Numbers 34:5

5 and the term shall go by compass from Azmon unto the strand of Egypt, and it shall be ended by the brink of the great sea. (and then the border shall go west from Azmon to the River of Egypt, that is, the Nile, and then continue to the shore of the Great Sea, that is, the Mediterranean Sea.)

Numbers 34:5 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 34:5

And the border shall fetch a compass
Not go on in a straight line, but turn about:

from Azmon unto the river of Egypt;
the river Nile, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but Aben Ezra seems to deny that that river is meant: and some think that Rhinocolura, which flows into the Mediterranean sea, is meant; or the "valley of Egypt", Casiotis, which divided Judea from Egypt, as follows:

and the goings out of it;
not of the river, but of the border:

shall be at the sea;
the above sea, called in the next verse the great sea; all the Targums render it to the west.

Numbers 34:5 In-Context

3 The south part shall begin at the wilderness of Zin, which is beside Edom, and it shall have (as) the terms against the east, the saltiest sea, (The southern border shall begin in the wilderness of Zin, which is beside Edom, and its east end shall be the Salt Sea, that is, the Dead Sea,)

4 the which terms shall compass the south coast by the going up of the hill Scorpion, so that those terms pass into Zin, and come to the south, unto Kadeshbarnea; from whence the terms shall go forth to the town, Addar by name, and they shall stretch forth unto Azmon; (the southern border shall then go along the ascent of Mount Akrabbim, and then down through Zin, as far south as Kadeshbarnea; from there the border shall go west to Hazaraddar, and then to Azmon;)

5 and the term shall go by compass from Azmon unto the strand of Egypt, and it shall be ended by the brink of the great sea. (and then the border shall go west from Azmon to the River of Egypt, that is, the Nile, and then continue to the shore of the Great Sea, that is, the Mediterranean Sea.)

6 Soothly the west coast shall begin at the great sea, and it shall be closed by that end. (The western border shall begin, and end, at the Mediterranean Sea.)

7 Soothly at the north coast, the terms shall begin at the great sea, and they shall come unto the highest hill, (The northern border shall begin at the Mediterranean Sea, and it shall go forth to Mount Hor,)