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Numbers Chapter
Thirty-six
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 36
This
chapter gives an account of an application made by the heads of the tribe of
Manasseh
concerning the inheritances of the daughters of Zelophehad
which
should they marry into other tribes
would be removed thither
and so be a loss
to theirs
Numbers 36:1
which
case was judged worthy of regard; and to remedy this inconvenience
they were
ordered to marry into the family of their father's tribe
and this was to be a
law to all heiresses for the future in other tribes
Numbers 36:5 and
accordingly the daughters of Zelophehad married their father's brothers' sons
Numbers 36:10.
Numbers 36:1 Now 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 spoke before Moses and before the leaders
the chief fathers of the
children of Israel.
YLT
1And the heads of the
fathers of the families of the sons of Gilead
son of Machir
son of Manasseh
of the families of the sons of Joseph
come near
and speak before Moses
and
before the princes
heads of the fathers of the sons of Israel
And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead
.... The
princes
as Aben Ezra; so the Septuagint version
which was the tribe of
Manasseh
whose grandson Gilead was
as follows:
the son of Machir
the son of Manasseh of the families of the sons
of Joseph
came near; to the house of judgment
as the Targum of Jonathan
the
sanhedrim or court of judicature
consisting of the following persons:
and spoke before Moses; the Septuagint version
adds
"and before Eleazar the priest"
as in Numbers 27:2.
and before the princes
the chief fathers of the children of
Israel: the princes of the several tribes; or it may be rather the
seventy elders.
Numbers 36:2 2 And they said: “The Lord commanded
my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children
of Israel
and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give
the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
YLT
2and say
Jehovah commanded
my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the sons of Israel
and my
lord hath been commanded by Jehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our
brother to his daughters.
And they said
.... One in the name of the rest:
the Lord commanded my lord; that is
Moses
whom
they address in a very respectable manner
being the chief governor of the
nation under God:
to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of
Israel; which command may be seen
in Numbers 26:53
and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of
Zelophehad our brother; or kinsman
being of the same tribe:
unto his daughters; who sued for it
and upon Moses's
consulting the Lord about it
it was ordered they should have it
Numbers 27:1 and
which these princes observed was likely to be attended with the following
inconvenience.
Numbers 36:3 3 Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other
tribes of the children of Israel
then their inheritance will be taken from the
inheritance of our fathers
and it will be added to the inheritance of the
tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken from the lot of our
inheritance.
YLT
3`And -- they have been to
one of the sons of the [other] tribes of the sons of Israel for wives
and
their inheritance hath been withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers
and
hath been added to the inheritance of the tribe which is theirs
and from the
lot of our inheritance it is withdrawn
And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of
the children of Israel
.... Which was not an unreasonable supposition
and perhaps was
judged very probable and likely
if some method was not taken to prevent it;
which they might conclude from the application of some young men of the other
tribes unto them:
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; for the inheritance given unto them would of course
the above
being the case
descend to their sons
and whose fathers being of other tribes
it would be fixed there:
so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance; which gave
them some concern; for though this was no personal injury to them
nor any
detriment to their families and estates
yet
as it was a lessening of their
tribe
they were uneasy at it; and the rather they might be
since half their
tribe was to settle on that side Jordan
where they now were: and now all this
the suit of the daughters of Zelophehad for their father's inheritance
which
was granted them
the address of young men to them as heiresses
the concern of
the heads of the tribe of Manasseh on this account; all this
I say
being
before they entered into the land
or it was conquered by them
or divided to
them by inheritance
show their strong faith and assurance that they should
possess it.
Numbers 36:4 4 And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes
then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which
they marry; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the
tribe of our fathers.”
YLT
4and if it is the jubilee of
the sons of Israel
then hath their inheritance been added to the inheritance
of the tribe which is theirs
and from the inheritance of the tribe of our
fathers is their inheritance withdrawn.'
And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be
.... At which
time inheritances were to be restored to the original proprietors of them; yet
this would be of no service in the present case
but rather the contrary
since
it would fix the inheritances of these daughters in another tribe or in other
tribes into which they should marry; and so Aben Ezra and Jarchi interpret it
"though" there shall be a jubilee
that will be of no advantage; it
will not remedy this inconvenience: for
then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the
tribe whereunto they are received; it being one principal
part of the business of the jubilee year to settle the inheritances of every
tribe; and these daughters being married into another tribe
of consequence
their inheritance would be placed there; or should it be sold by their
husbands
or their sons
at the year of jubilee it would be restored to them as
of such a tribe:
so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of
the tribe of our fathers; and thereby be a lessening of it; and every tribe being
ambitious of preserving and increasing its grandeur
this affair sensibly
affected the heads of this tribe.
Numbers 36:5 5 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according
to the word of the Lord
saying: “What the tribe of the
sons of Joseph speaks is right.
YLT
5And Moses commandeth the
sons of Israel
by the command of Jehovah
saying
`Rightly are the tribe of
the sons of Joseph speaking;
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.
Numbers 36:6 6 This is what the Lord commands
concerning the daughters of Zelophehad
saying
‘Let them marry whom they think
best
but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’
YLT
6this [is] the thing which
Jehovah hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad
saying
To those
good in their eyes let them be for wives; only
to a family of the tribe of
their fathers let them be for wives;
This is the thing which the Lord doth command concerning the
daughters of Zelophehad
.... Concerning this affair relative to them; the Targum of
Jonathan paraphrases the words
"not for the generations that rise up after
the division of the land
but for the daughters of Zelophehad;'as if this order
only respected them
or what might happen before the land was divided
but not
after; and this is the general opinion of the Jewish writers; but it seems
that as the following law not only concerns them
but all heiresses
so all
such after as well as before the division of the land
since the reason of it
holds good after as before:
saying
let them marry to whom they think best; whom they
like best
who are most acceptable to them; as it was reasonable they should
and not have such forced upon them
whose persons were disagreeable to them:
only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry; they were to
marry not only such as were of the tribe of Manasseh
but of their father's
family in that tribe; they could only marry into the family of the Hepherites;
see Numbers 26:32.
Numbers 36:7 7 So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not
change hands from tribe to tribe
for every one of the children of Israel shall
keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
YLT
7and the inheritance of the
sons of Israel doth not turn round from tribe unto tribe; for each to the
inheritance of the tribe of his fathers
do the sons of Israel cleave.
So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from
tribe to tribe
.... Which shows that this concerns all the tribes of Israel
though yet not fully expressed
as it is afterwards:
for everyone of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the
inheritance of the tribe of his fathers; or cleaveF1
to a wife in that tribe for marriage; this word is used in the original
institution of it
Genesis 2:24 though
they were not strictly obliged to marry in their own tribe; and frequently they
did intermarry with other tribes
which
had it been unlawful
would not have
been done
as it was by kings
and priests
and others; nor was there any
danger of an inheritance going into another tribe by a man's marrying into it;
wherefore this signifies only
that they were to be careful to keep their
inheritances in their tribe; and therefore if any of them had no sons
only
daughters
he was to marry them in his own tribe and family
that the
inheritance might not remove
as followscf13 (a) ידבקו
"adhaerebunt"
Montanus
Vatablus
Junius & Tremellius.
Numbers 36:8 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any
tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her
father’s tribe
so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance
of his fathers.
YLT
8`And every daughter
possessing an inheritance
of the tribes of the sons of Israel
is to one of
the family of the tribe of her father for a wife
so that the sons of Israel
possess each the inheritance of his fathers
And every daughter that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe if
the children of Israel
.... For the same law which gave the daughters of Zelophehad
right to their father's inheritance
gave every other daughter in Israel a
right to inherit where there were no sons
Numbers 27:8 and
every such daughter
according to this law:
shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father; marry into
her father's tribe and family; by which it appears that such who were not
heiresses might marry persons of another family
and even of another tribe:
that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of
his fathers; of his father's brethren
or of those that are near akin to him.
Numbers 36:9 9 Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one
tribe to another
but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own
inheritance.”
YLT
9and the inheritance doth
not turn round from [one] tribe to another tribe; for each to his inheritance
do they cleave
the tribes of the sons of Israel.'
Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another
.... Which was
one end of the year of jubilee
but that did not sufficiently secure it without
this law
as this case shows:
but everyone of the tribes of Israel shall keep himself to his own
inheritance; the chief view of which was
that it might clearly appear of
what tribe and family the Messiah sprang when he came.
Numbers 36:10 10 Just as the Lord commanded
Moses
so did the daughters of Zelophehad;
YLT
10As Jehovah hath commanded
Moses
so have the daughters of Zelophehad done
Even as the Lord commanded Moses
so did the daughters of
Zelophehad. They married into
the family of their father's tribe
according
to the following account.
Numbers 36:11 11 for Mahlah
Tirzah
Hoglah
Milcah
and Noah
the
daughters of Zelophehad
were married to the sons of their father’s brothers.
YLT
11and Mahlah
Tirzah
and
Hoglah
and Milcah
and Noah
daughters of Zelophehad
are to the sons of their
fathers' brethren for wives;
For Mahlah
Tirzah
and Hoglah
and Milcah
and Noah
.... The names
of the daughters of Zelophehad
and the same as in Numbers 26:33
only
the order a little varied
Tirzah and Noah here changing places; there they are
according to their birth
here they are according to their marriage
as Aben
Ezra thinks; though Jarchi is of opinion
that being thus differently placed
shows that they were equal to one another
and one was not preferred to the
other:
these were married unto their father's brothers' sons; so that they
were first cousins.
Numbers 36:12 12 They were married into the families of the children of
Manasseh the son of Joseph
and their inheritance remained in the tribe of
their father’s family.
YLT
12[to men] of the families of
the sons of Manasseh
son of Joseph
they have been for wives
and their
inheritance is with the tribe of the family of their father.
And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh
the son of Joseph
.... The family of the Hepherites
of which they were. Aben Ezra
observes
that their being married into families
and not a family
is a sign
that their uncles' sons were not all of them brethren
or the sons of one man
but of more
though all sons of one or other of their father's
brethren:
and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their
father; by means of these marriages
even both in their father's tribe
and family.
Numbers 36:13 13 These are the commandments and the judgments
which the Lord commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains
of Moab by the Jordan
across from Jericho.
YLT
13These [are] the commands
and the judgments which Jehovah hath commanded
by the hand of Moses
concerning the sons of Israel
in the plains of Moab
by Jordan
[near]
Jericho.
These are the commandments and the judgments
.... The judicial
laws concerning the division of the land of Canaan
the case of inheritances in
it
and the cities of refuge:
which the Lord commanded by
the hand of Moses unto the children
of Israel
in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho; where the
Israelites had been ever since they were first observed by Balak king of Moab
and where the various things had been done recorded in the preceding chapters
from that time.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》