Numbers 33:50-56

Drive Out the Inhabitants

50 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

51 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ¹When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

52 then ²you shall drive out ³all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their ⁴figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.

53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.

54 ⁵You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. ⁶To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.

55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as ⁷barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.

56 And I will do to you ⁸as I thought to do to them."

Numbers 33:50-56 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 33

This chapter gives an account of the journeys of the people of Israel, from their first coming out of Egypt, to their arrival in the plains of Moab by Jordan, and the names of the various stations where they rested are given, Nu 33:1-49 and they are ordered, when they passed over Jordan, to drive out the Canaanites, destroy their idols, and divide the land among their families in their several tribes, Nu 33:50-54 or otherwise it is threatened the Canaanites should be troublesome and vexatious to them, even those that remained; and it might be expected God would do to the Israelites as he thought to do to those nations, Nu 33:55,56.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 9:1; [Joshua 3:17]
• 2. Numbers 32:21
• 3. Exodus 23:24, 33; Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:2, 5; Deuteronomy 12:3
• 4. Leviticus 26:1
• 5. Numbers 26:53, 55
• 6. Numbers 26:54; Numbers 35:8
• 7. Joshua 23:13; Judges 2:3; Psalms 106:34, 36
• 8. [Deuteronomy 28:63]