Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them ,.... What was to be said, being what concerned the whole body of the people: when ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan ; near to which they now were, and Moses was about to leave them; and therefore it was the more necessary to give them some instructions and directions what they should do, when they were come into it. read more
When ye are passed over Jordan. Previous legislation had anticipated the time when they should have come into their own land (cf. Numbers 15:2 ; Le Numbers 23:10 ), but now the crossing of the river is spoken of as the last step on their journey home. 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 33:50-52. Ye shall drive out all the inhabitants They were to be entirely rooted out, that the Israelites might not be seduced by their abominable idolatries, Exodus 23:33; Deuteronomy 20:16-18. And destroy all their pictures Which seem to have been stones curiously engraven and set up for worship, Deuteronomy 16:22. Destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places The chapels, altars, groves, or other means of worship here set up. 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
Numbers 33:50-52. The Lord spake—ye shall drive out— i.e. Entirely root out and destroy the inhabitants, for their idolatry and abominable vices, Exodus 23:33.Deuteronomy 20:16; Deuteronomy 20:16; Deuteronomy 20:20. As they were shortly to pass into the promised land, God commands Moses to give the Israelites a general but strict notice, how they should treat the inhabitants of that land, as the instruments of his just providence in the punishment of their long and incurable course of... read more
B. Warning and encouragement of the younger generation chs. 33-36God gave the final laws governing Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land (Numbers 33:50 to Numbers 36:13). However, first, Moses recorded at God’s command this list of places from which the Israelites had set out on their journey from Egypt to Canaan. This is the only statement in Numbers that directly claims Mosaic authorship, though the whole book assumes it (cf. Exodus 17:14; Exodus 24:4; Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 31:9;... read more
Instructions to drive out the Canaanites 33:50-56This brief section of instructions introduces specific directions concerning the division of the land and its towns that follow in chapters 34-36.The repetition of "all" (Numbers 33:52) stresses the importance of completely clearing the land of its inhabitants and their religious paraphernalia. God wanted to clean up the land spiritually and to make it a "holy land." The land was a gift from God to His first-born son, Israel (Numbers 33:53). God... read more
The Journeyings of the Israelites from Egypt to the Plains of MoabThe greater part of this chapter is occupied with a list, drawn up by Moses himself (Numbers 33:2), of the Encampments of the Israelites in their journey from Egypt to Canaan. In all, forty stages are enumerated. Many of the names are otherwise unknown, and in places the stages do not coincide with those mentioned in the books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These differences are, no doubt, due in part to the fact that... read more
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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