וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ צַ֞ו אֶת־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־אַתֶּ֥ם בָּאִ֖ים אֶל־הָאָ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן זֹ֣את הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּפֹּ֤ל לָכֶם֙ בְּֽנַחֲלָ֔ה אֶ֥רֶץ כְּנַ֖עַן לִגְבֻלֹתֶֽיהָ׃ וְהָיָ֨ה לָכֶ֧ם פְּאַת־נֶ֛גֶב מִמִּדְבַּר־צִ֖ן עַל־יְדֵ֣י אֱד֑וֹם וְהָיָ֤ה לָכֶם֙ גְּב֣וּל נֶ֔גֶב מִקְצֵ֥ה יָם־הַמֶּ֖לַח קֵֽדְמָה׃ וְנָסַ֣ב לָכֶם֩ הַגְּב֨וּל מִנֶּ֜גֶב לְמַעֲלֵ֤ה עַקְרַבִּים֙ וְעָ֣בַר צִ֔נָה והיה [וְהָיוּ֙] תּֽוֹצְאֹתָ֔יו מִנֶּ֖גֶב לְקָדֵ֣שׁ בַּרְנֵ֑עַ וְיָצָ֥א חֲצַר־אַדָּ֖ר וְעָבַ֥ר עַצְמֹֽנָה׃ וְנָסַ֧ב הַגְּב֛וּל מֵעַצְמ֖וֹן נַ֣חְלָה מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהָי֥וּ תוֹצְאֹתָ֖יו הַיָּֽמָּה׃ וּגְב֣וּל יָ֔ם וְהָיָ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם הַיָּ֥ם הַגָּד֖וֹל וּגְב֑וּל זֶֽה־יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם גְּב֥וּל יָֽם׃ וְזֶֽה־יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם גְּב֣וּל צָפ֑וֹן מִן־הַיָּם֙ הַגָּדֹ֔ל תְּתָא֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם הֹ֥ר הָהָֽר׃ מֵהֹ֣ר הָהָ֔ר תְּתָא֖וּ לְבֹ֣א חֲמָ֑ת וְהָי֛וּ תּוֹצְאֹ֥ת הַגְּבֻ֖ל צְדָֽדָה׃ וְיָצָ֤א הַגְּבֻל֙ זִפְרֹ֔נָה וְהָי֥וּ תוֹצְאֹתָ֖יו חֲצַ֣ר עֵינָ֑ן זֶֽה־יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם גְּב֥וּל צָפֽוֹן׃ וְהִתְאַוִּיתֶ֥ם לָכֶ֖ם לִגְב֣וּל קֵ֑דְמָה מֵחֲצַ֥ר עֵינָ֖ן שְׁפָֽמָה׃ וְיָרַ֨ד הַגְּבֻ֧ל מִשְּׁפָ֛ם הָרִבְלָ֖ה מִקֶּ֣דֶם לָעָ֑יִן וְיָרַ֣ד הַגְּב֔וּל וּמָחָ֛ה עַל־כֶּ֥תֶף יָם־כִּנֶּ֖רֶת קֵֽדְמָה׃ וְיָרַ֤ד הַגְּבוּל֙ הַיַּרְדֵּ֔נָה וְהָי֥וּ תוֹצְאֹתָ֖יו יָ֣ם הַמֶּ֑לַח זֹאת֩ תִּהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֥ם הָאָ֛רֶץ לִגְבֻלֹתֶ֖יהָ סָבִֽיב׃ וַיְצַ֣ו מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר זֹ֣את הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּתְנַחֲל֤וּ אֹתָהּ֙ בְּגוֹרָ֔ל אֲשֶׁר֙ צִוָּ֣ה יְהוָ֔ה לָתֵ֛ת לְתִשְׁעַ֥ת הַמַּטּ֖וֹת וַחֲצִ֥י הַמַּטֶּֽה׃ כִּ֣י לָקְח֞וּ מַטֵּ֨ה בְנֵ֤י הָראוּבֵנִי֙ לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֔ם וּמַטֵּ֥ה בְנֵֽי־הַגָּדִ֖י לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם וַחֲצִי֙ מַטֵּ֣ה מְנַשֶּׁ֔ה לָקְח֖וּ נַחֲלָתָֽם׃ שְׁנֵ֥י הַמַּטּ֖וֹת וַחֲצִ֣י הַמַּטֶּ֑ה לָקְח֣וּ נַחֲלָתָ֗ם מֵעֵ֛בֶר לְיַרְדֵּ֥ן יְרֵח֖וֹ קֵ֥דְמָה מִזְרָֽחָה׃ (פ)
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Instruct the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as your portion, the land of Canaan with its various boundaries: 3 Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom. Your southern boundary shall start on the east from the tip of the Dead Sea. 4 Your boundary shall then turn to pass south of the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its limits shall be south of Kadesh-barnea, reaching Hazar-addar and continuing to Azmon. 5 From Azmon the boundary shall turn toward the Wadi of Egypt and terminate at the Sea. 6 For the western boundary you shall have the coast of the Great Sea; that shall serve as your western boundary. 7 This shall be your northern boundary: Draw a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and let the boundary reach Zedad. 9 The boundary shall then run to Ziphron and terminate at Hazar-enan. That shall be your northern boundary. 10 For your eastern boundary you shall draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 From Shepham the boundary shall descend to Riblah on the east side of Ain; from there the boundary shall continue downward and abut on the eastern slopes of the Sea of Chinnereth. 12 The boundary shall then descend along the Jordan and terminate at the Dead Sea. That shall be your land as defined by its boundaries on all sides. 13 Moses instructed the Israelites, saying: This is the land you are to receive by lot as your hereditary portion, which the LORD has commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes. 14 For the Reubenite tribe by its ancestral houses, the Gadite tribe by its ancestral houses, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their portions: 15 those two and a half tribes have received their portions across the Jordan, opposite Jericho, on the east, the orient side.
(29) Moses said to them, “If every shock-fighter among the Gadites and the Reubenites crosses the Jordan with you to do battle, at the instance of the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, you shall give them the land of Gilead as a holding. (30) But if they do not cross over with you as shock-troops, they shall receive holdings among you in the land of Canaan.”
(10) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
(כז) ארץ זבת חלב ודבש. נאמר כאן ארץ זבת חלב ודבש, ונאמר להלן ארץ זבת חלב ודבש. מה להלן ארץ חמשת עממים, אף כאן ארץ חמשת עממים. מכאן היה ר' יוסי הגלילי אומר, אין מביאים בכורים מעבר לירדן, שאינה זבת חלב ודבש.
(27) "a land flowing with milk and honey": It is written here "a land flowing with milk and honey," and elsewhere (Shemoth 13:1) "a land flowing with milk and honey." Just as there, the land of the five nations (is being referred to), so, here. From here R. Yossi Haglili ruled: Bikkurim are not brought from across the Jordan, it not flowing with milk and honey.
(ז) פְּנ֣וּ ׀ וּסְע֣וּ לָכֶ֗ם וּבֹ֨אוּ הַ֥ר הָֽאֱמֹרִי֮ וְאֶל־כָּל־שְׁכֵנָיו֒ בָּעֲרָבָ֥ה בָהָ֛ר וּבַשְּׁפֵלָ֥ה וּבַנֶּ֖גֶב וּבְח֣וֹף הַיָּ֑ם אֶ֤רֶץ הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙ וְהַלְּבָנ֔וֹן עַד־הַנָּהָ֥ר הַגָּדֹ֖ל נְהַר־פְּרָֽת׃
Commentary from Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, p. 502
The contrast between Deuteronomy and (the priestly material) in Numbers could not be sharper. Deuteronomy has accommodated itself to history; Numbers has not. The priestly tradition consistently adheres to the map of Canaan as it existed up the the thirteenth century and does not admit to its slightest alteration in the light of subsequent events. Once again, the priestly texts have proved themselves to be the bearers of Israel's most ancient traditions.
From the Torah.com, Rachel Havrelock
Deep investment in the notion of boundaries characterizes Priestly descriptions of the Land of Canaan. The Jordan River forms the essential border that distinguishes territory conferred by God (Promised Land) from the places where Israel wandered and transgressed (wilderness). The ideal of a distinct and purified Israel in Priestly and related literature relies upon the Jordan as a foundational geographic limit (Num 34:12, Ezekiel 48:1-28). At the same time, the Jordan operates as one border in a complex system of borders.
In Priestly literature, delimitation defines the holy. The holy is set apart from the ordinary through boundaries that the priests police. By delimiting territory, the Jordan makes Israel holy and by representing water, it suggests that Israel’s territory is pure.[5]
By looking at the Jordan as an important border in a highly structured binary system, we can see to what degree Priestly writers favor a limited homeland ordered according to divine categories rather than a vast kingdom that absorbs many nations and peoples. From the Priestly perspective, it is more important to safeguard the system than to enlarge the national territory. In fact, expansion – which by definition overruns borders – threatens the system....
In contrast to the limited, symbolic conception of territory advanced by Priestly writers (admittedly still more expansive than the actual settlement boundaries appear to have been), the Deuteronomistic writers promote an ironically inclusive map of Israel’s land that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (Gen 15:18, Exod 23:31, Deut 1:7, Deut 11:24, Josh 1:4, I Kings 5:1). As they advance the Euphrates map, the Deuteronomists also portray the Jordan as a kind of normative limit of the legitimate homeland and span of the law.
Exactly as they guide political leaders to set their sights on expanding their territorial holdings right up to the edge of Mesopotamia, the Deuteronomistic writers also limit national membership, primarily to those west of the Jordan.
Concurrently, Deuteronomy promotes a temple capital as the fixed national center. Although this center is most properly established in Jerusalem and is not transferable in the manner of the Priestly sanctuary, the Deuteronomists convey less anxiety than the priests about the need for definitive borders. As long as the nation remembers Jerusalem as it stands and fights together, then the contingency of borders need not be viewed as a threat....
For the most part, however, the maps do not describe a particular manifestation of Israel or exalt kings and their accomplishments. Rather, by focusing on the land without reference to history, the Jordan maps sideline the kings in order to promote Priestly ideologies. The Euphrates maps enunciate more support for monarchs, but only for the very few of whom the Deuteronomists approve. Biblical maps then concern the idea of the nation much more than they concern the actual political boundaries of Israel at any one point in history.[9]
From Yigal Levine, Thetorah.com
Mazar’s hypothesis was that these boundaries reflect those of the thirteenth century Egyptian province of Canaan, fixed around 1270 B.C.E. after the battle of Kedesh (on the Orontes, north of Lebo and south of Hamath) between Rameses II of Egypt and Hattushilis III of Hatti. According to Mazar, these boundaries of Egyptian-ruled Canaan were kept as “a territorial concept,” from the Late Bronze Age all the way into the Israelite period, even if they never represented an actual area of Israelite settlement.[5]
A Modern Day Example: The Borders of Israel and Jordan
In modern terms, this could be compared to the familiar map of British-mandate Palestine, including Gaza, Judea and Samaria but excluding the Golan Heights and Transjordan. Before this time, all of this land was part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Transjordan together with the Cisjordan was known broadly as Palestine. The largely arbitrary British-mandate borders took form over a period of several decades of diplomatic activity between colonial powers (the most famous of which was the 1916 Sykes-Picot treaty between Britain and France), and were only finalized with the final separation of Transjordan from Palestine in 1923.
These borders of Mandatory Palestine were then in effect for only 25 years, until the establishment of the State of Israel in part of the territory in 1948 and the occupation of the rest by Egypt and Jordan. Despite the arbitrary and temporary nature of the “map of Palestine,” however, it was adopted by the mainstream Zionist organizations, by the Palestinian national movement, and eventually by the international community, so that now, over 60 years later, it is still a significant geographical icon.