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Numbers 34:1-15
New English Translation
Numbers 34:1-15
New English Translation
The Southern Border of the Land
34 [a] Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Give these instructions[b] to the Israelites, and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance,[c] the land of Canaan with its borders, 3 your southern border[d] will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the Edomite border, and your southern border will run eastward to the extremity of the Salt Sea, 4 and then the border will turn from the south to the Scorpion Ascent,[e] continue to Zin, and then its direction[f] will be from the south to Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and pass over to Azmon. 5 There the border will turn from Azmon to the Stream of Egypt, and then its direction is to the sea.[g]
The Western Border of the Land
6 “‘And for a western border[h] you will have the Great Sea.[i] This will be your western border.
The Northern Border of the Land
7 “‘And this will be your northern border: From the Great Sea you will draw a line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath,[j] and the direction of the border will be to Zedad. 9 The border will continue to Ziphron, and its direction will be to Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.
The Eastern Border of the Land
10 “‘For your eastern border you will draw a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will descend and reach the eastern side of the Sea of Kinnereth.[k] 12 Then the border will continue down the Jordan River[l] and its direction will be to the Salt Sea. This will be your land by its borders that surround it.’”
13 Then Moses commanded the Israelites: “This is the land that you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given[m] to the nine-and-a-half tribes, 14 because the tribe of the Reubenites by their families,[n] the tribe of the Gadites by their families, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. 15 The two-and-a-half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 34:1 sn This chapter falls into several sections: the south (vv. 1-5), the west (v. 6), the north (vv. 7-9), the east (vv. 10-15), and then a list of appointed officials (vv. 16-29).
- Numbers 34:2 tn Or “command.”
- Numbers 34:2 tn Heb “this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance.”
- Numbers 34:3 tn The expression refers to the corner or extremity of the Negev, the South.
- Numbers 34:4 tn Or “the Ascent of Scorpions” (עַקְרַבִּים [ʿaqrabbim] means “scorpions” in Hebrew).
- Numbers 34:4 tn Heb “its going forth,” or the way it runs.
- Numbers 34:5 sn That is, the Mediterranean.
- Numbers 34:6 tn The word for west is simply “sea,” because the sea is west of Israel.
- Numbers 34:6 sn That is, the Mediterranean Sea (also in the following verse).
- Numbers 34:8 tn Or “to the entrance to Hamath.”
- Numbers 34:11 tn Or “the Sea of Galilee” (so NLT); NCV, TEV, CEV “Lake Galilee.”sn The word means “harp.” The lake (or sea) of Galilee was so named because it is shaped somewhat like a harp.
- Numbers 34:12 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 34:13 tn The infinitive forms the direct object of what the Lord commanded. It actually means “to give,” but without an expressed subject may be made passive.
- Numbers 34:14 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also a little later in this verse.
Numbers 34:1-15
English Standard Version
Numbers 34:1-15
English Standard Version
Boundaries of the Land
34 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter (A)the land of Canaan (B)(this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 3 (C)your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of (D)the Salt Sea on the east. 4 And your border shall turn south of (E)the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to (F)Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 And the border shall turn (G)from Azmon to (H)the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.
6 “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its[a] coast. This shall be your western border.
7 “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to (I)Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you shall draw a line (J)to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at (K)Zedad. 9 Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at (L)Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.
10 “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to (M)Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of (N)the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at (O)the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”
13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, (P)“This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 (Q)For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 34:6 Syriac; Hebrew lacks its
Numbers 34:1-15
New International Version
Numbers 34:1-15
New International Version
Boundaries of Canaan
34 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan,(A) the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance(B) is to have these boundaries:(C)
3 “‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin(D) along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea,(E) 4 cross south of Scorpion Pass,(F) continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea.(G) Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,(H) 5 where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt(I) and end at the Mediterranean Sea.
6 “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.(J) This will be your boundary on the west.(K)
7 “‘For your northern boundary,(L) run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor(M) 8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath.(N) Then the boundary will go to Zedad, 9 continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.
10 “‘For your eastern boundary,(O) run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah(P) on the east side of Ain(Q) and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee.[a](R) 12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea.
“‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’”
13 Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot(S) as an inheritance.(T) The Lord has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes, 14 because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.(U) 15 These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance east of the Jordan across from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 34:11 Hebrew Kinnereth
New English Translation (NET)
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English Standard Version (ESV) 
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