For the second time in the book of Numbers, God selects one man from every tribe for a specific task.
But unlike the roll call in Numbers 12, when God asked the tribes to select a man for themselves, He chose these men specifically.
The last thing anyone wants is a repeat of the Numbers 12 debacle, where the hand-picked leaders argued that the land of Canaan was too inundated with giants and therefore “untakeable.”
That led to a forty-year exile through the wilderness, until every single member of that generation (except for Caleb and Joshua) died along the way.
The task itself is also different. The men aren’t just responsible for spying out the land and bringing back a report, they’re actively involved in the distribution of the inheritance.
Think about the weight that comes with this type of responsibility. Since the borders are immoveable (Deuteronomy 19:14), whatever land the leaders decide on will be their tribal inheritance. Forever.
The temptations are obvious. A selfish leader could argue more territory for themselves, or choose the best of the land while leaving rocky, infertile soil for their brethren. These men need to be men of integrity; that’s most likely why God chose them Himself.
Most of these names are lost to history. No mention is made of them either before or after this Text. They’re simply recorded to give honor for the work that they will later perform.
A few stand out. Joshua and Eleazar take their positions as the “Moses and Aaron” of this generation. Joshua is the physical leader, and Eleazar is the high priest. Together, they’ll oversee the distribution of land after the territory is conquered.
That’s probably why he’s not chosen as the leader of the land distribution in Ephraim—since he’s in charge of the entire nation, it doesn’t make sense to also put him in charge of a tribe. Instead, that honor goes to Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan (Numbers 34:24), who will decide the boundaries of Ephraim’s inheritance.
It’s also important to point out that just because Kemuel is leading this job, he’s not technically the leader of Ephraim. The Text says “a leader,” not “the leader,” which means he just holds an office. Other “leaders” could include judges or military officers, who are not in charge of the entire tribe either, just their area.
But even though Kemuel will decide the land itself, he won’t choose Joshua’s territory. Instead, the nation allowed Joshua to decide his area for himself (Joshua 19:49-50). He chose a city called Timnath-serah (which is inside Ephraim), where he was later buried.
Caleb is rightfully chosen as the leader of his own tribe (Judah), who, like Joshua, was also allowed to choose the specific land allotment for his family.
Unlike Joshua though, he goes in and conquers his territory by his own hand. Even at his advanced age, he’s still fighting giants (Joshua 15:14). No wonder he knew they could take the land in Numbers 12.
To us, the names in Numbers 34 mean very little. We don’t recognize them, they don’t reappear, and we’re probably not related to any of them.
But to someone living in Israel and wondering why their territory is full of rocks and mountains, they knew exactly who to blame. Or who to thank.