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God’s Land Promise to Israel
This article is a follow-up to Bethlehem: Not an “Occupied” Town seen in the previous issue of Darkness to light newsletter (V23N1). That article looked specifically at Israel’s ancient association with that one small town in Judea. This article will consider God’s wider land promise to Israel. It will also look at two additional towns in that land which have an ancient association with Israel.
Except for this introduction and the Conclusion, this article consists solely of excerpts from my forthcoming Analytical-Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, Study Version: Volume One of Four: The Old Testament Torah and Historical Books (Septuagint), Second Edition (ALT2: SV).
Excerpts from Introductory Pages of ALT2: SV
Abbreviations:
[wife] – Words added for clarity are bracketed.
{and he died} – Text occurring in the LXX but not in the Hebrew text (e.g., Genesis 11:11). It is debatable if this “added” text is inspired or not.
cp. – Compare. A cross reference.
fig. – Figurative. Possible figurative meaning or paraphrase of preceding literal translation.
{Heb., ...} – When the LXX omits a verse or verses, the text is provided from the Hebrew.
{Heb., +...} – Indicates the Hebrew includes text within a verse not found in the LXX.
i.e. – id est (Latin). Explanatory note (“that is” or “in explanation”). These comments are not part of the inspired text. That is why they are noted, bracketed, and printed in a slightly smaller font than the Bible text itself.
LXX – Septuagint, a third century B.C., Greek translation of the Hebrew OT. [The ALT: Old Testament is based on the LXX]
Note: – Longer explanatory note, generally as its own paragraph. These comments are not part of the inspired text. That is why they are noted, bracketed, and printed in a slightly smaller font than the Bible text itself.
or – Alternative, traditional, or slightly less literal translation.
see – Cross reference.
...
Explanatory Notes:
Occasional longer explanatory notes have been added to the text. These are offset by brackets, printed in a slightly smaller font than the Bible text itself, and are introduced by the notation “i.e.,” or “Note:” (with the latter generally in its own paragraph).
As with all bracketed materials (except alterative translations), these longer notes are not inspired. But they are included when the translator thought it would be helpful to point out an important aspect of the text. They can be of a technical, theological, ethical, or devotional nature. They point out aspects of the text that the average reader might not know or might miss.
The details for these notes are gleaned from several of the other books by the translator (see Appendix Two). Those books provide commentary on many additional Bible verses, both Old and New Testaments. But here, it is hoped these explanatory notes will help the reader to better understand the Bible text.
God’s Land Promise in Genesis
Genesis 12:1-9:
Calling and Obedience of Abram/ God’s Promises to Him
1And the LORD said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives and out of the house of your father into the land which I will show to you. [Acts 7:3] 2And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed. 3And I will bless the ones blessing you, and I will curse the ones cursing you, and in you all the tribes of the earth will be blessed.” [Gal 3:8,9]
4And Abram went as the LORD spoke to him, and Lot departed with him. [see Heb 11:8] Now Abram was seventy-five years [old] when he went out from Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot [the] son of his brother and all the things existing of them [fig., all their possessions], as many as they acquired, and every soul which they acquired in Haran. And they went out to be brought into [the] land of Canaan, and they came into the land of Canaan.
6And Abram traveled through the land {into the length of it [fig., lengthwise]} as far as the place of Shechem [LXX., Sychem], to the high oak {Heb., oak of Moreh}. Now the Canaanites [LXX, Chananites] were then inhabiting the land. 7And the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I will give this land to your seed [fig., descendants, and elsewhere in book].”
[Note: This land promise is repeated twice to Abram (renamed Abraham), with the boundaries indicated. It then proceeds through Abraham’s son Isaac, through his son Jacob (renamed Israel), then to Israel’s descendants (see Gen 15:18-21; 17:3-8; 26:1-4; 35:9-13; 48:3-4; Exodus 23:20-31; Joshua 1:1-6; 21:43-45).]
And Abram built an altar there to the LORD, the One having appeared to him. 8And he departed from there to the mountain toward [the] east of Bethel [LXX, Baethel]. And there he pitched his tent with Bethel towards [the] sea [fig., the west] and Ai [LXX., Aggai] toward the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the Name of the LORD. 9And Abram departed. And having gone, he encamped in the desert {Heb., journeyed to the Negev [Desert]}. [see Heb 11:9, i.e., Bethel, Ai, and the Negev Desert are within the borders indicated in the land promise (see Joshua 7:2).]
Genesis 15:18-21:
The LORD Confirms His Promises to Abram
...
18In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt {i.e., a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not the Nile River, fig., the border of Egypt.] as far as the great River Euphrates. 19[the land of] the Kenites and the Kenezites and the Kedmoneans 20and the Hittites and the Pherezites and the Raphaim 21and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.”
[Note: The LORD is giving the current inhabitants of the land time to repent. But since they will not, they will be judged for their sins by being driven from the land by Abram’s descendants and the land given to them and by each of the named people groups ceasing to exist.
. [Also, the specified borders of that land are greater than the area of modern-day Israel. Including disputed areas, the eastern border is now the Jordan River, but the Euphrates River is much further east. With that border, Israel would encompass most of today’s Jordan and the southern tip of Syria.]
Genesis 17:3-8:
Institution of Circumcision, Sign of the Covenant/ Abram Renamed Abraham
...
3And Abram fell upon his face, and God spoke to him, saying, 4“And I, listen!, My covenant [is] with you, and you will be a father of a multitude of nations. 5And your name will no more be called Abram [“exalted father”], but your name will be Abraham [“father of a multitude” – LXX, Abraam], for I have placed [fig., made] you a father of many nations. [Rom 4:17] 6And I will increase you exceedingly exceedingly [fig., very exceedingly], and I will place [fig., make] nations out of you, and kings will come out of you. 7And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you and between your seed after you, to their generations, for an eternal covenant, to be your God and [the God] of your seed after you. 8And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land [in] which you are living as a sojourner [or, temporarily], [even] all the land of Canaan for an eternal possession, and I Myself will be to them God.”
Genesis 26:1-4:
The LORD Extends His Promises to Isaac
1Now there became a famine upon the land, besides the former famine, which happened in the time of Abraham. Now Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines to Gerar {LXX., Gerara}. 2And the LORD appeared to him and said, “You shall not go down to Egypt, but dwell [or, you are to stay] in the land, which I shall tell to you. 3And live as a sojourner [or, temporarily] in this land. And I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give to you and to your seed all this land; and I will establish My oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your seed all this land {Heb., these lands}. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed in [or, by] your seed. 5Because Abraham your father obeyed My voice and kept My injunctions and My commandments and My regulations and My statutes.”
[Note: All the nations of the earth will be blessed by Isaac’s descendants, the Jews, by them spreading knowledge of the one true God and by the LORD revealing His Word (the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament) to them.]
Genesis 35:9-13:
God Appears Again to Jacob and Extends His Promises to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob
9Then God appeared to Jacob yet [again] in Luz, when he came out of Mesopotamia of Syria {Heb., Padan Aram}, and God blessed him. 10And God said to him, “Your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel will be your name. {Heb., +And He called his name Israel.} 11Then God said to him, “I [am] your God {Heb., “I [am] God Almighty}! Be increasing and be being multiplied. Nations and gatherings of nations will be out of you, and kings will come out of your reproductive organs. 12And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I have given it to you. And it will be, and to your seed after you I will give this land.” 13Then God went up from him from the place where he spoke with him.
Genesis 48:3-4:
Jacob Blesses Manasseh and Ephraim
...
3And Jacob said to Joseph, “My God {Heb., God Almighty} appeared to me in Luz, in [the] land of Canaan. And He blessed me 4and said to me, ‘Listen! I will increase you and multiply you and will make of you an assembly [fig., multitudes] of nations. And I will give this land to you and to your seed after you, for an everlasting possession.’
[Note: The final phrase indicates this land promise was not just to Jacob’s immediate descendants but to all of his descendants, down to today’s Israelites.]
Genesis 50:24-26:
Joseph’s Death and Act of Faith
...
24And Joseph spoke to his brothers, saying, I am dying, and God will visit you* a visitation [fig., will surely visit you*] and will bring you* out of this land to the land which God swore an oath to our fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.” 25And Joseph adjured the sons of Israel, saying, “At the visitation with which God will visit you*, then you* will carry up my bones from here {with you*}. [see Exod 13:19; Heb 11:22] 26And Joseph died, a hundred, ten [110] years, and they buried him [fig., prepared his corpse] and put [him] in a coffin in Egypt.
[Note: Joseph’s dying words are an affirmation of faith in the sovereignty of God, that God would fulfill His land promise to Joseph’s great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, and to their descendants, the Jews.]
Land Purchase and Burials in Hebron
Genesis 23:1-3,7-9,17-20:
Sarah Dies/ Abraham Purchases a Burial Place
1Now became the life of Sarah a hundred, twenty-seven [127] years. {Heb., +[These were] the years of the life of Sarah.} 2And Sarah died in the city of Arboc, which is in the valley {Heb., Kiriath Arba} (this is [now called] Hebron in [the] land of Canaan). So Abraham came to lament for Sarah and to mourn. 3And Abraham stood up from his dead, and he spoke to the sons of Heth {LXX, Chet}} [or, the Hittites], saying, 4“I am a sojourner and living as an outsider among you. Give me therefore possession of a burial-place among you*, and I will bury my dead away from me.” …
7Now Abraham rose up and prostrated himself in reverence to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth. 8And Abraham spoke to them, saying, “If you* have [it] in your* soul [fig., mind] that I should bury my dead away from my presence, hear me, and speak for me to Ephron the [son] of Saar. 9And let him give to me Double Cave {Heb., the cave of Machpelah}, which is to him, being in a part of his field. Let him give it to me for the money it [is] worth for possession of a burying-place among you*.” …
17And the field of Ephron was caused to stand [fig., was deeded], which was in Double Cave, which is opposite [the] face of Mambre, the field and the cave, which was in it, and every tree which was in the field, which is in its borders round about, 18to Abraham for a possession, before the sons of Heth and all the ones entering into the city {Heb., +at the gate}.
19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in Double Cave of the field, which is in front of Mambre (this is [now called] Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20So the field and the cave which was in it were confirmed to Abraham for possession of a burial place, by the sons of Heth.
[Note: Hebron is in the area of modern-day Israel, in what is today called the West Bank, but it was known as Judah after the conquest of the land under Joshua (see Josh 14:13-15; 1Chron 39:26f). After Sarah, Abraham, his son Isaac and his wife Rebecca, and Leah, the wife of Isaac’s son Jacob, were buried here (see Gen 25:9; 35:27-29; 49:28-32; 50:11-14).]
Genesis 25:7-11:
Death and Burial of Abraham
7Now these [were] the years of [the] days of [the] life of Abraham as many as he lived, one hundred, seventy-five [175] years. 8And Abraham failing, died in a good old age, an elderly man and full of days, and he was added to his people. 9And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in Double Cave {Heb., the cave of Machpelah}, in the field of Ephron the [son] of Saar the Hittite, which is in front of Mambre, 10the field and the cave which Abraham acquired from the sons of Heth. There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. [Gen 23:7-20] 11Now it happened after Abraham died, [that] God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac dwelt by the Well of the Vision {Heb., Beer-lahai-roi}.
Genesis 35:27-29:
Death and Burial of Isaac
27Then Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mambre, to a city of the plain; this is [now called] Hebron [LXX, Chebron] in [the] land of Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac lived as sojourners. 28Now became the days of Isaac which he lived were one hundred, eighty [118] years. 29And he having come to an end, died, and was added to his family, old and full of days. And Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.
[Note: Though not specifically stated, since they were in Hebron, Isaac was buried in the tomb of his father and mother, in the land purchased by Abraham (Gen 23:1-20; 49::31).]
Genesis 49:28-33:
Jacob’s Instructions to His Sons for His Burial
28All these [are the] twelve sons of Jacob. And their father spoke these [words] to them, and he blessed them. He blessed each of them according to his blessing. 29And he said to them, “I am being added to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in Double Cave in front of Mambre, in the land of Canaan, the cave which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a sepulcher. 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife. There I buried Leah; 32in [the] acquisition of the field and of the cave, the one being in it, [purchased] of the sons of Heth.” 33And Jacob ceased commanding his sons. And having lifted up his feet on the bed, he died and was added to his people.
Genesis 50:11-14:
Joseph Embalms and Buries His Father Jacob
11And the settlers of the land of Canaan saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad and said, “This is a great mourning to the Egyptians. Because of this he called its name, Mourning of Egypt {Heb., Abel Mizraim}, which is beyond the Jordan. 12And in this manner his sons did to him, {and they buried him there}. 13And his sons carried him up into [the] land of Canaan and buried him in the Double Cave, which cave Abraham bought for possession of a burying place, from Ephrom the Hittite, before Mambre. 14And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and the ones having gone up with him to bury his father.
[Note: There is a connection not just by God’s promise but by land purchase and burials of the progenitors of modern-day Jews to the area of modern-day Israel. This is all playing out from about 2100-1800 BC or about 4,000 years ago. Hence why modern-day Jews claim an ancient connection to this land.]
Land Purchase and Land Won in Battle in Shechem
Genesis 33:18-20:
Jacob Settles in Shechem
..
18And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem [LXX., Salem, a city of Secima], which is in [the] land of Canaan, when he departed out of Mesopotamia of Syria {Heb., Padam Aram} and set up down from [the] face of the city. 19And he acquired the portion of the field, where he pitched his tent, from Hamor [the] father of Shechem, for a hundred lambs {Heb., pieces of money}. 20And he set up there an altar and called on the God of Israel {Heb., and called it El Elohe Israel}.
[Note: Shechem was located about 20 miles north of modern-day Jerusalem in what today is called the West Bank. This is thus another ancient purchase of land by a progenitor of the Jews in a disputed area of modern-day Israel.]
Genesis 48:21-22:
Jacob’s Expression of Faith in God’s Promises
21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look! I am dying. And God will be with you* and will restore you* to the land of your* fathers. 22Now I give to you Shechem [or, one portion] {LXX, Sicima,}, {a select portion} above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of [the] Amorites with my sword and bow.”
[Note: Jacob expresses faith in God’s land promise to his descendants. He includes in it land he had acquired in battle via the atrocious actions of his sons Simeon and Levi (see Gen 34:25-29). He also bought land there (see Gen 33:19).]
Conclusion
I could follow up this article with one with verses excerpted from the Book of Joshua. It would show the Israelites taking control of the land promised by God to their forefathers as indicated in this article (see Joshua 21:43-45). That would be about 1400 B.C. or about 3400 years ago. That is why Jews today claim an ancient connection to the land area of modern-day Israel. But this article should suffice to make that point.
Bible verses from:
Analytical-Literal Translation of the Old Testament, © 2012-25, with updates in preparations for a new edition.
God’s Land Promise to Israel. Copyright © 2025 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry (www.zeolla.org/christian).
This book addresses three vital subjects in regards to the Christian faith, as seen in the subtitle. Covering these three subjects makes this book ideal for enabling Christians to understand and defend their faith and for evangelism. It will show seekers and doubters there are answers to their questions on these subjects and their need for salvation. Available in multiple formats. Click here for ordering details.
The above article was posted on this website March 7, 2025.
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