(8) From Mount Hor . . . —From Mount Hor the boundary line was to pass the unknown Ziphron to the village of Enan, or Hazar-enan, which is likewise unknown. (Comp. Ezekiel 47:16-18.) This line probably crossed the northern portion of the Lebanon. read more
THE WAY AND THE LOTNumbers 33:1-56; Numbers 34:1-291. THE itinerary of Numbers 33:1-49 is one of the passages definitely ascribed to Moses. It opens with the departure from Rameses in Egypt on the morrow after the passover, when the children of Israel "went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians." The exodus is made singularly impressive in this narrative by the addition that it took place "while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, which the Lord had smitten among... read more
10. Instructions Concerning the Conquest and the Boundaries of the Land CHAPTERS 33:50-34 1. Command to drive out the inhabitants of the land (Numbers 33:50-56 ) 2. The division of the land (Numbers 34:1-15 ) 3. The names of the men who shall divide the land (Numbers 34:16-29 ) The extermination of the Canaanites is first of all demanded. Everything of idolatry was to be destroyed. The land was to belong to a holy people who belong to Jehovah, therefore the Canaanite with his... read more
BOUNDARIES OF ISRAEL'S INHERITANCE (vs.1-15) The Lord now defines the boundaries of the land that Israel was to inherit at the time. For the area then was made smaller than it will be in Millennium, when it will extend from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18). There is no doubt that all the names and places involved in these boundaries have spiritual significance, but we can only pass them over through lack of needed intelligence. Yet though in glory our own... read more
GETTING READY FOR CANAAN REUBEN AND GAD’S CHOICE (Numbers 32:0 ) What was their choice of possessions, and on what ground was it made (Numbers 32:1-5 )? What suspicion of their motive possessed Moses (Numbers 32:6-15 )? What assurance is given him (Numbers 32:16-19 )? How is the matter closed (Numbers 32:20-27 )? What charge does Moses transmit to his successors (Numbers 32:28-32 )? REVIEW OF THE JOURNEY (Numbers 33:0 ) This chapter may be said to form the winding-up of the history of... read more
Boundaries Num 34:1-12 Life is marked all over with boundary lines. Two different views may be taken of such lines, that is to say, in the first place they may be regarded as limitations and partial impoverishments, or, in the next place, they may be regarded as defining rights and liberties, possessions and authorities. Thus, the low view or the high view may be taken of everything in life. Men will work according to their imagination their noblest faculty. Where that is dull, everything... read more
I have not interrupted the Reader by dividing these verses, because I would have him first read over attentively the whole account of the extent of the promised land; and then look over it again, to remark with me the striking observations which arise out of it, considered altogether. If the Reader considers the extent of it, he will discover that it was not in length above 160 miles; and the breadth of it not more than 50. But this little spot, compared to the whole earth, was what the LORD... read more
Emath. It is of great importance to fix the situation of this city. Some take it to be Antioch, the capital of Syria, on the Orontes. But that was a modern city, founded by Nicanor, and called after his father, Antiochus, and embellished by Callinicus and Epiphanes. (Strabo xvi.) --- Others believe it is Epiphania, at the foot of Libanus, on the same river, and a distinct city from Emath Rabba, or "the great," of Amos vi. 2. Josephus [Antiquities?] i. 7, (Calmet) and St. Jerome (in Isaias x.)... read more
1-15 Canaan was of small extent; as it is here bounded, it is but about 160 miles in length, and about 50 in breadth; yet this was the country promised to the father of the faithful, and the possession of the seed of Israel. This was that little spot of ground, in which alone, for many ages, God was known. This was the vineyard of the Lord, the garden enclosed; but as it is with gardens and vineyards, the narrowness of the space was made up by the fruitfulness of the soil. Though the earth is... read more
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John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 34:1-29
The Boundaries of the Land of PromiseOn the land and the tribes inhabiting it see on Numbers 13:21.3-5. The southern border: this started from the S. extremity of the Dead Sea, here called the Salt Sea (Numbers 34:3), and proceeded in a SW. direction to the ascent of Akrabbim, i.e. ’of scorpions’ (Numbers 34:4), a row of cliffs about 8 m. distant; thence it passed by way of Kadesh-Barnea to the River of Egypt, where it reached the Mediterranean Sea (Numbers 34:5). The ’River of Egypt’ is not... read more