Numbers 33:50-56

Law of Possessing the Land

50 Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying,

51 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, '¹When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and ²destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;

53 ³and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.

54 '⁴You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever * * the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.

55 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become ⁵as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.

56 'And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.' "

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. Joshua 3:17
• 2. Exodus 23:24; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3, 30; Psalms 106:34-36
• 3. Deuteronomy 11:31; Deuteronomy 17:14; Joshua 21:43
• 4. Numbers 26:53-56
• 5. Joshua 23:13