Numbers 27:7

7 "The daughters of Zelophehad 1are right. 2You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them.

Numbers 27:7 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 27:7

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; which, according to Jarchi, denotes two parts or portions they should receive; the part of their father, who was of them that came out of Egypt, and his part with his brethren in the goods of Hepher: in the Misnah F23, from whence he seems to have taken it, it is;

``the daughters of Zelophehad took three parts for inheritance; the part of their father, who was with them that came out of Egypt, and his part with his brethren in the goods of Hepher, and because he was the firstborn he was to take two parts:''

and though this strict command was given to Moses, yet it does not respect him personally, who lived not to enter into the land to see it divided; but him who should be his successor, and chief magistrate at the time of the division of it, which was Joshua, and of whom these ladies claimed their part, and had it, ( Joshua 17:3 Joshua 17:4 ) ,

and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them;
that is, that part which would have fallen to him by lot, had he been living, these were to take, they standing in his place; and so the portion of the land he would have had was to be divided between these live daughters of his.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 (Ntt Ntn) "dando dabis", Pagninus, Montanus.
F23 Bava Bathra, c. 8. sect. 3.

Numbers 27:7 In-Context

5 Moses brought their case before the LORD.
6 And the LORD said to Moses,
7 "The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them.
8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, 'If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.
9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.

Cross References 2

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.