Bible's Promised Land To The Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

The Promised Land in the Bible is the land of Canaan, which is now known as Israel.  God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit this land.  Yes, Jews are in full knowledge of the Palestinians Arabs being their very distant cousins, as DNA now hints at this.  The Arabs separated from Abraham's family group long ago with Isaac  and Ishmael;  and then again and again.  Arabs began converting to Islam in the 7th century CE. The process of conversion was gradual, with most tribes of the Arabian Peninsula converting to Islam by the time of the prophet Muhammad's death in 632 CE.   During the entire history of Jews in the Promised land, there was no country of Palestine.  They were part of other empires if they continued to live. 

                                                 THE LAND 

17,500 square miles of which 45% is in Transjordan is the total surface of the Promised Land  with frontiers determined in the bible.  The extent of the Promised Land reached the Pelusium arm of the Nile Delta, the gulf of Elath, and the Euphrates River opposite the city of Aleppo in Syria in the East.  It included most of Syria and altogether covered about 58,000 square miles.   This entire area was populated by the Israelites under Kings David and his son after he died, Solomon (I Kings 5:4).  The Israelites were the ancestors of today's Jews, for it it is an inherited group of people who rarely intermarried with others. 

The Promised Land, also known as Canaan, was approximately 300,000 square miles. The Israelites settled in a portion of the Promised Land that was about 10,000 square miles. The total area of the State of Israel today is 22,145 sq.km (8,630 sq. miles), of which 21,671 sq. km is land area. Israel is some 420 km in length and about 115 km across at the widest point. The country is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

The land was called Mesopotamia in the beginning.  Mesopotamia was a country in SW Asia and is now called Iraq.  Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq. In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Iran, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait.  

It's the land Abraham left behind.  He reached out to live in land located in Assyrian Empire holdings that Nebuchadnezzar ultimately held anyway.

The Sumerians and Akkadians, each originating from different areas, dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of recorded history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE.

When Solomon died in 933 BCE, the 10 northerly tribes of the 12 had split from  the land of Israel over taxes after a revolt led by Jeroboam against King Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor,  in 933 BCE; land sometimes then called the kingdom of Samaria because Samaria became the capital in about 890 BCE.  Israel had been an empire since Saul was king (about 1030 to 1010 BCE) till 933 BCE, which was about 97 years, when Solomon died.  The kings of Israel were:  Saul, David, Solomon, Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri or Omri-887-876 BCE, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoshaz, Johoash, Jeroboam II (785-745 BC; Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, Hoshea (730-721 BCE);  a total of 21 kings over 212 years. 

               Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Israel/Judah

At the same time, the Recognized state of Judah, with some of Benjaminites, reorganized with Rehoboam  as king.  Following was Abijam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athalia, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah or Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah (720-692 BCE), Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz , Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (597-586 BCE).  It had lasted as a state with 23 kings  for 347 years.  The USA has only been a state for 249 years since 1776.  

Babylon or Babylonia was an ancient state of Western Asia, also known in the Bible as the land of Shinar or of the Kasdim (Chaldees).  This is where Abraham's family came from; Ur of the Chaldeans.   Abraham and his group had migrated to  Eretz Yisrael where he later fought Amraphel, king of Shinar (Gen.14).  Babylon had a bad reputation and Abraham wanted a better culture for his future children. 

336 years later, The Babylonian Nebuchadnezar II (604-561 BCE) inherited the Assyrian Empire.  He had conquered the state of Judah (597, and 586 BCE) and had exiled many Jews to Babylon.  The Jewish king Jehoiachin was king of Israel/Judah at the time.  He was crowned king at age 18 during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.  he reigned for 3 months and 10 days before capitulating to Nebuchadnezzar. he was then taken to exile in Babylonia, remaining in detention until the accession of Evil-Merodach (561 BCE) when he was released (II kings 24-5);  II Chron.36:8-10).  Official Babylonian records relating to his captivity have been recovered.  

Amel-Marduk succeeded Nebuchadnezzar II as king of Babylon in 562 BCE. However, Amel-Marduk was murdered after two years and replaced by his brother-in-law, Neriglissar.                          

Cyrus II of Persia c. 600 – 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, and that's where our history of Purim comes in.   Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Median Empire and embracing all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanding vastly and eventually conquering most of West Asia and much of Central Asia to create what would soon become the largest polity in human history at the time. The Achaemenid Empire's largest territorial extent was achieved under Darius the Great, whose rule stretched from Southeast Europe in the west to the Indus River valley in the east.After conquering the Median Empire, Cyrus led the Achaemenids to conquer Lydia and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Ancient Near East prior to the invasion of Babylon by Cyrus the Great of Persian Empire

The Babylonian captivity initiated by Nebuchadnezzar came to an end with the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. Within a year of their liberation, some exiled Jews returned to their homeland. Their liberation did little to erase the memory of five decades of imprisonment and oppression. Instead, Jewish literary accounts ensured that accounts of the hardship endured by the Jews, as well as of the monarch responsible for it, would be remembered for all time. The Book of Jeremiah calls Nebuchadnezzar a "lion" and a "destroyer of nations".

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Tanakh, Stone Edition (Bible)

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