Numbers 34:11

34:11 Sea of Galilee: Its eastern edge (literally shoulder) is the ridge that rises rather abruptly from its eastern shoreline.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which in the Gospel is called the lake of Gennesaret.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 11. The sea of Chinnereth] The same as the sea of Galilee, sea of Tiberias, and sea of Gennesareth.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) Riblah, on the east side of Ain.—Ain (Heb., a fountain) is supposed to be the great fountain of Neba Anjar at the foot of Antilibanus, in which case Riblah must be distinguished from the Riblah in the land of Hamath, which is mentioned in 2Ki_23:33 and in Jer_39:9. From this point the boundary went further southward by the side (Heb., shoulder) of the lake of Chinnereth, or Sea of Galilee, from whence the eastern boundary was the Jordan down to the Dead Sea. This was to be the land of the Israelites, according to its borders on every side.

The sea of Chinnereth.—Chinnereth, or Cinnereth, appears to have been the name of a district, and also of a town. The name is supposed to be derived from kinnor, a “harp.” In later times the city was called Genusar, whence the name Gennesareth, as we find it in the Gospels.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. the side of the sea] lit. ‘the shoulder of the sea.’ The word is a descriptive term referring to the mountain slopes on the N.E. of the lake; cf. Jos_15:10. The sea or lake is that known in N.T. times as the Sea, or Lake, of Galilee.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah,.... Said to be in the land of Hemath, Jer 52:9, which, according to Jerom (x), was Antioch of Syria; and both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem understand by it Daphne, which was in the suburbs of Antioch; but this seems to be carrying the limits of the land too far: Jarchi remarks, that when the border goes from the north towards the south, it is said to go down:

on the east side of Ain; a city in the tribe of Judah; according to Jerom (y) now a village that goes by the name of Bethennim, two miles from the turpentine tree, that is, from the tent of Abraham or oak of Mamre, and four from Hebron:

and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward; the same with the sea of Tiberius, and the sea of Gennesaret, frequently made mention of in the New Testament, and in Eze 47:18, called the east sea.

(x) Comment. ut supra. (cf. ver. 15.) (y) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. F.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Sephama, or Apamea. (Targum) --- Rebla. Septuagint, "Bela, or Asbela." (Haydock) --- St. Jerome understands Antioch, near which was the fountain of Daphnis, or Daphne, a word which is inserted in the Targum, though it be not found in Hebrew. But Antioch did not lie on the eastern borders, and this fountain may be the same place as Enan, ver. 9. --- Against. Hebrew, "on the east side of Ain, or the fountain." (Calmet) --- Cenereth. This is the sea of Galilee, illustrated by the miracles of our Lord. (Challoner) --- The line was not drawn to this lake of Genesareth, or of Tiberias, as it was likewise called, but comprised a large territory lying to the east of it, (Calmet) and given to the tribes of Manasses, Gad, and Ruben, which inhabited the country east of the Jordan and of the Salt Sea. (Haydock) --- Eastward: the Septuagint insinuate, "to the south, leaving the sea of Cenereth on the east." --- The fountain of Daphnis may probably be that near the Semechonite lake, through which the Jordan runs. (Josephus, Jewish Wars iv. 1.) It may have received the title of Daphnis, from the laurels with which it is adorned, like the suburbs of Antioch. (Bonfrere) (Menochius) --- It appears that Moses has only in view, the nine tribes for which a provision was not yet made; and their eastern limits extend from Emath, down the Jordan to the Dead Sea, so as to comprise no part to the east of that river, which was already given to their brethren; (see ver. 13, 15, 29;) and thus the observation of Calmet, respecting the countries east of Cenereth, will be rather inaccurate, as the line must run through that sea, following the course of the Jordan. These were properly the eastern limits of Chanaan, which country comprised all between Egypt and Idumea, as far as Sidon and Mount Libanus, being bounded by the Jordan on the east. The other three tribes were hemmed in on the north and east by the mountains of Hermon, Basan, Galaad, and Arnon; beyond which, the nations about Damascus, and the descendants of Ammon, Ismael, and Moab dwelt, in Syria and the desert of Arabia, so that the latter country was the eastern boundary of the promised land, taken in its utmost extent. (Haydock) --- The respective limits must naturally vary, when we speak of the whole or a part only. (Du Hamel) (Tirinus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Chinnereth; of this name we have a city, Jos 19:35, and a country, Jos 11:2; 1Ki 15:20 and a sea or lake, here an Jos 12:3; 13:27 which in the New Testament is called the sea of Gennesaret, Luk 5:1 and of Galilee, and of Tiberas Joh 6:1.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11, 12. Riblah cannot be identified with “Riblah in the land of Hamath,” seeing that four landmarks occur between them.

The east side of Ain — Since Ain is a common noun signifying a fountain, and since there are many fountains in northern Palestine, we get no clew from it to the eastern borderline. Robinson identifies this spring with the great fountain of Neba or Birket Anjar, at the foot of Antilibanus.

Sea of Chinnereth — Sea of Tiberias or Galilee. Jos_11:2; Mat_4:13, notes.

Down to Jordan — The boundary shall go along the Jordan (downward) and its termination shall be the salt sea, or the Dead Sea. Gen_14:3, note.

Coasts — Boundaries. Thus eastern Palestine, the land beyond the Jordan, is not included in the Holy Land.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shepham is unknown. Riblah cannot possibly be the Riblah in the land of Hamath, (Jer_39:5) now apparently Ribleh on the Orontes. This one example will serve to show how delusive are these identifications with modern places. Even if Ribleh represents an ancient Riblah, it is not the Riblah which is mentioned here. On the east side of Ain, i.e., of the fountain. The Targums here imply that this Ain was the source of Jordan below Mount Hermon, and that would agree extremely well with what follows. The Septuagint has epi phgav , and there is in fact more than one fountain from which this head-water of Jordan takes its rise. Immediately before the Septuagint has Bhla where we read Riblah. It has been supposed that the word was originally Arbhla , a transliteration of "Har-bel," the mountain of Bel or Baal, identical with the Harbaal-Hermon (our Mount Hermon) of Jud_1:3:3. The Hebrew hlbrih being differently pointed, and the final h taken as the suffix of direction, we get lbeArh; but this is extremely precarious. Shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. Literally, "shall strike (hjm) the shoulder of the sea," &c. The line does not seem to have descended the stream from its source, but to have kept to the east, and so to have struck the lake of Galilee at its north-eastern corner. From this point it simply followed the water-way down to the Salt Sea. The lands beyond Jordan were not reckoned as within the sacred limits. ;

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

מקדם לעין ON THE EAST SIDE OF AIN — עין is the name of a place. The boundary went to the east of it, and consequently Ain is within the boundary and was part of the land of Israel.

וירד הגבול AND THE BOUNDARY SHALL GO DOWN — The more the boundary goes from north to south it goes down more and more.

ומחה על כתף ים כנרת קדמה AND SHALL SMITE UPON THE SLOPE OF THE SEA OF CHINNERETH EASTWARD, so that the sea of Chinnereth is within the border to the west, and the boundary is on the east (קדמה) of the sea of Chinnereth. From there it went down to the Jordan. The Jordan extends from the north to the south in a slanting direction, inclining towards the east, but comes nearer the land of Canaan opposite the sea of Chinnereth, and extends further along the eastern side of the land of Israel [opposite the sea of Chinnereth] until it falls into the Salt Sea. There the boundary ends through its goings forth into the Salt Sea from which, too, is the beginning of the boundary at the south-east comer. — Here, then, you have a description of what bounds it (the land) round about on its four sides.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.