Numbers 27:8

_AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING,_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

8._And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel. _This question was the occasion of the delivery of a law, which was to be a perpetual and general rule as to the right of inheritance. But, although God prefers the daughters to all other relatives, when there is no male issue, still, with this single exception of the first degree, He admits none but males to the succession, and thus preserves the usual order. And surely it would be very unjust to exclude a man’s (natural) heirs on account of their sex; but when it became necessary to pass from his own children to other kindred, the prerogative of the male line began to be established. I speak of the land of Canaan, in which not only the name of Abraham but also that of the twelve tribes was to be preserved, in order that the memory (of God’s blessing) (200) might be more distinct and unclouded....

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...

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 THOU SHALT SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL,.... The above affair occasioned a law to be made, in which all the people would have a concern, among whom such cases should happen, as after related: SAYING, IF A MAN DIE, AND HAVE NO SON, THEN YE SHALL CAUSE HIS INHERITANCE TO PASS UNTO HIS DAUGHTER; as in the above case of the daughters of Zelophehad; what was determined as to their particular case was made into a general law....

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

CHILDREN. sons....

_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;...

THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD SPEAK RIGHT— God, approving their petition, passes their special case into a general law hereafter to be observed. These daughters of Zelophehad were to enjoy what would have fallen to their father's share had he been alive, because they stood in his place, and represented his person: and accordingly we find, that they had their portion in the land. Joshua 1:3. While, for the future, it is provided, that the inheritance should always pass to the next of kin, whether male or female, of the family of him who is deceased. This is ordained Numbers 27:11 _to be a statute of judgment unto the children of Israel; i.e._ a standing law whereby to judge of succession to inheritance in all future times. We may just observe, that the Hebrew text speaks here of the daughters in the masculine,