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NUMBERS 34

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV   NJB
(MT versing)
Instructions for Apportioning Canaan The Appointed Boundaries of Canaan Ideal Boundaries of the Promised Land The Boundaries of the Land The Boundaries of Canaan
34:1-5 34:1-5 34:1-5 34:1-5 34:1-2
34:3-5
34:6-9 34:6-9 34:6 34:6 34:6
34:7-9 34:7-9 34:7-9
34:10-12 34:10-12 34:10-12 34:10-12 34:10-12
34:13-15 34:13-15 34:13-15 34:13-15 34:13-15
The Leaders Appointed to Divide the Land The Leaders Responsible for Dividing the Land The Leaders in Charge of the Allocation
34:16-29 34:16-29 34:16-29 34:16-28 34:16
34:17-19a
34:19b
34:20
34:21
34:22
34:23
34:24
34:25
34:26
34:27
34:28
34:29 34:29

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 34:1-5
  1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2"Command the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders. 3Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. 4Then your border shall turn direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its termination shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon. 5The border shall turn direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea.'"

34:2 "the land of Canaan according to its borders" It is interesting that we have found a description of Canaan very similar to this in the Egyptian records of the second half of the 13th century. The land of Canaan was a geographical unit under Egyptian control. These dimensions were only approximated during David and Solomon's time.

34:3 "your southern border" Numbers 34:3-5 describes the southern border of Israel. It was not a straight boundary but a semi-circle, beginning at the bottom of the Dead Sea and running to the wadi El-Arish, which is called in most biblical texts, "the brook of Egypt." This does not refer to the Nile River but to a winter torrent just below the Gaza Strip, as we call it today.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 34:6-9
  6"'As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its coastline; this shall be your west border. 7And this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. 8You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to the Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; 9and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.'"

34:6 "As for the western border" The western border was the Mediterranean Sea.

34:7 "your northern border" This also is a difficult boundary to describe. From the places mentioned in this account it seems to be some sixty miles to the north of Damascus. This was approximately the northern boundary during Solomon's reign. However, it included all of Phoenicia and Syria, which is somewhat out of touch with other biblical accounts.

▣ "Mount Hor" This is obviously a mountain in the far north and cannot refer to the same mountain where Aaron died, close to the land of Edom (i.e., Num. 20:22-29; Deut. 32:15).

34:8 "the Lebo-hamath" This is a very ambiguous location. Some believe it is the entrance to the valley in which this city is located, while others think it might include the city itself.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 34:10-12
  10"'For your eastern border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11and the border shall go down from Shepham to 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 Chinnereth. 12And 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 all around.'"

34:10 "For your eastern boundary" The eastern boundary would primarily be a large semi-circle with Damascus as the center of the circle which runs from Lebo-hamath all the way around to the Sea of Galilee.

In this text the Sea of Galilee is called the "Sea of Chinnereth" (cf. Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11:2; 12:3; 13:27; 19:35; 1 Kgs. 15:20). It is also known as "Lake Genesseret" (cf. Matt. 14:34; Mark 6:53; Luke 5:1) and "Lake Tiberias" (cf. John 6:1,23; 21:1).

34:11 "Riblah" The UBS Text Project, p. 262, lists three options.

  1. "to Riblah" (NASB, JPSOA)
  2. "to Harbel" (TEV)
  3. "Harb-lah" (LXX)

The Peshitta has "Diblath," which involves the common Hebrew "r" - "d" confusion. It gives #3 a "C" rating (considerable doubt).

The BDB 916 says "Num. 34:11, on NE border of the land of Israel, certainly not so far n. as "Hamath" (cf. 2 Kgs. 23:33; 25:21), but site unknown."

34:12 "This shall be your land according to its borders all around" It is significant that the trans-Jordan area, which became the tribal allocation of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, is not included in this geographical description of the Promised Land. Therefore, it is discussed in Num. 34:13-15.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 34:13-15
  13So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, "This is the land that you are to apportion by lot among you as a possession, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14For 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. 15The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrising."

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 34:16-29
  16Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17"These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. 19These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud. 21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod.24Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud." 29These are those whom the Lord commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

34:17 "Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun" This is a list of the leaders who will divide the tribes by family. The only name that is known in other parts of the Bible is Caleb (cf. Num. 34:19), the representative of the tribe of Judah. Joshua, Moses' successor, and Eleazar, Aaron's successor, will officiate the division of the land into the tribal units and then each of these leaders will officiate the division of the large block of land into family units.

34:19-28 This is the new generation of tribal leaders. All of those who listened to the ten spies (Numbers 13-14) are dead.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. Did Israel ever control these boundaries? If so when?
  2. Where did these geographical limits come from?
  3. Why is the trans-Jordan (i.e., eastside) not mentioned?
  4. Who are the men listed in Num. 34:16-28? What was their assigned task?

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