Promised Land

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The Promised Land (Hebrew: הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ha-Aretz ha-Muvtachat) is another name for the Land of Israel. 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.

Boundaries

The promise to Abraham 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." Walter C. Kaiser argues that the "river of Egypt" is the Wadi el-'Arish, ninety miles east of the Suez Canal.

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." 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.

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.

References

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 23:54:35 PDT (GMT -0700)
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