Israel’s Boundaries

Q

I enjoy your website very much. So filled with valuable information. Thanks so much.

Just briefly, are the boundaries of the land of Israel today the same as they were in the Old Testament? My husband said he doesn’t think the boundaries from the OT could be definitely defined by today’s standards. (In other words, they could give some of what they have to Palestine without upsetting things.)

Thanks for any insight into this you might have!

A

The Old Testament boundaries for the Promised Land are given in Genesis 15:18, Deut. 1:6-8 and other places. By comparing them you can readily see that it extended from the River Euphrates in the north to the Wadi al Arish (River of Egypt) in the south, and from the Jordan River in the East to the Mediterranean in the West. All these boundaries are easily found on any good map today. This area is much larger than Israel’s current boundaries and so they don’t have any to spare without violating the Biblical mandate against selling or giving away their land.