English · ASV

Numbers 36

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The Manassehites Raise a Legal Concern 1–4

1
And the heads of the fathers’housesof the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the children of Israel: ​
2
and they said, Jehovah commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Jehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters. ​
3
And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ​
4
And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers. ​

God’s Command Regarding Tribal Inheritance 5–9

5
And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Jehovah, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaketh right. ​
6
This is the thing which Jehovah doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. ​
7
So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave every one to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ​
8
And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. ​
9
So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave every one to his own inheritance.

Compliance and Conclusion 10–13

10
Even as Jehovah commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:
11
for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s brothers’ sons. ​
12
They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
13
These are the commandments and the ordinances which Jehovah commanded by Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 36

Verse 1

the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead — These are the heads of Zelophehad's own clan, for he was 'the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh' (Num 27:1). They come to the matter settled in Num 27:5–8 and speak 'before Moses, and before the princes', raising a question that ruling left open.

Verse 2

by lot — The clan rests its case on two commands, that the land be given 'by lot' to the tribes (Num 26:55) and that Zelophehad's inheritance go to his daughters (Num 27:7). The lot assigned land by tribe, 'according to the names of the tribes of their fathers' (Num 26:55), and the daughters' share could cross a tribal line, as v.3 explains.

Verse 3

shall their inheritance be taken — Gara means to lessen or withdraw. A daughter who married into another tribe would take her share with her to the tribe 'whereunto they are received', and the lot of Manasseh's clan would shrink by that amount. Her sons would be counted to their father's tribe.

Verse 4

the jubile — Yovel is the fiftieth year, in which 'ye shall return every man unto his possession' (Lev 25:10, 13), and it is named in Numbers only here. The clan says that when the jubile comes, the daughters' inheritance would be 'put unto' the other tribe's and not returned to their fathers' tribe.

Verse 5

according to the word of the LORD — The Hebrew is 'at the mouth of the LORD'. Moses gives the answer as the LORD's own, as in the first case, when he 'brought their cause before the LORD' (Num 27:5) and was told 'The daughters of Zelophehad speak right' (Num 27:7). Here the verdict on the clan is 'hath said well'.

Verse 6

Let them marry to whom they think best — The Hebrew is 'to the good in their eyes', so the choice remains theirs, within one limit: 'only to the family of the tribe of their father'. Rebekah was likewise asked, 'Wilt thou go with this man?' and answered, 'I will go' (Gen 24:58), when Abraham sent for a wife from 'my kindred' (Gen 24:4).

Verse 7

shall keep himself to the inheritance — 'Keep himself' is davaq, to cleave, the verb of 'shall cleave unto his wife' in Gen 2:24. Naboth shows the attitude when he answers Ahab, 'The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee' (1 Kings 21:3). Land is not to 'remove from tribe to tribe'.

Verse 8

every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance — The rule is general: it covers every daughter who holds land, not only Zelophehad's five. 'Possesseth' is yarash, to inherit. 1 Chron 23:22 shows it observed: Eleazar 'had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them'.

Verse 11

Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah — The five names are those of Num 26:33 and 27:1, with Noah moved from second place to last. They married 'their father's brothers' sons'. In Josh 17:3–4 they come before Eleazar and Joshua and say, 'The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren'.

Verse 13

the commandments and the judgments — The line closes Numbers as Lev 27:34 closes Leviticus: 'These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai'. Leviticus ends at Sinai; Numbers ends 'in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho', the camp named since Num 22:1, with the Jordan ahead.