² tn The “sea of the rift valley” is the Dead Sea.

¹ sn This section of the rift valley is along the western part of the Dead Sea.

¹ sn This section of the rift valley is to the north and west of the Dead Sea.

⁴ sn As a geographic feature, the rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. The reference here is probably to the Jordan Valley and the wider part of the rift valley below the Dead Sea.

¹ sn The rift valley extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. The Jordan River runs through it from Galilee to the Dead Sea, so the rift valley, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea work together naturally as a boundary.

² sn As a geographic feature the rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) extends from the Gulf of Aqaba to Galilee. Traveling up the middle of the rift valley probably would have been the easiest path, at least up to the Dead Sea.

² tc The MT reads “the rift valleys (עֲרָבוֹת, ʿaravot) of the wilderness.” The plural form typically refers to the gently sloping plains at the basin of the rift valley just north of the Dead Sea (while the larger rift valley extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba). Many translations render as the “fords” (NASB, ESV, NIV, NRSV) assuming the reversal of two letters as עֲבָרוֹת (ʿavarot, “fords, crossing”).

³ sn The Negev is the area of central, southern Judah, south of the hill country and Beer Sheba and west of the rift valley.

² sn The Negev is an area of central, southern Judah, south of the hill country and Beer Sheba and west of the rift valley.

¹ sn The rift valley is a large geographic feature extending from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here only a section of the Jordan Valley is in view.

¹ sn The Negev is the area of central, southern Judah, south of the hill country and Beer Sheba and west of the rift valley.

³ sn The slopes (אֲשֵׁדוֹת, ʾashedot) refer to the ascent from the rift valley up to the hill country and to the flatlands (or wilderness) south of the hill country.

¹ sn This is the area of the rift valley basin in the vicinity of Jericho (see the note at Josh 4:13).

¹ sn For the geography involved, see note on the term “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17 and the note on “rift valley plains” in Num 21:1.

¹ sn The sea of the rift valley refers to the Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea in OT times (cf. Deut 3:17).

⁵ sn The slopes (אֲשֵׁדוֹת, ʾashedot) refer to the ascent from the rift valley, generally in the region of the Dead Sea, up to the flatlands (or wilderness).

² tn The plural form of עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah, rift valley) refers to the sloping plains of the rift valley basin north of the Dead Sea, in this case west of the Jordan in the vicinity of the Jericho (HALOT 880 s.v.). See the note at Num 21:1.

² tn The עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah) refers to the rift valley. As a geographic feature it extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba, but individual passages typically refer to only a portion of it. The areas of the rift valley around the Dead Sea and to the south are known to be arid and inhospitable.

² sn This is the area of rift valley basin to the north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan. Some translate as the “plains of Moab” (NASB, NIV, ESV) but this can give the wrong impression of the larger part of Moab above the rift valley. See the note at Num 22:1.

¹ sn This probably refers to the hill country at the edge of the rift valley between Ai and Jericho. This part of the battle was probably engaged where Israel would have come up to the hill country out of the rift valley from Jericho, an ascent of about 4000 feet (with ups and downs) over ten miles.