Deuteronomy 34:3

the South Heb. the Negeb, see on Deuteronomy 1:7.

the Plain Heb. kikkar, the root meaning of which, to judge from its use alike for a district, a loaf and a weight, must be roundor oval. Render the Round: here in apposition (delete of) to the Biḳ-ah(lit. space cleftor laid openbetween hills, HGHL385, 654 f.), or Valley, of Jericho; called also the kikkar of Jordan, Genesis 13:10 f., 1 Kings 7:46. If (as the present writer still holds, cp. HGHL505 ff.) the overwhelmed Cities of the Kikkar(Genesis 13:12; Genesis 19:29) lay not at the N., but at the S., end of the Dead Sea, the name the Kikkar, like the Ar. ghorto-day, was applied to the -Arabah at both ends of that sea.

the city of palm trees Judges 1:16; Judges 3:13; 2 Chronicles 28:15. The district of Jericho was celebrated for its palms from a remote antiquity down to Roman times, and even to those of the Crusades. See for details HGHL266 and note 4.

unto Zoar The position of this town, S. of the Dead Sea, is strongly attested, HGHL506 f. The present passage is not decisive, for it is uncertain whether unto Zoarrefers only to the Valley of Jericho, or to the whole of the southern regions included in the v.

The originality of this geographical list is doubtful. Sam. has instead the ideal description of the Promised Land, from the River of Egypt unto the Great River, the River Euphrates, and unto the Western Sea.