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. read more
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, that they might know how far they were to go on every side, whom they were to drive out, and what they were to divide and inherit, and see what... read more
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 F8 Works, vol. 2. p. 8, 9. , from whence the spies were sent, that was clearly on the south of the land of Canaan, for they were bid to go up their way southward, Numbers 13:17 , and so Kadeshbarnea is hereafter... read more
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 F11 Sepher Shorash. "in voce" עקרב . , a place of serpents and scorpions was this ascent: Dr. Shaw F12 Travels, tom. 2. ch. 1. p. 279. says Akrabbim may probably be the same with the mountains of Accaba,... read more
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", Casiotis, which divided Judea from Egypt, as follows: and the goings out of it ; not of the river, but of the border: shall be at the... read more
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 shall be your west border ; namely, the Mediterranean sea. read more
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 of Mount Lebanon might be so called, which was the northern border of the land: the Targum of Jonathan calls it Umanus; and the Jerusalem... read more
From Mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath ,.... Antiochia, as Jarchi; or rather Epiphania, as Jerom F18 Comment. in Ezek. 47. 16. ; 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 forth of the border shall be to Zedad ; the same boundary as here is given in Ezekiel 47:15 . read more
And the border shall go on to Ziphron ,.... Which in the Jerusalem Targum is called Zapherin; and Jerom F19 Comment. in ver. 15. 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 and there called the border of Damascus: Reland F20 Palestin. lllustrat. par. 1. l. 1. p. 123. takes it... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 34:1-15
We have here a particular draught of the line by which the land of Canaan was meted, and bounded, on all sides. God directs Moses to settle it here, not as a geographer in his map, merely to please the curious, but as a prince in his grant, that it may be certainly known what passes, and is conveyed, by the grant. There was a much larger possession promised them, which in due time they would have possessed if they had been obedient, reaching even to the river Euphrates, Dan. 11:24. And even so... read more