Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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N U M B E R S

CHAP. XXXVI.

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We have in this chapter the determination of another question that

arose upon the case of the daughters of Zelophehad. God had appointed

that they should inherit,

ch. xxvii. 7.

Now here,

I. An inconvenience is suggested, in case they should marry into any

other tribe,

ver. 1-4.

II. It is prevented by a divine appointment that they should marry in

their own tribe and family

(ver. 5-7),

and this is settled for a rule in like cases

(ver. 8, 9);

and they did marry accordingly to some of their own relations

(ver. 10-12),

and with this the book concludes,

ver. 13.

The Law of Inheritance.	B. C. 1452.

     

1 And the chief fathers of the families 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:

  2 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 unto his daughters.

  3 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: so

shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

  4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, 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.

     

We have here the humble address which the heads of the tribe of

Manasseh made to Moses and the princes, on occasion of the order lately

made concerning the daughters of Zelophehad. The family they belonged

to was part of that half of the tribe of Manasseh which we yet to have

their lot within Jordan, not that half that was already settled; and

yet they speak of the land of their possession, and the inheritance of

their fathers, with as great assurance as if they had it already in

their hands, knowing whom they had trusted. In their appeal observe,

1. They fairly recite the former order made in this case, and do not

move to have that set aside, but are very willing to acquiesce in it

(v. 2):

The Lord commanded to give the inheritance of Zelophehad to his

daughters; and they are very well pleased that it should be so,

none of them knowing but that hereafter it might be the case of their

own families, and then their daughters would have the benefit of this

law.

2. They represent the inconvenience which might, possibly, follow

hereupon, if the daughters of Zelophehad should see cause to marry into

any other tribes,

v. 3.

And it is probable that this was not a bare surmise, or supposition,

but that they knew, at this time, great court was made to them by some

young gentlemen of other tribes, because they were heiresses, that they

might get footing in this tribe, and so enlarge their own inheritance.

This truly is often aimed at more than it should be in making

marriages, not the meetness of the person, but the convenience of the

estate, to lay house to house, and field to field. Wisdom indeed is

good with an inheritance; but what is an inheritance good for in

that relation without wisdom? But here, we may presume, the personal

merit of these daughters recommended them as well as their fortunes;

however, the heads of their tribe foresaw the mischief that would

follow, and brought the case to Moses, that he might consult the oracle

of God concerning it. The difficulty they start God could have obviated

and provided against in the former order given in this case; but to

teach us that we must, in our affairs, not only attend God’s

providence, but make use of our own prudence, God did not direct in it

till the themselves that were concerned wisely foresaw the

inconvenience, and piously applied to Moses for a rule in it. For

though they were chief fathers in their families, and might have

assumed a power to overrule these daughters of Zelophehad in disposing

of themselves, especially their father being dead and the common

interest of their tribe being concerned in it, yet they chose rather to

refer the matter to Moses, and it issued well. We should not covet to

be judges in our own case, for it is difficult to be so without being

partial. It is easier in many cases to take good advice than to give

it, and it is a satisfaction to be under direction. Two things they

aimed at in their representation:–

(1.) To preserve the divine appointment of inheritances. They urged the

command

(v. 2),

that the land should be given by lot to the respective tribes, and

urged that it would break in upon the divine appointment if such a

considerable part of the lot of Manasseh should, by their marriage, be

transferred to any other tribe; for the issue would be denominated from

the father’s tribe, not the mother’s. This indeed would not lessen the

lot of the particular persons of that tribe (they would have their own

still), but it would lessen the lot of the tribe in general, and render

it less strong and considerable; they therefore thought themselves

concerned for the reputation of their tribe, and perhaps were the more

jealous for it because it was already very much weakened by the sitting

down of the one half of it on this side Jordan.

(2.) To prevent contests and quarrels among posterity. If those of

other tribes should come among them perhaps it might occasion some

contests. They would be apt to give and receive disturbance, and their

title might, in process of time, come to be questioned; and how great a

matter would this fire kindle! It is the wisdom and duty of those that

have estates in the world to settle them, and dispose of them, so as

that no strife and contention may arise about them among posterity.

     

5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the

word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath

said well.

  6 This is the thing which the LORD doth 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 shall

they marry.

  7 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.

  8 And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance 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.

  9 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.

  10 Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of

Zelophehad:

  11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the

daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s

brothers’ sons:

  12 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.

  13 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.

     

Here is,

I. The matter settled by express order from God between the daughters

of Zelophehad and the rest of the tribe of Manasseh. The petition is

assented to, and care taken to prevent the inconvenience feared: The

tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well,
v. 5.

Thus those that consult the oracles of God concerning the making of

their heavenly inheritance sure shall not only be directed what to do,

but their enquiries shall be graciously accepted, and they shall have

not only their well done, but their well said, good and

faithful servant. Now the matter is thus accommodated: these heiresses

must be obliged to marry, not only within their own tribe of Manasseh,

but within the particular family of the Hepherites, to which they did

belong.

1. They are not determined to any particular persons; there was choice

enough in the family of their father: Let them marry to whom they

think best. As children must preserve the authority of their

parents, and not marry against their minds, so parents must consult the

affections of their children in disposing of them, and not compel them

to marry such as they cannot love. Forced marriages are not likely to

prove blessings.

2. Yet they are confined to their own relations, that their inheritance

may not go to another family. God would have them know that the land

being to be divided by lot, the disposal whereof was of the Lord, they

could not mend, and therefore should not alter, his appointment. The

inheritances must not remove from tribe to tribe

(v. 7),

lest there should be confusion among them, their estates entangled, and

their genealogies perplexed. God would not have one tribe to be

enriched by the straitening and impoverishing of another, since they

were all alike the seed of Abraham his friend.

     

II. The law, in this particular case, was made perpetual, and to be

observed whenever hereafter the like case should happen,

v. 8.

Those that were not heiresses might marry into what tribe they pleased

(though we may suppose that, ordinarily, they kept within their own

tribe), but those that were must either quit their claim to the

inheritance or marry one of their own family, that each of the tribes

might keep to its own inheritance, and one tribe might not encroach

upon another, but throughout their generations there might remain

immovable the ancient landmarks, set, not by their fathers, but by the

God of their fathers.

     

III. The submission of the daughters of Zelophehad to this appointment.

How could they but marry well, and to their satisfaction, when God

himself directed them? They married their father’s brothers’ sons,

v. 10-12.

By this it appears,

1. That the marriage of cousin-germans is not in itself unlawful, nor

within the degrees prohibited, for then God would not have countenanced

these marriages. But,

2. That ordinarily it is not advisable; for, if there had not been a

particular reason for it (which cannot hold in any case now,

inheritances being not disposed of as then by the special designation

of Heaven), they would not have married such near relations. The world

is wide, and he that walks uprightly will endeavour to walk surely.

     

IV. The conclusion of this whole book, referring to the latter part of

it: These are the judgments which the Lord commanded in the plains

of Moab

(v. 13),

these foregoing, ever since

ch. xxvi.,

most of which related to their settlement in Canaan, into which they

were now entering. Whatever new condition God is by his providence

bringing us into, we must beg of him to teach us the duty of it, and to

enable us to do it, that we may do the work of the day in its day, of

the place in its place.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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