Deuteronomy 34:3

3 Moses saw the Negev Desert. He saw the whole area from the Valley of Jericho all the way to Zoar. Jericho was also known as 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 Moses climbed Mount Nebo. He went up from the flatlands of Moab to the highest slopes of Pisgah. It's across from Jericho. At Pisgah the LORD showed him the whole land from Gilead all the way to Dan.

2 Moses saw the whole land of Naphtali. He saw the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh. The LORD showed him the whole land of Judah all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.

3 Moses saw the Negev Desert. He saw the whole area from the Valley of Jericho all the way to Zoar. Jericho was also known as The City of Palm Trees.

4 Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said, "This is the land I promised with an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I told them, 'I will give this land to your children and their children.' Moses, I have let you see it with your own eyes. But you will not go across the Jordan River to enter it."

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