Ezekiels Vision of the Restored Borders of Israel

In the closing visions of his book (Ezekiel 47:13-48:35), the prophet Ezekiel records God's precise description of the borders and tribal allotments of the restored land of Israel after the exile. The northern boundary runs along the Mediterranean coast through Hethlon by way of Lebo-hamath to Zedad, then continues east through Berothah, Sibraim, and Hazar-hatticon to the boundary of Damascus, and finally to Hazar-enan in the eastern desert. The eastern boundary then runs south from Hazar-enan along the Jordan to Tamar by the Salt Sea; the southern boundary runs from Tamar to Meribath-kadesh and along the Wadi of Egypt to the Great Sea. Within these borders, Ezekiel's vision distributes the land in twelve equal east-west strips — Dan in the far north, then Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, Judah, followed by the holy district reserved for the temple and the prince, then Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad in the far south. The vision deliberately echoes and amplifies the borders God gave Moses in Numbers 34, but with notable changes — pushing the boundaries farther west to take in the Phoenician coast and assigning all twelve tribes equal portions regardless of population or wilderness-era tradition.

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