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The Grievance of the Daughters of Zelophehad Adjusted. —
v. 1. Then came the daughters of Zeiophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh, the son of Joseph; and these are the names of his daughters, the ones who were concerned in this question: Mahlah, Noah, and Hogiah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
v. 2. And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar, the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, they stepped before the official representatives of the people with a petition, saying,
v. 3. Our father died in the wilderness, as did all the other men of the older generation, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, he had not joined the ranks of the rebels at that time, Num_16:11; but died in his own sin, the common transgression of all those that died in the wilderness, and had no sons.
v. 4. Why should the name of our father be done away, cut off, extirpated, and thus destroyed and forgotten, from among his family because he hath no son? Give unto us, therefore, a possession among the brethren of our father. Their petition was that in such circumstances as those in which they found themselves the female heirs could represent and take the place of male. Without being conscious of it, they really demanded an elevation of woman in her social dignity. In the case of the marriage of a daughter into a different tribe the name of her father would have died out among the people, whereas, if their petition Would be granted, a girl could marry a man who would enter upon her possession, the children of such a union preserving the name and continuing the inheritance of the grandfather on the maternal side.
v. 5. And Moses brought their cause before the Lord, for it was a case which required divine adjustment.
v. 6. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 7. The daughters of Zeiophehad speak right, the justice of their plea was recognized by the Lord; thou shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father, that which he would have received, had he remained alive, to pass unto them. To this was afterwards added a precept concerning the marriage of such a woman within her own tribe, Num_36:8.
v. 8. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter (or daughters).
v. 9. and if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.
v. 10. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.
v. 11. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it, the order thus being: son, daughter, brothers, uncles, nearest relative beyond this circle; and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses. Instances of the application of this law are found Num_32:41; Deu_3:14; 1Ch_2:21-22; Ezr_2:61; Neh_7:63. Note that these women were striking examples of faith, for they firmly believed that the land of Canaan would be inherited by Israel and made arrangements accordingly.