stopped by a ditch? To have nothing but
one thin, green hedge between proprietorship actual and proprietorship
desired! Why not burn the hedge, or transfer it? “Whoso breaketh an hedge,
a serpent shall bite him,” saith the proverbs of Solomon. To be kept within
our own lines, to build our altar steadily there, and to bow down at that
11

altar and confess that “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof,” and
that, whether a man has much or little, he may be God’s child, God’s
servant, and Christ’s apostle—that is the highest discipline, and it is possible
to every man. Boundaries are suggestive. Every boundary, rightly
interpreted, means, “Your last estate will be a very little one—a grave in the
cemetery, a tomb in the silent place.” Does it come to this, that the man who
wanted acres a thousand in number doubled lies down in six feet, or seven,
by four? Can a carpenter measure him for his last house? Does there ,come
a time when a man steals quietly upstairs with a two-foot measure, and
afterwards hurries out to build for him in the eventide his last dwelling-
place? It is impossible to exclude this thought from all our best reasoning.
There is no need to be mawkish, sentimental, foolishly melancholy about it;
but there is the fact that there is an appointed time to man upon the earth as
well as an appointed place to man upon the earth, and that he is the wise
man who looks at that certain fact and conducts himself wisely in relation to
it. Men have the power of closing their eyes and not seeing the end; but to
close the eves is not to destroy the inevitable boundary. Even the grave can
be made beautiful. A man may so live that when he is laid in his grave other
men may go to see the tomb and bedew it with tears, and even stoop down
and touch it with a loving hand as if it were a living thing. (J. Parker, D. D.).
2 “Command the Israelites and say to them:
‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be
allotted to you as an inheritance is to have these
boundaries:
BARNES, "The land of Canaan - The name Canaan is here restricted to the
territory west of the Jordan.
CLARKE, "The land of Canaan with the coasts thereof - All description
here is useless. The situation and boundaries of the land of Canaan can only
be known by actual survey, or by consulting a good map.
GILL, "Command the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Not to fix the
borders, and settle the boundaries of the land, for that is done by the Lord
12

himself, who has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of
men's habitations, and particularly of Israel, see Deu_32:8, but to observe
and take notice of the limits he had fixed, that they might know how far they
were to go on every side, whom they were to drive out, and what they were
to divide and inherit, and see what was their right, and preserve it from the
encroachments of their neighbours, as well as observe the goodness of God
unto them, in thus providing for them:
when ye come into the land of Canaan; to take possession of it by virtue of a
grant of it to them:
this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance; it is said to "fall",
because it was divided by lot, each tribe having such a part of it assigned to
them, according to the lot that came up unto them: even
the land of Canaan, with the coasts thereof; or according to its borders,
which are as follow.
JAMISON, "this is the ... land of Canaan — The details given in this chapter
mark the general boundary of the inheritance of Israel west of the Jordan.
The Israelites never actually possessed all the territory comprised within
these boundaries, even when it was most extended by the conquests of
David and Solomon.
ELLICOTT, "(2, 3) When ye come . . . —Better, Ye are entering into the land of
Canaan; this is the land which shall fall unto you for an inheritance, (even) the land
of Canaan, according to the borders thereof. And your south quarter (or, district)
shall be from the wilderness of Zin by the side of Edom; and your south border shall
be from the extremity of the salt sea eastward (or, on the east). It was important for
the Israelites to be taught that, whilst divinely commissioned to exterminate the
idolatrous inhabitants of the land of Canaan, they had no commission to make
aggressive wars upon the surrounding nations which were beyond the confines of
the land which was allotted to them. The southern boundary which is here described
is the same as that of the tribe of Judah, as described in Joshua 15:1-2. The land of
the Israelites was to extend towards the south as far as the wilderness of Zin, which
was to divide their territory from that of the Edomites.
POOLE, " Or, limits, or bounds, to wit, of the land beyond Jordan; which are here
particularly described,
1. To direct and bound them in their wars and conquests, that they might not seek
the enlargement of their empire, after the manner of other nations, but be contented
with their own portion.
2. To encourage them in their attempt upon Canaan, and assure them of their
success.
13

3. To guide them in the approaching distribution of the land.
PETT, "Numbers 34:2
“Command the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land of
Canaan, this is the land which shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of
Canaan according to its borders.”
When they came into the land of Canaan the land that they were to possess was
clearly specified. The delineations are much larger than was actually achieved, but
that was due to disobedience. Because they failed Yahweh the Canaanites survived
as far as Byblos, well to the north, the area from which had previously come the
Ugaritic texts.
3 “‘Your southern side will include some of the
Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. Your
southern end of the Dead Sea,
BARNES 3-5, "The southern boundary commenced at the Dead Sea. The
broad and desolate valley by which the depressed bed of that sea is
protected toward the south, is called the Ghor. A deep narrow glen enters it
at its southwest corner; it is called Wady-el-Fikreh, and is continued in the
same southwestern direction, under the name of Wady el-Marrah; a wady
which loses itself among the hills belonging to “the wilderness of Zin;” and
Kadesh-barnea (see Num_13:26 note), which is “in the wilderness of Zin,”
will be, as the text implies, the southernmost point of the southern
boundary. Thence, if Kadesh be identical with the present Ain el-Weibeh,
westward to the river, or brook of Egypt, now Wady el-Arish, is a distance of
about seventy miles. In this interval were Hazar-addar and Azmon; the
former being perhaps the general name of a district of Hazerim, or nomad
hamlets (see Deu_2:23), of which Adder was one: and Azmon, perhaps to be
identified with Kesam, the modern Kasaimeh, a group of springs situate in
the north of one of the gaps in the ridge, and a short distance west of Ain el-
Kudeirat.
(Others consider the boundary line to have followed the Ghor along the
Arabah to the south of the Azazimeh mountains, thence to Gadis round the
14

southeast of that mountain, and thence to Wady el-Arish.)
CLARKE, "The salt sea - The Dead Sea, or lake Asphaltites. See the note
on Gen_19:25.
GILL, "Then your south quarter,.... Or border of the land; which, as Jarchi
observes, was from east to west:
shall be from the wilderness of Zin; which is Kadesh, where Miriam died,
Num_20:1, and if this Kadesh was Kadeshbarnea, as Dr. Lightfoot seems to
have proved (h), from whence the spies were sent, that was clearly on the
south of the land of Canaan, for they were bid to go up their way southward,
Num_13:17, and so Kadeshbarnea is hereafter mentioned, as being in the
southern border: the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,"from the
wilderness of the palm trees of the mountain of iron;''there is a smaller
palm tree, which by Jewish writers is called Zin, of which there were great
quantities on a mountain famous for iron mines, in this wilderness, from
whence it is thought it had its name; hence we read (i) of palm trees of the
mountain of iron, as fit to make the bunch of branches of trees, called the
"lulab", carried in the hand on the feast of tabernacles:
along by the coast of Edom; the land of Canaan, to the south, bordered on
three countries, Egypt, Edom, and Moab; according to Jarchi, some part of
Egypt, the whole land of Edom, and the whole land of Moab; the part of the
land of Egypt was in the south west corner of it; the land of Edom by it to the
east; and the land of Moab by the land of Edom, at the end of the south to
the east:
and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward;
the same that is sometimes called the Dead sea, the sea of Sodom, or the
lake Asphaltites, as Heathen writers generally call it.
JAMISON 3-5, "Then your south quarter,.... Or border of the land; which, as
Jarchi observes, was from east to west:
shall be from the wilderness of Zin; which is Kadesh, where Miriam died,
Num_20:1, and if this Kadesh was Kadeshbarnea, as Dr. Lightfoot seems to
have proved (h), from whence the spies were sent, that was clearly on the
south of the land of Canaan, for they were bid to go up their way southward,
Num_13:17, and so Kadeshbarnea is hereafter mentioned, as being in the
southern border: the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,"from the
wilderness of the palm trees of the mountain of iron;''there is a smaller
palm tree, which by Jewish writers is called Zin, of which there were great
quantities on a mountain famous for iron mines, in this wilderness, from
whence it is thought it had its name; hence we read (i) of palm trees of the
mountain of iron, as fit to make the bunch of branches of trees, called the
15

"lulab", carried in the hand on the feast of tabernacles:
along by the coast of Edom; the land of Canaan, to the south, bordered on
three countries, Egypt, Edom, and Moab; according to Jarchi, some part of
Egypt, the whole land of Edom, and the whole land of Moab; the part of the
land of Egypt was in the south west corner of it; the land of Edom by it to the
east; and the land of Moab by the land of Edom, at the end of the south to
the east:
and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward;
the same that is sometimes called the Dead sea, the sea of Sodom, or the
lake Asphaltites, as Heathen writers generally call it.
K&D 3-5, "The southern boundary is the same as that given in Jos_15:2-4
as the boundary of the territory of the tribe of Judah. We have first the
general description, “The south side shall be to you from the desert of Zin
on the sides of Edom onwards,” i.e., the land was to extend towards the
south as far as the desert of Zin on the sides of Edom. ‫י‬ ֵ‫ד‬ְ‫ל־י‬ַ‫,ע‬ “on the sides,”
differs in this respect from ‫ַד‬‫י‬‫ל־‬ַ‫,ע‬ “on the side” (Exo_2:5; Jos_15:46; 2Sa_
15:2), that the latter is used to designate contact at a single point or along a
short line; the former, contact for a long distance or throughout the whole
extent (= ‫ַד‬‫י‬‫ל־‬ ָ‫,כּ‬ Deu_2:37). “On the sides of Edom” signifies, therefore, that
the desert of Zin stretched along the side of Edom, and Canaan was
separated from Edom by the desert of Zin. From this it follows still further,
that Edom in this passage is not the mountains of Edom, which had their
western boundary on the Arabah, but the country to the south of the desert
of Zin or Wady Murreh, viz., the mountain land of the Azazimeh, which still
bears the name of Seir or Serr among the Arabs (see Seetzen and Rowland
in Ritter's Erdk. xiv. pp. 840 and 1087). The statement in Jos_15:1 also
agrees with this, viz., that Judah's inheritance was “to the territory of
Edom, the desert of Zin towards the south,” according to which the desert of
Zin was also to divide the territory of Edom from that of the tribe of Judah
(see the remarks on Num_14:45). With Num_34:3 the more minute
description of the southern boundary line commences: “The south border
shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward,” i.e., start from “the tongue
which turns to the south” (Jos_15:2), from the southern point of the Dead
Sea, where there is now a salt marsh with the salt mountain at the south-
west border of the lake. “And turn to the south side (‫ֶב‬‫ג‬ֶ‫נּ‬ ִ‫)מ‬ of the ascent of
Akrabbim” (ascensus scorpionum), i.e., hardly “the steep pass of es Sufah,
1434 feet in height, which leads in a south-westerly direction from the Dead
Sea along the northern side of Wady Fikreh, a wady three-quarters of an
hour's journey in breadth, and over which the road from Petra to Heshbon
passes,”
(Note: See Robinson, vol. ii. pp. 587, 591; and v. Schubert, ii. pp. 443,
447ff.)
as Knobel maintains; for the expression ‫ב‬ ַ‫ָס‬‫נ‬ (turn), in Num_34:4, according to
which the southern border turned at the height of Akrabbim, that is to say, did not
16

go any farther in the direction from N.E. to S.W. than from the southern extremity
of the Salt Sea to this point, and was then continued in a straight line from east to
west, is not at all applicable to the position of this pass, since there would be no
bend whatever in the boundary line at the pass of es Sufah, if it ran from the
Arabah through Wady Fikreh, and so across to Kadesh. The “height of Akrabbim,”
from which the country round was afterwards called Akrabattine, Akrabatene (1
Macc. 5:4; Josephus, Ant. 12:8, 1),
(Note: It must be distinguished, however, from the Akrabatta mentioned by
Josephus in his Wars of the Jews (iii. 3, 5), the modern Akrabeh in central
Palestine (Rob. Bibl. Res. p. 296), and from the toparchy Akrabattene
mentioned in Josephus (Wars of the Jews, ii. 12, 4; 20, 4; 22, 2), which was
named after this place.)
is most probably the lofty row of “white cliffs” of sixty or eighty feet in height,
which run obliquely across the Arabah at a distance of about eight miles below the
Dead Sea and, as seen from the south-west point of the Dead Sea, appear to shut in
the Ghor, and which form the dividing line between the two sides of the great
valley, which is called el Ghor on one side, and el Araba on the other (Robinson, ii.
489, 494, 502). Consequently it was not the Wady Fikreh, but a wady which opened
into the Arabah somewhat farther to the south, possibly the southern branch of the
Wady Murreh itself, which formed the actual boundary.
“And shall pass over to Zin” (i.e., the desert of Zin, the great Wady Murreh, see at
Num_14:21), “and its going forth shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea ,” at the
western extremity of the desert of Zin (see at Num_20:16). From this point the
boundary went farther out (‫א‬ ָ‫ָצ‬‫י‬) “to Hazar-Addar, and over (‫ר‬ ַ‫ב‬ָ‫)ע‬ to Azmon.”
According to Jos_15:3-4, it went to the south of Kadesh-barnea over (‫ר‬ ַ‫ב‬ָ‫)ע‬ to
Hezron, and ascended (‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ָ‫)ע‬ to Addar, and then turned to Karkaa, and went
over to Azmon. Consequently Hazar-Addar corresponds to Hezron and
Addar (in Joshua); probably the two places were so close to each other that
they could be joined together. Neither of them has been discovered yet. This
also applies to Karkaa and Azmon. The latter name reminds us of the
Bedouin tribe Azazimeh, inhabiting the mountains in the southern part of
the desert of Zin (Robinson, i. pp. 274, 283, 287; Seetzen, iii. pp. 45, 47).
Azmon is probably to be sought for near the Wady el Ain, to the west of the
Hebron road, and not far from its entrance into the Wady el Arish; for this
is “the river (brook) of Egypt,” to which the boundary turned from Azmon,
and through which it had “its outgoings at the sea,” i.e., terminated at the
Mediterranean Sea. The “brook of Egypt,” therefore, is frequently spoken of
as the southern boundary of the land of Israel (1Ki_8:65; 2Ki_24:7; 2Ch_
7:8, and Isa_27:12, where the lxx express the name by Ῥινοκοροῦρα). Hence
the southern boundary ran, throughout its whole length, from the Arabah
on the east to the Mediterranean on the west, along valleys which form a
17

natural division, and constitute more or less the boundary line between the
desert and the cultivated land.
(Note: On the lofty mountains of Madara, where the Wady Murreh is
divided into two wadys (Fikreh and Murreh) which run to the Arabah, v.
Schubert observed “some mimosen-trees,” with which, as he expresses
it, “the vegetation of Arabia took leave of us, as it were, as they were the
last that we saw on our road.” And Dieterici (Reisebilder, ii. pp. 156-7)
describes the mountain ridge at Nakb es Sufah as “the boundary line
between the yellow desert and green steppes,” and observes still further,
that on the other side of the mountain (i.e., northwards) the plain spread
out before him in its fresh green dress. “The desert journey was over, the
empire of death now lay behind us, and a new life blew towards us from
fields covered with green.” - In the same way the country between
Kadesh and the Hebron road, which has become better known to us
through the descriptions of travellers, is described as a natural
boundary. Seetzen, in his account of his journey from Hebron to Sinai
(iii. p. 47), observes that the mountains of Tih commence at the Wady el
Ain (fountain-valley), which takes its name from a fountain that waters
thirty date-palms and a few small corn-fields (i.e., Ain el Kuderat, in
Robinson, i. p. 280), and describes the country to the south of the small
flat Wady el Kdeis (el Kideise), in which many tamarisks grew (i.e., no
doubt a wady that comes from Kadesh, from which it derives its name),
as a “most dreadful wilderness, which spreads out to an immeasurable
extent in all directions, without trees, shrubs, or a single spot of green”
(p. 50), although the next day he “found as an unexpected rarity another
small field of barley, which might have been an acre in extent” (pp. 52,
53). Robinson (i. pp. 280ff.) also found, upon the route from Sinai to
Hebron, more vegetation in the desert between the Wady el Kusaimeh
and el Ain than anywhere else before throughout his entire journey; and
after passing the Wady el Ain to the west of Kadesh, he “came upon a
broad tract of tolerably fertile soil, capable of tillage, and apparently
once tilled.” Across the whole of this tract of land there were long ranges
of low stone walls visible (called “el Muzeiri‫ג‬t,” “little plantations,” by
the Arabs), which had probably served at some former time as boundary
walls between the cultivated fields. A little farther to the north the Wady
es Ser‫ג‬m opens into an extended plain, which looked almost like a
meadow with its bushes, grass, and small patches of wheat and barley. A
few Azazimeh Arabs fed their camels and flocks here. The land all round
became more open, and showed broad valleys that were capable of
cultivation, and were separated by low and gradually sloping hills. The
grass become more frequent in the valleys, and herbs were found upon
the hills. “We heard (he says at p. 283) this morning for the first time the
songs of many birds, and among them the lark.”)
COKE, "Numbers 34:3. Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of
Zin— Though by the land of Canaan is sometimes understood the whole land of
promise possessed by the twelve tribes; yet the signification is here and commonly
18

restrained to the country west of Jordan. Moses himself has made this distinction,
Deuteronomy 2:29. The south bounds were to end at the east point of the Salt or
Dead Sea, running by the borders of Idumea, to the most northern point of the river
Nile, (Numbers 34:5.) and so to the Mediterranean Sea westward, and along by the
wilderness of Zin, (Numbers 34:4.) meeting the eastern bounds towards the river
Jordan. See Genesis 14:3. Joshua 15:2.
BENSON, "Numbers 34:3. Your south quarter — Which is here described from
east to west by divers windings and turnings, by reason of the mountains and rivers.
Though Canaan itself was a pleasant land, as it is termed Daniel 8:9, yet it butted
upon wildernesses and seas, and was surrounded with divers melancholy prospects.
And thus the vineyard of the church is compassed on all hands with the desert of
this world, which serves as a foil to it, to make it appear the more amiable and
desirable. Many of the borders of Canaan, however, were its defences and
fortifications, and rendered the access of its enemies more difficult. The utmost
coast of the salt sea — So called from the salt and sulphureous taste of its waters;
and termed also the Dead sea, because no creature, it appears, will live in it, on
account of its excessive saltness, or rather bituminous quality. “It contains,” says
Volney, “neither animal nor vegetable life. We see no verdure on its banks, nor are
fish to be found within its waters.” This was part of the border of the Israelites, that
it might be a constant warning to them to take heed of those sins which had been the
ruin of Sodom: yet the iniquity of Sodom was afterward found in Israel; (Ezekiel
16:49;) for which Canaan was made, though not a salt sea, as Sodom, yet a barren
soil, and continues such to this day. Eastward — That is, at the eastern part of that
sea, where the eastern and southern borders of the land met. Thus Moses
determines the boundary of Canaan, on the south, to be Idumaea and the deserts of
Arabia.
POOLE, " The south quarter is here described from east to west by divers windings
and turnings, by reason of the mountains, rivers, &c.
By the coast of Edom, bordering all along upon the Edomites.
The Salt Sea, so called from the salt and sulphurous taste of its waters.
Eastward, i.e. at the eastern part of that sea, where the eastern and southern
borders meet.
WHEDON, "Verses 3-5
3-5. Your south quarter — The southern boundary is the same as that of the tribe of
Judah on the south. Joshua 15:2-5, notes. The Revised Version gives an improved
translation, “the brook of Egypt.” Genesis 15:18, note. Edom, here, is not Mount
Seir, but the country south of the wilderness of Zin or Wady Murreh, namely, the
mountain land of the Azazimeh, which the Arabs still call Seir or Serr.
19

PETT, "Description Of The South Quarter (Numbers 34:3-5).
Numbers 34:3-5
“Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the border of
Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward, and
your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim (‘scorpions’),
and pass along to Zin. And its goings out shall be southward of Kadesh-barnea; and
it shall go forth to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon; and the border shall turn
about from Azmon to the Wadi of Egypt, and its goings out shall be at the sea.”
Compare Joshua 15:2-4. They were not to possess any of the land of Edom (‘along
by the border of Edom’ - compare Deuteronomy 2:5). The boundary then goes from
the bottom of the Salt Sea (the Dead Sea) across to the Great Sea, (the
Mediterranean Sea), passing to the south of Kadesh Barnea (possibly Ain el
Qudeirat) which was to be included in the land, and reaching ‘the Wadi of Egypt’
(Wadi el-Arish). The Negeb provided good pasture land, and by judicious use of
groundwater could be, and regularly was at times, irrigated.
4 cross south of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin
and go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to
Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,
GILL, "And your border,.... That is, the south border, which is still
describing:
shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim; or Maalehacrabbim, as
in Jos_15:3 so called from the multitude of serpents and scorpions in it, see
Deu_8:15, so Kimchi says (k), a place of serpents and scorpions was this
ascent: Dr. Shaw (l) says Akrabbim may probably be the same with the
mountains of Accaba, according to the present name, which hang over
Eloth, where there is a "high steep road", well known to the Mahometan
pilgrims for its ruggedness: and he thinks (m) it very probable, that Mount
Hor was the same chain of mountains that are now called Accaba by the
Arabs, and were the easternmost range, as we may take them to be, of
Ptolemy's black mountains: Josephus (n) speaks of Acrabatene as belonging
20

to the Edomites, which seems to be this same place:
and pass on to Zin; that is, which ascent goes on to it; the Targum of
Jonathan is,"and shall pass on to the palm trees of the mountain of iron;''by
which is meant the same with the wilderness of Zin: perhaps Zinnah is
rather the name of a city; the Septuagint call it Ennac: the Vulgate Latin,
Senna: Jerom (o) makes mention of a place called Senna, seven miles from
Jericho:
and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea; from
whence the spies were sent southward to search the land, Num_13:17.
and shall go on to Hazaraddar; called Adar, Jos_15:3 and where it seems to
be divided into two places, Hezron and Adar, which very probably were near
each other, and therefore here put together, as if but one place:
and pass on to Azmon; which the Targums call Kesam.
COKE, "Numbers 34:4-5. To the ascent of Akrabbim— Or to Maaleh-akrabbim, as
it is rendered, Joshua 15:3 which signifies, according to Bochart, the mount of
scorpions; so called from the multitude of those creatures found there. See
Deuteronomy 8:15 and Hieroz. lib. 4: cap. 29. Hence that tract adjoining to Idumea
is called Arabatine, 1 Maccabees 5:3. Hazar-addar is, in the Vulgate, the village of
Addar; which seems justified by Joshua 15:3 where it is simply called Addar. The
river of Egypt means, as we have explained it, Numbers 34:3 the Nile; as the sea
means the Mediterranean sea, called Numbers 34:6-7 the great sea. It is certain, that
the Jews never did extend their territories so far as the Nile; the present is to be
considered only as a permission to do so. The words in Numbers 34:4 and the going
forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadesh-barnea, Dr. Waterland renders, and
its utmost limits on the south shall be Kadesh-barnea.
BENSON, "Verses 4-6
Numbers 34:4-6. From the south to Kadesh-barnea — Rather, shall extend on the
south to Kadesh-barnea westward. Unto the river of Egypt — That is, the Nile. Not
that the Jews did really extend their territories so far as the Nile; but thus far they
were allowed to extend them. The goings out of it shall be at the sea — The Midland
or Mediterranean sea, called the sea, emphatically, and (Numbers 34:6,) the great
sea, in opposition to the sea of Galilee, and the Dead sea, which are indeed but lakes.
This midland sea was to be their western border.
ELLICOTT, " (4) And your border shall turn from the south . . . —Better, And
your border shall turn on (or, to) the south side of the ascent of Akrabbim, and shall
pass over to Zin; and the goings forth thereof shall be on the south of Kadesh-
barnea. The meaning appears to be that the boundary line was to go in a south-
westerly direction from the southern point (or, tongue) of the Dead Sea, as far as the
21

height (or, ascent) of Akrabbim; and was to be continued from this point in a
westerly direction as far as Kadesh-barnea, which was at the western extremity of
the desert of Zin, and was to be included within the Israelitish territory. What is
here called the height of Akrabbim is supposed to be a row of white cliffs, which run
obliquely across the Arabah, at a distance of about eight miles from the Dead Sea.
(Comp. Joshua 15:3-4.)
POOLE, " Akrabbim, called Maaleh-acrabbim, Joshua 15:3, which was at the south
end of the Salt or Dead Sea.
From the south, or, on the south, i.e. proceeding onward towards the south.
Kadesh-barnea was on the southern part of Canaan, Numbers 13:17.
Hazar-addar, in Joshua 15:3, may seem distinguished into two places, Hezron and
Adar, which here are united, because peradventure they were contiguous, or joined
together. Or, the village of Addar; and so this is the same place called Adar, Joshua
15:3; and for Hezron, that may be another place here omitted, and there supplied
for more exactness. Azmon is at the west end of the Mount of Edom.
5 where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and
end at the Mediterranean Sea.
CLARKE, "The river of Egypt - The eastern branch of the river Nile; or,
according to others, a river which is south of the land of the Philistines, and
fails into the gulf or bay near Calieh.
GILL, "And the border shall fetch a compass,.... Not go on in a straight line,
but turn about:
from Azmon unto the river of Egypt; the river Nile, as both the Targums of
Jonathan and Jerusalem; but Aben Ezra seems to deny that that river is
meant: and some think that Rhinocolura, which flows into the
Mediterranean sea, is meant; or the "valley of Egypt", Casiotis, which
divided Judea from Egypt, as follows:
22

and the goings out of it; not of the river, but of the border:
shall be at the sea; the above sea, called in the next verse the great sea; all
the Targums render it to the west.
HENRY 5-15, "III. It is observable what the bounds and limits of it were. 1.
Canaan was itself a pleasant land (so it is called Dan_8:9), and yet it
bordered upon wilderness and seas, and was surrounded with divers
melancholy prospects. Thus the vineyard of the church is compassed on all
hands with the desert of this world, which serves as a foil to it, to make it
appear the more beautiful for situation. 2. Many of its borders were its
defences and natural fortifications, to render the access of enemies the
more difficult, and to intimate to Israel that the God of nature was their
protector, and with his favour would compass them as with a shield. 3. The
border reached to the river of Egypt (Num_34:5), that the sight of that
country which they could look into out of their own might remind them of
their bondage there, and their wonderful deliverance thence. 4. Their
border is here made to begin at the Salt Sea (Num_34:3), and there it ends,
Num_34:12. This was the remaining lasting monument of the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah. That pleasant fruitful vale in which these cities stood
became a lake, which was never stirred by any wind, bore no vessels, was
replenished with no fish, no living creature of any sort being found in it,
therefore called the Dead Sea. This was part of their border, that it might be
a constant warning to them to take heed of those sins which had been the
ruin of Sodom; yet the iniquity of Sodom was afterwards found in Israel
(Eze_16:49), for which Canaan was made, though not a salt sea as Sodom,
yet a barren soil, and continues so to this day. 5. Their western border was
the Great Sea (Num_34:6), which is now called the Mediterranean. Some
consider this sea itself to have been a part of their possession, and that by
virtue of this grant, they had the dominion of it, and, if they had not
forfeited it by sin, might have rode masters of it.
ELLICOTT, " (5) And the border shall fetch a compass . . . —Although the exact
spots of some of the places which determined the southern border have not been
positively ascertained, there seems, on the whole, very little doubt that the boundary
line ran along the valleys which form a natural division between the cultivated land
and the desert, from the Arabah on the east to the Mediterranean on the west, the
Brook of Egypt—i.e., the Wady-el-Arish—forming the western boundary until it
reached the sea.
POOLE, " The river of Egypt, called Sihor, Joshua 13:3, which divided Egypt from
Canaan. See Genesis 15:18.
The sea; the midland sea, called the sea emphatically; whereas the other seas there,
as they are called, are indeed but lakes.
23

6 “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of
the Mediterranean Sea. This will be your
boundary on the west.
CLARKE, "Ye shall even have the great sea for a border - The
Mediterranean Sea, called here the Great Sea, to distinguish it from the
Dead Sea, the Sea of Tiberias, etc., which were only a sort of lakes. In
Hebrew there is properly but one term, ‫ים‬ yam, which is applied to all
collections of water apparently stagnant, and which is generally translated
sea. The Greek of the New Testament follows the Hebrew, and employs, in
general, the word θαλασσα, Sea, whether it speaks of the Mediterranean, or
of the sea or lake of Galilee.
GILL, "And as for the western border,.... Of the land of Canaan:
you shall even have the great sea for a border; and no other, meaning the
Mediterranean sea, which lies west of the land of Judea; Aben Ezra calls it
the Spanish sea: it has the name of "great", in comparison of some in the
land of Canaan, as the salt sea, and the sea of Tiberias:
this shall be your west border; namely, the Mediterranean sea.
JAMISON, "the western border — There is no uncertainty about this
boundary, as it is universally allowed to be the Mediterranean, which is
called “the great sea” in comparison with the small inland seas or lakes
known to the Hebrews.
K&D, "The western boundary was to be “the great sea and its territory,”
i.e., the Mediterranean Sea with its territory or coast (cf. Deu_3:16-17; Jos_
13:23, Jos_13:27; Jos_15:47).
24

"COFFMAN, ""And for the western border, ye shall have the great sea and the
border thereof: this shall be your west border."
The western border required no further description. The Mediterranean Sea was
the western border of the Holy Land. Strangely enough, the children of Israel were
never able to possess that seacoast. Not even in the glorious reigns of David and
Solomon did the land of the Philistine belong to Israel. As we noted in Numbers 32,
the settlement of a very large part of Israel east of Jordan must have proved to be a
key factor in that failure. "Not a single spot on the coast was ever in Hebrew
occupation, until in the second half of the second century B.C., Simon captured
Joppa. (1 Maccabees 14:5)."[2]
COKE, "Verse 6
Numbers 34:6. The great sea— The Jews call the Mediterranean the great sea, in
opposition to the lake of Gennezareth, and the Asphaltic lake, called, the one, the sea
of Galilee, the other, the Salt or Dead Sea.
ELLICOTT, "(6) And as for the western border . . . —Better, And as for the
western border, ye shall have the great sea and (its) border (i.e., its coast). (See
Joshua 15:47. “the great sea and the border thereof.”)
PETT, "Numbers 34:6
“And for the western border, you shall have the great sea and the border. This shall
be your west border.”
The Western border was the Great Sea, the Mediterranean itself.
7 “‘For your northern boundary, run a line from
the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor
BARNES 7-9, "The northern border. On the “Mount Hor,” compare Num_
20:22 note. Here the name denotes the whole western crest of Mount
Lebanon, 80 miles in length, commencing east of Zidon, and terminating
25

with the point immediately above the entrance of Hamath (compare Num_
13:21). The extreme point in the northern border of the land was the city of
Zedad (Sadad), about 30 miles east of the entrance of Hamath. Hence, the
border turned back southwestward to Ziphron (Zifran), about 40 miles
northeast of Damascus. Hazar-enan may be conjecturally identified with
Ayun ed-Dara, a fountain situate in the very heart of the great central chain
of Antilibanus.
GILL, "And this shall be your northern border,.... What follows:
from the great sea ye shall point out for you Mount Hor; not that Mount Hor
on which Aaron died, for that was on the southern border of the land; but
rather Mount Herman, which is said to be unto the entering into Hamath,
Jos_13:5 as this Mount Hor is in the following verse; or some part of Mount
Lebanon might be so called, which was the northern border of the land: the
Targum of Jonathan calls it Umanus; and the Jerusalem Targum, Manus or
Taurus Umanus, the Mountain Umanus, which divided Syria and Cilicia; it
is joined with Lebanon by Josephus (p), and with that and Carmel by
Aelianus (q).
JAMISON 7-9, "north border — The principal difficulty in understanding
the description here arises from what our translators have called mount
Hor. The Hebrew words, however, Hor-ha-Hor, properly signify “the
mountain of the mountain,” or “the high double mountain,” which, from the
situation, can mean nothing else than the mountain Amana (Son_4:8), a
member of the great Lebanon range (Jos_13:5).
K&D 7-9, "The northern boundary cannot be determined with certainty.
“From the great sea, mark out to you (‫אוּ‬ ָ‫ת‬ ְ‫,תּ‬ from ‫ה‬ ָ‫א‬ ָ‫תּ‬ = ‫ָה‬‫ו‬ ָ‫,תּ‬ to mark or
point out), i.e., fix, Mount Hor as the boundary” - from thence “to come to
Hamath; and let the goings forth of the boundary be to Zedad. And the
boundary shall go out to Ziphron, and its goings out be at Hazar-enan.” Of
all these places, Hamath, the modern Hamah, or the Epiphania of the
Greeks and Romans on the Orontes (see at Num_13:21, and Gen_10:18), is
the only one whose situation is well known; but the geographical
description of the northern boundary of the land of Israel ‫ת‬ ָ‫מ‬ֲ‫ח‬ ‫ֹא‬ ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ (Num_
13:21; Jos_13:5; Jdg_3:3; 1Ki_8:65; 2Ki_14:25; 1Ch_13:5; 2Ch_7:8; Amo_
6:14; Eze_47:15, Eze_47:20; Eze_48:1) is so indefinite, that the boundary
line cannot be determined with exactness. For no proof can be needed in the
present day that ‫ת‬ ָ‫מ‬ֲ‫ח‬ ‫ֹא‬ ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ cannot mean “to Hamath” (Ges. thes. i. p. 185;
Studer on Jdg_3:3, and Baur on Amo_6:2), in such a sense as would make
the town of Hamath the border town, and ‫ֹא‬‫בּ‬ a perfectly superfluous
pleonasm. In all the passages mentioned, Hamath refers, not to the town of
that name (Epiphania on the Orontes), but to the kingdom of Hamath,
26

which was named after its capital, as is proved beyond all doubt by 2Ch_8:4,
where Solomon is said to have built store cities “in Hamath.” The city of
Hamath never belonged to the kingdom of Israel, not even under David and
Solomon, and was not reconquered by Jeroboam II, as Baur supposes (see
my Commentary on the Books of Kings, and Thenius on 2Ki_14:25). How far
the territory of the kingdom of Hamath extended towards the south in the
time of Moses, and how much of it was conquered by Solomon (2Ch_8:4),
we are nowhere informed. We simply learn from 2Ki_25:21, that Riblah
(whether the same Riblah as is mentioned in Num_34:11 as a town upon the
eastern boundary, is very doubtful) was situated in the land of Hamath in
the time of the Chaldeans. Now if this Riblah has been preserved in the
modern Ribleh, a miserable village on the Orontes, in the northern part of
the Bekaa, ten or twelve hours' journey to the south-west of Hums, and
fourteen hours to the north of Baalbek (Robinson, iii. p. 461, App. 176, and
Bibl. Researches, p. 544), the land of Canaan would have reached a little
farther northwards, and almost to Hums (Emesa). Knobel moves the
boundary still farther to the north. He supposes Mount Hor to be Mons
Casius, to the south-west of Antioch, on the Orontes, and agrees with
Robinson (iii. 461) in identifying Zedad, in the large village of Zadad (Sudud
in Rob.), which is inhabited exclusively by Syriac Christians, who still speak
Syriac according to Seetzen (i. 32 and 279), a town containing about 3000
inhabitants (Wetstein, Reiseber. p. 88), to the south-east of Hums, on the
east of the road from Damascus to Hunes, a short day's journey to the north
of Nebk, and four (or, according to Van de Velde's memoir, from ten to
twelve) hours' journey to the south of Hasya (Robinson, iii. p. 461; Ritter,
Erdk. xvii. pp. 1443-4).
Ziphron, which was situated upon the border of the territory of Hamath
and Damascus, if it is the same as the one mentioned in Eze_47:16, is
supposed by Knobel and Wetstein (p. 88) to be preserved in the ruins of
Zifran, which in all probability have never been visited by any European,
fourteen hours to the north-east of Damascus, near to the road from
Palmyra. Lastly, Hazar-enan (equivalent to fountain-court) is supposed to
be the station called Centum Putea (Πούτεα in Ptol. v. 15, 24), mentioned in
the Tabul. Peuting. x. 3, on the road from Apamia to Palmyra, twenty-seven
miles, or about eleven hours, to the north-west of Palmyra. - But we may say
with certainty that all these conclusions are incorrect, because they are
irreconcilable with the eastern boundary described in Num_34:10, Num_
34:11. For example, according to Num_34:10, Num_34:11, the Israelites
were to draw (fix) the eastern boundary “from Hazar-enan to Shepham,”
which, as Knobel observes, “cannot be determined with exactness, but was
farther south than Hazar-enan, as it was a point on the eastern boundary
which is traced here from north to south, and also farther west, as we may
infer from the allusion to Riblah, probably at the northern end of
Antilibanus”. From Shepham the boundary was “to go down to Riblah,”
which Knobel finds in the Ribleh mentioned above. Now, if we endeavour to
fix the situation of these places according to the latest and most trustworthy
maps, the incorrectness of the conclusions referred to becomes at once
apparent. From Zadad (Sudad) to Zifran, the line of the northern boundary
would not have gone from west to east, but from north to south, or rather
27

towards the south-west, and from Zifran to Centum Putea still more
decidedly in a south-westerly direction. Consequently the northern
boundary would have described a complete semicircle, commencing in the
north-west and terminating in the south-east. But if even in itself this
appears very incredible, it becomes perfectly impossible when we take the
eastern boundary into consideration. For if this went down to the south-
west from Hazar-enan to Shepham according to Knobel's conclusions,
instead of going down (Num_34:11) from Shepham to Riblah, it would have
gone up six or seven geographical miles from south to north, and then have
gone down again from north to south along the eastern coast of the Lake of
Gennesareth. Now it is impossible that Moses should have fixed such a
boundary to the land of Israel on the north-east, and equally impossible that
a later Hebrew, acquainted with the geography of his country, should have
described it in this way.
If, in order to obtain a more accurate view of the extent of the land
towards the north and north-east, we compare the statements of the book of
Joshua concerning the conquered land with the districts which still
remained to be taken at the time of the distribution; Joshua had taken the
land “from the bald mountain which ascends towards Seir,” i.e., probably
the northern ridge of the Azazimeh mountains, with its white masses of
chalk (Fries, ut sup. p. 76; see also at Jos_11:17), “to Baal-Gad, in the valley
of Lebanon, below Mount Hermon” (Jos_11:17; cf. Num_12:7). But Baal-
Gad in the valley (‫ה‬ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ק‬ ִ‫)בּ‬ of Lebanon is not Heliopolis (now Baalbek in the
Bekaa, or Coelesyria), as many, from Iken and J. D. Michaelis down to
Knobel, suppose; for “the Bekaa is not under the Hermon,” and “there is no
proof, or even probability, that Joshua's conquests reached so far, or that
Baalbek was ever regarded as the northern boundary of Palestine, nor even
that the adjoining portion of Anti-Lebanon was ever called Hermon”
(Robinson, Biblical Researches, p. 409). Baal-Gad, which is called Baal-
Hermon in Jdg_3:3 and 1Ch_5:23, was the later Paneas or Caesarea
Philippi, the modern Banias, at the foot of the Hermon (cf. v. Raumer, Pal.
p. 245; Rob. Bibl. Res. pp. 408-9, Pal. iii. pp. 347ff.). This is placed beyond
all doubt by 1Ch_5:23, according to which the Manassites, who were
increasing in numbers, dwelt “from Bashan to Baal-hermon, and Senir, and
the mountains of Hermon,” since this statement proves that Baal-hermon
was between Bashan and the mountains of Hermon. In harmony with this,
the following places in the north of Canaan are mentioned in Jos_13:4-5,
and Jdg_3:3, as being left unconquered by Joshua: - (1.) “All the land of the
Canaanites (i.e., of the Phoenicians who dwelt on the coast), and the cave of
the Sidonians to Aphek;” ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫,מ‬ probably the spelunca inexpugnabilis in
territorio Sidoniensi, quae vulgo dicitur cavea de Tyrum (Wilh. Tyr. xix.
11), the present Mughr Jezzin, i.e., caves of Jezzin, to the east of Sidon upon
Lebanon (Ritter, Erdk. xvii. pp. 99, 100); and Aphek, probably the modern
Afka, to the north-east of Beirut (Robinson, Bibl. Res.). (2.) “The land of the
Giblites,” i.e., the territory of Byblos, and “all Lebanon towards the east,
from Baal-Gad below Hermon, till you come to Hamath,” i.e., not
Antilibanus, but Lebanon, which lies to the east of the land of the Giblites.
The land of the Giblites, or territory of Gebal, which is cited here as the
northernmost district of the unconquered land, so that its northern
28

boundary must have coincided with the northern boundary of Canaan, can
hardly have extended to the latitude of Tripoli, but probably only reached to
the cedar grove at Bjerreh, in the neighbourhood of which the highest peaks
of the Lebanon are found. The territory of the tribes of Asher and Naphtali
(Josh 19:24-39) did not reach farther up than this. From all these accounts,
we must not push the northern boundary of Canaan as far as the
Eleutherus, Nahr el Kebir, but must draw it farther to the south, across the
northern portion of the Lebanon; so that we may look for Hazar-enan
(fountain-court), which is mentioned as the end of the northern boundary,
and the starting-point of the eastern, near the fountain of Lebweh. This
fountain forms the water-shed in the Bekaa, between the Orontes, which
flows to the north, and the Leontes, which flows to the south (cf. Robinson,
Bibl. Res. p. 531), and is not only a very large fountain of the finest clear
water, springing at different points from underneath a broad piece of
coarse gravel, which lies to the west of a vein of limestone, but the whole of
the soil is of such a character, that “you have only to dig in the gravel, to get
as many springs as you please.” The quantity of water which is found here is
probably even greater than that at the Anjar. In addition to the four
principal streams, there are three or four smaller ones (Robinson, Bibl.
Res. p. 532), so that this place might be called, with perfect justice, by the
name of fountain-court. The probability of this conjecture is also
considerably increased by the fact, that the Ain, mentioned in Num_34:11 as
a point upon the eastern boundary, can also be identified without any
difficulty (see at Num_34:11).
COFFMAN, ""And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall
mark out for you mount Hor; from mount Hor ye shall mark out unto the entrance
of Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad; and the border shall
go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out thereof shall be at Hazar-enan: this shall be
your north border."
The indefinite nature of this boundary derives from the fact that the precise point
on the Mediterranean where this "marking" was to begin is not given. Also, "the
Mount Hor" here cannot be the one in Numbers 20:22, therefore unknown.[3] It is
also uncertain as to how far eastward the boundary reached. Gray thought it came
to the vicinity of Damascus.[4] Thompson placed the eastern terminus of the
northern border near the headwaters of the Orontes river,[5] but the exact location
is unknown.
COKE, "Verses 7-9
Numbers 34:7-9. From the great sea ye shall point out—mount Hor— The north
bounds reached from the north end of the Mediterranean along by the mountains
Libanus and Anti-Libanus, as far as the two heads of the river Jordan, taking in the
several towns, Hamath, Zedad, &c. By Hor, here, is not to be understood that mount
29

where Aaron died; (ch. Numbers 33:38-39.) for that was on the south of Canaan,
whereas this was diametrically opposite, on the north of it; and therefore by Hor, in
this place, we are, probably, to understand Hermon, or some part of Mount
Libanus, which bounded Canaan on the north; for we find Lebanon and Hermon
joined with the entrance of Hamath, Joshua 13:5.) as mount Hor is here. Now
Hermon was certainly a part of Lebanon, by some called Sirion, by others Shenir,
Deuteronomy 3:9 and by others Sion, Deuteronomy 4:48. Respecting Hamath, see
chap. Numbers 13:21. Ziphron is no where else mentioned in Scripture. St. Jerome
takes it for Zephirium in Cilicia. Hazar-enan, Chitraeus renders the village of the
source, namely, of Jordan, which took its rise in that tract. See Dr. Shaw, vol. 2
Chronicles 1 p. 267.
BENSON "Verse 7-8
Numbers 34:7-8. Mount Hor — Not that Hor where Aaron died, which was
southward, and bordering upon Edom, but another mountain, probably Hermon, or
some part of mount Lebanon, which is elsewhere mentioned as the northern border
of the land, and which, in regard of divers parts, or by divers people, is called by
divers names, and here Hor, which signifies a mountain, by way of eminence.
Accordingly we find Lebanon and Hermon joined with the entrance of Hamath,
(Joshua 13:5,) as mount Hor is here.
ELLICOTT, " (7) Mount Hor.—It has been thought by some that Hermon is the
mountain to which reference is made. But, as Ritter has observed (“Comparative
Geography of Palestine,” 3, p. 176), “Hermon stands too far eastward to answer the
conditions of the problem,” and he thinks that some peak very near the
Mediterranean must be meant. Von Raumer considers that it was probably one of
the peaks belonging to the Lebanon range, and discernible from Sidon. (Ib.)
POOLE, "Not that Hor where Aaron died, Numbers 20:23, which was southward,
and bordering upon Edom, Numbers 33:37,38, and therefore could not be their
northern border; but another mountain, and, as it is conceived, the mountain of
Libanus, which is elsewhere mentioned as the northern border of the land, and
which, in regard of divers parts, or by divers people, is called by divers names, as
Sirion and Shenir, Deuteronomy 3:9, and Sion, Deuteronomy 4:48, and Hermon,
Joshua 13:5, and here Hor, which signifies a mountain, and this may be called so by
way of eminency. Certain it is, that as Hor here, so Hemon, Joshua 13:5, is joined
with the entrance of Hamath, which makes it probable they are one and the same
place.
WHEDON, " 7-9. Your north border — This cannot be accurately identified, since
the whole topography is in a most unsatisfactory state as regards the comprehension
of the original record and knowledge of the ground, all the places being now
unknown except Hamath, which must mean the kingdom of Hamath, and not
Hamath, its capital city, modern Hamah, called Epiphania by the Greeks and
30

Romans. Numbers 13:21, note.
Mount Hor — This is not to be confounded with the Mount Hor of the Seir range.
Numbers 20:22, note. This Mount Hor is spoken of only here. Its identification is
one of the puzzles of sacred geography. Some suppose that the great chain of
Lebanon itself is meant, which is clearly the natural northern boundary of Palestine.
Knobel moves the boundary still farther north, and identifies Mount Hor with Mons
Casius, southwest of Antioch, on the Orontes. Robinson agrees with him in
recognising this Zedad in Zadad, a Syriac Christian village of three thousand
inhabitants, to the southeast of Hunes, on the east of the road from Damascus to
Hunes.
Wetstein and Knobel suppose that Ziphron is the same as a ruined city, Zifran, of
which we have no accurate information except that it is fourteen hours to the
northeast of Damascus, near to the road from Palmyra. The location of Hazar-enan
is in dispute; some contending for Centum Putea, twenty-seven miles northwest of
Palmyra, and others showing that it is impossible that this could be a border town.
PETT, "Verses 7-9
“And this shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for you
mount Hor; from mount Hor you shall mark out to Lebo-Hamath; and the goings
out of the border shall be at Zedad; and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and its
goings out shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.”
This Mount Hor was probably by the sea north of Byblos. The boundary then went
across to Lebo-Hamath in the Beqa Valley (probably modern Lebweh, and
mentioned in both Egyptian and Assyrian sources), and Zedad (modern Sedad)
8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the
boundary will go to Zedad,
BARNES, "From Mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the
entrance of Hamath,.... Antiochia, as Jarchi; or rather Epiphania, as Jerom
(r); the former being described by Hemath the great, Amo_6:2, this
31

entrance was a narrow pass leading from the land of Canaan to Syria,
through the valley which lies between Lebanon and Antilibanus:
and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad; the same boundary as
here is given in Eze_47:15.
GILL, "From Mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of
Hamath,.... Antiochia, as Jarchi; or rather Epiphania, as Jerom (r); the
former being described by Hemath the great, Amo_6:2, this entrance was a
narrow pass leading from the land of Canaan to Syria, through the valley
which lies between Lebanon and Antilibanus:
and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad; the same boundary as
here is given in Eze_47:15.
JAMISON, "entrance of Hamath — The northern plain between those
mountain ranges, now the valley of Balbeck (see on Num_13:21).
Zedad — identified as the present Sudud (Eze_47:15).
ELLICOTT, "(8) From Mount Hor . . . —From Mount Hor the boundary line was
to pass the unknown Ziphron to the village of Enan, or Hazar-enan, which is
likewise unknown. (Comp. Ezekiel 47:16-18.) This line probably crossed the
northern portion of the Lebanon.
POOLE, "Hamath, called Hamath the great, Amos 6:2, which is among the
northern borders, Ezekiel 47:16,17. See Genesis 10:15,18 Num 13:21 Jude 3:3 1
Kings 8:65.
9 continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan.
This will be your boundary on the north.
GILL, "And the border shall go on to Ziphron,.... Which in the Jerusalem
Targum is called Zapherin; and Jerom (s) says, that in his time this city was
called Zephyrium, a town in Cilicia; but this seems to be at too great a
distance:
32

and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan; which was the utmost of the
northern border, and so it is in Eze_47:17 and there called the border of
Damascus: Reland (t) takes it to be the same with Enhazor, a city in the tribe
of Naphtali, Jos_19:37, the words only inverted:
this shall be your northern border: from the Mediterranean sea to
Hazarenan in Naphtali.
JAMISON, "Ziphron — (“sweet odor”).
Hazar-enan — (“village of fountains”); but the places are unknown. “An
imaginary line from mount Cassius, on the coast along the northern base of
Lebanon to the entering into the Bekaa (Valley of Lebanon) at the Kamosa
Hermel,” must be regarded as the frontier that is meant [Van De Velde].
10 “‘For your eastern boundary, run a line from
Hazar Enan to Shepham.
BARNES 10-12, "Shepham, the first point after Hazar-enan, is unknown.
The name Riblah is by some read Har-bel, i. e., “the Mountain of Bel;” the
Har-baal-Hermon of Jdg_3:3. No more striking landmark could be set forth
than the summit of Hermon, the southernmost and by far the loftiest peak
of the whole Antilibanus range, rising to a height of 10,000 feet, and
overtopping every other mountain in the Holy land. Ain, i. e. the fountain, is
understood to be the fountain of the Jordan; and it is in the plain at the
southwestern foot of Hermon that the two most celebrated sources of that
river, those of Daphne and of Paneas, are situate.
The “sea of Chinnereth” is better known by its later name of Gennesaret,
which is supposed to be only a corruption of Chinnereth. The border ran
parallel to this sea, along the line of hill about 10 miles further east.
GILL, "And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to
Shepham. From the place where the northern border ended, which Jerom
says (u) the Hebrews call Apamia, as both the Targums of Jonathan and
Jerusalem do here. Shepham was a city between Hazarenan and Riblah in
the tribe of Naphtali, where Adrichomius (w) places it.
33

JAMISON 10-12, "And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to
Shepham. From the place where the northern border ended, which Jerom
says (u) the Hebrews call Apamia, as both the Targums of Jonathan and
Jerusalem do here. Shepham was a city between Hazarenan and Riblah in
the tribe of Naphtali, where Adrichomius (w) places it.
K&D, "The Eastern Boundary. - If we endeavour to trace the upper line of
the eastern boundary from the fountain-place just mentioned, it ran from
Hazar-enan to Shepham, the site of which is unknown, and “from Shepham
it was to go down to Riblah, on the east of Ain” (the fountain). The article
‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ‫ר‬ ָ‫,ה‬ and still more the precise description, “to the east of Ain, the
fountain, or fountain locality” (Knobel), show plainly that this Riblah is to
be distinguished from the Riblah in the land of Hamath (2Ki_23:33; 2Ki_
25:21; Jer_39:9; Jer_52:27), with which it is mostly identified. Ain is
supposed to be “the great fountain of Neba Anjar, at the foot of Antilibanus,
which is often called Birket Anjar, on account of its taking its rise in a small
reservoir or pool” (Robinson, Bibl. Res. p. 498), and near to which Mej-del-
Anjar is to be seen, consisting of “the ruins of the walls and towers of a
fortified town, or rather of a large citadel” (Robinson, p. 496; cf. Ritter, xvii.
pp. 181ff.).
(Note: Knobel regards Ain as the source of the Orontes, i.e., Neba
Lebweh, and yet, notwithstanding this, identifies Riblah with the village
of Ribleh mentioned above. But can this Ribleh, which is at least eight
hours to the north of Neba Lebweh, be described as on the east of Ain,
i.e., Neba Lebweh?)
From this point the boundary went farther down, and pressed (‫ה‬ ָ‫ח‬ ָ‫)מ‬ “upon
the shoulder of the lake of Chinnereth towards the east,” i.e., upon the
north-east shore of the Sea of Galilee (see Jos_19:35). Hence it ran down
along the Jordan to the Salt Sea (Dead Sea). According to these statements,
therefore, the eastern boundary went from Bekaa along the western slopes
of Antilibanus, over or past Rasbeya and Banyas, at the foot of Hermon,
along the edge of the mountains which bound the Huleh basin towards the
east, down to the north-east corner of the Sea of Galilee; so that Hermon
itself (Jebel es Sheikh) did not belong to the land of Israel.
COFFMAN, ""And ye shall mark out your east border from Hazer-enan to
Shepham; and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of
Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of
Chinnereth eastward; and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings
out thereof shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to the borders
thereof round about."
It should be particularly noted that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of
Manasseh had requested their inheritance altogether outside the boundaries of the
sacred land God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. According to the boundaries
34

here, the eastern bank of the Jordan was the eastern boundary of the Land of
Promise.
"Chinnereth ..." This is one of the several names of Lake Galilee. That body of
water actually had four names: Gennesaret, Tiberius, Chinnereth, and Galilee, all
four names sometimes being combined with "Lake" or with "Sea of," actually
giving us eight combinations (all used in the Bible). The word "Chinnereth" means
harp-shaped, taken from the shape of the lake.[6]
This small area of Canaan would have been fully ample for all Israel, if God's
people had only stayed together and had driven out the pagan populations. Due to
the selfishness of some of the tribes, however, God's plan was thwarted to some
extent. The whole land of Canaan was about 150 miles long and about 50 miles
wide, but it was an exceedingly productive, fertile area.
BENSON., "Numbers 34:10. Your east border — This ran from the head of Jordan
along the course of that river, taking in the lake of Gennesareth, called in the New
Testament, the sea of Galilee, and the sea of Tiberias, (John 6:1,) and here, the sea
of Chinnereth, or Cinnereth, from the Hebrew, cinnor, a harp, the figure of which it
resembles. Shepham and Riblah were two places near Jordan. Ain signifies a
fountain, and the passage may be rendered, On the east side of the fountain —
Namely, of Jordan, for that river had more sources than one.
PETT, "Verses 10-12
“And you shall mark out your east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham; and the
border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the
border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward;
and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its goings out shall be at the Salt
Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders round about.”
The first part of the eastern border cannot now be determined, but it soon became
the Jordan valley, alongside the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) and down the Arabah
to the Dead Sea. Transjordan was thus outside the delineated land, as Moses now
explains.
11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to
Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along
35

the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee.[a]
CLARKE, "The sea of Chinnereth - The same as the sea of Galilee, sea of
Tiberias, and sea of Gennesareth.
GILL, "And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah,.... Said to be
in the land of Hemath, Jer_52:9, which, according to Jerom (x), was
Antioch of Syria; and both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem
understand by it Daphne, which was in the suburbs of Antioch; but this
seems to be carrying the limits of the land too far: Jarchi remarks, that
when the border goes from the north towards the south, it is said to go
down:
on the east side of Ain; a city in the tribe of Judah; according to Jerom (y)
now a village that goes by the name of Bethennim, two miles from the
turpentine tree, that is, from the tent of Abraham or oak of Mamre, and four
from Hebron:
and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of
Chinnereth eastward; the same with the sea of Tiberius, and the sea of
Gennesaret, frequently made mention of in the New Testament, and in Eze_
47:18, called the east sea.
COKE, "Numbers 34:11. The coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah— The
eastern bounds ran from the head of Jordan, along the whole course of that river,
taking in the lake Cinnereth, or the sea of Galilee, or Tiberias, and so to the Dead
Sea, till it meets with the south bounds, in the borders of Edom. Shepham and
Riblah were two places near Jordan, along which river the eastern limits went. By
Shepham, some of the Jewish interpreters understand Apamea, a city of
Mesopotamia; and by Riblah, Daphne of Syria, in the suburbs of Antioch. But
Bochart shews, that the land of Canaan never extended to these places. See his Can.
lib. 1: cap. 16. Ain signifies a fountain, i.e. of Jordan, for this river had more sources
than one. It seems to have been thus understood by the LXX and the Vulgate. The
lake Cinnereth was so called, according to Chitraeus, from the Hebrew cinnor, a
harp, or lute, because it was in that shape; but Reland derives the name from a
canton or village of the same name, situated upon this lake, and in the tribe of
Naphtali. See his Palaest. illust. tom. 1: cap. 39. We have been but brief upon this
subject, as we shall have occasion to speak more fully respecting the Holy Land, its
boundaries and division among the tribes, upon the fourteenth and following
chapters of Joshua. In the mean time we refer our readers to Bochart's Canaan, the
Univ. Hist. vol. Numbers 2:8 vo. p. 381 and to Dr. Shaw's Travels.
36

ELLICOTT, " (11) Riblah, on the east side of Ain.—Ain (Heb., a fountain) is
supposed to be the great fountain of Neba Anjar at the foot of Antilibanus, in which
case Riblah must be distinguished from the Riblah in the land of Hamath, which is
mentioned in 2 Kings 23:33 and in Jeremiah 39:9. From this point the boundary
went further southward by the side (Heb., shoulder) of the lake of Chinnereth, or
Sea of Galilee, from whence the eastern boundary was the Jordan down to the Dead
Sea. This was to be the land of the Israelites, according to its borders on every side.
The sea of Chinnereth.—Chinnereth, or Cinnereth, appears to have been the name
of a district, and also of a town. The name is supposed to be derived from kinnor, a
“harp.” In later times the city was called Genusar, whence the name Gennesareth,
as we find it in the Gospels.
POOLE, "Chinnereth; of this name we have a city, Joshua 19:35, and a country,
Joshua 11:2 1 Kings 15:20 and a sea or lake, here an Joshua 12:3 13:27 which in the
New Testament is called the sea of Gennesaret, Luke 5:1 and of Galilee, and of
Tiberas John 6:1.
WHEDON, "Verse 11-12
11, 12. Riblah cannot be identified with “Riblah in the land of Hamath,” seeing that
four landmarks occur between them.
The east side of Ain — Since Ain is a common noun signifying a fountain, and since
there are many fountains in northern Palestine, we get no clew from it to the eastern
borderline. Robinson identifies this spring with the great fountain of Neba or Birket
Anjar, at the foot of Antilibanus.
Sea of Chinnereth — Sea of Tiberias or Galilee. Joshua 11:2; Matthew 4:13, notes.
Down to Jordan — The boundary shall go along the Jordan (downward) and its
termination shall be the salt sea, or the Dead Sea. Genesis 14:3, note.
Coasts — Boundaries. Thus eastern Palestine, the land beyond the Jordan, is not
included in the Holy Land.
12 Then the boundary will go down along the
37

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