These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

NUMBERS 34:17KJV
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Numbers 34:17 (KJV)

What does Numbers 34:17 mean?

Numbers 34:17 states that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun are the two men chosen to oversee the division of the land among the Israelites. This verse identifies the specific leaders responsible for making sure the land is distributed fairly as the Israelites prepare to enter Canaan.

In this passage, God is speaking to Moses and giving instructions about how the Promised Land should be divided among the tribes. Eleazar, who is the high priest, and Joshua, who will succeed Moses as leader, are named to ensure the process is carried out with both spiritual and practical oversight. This sets the stage for the detailed allotment of land that follows in the chapter.

Where else these words appear

“Nun” Hebrew H5126 · used in 30 verses

  • Exodus 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
  • Numbers 32:12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.
  • Joshua 14:1 And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.

“divide” Hebrew H5157 · used in 59 verses

  • Exodus 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
  • Deuteronomy 19:14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
  • Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

“Eleazar” Hebrew H499 · used in 70 verses

  • Exodus 6:23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
  • Numbers 27:2 And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,
  • Joshua 22:32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.