Numbers 34:2-14

34:2 “Give these instructions ¹  to the Israelites, and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance, ²  the land of Canaan with its borders, 34:3 your southern border ³  will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the Edomite border, and your southern border will run eastward to the extremity of the Salt Sea, 34:4 and then the border will turn from the south to the Scorpion Ascent, ⁴  continue to Zin, and then its direction ⁵  will be from the south to Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and pass over to Azmon. 34:5 There the border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and then its direction is to the sea. ⁶ 

The Western Border of the Land

34:6 “‘And for a western border ⁷  you will have the Great Sea. ⁸  This will be your western border.

The Northern Border of the Land

34:7 “‘And this will be your northern border: From the Great Sea you will draw a line to Mount Hor; 34:8 from Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath, ⁹  and the direction of the border will be to Zedad. 34:9 The border will continue to Ziphron, and its direction will be to Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.

The Eastern Border of the Land

34:10 “‘For your eastern border you will draw a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 34:11 The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will descend and reach the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth. ¹⁰  34:12 Then the border will continue down the Jordan River ¹¹  and its direction will be to the Salt Sea. This will be your land by its borders that surround it.’”

34:13 Then Moses commanded the Israelites: “This is the land which you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given ¹²  to the nine and a half tribes, 34:14 because the tribe of the Reubenites by their families, ¹³  the tribe of the Gadites by their families, and half of the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.

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¹ tn Or “command.”

² tn Heb “this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance.”

³ tn The expression refers to the corner or extremity of the Negev, the South.

⁴ tn Or “the Ascent of Scorpions” (עַקְרַבִּים [’aqrabbim] means “scorpions” in Hebrew).

⁵ tn Heb “its going forth,” or the way it runs.

⁶ sn That is, the Mediterranean.

⁷ tn The word for west is simply “sea,” because the sea is west of Israel.

⁸ sn That is, the Mediterranean Sea (also in the following verse).

⁹ tn Or “to the entrance to Hamath.”

¹⁰ tn Or “the Sea of Galilee” (so NLT); NCV, TEV, CEV “Lake Galilee.”

sn The word means “harp.” The lake (or sea) of Galilee was so named because it is shaped somewhat like a harp.

¹¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn The infinitive forms the direct object of what the Lord commanded. It actually means “to give,” but without an expressed subject may be made passive.

¹³ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also a little later in this verse.