Numbers 34:4

Num 34:4-6. From the south to Kadesh-barnea — Rather, shall extend on the south to Kadesh-barnea westward. Unto the river of Egypt — That is, the Nile. Not that the Jews did really extend their territories so far as the Nile; but thus far they were allowed to extend them. The goings out of it shall be at the sea — The Midland or Mediterranean sea, called the sea, emphatically, and (Num 34:6,) the great sea, in opposition to the sea of Galilee, and the Dead sea, which are indeed but lakes. This midland sea was to be their western border.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34:4 From the southern end of the Dead Sea, the boundary ran through Scorpion Pass toward Zin (cp. 13:21). The southernmost point was Kadesh-barnea (cp. 13:26). Hazar-addar and Azmon are unknown.

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

Or, ascending up of scorpions.

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

(4) And your border shall turn from the south . . . —Better, And your border shall turn on (or, to) the south side of the ascent of Akrabbim, and shall pass over to Zin; and the goings forth thereof shall be on the south of Kadesh-barnea. The meaning appears to be that the boundary line was to go in a south-westerly direction from the southern point (or, tongue) of the Dead Sea, as far as the height (or, ascent) of Akrabbim; and was to be continued from this point in a westerly direction as far as Kadesh-barnea, which was at the western extremity of the desert of Zin, and was to be included within the Israelitish territory. What is here called the height of Akrabbim is supposed to be a row of white cliffs, which run obliquely across the Arabah, at a distance of about eight miles from the Dead Sea. (Comp. Jos_15:3-4.)

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

4. the ascent of Akrabbim] i.e. the ‘Scorpion Pass.’ ‘From the Dead Sea the line indicated probably ran at first S.W. through the Wady el-Fiḳreh, which is a natural boundary, and then, turning round the Jebel Madurah [see on Num_20:22], much more directly south to Ḳadesh. The ascent of ‘Aḳrabbim may be sought in one of the passes on the N. side of the Wady el-Fiḳreh, and perhaps in particular in the Naḳb el-Yemen, which starts just opposite the Jebel Madurah, or in the Naḳb eṣ-Ṣafâ’ (Gray).

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 your border,.... That is, the south border, which is still describing:

shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim; or Maalehacrabbim, as in Jos 15:3 so called from the multitude of serpents and scorpions in it, see Deu 8:15, so Kimchi says (k), a place of serpents and scorpions was this ascent: Dr. Shaw (l) says Akrabbim may probably be the same with the mountains of Accaba, according to the present name, which hang over Eloth, where there is a "high steep road", well known to the Mahometan pilgrims for its ruggedness: and he thinks (m) it very probable, that Mount Hor was the same chain of mountains that are now called Accaba by the Arabs, and were the easternmost range, as we may take them to be, of Ptolemy's black mountains: Josephus (n) speaks of Acrabatene as belonging to the Edomites, which seems to be this same place:

and pass on to Zin; that is, which ascent goes on to it; the Targum of Jonathan is,"and shall pass on to the palm trees of the mountain of iron;''by which is meant the same with the wilderness of Zin: perhaps Zinnah is rather the name of a city; the Septuagint call it Ennac: the Vulgate Latin, Senna: Jerom (o) makes mention of a place called Senna, seven miles from Jericho:

and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea; from whence the spies were sent southward to search the land, Num 13:17.

and shall go on to Hazaraddar; called Adar, Jos 15:3 and where it seems to be divided into two places, Hezron and Adar, which very probably were near each other, and therefore here put together, as if but one place:

and pass on to Azmon; which the Targums call Kesam.

(k) Sepher Shorash. "in voce" (l) Travels, tom. 2. ch. 1. p. 279. (m) Travels, tom. 2. ch. 1. p. 323. (n) Antiqu. l. 12. c. 8. sect. 1. see 1 Maccab. 5. 3. (o) De loc. Heb. fol. 94. H.

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

The Scorpion. A mountain so called, from having a great number of scorpions. (Challoner) --- Hebrew Hakrabbim. There was a city of the same name, the capital of Acrabathene, (1 Machabees iii. 3,) not far from Petra. --- Senna, a town of the desert of Zin, (Calmet) or a mountain specified [in] Judges i. 36. (St. Jerome) --- Adar. Hebrew, "Hasor Adar." But they seem to be two distinct towns, Josue xv. 3. --- Asemona. See chap. xxxiii. 30.

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).

Akrabbim, called Maaleh-acrabbim, Jos 15:3, which was at the south end of the Salt or Dead Sea.

From the south, or, on the south, i.e. proceeding onward towards the south.

Kadesh-barnea was on the southern part of Canaan, Num 13:17.

Hazar-addar, in Jos 15:3, may seem distinguished into two places, Hezron and Adar, which here are united, because peradventure they were contiguous, or joined together. Or, the village of Addar; and so this is the same place called Adar, Jos 15:3; and for Hezron, that may be another place here omitted, and there supplied for more exactness. Azmon is at the west end of the Mount of Edom.

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

Shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim. It is not at all clear what hlemli bgNmi can mean in this sentence.

The A.V, which follows the Septuagint and the Targums, does not seem to give any sense, while the rendering, "to the south side of the ascent," does not seem grammatically defensible. Moreover, it is quite uncertain where the "ascent of Akrabbim," i.e., the "Scorpion-pass," or "Scorpion-stairs," is to be placed. Some travelers have recognized both place and name in a precipitous road which ascends the northern cliffs towards the western end of the Wady Murreh, and which the Arabs call Nakb Kareb; others would make the ascent to be the steep pass of es Sufah, over which runs the road from Petra to Hebron; others, again, identify the Scorpion-stairs with the row of white cliffs which obliquely cross and close in the Ghor, some miles south of the Salt Sea, and separate it from the higher level of the Arabah. None of these identifications are satisfactory, although the first and last have more to be said in their favour than the second. Possibly the ascent of Akrabbim may have been only the Wady Fikreh, along which the natural frontier would run from the point of the Salt Sea into the Wady Murreh. Pass on to Zin. It is only here and in Jos_15:3 that the name Zin stands by itself; it may have been some place in the broadest part of the Wady Murreh which gave its name to the neighbouring wilderness. From the south to Kadesh-barnea.

Here again we have the expression Al bgNmi, of which we do not know the exact force. But if Kadesh was in the neighbourhood of the present Ain Kudes, then it may be understood that the frontier, after reaching the western end of the Wady Murreh, made a detour to the south so as to include Kadesh, as a place of peculiarly sacred memory in the annals of Israel. It is indeed very difficult, with this description of the southern frontier of Canaan before us, to believe that Kadesh was in the immediate neighbourhood of the Arabah, where many commentators place it; for if that were the case, then the boundary line has not yet made any progress at all towards the west, and the only points given on the actual southern boundary are the two unknown places which follow. Hazar-addar. In Jos_15:3 this double name is apparently divided into the two names of Hezron and Addar, but possibly the latter only is the place intended here. A Karkaa is also mentioned there, which is equally unknown with the rest.

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

From the south - Or, on the south, that is, proceeding onward towards the south. Azmon - Which is at the west-end of the mount of Edom.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses where the borders are for the land that he is giving to the Israelites. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Kadesh

Egypt

the sea

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ונסב לכם הגבול מנגב למעלה עקרבים — AND YOUR BORDER SHALL TURN ABOUT SOUTHWARD OF THE ASCENT OF AKRABBIM - In every passage in this chapter where it says ונסב or ויצא, it tells us that the boundary line was not straight (i.e., did not continue in the same straight line) but in proceeding it projected outside this straight line. Here, the word means that the boundary line left the straight line and bent towards the north of the world (in a northerly direction) diagonally towards the west, and the boundary line passed by the south of the Ascent of Akrabbim. Consequently the Ascent of Akrabbim was within the boundary (cf. Rashi on Joshua 15:3).

ועבר צנה IT SHALL PASS ALONG TO ZIN — צנה is the same as אל צין “to Zin”, like מצרימה "to Egypt".

והיו תוצאתיו AND THE GOINGS OUT THEREOF SHALL BE — i.e., its ends shall be at the south of Kadesh-Barnea.

ויצא חצר אדר AND IT SHALL GO FORTH TO HAZZAR-ADDAR — the boundary spreads and widens towards the north of the world and extends further obliquely to the west, till it comes to Hazzar-Addar, thence to Azmon and thence to the Brook of Egypt. — The expression ונסב, "and it turned about” which is used here (v. 5) (“and the boundary shall turn about”) is employed because it wrote, “and it shall go forth to Hazzar-Addar”, i.e., that it began to widen out when it had passed Kadesh-Bamea. The widening of that strip which projected northwards was only from Kadesh-Barnea to Azmon (i.e. that strip widened only between those two places), but from Azmon and further on, the boundary became narrower and turned towards the south and came to the Brook of Egypt, and thence westwards to the Great Sea which is the western boundary of the entire land of Israel. It follows, therefore, that the Brook of Egypt is at the south-west corner.

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.