Numbers 34:3
in Numbers 34Your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern border will run from the end of the Salt Sea,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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;
KJV
Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward:
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This verse in Numbers 34
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
And the Lord spake unto Moses
on Numbers 34:1-5
The borders are drawn before a single field is taken, and the land is said to fall unto Israel for an inheritance, which is the language of the lot that verse 13 states outright. The south line runs from the wilderness of Zin past Kadesh-barnea to the river of Egypt, so the edge of the inheritance touches the place where the spies came back and the sentence of chapter 14 was passed. Abram was promised ground reaching to the Euphrates at Genesis 15:18, and the lines given here stop well short of it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Your fourth quarter - Which is here described from east to west by divers windings and turnings, by reason of the mountains and rivers. The salt sea - So called from the salt and sulphurous taste of its waters. Eastward - That is, at the eastern part of that sea, where the eastern and southern borders meet.
Then your south quarter,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The salt sea - The Dead Sea, or lake Asphaltites. See the note on Gen 19:25.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“This is like [the expression]: and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, 50 II Chronicles:8. See above in Seder Beha’alothcha, Note, for the grammatical reason why the verse requires the additional expression “a prophecy” after the initial words and a prophecy.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֨ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֧ם | lakhem | of you | ||
| פְּאַת־ | peat- | [the] side of | H6285 → | 86 times |
| נֶ֛גֶב | negev | [the] south | H5045 → | 112 times |
| מִמִּדְבַּר־ | mimidbar- | from [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| צִ֖ן | tzin | Zin | H6790 → | 10 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְדֵ֣י | yedei | [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אֱד֑וֹם | ʾedom | Edom | H123 → | 99 times |
| וְהָיָ֤ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶם֙ | lakhem | of you | ||
| גְּב֣וּל | gevul | border of | H1366 → | 240 times |
| נֶ֔גֶב | negev | [the] southward | H5045 → | 112 times |
| מִקְצֵ֥ה | miktzeh | from [the] end of | H7097 → | 97 times |
| יָם־ | yom- | [the] Sea of | H3220 → | 396 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לַח | hamelach | <the> Salt | H4417 → | 27 times |
| קֵֽדְמָה׃ | kedemah | east -ward | H6924 → | 87 times |
וְהָיָ֨הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֧םof you
lakhem
פְּאַת־[the] side of
peat-H6285 →86 times
נֶ֛גֶב[the] south
negevH5045 →112 times
מִמִּדְבַּר־from [the] wilderness of
mimidbar-H4057 →270 times
צִ֖ןZin
tzinH6790 →10 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְדֵ֣י[the] hands of
yedeiH3027 →1618 times
אֱד֑וֹםEdom
ʾedomH123 →99 times
וְהָיָ֤הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶם֙of you
lakhem
גְּב֣וּלborder of
gevulH1366 →240 times
נֶ֔גֶב[the] southward
negevH5045 →112 times
מִקְצֵ֥הfrom [the] end of
miktzehH7097 →97 times
יָם־[the] Sea of
yom-H3220 →396 times
הַמֶּ֖לַח<the> Salt
hamelachH4417 →27 times
קֵֽדְמָה׃east -ward
kedemahH6924 →87 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 23:31And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you…
it leads to
- Genesis 15:18
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
- Joshua 21:44
And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their…
- Joshua 1:4
Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates—all the land of the Hittites—and west as far as the Great Sea.
- Genesis 15:18
Through
Joshua 3:16the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
it leads to
- Joshua 3:13
When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will…
- Joshua 3:13
Through
Genesis 14:3The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
it leads to
- Joshua 3:16
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
- Numbers 34:12
Then the border will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, defined by its borders on all sides.”
- Deuteronomy 3:17
The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.
- Joshua 3:16
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.