Help - translation exercises

[anantah]

White, Beginner's Greek Book, §72.I.5:
τὴν ἱερὰν χώραν ἁρπάζεις ἐκ θαλάττης εἰς θάλατταν.

How should I render it? "You seize the land from one sea to another"? So weird... Could you please explain what the author really meant? Thank you.

[Ahab]

'From sea to sea' doesn't strike me as a particularly weird expression. But perhaps I've heard the song "America the Beautiful" a few times too often.

You might want to take at look here:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/from%20sea%20to%20shining%20sea.html