Numbers 36

AND the chief fathers of the families Who had the care and management of the publick affairs of that Tribe committed to them. of the children of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel.

And they said, the LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD, to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother (i. e.) Our kinsman, one of our Tribe, Ios. 17. 2, 3. unto his daughters.

And if they be married to any of the sons of the other Tribes of the children of Israel, 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 their inheritance will pass to their children, who will be of another Tribe by their fathers side, which alone is considered... n this place.: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

And when the jubile of the children of Israel shall be Which God appointed principally for this end to preserve the inheritances in the hands of the Tribes and Families to which they were first given., then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the Tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.

And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph has said well Their plea is just and reasonable. God did not take particular care about every occurrence that happened or might happen, but left divers things to be found out by humane prudence, which being his own gift it was meet there should be opportunities left for the exercise of it, and God thought fit to approve and ratifie the prudent and profitable inventions of men by his own law or sanction, as in the case of Iethro, Exod 18. of Zelophehads Daughters, Num. 27. and here of their brethren. But it is observable, that God allowed this only in civil affairs, but never in the matters of his worship, where he utterly forbids it..

This is the thing which the LORD does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best: only to the family of the tribe of their father They seem hereby to be confined not only to the same Tribe, but also to the family of their Tribe, as appears from the reason of the Law, for God would have the inheritance of Families as well as Tribes kept intire and unmixed: and this was one reason of that Law of marrying the Brothers wife, Deut. 25. And although the next verse may seem to thwart this interpretation, the reason of this Law being there given that inheritances might not go from Tribe to Tribe, yet ver. 8. confirms it, where the very same phrase is repeated, and that more emphatically, that such shall marry one of the family of the Tribe of her Father; and this further reason and restriction is added, that they may enjoy every man the inheritance (not only of his Tribe, but) of his Fathers, to wit, belonging to his fathers family. shall they marry.

So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

And every daughter that possesseth an inheritance By which clause it seems this Law was not general to forbid every woman to marry into another Tribe (as may be reasonably concluded from the practise of so many Patriarchs, Kings, Priests, and other holy men, who have married women of other Tribes, yea sometimes of other Nations, which it is not likely they would have done, if this had been a transgression of Gods Law) but restrained to heiresses, or such as were likely to be so. See 1 Chron. 23. 22. But if they had brethren, it is probable they were free to marry into any Tribe, yet so that, if their brethren dyed, their punishment was, that the inheritance went from them to the next a kin of their fathers Tribe and Family. And the principal reason why God was solicitous to preserve tribes and families unmixed was that the Tribe and Family too, out of which the Messiah was to come and by which he should be known, might be evident and unquestionable. in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father: that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.

Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe: but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.

Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad.

For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their fathers brothers sons It is uncertain whether brothers or sons be taken strictly and properly, or more large, as those words are o... t used in Scripture..

And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father

These are the commandments, and the judgments which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab, by Jordan near Jericho.