Numbers 34:1-29
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:)
3 Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward:
4 And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon:
5 And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.
6 And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.
7 And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor:
8 From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad:
9 And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border.
10 And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham:
11 And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the seaa of Chinnereth eastward:
12 And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.
13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:
14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance:
15 The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.
16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
17 These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.
18 And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.
19 And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
20 And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.
21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.
22 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.
23 The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod.
24 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.
25 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
26 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan.
27 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.
28 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.
29 These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Numbers 34:2. This is the land. It was proper to fix the line of the boundaries to prevent war for aggrandizement. It reached from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, as in Joshua 1., and mount Lebanon, and was circumscribed south and east by the desert; yet they never properly possessed more than from Dan, the colony in the north-east, Judges 7., to Beersheba. The nations that surrounded them were indeed made tributary to some of the kings of Judah, but never dispossessed of their country.
Numbers 34:5. The river of Egypt, is thought to have been the small river which divided Egypt from Philistia.
Numbers 34:6. The great sea. The Mediterranean is here, and in Daniel, called the Great sea, in comparison of the sea of Sodom, and of Galilee.
Numbers 34:8. The entrance of Hamath, in the defiles of mount Lebanon. The Assyrian armies entered here.
Numbers 34:11. The sea of Chinnereth. This is mentioned in Joshua 12:3; Joshua 13:27; Joshua 19:35. The city of Chinnereth is mentioned among the fortified towns. It is written Gennesaret in Matthew 14:34, and is mostly called the sea of Galilee.
REFLECTIONS.
The original boundaries of Israel's Theocracy, extended from the river, or brook, entering Egypt, to the Euphrates. The seven devoted nations only were to be either cut off or expelled. Edom and other small nations were to be tributary, which David carried into full effect. It is for dividing the soil of the seven nations, that fourteen commissioners were now appointed. Joshua and Eleazar, two disinterested men, were appointed presidents of this commission. They were instructed to measure and divide the land into fair proportions, then to ballot the districts to the tribes; and lastly, to vary the proportions of land to the number of people in each of the tribes. It is well for our temporal affairs to be judiciously arranged. But the christian can best say, the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. The Lord is a satisfying portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him.