Numbers Thirty Six

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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Numbers 36:1 And the chief fathers of the families 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 chief fathers of the children of Israel:

Numbers 36:2 And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.

unto his daughters. See Numbers 27:1-11. The daughters of Zelophehad had been given an inheritance in the land of Manasseh because their father had no sons. This inheritance might be lost, however, if the daughters should marry outside the tribe. Hence they were instructed by the Lord through Moses (Numbers 36:6) to marry only within their tribe. The same principle was to apply in similar circumstances throughout all the tribes (Numbers 36:8-9).

Numbers 36:3 And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

Numbers 36:4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.

Numbers 36:5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.

Numbers 36:6 This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.

Numbers 36:7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

Numbers 36:8 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 enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.

Numbers 36:9 Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.

Numbers 36:10 Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:

Numbers 36:11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons:

Numbers 36:12 And 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.

Numbers 36:13 These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

These are the commandments. This apparently was the last of the commands given by Moses before his death. The book of Deuteronomy was essentially a review by Moses of all the events since the departure from Egypt. The inheritance of these women was in Manasseh, which was on the east of the Jordan, and was the final question that arose before they were all to cross the Jordan River into Canaan.