Numbers 34

The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2"Give this command to the people of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that will be given to you as your own, to keep and pass down to your children. It is the land of Canaan, with the borders described here."

2Command 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:)

Note"Inheritance" here does not mean property received when someone dies. The Hebrew word means a permanent family holding, land granted to a household and its descendants, which was not meant to be sold off outside the family. "Canaan" was the standing name for the region between the Jordan and the Mediterranean before Israel settled it. Where the King James says "coasts," 1611 English meant borders or territory generally, not seashore; the word carries that sense throughout this chapter.

3"Your southern side will run from the Wilderness of Zin, along the edge of Edom. On the east, your southern border will start at the end of the Salt Sea.

3Then 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:

NoteThe Salt Sea is what is now called the Dead Sea, so salty that nothing lives in it. Edom was the kingdom southeast of the Dead Sea, occupying the highlands of what is now southern Jordan. The Wilderness of Zin is the dry country south of it (a different place from the Wilderness of Sin mentioned in Exodus).

4From there your border will turn south of the Ascent of Akrabbim and cross over to Zin. It will come out south of Kadesh-barnea, go on to Hazar-addar, and pass over to Azmon.

4And 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:

Note"Ascent of Akrabbim" means "Scorpion Pass", a steep climb southwest of the Dead Sea. Kadesh-barnea was the desert oasis where Israel had spent much of its time in the wilderness; it sits at the far southern edge of the territory being marked out.

5At Azmon the border will curve around and join the Brook of Egypt, and it will end at the sea.

5And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.

NoteThe Brook of Egypt is not the Nile. It is a wadi, a streambed that runs with water only in the rainy season and lies dry the rest of the year, generally identified with the Wadi el-Arish, which reaches the Mediterranean about halfway across the northern Sinai. It served as the conventional dividing line between Canaan and Egypt. "The sea" at the end of the verse is the Mediterranean.

6For your western border, you will have the coast of the Great Sea. That will be your border on the west.

6And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.

NoteThe Great Sea is the Mediterranean, the only large sea these writers knew to the west.

7This will be your northern border: from the Great Sea, mark out a line to Mount Hor.

7And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor:

NoteThis Mount Hor is not the Mount Hor where Aaron died, which was far to the south near Edom. The same name is used for a peak somewhere in the Lebanon range at the northern limit of the territory; its exact location is not known.

8From Mount Hor, mark your border to Lebo-hamath, the pass that leads into Hamath. The border will then run out to Zedad.

8From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad:

NoteHamath was a major city-state on the Orontes River in what is now Syria, well north of Israel. "Lebo-hamath" is either the approach or pass leading into its territory, or the name of a town at that point, Hebrew *lebo* can mean "entrance to," which is how the King James reads it. Either way it marks the far northern boundary.

9The border will go on to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan. That will be your northern border.

9And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border.

10For your eastern border, mark out a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham.

10And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham:

11The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. Then it will keep going down and reach the slope on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth.

11And 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 sea of Chinnereth eastward:

NoteThe Sea of Chinnereth is the lake later called the Sea of Galilee. The name comes from a Hebrew word for a harp, which its shape was thought to resemble. The locations of Riblah and Ain on this line are uncertain.

12The border will then go down along the Jordan River and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, with the borders that surround it."

12And 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.

13Moses gave this command to the people of Israel: "This is the land you will receive as your own. It will be handed out by drawing lots, as the LORD commanded, and it is to be given to the nine tribes and the half tribe.

13And 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:

NoteCasting lots meant using marked stones or similar objects drawn at random to decide a matter. It was a standard procedure for dividing property fairly, since no one could be accused of favoring a particular tribe. There were twelve tribes, but the tribe of Levi received no territory of its own (it was given scattered towns instead), and two and a half tribes had already been settled east of the Jordan, leaving nine and a half to divide the land west of the river.

14The tribe of Reuben, family by family, and the tribe of Gad, family by family, have already received their share, and half the tribe of Manasseh has received its share too.

14For 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:

Note"Family by family" translates a phrase meaning "by their ancestral houses", the extended household descended from a common forefather, which was the basic unit by which land was allotted and recorded.

15These two tribes and the half tribe have received their land on the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho, toward the sunrise."

15The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.

NoteThe King James "on this side Jordan" is confusing to a modern reader: it means the east side, where Moses and the people are standing as he speaks. Jericho lay on the west bank, so this land faced it from across the river.

16The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

16And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

17"These are the names of the men who will divide the land and hand it out to you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

17These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

NoteEleazar was Aaron's son and had succeeded him as high priest. Joshua son of Nun was Moses' longtime assistant and, by this point, his designated successor as leader.

18You are also to take one leader from every tribe to divide the land into shares.

18And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.

Note"Prince" in the King James does not mean a king's son. The Hebrew word means a chief or recognized head of a tribe, a leader by standing within his own people, not royalty.

19These are the names of the men. From the tribe of Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh.

19And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

NoteCaleb and Joshua were the only two of the twelve scouts sent into Canaan a generation earlier who had urged the people to go in. They were also the only two of that generation permitted to enter the land. The tribes in this list are named roughly in geographical order, from the south of the country northward, rather than by the birth order used in other lists.

20From the tribe of Simeon: Shemuel son of Ammihud.

20And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.

21From the tribe of Benjamin: Elidad son of Chislon.

21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

22The leader from the tribe of Dan: Bukki son of Jogli.

22And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.

23The leader from the descendants of Joseph, for the tribe of Manasseh: Hanniel son of Ephod.

23The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

NoteJoseph had no tribe under his own name; instead his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, each headed a tribe, which is why "the descendants of Joseph" yields two entries here. Only the western half of Manasseh needs a representative, since the other half had already been settled east of the Jordan.

24The leader from the tribe of Ephraim: Kemuel son of Shiphtan.

24And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

25The leader from the tribe of Zebulun: Elizaphan son of Parnach.

25And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

26The leader from the tribe of Issachar: Paltiel son of Azzan.

26And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

27The leader from the tribe of Asher: Ahihud son of Shelomi.

27And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

28The leader from the tribe of Naphtali: Pedahel son of Ammihud."

28And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.

29These are the men the LORD commanded to divide the land of Canaan into shares and hand it out to the people of Israel.

29These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.