54 `And ye have inherited the land by lot, by your families; to the many ye increase their inheritance, and to the few ye diminish their inheritance; whither the lot goeth out to him, it is his; by the tribes of your fathers ye inherit.
`To these is the land apportioned by inheritance, by the number of names; to the many thou dost increase their inheritance, and to the few thou dost diminish their inheritance; `to' each according to his numbered ones is given his inheritance. `Only by lot is the land apportioned, by the names of the tribes of their fathers they inherit; according to the lot is their inheritance apportioned between many and few.'
And the lot for the tribe of the sons of Judah, for their families, is unto the border of Edom; the wilderness of Zin southward, at the extremity of the south; and to them the south border is at the extremity of the salt sea, from the bay which is looking southward; and it hath gone out unto the south to Maaleh-Akrabbim, and passed over to Zin, and gone up on the south to Kadesh-Barnea, and passed over `to' Hezron, and gone up to Adar, and turned round to Karkaa, and passed over `to' Azmon, and gone out `at' the brook of Egypt, and the outgoings of the border have been at the sea; this is to you the south border. And the east border `is' the salt sea, unto the extremity of the Jordan, and the border at the north quarter `is' from the bay of the sea, at the extremity of the Jordan; and the border hath gone up `to' Beth-Hoglah, and passed over on the north of Beth-Arabah, and the border hath gone up `to' the stone of Bohan son of Reuben: and the border hath gone up towards Debir from the valley of Achor, and northward looking unto Gilgal, which `is' over-against the ascent of Adummim, which `is' on the south of the brook, and the border hath passed over unto the waters of En-Shemesh, and its outgoings have been unto En-Rogel; and the border hath gone up the valley of the son of Hinnom, unto the side of the Jebusite on the south (it `is' Jerusalem), and the border hath gone up unto the top of the hill-country which `is' on the front of the valley of Hinnom westward, which `is' in the extremity of the valley of the Rephaim northward; and the border hath been marked out, from the top of the hill-country unto the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah, and hath gone out unto the cities of mount Ephron, and the border hath been marked out `to' Baalah, (it `is' Kirjath-Jearim); and the border hath gone round from Baalah westward, unto mount Seir, and passed over unto the side of mount Jearim (it `is' Chesalon), on the north, and gone down `to' Beth-Shemesh, and passed over to Timnah; and the border hath gone out unto the side of Ekron northward, and the border hath been marked out `to' Shicron, and hath passed over to mount Baalah, and gone out `to' Jabneel; and the outgoings of the border have been at the sea. And the west border `is' to the great sea, and `its' border; this `is' the border of the sons of Judah round about for their families.
And the lot for the sons of Joseph goeth out from Jordan `by' Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness going up from Jericho in the hill-country of Beth-El, and hath gone out from Beth-El to Luz, and passed over unto the border of Archi `to' Ataroth, and gone down westward unto the border of Japhleti, unto the border of Beth-Horon the lower, and unto Gezer, and its outgoings have been at the sea. And the sons of Joseph -- Manasseh and Ephraim -- inherit.
And the lot is for the tribe of Manasseh (for he `is' first-born of Joseph), for Machir first-born of Manasseh, father of Gilead, for he hath been a man of war, and his are Gilead and Bashan. And there is for the sons of Manasseh who are left, for their families; for the sons of Abiezer, and for the sons of Helek, and for the sons of Asriel, and for the sons of Shechem, and for the sons of Hepher, and for the sons of Shemida; these `are' the children of Manasseh son of Joseph -- the males -- by their families. As to Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, he hath no children except daughters, and these `are' the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, and they draw near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, `Jehovah commanded Moses to give to us an inheritance in the midst of our brethren;' and he giveth to them, at the command of Jehovah, an inheritance in the midst of the brethren of their father. And ten portions fall `to' Manasseh, apart from the land of Gilead and Bashan, which `are' beyond the Jordan; for the daughters of Manasseh have inherited an inheritance in the midst of his sons, and the land of Gilead hath been to the sons of Manasseh who are left. And the border of Manasseh is from Asher to Michmethah, which `is' on the front of Shechem, and the border hath gone on unto the right, unto the inhabitants of En-Tappuah. To Manasseh hath been the land of Tappuah, and Tappuah unto the border of Manasseh is to the sons of Ephraim. And the border hath come down `to' the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook; these cities of Ephraim `are' in the midst of the cities of Manasseh, and the border of Manasseh `is' on the north of the brook, and its outgoings are at the sea. Southward `is' to Ephraim and northward to Manasseh, and the sea is his border, and in Asher they meet on the north, and in Issachar on the east. And Manasseh hath in Issachar and in Asher, Beth-Shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, three counties. And the sons of Manasseh have not been able to occupy these cities, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in this land, and it cometh to pass when the sons of Israel have been strong, that they put the Canaanite to tribute, and have not utterly dispossessed him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 33
Commentary on Numbers 33 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 33
Nu 33:1-15. Two and Forty Journeys of the Israelites—from Egypt to Sinai.
1. These are the journeys of the children of Israel—This chapter may be said to form the winding up of the history of the travels of the Israelites through the wilderness; for the three following chapters relate to matters connected with the occupation and division of the promised land. As several apparent discrepancies will be discovered on comparing the records here given of the journeyings from Sinai with the detailed accounts of the events narrated in the Book of Exodus and the occasional notices of places that are found in that of Deuteronomy, it is probable that this itinerary comprises a list of only the most important stations in their journeys—those where they formed prolonged encampments, and whence they dispersed their flocks and herds to pasture on the adjacent plains till the surrounding herbage was exhausted. The catalogue extends from their departure out of Egypt to their arrival on the plains of Moab.
went forth … with their armies—that is, a vast multitude marshalled in separate companies, but regular order.
2. Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord—The wisdom of this divine order is seen in the importance of the end to which it was subservient—namely, partly to establish the truth of the history, partly to preserve a memorial of God's marvellous interpositions on behalf of Israel, and partly to confirm their faith in the prospect of the difficult enterprise on which they were entering, the invasion of Canaan.
3. Rameses—generally identified with Heroopoils, now the modern Abu-Keisheid (see on Ex 12:37), which was probably the capital of Goshen, and, by direction of Moses, the place of general rendezvous previous to their departure.
4. upon their gods—used either according to Scripture phraseology to denote their rulers (the first-born of the king and his princes) or the idolatrous objects of Egyptian worship.
5. pitched in Succoth—that is, "booths"—a place of no note except as a temporary halting place, at Birketel-Hadji, the Pilgrim's Pool [Calmet].
6. Etham—edge, or border of all that part of Arabia-Petræa which lay contiguous to Egypt and was known by the general name of Shur.
7. Pi-hahiroth, Baal-zephon … Migdol—(See on Ex 14:2).
8. Marah—thought to be Ain Howarah, both from its position and the time (three days) it would take them with their children and flocks to march from the water of Ayun Musa to that spot.
9. Elim—supposed to be Wady Ghurundel (see on Ex 15:27).
10. encamped by the Red Sea—The road from Wady Ghurundel leads into the interior, in consequence of a high continuous ridge which excludes all view of the sea. At the mouth of Wady-et-Tayibeh, after about three days' march, it opens again on a plain along the margin of the Red Sea. The minute accuracy of the Scripture narrative, in corresponding so exactly with the geographical features of this region, is remarkably shown in describing the Israelites as proceeding by the only practicable route that could be taken. This plain, where they encamped, was the Desert of Sin (see on Ex 16:1).
12-14. Dophkah … Alush … Rephidim—These three stations, in the great valleys of El Sheikh and Feiran, would be equivalent to four days' journey for such a host. Rephidim (Ex 17:6) was in Horeb, the burnt region—a generic name for a hot, mountainous country. [See on Ex 17:1.]
15. wilderness of Sinai—the Wady Er-Raheh.
Nu 33:16-56. From Sinai to Kadesh and Plains of Moab.
16-37. Kibroth-Hattaavah ("the graves of lust," see on Nu 11:34)—The route, on breaking up the encampment at Sinai, led down Wady Sheikh; then crossing Jebel-et-Tih, which intersected the peninsula, they descended into Wady Zalaka, pitching successively at two brief, though memorable, stations (De 9:22); then they encamped at Hazeroth ("unwalled villages"), supposed to be at Ain-Hadera (see on Nu 11:35). Kadesh, or Kadesh-barnea, is supposed to be the great valley of the Ghor, and the city Kadesh to have been situated on the border of this valley [Burckhardt; Robinson]. But as there are no less than eighteen stations inserted between Hazeroth and Kadesh, and only eleven days were spent in performing that journey (De 1:2), it is evident that the intermediate stations here recorded belong to another and totally different visit to Kadesh. The first was when they left Sinai in the second month (Nu 1:11; 13:20), and were in Kadesh in August (De 1:45), and "abode many days" in it. Then, murmuring at the report of the spies, they were commanded to return into the desert "by the way of the Red Sea." The arrival at Kadesh, mentioned in this catalogue, corresponds to the second sojourn at that place, being the first month, or April (Nu 20:1). Between the two visits there intervened a period of thirty-eight years, during which they wandered hither and thither through all the region of El-Tih ("wanderings"), often returning to the same spots as the pastoral necessities of their flocks required; and there is the strongest reason for believing that the stations named between Hazeroth (Nu 33:8) and Kadesh (Nu 33:36) belong to the long interval of wandering. No certainty has yet been attained in ascertaining the locale of many of these stations. There must have been more than are recorded; for it is probable that those only are noted where they remained some time, where the tabernacle was pitched, and where Moses and the elders encamped, the people being scattered for pasture in various directions. From Ezion-geber, for instance, which stood at the head of the gulf of Akaba, to Kadesh, could not be much less than the whole length of the great valley of the Ghor, a distance of not less than a hundred miles, whatever might be the exact situation of Kadesh; and, of course, there must have been several intervening stations, though none are mentioned. The incidents and stages of the rest of the journey to the plains of Moab are sufficiently explicit from the preceding chapters.
18. Rithmah ("the place of the broom")—a station possibly in some wady extending westward of the Ghor.
19. Rimmon-parez, or Rimmon—a city of Judah and Simeon (Jos 15:32); Libnah, so called from its white poplars (Jos 10:29), or, as some think, a white hill between Kadesh and Gaza (Jos 10:29); Rissah (El-arish); mount Shapher (Cassius); Moseroth, adjacent to mount Hor, in Wady Mousa. Ezion-geber, near Akaba, a seaport on the western shore of the Elanitic gulf; Wilderness of Zin, on the east side of the peninsula of Sinai; Punon, in the rocky ravines of mount Hor and famous for the mines and quarries in its vicinity as well as for its fruit trees, now Tafyle, on the border of Edom; Abarim, a ridge of rugged hills northwest of the Arnon—the part called Nebo was one of its highest peaks—opposite Jericho. (See on De 10:6).
50-53. ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you—not, however, by expulsion, but extermination (De 7:1).
and destroy all their pictures—obelisks for idolatrous worship (see on Le 26:1).
and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places—by metonymy for all their groves and altars, and materials of worship on the tops of hills.
54. ye shall divide the land by lot—The particular locality of each tribe was to be determined in this manner while a line was to be used in measuring the proportion (Jos 18:10; Ps 16:5, 6).
55. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you—No associations were to be formed with the inhabitants; otherwise, "if ye let remain, they will be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides"—that is, they would prove troublesome and dangerous neighbors, enticing to idolatry, and consequently depriving you of the divine favor and blessing. The neglect of the counsel against union with the idolatrous inhabitants became fatal to them. This earnest admonition given to the Israelites in their peculiar circumstances conveys a salutary lesson to us to allow no lurking habits of sin to remain in us. That spiritual enemy must be eradicated from our nature; otherwise it will be ruinous to our present peace and future salvation.