Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Genesis

[Michelob]

Does Genesis 13:14 extends the promised land?

When God asked Abraham to leave Ur, he instructed him to go to Canaan. It is only a small part of today's Israel. Does Genesis 13:14 mean that God extended the promised land? The the whole land was the promised land (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAYpx4lWRtM) from the beginning? I just get the idea from Who's land is Israel YouTube video.

[jimwalton]

The label "Canaan" included the general region, occupied by Canaanites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Hittites, etc. It isn't meant to be technically restricted, but generally locational.

From Abraham's location at the time, large stretches of Canaan/Palestine/Israel were visible. God doesn't intend that Abraham's inheritance is strictly conditioned by what he actually sees (wow, what if it had been a cloudy day, or foggy?). The point is that God is gifting this land, whatever its specific borders may be, to Abraham's descendants. The description is usually (and quite generally) some like "From Dan to Beersheba," again just to describe generally the region, not to set up a line of demarcation.

Under Joshua, the land gained by the Conquest was quite limited. Under David, much more land was gained and united under one king. Under Solomon, the land known as "Israel" because the largest it had been to date. After Solomon, there was a geopolitical divide of the land, and it was never again to large. As a matter of fact, by 720 BC, what was left was quite small.

What the United Nations granted to Israel in 1948 was again actually quite small. Through various wars Israel increased its holdings and then subsequently gave pieces back to the Palestinians, et al. The border has been in somewhat flux since 1948.