Bible Strands
Ezekiel 47:19
On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the southern boundary.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel records a vision in which the southern border of the restored land extends from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then follows the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean. This description completes the delineation of the southern edge within a larger survey of the territory's four boundaries.
The words — פְּאַת (pe'at) denotes "side" or "corner," while נֶגֶב (negev) literally means "south" or "dry region." תָּמָר (tamar) and מְרִיבֹת קָדֵשׁ (meribot qadesh) name the specific landmarks that anchor the border's eastern and western termini.
The thread — The text explicitly links this border to Ezekiel 48:28, which assigns the same stretch as the southern limit of the tribe of Gad. Deuteronomy 32:51 also references the waters of Meribah-kadesh as the location where Moses and Aaron broke faith with God among the Israelites.
Why it lands — The passage defines a precise geographical boundary to ground the prophetic restoration in tangible reality. It requires the reader to recognize that divine promises operate within concrete historical and territorial limits rather than abstract concepts.
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 side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:51 For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence.
- 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.
- Numbers 20:13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.
- Numbers 34:5 where it will turn from Azmon, join the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Sea.
- Deuteronomy 33:8 Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.
- Psalms 81:7 You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
- Isaiah 27:12 In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.
- Joshua 12:3 as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.