1And the Lord said to Moses, 2Give orders to the children of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land which is to be your heritage, the land of Canaan inside these limits,) 3Then your south quarter will be from the waste land of Zin by the side of Edom, and your limit on the south will be from the east end of the Salt Sea, 4And round to the south of the slope of Akrabbim, and on to Zin: and its direction will be south of Kadesh-barnea, and it will go as far as Hazar-addar and on to Azmon: 5And from Azmon it will go round to the stream of Egypt as far as the sea. 6And for your limit on the west you will have the Great Sea and its edge: this will be your limit on the west. 7And your limit on the north will be the line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor: 8And from Mount Hor the line will go in the direction of Hamath; the farthest point of it will be at Zedad: 9And the limit will go on to Ziphron, with its farthest point at Hazar-enan: this will be your limit on the north. 10And on the east, your limit will be marked out from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11Going down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain, and on as far as the east side of the sea of Chinnereth: 12And so down to Jordan, stretching to the Salt Sea: all the land inside these limits will be yours. 13And Moses gave orders to the children of Israel saying, This is the land which is to be your heritage, by the decision of the Lord, which by the Lord's order is to be given to the nine tribes and the half-tribe: 14For the tribe of the children of Reuben, by their fathers' families, and the tribe of the children of Gad, by their fathers' families, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have been given their heritage: 15The two tribes and the half-tribe have been given their heritage on the other side of Jordan at Jericho, on the east looking to the dawn. 16And the Lord said to Moses, 17These are the names of the men who are to make the distribution of the land among you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun. 18And you are to take one chief from every tribe to make the distribution of the land. 19And these are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. 20And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel, the son of Ammihud. 21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad, the son of Chislon. 22And of the tribe of the children of Dan, a chief, Bukki, the son of Jogli. 23Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh, a chief, Hanniel, the son of Ephod: 24And of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, a chief, Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan. 25And of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, a chief, Elizaphan, the son of Parnach. 26And of the tribe of the children of Issachar, a chief, Paltiel, the son of Azzan. 27And of the tribe of the children of Asher, a chief, Ahihud, the son of Shelomi. 28And of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, a chief, Pedahel, the son of Ammihud. 29These are they to whom the Lord gave orders to make the distribution of the heritage among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
The bounds of the promised land. (1-15) Those appointed to divide the land. (16-29) 1-15 Canaan was of small extent; as it is here bounded, it is but about 160 miles in length, and about 50 in breadth; yet this was the country promised to the father of the faithful, and the possession of the seed of Israel. This was that little spot of ground, in which alone, for many ages, God was known. This was the vineyard of the Lord, the garden enclosed; but as it is with gardens and vineyards, the narrowness of the space was made up by the fruitfulness of the soil. Though the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, yet few know him, and serve him; but those few are happy, because fruitful to God. Also, see how little a share of the world God gives to his own people. Those who have their portion in heaven, have reason to be content with a small pittance of this earth. Yet a little that a righteous man has, having it from the love of God, and with his blessing, is far better and more comfortable than the riches of many wicked. 16-29 God here appoints men to divide the land to them. So sure must they feel of victory and success while God fought for them, that the persons are named who should be intrusted with the dividing of the land.