CHAPTER 34 Apr. 15 
The Borders of the Land
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders), 3then your south side 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; 4and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out of it shall be southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go forth to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon; 5and the border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. 6For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border: this shall be your west border. 7This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for you Mount Hor; 8from Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad; 9and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar Enan: this shall be your north border. 10You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; 11and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward; 12and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it’. 
The Division of the Land
13Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe; 14for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ families and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ families, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received, their inheritance. 15The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise. 16Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, 17These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18You shall take one prince of every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. 19These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. 29These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Commentary

34:2 The land promised to Abraham was from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea, but here God redefines it as much smaller. He perhaps perceived that they simply didn’t have the spiritual vision to possess that vast area. There is so much made possible for us in prospect; maybe we will ultimately receive less than we could have had because of our limited vision in this life. Yet He encouraged the people to go exploring beyond the bounds which He here gave them, right up to the Euphrates, promising to give them whatever land they walked upon (Dt. 11:24). It seems none rose up to that challenge. God invites His people to assume that they would receive this land and make preparations as if they had- for at this time they had not yet crossed Jordan into it. We are likewise asked to believe that we have been moved into the sphere of the Kingdom of God’s Son, and have received an inheritance by reason of our being in Him (Col. 1:13; Eph. 1:11).
34:14,15 The triple emphasis here that those who chose immediate inheritance east of Jordan had already received their inheritance may be behind Christ’s triple emphasis that some “have their reward” in this life rather than waiting for the future, eternal reward (Mt. 6:2,5,16).