31 I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And I will set thy bounds. There is no question that He confirms here the covenant which he had made with Abraham in somewhat different words. More briefly had it been said to Abraham, "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." (Genesis 15:18.) Here the four cardinal points of the compass are enumerated, and, instead of the Nile, the other sea is mentioned, which is opposite to the sea of Tarshish. [1] Nor is it anything new which the Israelites are commanded to expect; but they are reminded of what they had heard of by tradition even from the time of Abraham. Hence what I have already said is more clearly perceived, viz., that the ancient covenant is set before them, in order that they may respond to God's gratuitous favor, and on their part honor and worship Him, who had already anticipated them with His mercy. Furthermore, when they had robbed themselves of this blessing, God applied a remedy to their iniquity, by raising up a new condition of things under David, to whom this promise is repeated, as is seen in Psalm 72. Therefore, although even up to that time their inheritance was in a measure incomplete (truncata), yet, under this renovated condition, they reached its full and solid enjoyment. But since that prosperity and extension of the kingdom was not lasting, but after Solomon's death began to fail, and at last its dignity was destroyed; therefore Zechariah uses the same words in declaring its ultimate and perfect restoration. (Zechariah 9:10.) Thence we gather that by the coming of Christ this prophecy at length obtained its perfect accomplishment; not that the race of Abraham then began to bear rule within the bounds here laid down, but inasmuch as Christ embraced the four quarters of the globe under His dominion, from the east even to the west, and from the north even to the south. Meanwhile the power of David was the prototype of this boundless reign, when he acquired the sovereignty of the promised land. We ought not to think it unreasonable that the ancient people should be kept out of some portion of that inheritance which was to be expected by them in accordance with the covenant; but rather does God's incredible goodness display itself, in that, when they had altogether disinherited themselves, He still combated their iniquity, and failed not to shew practically His faithfulness. We may see the same thing in the calling of the Gentiles; for, if the Jews had continued faithful, the Gentiles would have been joined with them, as it had been said, "In those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew," (Zechariah 8:23;) but their rebellion brought it about, that God only gathered from among them the first-fruits of His Church, and afterwards the Gentiles were substituted in the place which they had left empty. In this way neither did this people retain their right of primogeniture, neither did God's truth cease to stand firm, as Paul more fully explains in the eleventh chapter of Romans.
1 - Corn. a Lapide thus explains these boundaries, -- "God here gives the boundaries of the promised land with respect to the cardinal points; for it has the Red Sea as its southern limit; on the west, the sea of the Palestini, or the Mediterranean, whose shores are inhabited by the Philistines; (whence Scripture often speaks of the Sea' to express the west;) on the east, it has the Arabian Desert, lying between it and Egypt; and, finally, to the north it has the River Euphrates, which is called par excellence (autonomasian) the River."
In Exodus 23:23, the limits of the Land of Canaan, strictly so called, are indicated; to this, when the Israelites were about to take possession of it, were added the regions of Gilead and Bashan on the left side of the Jordan Numbers 32:33-42; Joshua 13:29-32. These two portions made up the holy land, of which the limits were recognized, with inconsiderable variations, until the final overthrow of the Jewish polity. But in this verse the utmost extent of Hebrew dominion, as it existed in the time of David and Solomon, is set forth. The kingdom then reached to Eloth and Ezion-geber on the AElanitic Gulf of the Red Sea 1-Kings 9:26, and to Tiphsah on the "River," that is, the River Euphrates 1-Kings 4:24, having for its western boundary "the Sea of the Philistines," that is, the Mediterranean, and for its southern boundary "the desert," that is, the wildernesses of Shur and Paran (compare Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 1:7; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4).
I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea - On the south-east, even unto the sea of the Philistines - the Mediterranean, on the north-west; and from the desert - of Arabia, or the wilderness of Shur, on the west, to the river - the Euphrates, on the north-east. Or in general terms, from the Euphrates on the east, to the Mediterranean Sea on the west; and from Mount Libanus on the north, to the Red Sea and the Nile on the south. This promise was not completely fulfilled till the days of David and Solomon. The general disobedience of the people before this time prevented a more speedy accomplishment; and their disobedience afterwards caused them to lose the possession. So, though all the promises of God are Yea and Amen, yet they are fulfilled but to a few, because men are slow of heart to believe; and the blessings of providence and grace are taken away from several because of their unfaithfulness.
And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea (q) of the Philistines, and from the (r) desert unto the (s) river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
(q) Called the Sea of Syria.
(r) Of Arabia called desert.
(s) That is, Ephraim.
And I will set thy bounds,.... The bounds of the land of Canaan, which in process of time it should reach unto, though not at once, not until the times of David and Solomon, 2-Samuel 8:1 which bounds were as follow:
from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines: the Red sea was the boundary eastward, as the sea of the Philistines, or the Mediterranean sea, was the boundary westward:
and from the desert unto the river; the desert of Shur or Arabia, towards Egypt, was the boundary southward, as the river Euphrates was the boundary northward, and is the river here meant, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; and so Jarchi interprets it, and generally others:
for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; the greater part upon their entrance into it, and settlement in it, and the rest afterwards:
and thou shalt drive them out before thee; not all at once, but by degrees, as before observed.
*More commentary available at chapter level.