31 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Numbers 34 In this chapter the bounds and borders of the land Canaan are described, according to the direction of the Lord to Moses, Numbers 34:1, the south border, Numbers 34:3, the western border, Numbers 34:6, the north border, Numbers 34:7, the east border, Numbers 34:10, which is ordered to be divided by lot to the nine tribes...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time that he ordered him to direct the children of Israel, when they had passed over Jordan, to drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, and divide their land among them, he proceeded to give the limits and boundaries of the land: saying; as follows.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter God directs Moses, and he is to direct Israel, I. Concerning the bounds and borders of the land of Canaan, ver. 1-15. II. Concerning the division and distribution of it to the tribes of Israel, ver. 16, &c. The Boundaries of Canaan. (b. c. 1452.) 1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, and say...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Command the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Not to fix the borders, and settle the boundaries of the land, for that is done by the Lord himself, who has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of men's habitations, and particularly of Israel, see Deuteronomy 32:8, but to observe and take notice of the limits he had fixed,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then your south quarter,.... Or border of the land; which, as Jarchi observes, was from east to west: shall be from the wilderness of Zin; which is Kadesh, where Miriam died, Numbers 20:1, and if this Kadesh was Kadeshbarnea, as Dr. Lightfoot seems to have proved (h), from whence the spies were sent, that was clearly on the south of the land of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And your border,.... That is, the south border, which is still describing: shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim; or Maalehacrabbim, as in Joshua 15:3 so called from the multitude of serpents and scorpions in it, see Deuteronomy 8:15, so Kimchi says (k), a place of serpents and scorpions was this ascent: Dr. Shaw (l) says Akrabbim...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the border shall fetch a compass,.... Not go on in a straight line, but turn about: from Azmon unto the river of Egypt; the river Nile, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but Aben Ezra seems to deny that that river is meant: and some think that Rhinocolura, which flows into the Mediterranean sea, is meant; or the "valley of Egypt",...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as for the western border,.... Of the land of Canaan: you shall even have the great sea for a border; and no other, meaning the Mediterranean sea, which lies west of the land of Judea; Aben Ezra calls it the Spanish sea: it has the name of "great", in comparison of some in the land of Canaan, as the salt sea, and the sea of Tiberias: this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And this shall be your northern border,.... What follows: from the great sea ye shall point out for you Mount Hor; not that Mount Hor on which Aaron died, for that was on the southern border of the land; but rather Mount Herman, which is said to be unto the entering into Hamath, Joshua 13:5 as this Mount Hor is in the following verse; or some part...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
From Mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath,.... Antiochia, as Jarchi; or rather Epiphania, as Jerom (r); the former being described by Hemath the great, Amos 6:2, this entrance was a narrow pass leading from the land of Canaan to Syria, through the valley which lies between Lebanon and Antilibanus: and the goings...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the border shall go on to Ziphron,.... Which in the Jerusalem Targum is called Zapherin; and Jerom (s) says, that in his time this city was called Zephyrium, a town in Cilicia; but this seems to be at too great a distance: and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan; which was the utmost of the northern border, and so it is in Ezekiel 47:17...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham. From the place where the northern border ended, which Jerom says (u) the Hebrews call Apamia, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem do here. Shepham was a city between Hazarenan and Riblah in the tribe of Naphtali, where Adrichomius (w) places it. (u) Comment. ut supra....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah,.... Said to be in the land of Hemath, Jeremiah 52:9, which, according to Jerom (x), was Antioch of Syria; and both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem understand by it Daphne, which was in the suburbs of Antioch; but this seems to be carrying the limits of the land too far: Jarchi remarks, that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the border shall go down to Jordan,.... A well known river to the east of the land of Canaan: and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea; the sea of Sodom; and though all sea water is generally salt, this was remarkably so, through the great quantity of bitumen and nitre in it; hence it was called Asphaltites; thus as the description of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying,.... Strictly enjoining them to observe what he was about to say to them: this is the land which ye shall inherit by lot; as above described and bounded: which the Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe; to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Zebulun,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the tribe of the children of Reuben, according to the house of their fathers,.... That tribe, and all the families belonging to it: have received their inheritance, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance; that is, it was agreed they should have it on condition of their going along with the other tribes over Jordan into...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The two tribes and the half tribe,.... The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh: have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho, eastward, toward the sun rising; that is, they received the grant of it there, even in the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho, which lay to the east of the land of Canaan.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time that he gave him the bounds of the land of Canaan, which was to be divided between the nine tribes and a half; and that this might be done in the most impartial manner, and to the satisfaction of them all, he gave orders to Moses: saying; as follows.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you,.... Or "inherit the land for you" (z); that is, as Jarchi interprets it, they were to take possession of it in their name and stead, as their representatives, and then distribute it unto them, or divide it to be inherited by them; but whatever may be said for the princes of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And ye shall take one prince out of every tribe,.... That is, out of the nine tribes and the half, which are ten in all; of the tribes of Reuben and Gad none were taken, because they had had their inheritance granted them elsewhere; nor of the tribe of Levi, because they were to have no inheritance in the land: to divide the land by inheritance;...