Model of tent worship center
Promised Land
Promised Land
Promised Land
Land covered in milk and honey
"The Promised Land" is a term Bible writers used to talk about the land that God promised to the Israelites, ancient ancestors of today's Jewish people. People also knew it as Canaan, and described it as "a fertile land where milk and honey flow like rivers" (Exodus 3:17, Casual English Bible).
Boundary descriptions vary
Bible writers describe boundaries of the Promised Land in different ways. In Genesis 15:18-21, God made a covenant with Abraham and gave him the following description of the boundaries: "Everything from the river along the border with Egypt to the great Euphrates River. "
This description covers a vast area, including parts of modern-day Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Syria. The Casual English Bible explains that this description was probably more of a general outline, rather than precise borders.
Boundary in Numbers
Later in the book of Numbers, Moses gave a more detailed description of the Promised Land's boundaries.
South
"The Zin Desert will become your southern border. It will extend over to Edom’s border and up the southern tip of the Dead Sea...
West
You have a natural boundary on the west coast: the Mediterranean Sea.
North
For your northern border, draw a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor of the northland. Stretch that line from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath to Zedad. Keep the line going to Ziphron and all the way to Hazarenan. That’s your northern border.East
Now for your eastern border. Start your line at Hazar-enan. Run it south to Shepham. 11Take the line down to Riblah along Ain’s east side. Run it down into the hills east of the Sea of Galilee. Then take that line straight down the Jordan River, all the way to the Dead Sea. There you have it, the borders of your land on all four sides" (Numbers 32:3-12).
The Casual English Bible suggests that this description may have been a more precise boundary, but it is still not very specific regarding the southern and eastern borders.
Ezekiel's boundaries
The book of Ezekiel provides yet another description of the boundaries of the Promised Land. Ezekiel's description is more specific, saying that the land would be divided among the tribes of Israel and would include the land of Judea and Samaria. Some scholars say this description was meant to be symbolic, rather than actual borders.
Despite the differences in the descriptions of the Promised Land's boundaries, one point seemed clear to Bible writers: God promised this land to the Israelites as their inheritance, and he delivered on that promise. The Promised Land is a central theme in the Bible, representing a place of God's provision, where his people can live in peace and prosperity.
Tent worship center
Map of Exodus Leaving Egypt
Map of Exodus Leaving Egypt
Exodus Map
Exodus map of Moses and Hebrews leaving Egypt. The map shows a possible route Moses took when he led the Hebrews to freedom. Many Bibles say Moses and the Hebrews crossed the “Red Sea.” But the Hebrew words are yam suph, “sea reeds.” Later in the story, Moses and the Hebrew refugees will escape through a path God makes in this body of water. Scholars usually track Moses and the Hebrews escaping Egypt by walking southeast, out of the Nile Delta fields. That's toward the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula. They would have passed through lake regions along what is now the Suez Canal. This connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. These lakes and ponds reportedly had reeds growing along the banks, like the ones the Bible says grew along the Nile River and helped anchor Baby Moses in a basket (Exodus 2:3). Compare with other Bible versions at Bible Gateway.Mount Sinai
Horeb is a Hebrew word that can mean “dry,” “desolate,” or “desert.” But here, it reads more like a name. Most Bible scholars say it’s an alternate name for Mount Sinai—much like “Zion” is another name for “Jerusalem.” Some say the mountain is in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Others say it’s in what is now Saudi Arabia, where the people of Midian lived.Sinai, Land of God
Two Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions from about the 1400s BC, around the time some scholars say Moses lived, said the mountainous territory of the Sinai was the “land of the Shasu of Yahweh.” “Shasu” was what Egyptians called the nomads and herders from what is now the areas of Israel, Palestinian Territories, Syria, and Jordan. Yahweh, translated “LORD” in all capital letters, was God’s name (3:14). The inscription might mean the Sinai was the land of nomads who worshipped God or who were known by the name of God—perhaps as “the people of God.” These inscriptions are the two oldest references outside the Bible to anyone worshiping Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, who were ancestors of today’s Jewish people.Leaving Egypt
Exodus out of Egypt
Map of Goshen
Map of Goshen
Map of Goshen, where the Hebrew ancestors of the Jewish people migrated and settled during a drought in Canaan.
Land of Goshen