Numbers 36:5

5 Then Moses commanded the {Israelites} by the command of Yahweh, saying, "The tribe of the descendants of Joseph [is] right [regarding what they are] speaking.

Numbers 36:5 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 36:5

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 36:5 In-Context

3 But if they become wives to one of the sons from [another] tribe of the {Israelites}, their inheritance will disappear from the inheritance of our ancestors, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; the lot of our inheritance would disappear.

4 When the Jubilee of the {Israelites} {comes}, it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will disappear from the tribe of our father."

5 Then Moses commanded the {Israelites} by the command of Yahweh, saying, "The tribe of the descendants of Joseph [is] right [regarding what they are] speaking.

6 This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, '{Let them marry} {whomever they like}; only {they must marry} from within the clan of the tribe of their father.

7 Thus an inheritance of the {Israelites} will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the {Israelites}.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [b]. Or "sons"