Numbers 33:53

Land of its old inhabitants, and of the places dedicated to superstitious purposes. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "occupy the land." Septuagint, "drive out the inhabitants, and dwell there."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

53. Ye shall dispossess — The same in Hebrew as “drive out,” in Num_33:52, signifying to take possession of their land, to drive out and to exterminate all who remain.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I have given you the land. "The earth is the Lord"s," and no one, therefore, can dispute his right in the abstract to evict any of his tenants and to put others in possession. But while the whole earth was the Lord"s, it is clear that he assumed a special relation towards the land of Canaan, as to which he chose to exercise directly the rights and duties of landlord. (see on Deu_22:8 for a small but striking instance) The first duty of a landlord is to see that the occupancy of his property is not abused for illegal or immoral ends; and this duty excuses, because it necessitates, eviction under certain circumstances. It is not, therefore, necessary to argue that the Canaanites were more infamous than many others; it is enough to remember that God had assumed towards the land which they occupied (apparently by conquest) a relation which did not allow him to overlook their enormities, as he might those of other nations. (see on Exo_23:23-33 Exo_34:11-17, and cf. Act_14:16 Act_17:30) It was (if we like to put it so) the misfortune of the Canaanites that they alone of "all nations" could not be suffered to "walk in their own ways," because they had settled in a land which the Lord had chosen to administer directly as his own earthly kingdom.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do.

inherit the land

The Israelites claiming the land as their permanent possession is spoken of as if they were inheriting the land. (See: Metaphor)

Wherever the lot falls to each clan, that land will belong to it

"Each clan will receive the land according to how the lot falls"

translationWords

possess

inherit

lots

clan

tribe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

והורשתם את הארץ (lit., ye shall drive out the land) — this means: and you shall dispossess it of its inhabitants, and then, וישבתם בה YOU WILL DWELL IN IT — i.e., you will be able to remain in it, but if not, you will not be able to remain in it.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND YE SHALL DRIVE OUT THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND, AND DWELL THEREIN; FOR UNTO YOU HAVE I GIVEN THE LAND TO POSSESS IT. In my opinion this is a positive commandment, (Book of the Commandments), in the section on “additional” positive commandments, No. 4, Ramban discusses this opinion at length. Here in his commentary on the Torah, he mentions it briefly, relying presumably on his explanation in the work quoted above. in which He is commanding them to dwell in the Land and inherit it, because He has given it to them and they should not reject the inheritance of the Eternal. Thus if the thought occurs to them to go and conquer the land of Shinar or the land of Assyria or any other country and to settle therein, they are [thereby] transgressing the commandment of G-d. And that which our Rabbis have emphasized, the significance of the commandment of settling in the Land of Israel, and that it is forbidden to leave it [except for certain specified reasons], and [the fact] that they consider a woman who does not want to emigrate with her husband to live in the Land of Israel as a “rebellious [wife],” (marriage contract — see Vol. II, pp. 385-386). and likewise the man (ibid.). — the source of all these statements is here [in this verse] where we have been given this commandment, for this verse constitutes a positive commandment. This commandment He repeats in many places, such as Go in and possess the Land. (ibid., Verse 26 — Ramban on Sefer Hamitzvoth, ibid.). Rashi, however, explained: “And ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the Land — [if] you dispossess it of its inhabitants, then ye will be able to dwell therein, and to remain there, but if not, you will not be able to remain in it.” But our interpretation [of the verse] is the principal one.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Drive out [the inhabitants of] the land. If you will destroy the inhabitants of the land then you will merit bequeathing the land as an inheritance for your sons. However if you do not destroy them, even though you conquer the land, you will not merit bequeathing it to your children as an inheritance.

Sforno on the Tanakh — English translation: “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.