Numbers 34:11 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah— The eastern bounds ran from the head of Jordan, along the whole course of that river, taking in the lake Cinnereth, or the sea of Galilee, or Tiberias, and so to the Dead Sea, till it meets with the south bounds, in the borders of Edom. Shepham and Riblah were two places near Jordan, along which river the eastern limits went. By Shepham, some of the Jewish interpreters understand Apamea, a city of Mesopotamia; and by Riblah, Daphne of Syria, in the suburbs of Antioch. But Bochart shews, that the land of Canaan never extended to these places. See his Can. lib. 1: cap. 16. Ain signifies a fountain, i.e. of Jordan, for this river had more sources than one. It seems to have been thus understood by the LXX and the Vulgate. The lake Cinnereth was so called, according to Chitraeus, from the Hebrew cinnor, a harp, or lute, because it was in that shape; but Reland derives the name from a canton or village of the same name, situated upon this lake, and in the tribe of Naphtali. See his Palaest. illust. tom. 1: cap. 39. We have been but brief upon this subject, as we shall have occasion to speak more fully respecting the Holy Land, its boundaries and division among the tribes, upon the fourteenth and following Chapter s of Joshua. In the mean time we refer our readers to Bochart's Canaan, the Univ. Hist. vol. Numbers 2:8 vo. p. 381 and to Dr. Shaw's Travels.