Deuteronomy 34:3

3 as well as the southern desert and the whole Valley of Jericho up to Zoar. (Jericho is called the city of palm trees.)

Deuteronomy 34:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 34:3

And the south
The southern part of the land, even all of it; and having shown him that, he is directed eastward to take a view of

the plain of the valley of Jericho;
which lay before him, a delightful plain; see ( Joshua 5:10 ) ;

the city of palm trees;
so Jericho was called, because of the multitude of palm trees which grew there, and which Josephus not only testifies {r}, who speaks of it as a plain planted with palm trees, and from whence balsam comes; but several Heathen writers: Pliny says ^F19 Jericho was set with palm trees; Diodorus Siculus ^F20 speaks of the country about Jericho as abounding with palm trees, and in a certain valley, meaning the vale or plains of Jericho, is produced that which is called balsam; so Strabo says ^F21, Jericho is a plain surrounded with mountains abounding with palm trees, where there is a plantation of palm trees, with other fruit trees, the space of a hundred furlongs:

unto Zoar;
near the salt sea; see ( Genesis 19:22 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 De Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 18. sect. 5. & l. 4. c. 8. sect. 2.
F19 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 14.
F20 Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 132.
F21 Geograph. l. 16. p. 525.

Deuteronomy 34:3 In-Context

1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Mount Pisgah, across from Jericho. From there the Lord showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan,

2 all of Naphtali and the lands of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,

3 as well as the southern desert and the whole Valley of Jericho up to Zoar. (Jericho is called the city of palm trees.)

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said to them, 'I will give this land to your descendants.' I have let you look at it, Moses, but you will not cross over there."

5 Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.