34:1 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ (King James translation): And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
Numbers 27:12 has Mosheh being told to go up to "the summit of this mountain, Avarim", which we assume is the same as Iyey Ha Avarim in Numbers 33:34 - but he has to go "up" from somewhere, and the last place mentioned before that was Shitim in Numbers 25:1, which presumably was the same as the Avel Shitim of Numbers 33, likewise the last place on the journey in that account. All of which sounds straightforward, but for one key piece of additional data: that Mosheh did indeed go up that mountain, having first arranged the inauguration of his successor, and handed over authority to him (Numbers 27:18ff). So all these laws being given, in 28 through 32, have to have taken place before he went up the mountain, and before the inauguration, with 33 a different route-map added there for convenience; and now, in the current chapter, yet again a return to the point between being told to go up and actually doing so - and if not, why is he the one receiving these laws and instructions, why has he not done as he was told, and hospiced himself?
34:2 TSAV ET BENEY YISRA-EL VE AMARTA ALEYHEM KI ATEM BA'IM EL HA ARETS KENA'AN ZOT HA ARETS ASHER TIPOL LACHEM BE NACHALAH ERETS KENA'AN LIGVULOTEYHA
צַו אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כִּי אַתֶּם בָּאִים אֶל הָאָרֶץ כְּנָעַן זֹאת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תִּפֹּל לָכֶם בְּנַחֲלָה אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן לִגְבֻלֹתֶיהָ
KJ: Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:)
BN: Instruct the Beney Yisra-El. Say to them: "When you come into the land of Kena'an, this shall be the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the whole the land of Kena'an according to its borders...
TIPOL LACHEM: As with all these "land-covenants", there is that sense that Marquez describes so well in "One Hundred Years Of Solitude", when the wandering refugees hear the sound of a woman somewhere in their camp, wailing for her dead child: that first death determines where they will remain, in order to bury the child, and mourn it properly, now and in the future. So their wandering ends, and the village of Macondo is established - and of course it was intended that this should be the place, determined by fate, destiny and the deity.
34:3 VE HAYAH LACHEM PE'AT NEGEV MI MIDBAR TSIN AL YEDEY EDOM VE HAYAH LACHEM GEVUL NEGEV MI KETSEH YAM HA MELACH KEDMAH
וְהָיָה לָכֶם פְּאַת נֶגֶב מִמִּדְבַּר צִן עַל יְדֵי אֱדוֹם וְהָיָה לָכֶם גְּבוּל נֶגֶב מִקְצֵה יָם הַמֶּלַח קֵדְמָה
BN: Thus your southern quarter shall be from the wilderness of Tsin close by the side of Edom, and your southern border shall begin at the end of the Dead Sea eastward;
PE'AH: Interesting word: the side-curls worn by orthodox Jews are known as Pe'ot (usually written as peyot, peyos or payos, from the Yiddish) = "fringes", and come from the same root (see Leviticus 21:5). Joshua 18:14 (among many others) uses it to mean a quarter, in the sense of "the four quarters of the heavens"; we should assume that, just as the twelve tribes reflect the twelve stellar constellations, with Yeru-Shala'im as the sun and Beit Lechem as the moon, so the land is also divided into four quarters, one for each of Ya'akov's wives, and the borders described here are therefore the outer points of those quarters, rather than of the whole. The temptation though is to regard this part of the land as the side-curl, the fringe, which on a map it is!
TSIN: See my note at Numbers 33:36.
EDOM: See the link.
YAM HA MELACH: KJ translates it as "Salt Sea", which is literally accurate, though today we refer to it in English as the Dead Sea.
34:4 VE NASAV LACHEM HA GEVUL MI NEGEV LE MA'ALEH AKRABIM VE AVAR TSINAH VE HAYAH TOTSOTAV MI NEGEV LE KADESH BARNE'A VE YATSA CHATSAR ADAR VE AVAR ATSMONAH
KJ: And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon:
BN: And your border shall turn southward of the Ascent of Akrabim, and pass along to Tsin; and the goings out thereof shall be southward of Kadesh Barne'a; and it shall go forth to Chatsar Adar, and pass along to Atsmon.
NEGEV: See my note to Numbers 33:40.
34:4 VE NASAV LACHEM HA GEVUL MI NEGEV LE MA'ALEH AKRABIM VE AVAR TSINAH VE HAYAH TOTSOTAV MI NEGEV LE KADESH BARNE'A VE YATSA CHATSAR ADAR VE AVAR ATSMONAH
וְנָסַב לָכֶם הַגְּבוּל מִנֶּגֶב לְמַעֲלֵה עַקְרַבִּים וְעָבַר צִנָה והיה (וְהָיוּ) תּוֹצְאֹתָיו מִנֶּגֶב לְקָדֵשׁ בַּרְנֵעַ וְיָצָא חֲצַר אַדָּר וְעָבַר עַצְמֹנָה
BN: And your border shall turn southward of the Ascent of Akrabim, and pass along to Tsin; and the goings out thereof shall be southward of Kadesh Barne'a; and it shall go forth to Chatsar Adar, and pass along to Atsmon.
NEGEV: See my note to Numbers 33:40.
AKRABIM: "Mount Scorpion" would be a literal translation. I wonder if the yellow or the black sort were predominant (both are prevalent across the Negev). The place has several other mentions in the Tanach - click here.
KADESH BARNE'A: See the link.
CHATSAR ADAR: A CHATSER is a settlement or small village, and probably, based on Joshua 15:3, the place was simply called Adar, and this should be translated as "the village of Adar". The meaning of ADAR itself is less easy to determine, as there are at least four roots. ADAR the month seems unlikely - but click here anyway for more on this. ADAR as a person's name even less likely, especially as it is written with a dagesh in the Dalet in its one appearance (1 Chronicles 8:3), suggesting a double-letter and a word of Babylonian origin. The same is true of the third possibility, IDER, which is a threshing-floor, the place where the corn is taken at harvest-time to be transformed into cereal and bread; the only appearance of this however is in Daniel 2:35, which a threshing-floor. Which leaves ADAR as an adjective: "magnificent" (Exodus 15:11), "illustrious" (Isaiah 42:21), "vast" (Micah 2:8). gain is a Babylonian text, and the Tanach generally uses the Kena'ani Yevus for a
ATSMON: ETSEM is "a bone", though ATSUMOT (feminine plural) are used figuratively, just as we do in English, for "the bones" of an argument (Isaiah 41:21). There is also a town named ETSEM, in the tribal territory of Shim'on, mentioned at Joshua 15:29 and 19:3, and again at 1 Chronicles 4:29.
My reference to Joshua 15:3 is worth looking at again: there, and in the rest of that chapter, the same borders are described, with slightly more detail, but they are also denoted specifically as the tribal territory of Yehudah. There are some other notes there, also worth considering, which I have not repeated here.
34:5 VE NASAV HA GEVUL ME ATSMON NACHLAH MITSRAYIM VE HAYU TOTSOTAV HA YAMAH
וְנָסַב הַגְּבוּל מֵעַצְמוֹן נַחְלָה מִצְרָיִם וְהָיוּ תוֹצְאֹתָיו הַיָּמָּה
KJ: And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.
BN: And the border shall turn from Atsmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its end-point shall be at the sea.
NACHLAH MITSRAYIM: See the link.
YAMAH: See my note at Numbers 33:46. There, YAMAH clearly intended the Dead Sea, where they were camped, but here it just as clearly means "west", because in Kena'an the Mediterranean is the west coast; and the sea in question is the one they called (see next verse) "The Great Sea", with the Brook of Egypt itself, running through the desert to the Egyptian side of the Gaza Strip.
34:6 U GEVUL YAM VE HAYAH LACHEM HA YAM HA GADOL U GEVUL ZEH YIHEYEH LACHEM GEVUL YAM
KJ: And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.
BN: And for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your west border.
The Great Sea being what we call the Mediterranean.
34:7 VE ZEH YIHEYEH LACHEM GEVUL TSAPHON MIN HA YAM HA GADOL TETA'U LACHEM HOR HA HAR
KJ: And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor:
BN: And this shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor.
which is a horizontal line, west to east, and essentially it makes the division that will become politics after the death of Shelomoh (Solomon), when Rechav-Am (Rehoboam) and Yerav-Am (Jeroboam) make a civil war over the succession (1 Kings 12), and the kingdom divides along the northern border of Yehudah, with Shim'on long ago absorbed into Yehudah (or lost to the Pelishtim), Bin-Yamin virtually so, and the two-and-a-half tribes (Re'u-Ven, Gad and half-Menasheh) long disappeared, absorbed into Edom, Mo-Av and Amon. The remaining tribes, usually known as the Ten though in fact they were never more than 6-and-a-half, became the Kingdom of Ephrayim, and disappeared from history when Shalman-Ezer V conquered them in 722BCE.
Which Mount Hor? The one we have just heard about, where Aharon died, is in Edom, which is very much in the south-east (it is generally thought to be Jebel Haroun, which is in Petra - and venerated by Moslems as much as it is by Jews - click here). So was there a second mount Hor? Given that we are looking in the north, and on the coast, we have to seek it in... wait a moment, the most north-westerly tribal land was given to Asher, who as we have seen before has very strong links with Egyptian Osher (Osiris), who has extremely close links with Egyptian Hor, or Horus as the Greeks knew him - Aharon in Yehudit is Haroun in Arabic. A Mount Hor then, in the tribal territory of Asher? Is that possible? Or is this simply a suggestion that you stand in Asher and look for Hor, which will be the tallest point on the far horizon, and set the line of the border there? The phrasing of the next verse appears to endorse this as the intended methodology.
34:8 ME HOR HA HAR TETA'U LEVO CHAMAT VE HAYU TOTSOT HA GEVUL TSEDADAH
KJ: From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad:
BN: From Mount Hor you shall mark out a line to the entrance to Chamat; and the continuation of the border shall be at Tsedad.
CHAMAT: The root in Yehudit means "hot" or "rancid" or "stagnant", which could describe the waters of the Dead Sea, except that the map being drawn here is well north of that. And then there is the Assyrian town of Chamat, on the Orontes river, which was known by the later Greeks as Epiphania, and in Amos 6:2 as Chamat the Great. We have already seen it, in Numbers 13:21, and its root was probably the Assyrian CHAMAH, which means "strong" and denotes CHAMAT as a fortress-city; from this the Yehudit CHOMAH, meaning "a wall", but differentiated from KIR precisely because it is fortress-strong rather than being the sort that separates two bedrooms (see Nehemiah 3:8).
34:6 U GEVUL YAM VE HAYAH LACHEM HA YAM HA GADOL U GEVUL ZEH YIHEYEH LACHEM GEVUL YAM
וּגְבוּל יָם וְהָיָה לָכֶם הַיָּם הַגָּדוֹל וּגְבוּל זֶה יִהְיֶה לָכֶם גְּבוּל יָם
KJ: And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.
BN: And for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your west border.
The Great Sea being what we call the Mediterranean.
34:7 VE ZEH YIHEYEH LACHEM GEVUL TSAPHON MIN HA YAM HA GADOL TETA'U LACHEM HOR HA HAR
וְזֶה יִהְיֶה לָכֶם גְּבוּל צָפוֹן מִן הַיָּם הַגָּדֹל תְּתָאוּ לָכֶם הֹר הָהָר
KJ: And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor:which is a horizontal line, west to east, and essentially it makes the division that will become politics after the death of Shelomoh (Solomon), when Rechav-Am (Rehoboam) and Yerav-Am (Jeroboam) make a civil war over the succession (1 Kings 12), and the kingdom divides along the northern border of Yehudah, with Shim'on long ago absorbed into Yehudah (or lost to the Pelishtim), Bin-Yamin virtually so, and the two-and-a-half tribes (Re'u-Ven, Gad and half-Menasheh) long disappeared, absorbed into Edom, Mo-Av and Amon. The remaining tribes, usually known as the Ten though in fact they were never more than 6-and-a-half, became the Kingdom of Ephrayim, and disappeared from history when Shalman-Ezer V conquered them in 722BCE.
Which Mount Hor? The one we have just heard about, where Aharon died, is in Edom, which is very much in the south-east (it is generally thought to be Jebel Haroun, which is in Petra - and venerated by Moslems as much as it is by Jews - click here). So was there a second mount Hor? Given that we are looking in the north, and on the coast, we have to seek it in... wait a moment, the most north-westerly tribal land was given to Asher, who as we have seen before has very strong links with Egyptian Osher (Osiris), who has extremely close links with Egyptian Hor, or Horus as the Greeks knew him - Aharon in Yehudit is Haroun in Arabic. A Mount Hor then, in the tribal territory of Asher? Is that possible? Or is this simply a suggestion that you stand in Asher and look for Hor, which will be the tallest point on the far horizon, and set the line of the border there? The phrasing of the next verse appears to endorse this as the intended methodology.
34:8 ME HOR HA HAR TETA'U LEVO CHAMAT VE HAYU TOTSOT HA GEVUL TSEDADAH
מֵהֹר הָהָר תְּתָאוּ לְבֹא חֲמָת וְהָיוּ תּוֹצְאֹת הַגְּבֻל צְדָדָה
BN: From Mount Hor you shall mark out a line to the entrance to Chamat; and the continuation of the border shall be at Tsedad.
CHAMAT: The root in Yehudit means "hot" or "rancid" or "stagnant", which could describe the waters of the Dead Sea, except that the map being drawn here is well north of that. And then there is the Assyrian town of Chamat, on the Orontes river, which was known by the later Greeks as Epiphania, and in Amos 6:2 as Chamat the Great. We have already seen it, in Numbers 13:21, and its root was probably the Assyrian CHAMAH, which means "strong" and denotes CHAMAT as a fortress-city; from this the Yehudit CHOMAH, meaning "a wall", but differentiated from KIR precisely because it is fortress-strong rather than being the sort that separates two bedrooms (see Nehemiah 3:8).
However! There is also a third possibility, which is CHAMAH with a Mem medugash, so that really it should be written as CHAMMAH, and denotes hot-water springs, exactly the sort that were the reason why the city of Tiberias was built where it was, and latitudinally precisely on that line from Asher to Tsedad. Joshua 19:35 mentions them, placing them in the tribal territory of Naphtali.
TSEDAD: A TSAD is a "side", and used for mountainsides as much as any others. Ezekiel 47:15 mentions this one when he gives his version of the borders (my translation of Ezekiel 47:13-23 is at the foot of this page):- and in doing so in rather more detail than our current version makes clear that CHAMAT is indeed the fortress on the Orontes.
34:9 VE YATSA HA GEVUL ZIPHRONAH VE HAYU TOTSOTAV CHATSAR EYNAN ZEH YIHEYEH LACHEM GEVUL TSAPHON
וְיָצָא הַגְּבֻל זִפְרֹנָה וְהָיוּ תוֹצְאֹתָיו חֲצַר עֵינָן זֶה יִהְיֶה לָכֶם גְּבוּל צָפוֹן
KJ: And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border.
BN: And the border shall go to Ziphron, and it shall continue at Chatsar Eynan; this shall be your northern border.
ZIPHRON: Unlocated as yet by either the archaeologists or the etymologists, though there is a word in Arabic, ZAPHAR, for the sweet smells that come out of a well-cultivated garden. This is its only mention in the Tanach.
CHATSAR EYNAN: Chatsar I explained at verses 4. Eynan suggests either "eyes" or "fountains" - both come from the same root (see AYIN in verse 11), but the latter is the more likely in this instance. Numbers 1:15 has the name Eynan as a grandson of Naphtali, while 2:29 declares him the prince of that tribe, so it could be named for him - though that would require a post-Mosaic, post-conquest dating of the text. However, Naphtali's northern border is Kena'an's northern border, so it is perfectly plausible.
And speaking of Naphtali and northern borders, I am impressed that Mosheh, who has never set foot in Kena'an in his life, and whose spies got no further north than Chevron before turning back, appears to know the detailed geography of the entire land, right up to the Levanon, village by village and hill by hill...
34:10 VE HITAVITEM LACHEM LI GEVUL KEDMAH ME CHATSAR EYNAN SHEPHAMAH
וְהִתְאַוִּיתֶם לָכֶם לִגְבוּל קֵדְמָה מֵחֲצַר עֵינָן שְׁפָמָה
BN: And you shall mark out your line for the eastern border from Chatsar Eynan to Shepham.
HITAVITEM: I am interested in this idea of marking out a line; did they do that on the ground, and if so with what? stones, as in milestones; did they make papyrus maps and do the lines that way?
SHEPHAM: "Bald", or "clean-shaven", when used for a man, but "devoid of trees or vegetation" when used for a place; cf 1 Chronicles 5:12 and 27:27, and possibly 1 Samuel 30:28 as well. How far east is "east"? If we were in Naphtali previously, its eastern border is the hills whose summit is the Golan Heights, and then Assyria - or east-Menasheh. You can see why I am asking this! The first Chronicles link has SHEPHAM as a person not a place, but locates him "east of Gil-ad...in Bashan" which would take the eastern border well into modern Jordan as well as modern Syria.
34:11 VE YARAD HA GEVUL MI SHEPHAM HA RIVLAH MI KEDEM LA AYIN VE YARAD HA GEVUL U MACHAH AL KETEPH YAM KINERET KEDMAH
וְיָרַד הַגְּבֻל מִשְּׁפָם הָרִבְלָה מִקֶּדֶם לָעָיִן וְיָרַד הַגְּבֻל וּמָחָה עַלכֶּתֶף יָם כִּנֶּרֶת קֵדְמָה
KJ: And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward:
BN: And the border shall go down from Shepham to Rivlah, on the east side of Ayin; and the border shall go down, and shall strike upon the slope of the sea of Chinnereth eastward;
RIVLAH: AYIN is generally the prefix, not the name; it means "a well"; it isn't impossible of course; there is a town in England named Wells, and a corner of Bristol called Hotwells. But usually another name is attached, as in Australian Alice Springs, or those various reasons why London grew up as a town: Shadwell, Camberwell, Clerkenwell...
As to RIVLAH, modern Riblah, we are once again in Arabic, a word that complements ZIPHRON in verse 9: "fertility" being the general meaning. And confirmation too that we are indeed in Ashur, in east-Menasheh, because Rivlah is well-known, another city on the Orontes river, forty miles south of Chamat and a very important stopping-point on the trade-routes across the Levant - Gesenius quotes Buckingham on this, "Travels among the Arab tribes...", published in London in 1825; you can read it here, though you will need to subscribe; I have placed three dots at the mid-point of the title, in order to make my own point more firmly: the full title continues "...inhabiting the countries east of Syria and Palestine." Though, as per the map here, this is modern Homs, Syria north of Lebanon, and going ever further north and east, into the very lands from which Av-Ram and Sarai came, where Ya'akov passed so many years, from where the Shomronim were brought as captives to occupy nortern Kena'an...
Is it possible that there was a very different Rivlah, not this one at all, and the scholars are making assumptions? I ask only because, at no point in Jewish history from the first Abrahamic covenant to moden Zionism, by way of Mosheh, Shelomoh, et al, at no point has any of this ever been considered part of the "inheritance". East as far as the Euphrates, yes, but never north-east into Turkey. Once again it is worth comparing this Numbers list with the one given in Ezekiel - 47:13 ff, but no mention of Rivlah (though his Chamat is definitely that Chamat; and significant, because it effectively gives the whole of Lebanon as part of Yisra-El).
34:12 VE YARAD HA GEVUL HA YARDENAH VA HAYU TOTSOTAV YAM HA MELACH ZOT TIHEYEH LACHEM HA ARETS LI GEVULOTEYHA SAVIV
וְיָרַד הַגְּבוּל הַיַּרְדֵּנָה וְהָיוּ תוֹצְאֹתָיו יָם הַמֶּלַח זֹאת תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם הָאָרֶץ לִגְבֻלֹתֶיהָ סָבִיב
KJ: And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.
BN: And the border shall go down to the Yarden, and its continuation shall be at the Salt Sea; this shall be your land according to all its surrounding borders.
YAM HA MELACH: To this day the name used for what in English is called the Dead Sea.
One thought about these borders; we have seen the capture of lands to the south and south-east; with Yehoshu'a we will see the capture of a good deal more, but I have no recollection - and I promise to point it out if we do, when we get to Joshua and even Judges - of any description of wars of battles or skirmishes or even a mild stone-throwing incident or a back-alley knifing, that suggest the north and north-east was ever taken; and yet the tribes came to live there. So: multiple possible explanations. a) they simply never wrote them up; b) they never managed to take them, and a few stragglers made a home there later on; c) the tribal possessions are a later invention, probably from Davidic times, when a confederation was attempted; possibly even from later, even as late as Ezra himself; and Vikings from Newcastle suddenly found themselves ancestral cousins of Fresians from Kent, Celts from Cornwall, Saxons from Brighton, Angles from the Norfolk Broads, Gaels from Swansea and Tuatha de Danau from Belfast - not one of whom had any genuine ancestral connection, unless at the time of original evolution in Africa, but who are now, miraculously, one United Kingdom. Much as we would like to believe the Torah tales of the children of Ya'akov, this is the most likely to be the correct depiction.
And the borders themselves? At this precise moment of history, Pharaoh Ach-Mousa drove the Hyksos out of Mitsrayim (yes, all the way to Chamat and Rivlah) and established the 18th Dynasty, restoring the ancient Egyptian gods and customs; including the conquest of the whole of Kena'an, by precisely the military means described in these chapters, and later in Joshua, and reinstating Hor (Horus), alongside Eshet (Isis) and Osher (Osiris), as the ruling pantheon. We can assume that there would have been a shrine to Hor in every region, on a hill if not on a mountain, and with a golden calf at every one; we can assume that the borders described here were Ach-Mousa's conquests, not the invented Mosheh's.
34:13 VA YETSAV MOSHEH ET BENEY YISRA-EL LEMOR ZOT HA ARETS ASHER TITNACHALU OTAH BE GORAL ASHER TSIVAH YHVH LATET LE TISH'AT HA MATOT VA CHATSI HA MATEH
וַיְצַו מֹשֶׁה אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר זֹאת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תִּתְנַחֲלוּ אֹתָהּ בְּגוֹרָל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה לָתֵת לְתִשְׁעַת הַמַּטּוֹת וַחֲצִי הַמַּטֶּה
KJ: And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:
34:13 VA YETSAV MOSHEH ET BENEY YISRA-EL LEMOR ZOT HA ARETS ASHER TITNACHALU OTAH BE GORAL ASHER TSIVAH YHVH LATET LE TISH'AT HA MATOT VA CHATSI HA MATEH
KJ: And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:
BN: Then Mosheh instructed the Beney Yisra-El, saying: This is the land in which you shall receive inheritance by lot, which YHVH has instructed shall be given to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe.
GORAL: does it really mean lots as we think of that: drawing short and long straws? Remember that Purim is also known as the Festival of Lots - though I don't recall the word Goral ever being used; the word that is used is PUR (see Esther 3:7 for example), whence the name of the festival. And of course, Ezra, who is having this written in its final form, just arrived from Persia, which is where the Purim story has its origins.
On the other hand, GORAL is used with precisely this meaning in Leviticus 16:8 to determine which of the two dedicated goats will be the Azaz-El; and in Psalm 22:19: "יְחַלְּק֣וּ בְגָדַ֣י לָהֶ֑ם וְעַל לְ֝בוּשִׁ֗י יַפִּ֥ילוּ גוֹרָֽל - they divide my clothes among themselves, casting lots for my garments". Significantly it is used through the Book of Nechem-Yah, at the time of the writing of the Tanach - see for example Nehemiah 10:35 (10:34 in some versions).
LE TISHAT HA MATOT VA CHATSI HA MATEH: And suddenly YHVH has instructed it in this way; or is this the moment at which Mosheh has the difficult leadership task of telling the other tribes that two and a half are about to part company?
LE TISHAT HA MATOT VA CHATSI HA MATEH: And suddenly YHVH has instructed it in this way; or is this the moment at which Mosheh has the difficult leadership task of telling the other tribes that two and a half are about to part company?
34:14 KI LAK'CHU MATEH HA RE'U-VENI LE VEIT AVOTAM U MATEH VENEY HA GADI LE VEIT AVOTAM VA CHATSI MATEH MENASHEH LAK'CHU NACHALATAM
כִּי לָקְחוּ מַטֵּה בְנֵי הָראוּבֵנִי לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם וּמַטֵּה בְנֵי הַגָּדִי לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם וַחֲצִי מַטֵּה מְנַשֶּׁה לָקְחוּ נַחֲלָתָם
BN: For the tribe of the Beney Re'u-Ven according to their clans, and the tribe of the Beney Gad according to their clans, have received, and the half-tribe of Menasheh have received, their inheritance.
34:15 SHENEY HA MATOT VA CHATSI HA MATEH LAK'CHU NACHALATAM ME EVER LE YARDEN YERECHO KEDMAH MIZRACHAH
שְׁנֵי הַמַּטּוֹת וַחֲצִי הַמַּטֶּה לָקְחוּ נַחֲלָתָם מֵעֵבֶר לְיַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ קֵדְמָה מִזְרָחָה
KJ: The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.
BN: The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Yarden at Yerecho eastward, toward the sunrise.
The phrasing of this and, and the previous verse as well, with its repetitions of phrases, the, the phrasing, the way Mosheh repeats himself, does seem as though his stammer just came back... is he finding this announcement particularly difficult to make?
pey break
34:16 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
34:17 ELEH SHEMOT HA ANASHIM ASHER YINCHALU LACHEM ET HA ARETS EL-AZAR HA KOHEN VIY'HOSHU'A BIN NUN
KJ: These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.
BN: These are the names of the men who shall take possession of the land for you: El-Azar the Kohen and Yehoshu'a bin Nun.
34:18 VE NASI ECHAD NASI ECHAD MI MATEH TIK'CHU LINCHOL ET HA ARETS
KJ: And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.
BN: And you shall appoint one prince of every tribe, to take possession of the land.
TIK'CHU: means "take", but is being used here to mean "appoint". Because to take, you have to be going with, and he isn't.
NASI: "Prince"? Since when did the Beney Yisra-El have tribal castes, with an aristocracy? (See my detailed commentary on this, at Numbers 3 ff, when all these "princes" were first appointed, fully 38 years ago - clearly we are now in yet another version of this history!). Other than Mosheh's own tribe, of course, which is different! Or perhaps we are mis-reading Nasi, and it isn't "prince" at all. Later, with the Sanhedrin, the Nasi will be the President of the Council. So perhaps this is just a way of saying "tribal-chief" rather than "clan-chief"; a "sheikh" in the Arab world.
We encountered a similar listing of the tribal "princes" in the opening chapter of this book, for the conducting of the census, and another in chapter 7, for the bringing of the offerings when the Mishkan was set up, and yet a third in chapter 10, when the banner-carriers for the march were appointed; though all of those were thirty-eight years ago. We might expect the sons or grandsons of those leaders to be the leaders now, but in fact that does not appear to be the case. Nor is it made clear how or why these were chosen, on any of these occasions.
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
34:17 ELEH SHEMOT HA ANASHIM ASHER YINCHALU LACHEM ET HA ARETS EL-AZAR HA KOHEN VIY'HOSHU'A BIN NUN
אֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר יִנְחֲלוּ לָכֶם אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן
KJ: These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.
BN: These are the names of the men who shall take possession of the land for you: El-Azar the Kohen and Yehoshu'a bin Nun.
34:18 VE NASI ECHAD NASI ECHAD MI MATEH TIK'CHU LINCHOL ET HA ARETS
וְנָשִׂיא אֶחָד נָשִׂיא אֶחָד מִמַּטֶּה תִּקְחוּ לִנְחֹל אֶת הָאָרֶץ
KJ: And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.
BN: And you shall appoint one prince of every tribe, to take possession of the land.
TIK'CHU: means "take", but is being used here to mean "appoint". Because to take, you have to be going with, and he isn't.
NASI: "Prince"? Since when did the Beney Yisra-El have tribal castes, with an aristocracy? (See my detailed commentary on this, at Numbers 3 ff, when all these "princes" were first appointed, fully 38 years ago - clearly we are now in yet another version of this history!). Other than Mosheh's own tribe, of course, which is different! Or perhaps we are mis-reading Nasi, and it isn't "prince" at all. Later, with the Sanhedrin, the Nasi will be the President of the Council. So perhaps this is just a way of saying "tribal-chief" rather than "clan-chief"; a "sheikh" in the Arab world.
We encountered a similar listing of the tribal "princes" in the opening chapter of this book, for the conducting of the census, and another in chapter 7, for the bringing of the offerings when the Mishkan was set up, and yet a third in chapter 10, when the banner-carriers for the march were appointed; though all of those were thirty-eight years ago. We might expect the sons or grandsons of those leaders to be the leaders now, but in fact that does not appear to be the case. Nor is it made clear how or why these were chosen, on any of these occasions.
34:19 VE ELEH SHEMOT HA ANASHIM LE MATEH YEHUDAH KALEV BEN YEPHUNEH
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת הָאֲנָשִׁים לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה כָּלֵב בֶּן יְפֻנֶּה
KJ: And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
BN: And these are the names of the men: for the tribe of Yehudah, Kalev ben Yephuneh.
Note this: Kalev was the other spy who spoke positively, but it is Yehoshu'a not he who gets the succession; nonetheless, getting the chieftainship of Yehudah is the number 2 spot, theoretically equal second with the other 11 chieftains, though Yehudah from the start - look at the arrangements for the movement of the Mishkan in Numbers 2, especially the map in my note to verse 16 - had a more significant status than the others. But it is will be later, with Kalev's descendants, that this really matters, in David's time, at Sha'ul's death, when they dispute the possession of Chevron.
Note the order of the tribes in this list. Yehudah first, then Shim'on. Bin-Yamin third, then Dan, the Yosephite tribes Menasheh (half anyway) and Ephrayim, Zevulun, Yisaschar, Asher, Naphtali.
34:20 U LE MATEH BENEY SHIM'ON SHMU-EL BEN AMI-HUD
וּלְמַטֵּה בְּנֵי שִׁמְעוֹן שְׁמוּאֵל בֶּן עַמִּיהוּד
KJ: And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Shim'on, Shmu-El ben Ami-Hud.
34:21 LE MATEH VIN-YAMIN ELI-DAD BEN KISLON
לְמַטֵּה בִנְיָמִן אֱלִידָד בֶּן כִּסְלוֹן
KJ: Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.
BN: For the tribe of Bin-Yamin, Eli-Dad ben Kislon.
LE MATEH VIN-YAMIN: Some are Beney (eg LE MATEH VENEY SHIM'ON, above), this one not. Is that because the Ben is already intrinsic to the tribal identity? This is a key verse in fact, in the debate over the name: Binyamin or Bin-Yamin; the inference here is that they were the latter - and Rachel naming her son Ben-Oni endorses that.
34:22 U LE MATEH VENEY DAN NASI BUKI BEN YAGLI
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Dan Nasi Buki ben Yagli.
Why is it VENEY on this occasion, but BENEY in verse 20? And why does he, and all the rest, get the title included, when the previous haven't?
KJ: The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod.
BN: For the Beney Yoseph: for the tribe of the Beney Menasheh Nasi Chani-El ben Ephod.
Menasheh before Ephrayim!
EPHOD: Among the very many odd names in the Bible, few odder than this. Who calls their child "tunic"?
But are there not two tribes of Menasheh now, the one that has claimed its inheritence in Gil'ad, and this western half? Is the tribal prince to be prince of both?
34:24 U LE MATEH VENEY EPHRAYIM NASI KEMU-EL BEN SHIPHTAN
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Ephrayim Nasi Kemu-El ben Shiphtan.
SHIPHTAN: I have said that this 40-year journey is really a mythological map of the heavens, and we have seen the building of law and religious practice in its indices. Names proved significant, and it would be logical to assume that they would prove significant in this list too. So we just had the Ephod, which isn't just any tunic but specifically the one worn by the priests (click here for a secular explanation, here for an orthodox one); and now we have SHIPHTAN, from the root SHOPHET, a Judge, and I am wondering if these are not biological fathers at all, but Guild-Masters, in the way that the monastic Abbot is also addressed as "father". In which case, we do know why each of these "princes" was chosen, at least on this occasion
34:25 U LE MATEH VENEY ZEVULUN NASI ELI-TSAPHAN BEN PARNACH
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Zevulun Nasi Eli-Tsaphan ben Parnach.
And perhaps Parnach is another of significance, but alas we have no idea what it means or where it comes from.
וּלְמַטֵּה בְנֵי דָן נָשִׂיא בֻּקִּי בֶּן יָגְלִי
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Dan Nasi Buki ben Yagli.
Why is it VENEY on this occasion, but BENEY in verse 20? And why does he, and all the rest, get the title included, when the previous haven't?
Both names sound like diminutives, rather than the full name - IY endings usually are in Yehudit. Thus Av-Raham becomes Avi, David becomes Dodi, etc. There is a Buki-Yahu in 1 Chronicles 25:4, but no equivalent full-name for Yagli anywhere.
34:23 LIVNEY YOSEPH LE MATEH VENEY MENASHEH NASI CHANI-EL BEN EPHOD
34:23 LIVNEY YOSEPH LE MATEH VENEY MENASHEH NASI CHANI-EL BEN EPHOD
לִבְנֵי יוֹסֵף לְמַטֵּה בְנֵי מְנַשֶּׁה נָשִׂיא חַנִּיאֵל בֶּן אֵפֹד
BN: For the Beney Yoseph: for the tribe of the Beney Menasheh Nasi Chani-El ben Ephod.
Menasheh before Ephrayim!
EPHOD: Among the very many odd names in the Bible, few odder than this. Who calls their child "tunic"?
But are there not two tribes of Menasheh now, the one that has claimed its inheritence in Gil'ad, and this western half? Is the tribal prince to be prince of both?
34:24 U LE MATEH VENEY EPHRAYIM NASI KEMU-EL BEN SHIPHTAN
וּלְמַטֵּה בְנֵי אֶפְרַיִם נָשִׂיא קְמוּאֵל בֶּן שִׁפְטָן
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Ephrayim Nasi Kemu-El ben Shiphtan.
SHIPHTAN: I have said that this 40-year journey is really a mythological map of the heavens, and we have seen the building of law and religious practice in its indices. Names proved significant, and it would be logical to assume that they would prove significant in this list too. So we just had the Ephod, which isn't just any tunic but specifically the one worn by the priests (click here for a secular explanation, here for an orthodox one); and now we have SHIPHTAN, from the root SHOPHET, a Judge, and I am wondering if these are not biological fathers at all, but Guild-Masters, in the way that the monastic Abbot is also addressed as "father". In which case, we do know why each of these "princes" was chosen, at least on this occasion
34:25 U LE MATEH VENEY ZEVULUN NASI ELI-TSAPHAN BEN PARNACH
וּלְמַטֵּה בְנֵי זְבוּלֻן נָשִׂיא אֱלִיצָפָן בֶּן פַּרְנָךְ
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Zevulun Nasi Eli-Tsaphan ben Parnach.
And perhaps Parnach is another of significance, but alas we have no idea what it means or where it comes from.
34:26 U LE MATEH VENEY YISSACHAR NASI PLATI-EL BEN AZAN
וּלְמַטֵּה בְנֵי יִשָּׂשכָר נָשִׂיא פַּלְטִיאֵל בֶּן עַזָּן
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Yisaschar Nasi Palti-El ben Azan.
Whereas AZAN suggests OZEN, which is an "ear", or something "sharp", though I suspect that it goes with BUKKI and YAGLI as another diminutive, and is really AZNI-YAH, which Leviticus 11:13 (where you will find extensive notes) and Deuteronomy 14:12, inter alia, have as a species of eagle.
34:27 U LE MATEH VENEY ASHER NASI ACHI-HUD BEN SHELOMI
וּלְמַטֵּה בְנֵי אָשֵׁר נָשִׂיא אֲחִיהוּד בֶּן שְׁלֹמִי
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Asher Nasi Achi-Hud ben Shelomi.
And yet again a name that sounds like a diminutive. This is not something that happens very often in these texts, so having so many in the same list must have some significance.
34:28 U LE MATEH VENEY NAPHTALI NASI PEDAH-EL BEN AMI-HUD
וּלְמַטֵּה בְנֵי נַפְתָּלִי נָשִׂיא פְּדַהְאֵל בֶּן עַמִּיהוּד
KJ: And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.
BN: And for the tribe of the Beney Naphtali Nasi Pedah-El ben Ami-Hud.
I mentioned three lists. There was a fourth as well, at this end of the 40-year journey. So we need to ask: how many of these were the princes who took the second census (Numbers 26)? But alas we are only told the names and numbers of the tribes, and not the men who conducted it.
34:29 ELEH ASHER TSIVAH YHVH LENACHEL BENEY YISRA-EL BE ERETS KENA'AN
אֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה לְנַחֵל אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן
KJ: These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
BN: These are they who YHVH instructed to divide the inheritance among the Beney Yisra-El in the land of Kena'an.
pey break
My translation of Ezekiel 47:13-23 is below:
Ezekiel 47
13 Thus says the Lord YHVH: “This shall be the border, inside which you shall share out the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Yisra-El, Yoseph receiving two portions.
14 “And ye shall inherit it, every man equally, this land which I raised my hand and swore to give to your ancestors; and this land shall be bequeathed to you as an inheritance.
15 “And this shall be the border of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea, by the way of Chetlon, as far as the entrance to Tsedad;
16 “Chamat, Berotah, Sivra’im, which is between the border of Damasek (Damascus) and the border of Chamat; Chatser Ha Tiychon, which is by the border of Chavran.
17 “And the border from the sea shall be Chatsar Eynon on the border of Damasek, and on the north northward is the border of Chamat. This is the north side.
18 “And the east side, between Chavran and Damasek, and between Ha Gil’ad and the land of Yisra-El, by the Yarden (Jordan), you shall measure a line from the border to the sea in the east. This is the east side.
19 “And the south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriyvbot-Kadesh, to the Brook [of Egypt], as far as the Great Sea. This is the south side southward.
20 “And the west side shall be the Great Sea, from the border all the way to the entrance to Chamat. This is the west side.
21 “So you shall share out this land among yourselves, according to the tribes of Yisra-El.
22 “And it shall come to pass, that you shall share it out by lot for an inheritance both to you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be to you like the home-born among the Beney Yisra-El; they shall have their inheritance with you among the tribes of Yisra-El.
23 “And it shall come to pass that, in whichever tribe the stranger settles, that is where you shall give him his inheritance,” saith the Lord YHVH.
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