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Chapter 34: The Boundaries of Canaan and the Allocation of the Land
That day Yahweh made [cut] a covenant with Abram in these terms: 'To your descendants I give this country, from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River Euphrates ...
Genesis 15:18
Numbers 34:1-13 The Boundaries of The Promised Land for the Nine and a half Tribes
The reference to Zin is probably a point along the boundary rather than the wilderness; it was on the border with Edom (see 13:21, 26; 20:1). The Salt Sea is the Dead Sea.
The Ascend of Scorpions [Akrabbim] is an unknown site. Kadesh-Barnea was the site of the reconnaissance of Canaan and the death of Miriam (Num 13:25-26; 20:1). Hazar-addar is mentioned as Hezron and Addar in Joshua 15:3.
The Great Sea is the Mediterranean.
Mt. Hor in this passage is in the north, and it is not the southern mountain where Aaron died and Eleazar was invested as High Priest (Num 20:22-29).
For the Pass of Hamath [Lebo-hamath] see Numbers 13:21. Zedad was probably a site northeast of Damascus and east of Byblos. The northern border followed an imaginary line drawn from the Mediterranean to Mt. Hor which was probably in the mountains of Lebo (pass) -Haamat, the furthest extend of the reconnaissance of the spies in Numbers 13:21. From the Pass of Hamath, the border extended inland to Zedad (Sedad), probably a site located east of the road from Damascus to Aleppo, Syria (see Ez 47:13).
Ziphron and Hazar-Enan are unknown sites, but Hazar-Enan is mentioned in Ezekiel's vision of a restored Israel (Ez 47:17-18; 48:1) and most scholars place the site about seventy miles northeast of Damascus (Levine, Numbers, page 535).
Shepham, Riblah and Ain are unknown sites. Ain meant "spring, well". The Sea of Chinnereth is the Sea of Galilee.
The boundary continued to "run down" by the mountain ridge abutting the Sea of Galilee, to the east, along the Jordan to the Dead Sea.
The "Promised Land" described in this passage is the land west of the Jordan River only (see verses 10-12; 32:22). If you consult a map, the boundaries reached from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. In the south the land began near Raphia in the area of the Gaza strip and extended north of the pass of Hamath, on a line to the east of modern Beirut (ancient Byblos), Lebanon. The land then extended southeast to Damascus and the Bashan. Moving to the south, the region of the Galilee and its lake (Sea of Cinnereth) was included, extending along the Yarmuk valley and following the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea (Salt Sea) but excluded (in this section) the area to the east of the Jordan River: the Gilead of northern Transjordan and southern Transjordan. The boundary then extended as far south as Kadesh-Barnea and the Torrent of Egypt, the modern Wadi El-'Arish that constitutes a natural barrier between the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula, and then turned west and north to include the entire Mediterranean coast. Since the Israelites were not obedience to God's commands concerning the forced eviction of the inhabitants of Canaan, they never fully occupied the boundaries God set for them.
This passage and Ezekiel 47:13-21 provide the most detailed descriptions of the frontiers of Canaan found in the Bible. These are the ideal boundaries that the Israelites were promised if they lived in obedience to the commands and prohibitions of Yahweh. Unfortunately, the Israelites were unwilling to provide such obedience and never achieved these actual boundaries at any time in Israel's history, especially in the case of the western border. The closest they ever came to achieving these borders was during the reigns of David and Solomon.
Numbers 34:14-15 Moses Conveyed Yahweh's Boundaries for the Promised Land to the People
See Numbers 32:33-42. The tribes are listed south to north except for Manasseh, which is listed before the more southern tribe of Ephraim, perhaps because Manasseh was the firstborn of Joseph (Gen 41:40-52).
Numbers 34:16-20 The Tribal Leaders in Charge of the Allocation
The only names from the old generation are Eleazar, Joshua, and Caleb. The other tribal leaders are all from the new generation of Israelites. Eleazar has, of course, replaced Aaron as the High Priest (20:22-29) and Joshua will replace Moses as the people's civil leader when they cross into Canaan (27:12-23). Also see Numbers 26:52-56.
Chapter 33: The Last Testament of Moses
The tribes mentioned in Moses' blessing are Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Zebulun and Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, and Asher.
Question: What tribe is missing from the list?
Answer: The tribe of Simeon.
It is difficult to understand why the tribe of Simeon is missing from the list. Later, long after the tribes settle in the Promised Land, the tribe of Simeon will be absorbed into the tribe of Judah. Either this section is a later addition, after Simeon had been absorbed into Judah, or at some point the verse or verses mentioning Simeon was lost from the surviving Hebrew texts. The last mention of the tribe of Simeon is that towns belonging to Simeon were included in King Josiah's 7th century BC religious reforms (2 Chr 34:6).
Moses' Final Blessing
Moses' Poem Blessing the Tribes-the Introduction
In the Song of Deborah (Judg 5:1-31), Yahweh is also described as coming out from Seir (Judg 5:4). The imagery is that God rose like the sun upon His people, illuminating them above over all other peoples in their divine election. The exact location of both Sinai and Seir is not certain, but in Scripture Seir is practically synonymous with Edom in the southern Transjordan (see Gen 36:6, 9). Mount Paran is probably the highest peak in the mountain range of Seir. In this passage Yahweh is described as coming from Sinai, which is near to the southern Transjordan territory of Edom. This would mean Sinai was closer to Midian lands on the northeastern side of the Sinai Peninsula than to the traditional location identified in the southern Sinai Peninsula.
The "assembly of Jacob" probably refers to the assembly of the entire people for the covenant ratification ceremony in Exodus chapter 24. The reference to a "king in Jeshurun" refers to Yahweh who became Israel's sovereign Lord at the covenant ratification ceremony. The "heads of the people" who gathered are probably the leaders of the people who witnessed Yahweh's coronation in the sacred meal of covenant ratification (Ex 24:9-11). As in other nations, it is the people or their leaders who legitimates the people's acceptance of the king's sovereignty.
Reuben:
In Jacob's death-bed blessing, he disinherited Reuben from his position as "first-born" because he committed adultery/incest with Jacob's concubine (Gen 35:22). The tribe was still important in the days of the Judges, but in the Song of Deborah they stayed at home to guard their flocks instead of joining the Israelites in battle, perhaps because they had so few fighting men (Judg 5:15b-16). Eventually the tribe of Reuben disappeared, as did the other tribes located in the Transjordan.
Judah:
This is a surprisingly short blessing for Judah considering the present (in Moses' day Judah led the march of the tribes) and later prominence of this tribe. Judah had control of the southern part of the Promised Land extending from Jerusalem (after absorbing the tribe of Simeon), and in the days of David and Solomon, Judah had control of the entire nation of Israel. Moses' blessing anticipates a time of war when Judah will need Yahweh's help in defeating enemies.
Levi:
The first part of the blessing is directed to each of Aaron's descendants who serve during their lifetimes as High Priests and have charge of the two cultic devices for determining the will of God. The second phrase of verse 8 is directed to the rest of the Levites who serve as lesser ministers and who, along with the other Israelites, tested Yahweh at Massah and Meribah in the two incidents of water from the Rock (Ex 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13).
Benjamin:
In the allocation of tribal lands, the small tribe of Benjamin occupied strategic territory between the two most powerful tribes, Judah to the south and Ephraim to the north. The blessing characterizes the tribe as "God's beloved," and may reflect the younger, beloved brother status of Benjamin to Joseph, his elder brother (the two sons of Rachel), who sought to keep Benjamin with him in Egypt. The phrase "rests between his shoulders" is the image of a child being carried on his father's back, and is used as a metaphor for God's loving protection over Benjamin.
Joseph:
Joseph is the ancestor of the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Joseph's blessing is similar to the blessing by Jacob (Gen 49:22-26) where the word nazir (consecrated, dedicated) in verse 16 is also used for Joseph in the last line of Genesis 49:26. The emphasis on fertility may be based on the Hebrew meaning of the name "Joseph" (yosef means "may he increase") and on the meaning of Ephraim, which is explained in Genesis 41:52 as meaning "God has made me fertile." The blessing says that Joseph has the favor of "him who dwells in the Bush," a reference to the presence of Yahweh/the angel of Yahweh that was revealed to Moses in the "burning bush" (Ex 3:2-6).
The title "first-born" applied to Joseph is both a reference of his physical birth as the firstborn of Rachel and to his father elevating him above his older brothers as the acknowledged principal heir, the "first-born" in rank. The blessing focuses on the fertility of the territory of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and the health of the people (thick hair was considered a sign of health and vigor). Ephraim occupied the southern part of the central highlands and was the more prominent of the two (even though the territory Ephraim occupied was smaller than Manasseh). It will be a prince of Ephraim who will lead a successful revolt against the Davidic king Rehoborm (son of Solomon), breaking with Judah to form the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kng 11:26; 12:20). The majority of the tribe of Manasseh occupied the northern part of the central highlands of Canaan, and two clans occupied Bashan and Gilead in the Transjordan.
Zebulun and Issachar:
The heading only names the tribe of Zebulun, but the blessing also includes Issachar. Zebulun and Issachar were the two youngest sons of Jacob's wife Leah; their order is reversed since Issachar was the fifth and Zebulun the sixth son born to Leah (Gen 30:18-20). They are also mentioned side-by-side in Jacob's death-bed blessing (Gen 49:13-14) and in the Song of Deborah (Judg 5:18). Both tribes were assigned neighboring territories in the lower Galilee and in the Jezreel Valley.
Gad:
Verse 20 either refers to the size of Gad's territory or that Gad's fertility has increased the nation of Israel. Gad selected the fertile pasturelands of the Transjordan as the tribe's territory. He has come at the head of the people might refer to the agreement Gad and Reuben made with Moses (Num 32:20-27). In exchange for permission to occupy lands in the Transjordan, they agreed to be the vanguard of the Israelite army in the conquest of Canaan, a promise which Gad faithful carried out.
Dan:
After the conquest of Canaan, Dan was assigned lands situated to the west of Benjamin, but the tribe of Dan was unable to subdue the local inhabitants and emigrated from that territory to settle in the extreme northern part of Israel at Laish (Leshem), which means "lion," at the foot of Mt. Hermon on the border with Bashan (Josh 19:40-48).
Naphtali:
Naphtali occupied the rich lands of the upper Galilee, well-watered lake land, rich in forests, fruit trees, and fertile pastures. They occupied the western and southern shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Asher:
Asher's lands were situated in the hill country of the upper Galilee, between the lands of Naphtali and the Mediterranean Sea. It was an area rich in olive trees and the tribe became a major producer of olive oil. The tribal lands were also crossed by one of the major trade routes, "the Way of the Sea." As a territory transected by an international highway, the tribe needed strong defenses to defend against invaders from both the north and northeast. The title most blessed of the sons probably refers to Asher's name, which means "blessedness" (Gen 30:13).
Conclusion of Moses' Blessings:
Moses' final blessing is directed to the entire nation of Israel. Israel is blessed to have a God who is like none other (verse 26). The epithet "God of old" or "ancient God," 'elohei kedem, is synonymous with "everlasting God" (Gen 21:33 NAB; Is 40:28; Rom 16:26). It is consistent with the concept that God has existed since beyond time, and like this passage, Psalm 90:1-2 also connects God as a refuge with His eternity: Lord, you have been our refuge from age to age. Before the mountains were born, before the earth and the world came to birth, from eternity to eternity you are God.
Verses 27b-28: God drives out Israel's Canaanite enemies to give His people a land rich in grain and grapes, which He waters from heaven. This is a reminder that the Israelites must rely on God to water their land, unlike the land of Egypt that had a steady supply of water from the Nile River.
Verse 29 reminds the Israelites of their unique blessedness comes from belonging to the One True God. He brings them victory over their enemies; He is a protective shield and a victorious sword; metaphors often applied to God (Gen 15:1; Ps 3:4; 18:3, 31; 28:7; 84:12).
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A Daily Defense
Day 79 The Dating of Acts
CHALLENGE: “Acts isn’t reliable history. It was written long after the events.”
DEFENSE: The date that the book of Acts was written does not pose a problem for its historical reliability.
We observe elsewhere the general subject of Acts’ reliability (see Day 193). Raymond Brown proposed a late date for Luke and Acts of A.D. “85, give or take five to ten years” (An Introduction to the New Testament, 226, 280). If so, Acts would have been written approximately fifty-two years after the earliest events it describes and twenty-five years after the latest.
All of that is within living memory. However, Acts was probably written earlier, for its narrative suddenly stops while Paul is under house arrest, awaiting trial before Nero.
Paul’s journey to Rome is a major theme in the book, set up as early as Acts 9:15–16. It comes into focus when Paul announces he must see Rome after visiting Jerusalem (Acts 18:21). He insists on going to Jerusalem, knowing he will be arrested (Acts 20:22–23, 21:10–14).
When that occurs (Acts 21:33), the story of his journey to Rome takes over the narrative and dominates the last seven chapters of the book (one fourth of its twenty-eight chapters).
Yet it ends inconclusively, with Paul spending two years under house arrest, with no word of what happened at his trial. Given the amount of drama building up to the trial, this would make no sense if the result of Paul’s trial were known. If he was condemned, Luke would have the story of his glorious martyrdom, or of his innocent suffering on account of Christ, to record. If he was acquitted (as other sources suggest he was on this occasion), Luke would have recorded his glorious vindication.
The logical explanation for why the book includes neither of these is that the trial had not yet happened, and that tells us when Acts was published: two years after Paul’s Roman imprisonment began. Many scholars think Paul’s imprisonment began around A.D. 60, giving us a date of 62 for Acts. A stronger case, though, is that it began in 58, giving us a date of 60 for Acts (see Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, 2nd ed., and Andrew Steinmann, From Abraham to Paul ).
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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