Read Numbers 34 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
34:1-15 {p} Boundaries of Canaan, which Israel is to inherit by lot
34:16-29 {p} Leaders of the tribes who will divide the land
Numbers 34:1-29 Reverse Parallelism (a Chiastic Structure without a central axis):
The B pair stood out to me.
To give is Strong’s H5414, נתן nathan, a primitive verb meaning, “to give, put, or set.” The 3-letter root is nun + tav + nun.
nun ן ,נ = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
tav ת = crossed sticks, thus mark, sign, signal, monument
nun ן ,נ = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
God chose to use two seeds surrounding the mark, to mean, “to give.” The first time the seed appears in Scripture, God has, on the third day of creation, given the seed to the earth, hidden in the ground, so that it will grow and produce fruit, which contains seed within itself also.
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day. Gen 1:11-13
Giving is like planting a seed, and there is the meaning of the Hebrew Root Word parable. Giving (nun, the seed) is marked by (tav) planting a seed (nun). What you give will grow and produce fruit; and not just any fruit, but fruit of the same kind as the seed. When the fruit is produced, we take the seed within it, and plant it, that is, give it, again.
To take is Strong’s H5157, נחל nachal, a primitive verb meaning, “to receive an inheritance.” This is the same verb we saw yesterday. The 3-letter root is nun + chet + lamed.
nun ן ,נ = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
The story: The heir (nun) receives what has been divided (chet) to him by his father (lamed).
So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance [Strong’s H5157, nachal]. Jos 16:4
Isn’t it interesting that YHVH is the One giving the children of Israel the land, but then the children of Israel needed to take what had been given to them, they could not be passive about it. And that taking involved warfare. Isn’t this History that Prophesies? For God has given us our inheritance of the Kingdom, but we have to take possession of it by (often spiritual) warfare.
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