And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... From off the mercy seat, where he consulted him, and from whence he promised to commune with him about any difficult matter that came before him, Exodus 25:22 , saying ; as follows. read more
The daughters of Zelophehad speak right ,.... What is just and reasonable: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren ; their uncles, or rather the children of them; for it is reasonable to suppose their father's brethren, or their uncles, were dead also: or "in giving thou shall give" F21 נתן תתן "dando dabis", Pagninus, Montanus. ; which, according to Jarchi, denotes two parts or portions they should receive; the part of their... read more
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. read more
And if he have no daughter ,.... Dies without any issue: then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren ; and the children descending from them; that is, if his father was dead; otherwise, if he was living, he was to be preferred to them, according to the Jewish writers; though, according to our law, no estate in fee simple ascends lineally, or goes from a son, who has made a purchase of it, to a father: in the Misnah it is said F24 Ut supra, (Bava Bathra, c. 8.) sect. 2. ,... read more
And if he have no brethren ,.... Nor any descendants from them: then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren ; that is, to his uncles, and to their children. read more
And if his father have no brethren ,.... Nor any descending from them: then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family : that is nearest of kin to him, though ever so remote; that is, of his father's family, not his mother's, which was no family: and he shall possess it : here the Jews have a saying, that an Israelite is never without heirs F25 Maimon. Hilchot Nechalot, c. 1. sect. 3. : and it shall be unto the children of Israel a... read more
Thou shalt surely give them - an inheritance among their father's brethren - There is a curious anomaly here in the Hebrew text which cannot be seen in our translation. In Hebrew they, them, and their, you, ye, and your, are both of the masculine and feminine genders, according as the nouns are to which they are affixed; but these words are of no gender in English. In this verse, speaking of the brethren of the father of those women, the masculine termination הם hem , Their, is used... read more
Verse 8 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... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 27:1-11
Mention is made of the case of these daughters of Zelophehad in the chapter before, Num. 26:33. It should seem, by the particular notice taken of it, that it was a singular case, and that the like did not at this time occur in all Israel, that the head of a family had no sons, but daughters only. Their case is again debated (Num. 36:1-13) upon another article of it; and, according to the judgments given in their case, we find them put in possession, Josh. 17:3; 4. One would suppose that their... read more