by
Abraham Bar-Jacob]]
The Land of Israel ( ʼÉreṣ Yiśrāʼēl, Eretz Yisrael), roughly with the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, is the name which Jewish people give to their homeland or Promised Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland is based on the narrative of the Torah, specifically the books of Genesis and Exodus.
According to the Book of Genesis, the land was promised by God to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob, Abraham's grandson. By this interpretation of sacred texts, the land forms part of the Biblical covenant between God and the Israelites.
The definition of the limits of this territory varies between Biblical passages, specifically Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47. Elsewhere in the Bible, this land is often referred as "from Dan to Beersheba". The Land of Canaan is another Biblical name for this region. References to the land of Israel are also made in the New Testament, for example in .
The boundaries of the Land of Israel must be distinguished from the borders of historical Israelite kingdoms. The Hasmonean Kingdom, the Herodian dynasty and possibly the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) ruled a land with comparable boundaries. They must also be distinguished from the borders of the current State of Israel.
The Land of Israel concept has been evoked by the founders of the State of Israel. It occasionally surfaces in political debates on the status of the Palestinian territories.
Etymology and biblical roots
The term "Land of Israel" is a direct translation of the
Hebrew phrase (
Eretz Yisrael), found in the
Five Books of Moses known as the
Torah. According to
Anita Shapira, the term "Eretz Yisrael" was a holy term, vague as far as the exact boundaries of the territories are concerned but clearly defining ownership.
The name "Israel" first appears in the Bible as the name given by God to the patriarch Jacob (). From the name "Israel" other designations associated with the Jewish people have included the "Children of Israel" or "Israelite".
The first definition of the promised land calls it "this land". () In Genesis 15, this land is promised to Abraham's "descendants," notably Isaac, while in , it is promised explicitly to the Israelites.
A more detailed definition is given in for the land explicitly allocated to nine and half of the Israelite tribes after the Exodus. In this passage, the land is called "Land of Canaan". The expression "Land of Israel" is first used in a later book, . It is used often in the Book of Ezekiel and also by the Gospel of Matthew.
Dimensions according to the Bible
Biblical borders
The Hebrew Bible provides three somewhat more specific sets of borders, each with a different purpose. The passages where these are defined are , and .
The Borders of the Land - Genesis 15
(Genesis 15)]]
describes what are known as "Borders of the Land" (Gevulot Ha-aretz), which in Jewish tradition defines the extent of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. The passage describes the land in terms of the extent of territories of various ancient peoples.
More precise geographical borders are given which describes borders as marked by the Red Sea (see debate below), the "Sea of the Philistines" i.e., the Mediterranean, and the "River," the Euphrates), the traditional furthest extent of the Kingdom of David.
Exodus 23
A slightly more detailed definition is given in , which describes the borders as "from the sea of reeds (Red Sea) to the Sea of the Philistines (Mediterranean sea) and from the desert to the
Euphrates River," though many versions of the Bible only indicate "river" and do not specify the "Euphrates."
Land of Canaan - Numbers 34
(Numbers 34) and to
Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47)]]
describes the land allocated to the Israelite tribes after the Exodus. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh received land east of the Jordan as explained in . provides a detailed description of the borders of the land to be conquered west of the Jordan for the remaining tribes. The region is called "the Land of Canaan" (Eretz Kna'an) in and the borders are known in Jewish tradition as the "borders for those coming out of Egypt". These borders are again mentioned in , and .
As the Hebrew Scriptures explain, Canaan was the son of Ham who with his descendents had seized the land from the descendents of Shem according to the Book of Jubilees. Jewish tradition thus refers to the region as Canaan during the period between the Flood and the Israelite settlement. Schweid sees Canaan as a geographical name, and Israel the spiritual name of the land: The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is thus "geo-theological" and not merely climatic. This is the land which faces the entrance of the spiritual world, that sphere of existence that lies beyond the physical world known to us through our senses. This is the key to the land's unique status with regard to prophecy and prayer, and also with regard to the commandments. Thus, the re-naming of this land marks a change in religious status, the origin of the Holy Land concept. uses the term Canaan strictly for the land west of the Jordan, but Land of Israel is used in Jewish tradition to denote the entire land of the Israelites. The English expression "Promised Land" can denote either the land promised to Abraham in Genesis or the land of Canaan, although the latter meaning is more common.
Prophetic borders - Ezekiel 47
provides a definition of borders of land in which the
twelve tribes of Israel will live during the final redemption, at the end of days. The borders of the land described by the text in Ezekiel include the northern border of modern
Lebanon, eastwards (the way of Hethlon) to
Zedad and
Hazar-enan in modern
Syria; south by southwest to the area of
Busra on the Syrian border (area of Hauran in Ezekiel); follows the
Jordan River between the West Bank and the land of
Gilead to Tamar (
Ein Gedi) on the western shore of the Dead Sea; From Tamar to Meribah Kadesh (
Kadesh Barnea), then along the
Brook of Egypt (see debate below) to the Mediterranean Sea. The territory defined by these borders is divided into twelve strips, one for each of the twelve tribes.
Hence, Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47 define different but similar borders which include the whole of contemporary Lebanon, both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Israel, except for the South Negev and Eilat. Small parts of Syria are also included.
From Dan to Beersheba
The common Biblical phrase used to refer to the territories actually settled by the Israelites (as opposed to military expansions) is "from
Dan to
Beersheba" (or its variant "from Beersheba to Dan"), which occurs many times in the Bible. It is found in the Biblical verses , , , , , , , , and .
Locating Biblical landmarks
Brook of Egypt
The border with Egypt is given as the
Nachal Mitzrayim (
Brook of Egypt) in Numbers and Deuteronomy, as well as in Ezekiel. Jewish tradition (as expressed in the commentaries of
Rashi and
Yehuda Halevi, as well as the Aramaic
Targums) understand this as referring to the
Nile; more precisely the Pelusian branch of the Nile Delta according to Halevi—a view supported by Egyptian and Assyrian texts.
Saadia Gaon identified it as the "Wadi of El-Arish" referring to the Biblical
Sukkot near
Faiyum.
Kaftor Vaferech placed it in the same region which approximates the location of the former Pelusian branch of the Nile. 19th century Bible commentaries understood the identification as a reference to the
Wadi of the coastal locality called
El-Arish. Easton's however, notes a local tradition that the course of the river had changed and there was once a branch of Nile where today there is a wadi. Biblical minimalists have suggested that the
Besor is intended.
Genesis gives the border with Egypt as Nahar Miztrayim -- nahar denotes a large river in Hebrew never a wadi.
Southern and eastern borders
Only the "Red Sea" (Exodus 23:31) and the
Euphrates are mentioned to define the southern and eastern borders of the full land promised to the Israelites. The "Red Sea," corresponding to Hebrew
Yam Suf was understood in ancient times to be the
Erythraean Sea, as reflected in the
Septuagint translation. Although the English name "Red Sea" is derived from this name ("Erythraean" derives from the Greek for red), the term denoted all the waters surrounding Arabia—including the
Indian Ocean and the
Persian Gulf, not merely the sea lying to the west of Arabia bearing this name in modern English. Thus the entire Arabian peninsula lies within the borders described. Modern maps depicting the region take a reticent view and often leave the southern and eastern borders vaguely defined. The borders of the land to be conquered given in Numbers have a precisely defined eastern border which included the Arabah and Jordan.
Variability of the boundaries
Deuteronomy 19:8 indicates a certain fluidity of the borders of the promised land when it refers to the possibility that God would "enlarge your borders." This expansion of territory means that Israel would receive "all the land he promised to give to your fathers," which implies that the settlement actually fell short of what was promised. According to
Jacob Milgrom, Deuteronomy refers to a more utopian map of the promised land, whose eastern border is the wilderness rather than the Jordan.
Paul R. Williamson notes that a "close examination of the relevant promissory texts" supports a "wider interpretation of the promised land" in which it is not "restricted absolutely to one geographical locale." He argues that "the map of the promised land was never seen permanently fixed, but was subject to at least some degree of expansion and redefinition."
Historical kingdoms
. The pink area indicating the lands that were inhabited by Israelites or under direct central royal administration during the United Monarchy (according to the Bible).]]
Few, if any, archaeological remains of the Kingdom of David and Solomon have been uncovered to date that would accord with the huge conquests described in the Bible. It is more probable that the kingdom was smaller than described, encompassing only the areas settled by the Israelite tribes. The divided Kingdoms of Judah and Israel came into existence during the 8th century BC. While Israel encompassed the north of the country, including Samaria and the Galilee as far as Dan, Judah was restricted to a comparatively small area around Jerusalem, with a northern boundary near Mitzpah and a southern one around Hebron, probably not projecting effective rule as far as Beersheva. The Hasmonean Kingdom and the Herodian dynasty did rule a political unit that corresponds to the description, "From Dan to Beersheva."
Jewish law
According to Jewish law (
halakha), some religious laws only apply to Jews living in the Land of Israel and some areas in
Jordan,
Lebanon, and
Syria (which are thought to be part of Biblical Israel). These include agricultural laws such as the
Shmita (Sabbatical year); tithing laws such as the
Maaser Rishon (
Levite Tithe),
Maaser sheni, and
Maaser ani (poor tithe); charitable practices during farming, such as
pe'ah; and laws regarding taxation. One popular source lists 26 of the 613
mitzvot as contingent upon the Land of Israel.
Many of the laws which applied in ancient times are applied in the modern State of Israel; others have not been revived, since the State of Israel does not adhere to traditional Jewish law. However, certain parts of the current territory of the State of Israel, such as the Arabah, are considered by some authorities to be outside the Land of Israel for purposes of Jewish law. According to these authorities, the religious laws do not apply there.
According to some Jewish religious authorities, every Jew has an obligation to dwell in the Land of Israel and may not leave except for specifically permitted reasons (e.g., to get married).
There are also many laws dealing with how to treat the land. The laws apply to all Jews, and the giving of the land itself in the covenant, applies to all Jews, including converts.
Traditional Jewish interpretation, and that of most Christian commentators, define Abraham's descendants only as Abraham's seed through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Johann Friedrich Karl Keil is less clear, as he states that the covenant is through Isaac, but notes that Ishmael's descendants have held much of that land through time.
From the Kingdom of Judah to the present
After the fall of the ancient
Kingdom of Judah, political rule was held by the following powers:
586–539 BC: Babylonian Empire
539–332 BC: Persian Empire
332–305 BC: Empire of Alexander the Great
305–198 BC: Ptolemaics
198–141 BC: Seleucids
141–37 BC: The Hasmonean kingdom in Israel established by the Maccabees, after 63 BC under Roman supremacy
37 BC–70 AD: Herodian Dynasty ruling Judea under Roman supremacy (37 BC–6 AD and 41–44 AD), interchanging with direct Roman rule (6–41 CE and 44–66 AD). This ended in the first Jewish Revolt of 66–73 AD, which saw the Temple destroyed in 70 AD.
6 AD Census of Quirinius and establishment of Roman Iudaea Province
70–395: province of Roman Empire first called Judea, after 135 called Palaestina by the Romans to spite the Jews following the Second Jewish Revolt (The Bar Kokhba Revolt). In 395 the Roman Empire is split into a Western and an Eastern part.
395–638: Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire
638–1099: Arab Caliphates and subject rulers
1099–1187: Crusader states, most notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem
1187–1260: dominated by the Ayyubids of Egypt and Damascus
1260–1516: dominated by the Mamluks of Egypt
1516–1917: Ottoman Turks, having previously conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453
1918–1948: British mandate of Palestine under, first, League of Nations, then, successor United Nations; the Emirate of Trans-Jordan was separated from the rest of Palestine in 1922, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan became independent upon the expiration of the League of Nations Mandate in 1946.
May 1948–June 1967: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, for the Old City of Jerusalem and the larger part of the area; State of Israel for a smaller strip of land in the west
June 1967 to present: State of Israel
1993 to present: State of Israel and Palestinian territories
Modern history
Jewish religious tradition does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities. Nonetheless, during two millennia of exile and with an almost continuous small settlement, a strong sense of bondedness exists throughout this tradition, expressed in terms of people-hood; from the very beginning, this concept was identified with that ancestral Biblical land or, to use the traditional religious and modern
Hebrew term,
Eretz Yisrael. Religiously the area was seen broadly as a land of destiny, and always with hope for some form of redemption and return. It was later seen as a national home and refuge, intimately related to that traditional sense of people-hood, and meant to show continuity that this land was always seen as central to Jewish life, in theory if not in practice. Having already used another religious term of great importance,
Zion, to coin the name of their movement, the term was considered appropriate for the secular Jewish political movement of
Zionism to adopt at the turn of the 20th century; it was used to refer to their proposed national homeland in the area then controlled by the
Ottoman Empire and generally known as the
Holy Land or
Palestine. Different geographic and political definitions for the ‘Land of Israel’ later developed among competing Zionist ideologies during their nationalist struggle. These differences relate to the importance of the idea and its land, as well as the internationally recognized borders of the State of Israel and the Jewish State’s secure and democratic existence. Many current governments, politicians and commentators question these differences.
When Israel was founded in 1948, the majority Labor leadership, which governed for three decades after independence, accepted the partition of the previous British Mandate of Palestine into independent Jewish and Arab states as a pragmatic solution to the political and demographic issues of the territory, with the description Land of Israel applying to the territory of the State of Israel within the Green Line. The then opposition revisionists, who evolved into today's Likud party, however, regarded the rightful Land of Israel as Eretz Yisrael Ha-Shlema (literally, the whole Land of Israel), which came to be referred to as Greater Israel. Joel Greenberg, writing in The New York Times relates subsequent events this way: Nevertheless, it remains the standard term for referring to the region prior to the establishment of the state, and ultra-Orthodox Jews who are opposed to the State of Israel still refer to the region as Eretz Yisrael.
British Mandate
, set a precedent for the wording of
subsequent Mandate stamps.]]
The biblical concept of Eretz Israel, and its re-establishment as a state in the modern era, was a basic tenet of the original Zionist program. This program however, saw little success until the British acceptance of ‘the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people’ in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The subsequent British occupation and acceptance of the British Mandate of Palestine by the League of Nations, advanced the Zionist cause. Chaim Weizmann, as leader of the Zionist delegation, at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference presented the Zionist Statement on February 3. Among other things, he presented a plan for development together with a map of the proposed homeland. The statement noted the Jewish historical connection with Eretz Israel. It also declared the Zionist’s proposed borders and resources “essential for the necessary economic foundation of the country” including “the control of its rivers and their headwaters”. These borders included present day Israel, the occupied territories, western Jordan, southwestern Syria and southern Lebanon "in the vicinity south of Sidon".
During the Mandate, the name Eretz Yisrael (abbreviated א״י Aleph-Yod), was part of the official name of the territory, when written in Hebrew. The official name "(פלשתינה (א״י" (Palestina E"Y) was also minted on the Mandate coins and early stamps (pictured). Some in the government of the British Mandate of Palestine wanted the name to be פלשתינה (Palestina) while the Yishuv wanted ארץ ישראל (Eretz Yisrael). The compromise eventually achieved was that the initials א"י would be written in brackets whenever פלשתינה is written. Consequently, in 20th century political usage, the term "Land of Israel" usually denotes only those parts of the land which came under the British mandate, i.e. the land currently controlled by the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and sometimes also Transjordan (now the Kingdom of Jordan).
Declaration of Independence of Israel
The
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel commences by drawing a direct line from Biblical times to the present:
On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.
The laws of the State of Israel make it the homeland of all people of Jewish ancestry.
Usage in Israeli politics
Early government usage of the term, following Israel's establishment, continued the historical link and possible Zionist intentions. Twice in official state documents
David Ben Gurion, announced that the state was created "in a part of our small country" and "in only a portion of the Land of Israel." He later noted that "the creation of the new State by no means derogates from the scope of historic Eretz Israel."
Herut and Gush Emunim were amongst the first Israeli political parties basing their land policies on the Biblical narrative discussed above. They attracted attention following the capture of additional territory in the 1967 Six-Day War. They argue that the West Bank should be annexed permanently to Israel for both ideological and religious reasons. This position is in conflict with the basic “land for peace” settlement formula included in UN242. The Likud party, in its platform, supports maintaining Jewish settlement communities in the West Bank and Gaza as the territory is considered part of the historical land of Israel. In her 2009 bid for Prime Minister, Kadimah leader Tzipi Livni used the expression, noting, “we need to give up parts of the Land of Israel,” in exchange for peace with the Palestinians and to maintain Israel as a Jewish state; this drew a clear distinction with the position of her Likud rival and winner, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Usage by Palestinians
In its 1988 charter,
Hamas claims that
After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. The same year,
Yasser Arafat voiced the same accusation at the
United Nations, the so-called
10 Agorot controversy. About Arafat, Rubinstein writes:
he used to repeat the claim that a map of Israel, extending from the Nile to the Euphrates, hangs on the Knesset wall. He even saw the blue stripes in the Israeli flag as a symbol that the Egyptian and Iraqi rivers are the borders for the Zionist state's expansionist aspirations.
See also
History of the Middle East
History of Palestine
History of Israel
History of the Jews in the Land of Israel
Holy Land
Promised land
Canaan
Greater Israel
Jewish history
Masoretic text
List of Jewish leaders in the Land of Israel
Notes
Further reading
Keith, Alexander. The Land of Israel: According to the Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and Jacob, W. Whyte & Co, 1844.
Schweid, Eliezer. The Land of Israel: National Home Or Land of Destiny, translated by Deborah Greniman, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8386-3234-3
Sedykh, Andreĭ. This Land of Israel, Macmillan, 1967.
Stewart, Robert Laird. The Land of Israel, Revell, 1899.
John P. McTernan, As America Has Done to Israel, Whitaker House Publishers, 2008. ISBN 978-1-60374-038-8
Category:Zionism
Category:Hebrew Bible places
Category:Torah places
Category:Divided regions
Category:Levant
Category:Historic Jewish communities
Category:Palestine
Category:Jewish Lebanese history
Category:Biblical places
Category:Irredentism
Category:Fertile Crescent
Category:Jewish holy places
Category:Southern Levant
![The Eretz Israel Museum. Israel is said to have the highest number of museums per capita of any country, three of the largest of which are in Tel Aviv.[129][130] Among these are the Eretz Israel Museum, known for its collection of archeology and history exhibits dealing with the Land of Israel, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110815230850im_/http://cdn9.wn.com/pd/bd/1f/dba1a01d31c5d2d80877f4185033_grande.jpg "The Eretz Israel Museum. Israel is said to have the highest number of museums per capita of any country, three of the largest of which are in Tel Aviv.[129][130] Among these are the Eretz Israel Museum, known for its collection of archeology and history exhibits dealing with the Land of Israel, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.")
![Tayibe (Arabic: طيّبة Ṭayyibaḧ, Hebrew: טַיִּבָּה; also spelled Taibeh or Tayiba) is an Israeli Arab city in central Israel, 12 kilometers east of Kfar Saba.[1] In 2007, it had a population of 35,800 residents.[2] Tayibe is part of the Triangle.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110815230850im_/http://cdn8.wn.com/pd/8b/fd/ee93c9f4960a8bdc81b8e21667e1_grande.jpg "Tayibe (Arabic: طيّبة Ṭayyibaḧ, Hebrew: טַיִּבָּה; also spelled Taibeh or Tayiba) is an Israeli Arab city in central Israel, 12 kilometers east of Kfar Saba.[1] In 2007, it had a population of 35,800 residents.[2] Tayibe is part of the Triangle.")
![The Eretz Israel Museum. Israel is said to have the highest number of museums per capita of any country, three of the largest of which are in Tel Aviv.[129][130] Among these are the Eretz Israel Museum, known for its collection of archeology and history exhibits dealing with the Land of Israel, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110815230850im_/http://cdn8.wn.com/pd/bd/1f/dba1a01d31c5d2d80877f4185033_thumb.jpg "The Eretz Israel Museum. Israel is said to have the highest number of museums per capita of any country, three of the largest of which are in Tel Aviv.[129][130] Among these are the Eretz Israel Museum, known for its collection of archeology and history exhibits dealing with the Land of Israel, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.")
![Tayibe (Arabic: طيّبة Ṭayyibaḧ, Hebrew: טַיִּבָּה; also spelled Taibeh or Tayiba) is an Israeli Arab city in central Israel, 12 kilometers east of Kfar Saba.[1] In 2007, it had a population of 35,800 residents.[2] Tayibe is part of the Triangle.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110815230850im_/http://cdn7.wn.com/pd/8b/fd/ee93c9f4960a8bdc81b8e21667e1_thumb.jpg "Tayibe (Arabic: طيّبة Ṭayyibaḧ, Hebrew: טַיִּבָּה; also spelled Taibeh or Tayiba) is an Israeli Arab city in central Israel, 12 kilometers east of Kfar Saba.[1] In 2007, it had a population of 35,800 residents.[2] Tayibe is part of the Triangle.")
