Dan is used to indicate the extreme N., as in the phrase 'from Dan to Beersheba,' though it was not till the time of the Judges that the Danites settled in that district: see Judges 18:28; Judges 18:29. The utmost sea (lit. 'hinder, i.e. western, sea': see on Deuteronomy 11:24) is the Mediterranean. The south is the Negeb: see on Numbers 13:17; Zoar lay at the SE. end of the Dead Sea. There is no need to suppose that there was anything miraculous in this vision of the whole land. From the mountains of Moab travellers tell us that they can see the entire valley of the Jordan with Mt. Hermon at the extreme N. Lebanon and Carmel are visible, and the Mediterranean, 50 m. distant, can be seen like a silver streak in the glittering sunshine. Such extensive views are favoured by the exceptional clearness of the atmosphere in Palestine: see on Deuteronomy 27:11-13.
Related Commentaries of Deuteronomy 34:1
Deuteronomy 34:1-4
1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah,a that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,
3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.