Bible Strands
Ezekiel 47:13
This is what the Lord GOD says: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through the prophet to the exiled community, positioning the command immediately after the vision of the sanctuary river and before the instruction to divide the land equally.
The words — גְבוּל (ge.Vul) means boundary, and תִּתְנַחֲל֣וּ (tit.na.cha.Lu) means you will give as possession, grounding the declaration in physical territorial division.
The thread — The allocation structure aligns with Genesis 48:5, where Joseph’s lineage receives two tribal portions, and Numbers 34:2, which establishes the land as a divinely allotted inheritance.
Why it lands — The text commands precise adherence to specified borders for tribal inheritance, requiring readers to accept fixed divine assignments rather than negotiate or rearrange the distribution.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord God; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
Cross-references
- Genesis 48:5 And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
- Numbers 34:2 “Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance with these boundaries:
- Jeremiah 3:18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance.
- Ezekiel 48:4 Manasseh will have one portion bordering the territory of Naphtali from east to west.
- 1 Chronicles 5:1 These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright.
- Jeremiah 31:1 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
- Genesis 49:26 The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.