The Land of Promise: The tone of the last three chapters of Numbers is very hopeful as the people anticipate entering Canaan. After the last section of chapter 33 witnessed the divine instruction to take the land (v. 53), it is reasonable now to articulate what constitutes the land and how it will be distributed among the tribes. These questions are the subject of chapter 34. The final two chapters in the book turn to other issues related to settling the land.
34:1–12 The chapter begins with a description of the boundaries of the promised land. This chapter also is in the form of a divine address directed to Moses. The land will be allotted to you as an inheritance with the specified borders. First, the southern boundary is summarized as the Desert of Zin on the border of Edom. The text the…