Borders of the Land

¹³ This is what the Lord God says: “These are the borders of the land to be divided for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will have two parts of land [^Cthe tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s two sons adopted by Jacob (Gen. 48:17–20)]. ¹⁴ You will divide the land equally. I ·promised [vowed; ^Lswore with uplifted hand] to give it to your ·ancestors [fathers], so this land will ·belong to you as family property [become your inheritance].

¹⁵ “This will be the ·border line [boundary] of the land: “On the north side it will start at the ·Mediterranean [^LGreat] Sea. It will go through Hethlon, toward ·Lebo Hamath [or Lebo of Hamath; ^Coften identified as the northern limit of Israel; Num. 13:21; Josh. 13:5; 1 Kin. 8:65] and on to the towns of Zedad, ¹⁶ Berothah, and Sibraim on the border between Damascus [^Ccapital of Aram (Syria)] and Hamath [^Ccity 120 miles north of Damascus]. Then it will go on to the town of Hazer Hatticon on the border of the country of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the border line will go from the ·Mediterranean Sea [^LSea] east to the town of Hazar Enan, where the land belonging to Damascus and Hamath lies on the north side. This will be the north side of the land.

¹⁸ “On the east side the border runs south from a point between Hauran and Damascus. It will go along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel and will continue to the town of Tamar [^Cprobaby En-Gedi; 2 Chr. 20:2] on the ·Dead [^Leastern] Sea. This will be the east side of the land.

¹⁹ “On the south side the border line will go west from Tamar all the way to the waters of Meribah Kadesh [^Clikely Kadesh Barnea (Num. 34:4), fifty miles south of Beersheba]. Then it will run along the brook of Egypt to the ·Mediterranean [^LGreat] Sea. This will be the south side of the land.

²⁰ “On the west side the ·Mediterranean [^LGreat] Sea will be the ·border line [boundary] up to a place across from Lebo Hamath [v. 15]. This will be the west side of your land.

²¹ “You will divide this land among the tribes of Israel. ²² You will divide it as ·family property [an inheritance] for yourselves and for the foreigners who live and have children among you. You are to treat these foreigners the same as people born in Israel; they are to ·share the land [be allotted an inheritance] with the tribes of Israel. ²³ In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will give him ·some land [^Lhis inheritance],” says the Lord God.