The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 34 -

(Genesis 15:8–21)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“Instruct the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: When you will have entered into the land of Canaan, and it has fallen into your possession by lot, it shall be bound by these limits:

The southern part shall begin from the wilderness of Sin, which is next to Edom, and it shall have the Sea of Salt as a limit to the east.(a)

It shall circle on the south side along the ascent of the Scorpion, by this way crossing into Senna, and passing through, from the south, as far as Kadesh-barnea, from which its confines shall go out to the town called Adar, and extend even to Azmon.(b)

And its limits shall go around from Azmon to the Torrent of Egypt, and shall end at the shore of the Great Sea.(c)

Then the western region shall begin from the Great Sea, and the same shall be its end.

Furthermore, toward the northern region, its limits shall begin from the Great Sea, passing through even to the highest mountain.(d)

From there, it limits shall advance into Hamath, as far as the limits of Zedad.

And its confines shall go all the way to Ziphron, and to the village of Enan. These shall be the limits on the northern side.

From there, its limits shall be measured, facing the east side, from the village of Enan as far as Shepham.

And from Shepham, the boundaries shall descend into Riblah, opposite the fountain of Daphnis. From there, the boundaries shall pass through, opposite the east, to the Sea of Chinnereth,(e)

and shall extend as far as the Jordan, and, at the furthest extent, shall be enclosed by the Sea of Salt. You shall have this land, with its borders all around.”(f)

And Moses instructed the sons of Israel, saying: “This shall be the land which you shall possess by lot, and which the Lord has ordered to be given to the nine tribes, and to the half tribe.

For the tribe of the sons of Ruben, by their families, and the tribe of the sons of Gad, according to the number of their kinships, and also one half of the tribe of Manasseh,

that is, two and a half tribes, have received their portion across the Jordan, opposite Jericho, toward the eastern side.”

Leaders to Divide the Land

And the Lord said to Moses:

“These are the names of the men, who shall divide the land for you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun,

and one leader from each tribe,

whose names are these: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

from the tribe of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud;

from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon;

from the tribe of the sons of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli;

of the sons of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan;

from the tribe of Zebulon, Elizaphan the son of Parnach;

from the tribe of Issachar, Paltiel the leader, the son of Azzan;(g)

from the tribe of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi;

from the tribe of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”

These are the ones that the Lord has ordered to divide the land of Canaan to the sons of Israel.

Footnotes

(a)34:3 The most salt sea:The lake of Sodom, otherwise called the Dead Sea.(Challoner)

(b)34:4 The Scorpion:A mountain so called from having a great number of scorpions.(Challoner)

(d)34:7 The most high mountain:Libanus.(Challoner)

(e)34:11 Sea of Cenereth:This is the sea of Galilee, illustrated by the miracles of our Lord.(Challoner)

(f)34:12 There is a certain eschatological meaning to this passage, especially to the 12 tribes which split into 9.5 tribes and 2.5 tribes, and also to the limits of the Holy Land.(Conte)

(g)34:26 The word ‘dux,’ meaning leader or commander, often has a military as well as a political connotation; thus Paltiel was probably a leader in his tribe, as well as a leader in battle.(Conte)

(Genesis 15:8–21)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders),

then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward.

Your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and it shall pass southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go from there to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon.

The border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the sea.

“‘For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your west border.

“‘This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for yourselves Mount Hor.

From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad.

Then the border shall go to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your north border.

“‘You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham.

The border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward.

The border shall go down to the Jordan, and end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it.’”

Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe;

for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ houses, the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ houses, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.

The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”

Leaders to Divide the Land

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance.

These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli.

Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”

These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.