Comentario sobre Números 34:2

ואת הארץ אשר תפול לכם וגו׳ THIS IS THE LAND THAT SHALL FALL TO YOU [FOR AN INHERITANCE] — Since many divine commandments have to be practised in the Land of Canaan and are not to be practised outside the Land, it (Scripture) feels compelled to describe the limiting lines of the boundaries of its sides all round, in order to tell you: from these boundaries and inward the divine commands have to be practised (cf. Gittin 8a).

EL HA’ARETZ KENA’AN’ (INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN). “This is like [the expression]: and the prophecy of Oded the prophet,⁵⁰II Chronicles 15:8. See above in Seder Beha’alothcha, Note 284, for the grammatical reason why the verse requires the additional expression “a prophecy” after the initial words and a prophecy. Here too, the meaning of the verse is: into the land, the land of Canaan. [which is to be understood as: ‘and the prophecy, a prophecy of Oded the prophet’]. The sense [of the verse thus] is: ‘into the land, the land of Canaan.’” This is the language of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, and so also did Rashi write.⁵¹This is not found here in our texts of Rashi. However, Ramban may be referring to Rashi on Genesis 31:13, where this interpretation is clearly implied. See Vol. I, p. 382. Scholars have brought a similar example: [I am] ‘ha’E-il beith eil’⁵²Genesis 31:13. [which they interpreted to mean: “I am G-d, who is the G-d of Beth-el”]. And I have already explained [there] the secret thereof.
The correct interpretation of [the phrase] el ha’aretz kena’an appears to me to be that the name of this land is Canaan, like Mitzraim (Egypt), and the name of the land is identical with that of the people. Similarly, the inhabitants of Canaan,⁵³Exodus 15:15. and O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.⁵⁴Zephaniah 2:5. These two verses indicate clearly that Canaan is not only the name of a people, but of the land also. Thus the expression here el ha’aretz kena’an is as one says, “‘the’ city Jerusalem;” and ‘the’ King David;⁵⁵I Kings 1:1. and ‘the’ man Gabriel.⁵⁶Daniel 9:21. — In other words, el ha’aretz kena’an does not mean “into the land [of the people] of Canaan” but “into the land [called] Canaan.” There is therefore no problem necessitating the above interpretation of Rashi and Ibn Ezra. See above in Seder Beha’alothcha, Note 284.

זאת הארץ אשר תפול לכם בנחלה; the word תפול is used to describe the manner in which lots are drawn, i.e. a die is cast, falls. You will each be assigned your ancestral heritage even before the end of the military campaign resulting in the land’s conquest. The expression נפל in connection with lots is found in Psalms 22,18 as well as in Esther 3,7.
The reason why the Torah the word זאת, which at first glance appears to be superfluous, is to tell us that anything conquered outside the boundaries which will now be described is not subject to division by lottery. We find this confirmed by the fact that Moses distributed the lands of Sichon and Og without resorting to any lottery. The reason for this is that those lands do not have the degree of sanctity which is integral to the “Holy Land.” Joshua confirmed this when (Joshua 22,19) he spoke of ואך אם טמאה ארץ אחוזתכם, “even if the land of your inheritance is unclean,” [Joshua denied the right of the two and a half tribes on the east bank to build an altar even if thereby they had meant to add sanctity to the soil they lived on, which was not holy or sacred by definition. Ed.] The major reason why this land could not be distributed by lottery was that the lottery reflected Divine decisions, and G’d would not mix in unless the land concerned was holy by itself.