Instruction for Apportioning Canaan

34 Then the Lord 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, that is, the land of Canaan according to its borders. (B)Your southern region shall [a]extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall [b]extend from the end of the Salt Sea (C)eastward. Then your border shall change direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and [c]continue to Zin, and its [d]termination shall be to the south of (D)Kadesh-barnea; and it shall [e]reach Hazaraddar and [f]continue to Azmon. Then the border shall change direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at (E)the sea.

‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its [g]coastline; this shall be your western border.

(F)And this shall be your northern border: you shall draw your boundary from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. You shall draw a boundary from Mount Hor to (G)the [h]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 northern border.

10 ‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a boundary 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 slope on the east side of the Sea of (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 on all sides.’”

13 So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “(J)This is the land that you are to possess by lot, which the Lord 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 possession. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 (L)These are the names of the men who shall assign the land to you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And you shall take one leader of each tribe to assign the land as an inheritance. 19 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 And 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 the ones whom the Lord commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 34:3 Lit be
  2. Numbers 34:3 Lit be
  3. Numbers 34:4 Lit pass along
  4. Numbers 34:4 Lit exits, and so throughout the ch
  5. Numbers 34:4 Lit go forth to
  6. Numbers 34:4 Lit pass along
  7. Numbers 34:6 Lit border
  8. Numbers 34:8 Or entrance of Hamath

The Boundaries of Canaan

34 The Lord told Moses to deliver these commands to the Israelites:

When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its boundaries), your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. Your southern border on the east will start from the south end of the Dead Sea.[a] Your border will turn south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, pass through to Zin, and it will end south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go out to Hazar Adda and pass through to Azmon. The border will turn from Azmon to the Stream of Egypt,[b] and it will end at the Mediterranean Sea.[c]

For the western border, you will have the Mediterranean Sea as your border. This will be your western border.

This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea you will draw a line for yourselves to Mount Hor. From Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath. The end of the border will be at Zedad. Then the border will go to Ziphron, and it will end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.

10 You will draw a line to serve as your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border will go down and meet the eastern slope of the Sea of Galilee.[d] 12 The border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land according to its boundaries on all sides.

Tribal Chiefs Assigned for Dividing the Land

13 Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land which you will assign as a possession by lot, which the Lord has commanded you to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14 The tribe of Reuben’s descendants according to their fathers’ houses and the tribe of Gad’s descendants according to their fathers’ houses have already received their possession. Also half of the tribe of Manasseh has received its possession. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their possession east of the Jordan across from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

16 The Lord spoke to Moses:

17 These are the names of the men who will assign the land as a possession for you:

Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

18 You will take one tribal chief from every tribe to assign the land as a possession. 19 These are the names of the men:

Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
20 Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon’s descendants;
21 Elidad son of Kislon from the tribe of Benjamin;
22 Bukki son of Jogli, a tribal chief from the tribe of Dan’s descendants;
23 from the sons of Joseph: Hanniel son of Ephod, a tribal chief from the tribe of Manasseh’s descendants;
24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan, a tribal chief from the tribe of Ephraim’s descendants;
25 Elizaphan son of Parnak, a tribal chief from the tribe of Zebulun’s descendants;
26 Paltiel son of Azzan, a tribal chief from the tribe of Issachar’s descendants;
27 Ahihud son of Shelomi, a tribal chief from the tribe of Asher’s descendants;
28 Pedahel son of Ammihud, a tribal chief from the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants.

29 These were the men whom the Lord commanded to assign the areas of possession for the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 34:3 Hebrew Salt Sea
  2. Numbers 34:5 Not the Nile, but a seasonal stream further east, perhaps at Arish
  3. Numbers 34:5 Hebrew Great Sea
  4. Numbers 34:11 Hebrew Kinneret