How many DIFFERENT references
to Palestine are in the Bible?

Q. How many references to Palestine are there in the Bible?

A. There are seven different Biblical references to Palestine:

Old Testament References to Palestine

1. The Holy Land
   Zechariah 2:12 (#dqh tmd), Admath Ha-kadosh; LXX, h gh h agia; early Christian writers, Terra sancta). The term was very common in the Middle Ages but now is used only geographically.

2. The Land of Jehovah
   Hosea 9:3. Compare reference to Leviticus 25:23; Psalm 85:1; Isaiah 8:8; Joel 1:6, 3:2; Jeremiah 16:18.

New Testament References to Palestine

3. The Land of Promise
   Hebrews 11:9. This title is based on the Old Testament and other Scriptures. Compare reference to Genesis 13:15; Deuteronomy 34:1-4; Genesis 50:24; Ezekiel 20:42; Acts 7:5.

   "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as [in] a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:" (Hebrews 11:9, KJV throughout)

4. Judea or the Land of Judah
   hdwhy Cr). This name was first used to denote only the territory of the Tribe of Judah (2Chronicles 9:11), but after the Captivity it was used of the whole land, including East of the Jordan. See Luke 1:5, 23:5; Matthew 19:1; Acts 28:21.

Old and New Testament References to Palestine

5. The Land
   Cr)h, Ha-ahretz, Ruth 1:1; Jeremiah 12:11; Luke 5:25; Matthew 27:45. This was a strictly Jewish name. Matthew's use of the term is:

   "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour." (Matthew 27:45)

6. The Land of Israel
   l)r#y Cr). First used in 1Samuel 13:19 and occasionally in later books (2Kings 5:2, 6:23). The term The Land of Israel is used more often in the book of Ezekiel than in all of the rest of the Bible combined. This name is also essentially Jewish. Matthew 2:21 uses this term:

   "And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel."

7. Canaan
   N(nk (K'naan). So called after the son of Ham, by whose descendants it was first inhabited (Genesis 9:18, 10:15-19).  It is the oldest reference to Palestine and was confined to the country west of the Jordan. See Exodus 6:4, 15:15; Leviticus 14:34; Deuteronomy 22:39; Joshua 14:1; Psalm 105:11 and Genesis 17:8. Matthew 15:22 uses this term:

   "And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, [thou] Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."