Numbers 36:3

3 And if men of another lineage shall take to wives these daughters, their possession shall follow them, and it shall be translated to another lineage, and so it shall be decreased from our heritage; (But if men from another tribe shall take these daughters as wives, their possession shall follow them, and it shall be transferred to another tribe, and so it shall be taken away from our inheritance;)

Numbers 36:3 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 36:3

And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes
of the children of Israel
Which was not an unreasonable supposition, and perhaps was judged very probable and likely, if some method was not taken to prevent it; which they might conclude from the application of some young men of the other tribes unto them:

then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our
fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto
they are received;
for the inheritance given unto them would of course, the above being the case, descend to their sons, and whose fathers being of other tribes, it would be fixed there:

so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance;
which gave them some concern; for though this was no personal injury to them, nor any detriment to their families and estates, yet, as it was a lessening of their tribe, they were uneasy at it; and the rather they might be, since half their tribe was to settle on that side Jordan, where they now were: and now all this, the suit of the daughters of Zelophehad for their father's inheritance, which was granted them, the address of young men to them as heiresses, the concern of the heads of the tribe of Manasseh on this account; all this, I say, being before they entered into the land, or it was conquered by them, or divided to them by inheritance, show their strong faith and assurance that they should possess it.

Numbers 36:3 In-Context

1 Soothly and the princes of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, of the generation of the sons of Joseph, nighed, and spake to Moses before the princes of Israel, (And the leaders of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came, and spoke to Moses before the leaders of Israel,)
2 and said, The Lord commanded to thee our lord, that thou shouldest part the land by lot to the sons of Israel (that thou shouldest divide up the land by lot to the Israelites), and that thou shouldest give to the daughters of Zelophehad, our brother, the possession due to their father.
3 And if men of another lineage shall take to wives these daughters, their possession shall follow them, and it shall be translated to another lineage, and so it shall be decreased from our heritage; (But if men from another tribe shall take these daughters as wives, their possession shall follow them, and it shall be transferred to another tribe, and so it shall be taken away from our inheritance;)
4 and so it shall be done, that when the jubilee, that is, the fiftieth year of remission, cometh, the parting of lots be confounded, or fail, and that the possession of other men pass to other men (and that the possession of some men shall pass to other men). (and then it shall be done, that when the Jubilee cometh, that is, the fiftieth Year of Remission, or the Year of Restoration or Forgiveness, their possession shall be transferred to the possession of the tribe to whom they go, and so it shall be taken away from our inheritance forevermore.)
5 Moses answered to the sons of Israel, and said, for the Lord commanded (it), The lineage of the sons of Joseph hath spoken rightfully, (And Moses answered to the Israelites, by the Lord's command, and said, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath spoken rightly, or correctly,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.