Numbers 34:17

17 These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 34:17 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 34:17

These are the names of the men which shall divide the land
unto you
Or "inherit the land for you" F26; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, they were to take possession of it in their name and stead, as their representatives, and then distribute it unto them, or divide it to be inherited by them; but whatever may be said for the princes of the tribes, as acting for their respective tribes, and representing them, the same cannot be said of the two first named, as follow:

Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun;
the one the principal person in ecclesiastical affairs, and the other in civil ones; to divide the land being partly a sacred work, as it was a type of the heavenly Canaan, and a civil one, as it concerned the present welfare of the people of Israel; and both were types of Christ, the priest upon his throne, who is both priest and King; who, as the one, gives a right unto it, and, as the other, introduces into it.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (Mkl wlxny) "haereditabunt vobis", Montanus; "qui haereditario jure accipient pro vobis", Tigurine not.

Numbers 34:17 In-Context

15 the two tribes and the half-tribe have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.
16 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
17 These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun.
18 You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance.
19 These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.