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Numbers 34
The Voice
Numbers 34
The Voice
Aaron is now dead, and Moses is given the final instructions about the division of the land. Even knowing he will not enter the land, Moses doesn’t whine or step back from leadership. He continues following God until the nation is about to cross through the waters of the Jordan and begin their new adventure, realizing God’s destiny for themselves, because he is the faithful servant of God even when he knows there will be no reward.
34 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One (to Moses): 2 Command the Israelites, “This is the exact territory you should take, as promised to you by Me for an inheritance throughout the succeeding generations—the entire land of Canaan. 3 The southern part runs from the Zin Wilderness along the border with Edom. The southern boundary begins at the end of the Dead Sea[a] on the east, 4 turns south of the Akrabbim highlands, and crosses over to Zin. Its far end is south of Kadesh-barnea, over to Hazar-addar, across to Azmon, 5 and from there to the Egyptian Wadi straight out to the great Mediterranean Sea. 6 This great sea will be your western boundary. 7 At the northern end, make a line from the great Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor, 8 then to Lebo-hamath, and up to Zedad. 9 Your territory will be south of Ziphron and Hazar-enan. All that makes up your northern boundary. 10 As for the east, mark your boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11 down to Riblah (east of Ain), follow the eastern slope of the Sea of Chinnereth, 12 and down the Jordan River all the way to the Dead Sea.[b] That’s it. Those are the boundaries of your promised land.”
Moses (to the Israelites): 13 Exactly which parts of it go to which family shall be determined finally by lot. That is, at least, for the nine remaining tribes and for Ephraim, the other half of the Joseph tribe. 14-15 The extended families of Gadites, Reubenites, and Manassehites (from Joseph’s line) have already gotten their land on this eastern side of the Jordan River.
16 Again the Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: 17 The priest Eleazar and Joshua (Nun’s son) shall have the honor of assigning the territories that will henceforth be each one’s ancestral land. 18 One from each of the tribes will then execute these directions. 19 Those men are: for Judah—Caleb (Jephunneh’s son); 20 for Simeon—Shemuel (Ammihud’s son); 21 for Benjamin—Elidad (Chislon’s son); 22 for the Danites—Bukki (Jogli’s son); 23 out of the greater Joseph family, for the Manassehites—Hanniel (Ephod’s son), 24 and for the Ephraimites—Kemuel (Shiphtan’s son); 25 for Zebulun—Elizaphan (Parnach’s son); 26 for Issachar—Paltiel (Azzan’s son); 27 for Asher—Ahihud (Shelomi’s son); 28 and for Naphtali—Pedahel (Ammihud’s son).
29 These are the men whom the Eternal One determined should head up the process of dividing the Canaanite land among the Israelites.
Numbers 34
New King James Version
Numbers 34
New King James Version
The Appointed Boundaries of Canaan
34 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into (A)the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. 3 (B)Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of (C)the Salt Sea; 4 your border shall turn from the southern side of (D)the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of (E)Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to (F)Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; 5 the border shall turn from Azmon (G)to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.
6 ‘As for the (H)western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border.
7 ‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to (I)Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border (J)to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward (K)Zedad; 9 the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at (L)Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border.
10 ‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; 11 the border shall go down from Shepham (M)to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern [a]side of the Sea (N)of Chinnereth; 12 the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at (O)the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ”
13 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: (P)“This is the land which 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 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 the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
The Leaders Appointed to Divide the Land
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: (R)Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And you shall take one (S)leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; 22 a leader from the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli; 23 from the sons of Joseph: a leader from the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod, 24 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; 25 a leader from the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; 26 a leader from the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan; 27 a leader from the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; 28 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”
29 These are the ones the Lord commanded to [b]divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Footnotes
- Numbers 34:11 Lit. shoulder
- Numbers 34:29 apportion
Numbers 34
New English Translation
Numbers 34
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.”
Appointed Officials
16 The Lord said to Moses: 17 “These are the names of the men who are to allocate the land to you as an inheritance:[o] Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. 18 You must take one leader from every[p] tribe to assist in allocating the land as an inheritance.[q] 19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; 22 and from the tribe of the Danites, a leader, Bukki son of Jogli. 23 From the Josephites, Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh; 24 from the tribe of the Ephraimites, a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; 25 from the tribe of the Zebulunites, a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnach; 26 from the tribe of the Issacharites, a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan; 27 from the tribe of the Asherites, a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi; 28 and from the tribe of the Naphtalites, a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to divide up the inheritance among the Israelites in the land of Canaan.
Footnotes
- 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 34:17 tn The verb can be translated simply as “divide,” but it has more the idea of allocate as an inheritance, the related noun being “inheritance.”
- Numbers 34:18 tn This sense is created by repetition: “one leader, one leader from the tribe.”
- Numbers 34:18 tn The sentence simply uses לִנְחֹל (linkhol, “to divide, apportion”). It has been taken already to mean “allocate as an inheritance.” Here “assist” may be added since Joshua and Eleazar had the primary work.
Numbers 34
New International Version
Numbers 34
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.”
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua(V) son of Nun. 18 And appoint one leader from each tribe to help(W) assign the land.(X) 19 These are their names:(Y)
Caleb(Z) son of Jephunneh,
from the tribe of Judah;(AA)
20 Shemuel son of Ammihud,
from the tribe of Simeon;(AB)
21 Elidad son of Kislon,
from the tribe of Benjamin;(AC)
22 Bukki son of Jogli,
the leader from the tribe of Dan;
23 Hanniel son of Ephod,
the leader from the tribe of Manasseh(AD) son of Joseph;
24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan,
the leader from the tribe of Ephraim(AE) son of Joseph;
25 Elizaphan son of Parnak,
the leader from the tribe of Zebulun;(AF)
26 Paltiel son of Azzan,
the leader from the tribe of Issachar;
27 Ahihud son of Shelomi,
the leader from the tribe of Asher;(AG)
28 Pedahel son of Ammihud,
the leader from the tribe of Naphtali.”
29 These are the men the Lord commanded to assign the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.(AH)
Footnotes
- Numbers 34:11 Hebrew Kinnereth
The Voice (VOICE)
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