Bible Strands
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,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord instructs Moses to declare the precise eastern and southern boundaries of Canaan to the Israelites as they prepare to receive the land as inheritance.
The words — נֶגֶב (Negev) literally means south, and יְדֵי (Yedei) means hands, producing the concrete phrase "hands of Edom" to delineate the border's reach.
The thread — This boundary line is repeated in Joshua 15:1 for Judah’s allotment, references the Salt Sea noted in Genesis 14:3, and parallels Ezekiel 47:13’s description of divided territory.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize the exact geographic limits of the inheritance, establishing a fixed territorial claim without ambiguity.
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
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:
Cross-references
- Genesis 14:3 The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
- Ezekiel 47:13 This is what the Lord GOD says: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions.
- Joshua 15:1 Now the allotment for the clans of the tribe of Judah extended to the border of Edom, to the Wilderness of Zin at the extreme southern boundary:
- Exodus 23:31 And 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 will drive them out before you.
- 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 completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
- Ezekiel 47:8 And he said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Dead Sea, the water there becomes fresh.
- Ezekiel 47:18 On the east side the border will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Eastern Sea and as far as Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary.