And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein ,.... Turn them out of their cities, towns, and houses, and inhabit them: for I have given you the land to possess it ; who had a right to dispose of it, and a better title they needed not desire than the Lord could and did make them. read more
And ye shall divide the land by lot ,.... What is said in this verse is the same with Numbers 26:53 , where it has been explained; See Gill on Numbers 26:53 ; see Gill on Numbers 26:54 ; see Gill on Numbers 26:55 ; see Gill on Numbers 26:56 . read more
Verse 54 54And ye shall divide the land by lot. The mode of division is also stated, that each should possess what fell to him by lot; and this was the best plan, for the several tribes would never have allowed themselves to be sent here or there at the option of men: and even if the arrangement had been left to the voices of the judges, they would rather have quarreled with each other than determined what was right. But we must here take into consideration something deeper; viz., that by this... read more
I have given you the land. "The earth is the Lord's," and no one, therefore, can dispute his right in the abstract to evict any of his tenants and to put others in possession. But while the whole earth was the Lord's, it is clear that he assumed a special relation towards the land of Canaan, as to which he chose to exercise directly the rights and duties of landlord (see on Deuteronomy 22:8 for a small but striking instance). The first duty of a landlord is to see that the occupancy of his... read more
Ye shall divide the land by lot. These directions are repeated in substance from Numbers 26:53-56 . Every man's inheritance. Not only the tribe, but the family and the household, was to receive its special inheritance by lot; no doubt in such a way that the final settlement of the country would correspond with the blood relationships of the settlers. read more
The expulsion of the Canaanites and the destruction of their monuments of idolatry had been already enjoined (see the marginal references); and Numbers 33:54 is substantially a repetition from Exo. 26:53-55. But the solemn warning of Numbers 33:55-56 is new. A call for it had been furnished by their past transgressions in the matter of Baal-peor, and by their imperfect fulfillment, at the first, of Moses’ orders in the Midianite war. read more
Numbers 33:54. Ye shall divide the land by lot As they gradually conquered the country, they were to divide it among the tribes, according to the rules and proportions before prescribed them, Numbers 26:54-55. read more
Plans for the division of Canaan (33:50-34:29)As Canaan was to become the land of Yahweh’s people, all the former inhabitants and all trace of their religion had to be removed. Failure to do this would bring trouble for Israel (50-56).Moses then gave the boundaries of the land that Israel was to occupy. The southern boundary went from the Dead Sea through Kadesh-barnea to the Brook of Egypt, which it followed to the coast. The western boundary followed the coast along the Mediterranean Sea. The... read more
inhabitants of the land. Figure of speech Ellipsis ( App-6 ) correctly supplied. Hebrew "land" is put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), for the inhabitants. read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 33:50-56
While the children of Israel were in the wilderness their total separation from all other people kept them out of the way of temptation to idolatry, and perhaps this was one thing intended by their long confinement in the wilderness, that thereby the idols of Egypt might be forgotten, and the people aired (as it were) and purified from that infection, and the generation that entered Canaan might be such as never knew those depths of Satan. But now that they were to pass over Jordan they were... read more