34:2 this is the land. The boundaries of the promised land, as here specified were evidently intended only for the initial boundaries of the new nation. The much wider boundaries as initially promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18) will undoubtedly be realized with the final restoration of Israel in the future kingdom age.

34:3 the salt sea. The “salt sea” is the modern Dead Sea.

34:4 south to Kadesh-barnea. Southwest of the southern tip of the Dead Sea was the region of Kadesh-barnea, where the spies had been sent forty years earlier to search out the land (Numbers 32:8).

34:5 the river of Egypt. The “river” mentioned here is from a Hebrew word much more commonly translated as “brook.” It is not the same word as in the “river of Egypt” promised as Abraham’s future boundary in Genesis 15:18, which almost certainly meant the Nile.

34:6 the great sea. The western border of the promised land was to be the Mediterranean Sea.

34:7 mount Hor. This mountain was in the north and could not be the same as the mountain in which Aaron died (Numbers 33:38), which was “in the edge of the land of Edom” Edom’s land was south of the Dead Sea. This Mount Hor quite possibly was the mountain later called Mount Hermon. The name Hor simply means “mountain.”

34:11 sea of Chinnereth. This sea was later called the Sea of Galilee. The river Jordan, flowing from Galilee down to the Dead Sea, was intended as the eastern boundary of Canaan, but the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh had already been given the conquered lands east of Jordan (Numbers 34:12-15).