Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 3:17
The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast [thereof], from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, [even] the salt sea, under Ashdoth-pisgah eastward.
17. the Arabah also, and Jordan for a border ] The territory included the E. strip of the ‘Arabah hence eastwards at the end of the verse with the Jordan as its W. limit, and this between Chinnereth on the N. and the Sea of the ‘Arabah on the S. On the ‘Arabah see Deu 1:1. Kinnreth was a town (Jos 11:2; Jos 19:35; the plur. Kinn e roth a district, 1Ki 15:20) either giving its name to, or taking its name from, the Sea of Kinnreth (Num 34:11, P); probably the latter, if K. be from kinnr, harp, as this suits the shape of the Lake; in later times called the L. of Gennesaret, a name frequently but not plausibly derived from Kinnereth ( HGHL, 443). The Sea of the ‘Arabah (so Deu 4:49; 2Ki 14:25), the Salt Sea (so Gen 14:3; Num 34:3; Num 34:12; Jos 15:2; Jos 15:5; Jos 18:19); both names as here in Jos 3:16; Jos 12:23; called also front or E. Sea (Eze 47:18; Joe 2:20; Zec 14:8) in contrast to the Mediterranean the back or W. Sea, Deu 11:24. The Greeks gave the name Asphaltitis. ‘The Dead Sea’ first occurs under Augustus. Ar. Bar Lt, ‘Lot’s Sea.’
the slopes of Pisgah ] So Deu 4:49; Jos 12:3; Jos 13:20. The Heb. ’ a shedth is slopes rather than springs (A.V.) as appears from the masc. form of the word, Num 21:15 ( the eshed of the wdies, which stretches to ‘Ar’s site and leans on the border of Moab); slopes, too, is most suitable in Jos 10:40; Jos 12:8, and with the use of the prepos. under in this verse. The Pisgah (always so) is the name attached by E (Num 21:20; Num 23:14) and by deuteronomic writers to ‘the western edge’ (G. B. Gray), or the headlands, of the Moabite Plateau at the N.E. corner of the Dead Sea. The headland of the Pisgah, which Moses ascended, Deu 3:27, is in Deu 32:49 (P) Mt Nebo (cp. their identification in Deu 34:1), that headland S. of the W. ‘Uyn Musa which bears the names en-Neba’ and Rs en-Neba’, just opposite the N. end of the sea ( HGHL, 562 ff.). One of its lower steps, called Wat en-Na‘am, is identified by Musil ( Moab, 272, 274) with the slopes of the Pisgah. The deep W. es-Seyle which cleaves this he takes as Abel Shittim (Num 33:49); but the latter is probably part of the Jordan valley. See further on Beth-P e ‘or, Deu 3:29. The name Pisgah has disappeared, unless we are to recognise it in the almost equivalent Rs Feshkhah, a headland on the opposite coast of the sea.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 17. From Chinnereth] See Clarke on Nu 34:11.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The plain; the low country towards Jordan.
Chinnereth; of which see on Num 34:11; Jos 12:3.
The sea of the plain, i.e. that salt sea, as it here follows, which before that dreadful conflagration was a goodly plain, called the plain of Jordan, Gen 13:10. Ashdoth-pisgah; the proper name of a city, of which Jos 13:20.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
The plain also, and Jordan,…. The plain by Jordan, the plains of Moab on the side of it, together with the river:
and the coast thereof; the country adjoining to it:
from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, [even] the salt sea; that is, from Gennesaret, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, called the land of Gennesaret, Mt 14:34, from thence to the sea of Sodom, the sea of the plain, where the cities of the plain stood, Sodom, Gomorrah, c. and the salt sea, so called from the salt and nitrous waters of it, the lake Asphaltites:
under Ashdothpisgah eastward mentioned among the cities given to the tribe of Reuben, Jos 13:20 rendered “the springs of Pisgah”, De 4:49, the word having the signification of effusions, pourings out; so the Targums.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Ver. 17. Under Ashdoth-pisgah Under the declivities of Pisgah, Hiller. Hierophut. pars II. p. 70. Subter clivum Phasga. Houb. “From the mountain of Quarantania,” says Dr. Shaw, “the very same, perhaps, where the two spies concealed themselves, Jos 2:16 we have a distinct view of the land of the Amorites, of Gilead, and of Bashan, the inheritance of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasseh. This tract, in the neighbourhood particularly of the river Jordan, is, in many places, low, and, for want of culture, shaded and overgrown with tamarisks and willows: but at the distance of two or three leagues from the stream, it appears to be made up of a succession of hills and vallies, somewhat larger, and seemingly more fertile, than those in the tribe of Benjamin.” Travels, p. 276.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Chinnereth. Afterward called Gennesaret, compare Num 34:11. Jos 19:35. So called from its shape, kinnor, a harp.
the plain. Hebrew. ‘Arabah. See Deu 1:1.
Ashdoth-pisgah = the springs of Pisgah. Note the Figure of speech Polyonymia (App-6) in this verse.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ashdoth-pisgah
i.e. the springs of Pisgah, or the hill.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Chinnereth: Num 34:11, Jos 12:3
the sea: Deu 4:49, Gen 13:10, Gen 14:3, Gen 19:28, Gen 19:29, Num 34:11, Num 34:12, Jos 3:16, Jos 12:3, Jos 15:2, Jos 15:5, Jos 18:19
Ashdothpisgah: or, the springs of Pisgah, or, the hill, Num 23:14
Reciprocal: Num 21:31 – General Deu 3:27 – Pisgah Jos 13:20 – Ashdothpisgah Jos 13:27 – Chinnereth 2Ki 14:25 – unto the sea Eze 47:8 – desert Mat 4:18 – sea
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 3:17. The plain The low country toward Jordan. The sea of the plain That is, that salt sea, which before that dreadful conflagration was a goodly plain.