1 Now these are the names of the tribes: from the north end, from the west on the way of Hethlon to the way into Hamath, in the direction of Hazar-enon, with the limit of Damascus to the north, by Hamath; and on the limit from the east side to the west side: Dan, one part.
And this is to be the limit of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea, in the direction of Hethlon, as far as the way into Hamath; To Zedad, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the limit of Damascus and the limit of Hazar-hatticon, which is on the limit of Hauran. And this is the limit from the sea in the direction of Hazar-enon; and the limit of Damascus is to the north, and on the north is the limit of Hamath. This is the north side.
For the tribe of Dan by their families the seventh heritage came out; And the limit of their heritage was Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh And Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah And Elon and Timnah and Ekron And Eltekeh and Gibbethon and Baalath And Jehud and Bene-berak and Gath-rimmon; And on the west was ... opposite Joppa. (But the limit of the children of Dan was not wide enough for them; so the children of Dan went up and made war on Leshem and took it, putting it to the sword without mercy, and they took it for their heritage and made a place for themselves there, giving it the name of Leshem-dan, after the name of their father, Dan.)
Then she said, Here is my servant Bilhah, go in to her, so that she may have a child on my knees, and I may have a family by her. So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah became with child, and gave birth to a son. Then Rachel said, God has been my judge, and has given ear to my voice, and has given me a son; so he was named Dan.
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his family came with Jacob. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.
These are the names of those who are to be your helpers: from Reuben, Elizur, the son of Shedeur; From Simeon, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai; From Judah, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab; From Issachar, Nethanel, the son of Zuar; From Zebulun, Eliab, the son of Helon; Of the children of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama, the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, From Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gideoni; From Dan, Ahiezer, the son of Ammi-shaddai; From Asher, Pagiel, the son of Ochran; From Gad, Eliasaph, the son of Reuel; From Naphtali, Ahira, the son of Enan.
And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur. Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu. Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi. Of the tribe of Joseph, that is of the family of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli. Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi. Of the tribe of Gad, Gevel, the son of Machi.
And your limit on the north will be the line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor: And from Mount Hor the line will go in the direction of Hamath; the farthest point of it will be at Zedad: And the limit will go on to Ziphron, with its farthest point at Hazar-enan: this will be your limit on the north.
Then the children of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were stronger than he, he went back to his house. And they took that which Micah had made, and his priest, and came to Laish, to a people living quietly and without thought of danger, and they put them to the sword without mercy, burning down their town. And they had no saviour, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with Aram; and it was in the valley which is the property of Beth-rehob. And building up the town again they took it for their living-place. And they gave the town the name of Dan, after Dan their father, who was the son of Israel: though the town had been named Laish at first.
So after taking thought the king made two oxen of gold; and he said to the people, You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough; see! these are your gods, O Israel, who took you out of the land of Egypt. And he put one in Beth-el and the other in Dan.
And the west side will be the Great Sea, from the limit on the south to a point opposite the way into Hamath. This is the west side.
And there came to my ears the number of those who had the mark on their brows, a hundred and forty-four thousand, who were marked out of every tribe of the people of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were marked twelve thousand: of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand: of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand: Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand: of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand: of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand: Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand: of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand: of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand: Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand: of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand: of the tribe of Benjamin were marked twelve thousand.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 48
Commentary on Ezekiel 48 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 48
Eze 48:1-35. Allotment of the Land to the Several Tribes.
1. Dan—The lands are divided into portions of ideal exactness, running alongside of each other, the whole breadth from west to east, standing in a common relation to the temple in the center: seven tribes' portions on the north, five in the smaller division in the south. The portions of the city, the temple, the prince, and the priesthood, are in the middle, not within the boundaries of any tribe, all alike having a common interest in them. Judah has the place of honor next the center on the north, Benjamin the corresponding place of honor next the center on the south; because of the adherence of these two to the temple ordinances and to the house of David for so long, when the others deserted them. Dan, on the contrary, so long locally and morally semi-heathen (Jud 18:1-31), is to have the least honorable place, at the extreme north. For the same reason, St. John (Re 7:5-8) omits Dan altogether.
3. Asher—a tribe of which no one of note is mentioned in the Old Testament. In the New Testament one is singled out of it, the prophetess Anna.
4. Manasseh—The intercourse and unity between the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, and the nine and a half west of it, had been much kept up by the splitting of Manasseh, causing the visits of kinsmen one to the other from both sides of the Jordan. There shall be no need for this in the new order of things.
5. Ephraim—This tribe, within its two dependent tribes, Manasseh and Benjamin, for upwards of four hundred years under the judges held the pre-eminence.
6. Reuben—doomed formerly for incest and instability "not to excel" (Ge 49:4). So no distinguished prophet, priest, or king had come from it. Of it were the notorious Dathan and Abiram, the mutineers. A pastoral and Bedouin character marked it and Gad (Jud 5:16).
15-17. The five thousand rods, apportioned to the city out of the twenty-five thousand square, are to be laid off in a square of four thousand five hundred, with the two hundred fifty all around for suburbs.
profane—that is, not strictly sacred as the sacerdotal portions, but applied to secular uses.
24. Benjamin—Compare Jacob's prophecy (Ge 49:27; De 33:12). It alone with Judah had been throughout loyal to the house of David, so its prowess at the "night" of the national history was celebrated as well as in the "morning."
25. Simeon—omitted in the blessing of Moses in De 33:1-29, perhaps because of the Simeonite "prince," who at Baal-peor led the Israelites in their idolatrous whoredoms with Midian (Nu 25:14).
26. Issachar—Its ancient portion had been on the plain of Esdraelon. Compared (Ge 49:14) to "a strong ass crouching between two burdens," that is, tribute and tillage; never meddling with wars except in self-defense.
31. gates—(Re 21:12, &c.). The twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes to imply that all are regarded as having an interest in it.
35. Lord is there—Jehovah-Shammah. Not that the city will be called so in mere name, but that the reality will be best expressed by this descriptive title (Jer 3:17; 33:16; Zec 2:10; Re 21:3; 22:3).