Numbers 36:5 - Meaning and Application

Here the matter is settled by God’s direct command between the daughters of Zelophehad and the rest of the tribe of Manasseh. Their request is approved, and the problem they feared is also prevented. The tribe of Joseph’s sons, that is, Manasseh and Ephraim, “has spoken right” (Numbers 36:5). So when people ask God’s word how to secure their heavenly inheritance, God not only shows them what to do, he also kindly approves their inquiries. They receive not only “well done,” but also “well spoken,” like a faithful servant.

The arrangement is that these heiresses must marry within the tribe of Manasseh, and even within their own family line, the Hepherites, to which they belonged. Yet they were not forced to marry any one man in particular. There was enough choice among their father’s family, so they could “marry whom they think best.” Children should honor their parents and not marry against their wishes, but parents should also respect their children’s affection and not force them into a marriage they cannot love. Forced marriages are unlikely to be a blessing.

At the same time, they were restricted to their own relations so their inheritance would not pass into another family. God wanted them to understand that the land was divided by lot, and that this allotment came from the Lord. Since they could not improve on God’s decision, they should not change it. The inheritances were not to move from tribe to tribe (Numbers 36:7), because that would bring confusion, mix up family lines, and blur genealogies. God did not want one tribe to become richer by making another tribe poorer, since they were all equally the descendants of Abraham, God’s friend.

This law was also made permanent, so it would apply whenever the same kind of case came up again (Numbers 36:8). Those who were not heiresses could marry into whatever tribe they wished, though in ordinary life they likely stayed within their own tribe. But heiresses had to give up their claim to the inheritance, or else marry within their own family. In this way each tribe would keep its own land, and no tribe would push into another’s portion. Through all their generations, the old boundaries were to remain fixed, not because their fathers set them, but because the God of their fathers did.

The daughters of Zelophehad gladly submitted to this decision. How could they do otherwise, and still be satisfied, when God himself guided them? They married their father’s brothers’ sons, as recorded in Numbers 36:10-12. This shows, first, that marriage between first cousins is not sinful in itself, or God would not have approved it here. Second, it shows that such marriages are usually not the best choice. If there had not been a special reason in this case, and there is no such reason now since inheritances are not assigned by heaven in that way, they would not have married so closely within the family. The world is wide, and the person who wants to live rightly should also seek wisdom and safety.

The book closes by referring to these laws and all that came before in its later chapters. “These are the judgments which the Lord commanded in the plains of Moab” (Numbers 36:13). That includes the laws given since chapter 26, most of which dealt with Israel’s life as they prepared to enter Canaan. Whatever new situation God’s providence brings us into, we should ask him to teach us our duty in it and give us strength to do it. Then we may do the work of each day in its proper day, and the work of each place in its proper place.