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._ Moses commanded ... according to the word of the Lord. The plea appeared just and reasonable; and accordingly an enactment was made by which the daughters of Zelophehad, while left to the free choice of their husbands, were restricted to marry not only within their own tribe, but within the family of their father's tribe - i:e., one of their cousins. This restriction, however, was imposed only on those who were heiresses. The law was not applicable to daughters in different circumstances (1 Chronicles 23:22). The great object of these two exceptional laws was, that the name of the man who died sonless should not be lost (Numbers 27:4); and on th

5._And Moses commanded the children of Israel. _The account here given is not identical with the previous one, that Moses referred the matter to God; yet the same thing is more briefly stated, viz., that Moses answered the people out of the mouth of God, from whence we infer that God was consulted by him. Moreover, God not only decides in favor of the children of Manasseh, but approves of their appeal, in that they were contented with their allotment, and claim for themselves what could not be alienated without the violation of the Divine decree. From this particular occasion, a general law is laid down, that no woman to whom an inheritance had fallen, was to marry out of her tribe, because she would defraud her own relatives of her marriage portion. In this way, however, a free permission to marry was accorded to females, provided they renounced their paternal inheritance. The words, in...

5-12 Those who consult the oracles of God, concerning the making of their heavenly inheritance sure, shall not only be directed what to do, but their inquiries shall be graciously accepted. God would not have one tribe enriched at the expense of another. Each tribe was to keep to its own inheritance. The daughters of Zelophehad submitted to this appointment. How could they fail to marry well, when God himself directed them? Let the people of God learn how suitable and proper it is, like the daughters of Israel, to be united only to their own people. Ought not every true believer Israel, to be united only to their own people. Ought not every true believer in Jesus, to be very attentive in the near and tender relations of life, to be united only to such as are united to the Lord? All our intentions and inclinations ought to be subjected to the will of God, when that is made known to us, a...

The daughters of Zelophehad had obtained an ordinance Numbers 28:6 which permitted the daughters of an Israelite dying without male issue to inherit their father’s property. The chiefs of the Machirites, of whom Zelophehad had been one, now obtain a supplemental enactment, directing that heiresses should marry within their own tribe. Numbers 36:4 BE TAKEN AWAY - i. e. be permanently taken away. The jubilee year, by not restoring the estate to the tribe to which it originally belonged, would in effect confirm the alienation. Numbers 36:11 UNTO THEIR FATHER’S BROTHERS’ SONS - Or more generally, “unto t

EXPOSITION THE MARRIAGE OF HEIRESSES (Numbers 36:1). NUMBERS 36:1 THE CHIEF FATHERS. The same phrase is more correctly translated in Exodus 6:25 "heads of the fathers." It is, however, probable that הָאָבור (fathers) is a contraction for בֵּית־הַאָבוֹת (fathers' houses). The fathers' house was the next recognized and familiar division below the _mishpachah _(family). Probably the fathers' house included originally all the descendants of a living ancestor, who formed the bond of union between them; but this union no doubt survived in many cases the death of the common ancestor, whose authority w

AND MOSES COMMANDED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL,.... Even all the tribes of Israel, whom the following law concerned, as well as the tribe of Manasseh: ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD; whom no doubt he consulted on this occasion, as he did when the daughters of Zelophehad applied unto him about the inheritance of their father: SAYING, THE TRIBE OF THE SONS OF JOSEPH HATH SAID WELL; in showing such a concern for the welfare of their tribe; the consideration of which would be of service to them all, and therefore was worthy of notice. Aben Ezra observes, that the heads of the fathers spoke for the sake of every tribe, what was for the good of them all, and therefore was well spoken....

12. THE SECURITY OF THE INHERITANCE CHAPTER 36 _ 1. The applicants and their statement (Numbers 36:1)_ 2. The response of Moses (Numbers 36:5) 3. The epilogue (Numbers 36:13) The chapter explains itself. But what is the lesson? It is evident that the inheritance given by the Lord must remain with those to whom it is given. And this brought security and comfort to the daughters of Zelophehad. It brings security and comfort to our hearts when we consider that our inheritance in Christ can never be taken from us. It belongs to us and we belong to the inheritance. The same is true of Israel with its earthly inheritance, the promised land. Thus ends the wilderness book, a marvellous

HEIRESSES REQUIRED TO MARRY WITHIN THEIR OWN TRIBE. This law supplements the enactment in Numbers 27:1, which allowed daughters to inherit their father's property, but still left open the possibility of the property, on their marriage, passing with them to another tribe. In practice, the transfer of lands from one tribe to another seems to have been not infrequent, for the same cities are sometimes represented as belonging to different tribes (presumably at different periods). Thus Dibon is Gadite in Numbers 32:34, but Reubenite in Joshua 13:17; Heshbon is Reubenite in Numbers 32:37, but Gadite in...

WORD. Hebrew mouth. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Cause), App-6, for what is spoken by it....

P. The chapter lays down a law that heiresses may not be married to anyone outside their own tribe. As in ch. 27, the present law is put in a concrete form. In ch. 27 it was ruled that the daughters of Zelophehad might inherit property, in order that the inheritance might not be alienated from the tribe of Manasseh. But it was realised that that law might, after all, be annulled if they were married to persons of other tribes. Here, therefore, the supplementary law is issued, forbidding them to do so....