Numbers 26:52-56

E. INSTRUCTIONS FOR LAND ALLOTMENT vv. 52-56
TEXT

Numbers 26:52. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 53. Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him, 55. Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 26:52. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the census of names. 54. To the larger number you shall give the larger inheritance; to the smaller number you shall give the smaller inheritance; each shall have his inheritance according to those who were counted of him. 55. But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. 56. According to their selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller.

COMMENTARY

Two factors figure in the division of the land to the tribest the size of each tribe is to be considered; the actual area specified for each will be established by casting lots. IC summarily pronounces the principles clear but contradictory; ICC reports the meaning is not quite clear.. . how these two in themselves irreconcilable principles are both to be respected in the division is not said; PC reports the second order (division by lot) can only be reconciled with the preceding order by assuming that the lot was to determine the situation of the territory, the actual boundaries being left to the discretion of the rulers. Only KD, of the sources cited, makes a genuine attempt to reconcile the methods: In Numbers 26:53-54, the command is given to distribute the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes (-unto these-'), according to the number of the names (chap. Numbers 1:2-18), i.e., of the persons counted by name in each of their families. To a numerous tribe they were to make the inheritance great; to the littleness, i.e., to the tribes and families that contained only a few persons, they were to make it small. In Numbers 26:55-56, it is still further commanded that the distribution should take place by lot.. The meaning of these words can only be, that every tribe was to receive a province of its own for an inheritance, which should be called by its name for ever. The other regulation in Numbers 26:56, -according to the measure of the lot shall its inheritance (the inheritance of every tribe) be divided between the numerous and the small (tribe),-' is no doubt to be understood as signifying, that in the division of the tribe territories, according to the comparative sizes of the different tribes, they were to adhere to that portion of land which fell to every tribe in the casting of the lots. The magnitude and limits of the possessions of the different tribes could not be determined by the lot according to the magnitude of the tribes themselves: all that could possibly be determined was the situation to be occupied by the tribe.. The lot was to determine the portion of every tribe, not merely to prevent all occasion for dissatisfaction and complaining, but in order that every tribe might receive with gratitude the possession that fell to its lot as the inheritance assigned it by God, the result of the lot being regarded by almost all nations as determined by God Himself (cf. Proverbs 16:33; Proverbs 18:18), (pp. 210, 211).

Because the precise boundaries used in the actual division of the tribal inheritances cannot be established, we can make but a general observation: the inheritances did not follow a rigid formula by which the most populous tribes received the greatest areas from largest to smallest; however, there is a general relationship between the two factors. Manasseh and Ephraim together, as sons of Joseph, constituted by far the largest descendants of any single son of Jacob, and received easily the greatest area of land. Judah, next largest tribe, received the second largest portion. This is an especially significant fact because of the prominent role Judah was destined to play in the unfolding history of God's people. The land itself was well situated and productive. Excepting for the Jeshimon, it was totally habitable. It was an ideal portion within which the longest-faithful portion of the people could live to greatest advantage for the longest period of time. Such a fact cannot be overlooked when one considers the guiding hand of God in the lot distribution. The exact extent of other territories pales into unimportance, then, after this established fact: and further inquiry about the significance of the size of any particular portion is almost without meaning. Perhaps the most important point of all is that God guided the distribution of all the portions so that every tribe had as much as it needed, and more than it ever used to fullest advantage either materially or spiritually.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

486.

Look up data on the various methods used to determine decisions by means of casting lots.

487.

Why would it be important for the land to be divided in relationship to the sizes of the various tribes?

488.

Reconcile the two methods given in this portion of Scripture: how could they both be used in the land distribution?

489.

To what extent did the actual land distribution relate to the size of the individual tribes?

490.

What important facts emerge when we look at the ultimate results of the land allotment?