---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Numbers 34"
description: "CHAPTER 34   :-. THE BORDERS
OF THE LAND OF
CANAAN. 2. this is the . . . land of
Canaan—The details given in this chapter mark the general
boundary of the"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/numbers/34"
---

CHAPTER 34

. THE BORDERS
OF THE LAND OF
CANAAN.

**2. this is the . . . land of
Canaan**—The details given in this chapter mark the general
boundary of the inheritance of Israel west of the Jordan. The
Israelites never actually possessed all the territory comprised
within these boundaries, even when it was most extended by the
conquests of David and Solomon.

**3-5. your south quarter**—The
line which bounded it on the south is the most difficult to trace.
According to the best biblical geographers, the leading points here
defined are as follows: The southwest angle of the southern boundary
should be where the wilderness of Zin touches the border of Edom, so
that the southern boundary should extend eastward from the extremity
of the Dead Sea, wind around the precipitous ridge of Akrabbim
("scorpions"), thought to be the high and difficult Pass of
Safeh, which crosses the stream that flows from the south into the
Jordan—that is, the great valley of the Arabah, reaching from the
Dead to the Red Sea.

**5. river of Egypt**—the ancient
brook Sihor, the Rhinocolura of the Greeks, a little to the south of
El-Arish, where this wady gently descends towards the Mediterranean
([Joshua 13:3](../../../kjv/joshua/13/3)).

**6. the western border**—There is
no uncertainty about this boundary, as it is universally allowed to
be the Mediterranean, which is called "the great sea" in
comparison with the small inland seas or lakes known to the Hebrews.

**7-9. north border**—The
principal difficulty in understanding the description here arises
from what our translators have called mount Hor. The Hebrew words,
however, *Hor-ha-Hor,* properly signify "the mountain of
the mountain," or "the high double mountain," which,
from the situation, can mean nothing else than the mountain Amana (), a member of the great Lebanon range ().

**8. entrance of Hamath**—The
northern plain between those mountain ranges, now the valley of
Balbeck (see on [Numbers 34:1](../../../kjv/numbers/34/1)).
**Zedad**—identified as the
present Sudud ([Ezekiel 47:15](../../../kjv/ezekiel/47/15)).

**9. Ziphron**—("sweet
odor").
**Hazar-enan**—("village
of fountains"); but the places are unknown. "An imaginary
line from mount Cassius, on the coast along the northern base of
Lebanon to the entering into the Bekaa (Valley of Lebanon) at the
Kamosa Hermel," must be regarded as the frontier that is meant
[VAN DE
VELDE].

**10-12. east border**—This is
very clearly defined. Shepham and Riblah, which were in the valley of
Lebanon, are mentioned as the boundary line, which commenced a little
higher than the sources of the Jordan. Ain is supposed to be the
source of that river; and thence the eastern boundary extended along
the Jordan, the sea of Chinnereth (Lake of Tiberias), the Jordan; and
again terminated at the Dead Sea. The line being drawn on the east of
the river and the seas included those waters within the territory of
the western tribes.

**13-15. The two tribes and the
half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan**—The
conquered territories of Sihon and Og, lying between the Arnon and
mount Hermon, were allotted to them—that of Reuben in the most
southerly part, Gad north of it, and the half Manasseh in the
northernmost portion.

**16-29. names of the men . . . which
shall divide the land**—This appointment by the Lord before the
Jordan tended not only to animate the Israelites faith in the
certainty of the conquest, but to prevent all subsequent dispute and
discontent, which might have been dangerous in presence of the
natives. The nominees were ten princes for the nine and a half
tribes, one of them being selected from the western section of
Manasseh, and all subordinate to the great military and
ecclesiastical chiefs, Joshua and Eleazar. The names are mentioned in
the exact order in which the tribes obtained possession of the land,
and according to *brotherly* connection.

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