Bible Strands
Numbers 33:53
You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel through Moses on the plains of Moab, immediately after commanding the removal of Canaan's inhabitants and before detailing the tribal allotment of territory. The verse functions as the transitional decree between conquest and settlement.
The words — וְהוֹרַשְׁתֶּם (ve-hōraštem) translates "and you will take possession," followed by וְיָשַׁבְתֶּם (ve-yāšavtem) "and you will dwell." The paired verbs establish sequential action: initial occupation followed by permanent habitation.
The thread — The possession and settlement command recurs in Deuteronomy 11:31 and Joshua 21:43, while Deuteronomy 32:8 grounds the land's allocation in God's sovereign division of nations.
Why it lands — The text commands Israel to occupy and remain in the territory God explicitly assigned. It requires immediate action grounded in divine grant rather than human effort.
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
And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 11:31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it,
- Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
- Joshua 21:43 Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.
- Psalms 115:16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.
- Jeremiah 27:5 By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
- Daniel 4:17 This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’
- Daniel 4:25 You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.
- Daniel 4:32 You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”
- Matthew 20:15 Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- Psalms 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.