Numbers 36:1

1 Then the heads of the clans of Gilead—descendants of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph—came to Moses and the family leaders of Israel with a petition.

Numbers 36:1 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 36:1

And the chief fathers of the families of the children of
Gilead
The princes, as Aben Ezra; so the Septuagint version, which was the tribe of Manasseh, whose grandson Gilead was, as follows:

the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh of the families of the sons of
Joseph, came near;
to the house of judgment, as the Targum of Jonathan, the sanhedrim or court of judicature, consisting of the following persons:

and spoke before Moses;
the Septuagint version adds, "and before Eleazar the priest", as in ( Numbers 27:2 ) ( 32:2 )

and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel:
the princes of the several tribes; or it may be rather the seventy elders.

Numbers 36:1 In-Context

1 Then the heads of the clans of Gilead—descendants of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph—came to Moses and the family leaders of Israel with a petition.

2 They said, “Sir, the LORD instructed you to divide the land by sacred lot among the people of Israel. You were told by the LORD to give the grant of land owned by our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

3 But if they marry men from another tribe, their grants of land will go with them to the tribe into which they marry. In this way, the total area of our tribal land will be reduced.

4 Then when the Year of Jubilee comes, their portion of land will be added to that of the new tribe, causing it to be lost forever to our ancestral tribe.”

5 So Moses gave the Israelites this command from the LORD : “The claim of the men of the tribe of Joseph is legitimate.