Transjordan Is Not the Promised Land, Even in Deuteronomy

So why does YHWH instruct Moses to conquer the Transjordanian territory of King Sihon? Deuteronomy knows that Israelites lived in the Transjordan and claims that they applied the Deuteronomic law of ḥerem to Amorites living there. Thus, YHWH hardens Sihon’s heart, forcing him to fight the Israelites, giving them a reason to annihilate the local Amorites and ensuring that they would not be led astray by their idolatry.

Transjordan Is Excluded from the Promised Land in Numbers

As the prospect of the Israelite settlement in Canaan draws near, YHWH gives Moses a map in which the borders of the Promised Land are spelled out for the first time (Num 34:1–12).^[1] In Genesis, YHWH’s promise of land to Abraham and his descendants is only described in a general way,^[2] but here, in Numbers, the generalities in the patriarchal narrative are defined.^[3] This map, which the biblical cartographer labels אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן לִגְבֻלֹתֶיהָ “the Land of Canaan and its borders,” utilizes topographical features (mountains, seas, rivers, wadis), as well as the names of cities and towns, in order to denote points on the border round about.

Beginning with the southern border, the line is drawn from the southeastern tip of the Dead Sea westward to the Mediterranean, on the way touching Kadesh-barnea and then the Wadi of Egypt (modern wadi el-Arish); the western border was the Great Sea that ran from there northward to a point on the central Syrian coast, and then turning to the east to form the northern border passing Mount Hor, Lebo-hamath as far as Hazar-enan; from this location the eastern border is drawn – it proceeds south, passing by Damascus and reaches the eastern slopes of Lake Kinneret, and from there along the Jordan River to the Dead Sea to close the circuit.

The Land of Canaan: The Promised Land as given in Num 34:1-12 (Courtesy of CARTA Jerusalem)

The status of Transjordan in this map of Canaan is eminently clear:^[4] the territory south of the Yarmuk – the Gilead, the kingdoms of the Ammonites and the Amorites – was excluded from the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land.^[5] Yet we know that according to the narrative earlier in Numbers, the tribes of Reuben and Gad chose to live in some of this territory, a detail that requires explanation if the land was not part of YHWH’s covenantal promise to the Israelites.

But Israel Conquers and Settles Sihon’s Transjordanian Kingdom in Numbers

The explanation for how this took place is as follows: After travelling north, skirting Edom and Moab by way of the eastern desert,^[6] Israel arrives at Wadi Arnon, the border between Moab and the Amorite kingdom of Sihon. To reach the Jordan, they must traverse Amorite territory, so Moses sends a request to Sihon asking permission to cross through his land to the Jordan, promising to do no damage:

^{במדבר כא:כא} וַיִּשְׁלַח יִשְׂרָאֵל מַלְאָכִים אֶל סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִי לֵאמֹר. ^כא:כב אֶעְבְּרָה בְאַרְצֶךָ לֹא נִטֶּה בְּשָׂדֶה וּבְכֶרֶם לֹא נִשְׁתֶּה מֵי בְאֵר בְּדֶרֶךְ הַמֶּלֶךְ נֵלֵךְ עַד אֲשֶׁר נַעֲבֹר גְּבֻלֶךָ.

^{Num 21:21} Israel now sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, “Let me pass through your country. ^21:22 We will not turn off into fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from wells. We will follow the king's highway until we have crossed your territory.”^[7]

Sihon’s belligerent refusal leads to war and Israel’s victory:

^{במדבר כא:כג} וְלֹא נָתַן סִיחֹן אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲבֹר בִּגְבֻלוֹ וַיֶּאֱסֹף סִיחֹן אֶת כׇּל עַמּוֹ וַיֵּצֵא לִקְרַאת יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמִּדְבָּרָה וַיָּבֹא יָהְצָה וַיִּלָּחֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל. ^כא:כד וַיַּכֵּהוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְפִי חָרֶב וַיִּירַשׁ אֶת אַרְצוֹ מֵאַרְנֹן עַד יַבֹּק עַד בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן כִּי עַז גְּבוּל בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן.

^{Num 21:23} But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his men (NJPS: people)^[8] and went out against Israel in the wilderness. He came to Jahaz and engaged Israel in battle. ^21:24 But Israel put them to the sword, and took possession of their land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as [Az] of the Ammonites, for Az^[9] marked the boundary of the Ammonites.

Israel then settles the territory:

^{במדבר כא:כה} וַיִּקַּח יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵת כׇּל הֶעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיֵּשֶׁב יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכׇל עָרֵי הָאֱמֹרִי בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן וּבְכׇל בְּנֹתֶיהָ.

^{Num 21:25}Israel took all those towns. And Israel settled in all the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its dependencies.

This passage foreshadows the story several chapters later (Numbers 32), in which the tribes of Reuben and Gad are depicted as appealing to Moses to settle in Transjordan—i.e., on the very land they conquered from Sihon—rather than in the Promised Land across the river.^[10] Moses’ initial objection is overcome when the Reubenites and Gadites agree to take part in the conquest of Canaan with all the other tribes of Israel, following which they would return to their homes in Transjordan.

Deuteronomy Presents the Conquest of Sihon’s Territory as a Foregone Conclusion

Deuteronomy greatly extends and alters the short informational narrative in Numbers concerning the war with King Sihon.^[11] Before the Israelites even send messengers to Sihon, YHWH declares that the plan is for Israel to conquer this territory:

^{דברים ב:יז} וַיְדַבֵּר יְ־הֹוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר... ^ב:כד קוּמוּ סְּעוּ וְעִבְרוּ אֶת נַחַל אַרְנֹן רְאֵה נָתַתִּי בְיָדְךָ אֶת סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן הָאֱמֹרִי וְאֶת אַרְצוֹ הָחֵל רָשׁ וְהִתְגָּר בּוֹ מִלְחָמָה. ^ב:כה הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אָחֵל תֵּת פַּחְדְּךָ וְיִרְאָתְךָ עַל פְּנֵי הָעַמִּים תַּחַת כׇּל הַשָּׁמָיִם אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְעוּן שִׁמְעֲךָ וְרָגְזוּ וְחָלוּ מִפָּנֶיךָ.

^{Deut 2:17} YHWH spoke to me, saying:^[12] … ^2:24 Up! Set out across the wadi Arnon! See, I give into your power Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin the occupation: engage him in battle. ^2:25 This day I begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under heaven, so that they shall tremble and quake because of you whenever they hear you mentioned.

What is the reason behind Deuteronomy’s rewriting of the Sihon conquest account?

Is the Transjordan Part of the Promised Land in Deuteronomy?

Moshe Weinfeld (1925–2009), the doyen of all things Deuteronomic, understood these changes as evidence that the author of Moses’ address viewed the Transjordan as part of the Promised Land. Indeed, Moses uses the same language here that he does earlier when telling the people, before the sin of the scouts, that it was time to conquer the Promised Land:

^{דברים א:כ} וָאֹמַר אֲלֵכֶם בָּאתֶם עַד הַר הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ נֹתֵן לָנוּ. ^א:כא רְאֵה נָתַן יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְפָנֶיךָ אֶת הָאָרֶץ עֲלֵה רֵשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֶיךָ לָךְ אַל תִּירָא וְאַל תֵּחָת.

^{Deut 1:20} I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites that YHWH our God is giving to us. ^1:21 See, YHWH your God has placed the land at your disposal. Go up, take possession, as YHWH, the God of your fathers, promised you. Fear not and be not dismayed.”

If Sihon’s Amorite territory was also part of the Promised Land, says Weinfeld, the conquest had to be a foregone conclusion:

According to the ancient sources, the land that the Israelites were to conquer did not include Transjordan. Thus, in the border description of “the land of Canaan” in Num 34:1–12… In fact, the whole tradition about the settlement in Transjordan in Num 32 has an apologetic character. It tries to justify the settlement of the tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan…

In contrast to this old tradition, which excludes Transjordan from the borders of the promised land, the author of Deuteronomy considers Transjordan to be an integral part of the promised land and presents here its ideology and full legitimization… What was in Numbers a marginal settlement outside the borders of the promised land becomes in Deuteronomy a legitimate inheritance of land with vast territory…^[13]

Despite the adoption of this view by some,^[14] historical as well as the literary-ideological perspectives suggest that it should be rejected.

Only When They Cross the Jordan River

Throughout Deuteronomy and Joshua through Kings—known as the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH)—the Promised Land is always referred to in relation to the Jordan River. This begins with Moses, who standing in the Transjordan, repeatedly speaks to the Israelites about when, in the near future, וּבָאתֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְ־הֹוָה לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם “and you will come and inherit the land that YHWH promised on oath to your fathers” (Deut 8:1).

It is this land into which Moses was denied entry:

^{דברים ד:כא} וַי־הֹוָה הִתְאַנַּף בִּי עַל דִּבְרֵיכֶם וַיִּשָּׁבַע לְבִלְתִּי עׇבְרִי אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן וּלְבִלְתִּי בֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה.

^{Deut 4:21} Now YHWH was angry with me on your account and swore that I should not cross the Jordan and enter the good land that YHWH your God is assigning you as a heritage.

Instead, YHWH permits Moses to stand upon a mountain in the Transjordan and gaze upon the Promised Land from afar before his demise:

^{דברים לב:מט}עֲלֵה אֶל הַר הָעֲבָרִים הַזֶּה הַר נְבוֹ אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי יְרֵחוֹ וּרְאֵה אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַאֲחֻזָּה.

^{Deut 32:49} Ascend these heights of Abarim to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab facing Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving the Israelites as their holding.^[15]

This conception was a defining motif for the Deuteronomistic writers.^[16] From the beginning of their history, they spoke of the eastern border of the Promised Land at the Jordan; thus in YHWH’s instructions to Joshua:

^{יהושע א:יא} ...כִּי בְּעוֹד שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה לָבוֹא לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם נֹתֵן לָכֶם לְרִשְׁתָּהּ.

^{Josh 1:11} …For in three days’ time you are to cross the Jordan, in order to enter and possess the land that YHWH your God is giving you as a possession.

Clearly, the Deuteronomic school does not think of the territory of Transjordan, whatever the story of its conquest, as part of the Promised Land.

Historical Context Behind Deuteronomy

Indeed, there was little reason for the Deuteronomic school, which most commentators date to the late 7th-century B.C.E., to have imagined expanding the conception of the Promised Land to encompass even more land. King Josiah, son of Amon and grandson of Manasseh, came to the throne as a pre-teen, just eight years old, and is credited with a 31-year rule (640-609 B.C.E.).^[17] When Josiah came of age,^[18] the decades-long wars between Babylonia and Media against Assyria were coming to an end with the collapse of the Assyrian Empire in 612 B.C.E.,^[19] thereby liberating vassal states, such as Judah, from imperial obligations, at least in theory.

In reality, even before Assyria’s final collapse, Egypt, under Psammetichus I (656-610 BCE), moved to fill the political vacuum. Probably as early as the 630s, Egypt became caretaker and then master of the former Assyrian territories from Philistia north to the Phoenician kingdoms; it took control of the international highway – the via Maris – that ran up the coast from north Sinai, through the Jezreel Valley to Transjordan and then north to Syria.^[20] When Neco II (610-595 BCE) took over on the death of his father Psammetichus, he brooked no insubordination from Josiah and dispatched him at Megiddo in 609.^[21] In short, it is difficult to imagine a Judean dream of a revived Davidic empire, as so often mentioned in early modern historical studies.^[22]

Israel Offers Sihon Peace Because His Territory Is Outside the Land

To understand the purpose of Deuteronomy’s retelling of the story of the conquest of the Transjordan, we must follow what happens next. Despite YHWH’s command to conquer the territory, Moses remarkably begins by requesting safe passage:

^{דברים ב:כו} וָאֶשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים מִמִּדְבַּר קְדֵמוֹת אֶל סִיחוֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן דִּבְרֵי שָׁלוֹם לֵאמֹר. ^ב:כז אֶעְבְּרָה בְאַרְצֶךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֵלֵךְ לֹא אָסוּר יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול. ^ב:כח אֹכֶל בַּכֶּסֶף תַּשְׁבִּרֵנִי וְאָכַלְתִּי וּמַיִם בַּכֶּסֶף תִּתֶּן לִי וְשָׁתִיתִי רַק אֶעְבְּרָה בְרַגְלָי. ^ב:כט כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לִי בְּנֵי עֵשָׂו הַיֹּשְׁבִים בְּשֵׂעִיר וְהַמּוֹאָבִים הַיֹּשְׁבִים בְּעָר עַד אֲשֶׁר אֶעֱבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ נֹתֵן לָנוּ.

^{Deut 2:26} Then I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace, as follows, ^2:27 “Let me pass through your country. I will keep strictly to the highway, turning off neither to the right nor to the left. ^2:28 What food I eat you will supply for money, and what water I drink you will furnish for money; just let me pass through – ^2:29 as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir did for me, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar – that I may cross the Jordan into the land that YHWH our God is giving us.”

This peace offer should not be understood as a cynical remark by Moses, who knew ahead of time that his request would be turned down.^[23] And it not a simple rewording of the message sent to Sihon mentioned in Numbers. Rather, as specified in Deuteronomy’s laws of war, an “offer of peace” was to be the first step taken when Israel set out to conquer foreign cities:

^{דברים כ:י} כִּי תִקְרַב אֶל עִיר לְהִלָּחֵם עָלֶיהָ וְקָרָאתָ אֵלֶיהָ לְשָׁלוֹם... ^כ:יב וְאִם לֹא תַשְׁלִים עִמָּךְ וְעָשְׂתָה עִמְּךָ מִלְחָמָה וְצַרְתָּ עָלֶיהָ. ^כ:יג וּנְתָנָהּ יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וְהִכִּיתָ אֶת כׇּל זְכוּרָהּ לְפִי חָרֶב.

^{Deut 20:10} When you approach a town to attack it, you shall offer it terms of peace…. ^20:12 If it does not surrender to you, but would join battle with you, you shall lay siege to it, ^20:13 and when the YHWH your God delivers it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword.

In contrast, Canaanite kingdoms were not to be offered any terms but attacked and exterminated in a ḥerem (Deut 20:16–18). Surrender was not an option open to native Canaanites, only for foreigners. Thus, as a first move, Sihon was offered peace, since the Amorite kingdom of Sihon is here viewed as a foreign entity and not one of the indigenous peoples in the Land of Canaan who were to be exterminated regardless of what their reaction might be to an offer of peace.

Sihon’s Hardened Heart

While Sihon had the option of allowing the Israelites to pass through, as YHWH already promised that Israel would conquer this land, it is not surprising that Sihon refuses the request and gathers his forces for war. Similar to the story of YHWH hardening Pharaoh’s heart in Egypt,^[24] YHWH hardens Sihon’s heart here as well, interfering with his good sense, which explains why the Amorite king refuses the reasonable, peaceful request to which his neighbors acceded without consequence:

^{דברים ב:ל} וְלֹא אָבָה סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן הַעֲבִרֵנוּ בּוֹ כִּי הִקְשָׁה יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת רוּחוֹ וְאִמֵּץ אֶת לְבָבוֹ לְמַעַן תִּתּוֹ בְיָדְךָ כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה.

^{Deut 2:30} But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to let us pass through, because YHWH had stiffened his will and hardened his heart in order to deliver him into your power – as is now the case.

In Deuteronomy, the encounter with Sihon has become a predestined event: YHWH would see to it that Sihon will stubbornly refuse to grant Israel passage, so that in the end he would lose his land. The purpose of this divine ploy was to put the fear of Israel and its God in the hearts of all who hear of them:^[25]

^{דברים ב:לא} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הֹוָה אֵלַי רְאֵה הַחִלֹּתִי תֵּת לְפָנֶיךָ אֶת סִיחֹן וְאֶת אַרְצוֹ הָחֵל רָשׁ לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת אַרְצוֹ. ^ב:לב וַיֵּצֵא סִיחֹן לִקְרָאתֵנוּ הוּא וְכׇל עַמּוֹ לַמִּלְחָמָה יָהְצָה. ^ב:לג וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְפָנֵינוּ וַנַּךְ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת בָּנָו וְאֶת כׇּל עַמּוֹ.

^{Deut 2:31} And YHWH said to me: See, I begin by placing Sihon and his land at your disposal. Begin the occupation; take possession of his land. ^2:32 Sihon with all his men took the field against us at Jahaz, and YHWH our God delivered him to us and we defeated him and his sons and all his men.

This Deuteronomic story shows that the lands in Transjordan are God-given, not a chance prize of war.^[26]

Ḥerem Upon Sihon’s Cities

The description of the ensuing battle with Sihon and his forces is similarly brought into line with Deuteronomic standards, namely the ḥerem law (Deut 20:16–17) that required the elimination of all Canaanites for fear of their leading Israel astray:^[27]

^{דברים ב:לד} וַנִּלְכֹּד אֶת כׇּל עָרָיו בָּעֵת הַהִוא וַנַּחֲרֵם אֶת כׇּל עִיר מְתִם וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַטָּף לֹא הִשְׁאַרְנוּ שָׂרִיד. ^ב:לה רַק הַבְּהֵמָה בָּזַזְנוּ לָנוּ וּשְׁלַל הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר לָכָדְנוּ.

^{Deut 2:34} At that time we captured all his towns, and we doomed every town – men, women, and children – leaving no survivor. ^2:35We retained as booty only the cattle and the spoil of the cities that we captured.

Unlike the narrative in Numbers, Deuteronomy claims that Israel doomed the entire population of the Amorite kingdom – “every town – men, women, and children – leaving no survivor” (Deut 2:34), even though they were not residents of Canaan. As a result, not only is the Amorite army pulverized, but all the inhabitants of the Amorite cities are exterminated.

Ḥerem Wherever Israelites Settle, Even Outside the Promised Land

Though the ḥerem law in all other biblical texts is restricted to the Promised Land occupied by Canaanites, in the present instance it is employed in the kingdom of Sihon, a foreign, external territory. The conquest is summarized by a list of some of the conquered cities and a general statement stating that the Israelites did not fail to conquer even a single Amorite settlement in the Transjordan:

^{דברים ב:לו} מֵעֲרֹעֵר אֲשֶׁר עַל שְׂפַת נַחַל אַרְנֹן וְהָעִיר אֲשֶׁר בַּנַּחַל וְעַד הַגִּלְעָד לֹא הָיְתָה קִרְיָה אֲשֶׁר שָׂגְבָה מִמֶּנּוּ אֶת הַכֹּל נָתַן יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְפָנֵינוּ.

^{Deut 2:36} From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon valley, including the town in the valley itself, to Gilead, not a city was too mighty for us; YHWH our God delivered everything to us.

This phrasing is reminiscent of the conquest account in Joshua (11:19–20), highlighting that it was YHWH’s will that Transjordan fall into Israel’s hands. Read together with the previous verse, we are to assume that these cities were all subject to the ḥerem.

It seems that the Deuteronomic author viewed ḥerem as a necessary protective practice to be followed wherever Israel settled, not just in the Land of Canaan. If the tribes of Reuben and Gad were to live there, it would need to be without the Amorite inhabitants. From the Deuteronomist’s perspective, idolators and their idolatries that could lead Israel astray have no place, not only in the Promised Land proper, but also in any place Israel chose to live.^[28]

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Published 2026-06-24

Ezekiel’s map of the future settlement of the tribes in the Land of Canaan (Ezek 47:13-21) is based on the same source as Numbers 34.
For instance, in the passage describing the covenant between the parts, YHWH says to Abram:
^{בראשית טו:ז} וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יְ־הֹוָה אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים לָתֶת לְךָ אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת לְרִשְׁתָּהּ... ^טו:יח בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כָּרַת יְ־הֹוָה אֶת אַבְרָם בְּרִית לֵאמֹר לְזַרְעֲךָ נָתַתִּי אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת מִנְּהַר מִצְרַיִם עַד הַנָּהָר הַגָּדֹל נְהַר פְּרָת.
^{Gen 15:7} I am YHWH who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to assign this land to you as a possession.”... ^15:18 On that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates...”
The passage draws the boundary lines on a map of the Levant like an artist using a marker with a broad nib, with the Euphrates River in the north, and the Nile River in the south. The boundaries on the east and west are unmentioned, but it stands to reason that these, too, were general: in the east, “the desert” and in the west, “the Great Sea,” i.e., the Mediterranean (cf. Josh 1:4). In a later revelation, YHWH confirms his covenant with the centenarian patriarch and refers to the land granted him as כל ארץ כנען “all of the Land of Canaan” (Gen 17:8), again without defined borders. The land grant in the Abrahamic covenant was reconfirmed with his son, Isaac (Gen 26:3), and his grandson, Jacob (Gen 35:12), still without further definition.
In her study of these patriarchal promises, Nili Wazana (Hebrew University) concluded:
The lack of any border specifications in the patriarchal narrative texts appears to constitute a deliberate and intentional ploy. The disjunction between the legal connotations these passages carry and the absence of precise border descriptions leaves the issue of the Land’s proportions undetermined. The validity of the promise consequently pertains to a land comprised of a delimited—but unspecified—area.”
Nili Wazana, All the Boundaries of the Land. The Promised Land in Biblical Thought in Light of the Ancient Near East (Eisenbrauns, 2013), 96. Still one wonders whether the extensive territory of the land grant draws on a historical period when these lands were ruled by any single political entity. Benjamin Mazar opined that Genesis 15 “reflects the political aspirations of David’s and Solomon’s time, and the premise of mastery over the Canaanite peoples” (Mazar, “The Historical Background of the Book of Genesis,” in idem, The Early Biblical Period. Historical Studies, S. Aḥituv and B.A. Levine, eds. [Israel Exploration Society, 1986], 51, 114-115). In any event, the boundaries ascribed to Solomon’s realm seem to be connected to the patriarchal grant: “Solomon's rule extended over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and the boundary of Egypt” (1 Kgs 5:1); a second reference to this realm a few verses later (v. 4) omits mention of Egypt and sets the limits at northern Sinai: “For he controlled the whole region west of the Euphrates – all the kings west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza.”
In contrast, the territory north of the Yarmuk River (the modern border of Jordan, Israel and Syria), biblical Bashan-Golan, is included in Canaan. This strange detail will be discussed in a later piece.
Many commentators have embraced Benjamin Mazar’s identification of these borders of the Land of Canaan as an Israelite adoption of the borders of the Egyptian province of Canaan documented as late as the 13th century B.C.E. (Mazar, “Lebo-hamath and the Northern Border of Canaan,” in idem, The Early Biblical Period, 191-198); see, for example, Baruch A. Levine, Numbers 21-36, AB 4A (Doubleday, 2000), 529; Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (The Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 501. In contrast to Mazar, Nili Wazana’s analysis of the linguistic and geo-historical elements in Numbers 34 led her to conclude that “the description of the borders of the ‘land of Canaan’ does not constitute evidence of a real-life source but is instead a literary and ideological composition intended to identify the allotment promised by God to the Israelites as part of their covenant relationship” (Wazana, All the Boundaries of the Land, 166). For a suggestion to date the borders to the late 7th century B.C.E., see Yigal Levin, “The Geopolitical Context Behind the Boundaries in Numbers 34,” TheTorah (2015).
On Israel’s circumvention of Edom, see David Glatt-Gilad, “Reimaging the Israelite-Edomite Encounter,” TheTorah (2016); David Ben-Gad HaCohen, “Ironing Out Israel’s Itinerary Through the Transjordan,” TheTorah (2016).
Translations come from NJPS with adjustments.
Hebrew ‘am is commonly translated “people”; but in military contexts it also carries the sense of a military unit, “people bearing arms” (BDB, 766b, sub 2d). NJPS recognized this nuance of ‘am, but unfortunately was inconsistent in its translations, slipping back to “people” on occasion. For the military sense, see, e.g., “men” (Ex 14:6); “fighting troops, force” (Josh 8:1, 3 ,11); “the troops” (1 Sam 11:11); “men” (1 Kgs 20:10).
NJPS notes: “Septuagint, ‘Jazer,’ cf. v. 32. Others ‘for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.’” The city-land of Jazer (cf. Num 32:1) was on the border of kingdom of Ammon, located at Kh. eṣ-Ṣâr, 10 km. west of Rabbath-Ammon. After its capture (Num 21:32), it was settled by Gadites (Num 32:35).
On this episode, see Levine, Numbers 21-36, 477-507; Jacob L. Wright, “Redacting the Relationship to the Transjordanian Tribes,” TheTorah (2014); Liane Feldman, “Gad and Reuben Receive Land in the Transjordan: A Documentary Approach,” TheTorah (2018).
In addition to the commentaries on Numbers and Deuteronomy cited above, see the analysis of the Sihon affair by Marc Zvi Brettler, The Creation of History in Ancient Israel (Routledge, 1995), 71-78.
Like most of the book, this account is framed as part of Moses’ valedictory address, a depiction of select events of the generation-long stay in the Sinai Peninsula and Transjordan, from the point of view of the Deuteronomic school.
Weinfeld continues by explaining what he understands to be the historical context of this development:
When was this tradition fixed? It seems that the final crystallization of this tradition can easily be put in the Hezekian-Josianic period, the period of expansion. I refer to the literary-ideological formation and not to its historical antecedents. But it was the ideologist of the Hezekian-Josianic period, the so-called Deuteronomic author or school, who fixed an ideology about the extent of the promised land…[d]uring the awakening of national consciousness in Israel.
Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1-11, AB 5 (Doubleday, 1991), 173-178.
For example, Tigay, Deuteronomy, 30, at Deuteronomy 2:24.
Editor's note: For a different understanding of the Implications of this scene for Deuteronomy's conception of the Transjordan, see Angela Roskop Erisman, “Viewing the Promised Land, Moses Looks Even at the Transjordan,” TheTorah (2019).
In this, they were no different than the other tradents of the Pentateuchal traditions, all of whom considered the Jordan River as the eastern border.
His first decade was surely under the stewardship of mature leaders, perhaps those who had installed him in the first place (2 Kgs 22:1). The group that set Josiah on the throne is referred to as “the people of the land” עם הארץ (2 Kgs. 21:24). This seemingly bland term is, in fact, a societal label, “apparently the social and economic elite of Judah.” See, e.g., Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed. Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts (The Free Press, 2001), 273; and Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor, 2 Kings, AB 11 (Doubleday, 1988), 129-130 for further bibliography.
In Judah, twenty-year old males could be mobilized (Num 26:2).
An amplification of this thumbnail historical sketch is available in J. Maxwell Miller & John H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah, 2^nd ed. (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 444-460; see earlier, Nadav Na’aman, “The Kingdom of Judah under Josiah,” TA 18 (1991), 3-71. A Janus-like position on the question of Judah’s expansion beyond the borders of Judah to other areas in the Land of Israel is held by Finkelstein and Silberman, The Bible Unearthed, 283-285 and 347-353.
At a later stage, Psammetichus I sent Egyptian forces to fight alongside Assyria in the last years of the empire. The Babylonian Chronicle of 616 B.C.E. reads: “In the month Tishri, the troops of Egypt and the troops of Assyria marched against the king of Akkad (i.e., Babylon) at Gablini” (Mordechai Cogan, The Raging Torrent, 3^rded. [Carta, 2026], 259, line 10).
See Abraham Malamat, “Josiah’s Bid for Armageddon: The Background of the Judean-Egyptian Encounter in 609 B.C.,” in idem, History of Biblical Israel. Major Problems and Minor Issues (Brill, 2001), 277-281; also Dan’el Kahn. “Why did Necho II Kill Josiah?”, in Jana Mynářová, Pavel Onderka and Peter Pavúk Charles (eds.), There and Back Again – the Crossroads II (Charles University in Prague, 2015), 511-528.
Among those who held of such a revival, see, for example, Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic (Harvard University Press, 1973), 283; John Bright, A History of Israel, 3^rd ed. (Westminster Press, 1981), 317, 324.
While Deuteronomy explains Sihon’s refusal to be the result of YHWH’s interference with Sihon’s ability to act rationally, another version told:
^{שופטים יא:כ} וְלֹא הֶאֱמִין סִיחוֹן אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲבֹר בִּגְבֻלוֹ...
^{Judg 11:20} “But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory…
See discussion in David Ben-Gad HaCohen, “Jephthah’s Wandering Biblical Message to the King of Ammon,” TheTorah (2017).
Cf. Exod 9:12, 35; 10:20, 27. See in detail, Jefferey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy, The JPS Torah Commentary (The Jewish Publication Society, 1996), 31-32. Editor's note: For some discussion of this part of the exodus story, see David Frankel, “Taking Control of the Story: God Hardens Pharaoh’s Heart,” TheTorah (2016); Daniel M. Zucker, “Weighing Pharaoh’s Heavy Heart,” TheTorah (2021).
An echo of this theme can be found in the words put into the mouth of the Canaanite Rahab, who pleaded with the Israelite spies for clemency prior to the battle of Jericho:
^{יהושע ב:ט} וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל הָאֲנָשִׁים יָדַעְתִּי כִּי נָתַן יְ־הֹוָה לָכֶם אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִי נָפְלָה אֵימַתְכֶם עָלֵינוּ וְכִי נָמֹגוּ כׇּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ מִפְּנֵיכֶם. ^ב:י כִּי שָׁמַעְנוּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר הוֹבִישׁ יְ־הֹוָה אֶת מֵי יַם סוּף מִפְּנֵיכֶם בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם וַאֲשֶׁר עֲשִׂיתֶם לִשְׁנֵי מַלְכֵי הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן לְסִיחֹן וּלְעוֹג אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱרַמְתֶּם אוֹתָם. ^ב:יא וַנִּשְׁמַע וַיִּמַּס לְבָבֵנוּ וְלֹא קָמָה עוֹד רוּחַ בְּאִישׁ מִפְּנֵיכֶם כִּי יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הוּא אֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת.
^{Josh 2:9} She said to the men, “I know that YHWH has given the country to you, because dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before you. ^2:10 For we have heard how YHWH dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you left Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, whom you doomed. ^2:11 When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no man had any more spirit left because of you; for YHWH your God is the only God in heaven above and on earth below.”
This reflects the thinking in the Song of Moses (Haʾazinu), according to which, it is YHWH, who allots lands to all humanity:
^{דברים לב:ח} בְּהַנְחֵל עֶלְיוֹן גּוֹיִם בְּהַפְרִידוֹ בְּנֵי אָדָם יַצֵּב גְּבֻלֹת עַמִּים לְמִסְפַּר בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.
^{Deut 32:8} When the Most High gave nations their homes and set the divisions of man, He fixed the boundaries of peoples in relation to Israel's numbers.
The enigmatic phrase in MT: “in relation to Israel's numbers” at the end of the verse appears as: “according to the number of the gods” (מספר בני אל/אלוהים) in Qumran manuscripts, as well as the Greek LXX. See the discussion of Emanuel Tov, “The Sons of Israel or God—Deuteronomy 32:8,” TheTorah (2023).
See my discussion of ḥerem in Mordechai Cogan, “Deuteronomy’s Herem Law: Protecting Israel at the Cost of Its Humanity,” TheTorah (2022).
The popular slogan of the Revisionist Zionist Movement, based on a line from a song of Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1929), has no relation whatsoever to the biblical boundaries of the Promised Land:
שתי גדות לירדן, זו שלנו זו גם כן
The Jordan has two banks; this one is ours and the other one, too.
This slogan was a political statement against the division of the original British mandate into two authorities, “Palestine,” west of the Jordan, and the “Emirate of Transjordan,” on the east.

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