Main article: Land of Israel

Hypothetical map of Greater Israel (Gevulot Ha-aretz) derived from the definitions in Genesis 15:18-21. Greater Israel (also Complete Land of Israel, ארץ ישראל השלמה Eretz Yisrael Hashlemah) is an expression with several different meanings

Hypothetical map of the Land of Israel derived from the definitions in Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47.

The Promised Land (Hebrew: הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ha-Aretz ha-Muvtachat) is another name for the Land of Israel. Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice For other uses see Israel (disambiguation The Land of Israel ( Hebrew: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל Eretz Yisrael) is According to the Hebrew Bible, the land was promised by JHWH more than 3000 years ago as an everlasting possession to the descendants of the patriarch Abraham. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic A promise (also called troth) is a Psychological contract indicating a transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links The Patriarchs (also known as the Avot in Hebrew) according to the Judeo-Christian Old Testament are Abraham, his Son Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez:

Boundaries

The promise to Abraham's Descendents in Genesis 15:18 lists the boundaries of the land as being "From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates". Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: Ishmael ( Hebrew: יִשְׁמָעֵאל, Standard Yišmaʿel Tiberian Yišmāʿêl Arabic: إسماعيل According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac ( Hebrew: Yitzchak יִצְחָק, Standard Yiẓḥaq According to the Hebrew Bible, Zimran ( also known as Zambran. Jokshan ("an offense" "hardness" or "a knocking" most probably Josephus' Jazar. Medan (Hebrew "contention to twist conflict" also spelt Madan was the third son of Abraham, the Patriarch of the Israelites, and Ishbak (Hebrew ish'băk "he will leave leaving" also spelt Jisbak and Josabak. Shuah ( Hebrew: "ditch swimming humiliation" also known as Sous, was the sixth son of Abraham, the Patriarch of the Israelites According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac ( Hebrew: Yitzchak יִצְחָק, Standard Yiẓḥaq Esau (ˈisɔ ( Hebrew, Standard Hebrew Esav, Tiberian Hebrew ʿĒśāw) is the brother of Jacob (whom God renamed Jacob ( Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard   Yaʿaqov Tiberian   Yaʿăqōḇ; Jacob ( Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard   Yaʿaqov Tiberian   Yaʿăqōḇ; For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Reuben or Re'uven ( Hebrew: רְאוּבֵן, Standard Rəʾuven Tiberian Rəʾûḇēn Simeon ( was according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Simeon This article discusses the Biblical patriarch See Levi Strauss for the inventor of jeans Levites for the Biblical tribe or Matthew the Evangelist Judah / Yehuda ( Hebrew: יְהוּדָה Standard Yəhuda Tiberian Yəhûḏāh) was according Issachar / Yissachar ( was according to the Book of Genesis, a son of Jacob and Leah (the fifth son of Leah and ninth son of Jacob and the Zebulun (also Zebulon, Zabulon or Zaboules, Hebrew: זְבֻלוּן or זְבוּלֻן or זְבוּלוּן Tiberian Hebrew Zəḇūlūn Dan ( Hebrew: דָּן Standard Dan Tiberian Dān "Judge" was according to the Book of Genesis, a Naphtali (ˈnæftəˌlaɪ ( was according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Jacob and Bilhah, and the founder of the Israelite Asher ( in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher. Joseph or Yosef (יוֹסֵ Standard Yosef Tiberian Yôsēp̄, يوسف Yusuf; "He Benjamin ( in the Book of Genesis, is a son of Jacob, the second (and last son of Rachel, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: Walter C. Kaiser argues that the "river of Egypt" is the Wadi el-'Arish, ninety miles east of the Suez Canal. Walter C Kaiser Jr (born 1933 is an American evangelical Old Testament scholar writer public speaker and educator The Suez Canal is a Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1869 it allows Water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation ^[1]

Yet Deuteronomy 19:8 indicates a certain fluidity of the borders of the promised land when it refers to the possibility that Yahweh would "enlarge your borders. Deuteronomy (Greek deuteronomion, Δευτερονόμιον "second law" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links " This expansion of territory means that Israel would receive "all the land he promised to give to your fathers," which implies that the settlement actually fell short of what was promised. According to Jacob Milgrom, Deuteronomy refers to a more utopian map of the promised land, whose eastern border is the wilderness rather than the Jordan. Jacob Milgrom (born 1923 is a scholar and professor emeritus in the field of Biblical Studies at the University of California. ^[2]

Paul R. Williamson notes that a "close examination of the relevant promissory texts" supports a "wider interpretation of the promised land" in which it is not "restricted absolutely to one geographical locale. " He argues that "the map of the promised land was never seen permanently fixed, but was subject to at least some degree of expansion and redefinition. "^[3]

References

1. ^ Walter C. Kaiser, "The Promised Land: A Biblical-Historical View," BS 138 (1981) 303.
2. ^ Jacob Milgrom, Numbers (JPS Torah Commentary; Philadelphia: JPS, 1990), 502.
3. ^ Paul R. Williamson, "Promise and Fulfilment: The Territorial Inheritance," in Philip Johnston and Peter Walker (eds. ), The Land of Promise: Biblical, Theological and Contemporary Perspectives (Leicester: Apollos, 2000), 20-21.