Numbers · chapter 34 of 36
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Numbers 34 defines the borders of Canaan, the land the Lord gives Israel: the south from the wilderness of Zin, the west at the Great Sea, the north toward Hamath and the east along the Jordan and the Salt Sea. The land will be divided by lot among the nine and a half tribes. The priest Eleazar and Joshua will lead the division, together with one leader from each tribe, among them Caleb.
After the list of camps and the command to drive out the inhabitants, Numbers 34 states precisely what land Israel will receive. Two and a half tribes had already asked for their share east of the Jordan, so the division concerns the remaining nine and a half tribes. The chapter shows that the promise made to Abraham has real borders and that God sees to it that the division is orderly.
The Lord tells Moses to say to the people that when they enter Canaan, this will be the land that falls to them as an inheritance, with these borders. The southern border starts at the end of the Salt Sea and passes through the wilderness of Zin, south of Kadesh-barnea, until it reaches the brook of Egypt and the sea. The western border is the Great Sea, the Mediterranean.
The northern border runs from the Great Sea to Mount Hor and then toward the entrance of Hamath, with points such as Zedad and Ziphron, to Hazar-enan. The eastern boundary goes down from Hazar-enan by Shepham, Riblah and the slope of the Sea of Chinnereth, and follows the Jordan to the Salt Sea. The Lord concludes: this will be the land, with its borders all around.
Moses reminds them that it will be divided by lot, because the Lord has given it to the nine and a half tribes, since Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their portion across the Jordan. Then the Lord names the men who will divide the land: the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun, and one leader from each tribe. From Judah it is Caleb son of Jephunneh, and the list names a leader from each of the other nine tribes. These are the ones the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance in the land of Canaan.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord orders Moses to tell the Israelites that they are entering Canaan and that this land will be their inheritance, with its borders. The land is a gift that God defines and hands over, not a conquest Israel measures out for itself.
Moses commands that the land be divided by lot, as the Lord ordered for the nine and a half tribes. The lot showed that each tribe's portion came from God and kept the powerful from grabbing the best.
The Lord names Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun to divide the inheritance. Together they join spiritual authority and the leadership of the people, and Joshua already appears as the successor of Moses.
Among those in charge of dividing the land is Caleb son of Jephunneh, of the tribe of Judah. Caleb was one of the two spies who trusted the Lord, and now he has a part in dividing the land that others feared.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The Great Sea, that is, the Mediterranean. — Numbers 34:6
Answer: By lot, not by choice. — Numbers 34:13
Answer: Nine and a half tribes, because Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had already received their share east of the Jordan. — Numbers 34:13-15
Answer: The priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun, together with one leader from each tribe. — Numbers 34:17-18
Answer: Caleb son of Jephunneh. — Numbers 34:19
Answer: The Jordan, which ends at the Salt Sea. — Numbers 34:12
A chapter of borders reminds us that God keeps his promises in concrete ways. What he told Abraham centuries earlier now has limits on a map. In a class you can ask which of the Lord's promises seem distant or abstract, and how what God said is already being fulfilled, sometimes in an orderly and unspectacular way.
It also shows that leadership among God's people is shared and serves everyone: a priest, a successor and a leader from each tribe. No one divides the inheritance for himself. Today's leaders can learn to work as a team and with transparency, aware that what they manage was received from God.
Numbers 34 fixes the borders of the land and the names of those who will divide it. The next chapter adds an essential piece for life in the land: the cities of the Levites and the cities of refuge, where the Lord guards justice and protects someone who causes a death without intending it.
Joshua and the judges occupied much of the land, but Israel did not take all the territory described here. The historical books indicate that under David and Solomon the kingdom reached a very wide extent. The Bible presents it as a promise fulfilled progressively.
The lot expressed that the Lord decided each tribe's share and prevented disputes and favoritism. Afterward, the size of each inheritance was adjusted to the number of families.
Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, was one of the spies who urged the people to enter Canaan, and for his faith he received a special promise. Here he appears as the leader of his tribe in dividing the land, something the earlier generation feared to take.