Limitless Word
You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it.
Numbers 33:53 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
  • BSB You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
  • NKJV you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
  • NASB and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
  • NLT Take possession of the land and settle in it, because I have given it to you to occupy.

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

Israel is to take possession of and dwell in the land, for God has given it to them. The inheritance rests on God's gift, not Israel's merit.

Overview

The land is granted by divine promise, fulfilling the covenant sworn to Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 17:8). Possession is both gift and responsibility, received by faith and held by obedience. This earthly inheritance points beyond itself to the lasting inheritance secured for believers in Christ (1 Peter 1:4).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Deut 11:31For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein.
  • Josh 21:43So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it.
  • Deut 32:8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.
  • Ps 115:16The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh; but the earth has he given to the children of men.
  • Dan 4:32You shall be driven from men; and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You shall be made to eat grass as oxen. Seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will.”
  • Dan 4:17The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will, and sets up over it the lowest of men.
  • Ps 24:1–2A Psalm by David. The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.
  • Jer 27:5–6‘I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the surface of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me.
  • Dan 4:25that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will.
  • Matt 20:15Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’

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 33:53YouTube · 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 33:53 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.