Numbers 27:2

_AND THEY STOOD BEFORE MOSES, AND BEFORE ELEAZAR THE PRIEST, AND BEFORE THE PRINCES AND ALL THE CONGREGATION, BY THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, SAYING,_ They stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation. The various members of the court which was assembled by Moses when it was desired to invest any measure with legal force are carefully enumerated in this passage. "All the congregation" means, of course, their representatives-namely, elders and officers (cf. Deuteronomy 29:10; Deuteronomy 31:28; Joshua 23:2)....

1-11 The five daughters of Zelophehad considered themselves as left destitute, having neither father nor brother to inherit any land. Their believing expectation that the word of the Lord would be performed in due season, and their desire of an interest in the promised inheritance; and the modest, candid manner in which they asked, without secret murmurs or discontents, are a good example. They ask for a possession in the land of Canaan. Herein they discovered, 1. Strong faith in the power and promise of God, concerning the giving of the land of Canaan to Israel. 2. And earnest desire of a place and name in the land of promise, which was a type of heaven. 3. Respect and honour for their father, whose name was dear to them now he was gone. He never had done any thing that might bar his children's claim. It is a comfort to parents when they come to die, if though they have smarted for the...

BY THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION - The place of solemn assembly of the elders. The daughters of Zelophehad made their suit to the princes, the heads of tribes and of families, who were making the census under the superintendence of Moses and Eleazar....

EXPOSITION THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD (Numbers 27:1). NUMBERS 27:1 THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD. The genealogy here given agrees with those in Numbers 26:29-4 and in Joshua 17:3. These women would appear to have been in the eighth generation from Jacob, which hardly accords with the 470 years required by the narrative; some links, however, may have been dropped. NUMBERS 27:2 BY...

AND THEY STOOD BEFORE MOSES, AND BEFORE ELEAZAR THE PRIEST, AND BEFORE THE PRINCES, AND ALL THE CONGREGATION,.... Who were now sitting in court, to hear and try causes brought before them; here were Moses the chief magistrate, Eleazar the high priest, the princes of the several tribes, and the representatives of the whole congregation, or it may be the seventy elders; a very grand and august assembly, before whom these ladies appeared, and from whom they might expect to have justice done them: BY THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION; near to which this court was held, both for the convenience of the people, to apply to in case of need, when they came thither to worship, and of Moses, to seek the Lord in case of any difficulty that might arise, as now did: SAYING; as follows....

4. THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD, THE DEATH OF MOSES AND HIS SUCCESSOR ANNOUNCED CHAPTER 27 _ 1. The daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:1)_ 2. Moses' death announced and his request (Numbers 27:12) 3. Joshua appointed (Numbers 27:18) The question of the daughters of Zelophehad was concerning their inheritance. Their father had died in the wilderness and there were no sons. They expected and claimed a possession among the brethren of their father. They fully counted on the Lord and His goodness, though their case was not met by the previous instructions. “It is impossible for God to be like a poor man, who says, ‘You expect more good than I am prepared to bestow.' God could not m

THE RIGHT OF DAUGHTERS TO INHERIT, IN DEFAULT OF MALE ISSUE. To guard against the alienation of property from a family through the absence of male heirs by natural descent, the system of the Levirate marriage was instituted (Deuteronomy 25:5 *, p. 109); and that law, which assumed that only males could inherit, is here supplemented by another law allowing daughters, in default of sons, to become heirs. For a qualification of the present law, see Numbers 36; and for the fulfilment of the claim made by Zelophehad's daughters, see Joshua 17:3 f *. NUMBERS 27:3. The denial that Zelophehad (a Manassite) was implicated in the rebellion of Korah presumes that Korah led a movement of the secular tribes against the

DOOR. entrance. TABERNACLE. tent. Hebrew. _'ohel._ App-40....

_A law on the inheritance of property_. The Hebrews always adhered firmly to the principle that landed property must not be alienated from the tribe or family to which it belonged. In early days, inheritance by daughters was not contemplated. If a man died without children, his widow might be married to his brother in order to bear sons who should inherit the property (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; cf. Matthew 22:24). Or if a man wished to sell land, his next-of-kin had the first right of purchase (Jeremiah 32:8). And the same principle underlies the law of the Jubile (Leviticus 25:10;...

THEN CAME THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD, &C.— In the last register of the Israelitish families, notice was taken of Zelophehad, son of Hepher, in the tribe of Manasseh, who died without male issue, and left five daughters his only heirs, chap. Numbers 26:33. These women, being informed that the land of Canaan was to be divided among the heads of families of tribes, mentioned in that register, which consisted only of males, imagined that they, being females, were to be excluded from all settled inheritance in the lands and estates in that country, and, consequently, that the name and family of the Hepherites would become utterly extinguished; whereupon they drew up a representation of their case, which they laid before Moses in a full court of the high priest and judges, assembled with him at the tabernacle. See...