Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 34:3
the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses stands on Mount Nebo surveying the Promised Land after forty years of wilderness wandering. The narrative records the exact geographical boundaries he observes before his death.
The words — The text highlights הַנֶּגֶב (HaNegev), meaning "the Negev," and עִיר הַתְּמָרִים ('Ir haTemarim), literally "city of palm trees," which identifies Jericho. These terms anchor the visual survey to specific southern and eastern landmarks.
The thread — The "City of Palms" is referenced in Judges 1:16 and Judges 3:13 as a known regional marker. The Negev region is consistently mapped in the conquest narratives as the southern boundary of Israel's inheritance.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is geographically specific and fulfilled. It requires the reader to accept that the land's boundaries are fixed by divine decree, not human strategy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 28:15 Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.
- Judges 1:16 Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.
- Judges 3:13 After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.
- Genesis 14:2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
- Genesis 19:22 Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.
- Genesis 14:8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and arrayed themselves for battle in the Valley of Siddim
- Numbers 34:3 Your 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,