對「應許之地」的詮釋，一直是猶太－基督宗教傳統中的一個重要議題。作為猶太裔法籍哲學家的列維納斯從聖經與《塔木德》出發，通過對猶太人在出埃及後，進入「應許之地」前派遣偵探偵察該地的始末及其藴意的揭示，預示了在理解「應許之地」之中存在著兩種模式：對其進行「佔有」與對其進行「興建」。而在這兩種模式背後，實際上延展出兩條文化與社會運作的路徑：在訴諸「佔有」的思維裡，列維納斯解讀出了一條存在論哲學的路徑；而在其倡導的「興建」模式裡，「應許之地」則延展自與他者緊密相連的「位置」。從這個「位置」始發，我們必須回應他者，並對他者負責。而據此，我們可以認為：列維納斯所詮釋的「應許之地」，最終是一塊向「人」敞開的聖土。

Interpretation of the “Promised Land” has always been an important issue in Judeo-Christian tradition. As a French Jewish Philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas studied the Bible and Talmud from the part that the Jewish people left Egypt and sent twelve men to spy out and explore the Promised Land of its details and interpretations. Thus he came up with the idea of two approaches to understand the Promised Land: to possess or to found. Deeply under those two approaches, there are actually two paths of movements of culture and society. The logic of “to possess” is viewed as the Ontological path by Levinas, while he promoted the approach of “to found” in which the Promised Land stretches from a “position” to the Other. At this “position,” we had to respond to the Other and take responsibility for the Other. As a conclusion, Emmanuel Levinas' interpretation of the Promised Land had always been a holy land that is open to “human.”