Numbers 26:54

54 For the larger group you must increase their inheritance, and for the smaller group you must make smaller their inheritance; each must be given {their} inheritance according to the number of the ones counted of them.

Numbers 26:54 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 26:54

To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou
shalt give the less inheritance
To a tribe more numerous, and consisting of more and larger families, a greater part of the land was to be given to them to possess; and to a smaller tribe, and of the fewer families and persons in them, a lesser share of it: this direction is given to Moses, but is not designed for him personally, for he never entered the land, but died before Israel went into it; but for the chief ruler that would be then in being, namely, Joshua, his successor:

to everyone shall his inheritance be given, according to those that
were numbered of him;
that is, to every tribe, and so to every family in it, according to the number of men in it, that were of the above age when the sum of them was taken: because it is in the original text, "to a man according to those numbered of him" F17; hence the Jewish writers F18 gather, that the land was distributed not to women, but to men only.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 (vya) "viro", Montanus.
F18 Vid. T. Bab. Bava. Bathra, fol. 122. 1.

Numbers 26:54 In-Context

52 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
53 "For these the land must be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names.
54 For the larger group you must increase their inheritance, and for the smaller group you must make smaller their inheritance; each must be given {their} inheritance according to the number of the ones counted of them.
55 Surely the land will be divided by lot. They will inherit according to the names of the tribes of their ancestors.
56 {Their} inheritance must be divided according to the lot between the larger and smaller [groups]."

Footnotes 1

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.