The “Promised Land” is so named because it was territory that God had promised to Abram, who was later renamed as Abraham. The territory was included in what is called the Abrahamic Covenant and it is described in Genesis 12:1-4. In the covenant God promised Abram that 1) he would become a great nation, 2) have a land of his own, and bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him. Scripture tells us that Abram believed God and left the Ur of the Chaldeans, the place of his birth (Genesis 11:31; 15:7).
In Genesis 50:24, Joseph calls the land that God promised to Abraham “the land which He promised on an oath to Abraham.” Yet, nowhere in the Bible is that land called the “promised land.” That is a term that has been given by Christians to the land promised to Abram. The New Testament comes very close to using the expression “promised land” when the book of Hebrews says, “land of promise.”
By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise . . . Hebrews 11:9 (NASB)
Egyptian Description of the Promised Land
A general and incomplete description of the Promised Land is given in Genesis 12:5-7 and Genesis 24:7 .
Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:5-7 (NASB)
The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me (Abraham) and who swore to me, saying, “To your descendants I will give this land,” He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. Genesis 24:7 (NASB)
In verse 5 we are told that Abram and his wife Sarai traveled through the land of Canaan only as far as Shechem to the oak of Moreh. The description is a partial or incomplete one. Then God told Abram this is the land that I will give to your descendants. Genesis 13:12 says that Abram settled in the land of Canaan.
The Encyclopædia Britannica states that the name of Canaan existed in Egyptian and Phoenician times, and that it was interchangeable with the word Palestine.
The names Canaan and Canaanite occur in cuneiform, Egyptian, and Phoenician writings from about the 15th century BCE as well as in the Old Testament. In these sources, “Canaan” refers sometimes to an area encompassing all of Palestine and Syria, sometimes only to the land west of the Jordan River, and sometimes just to a strip of coastal land from Acre (Akko) northward. The Israelites occupied and conquered Palestine, or Canaan, beginning in the late 2nd millennium BCE, or perhaps earlier; and the Bible justifies such occupation by identifying Canaan with the Promised Land, the land promised to the Israelites by God.1
Davis and Whitcomb provide the following quote from the victory stela of Phraoah Merneptah of the Egyptian Nineteenth Dynasty (1234-1222 B.C.).
The most interesting inscription attributed to the time of Memeptah
is his famous victory stela in which Israel is mentioned. The account
of his victories in Canaan reads as follows:
The princes are saying: Mercy;
No one raises his head among the nine bows.
Desolation is for Tehenu; Hatt is pacified;
Plundered is the Canaan with every evil;
Carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer;
Yanoam is made as that which does not exist;
Israel is laid waste, his seed is not.
That Israel was already in Palestine and had expanded its landholdings toward the west is implied by this inscription.2
Therefore, both the Encyclopædia Britannica and Davis and Whitcomb offer support for the fact that Canaan was known as Palestine and was also recognized as land belonging to Israel in the 15th century BC and 13th century BC. Therefore, the land known as Canaan belonged to Israel and it included the land known as Palestine.
General Description of the Promised Land
In Genesis 15, God meets Abram again promising him the land of Canaan and defining its boundaries. Now a fuller description of the land was given to Abram. Now the land stretched from the Nile River of Egypt to the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia (Genesis 15:18-21).
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.” Genesis 15:18–21 (NASB)
Exodus also describes the promised land as stretching from the boundary of the Red Sea to the Euphrates River (Exodus 23:28-31).
Detailed Description of the Promised Land
Later in Numbers 34:1-13, God gives Moses a more detailed description of the Promised Land the Israelites would occupy.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders. Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the [Dead Sea] eastward. Then your border shall turn direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its termination shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon. The border shall turn direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea. As for the western border, you shall have the [Mediterranean Sea], that is, its coastline; this shall be your west border. And this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to the Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border. For your eastern border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham, and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the slope on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth. And the border shall go down to the Jordan and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.'” So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you are to apportion by lot among you as a possession, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes.” Numbers 34:1-13 (NASB)
In Numbers 34:2, God explicitly states the Israelites were inheriting the land of Canaan. The western border of the Promised Land started with the coastline along the Sea of Galilee. The northern border is defined by a horizontal line that crossed through Mount Hor, Lebo-hamath, Zeded, Ziphon, and Hazarenan. The eastern border crossed through Hazarenan, Shepham, Riblah, Ain, the Sea of Chinnereth and down to the Dead Sea. The southern border started with the wilderness of Zin on the east side of Edom and extended to the west side of the Dead Sea.3
The territory was about 60,000 square miles, 144 miles in length from the north to the south, 40 miles across the southern border, and 20 miles along the northern border.
Full Occupation of the Promised Land
Full occupation of the Promised Land became a reality under King David and King Solomon when the Israelites possessed all of the land that God had promised Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, 18, and 22. However, it was temporary and did not last. At Israel’s height, their land stretched from the border of Egypt to the River Euphrates:
So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. They brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year. Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. He was the ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. 2 Chronicles 9:22–26 (NASB)
The promised land included Judea, Samaria and Galilee in Jesus’ day. Consequently, it included the land of Canaan (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities I, 7), the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1) and the Dead Sea.
Palestine Was Promised to Israel
Palestine was a name already in existence and used by ancient writers before Jesus was born. Today, some claim that the Israelites stole the land on which the nation of Israel resides. But the preceding discussion reveals that God gave the land to Abraham and subsequently to Israel. The land was called Palestine during the time of Herodotus (c.484–c.425 BC), Aristotle (c.384-c.322 BC), Flavius Josephus (c.37-c.100 AD), and almost everyone today. The land was once called Canaan (Genesis 9:18; Judges 1:4) and was later called Palestine. Canaan was given by God to Israel (Joshua 24:1-13). Here are some important quotes.
Here is a quote from Herodotus (440 B.C.),
Between Persia and Phoenicia lies a broad and ample tract of country, after which the region I am describing skirts our sea, stretching from Phoenicia along the coast of Palestine-Syria till it comes to Egypt, where it terminates. This entire tract contains but three nations. The whole of Asia west of the country of the Persians is comprised in these two regions.4
It should be noted that this work is more trustworthy than contemporary works due to recent political bias about the topic of Palestine. This work was written 150 years prior to the controversy. The next work, published by Bohn agrees with the above translation.
Now, as far as Phoenicia from Persia the country is wide and open, but from Phoenicia the same tract stretches along this sea by Syrian Palestine and Egypt, where it terminates; in it are only three nations. These, then, are the parts of Asia that lie westward of Persia.5
Aristotle (350 B.C.) also refers to Palestine and mentions the Dead Sea by mentioning the “lake” that is “bitter” and “makes salt.”
Again if, as is fabled, there is a lake in Palestine, such that if you bind a man or beast and throw it in it floats and does not sink, this would bear out what we have said. They say that this lake is so bitter and salt that no fish live in it and that if you soak clothes in it and shake them it cleans them. The following facts all of them support our theory that it is some earthy stuff in the water which makes it salt.6
Flavius Josephus (A.D. 37 – A.D. 100 ) also refers to the land of Palestine in his Antiquities of the Jews Book XX, Section 11.
I shall now, therefore, make an end here of my Antiquities; after the conclusion of which events, I began to write that account of the war; and these Antiquities contain what hath been delivered down to us from the original creation of man, until the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, as to what hath befallen the Jews, as well in Egypt as in Syria, and in Palestine . . . 7
Therefore, it is correct to conclude that the modern definition of the term Palestine refers to the entire land of ancient Canaan and that was the land the Israelites possessed during the time of Joshua and King David. Palestine also refers to the land occupied by the Israelites before Christ and during Christ’s time until the Romans defeated the nation in A.D. 70. Therefore, the definition of Palestine includes the ancient land of Canaan, and the land that Herodotus, Aristotle, Flavius Josephus called Palestine. The definition is unchanged today. Therefore, the term or the name of Palestine has only one meaning.
Conclusion:
The Bible prophesied that the Promised Land would be given once again to the Jewish people some time in the future after the second coming of Jesus, when He reigns over the entire world (Ezekiel 47:13-20). During this time the promised land will finally be realized to its fullest extent and Messiah (Jesus Christ) will rule over it and all of the earth (Daniel 2:35, 44).
References:
1. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. Canaan. Encyclopædia Britannica. August 18, 2025 (www.britannica.com/place/Canaan-historical-region-Middle-East)
2. Davis and Whitcomb. A History of Israel. Baker Book House. 1970. p. 177.
3. Yohanan et al. The MacMillian Bible Atlas. MacMillian Publishing Co. 1968. maps 48, 50.
4. George Rawlinson. Herodotus. The History of Herodotus. John Murray. 1862. Book IV. 2017, p. 27. Note that this work is more trustworthy than contemporary works due to recent bias about the topic of Palestine. This work was written prior to the controversy.
5. Bohn. Herodotus. 1848. p. 249-250. (archive.org/details/herodotus-book-7-polymnia-carey/HERODOTUS%20-%20BOOK%204%20%27%27melpomene%27%27%20%5BCarey%5D/page/238/mode/2up).
6. W. D. Ross. The Works of Aristotle, Meteorology, Book 2, Section 3. Oxford. 1931. p. 358n.(archive.org/details/meteorologica00aris/page/n1/mode/2up?q=palestine)
7. Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 541.
Suggested Links:
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