גְּבוּל

From the study of 1 Chronicles 4:10

Range of meaning

(1) A boundary line or border marker; (2) by extension, the territory inside the border: a tribe's, nation's or family's land. HALOT and BDB give both senses. It is used again and again for tribal allotments in Joshua and for national borders.

Against the English

KJV 'coast' is old English for border or frontier and has nothing to do with the sea. 'Border' (ESV, NASB, WEB) keeps the literal line. 'Territory' (NIV, BSB) gives the area. Both are accurate. The drift comes in modern use, where 'territory' is heard as a sphere of influence, ministry or business.

How it drifted

English 'territory' is easily heard as a metaphor ('my territory at work'). Popular devotional teaching built on that metaphor. In Hebrew, gĕbûl is ground with markers on it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 19:14 and 27:17 forbid moving a neighbour's gĕbûl, meaning the boundary stone. Josh 15:1–12 describes Judah's gĕbûl. Exod 34:24 has 'I will enlarge your borders' (hirḥabtî ʾet-gĕbûlekā), and Deut 12:20 and 19:8 use the same idea for Israel's land growing. Land was inheritance (naḥălâ), the family's livelihood and its place among God's people.

From the study of Ezekiel 43:12

Range of meaning

Gəbûl means a boundary line or marker (Deuteronomy 19:14), and by extension the area a boundary encloses: a territory (Genesis 10:19). It can also mean a raised edge or rim. Sābîb means 'around'. Repeated, it means 'on every side, all the way around'.

Against the English

KJV's 'limit' is old English for 'bounds' or 'precinct', and may confuse readers today. BSB has 'surrounding territory' and ESV 'the whole territory'. These give the area but lose the stress on the boundary line itself, which is the point in a passage about separating holy from common.

How it drifted

'Limit' in KJV English meant a bounded region. Today it means a maximum or a cap.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel uses gəbûl for the borders of the restored land (47:13–48:28). In the very next verse (43:13) the same pair, gəbûl + sābîb, describes the rim running around the altar. Ezekiel 42:20 describes the outer wall 'all around' whose job is 'to separate the holy from the common'.

From the study of Deuteronomy 12:20

Range of meaning

Boundary line or border marker, and by extension the territory enclosed by those borders. Compare the boundary-stone law in Deut 19:14, "do not move your neighbour's gevul."

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT: "border." BSB, NIV and ESV: "territory." "Enlarge your border" can sound like moving a line slightly. The point is a much larger land, as far as the promised limits in Gen 15:18 and Deut 11:24.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 11:24 ("from the wilderness to Lebanon, from the River … your territory shall be"); Deut 19:8; Exod 23:31; Josh 1:4.