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.”

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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 the Land

34 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the Israelites, and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan, defined by its boundaries),(A) your south sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom. Your southern boundary shall begin from the end of the Dead Sea[a] on the east;(B) your boundary shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim and cross to Zin, and its outer limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar-addar and cross to Azmon; the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Wadi of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the Sea.(C)

“For the western boundary, you shall have the Great Sea and its[b] coast; this shall be your western boundary.

“This shall be your northern boundary: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor;(D) from Mount Hor you shall mark it out to Lebo-hamath, and the outer limit of the boundary shall be at Zedad;(E) then the boundary shall extend to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Hazar-enan; this shall be your northern boundary.

10 “You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11 and the boundary shall continue down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain, and the boundary shall go down and reach the eastern slope of the sea of Chinnereth,(F) 12 and the boundary shall go down to the Jordan, and its end shall be at the Dead Sea.[c] This shall be your land with its boundaries all around.”

13 Moses commanded the Israelites, saying, “This is the land that you shall apportion by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe,(G) 14 for the tribe of the Reubenites by their ancestral houses and the tribe of the Gadites by their ancestral houses have taken their inheritance and also the half-tribe of Manasseh;(H) 15 the two tribes and the half-tribe have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”

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Footnotes

  1. 34.3 Heb Salt Sea
  2. 34.6 Syr: Heb lacks its
  3. 34.12 Heb Salt Sea