Numbers 34:6
in Numbers 34Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And for the western border, ye shall have the great sea and the border thereof: this shall be your west border.
KJV
And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.
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This verse in Numbers 34
Commentary
5 notes on this verseYe 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.
This site's exposition
ye shall even have the great sea for a border
on Numbers 34:6-9
Each border is fixed to something that does not move, the great sea on the west and a mountain and a mountain pass on the north. The mount Hor of verse 7 is a different mountain from the mount Hor where Aaron died in chapter 20, which stood south by Edom; Barnes reads this one as the western crest of Lebanon, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the doubled Hebrew name as a high double mountain in the same range. Zedad and Hazar-enan are named again in Ezekiel 47:15-17, where the same northern line is drawn for a division of the land still to come.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
29 These are they whom the L ORD commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan. God here appoints commissioners for the dividing of the land to them. The conquest of it is taken for granted, though as yet there was never a stroke struck towards it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּגְב֣וּל | ugevul | and [the] border of | H1366 → | 240 times |
| יָ֔ם | yam | [the] west | H3220 → | 396 times |
| וְהָיָ֥ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֛ם | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| הַיָּ֥ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| הַגָּד֖וֹל | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וּגְב֑וּל | ugevul | and a border | H1366 → | 240 times |
| זֶֽה־ | zeh- | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | of you | ||
| גְּב֥וּל | gevul | border of | H1366 → | 240 times |
| יָֽם׃ | yam | [the] west | H3220 → | 396 times |
וּגְב֣וּלand [the] border of
ugevulH1366 →240 times
יָ֔ם[the] west
yamH3220 →396 times
וְהָיָ֥הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֛םfor <the> you
lakhem
הַיָּ֥םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
הַגָּד֖וֹל<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
וּגְב֑וּלand a border
ugevulH1366 →240 times
זֶֽה־this
zeh-H2088 →1180 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֖םof you
lakhem
גְּב֥וּלborder of
gevulH1366 →240 times
יָֽם׃[the] west
yamH3220 →396 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
Ezekiel 47:10Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
it leads to
- Matthew 4:19
“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
- Psalms 104:25
Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.
- Ezekiel 48:28
The southern border of Gad will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then along the Brook of Egypt and out to the Great Sea.
- Matthew 4:19
Through
Ezekiel 47:15This shall be the boundary of the land:
it leads to
- Numbers 34:8
and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,
- Ezekiel 48:1
“Now these are the names of the tribes: At the northern frontier, Dan will have one portion bordering the road of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath and running on to Hazar-enan on the border of Damascus…
- Numbers 34:8
Through
Joshua 15:47Ashdod, with its towns and villages; Gaza, with its towns and villages, as far as the Brook of Egypt and the coastline of the Great Sea.
it leads to
- Joshua 15:4
It proceeded to Azmon, joined the Brook of Egypt, and ended at the Sea. This was their southern border.
- Joshua 15:4
Through
Joshua 9:1Now when news of this reached all the kings west of the Jordan—those in the hill country, the foothills, and all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon (the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites,…
it leads to
- Exodus 3:17
And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
- Exodus 3:17
Through
Joshua 23:4See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes these remaining nations, including all the nations I have already cut off, from the Jordan westward to the Great Sea.
it leads to
- Joshua 13:2
This is the land that remains:
- Joshua 13:2
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.