“This shall be the boundary
Of the land.
On the north side,
From the Great Sea
By way of Hethlon
To Lebo-hamath
of Hamath,
On to Zedad,
Berothah,
Sibraim.
Sibraim lies between
The border of Damascus
With Hamath.
It shall go as far
As Hazer-hatticon,
That is on the border
Of Hauran.
So,
The boundary shall run
From the sea
To Hazar-enon,
That is north of the border
Of Damascus,
With the border of Hamath
To the north.
This shall be the north side.”
Ezekiel started with a longer description of the northern border than what was found in Numbers, chapter 34. Obviously, this northern border started with the sea, the Mediterranean Sea on the northwest side. However, it extends further north into Syria on the north side of Damascus. There was no indication where the Sea and the land met in the north, just the listing of a series of towns like Hethlon, Lebo-hamath, Zedad, Berothah, and Sibraim that are difficult to determine exactly where they are. The northeastern border was Hazar-enon, as in Numbers. Hamath was the capital of upper Syria, while Damascus as the capital of lower Syria. Thus, this northern Israelite boundary was between these 2 Syrian cities.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 