Numbers
Numbers 34
1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2“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), 3then 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. 4Your 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. 5The border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the sea.
6“ ‘For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your west border.
7“ ‘This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for yourselves Mount Hor. 8From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad. 9Then the border shall go to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your north border.
10“ ‘You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11The 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. 12The border shall go down to the Jordan, and end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it.’ ”
13Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; 14for 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. 15The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
16Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17“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. 18You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. 19These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
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3 commentators · 35 notes on this chapter
John Gill20
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time that he ordered him to direct the children of Israel, when they had passed over Jordan, to drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, and divide their land among them, he proceeded to give the limits…
Command the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Not to fix the borders, and settle the boundaries of the land, for that is done by the Lord himself, who has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of men's habitations, and particularly of…
Then your south quarter,.... Or border of the land; which, as Jarchi observes, was from east to west: shall be from the wilderness of Zin; which is Kadesh, where Miriam died, Numbers 20:1, and if this Kadesh was Kadeshbarnea, as Dr. Lightfoot seems to have…
Keil & Delitzsch6
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The southern boundary is the same as that given in Jos 15:2-4 as the boundary of the territory of the tribe of Judah. We have first the general description, "The south side shall be to you from the desert of Zin on the sides of Edom onwards," i.e., the land…
The western boundary was to be "the great sea and its territory," i.e., the Mediterranean Sea with its territory or coast (cf. Deu 3:16-17; Jos 13:23, Jos 13:27; Jos 15:47).
The northern boundary cannot be determined with certainty. "From the great sea, mark out to you (תּתאוּ, from תּאה = תּוה, to mark or point out), i.e., fix, Mount Hor as the boundary" - from thence "to come to Hamath; and let the goings forth of the boundary…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown9
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
your south quarter--The line which bounded it on the south is the most difficult to trace. According to the best biblical geographers, the leading points here defined are as follows: The southwest angle of the southern boundary should be where the wilderness…
river of Egypt--the ancient brook Sihor, the Rhinocolura of the Greeks, a little to the south of El-Arish, where this wady gently descends towards the Mediterranean (Jos 13:3).
the western border--There is no uncertainty about this boundary, as it is universally allowed to be the Mediterranean, which is called "the great sea" in comparison with the small inland seas or lakes known to the Hebrews.
World English Bible — Public domain