(The previous post covered Israel's battle with the Midianites, summary of their journey from Egypt, and final preparations before entering the Promised Land.)
Numbers 34
(This chapter covered the dividing of the Promised Land.)
1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders thereof),
(Verses 3-5: the southern border.)
3 then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward;
(The Salt Sea was another name for the Dead Sea.)
4 and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out thereof shall be southward of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall go forth to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon;
5 and the border shall turn about from Azmon unto the brook of Egypt, and the goings out thereof shall be at the sea.
(Verse 6: the western border.)
6 And for the western border, ye shall have the great sea and the border thereof: this shall be your west border.
(The "great sea," or Mediterranean Sea, acted as the border.)
(Verses 7-9: the northern border.)
7 And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall mark out for you mount Hor;
(Mount Hor was believed to be the mountain Amana, a member of the great Lebanon range.)
8 from mount Hor ye shall mark out unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad;
9 and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out thereof shall be at Hazar-enan: this shall be your north border.
(Verses 10-12: the eastern border.)
10 And ye shall mark out your east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham;
11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward;
12 and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out thereof shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to the borders thereof round about.
(Verses 13-15: these were the borders for the nine and a half tribes on the western side of the Jordan River.)
13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which Jehovah hath commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe;
14 for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers' houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers' houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received, their inheritance:
15 the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.
(God established the borders of the land of Canaan, the land God gave them as He had promised. Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh had their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan.)
(Verses 16-29: leaders were appointed to divide the land.)
16 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
17 These are the names of the men that shall divide the land unto you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.
(Joshua and Eleazar were appointed to administrate the division.)
18 And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance.
19 And these are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
20 And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.
21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.
22 And of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli.
23 Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod.
24 And of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.
25 And of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
26 And of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan.
27 And of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.
28 And of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.
29 These are they whom Jehovah commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
(Leaders from each tribe were chosen for this responsibility.)
Numbers 35
(This chapter covered the Levitical cities.)
1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.
(God told Moses to give the Levites their possession among the other tribes.)
3 And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their substance, and for all their beasts.
4 And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.
5 And ye shall measure without the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.
6 And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee unto: and besides them ye shall give forty and two cities.
7 All the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities; them shall ye give with their suburbs.
(The Levites were given forty-eight cities, including the six cities of refuge.)
8 And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.
(The amount of cities given per tribe was dependent upon the size of the tribe giving the cities.)
9 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11 then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither.
(The cities of refuge were for anyone who killed unwittingly/unintentionally.)
12 And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation for judgment.
(Refuge is an environment of safety and mercy. Mercy is "the time period between an unjust act and the judgment for that act." These cities provided that "time period." When refuge is provided, the first thing that happens is the destruction stops. These cities would have been a safe place for these people to wait for their trial.)
13 And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.
14 Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.
(Of the six total cities of refuge, there were three on each side of the Jordan River.)
15 For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that every one that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither.
16 But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
17 And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
18 Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.
20 And if he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,
21 or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died; he that smote him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him.
22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without lying in wait,
23 or with any stone, whereby a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;
(God gave examples of murder and examples of killing unintentionally.)
24 then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances;
25 and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
(The inadvertent killer had to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest.)
26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, whither he fleeth,
27 and the avenger of blood find him without the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slay the manslayer; he shall not be guilty of blood,
28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession.
29 And these things shall be for a statute and ordinance unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.
(One witness was not enough to cause a person to die. Remember in Genesis 19, God had two witnesses visit Sodom before it was destroyed. According to Revelation 11, God will also have Two Witnesses before God concludes the Tribulation at the battle of Armageddon.)
31 Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer, that is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death.
32 And ye shall take no ransom for him that is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood, it polluteth the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
34 And thou shalt not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell: for I, Jehovah, dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.
Numbers 36
(This chapter covered laws concerning women heirs.)
1 And the heads of the fathers' houses of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel:
2 and they said, Jehovah commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Jehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.
(This was a reference back to Numbers 27:1-11.)
3 And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.
4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.
(The daughters of Zelophehad were afraid they would lose their inheritance. In Numbers 27:1-11, the daughters of Zelophehad asked Moses if they could have their fathers’ inheritance since he had no sons. Moses brought the cause before the Lord and the inheritance was given to the daughters and a new law was established for similar cases.)
5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Jehovah, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaketh right.
6 This is the thing which Jehovah doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married.
7 So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave every one to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
(The daughters of Zelophehad were commanded to marry within their tribe so that their inheritance would not be moved to other tribes.)
8 And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers.
9 So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave every one to his own inheritance.
(It was important to the tribes to keep their inheritance because the inheritance they were given from God was given according to the size of the tribe.)
10 Even as Jehovah commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:
11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons.
12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
(The daughters of Zelophehad obeyed and the inheritance remained in the tribe of Manasseh.)
13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Jehovah commanded by Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
(The Book of Numbers was the fourth book of the Old Testament. The name of this book in Hebrew was Bəmidbar which literally meant "in the desert of." This book continued the narrative from the end of the Book of Exodus to show man's progress towards eternal life. It documented the forty years between Israel being given the Law and their entry into the Promised Land. There were three main parts to this book. The first nine chapters covered the numbering of Israel and preparations to continue their journey to the Promised Land. The next twelve chapters documented their journey to the Promised Land and exile into the desert for forty years. The final fifteen chapters documented the events that occurred before crossing the Jordan River. The fifth and final book of the Torah, which was written by Moses, was a second establishment of the Law immediately preceding Israel's entry into the Promised Land. However instead of it being towards the priests (like in the Book of Leviticus), it was towards the people. This book covered divine government...)
Day 51
Day 50
ReplyDelete30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.
(One witness was not enough to cause a person to die. Remember, God had Two Witnesses visit Sodom before it was destroyed.)
- Isn't it the same for a rabbi to have two other rabbis lay their hands on them before they become a rabbi? Like right before Jesus started his ministry and John and God were his two witnesses as he was baptized.
scott allen taube
Great point Scott!
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Bible, two witnesses are necessary for people to be able to accept a conclusion. This would be true not only for a punishment, but also an honor. I think the need for two creates a community (three or more people who create something together that is more than they could create separately). For example, Jesus said wherever two or more are gathered...
35:18-29
ReplyDeleteI noticed that this passage did not mention Simeon and Judah's representatives as being "princes". However all the other tribes stated that the men selected were princes. Any thoughts on why those first two people selected were not mentioned as "princes"?
It's possible, however if you look at vs 18 it says, "And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance."
DeleteI would say that this covers the possibility that they'd ALL be considered a "prince."