Numbers 34 · a question people ask
Why does this map stop short of the Euphrates?
To Abram the LORD said, "I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18), and he told Joshua his border would reach "to the great river, the river Euphrates" (Joshua 1:4). This chapter draws "the land of Canaan" (34:2) with its north line at "the entrance of Hamath" (34:8) and its east line at the Jordan (34:12). Every reading agrees that both descriptions are the LORD's words, and that this chapter's line marks "the land which you shall inherit by lot" for the nine and a half tribes (34:13). (Whether Reuben and Gad were right to ask for land east of the Jordan is taken up in Numbers 32.) The two main readings below each rest on verses.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Two measures: the tribes' land and a wider rule
Those who hold this view note that this chapter draws the land to be shared out "by lot" (34:13) and calls it "the land of Canaan" (34:2), the name the LORD used to Abraham: "all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:8). They read the Euphrates as the reach of Israel's rule, and point to Solomon: "he had dominion over all on this side of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the River" (1 Kings 4:24). On this reading Numbers 34 draws the land the tribes were to live in, and Genesis 15:18 the full span of what the LORD gave, including kingdoms ruled but not shared out by lot.
Numbers 34:2 · Numbers 34:13 · Genesis 17:8 · 1 Kings 4:24
One promise, given in stages
Those who hold this view read the wider border as promised and given step by step, as Israel obeyed. The LORD said, "Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land" (Exodus 23:30), and then set the border "to the River" (Exodus 23:31). Moses spoke of a larger land still to come: "If the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers" (Deuteronomy 19:8), "and if you keep all this commandment" (Deuteronomy 19:9). The Euphrates border is tied to the same condition: "For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments" (Deuteronomy 11:22), then "from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border" (Deuteronomy 11:24). On this reading Numbers 34 is the land to be shared out first, and the rest of the promised span waited on Israel's faithfulness.
Exodus 23:30-31 · Deuteronomy 19:8-9 · Deuteronomy 11:22-24
The verses
“In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:”
“From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.”
““Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders),”
“From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad.”