Numbers 36:5

5 So Moses gave the Israelites a command from the LORD. "The tribe of Joseph's descendants is right.

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 Suppose they marry men from the other tribes of Israel. Their land will be taken away from that of our ancestors and added to the land of the tribe they marry into. Then we will have lost part of our land.

4 When the Israelites' jubilee year comes, their land will be added to that of the tribe they married into. Then part of the land of our ancestors' tribe will be gone."

5 So Moses gave the Israelites a command from the LORD. "The tribe of Joseph's descendants is right.

6 This is what the LORD commands for Zelophehad's daughters: They may marry anyone they want to, but only within a family of their ancestor's tribe.

7 In this way no land of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to another. Every Israelite must keep the tribal land inherited from his ancestors.