1And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Command the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: When you come to the land of Canaan, this is the land that will fall to you as a legacy, the land of Canaan by its borders:
3And the southern side for you shall be from the wilderness of Zin next to Edom, and the southern border for you shall be from the edge of the Dead Sea to the east.
4And the border for you shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabim and will pass to Zin, and its extent shall be from the south to Kadesh-barnea, and it shall go out to Hazar-addar and pass to Azmon.
5And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Wadi of Egypt, and its extent shall be to the sea.
34:5. the wadi of Egypt. This refers to the Wadi el-‘Arîsh.
6And the western border: and the big sea shall be a border for you. This shall be the western border for you.
34:6. the big sea. The Mediterranean Sea.
7And this shall be the northern border for you: you shall mark from the big sea to Mount Hor,
8from Mount Hor you shall mark to the entrance of Hamath, and the border’s extent shall be to Zedad,
9and the border shall go out to Ziphron, and its extent shall be to Hazar-enan. This shall be the northern border for you.
10And you shall mark for the border to the east from Hazar-enan to Shepham,
11and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah at the east of Ain, and the border shall go down and rub on the shoulder of the Sea of Kinneret on the east,
34:11. Sea of Kinneret. The Sea of Galilee.
34:11. shoulder … on the east. On the east side of the Sea of Galilee is a mountain wall, a “shoulder,” known as the Golan Heights.
12and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its extent will be to the Dead Sea. This shall be the land for you by its borders all around.”
34:12. the Dead Sea. In Hebrew it is called “the Salt Sea.”
13And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall give as legacies by lot, which YHWH commanded to give to the nine tribes and the half of a tribe.”
34:13. nine tribes and the half of a tribe. The half of a tribe is half of the tribe of Manasseh. The other half of Manasseh took land on the east side of the Jordan along with the tribes of Reuben and Gad.
14Because the tribe of the children of the Reubenites by their fathers’ house and the tribe of the children of the Gadites by their fathers’ house had taken and half of the tribe of Manasseh had taken their legacy.
15The two tribes and the half of a tribe had taken their legacy from across the Jordan toward Jericho on the east side—to the east.
16And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
17“These are the names of the people who will give the land as legacies to you: Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua son of Nun;
34:17. the names of the people. Over and over, the tribes and their leaders are named in the book of Numbers. From the wilderness period to the time of the judges to the time of the monarchy, Israel is never ruled by an individual political authority. There are always tribal chiefs, councils of leaders, priests, judges, and military officers. An individual human’s rule is never absolute—not even for Moses, not even for David.
18and you shall take one chieftain for each tribe to give the land as legacies.
19And these are the people’s names: For the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.
20And for the tribe of the children of Simeon, Samuel son of Ammihud.
21For the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Chislon.
22And for the tribe of the children of Dan, a chieftain, Bukki son of Jogli.
23For the children of Joseph: for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, a chieftain, Hanniel son of Ephod;
24and for the tribe of the children of Ephraim, a chieftain, Kemuel son of Shiphtan.
25And for the tribe of the children of Zebulun, a chieftain, Elizaphan son of Parnach.
26And for the tribe of the children of Issachar, a chieftain, Paltiel son of Azzan.
27And for the tribe of the children of Asher, a chieftain, Ahihud son of Shelomi.
28And for the tribe of the children of Naphtali, a chieftain, Pedahel son of Ammihud.”
29These are the ones whom YHWH commanded to give the children of Israel legacies in the land of Canaan.
