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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 36:1-4

We have here the humble address which the heads of the tribe of Manasseh made to Moses and the princes, on occasion of the order lately made concerning the daughters of Zelophehad. The family they belonged to was part of that half of the tribe of Manasseh which we yet to have their lot within Jordan, not that half that was already settled; and yet they speak of the land of their possession, and the inheritance of their fathers, with as great assurance as if they had it already in their hands,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 36:1

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 36:2

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 36:3

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 36:4

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 ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 36:2

To give the inheritance of Zelophehad - unto his daughters - See this case spoken of at large on Numbers 27 (note). Either the first eleven verses of Numbers 27 should come in before this chapter, or this chapter should come in immediately after those eleven verses; they certainly both make parts of the same subject. Here Moses determines that heiresses should marry in their own tribe, that no part of the ancient inheritance might be alienated from the original family. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 36:1

Verse 1 1.And the chief fathers of the families. It might appear strange that God had given an imperfect law with reference to succession, as if what will be now stated had not occurred to His mind until Moses was reminded by the chief men of the families (of Machir,) (201) that it was unjust that the inheritances should be alienated, which would have been the case if the daughters of Zelophehad had married into other tribes, whereas their portion had fallen in the lot of the tribe of Manasseh.... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 36:2

Verse 2 2.And they said, The Lord commanded my lord. They here allege a kind of discrepancy, in that the tribes had had the land allotted to them agreeably to God’s command, but now their lots would be thrown into confusion, when the inheritance should pass over to another tribe. They assume it, however, to be an acknowledged impossibility, that God should be inconsistent with Himself: hence it was necessary that an interpretation should be delivered in order to remove the legal contradiction (... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 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... read more

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