גְּבוּל

gevul · border, territory

Hebrew word · Strong’s number H1366 · appears 240 times in the Bible

What is the Strong number?

Strong’s number identifies this word: use it to find the same word in other study tools.

What it means

gevul (גְּבוּל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “border, territory”.

Border, boundary; the territory it encloses.

How to say it

ge·vul

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

The border of a land.
The land within that border.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Border, boundary; and the territory it encloses.

The territory of a people Genesis 10:19 Exodus 34:24 1 Chronicles 4:10
The border that closes it Numbers 34:3
The boundary of a field Deuteronomy 19:14 Proverbs 22:28
The limit set for the waters Psalms 104:9

Historical and cultural background

Deuteronomy 19:14 forbids moving a neighbor's boundary, and Proverbs 22:28 repeats: “Do not move the ancient boundary”.

How we translate it

“Border” 138 times, “territory” 84, “boundary” 8. It is translated according to what the passage points to: “border” in descriptions of limits, “territory” when it is the land enclosed, “boundary” for fields (“move the boundary”).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

border ×138
territory ×84
boundary ×8
borders ×4
coast ×3
territories ×3

Where it appears

Genesis 10:19
And the territory of the Canaanites was from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza; in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Genesis 23:17
The field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which is facing Mamre, the field and the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, that were within all its borders all around, were made over
Genesis 47:21
And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the territory of Egypt to the other end.
Exodus 8:2
But if you refuse to let them go, look, I am going to plague all your territory with frogs.
Exodus 10:4
For if you refuse to let my people go, look, tomorrow I am bringing locusts into your territory.
Exodus 10:14
The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt, very heavy; before them there had never been such locusts as these, nor will there be such after them.
Exodus 10:19
And YHWH turned it into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Sea of Reeds; not a single locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.
Exodus 13:7
Unleavened bread shall be eaten for the seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.
Exodus 23:31
I will set your border from the Sea of Reeds to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River, for I will give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and you shall drive them out from before you.
Exodus 34:24
For I will dispossess nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no man shall covet your land when you go up to appear before YHWH your Elohim three times in the year.
Numbers 20:16
And we cried out to YHWH, and he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And look, we are in Kadesh, a city at the edge of your territory.
Numbers 20:17
Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, and we will not drink water from a well. We will go along the way of the king; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”
Numbers 20:21
Thus Edom refused to let Israel pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
Numbers 20:23
And YHWH said to Moses and to Aaron at Hor the mountain, on the border of the land of Edom, saying,
Numbers 21:13
From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorite; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorite.
Numbers 21:15
and the slope of the brooks that extends to the seat of Ar, and leans on the border of Moab.”
Numbers 21:22
“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or into vineyard; we will not drink water from a well; we will go by the way of the king until we have passed through your territory.”
Numbers 21:23
But Sihon did not let Israel pass through his territory; and Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.
Numbers 21:24
And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was strong.
Numbers 22:36
When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is at the edge of the territory.
Numbers 33:44
They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, on the border of Moab.
Numbers 34:3
Your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea on the east.
Numbers 34:4
And the border shall turn for you south of the ascent of Akrabbim and pass on to Zin, and it shall end south of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall go out to Hazar-addar and pass on to Azmon.
Numbers 34:5
And the border shall turn from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the sea.
Numbers 34:6
And as the western border you shall have the Great Sea and its coast; this shall be your western border.
Numbers 34:7
And this shall be your north border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line for yourselves to Mount Hor;
Numbers 34:8
from Mount Hor you shall draw a line to the entrance of Hamath, and the border shall end at Zedad;
Numbers 34:9
and the border shall go out to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar-enan; this shall be your north border.
Numbers 34:10
And for your eastern border you shall draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham;
Numbers 34:11
and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach the slope of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east;
Numbers 34:12
and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land by its borders all around.”
Numbers 35:26
But if the manslayer does go out beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he fled,
Numbers 35:27
and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall have no bloodguilt.
Deuteronomy 2:4
And command the people, saying, ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. So guard yourselves carefully:
Deuteronomy 2:18
“You are passing today through the territory of Moab, through Ar,
Deuteronomy 3:14
Jair son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them by his name, Bashan Havvoth-jair, to this day.)
Deuteronomy 3:16
To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead as far as the Wadi Arnon, the middle of the wadi as the border, and as far as the Wadi Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon;
Deuteronomy 3:17
and the Arabah, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea shall be your territory.
Deuteronomy 12:20
When YHWH your Elohim enlarges your territory as he has spoken to you, and you say, “I will eat meat,” because your soul craves to eat meat, you may eat meat with all the desire of your soul.

And 200 more times.