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Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
Numbers 33:51 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
  • BSB “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
  • NKJV “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
  • NASB “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
  • NLT “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: When you cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God tells Israel through Moses what they must do when they cross the Jordan into Canaan. It opens the command to dispossess the land's inhabitants.

Overview

The crossing of the Jordan is presented as the decisive entry into the inheritance God had promised the patriarchs. The instructions that follow are not arbitrary conquest but the execution of God's righteous judgment on Canaanite idolatry. This sets the terms by which Israel is to take possession in faithful obedience to the Lord.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Josh 3:17And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.
  • Deut 9:1Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
  • Deut 7:1When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 33:51YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 33:51 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.