Bible Strands
Numbers 34:5
where it will turn from Azmon, join the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Sea.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God directs Moses to record the precise southern boundary of the promised land, continuing the territorial survey initiated in the preceding verse.
The words — The text employs נָסַ֧ב (na.Sav), meaning "it will turn," and נַ֣חְלָ/ה מִצְרָ֑יִם (Nach.la/h mitz.Ra.yim), literally "the wadi of Egypt," to describe the border's shift toward a specific landmark.
The thread — This boundary description reappears in Joshua 15:4 as the southern limit of Judah, echoes Genesis 15:18's covenant river marker, and appears again in Joshua 15:47 as the western edge of Judah's territory.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge God's exact geographical allocation and to understand that the nation's inheritance is defined by fixed natural features rather than arbitrary lines.
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 border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.
Cross-references
- Joshua 15:4 It proceeded to Azmon, joined the Brook of Egypt, and ended at the Sea. This was their southern border.
- 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—
- Joshua 15:47 Ashdod, 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.
- 1 Kings 8:65 So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.
- 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.
- Numbers 34:6 Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.