A Help for the Understanding of the Holy Scriptures, Numbers · Chapter 34
CHAP. XXXIV.
Verſ. 3. THen your South quarter ſhall be from the wilderneſſe of Zin, &c.]
God within Jordan▪ and ſheweth the bounds of it on every ſide: firſt, that his people might ſee his bounty & providence, who had given them ſo large … good a land; ſecondly, that they might know punctually how far they were to proceed in their conqueſts and where to ſtay; thirdly, to ſtrengthen their faith, and to aſſure them that God had marked out that their dwelling for them; fourthly, that according to theſe bounds and limits they might now make a diviſion of the land. In theſe words of the third verſe, the deſcription of Canaans bounds begins with the South quarter, and he draws along the South border from the Eaſt to the Weſt: for the wilderneſſe of Zin lay at the very Eaſt end of this South border, in the corner where it joyned with the Eaſt border, and ſo from thence it is ſaid that though the South border went on by the coaſt of Edom, yet th… beginning of it Eaſtward was in the wilderneſſe of Zin, right againſt the South end of the ſalt ſea, that is, the lake of Sodome, called alſo the dead ſea, becauſe it had no fiſh or living thing in it (of which ſee the note upon Gen. 14. 3.) and going by the coaſt of Edom it turned from the South, verſ. 4. that is, inward towards Canaan, to the aſcent of Akrabbim or Maalchakrabbim, Joſh. 15. 3. and ſo paſſed on to Zin, that is, toward the city Zin, whence the adjacent wilderneſſe had its name, and there turned inward again from the South to Kadeſh-barnea, and ſo went forward again to Hazaraddar (which Joſh. 15. 3. is reckoned as two places Hezron and Addar) and ſo it paſſed unto Azmon (yet Joſh. 15. 13. there is added that it fetched a compaſſe to Karkaa and ſo paſſed on to Azmon) and from thence it fetched a compaſſe again, and went on to the river of Egypt, that is, the river called Sihor, Joſh. 13. 3. and ſo went out at the ſea, that is, the Mediterranean or Midland ſea, called in the next verſe, the great ſea, to wit, with reſpect to thoſe lakes of Sodome and Genezareth in the land of Canaan, which were alſo called ſeas. And this was the Weſt end of the South border.
Verſ. 6. And as for the Western border, you ſhall even have the great ſea for a border.]
Thus the borders of the land are carried about from South to North, this midland ſea from the South to the North being the Weſt border; and ſo again it turneth about afterwards from the Weſt to the Eaſt, which was the North border.
Verſ. 7. From the great ſea you ſhall point out for you mount Hor.]
That is, it went along from the midland ſea to mount Hor. Now this was not the mount Hor where Aaron dyed, which was Southward in the edge of Edoms land, chap. 33. 37, 38. but another mountain on the North ſide of Canaan, and it is thought by ſome to be the ſame that is elſewhere called Lebanus, and by others that which in by Joſh. 13. 5. is called mount Hermon.▪
Verſ. 8. From mount Hor ye ſhall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath.]
That is, from Hor, this your North border of the land ſhall ſtrike right forward to the entrance of Hamath (a city called, A▪mos 6. 2. Hemath the great) and ſo forth on to Zedad, and thence to Ziphron, and ſo it ſhall end at Hazarenan.
Verſ. 10. And ye ſhall point out your East border from Hazarenan to Shepham, &c.]
That is, your Eaſt border (which turns again from the North to the South where at firſt it began) ſhall go ſtraight on from Hazar-enan to Shepham (called 1. Sam 30. 28. Siphmoth) and ſo to Riblah on the Eaſt ſide of Ain, and ſo thence it ſhall go along by that land that lies Eaſtward of the ſea of Chinnereth (which is called the lake of Genneſareth, Luk. 5. 1. and the ſea of Galile…, or, Tiberias, John 6. 1.) and ſo thence to Jordan, and ſo ſhall end at the ſalt or dead ſea, verſ. 12.
Verſ. 17. Theſe are the names of the men which ſhall d…v…de the land unto you, Eleazar the prieſt, &c.]
Eleazar amongſt the reſt is appointed to have a hand in this work of dividing the land, firſt, as a type of Chriſt, to ſhew that by him they enjoyed that promiſed land, but eſpecially that by him we come to have entrance into the heavenly Canaan, he being therefore gone before that he might prepare a place for us; ſecondly, that if any difficulty did ariſe he might ask counſel for Joſhua after the judgement of Urim according to that Numb. 27. 21. thirdly, becauſe the prieſts and the Levites, though they had no inheritance as the other tribes, yet were they to have cities and ſuburbs; fourthly, becauſe that this whole buſineſſe might be ſan…tified to them, it was to be begun with prayer, and ended with thankſgiving, Col. 3. 17. Thus alſo was that prophecy fulfilled concerning the Iſraelites coming to Canaan in the fourth generation, Gen. 15. 16. Eleazar being indeed the fourth from Levi, who went with Jacob into Egypt.
Verſ. 19. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the ſonne of Jephunneh, &c.]
The tribes are no where elſe named in the order here obſerved, and therefore it is moſt probable that God did purpoſely thus name them here, in the very ſame order as they ſhould inherit the land, their inheritance abutting one upon another, as their names are here joyned together, to make it the more evident that they were allotted their portions by the wiſdome and providence of God.