Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 47:16

"Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran." — Ezekiel 47:16 (ASV)

Hamath is not to be understood as the city of Hamath on the Orontes (which was much too far to the north), but as the boundary of the district of Hamath. This boundary cannot now be precisely fixed, but it certainly came as far south as the “entrance of Hamath” (Numbers 34:8), or the defile between the Lebanon and Antilebanon Mountains which leads to Hamath.

This defile, however, is many miles long, and authorities differ as to whether its southern end or its northern end (where the Lebanon and Antilebanon ranges end, and a rolling country several miles wide intervenes between them and the next ranges) should be called “the entrance to Hamath.”

Berothah is also mentioned in 2 Samuel 8:8 as one of the cities conquered by David from the king of Zobah, and it is evident from this passage that it was between “Hamath” and Damascus; but nothing further is known of its situation.

Sibraim may be the same as Ziphron of Numbers 34:9, and must have been on the borders of the two kingdoms of Hamath and Damascus; but nothing more is known of it, and it is not mentioned elsewhere.

Hazar-hatticon. —That is, as noted in the margin, the middle Hazar, to distinguish it from Hazar-enan mentioned in the next verse. All that is known of it is from this passage: that it was on the border of the district of Hauran. Hauran, here and in Ezekiel 47:18, is used in a wider sense than the classic Auranitis, and also includes Gaulanitis (Golan) and Batanaea (Bashan)—in fact, the whole land between the territories of Damascus and Gilead (Ezekiel 47:18).