1:4a
In verse 1:4 Yahweh described the four sides of the land that he was giving to the Israelite people: the south and the north, the east and the west.
from the wilderness: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wilderness refers to the dry area in the south of the land of Canaan. Because it was dry, few people lived there, and it was difficult to grow crops there.
Here are some other ways to translate the word wilderness :
desert
-or-
deserted place
-or-
dry land
and Lebanon: The word Lebanon refers to a range of mountains at the north end of the land that Yahweh gave to the Israelites. These mountains had snow on them all year long, and the word Lebanon means “white” in Semitic languages. The country of Lebanon did not yet exist at this time.
Here are some ways to translate this term:
Lebanon Mountains (Good News Translation)
-or-
Lebanon mountain range
Lebanon: The Hebrew is literally “the Lebanon,” which is difficult to understand. The mountains of Lebanon were a long way from where the Israelites were. Possibly it means “over there”, but no English version translates it that way. Many versions omit it, and you may do the same.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse.
Your land will extend from the wilderness ⌊in the south⌋ to the mountains of Lebanon ⌊in the north⌋ .
-or-
Your borders will reach from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north (Good News Translation)
1:4b
to the great River Euphrates: The River Euphrates was on the east side of the land that God gave to the Israelites. The phrase the great River describes the Euphrates River. The Euphrates River was very wide.
all the land of the Hittites: The term Hittites refers to one of groups of people who lived in the land of Canaan. The phrase all the land of the Hittites is another way to refer to the land of Canaan.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
It will extend from the great Euphrates River ⌊in the east⌋ , across the land that belongs to the Hittites
-or-
Your borders will reach from the great river Euphrates ⌊in the east⌋ and include all the land of the Hitti people
1:4c
and west: The phrase and west refers to the west. The Mediterranean Sea was the western boundary of the land that Israel received.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Your land will reach to the Mediterranean Sea in the west
-or-
to the Mediterranean Sea where the sun sets
as far as the Great Sea: The term the Great Sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.
General Comment on 1:4
In some languages it may be clearer to reorder the parts of this verse. For example:
Your land will reach from the Negeb wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north. It will reach from the great Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. It will include all the land of the Hittites.
© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.