Numbers 34

3-5. The southern border. Render: “Then your south quarter shall extend from the wilderness of Zin which resteth upon the side of Edom. And your south border shall start from the extremity of the salt sea on the east; and your border shall turn on the south to Maaleh-akrabbim, and shall pass on toward Zin, and the extent of its reach on the south shall be to Kadesh-barnea; and it shall reach forth thence to Hazar-addar, and shall pass on to Azmon, and from Azmon the border shall turn to the river of Egypt, and its reach shall be to the sea.” The first few words set forth in general terms the southern boundary, which is more exactly described in the following sentence. The details of its course are more fully given (Josh. 15 : 1-4.) The boundary commenced at the Dead Sea. Of the broad and desolate valley by which the depressed bed of that sea is protracted toward the south, the first few miles comprised under the general name of the Ghor’ present little else than a tract of marshy jungle. A deep narrow glen, descending from the southwest, enters this tract at its southwest corner; it is called Wady Fikreh. The course of this valley forms the natural division between the land of promise and the desert. On its left side, as one ascends it, the hills are, though utterly barren, comparatively low; but on the right it is flanked all the way by a steep mountain-wall varying from about 700 to 1000 feet in height, to the north of which rise ranges of much greater elevation. The route from Petra to Hebron mounts this precipice at a point about fourteen miles from the mouth of Wady Fikreh, by a long winding track, appropriately designated the “Pass of the Bare Rock,” Nakb es-Safah; and attesting by its difficulty how formidable was the rampart which the land of Canaan here presented to an invader. About three miles further up the valley, on its left bank, stands the isolated hill of Madurah [Mount Hor], rising, citadel-like, in the form of a truncated cone, to a height of about 500 feet. Here the head of the water-course of Wady Fikreh is reached. But the valley itself is continued in the same southwestern direction, under the name of Wady Murreh; the water-course of which, passing south of the hill of Madurah, runs eastward, not like Wady Fikreh into the Ghor, but into the higher level of the Arabah. The upper part of Wady Murreh is, however, grander and more striking than Wady Fikreh. Not only do the hills of Canaan rise as precipitously and in greater elevation on the right, jutting forth in huge irregular promontories or bastions of naked rock; but on the other side, the hills of the wilderness (which in this part are known as Jebel Murreh) become more lofty, and present in their terrific ruggedness an aspect which English travellers describe as that of a confused chaos of matter once in a boiling state and while so suddenly solidified. To the French traveller Callier the great depth of the valley appeared extraordinary in a district where the water-courses are often so shallow as to be scarcely recognizable. The direction of this valley continues nearly straight for about ten miles above Madurah, up to a wild ascent on the Canaanitish side called Nakb Kareb. In this we may recognize, by the resemblance of name, the ancient Maaleh-akrabbim or “Scorpion Pass.” The literal Arabic rendering of Akrabbim, “scorpions,” would be Akarib; and to this the modern name of the ascent comes very near. Here the Wady Murreh turns southward, and probably loses itself among the hills, which must have belonged to “the wilderness of Zin;” and Kadesh-barnea, which is “in the wilderness of Zin,” will be, as the text implies, the southernmost point of the southern boundary. That wilderness, however, was probably of wide extent, and comprised the whole rugged mountain region south of Wady Murreh and Wady Fikreh, as far east as the Arabah. If this be so, it was separated by the Arabah only from the mountains of Edom; and might thus be fairly described in the text as resting upon the side or flank of the latter territory. And if the wilderness of Zin were thus regarded as connected with Edom, the fact would help to account for the way in which the southern cities of Judah are described as lying “toward the coast of Edom” (Josh. 15 : 21).

That so many points are named in so short a line is due perhaps to the familiarity which the Israelites had acquired with the district during the period of their encampment at Kadesh.

7-9. The northern border. Here the name “Hor” denotes the whole western crest of Mount Lebanon, eighty miles in length, commencing east of Zidon, and terminating with the point immediately above the entrance of Hamath. Espin.—“From Hor ye shall point your border to the entrance of Hamath ;” which Joshua, speaking of the yet unconquered land, describes, “All Lebanon, toward the sun-rising, from the valley of Baal-gad, under Mount Hermon, unto the entrance of Hamath” (Josh. 13 : 5). This demonstrates that Hor corresponded to all Lebanon, including Mount Hermon. Hales.

10-12. The eastern border, as here described, must be understood to commence at that point from which the boundary line pursued an uninterruptedly southward course. Espin.

11. The Sea of Chinnereth.** The sea known as the “lake of GENNESARET,” mentioned as at the end of Jordan opposite to the “Sea of the ARABAH”—i.e., the Dead Sea ; as having the Arabah below it (De. 3 : 17 ; Josh. 11 : 2 ; 12 : 3). In the two latter passages it is CHINNERETH. It seems likely that Chinnereth was an ancient Canaanite name existing long prior to the Israelite conquest. Dic. B.

The boundary line is described with great minuteness, the river Jordan is mentioned as the east border ; and an irregular curve, extending across the desert, from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the river of Egypt, forms the south border. But in all the other passages, where the boundaries are spoken of—viz., Gen. 15 ; Ex. 23 : De. 1 : 11 ; 2 Sam. 8 ; 1 Kings 4 ; and 2 Ch. 8 : 9—eight passages in all—the Euphrates is mentioned as the eastern limit ; and in Ex. 23 : 31 the bounds of Israel are spoken of as stretching to the southward as far as the Red Sea. But there is no real contradiction. The boundary of the holy land, which the Israelites were, to divide, after expelling the inhabitants, was one thing ; the boundary, beyond which they were not permitted to extend their conquests eastward, was another. Jordan was the former, Euphrates the latter. The intervening territory was not necessarily to be occupied exclusively by the Israelites, but was to serve as a pasture-ground for their cattle, the greater part of it being fit for no other purpose. The appointment of the Euphrates as a boundary included in it a prohibition to the Israelites against extending their dominion beyond it ; which they never did, not even in the reign of David, although he obtained important victories over the kings of Mesopotamia. E. C. W.

16-29. Appointment of princes from the ten tribes to divide the land just described. The positions of the several inheritances were to be determined by lot ; but their dimensions were proportioned to the wants of the tribes to which they fell. Thus the limits of each were to be marked out after the lot had determined to which tribe it belonged, and for the due and fair adjustment of the limits the presence of a representative from each tribe was requisite. Of the representatives now selected through Moses beforehand, who were all princes—i.e., heads of chief families in their respective tribes, Caleb alone, of the tribe of Judah, is otherwise known to us. Espin.—This was arranged, no doubt, in order to insure fairness in fixing the boundaries between the tribes, which had to be done after the situation of the tribe was determined by lot ; the further subdivision of the tribal territory was probably left to be managed by the chiefs of the tribe itself. R. W.—Through the casting of the lots by the princes, God would show by his decree the districts respectively assigned to the tribes ; while the princes could arrange that the dimensions of each might be proportionate to the number of its occupants. Calv.—Nothing could be more prudent than this partition of the country by lot, and making Joshua and the high-priest superintendents of it, since it was the only plan which could effectually prevent all murmurings and quarrellings among such an obstinate people as the Jews. It is supposed, from what followed, that every tribe first drew its lot for its own canton ; and after that there were proper persons appointed to measure out a quantity of land for each family, according to their size. But whether this distribution was made by this or any other method, it is certain that we do not read of any broils or jealousies that it ever occasioned among them. Stackhouse.

A GENERATION DEAD. THE LEVITICAL CITIES. LAW OF DAUGHTERS’ INHERITANCE; THE LAW AMENDED ANNOUNCEMENT OF MOSES’S DEATH; HIS DOUBLE PRAYER. ORDINATION OF JOSHUA AS HIS SUCCESSOR.