The Borders of the Promised Land, Part 2

Because Blogger limits the number of labels per post, I have separated the current post into two parts.  The first part can be found here:

The Borders of the Promised Land, Part 1

At the end of part 1, the Lord had been speaking to Moses, designating the princes of each tribe that were to receive the inheritance for their tribes by lot.  He continued:

(Numbers 34:23) "The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod. (24) And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan."

The children of Joseph were divided into two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim.  Half of the tribe of Manasseh had already received their inheritance on the current side of the Jordan, but for the other half of the tribe of Manasseh, the Lord designated Hanniel as the prince to receive the lot.  From the tribe of Ephraim, Kemuel was chosen.

(25) "And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach."

From the tribe of Zebulun, the Lord designated Elizaphan.

(26) "And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan."

He designated Paltiel to receive the lot for the tribe of Issachar.

(27) "And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. (28) And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud."

From the tribe of Asher the Lord designated Ahihud, and from Naphtali, He chose Pedahel.

(29) "These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan."

The Lord concluded His command to Moses by saying that the previous names of princes were the ones He Himself had commanded to divide the inheritance in Canaan among the children of Israel.

In the conclusion of this post, I turn to Matthew Henry, this time in his Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible.  Here are his beautiful reflections about the relatively small area that was the promised land:

Canaan was of small extent; as it is here bounded, it is but about 160 miles in length, and about 50 in breadth; yet this was the country promised to the father of the faithful, and the possession of the seed of Israel. This was that little spot of ground, in which alone, for many ages, God was known. This was the vineyard of the Lord, the garden enclosed; but as it is with gardens and vineyards, the narrowness of the space was made up by the fruitfulness of the soil. Though the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, yet few know him, and serve him; but those few are happy, because fruitful to God. Also, see how little a share of the world God gives to his own people. Those who have their portion in heaven, have reason to be content with a small pittance of this earth. Yet a little that a righteous man has, having it from the love of God, and with his blessing, is far better and more comfortable than the riches of many wicked.