Add parallel Print Page Options

Apportioning Canaan

34 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter (A)the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders. (B)And your southern [a]sector shall [b]extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall [c]extend from the end of the Salt Sea (C)eastward. Then your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and [d]continue to Zin, and its [e]termination shall be to the south of (D)Kadesh-barnea; and it shall [f]reach Hazaraddar and [g]continue to Azmon. And the border shall turn from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at (E)the sea.

‘And as for the west border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its [h]coastline; this shall be your west border.

(F)And this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to [i](G)Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.

10 ‘For your east border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to (H)Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the [j]slope on the east side of the Sea of [k](I)Chinnereth. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’”

13 So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “(J)This is the land that you shall inherit by lot among you as a possession, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14 (K)For the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan opposite Jericho to the east toward the sunrise.”

16 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 (L)These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And you shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. 19 Now these are the names of the men:

Of the tribe of (M)Judah, (N)Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
20 Of the tribe of the sons of (O)Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud.
21 Of the tribe of (P)Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.
22 Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli.
23 Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod.
24 Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.
25 Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
26 Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan.
27 Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.
28 Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”

29 These are those whom Yahweh commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 34:3 Lit side
  2. Numbers 34:3 Lit be
  3. Numbers 34:3 Lit be
  4. Numbers 34:4 Lit pass along
  5. Numbers 34:4 Lit goings out, so in ch
  6. Numbers 34:4 Lit go forth to
  7. Numbers 34:4 Lit pass along
  8. Numbers 34:6 Lit border
  9. Numbers 34:8 Or the entrance of Hamath
  10. Numbers 34:11 Lit shoulder
  11. Numbers 34:11 Galilee

The borders of the land

34 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites this: These are the borders of Canaan, the land that will be yours to live in.

The south edge will start at the Zin desert and it will go along the border of Edom land. It will continue to the east, and it will reach the south end of the Salt Sea.[a] It will go south of the place called Scorpion Hill, and it will continue to Zin. Then it will go south of Kadesh-Barnea. It will go to Hazar-Addar and then across to Azmon. There the border will turn and it will go along the Stream of Egypt.[b] It will continue as far as the Mediterranean Sea.

The west border of your land will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

This will be the north border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Hor mountain. From Hor mountain the border will go to Lebo-Hamath. Then it will go to Zedad. It will continue to Ziphron and it will finish at Hazar-Enan.

10 This will be the east border: Draw a line from Hazar-Enan to Shepham. 11 Then the border will go from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. It will go along the east shore of Lake Galilee. 12 Then it will go along the Jordan River and it will finish at the Salt Sea.

That will be your land, with its borders.’

13 Moses said to the Israelites, ‘That is the land for the Israelites to live in. You must use lots to give part of the land to each tribe. The Lord has told you to give it to the nine and a half tribes. 14 That is because the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half of Manasseh's tribe have their land already. 15 Their land is on the east side of the Jordan River. It is on the other side of the river from Jericho city.’

Officers

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 ‘Joshua, the son of Nun, and Eleazar the priest will decide which parts of the land will belong to each family. 18 One leader from each tribe must help them. 19 These are the names of those leaders:

Caleb the son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah.

20 Shemuel the son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon.

21 Elidad the son of Kislon from the tribe of Benjamin.

22 Bukki the son of Jogli from the tribe of Dan.

23 These will be the two leaders from the descendants of Joseph:

Hanniel the son of Ephod from the tribe of Manasseh.

24 Kemuel the son of Shiphtan from the tribe of Ephraim.

25 Then there will be Elizaphan the son of Parnach from the tribe of Zebulun.

26 Paltiel the son of Azzan from the tribe of Issachar.

27 Ahihud the son of Shelomi from the tribe of Asher.

28 Pedahel the son of Ammihud from the tribe of Naphtali.’

29 Those were the men that the Lord chose to decide about the land for the Israelite families.

Footnotes

  1. 34:3 The Salt Sea is called the Dead Sea today.
  2. 34:5 The ‘Stream of Egypt’ was the border of Egypt.