CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
THE CHRISTADELPHIAN EXPOSITOR
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
LEGISLATION REGARDING
INHERITANCES AND MARRIAGES
OF HEIRESSES
This section is supplementary to chapter 27:1-11 where it
is decided that daughters can inherit property if there is no
son. However, a situation is now brought to light which can
cause real complications in the tribal divisions of the land. If
a woman has inherited property in the absence of a son, and
then marries another man in another tribe, her land will
transfer to her husband, and so to a different tribe. The result will be to break down the Divine division of the land
among the tribes, and cause confusion. In view of this possibility, Moses legislates that any woman who is granted an inheritance, must not marry outside her own tribe. It is further
explained that the daughters of Zelophehad (27:1-11),
about whom the original problem has centred, did, in fact,
marry according to this ruling (vv. 10-12). The chapter divides into three parts;
a. Objections to the existing law (vv. 1-4);
b. Limitations of partners to marriage with heiresses (vv.
5-9);
c. Conditions excepted (vv. 10-13).
Objections to the Existing Law — w. 1-4
Some prominent men of the tribe of
Manasseh, present a problem to Moses
arising out of his decision of inheritance in
cases such as Zelophehad who was of that
VFHSF 1
v IMH '
"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" — Reference
to these Gileadites is found in Num 26 2930 On this occasion, they evidently approached Moses who convened a conference of the major administrators of Israel
"And spake before Moses, and before
the Princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel" — The problem was
deemed sufficiently important to call to369
gether the chief rulers of Israel; the decision would affect the whole nation
VERSE 2
^ Yahweh commanded
my Lord to give the land for an inheritance
ty 'ot t° tne children of Israel" — Reference to this is foundi n Num 26 55 , 33:54
The basis of the objection now presented
to Moses was the fact that the land had
been divided by lot to the various tribes,
according to the command of Yahweh
The appointment of land, therefore was a
Divine inheritance Should human failure
interfere with God's appointment The
answer must be in the negative The failure of parents to provide a son must not
allow a God-given inheritance to pass permanently to another tribe The petition
was presented in a very respectful manl4 And they
THE CHRISTADELPHIAN EXPOSITOR
ner Moses was addressed as "Lord" that
is Adon The petitioners thereby acknowledged his authonty, indicating their confidence in him, and their willingness to accept his decision The respect afforded
him by these Gileadites is a pleasant contrast to the attitude of the previous generation which opposed him in a most disrespectful manner Korah, for example,
raised the standard of revolt by boldly declaring "Ye take too much upon you "
(Num 16 3)
"And my Lord was commanded by
Yahweh to give the inheritance of
Zelophehad our brother unto his
daughters" — Reference to this law is
found in Num 27 1, Josh 17 3-4 The
case of the daughters of Zelophehad has
been considered in our treatment of Numbers 27 They obtained an ordinance permitting daughters of an Israelite dying
without male issue, to inherit their father's
property (27 6-11) The chiefs of the
Machintes, of whom Zelophehad was one
before his death, now obtain a supplementary enactment, requiring such heiresses
to marry within their own tribes The
reason for this important limitation is
given in the following verses
VERSE 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"
— This was a shrewd, though obvious observation presenting a very valid objection
to a problem that could easily arise The
land had been divided among the tribes by
Yahweh, but His purpose in doing so
could be defeated if a daughter inheriting
property married into another tribe Obviously her property, under normal circumstances, would be joined to that of her
husband It would mean that if he were of
a different tribe, the property would be
joined to the tribe into which the heiress
had married So the onginal purpose of
Yahweh would be defeated through
natural weakness It was a very valid objection
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
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" — A
woman marrying an Israelite of another
tribe was accounted a member of the tribe
into which she had married Her inheritance, therefore, would become part of
the tribal allotment of her new tribe This
would be confirmed by the ordinance of
the Year of Jubilee, for in that year, all inheritances reverted back to their original
owners In the case of an heiress who had
married into another tnbe, therefore, the
jubilee, in effect, would confirm the permanent transfer of that land to the new
tribe, after which the transfer could not be
challenged in any way In the words of the
Machintes, the inheritance would be
"taken away from the inheritance of the
tribe of our fathers" The problem presented was a very real one, and if legislation had not been introduced to prevent it,
could have resulted in the various tribal inheritances becoming completely mixed
up
Limitation of Partners To Such A
Marriage — w. 5-9
Moses, recognising the validity of the objection, orders that such heiresses, must
marry within their father's tribe
VERSE 5
"And Moses commanded the children
of Israel according to the word of
Yahweh, saying, the tribe of the sons of
Joseph hath said well" — Moses recognised the validity of the objection, and
commended the Machintes for their observation, as, previously, he had commended the daughters of Zelophehad for
their interest in the disposal of their Godgiven inhentance (see ch 27 7)
VERSE 6
"This is the thing which Yahweh 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 fathers shall they
marry" — Moses1 decision confirmed his
former order establishing the right of
daughters to inherit the property of their
fathers if there were no sons to do so, but
VERSE 4
now, he limits their marriage to Israelites
"And when the jubilee of the children
within their own tribe By this decision,
of Israel shall be" — The law relating to
the tnbal inhentance would be retained to
the jubilee is found in Lev 25 10
the tnbe A case of this is recorded in 1
Chron 23 22
"Then shall their inheritance to put
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
VERSE 7
"So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe:
for everyone of the children of Israel shall
keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe
of his fathers" — The word "keep" in the
Hebrew signifies to cleave to The important legislation now introduced, commanded by law that Yahweh's inheritance
should be considered of greate r importance than marriage The order that an
heiress must marry within her own tribe, is
similar to the limitations of marriage imposed on believers, namely "to whom she
will, only in the Lord" (1 Cor 7 39) This
important decision announced by Moses
emphasised the importance of God's inheritance above the considerations of
flesh It taught that discipleship requires
that one put the divine inheritance above
the considerations of marriage See Luke
14 26 To the devout Hebrew, the Divine
inheritance was greater than life itself Because of that, Naboth suffered death,
rather than give up his inheritance to
Ahab (1 Kings 21 3) Though the King
promised to replace it with a better field
and vineyard, the response of the faithful
Israelite who faced death because of his
refusal, was "Yahweh forbid it me, that I
should give the inheritance of my father
unto thee" (1 Kings 21 3) It was not
merely stubbornness, but faith, that motivated him at that time
VERSE 8
"And every daughter, that possesseth
an inheritance to 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" — This limitation
meant that the Divine purpose in allocating territory to every tribe was retained
THE CHRISTADELPHIAN EXPOSITOR
— The tribal inheritance was the Divine
apportionment of the land, and therefore
was not subject to revision through human
manipulation or weakness
The Conditions Accepted — vv. 10-13
The daughters of Zelophehad are obedient to the instructions of Moses, providing an example to all other heiresses under
similar circumstances
VERSE 10
"Even as Yahweh commanded Moses,
so did the daughters of Zelophehad" —
They subsequently married men of the
tribe of Manasseh, so preserving their inheritance within the tribal boundaries
VERSE 11
"For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and
Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of
Zelophehad, were married unto their
father's brothers' sons" — The significance of the names of these Israehtish
women is shown in our notes on ch 27 1
The reference to "the father's brothers'
sons" signifies the sons of their kinsmen,
that is, members of their tribe
VERSE 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" —
They were obedient to the divine command
VERSE 9
"Neither shall the inheritance remove
from one tribe to another tribe; but every
one of the tribes of the children of Israel
VERSE 13
"These are the commandments and the
judgment, which Yahweh commanded by
the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan, near
Jericho" — This statement terminates the
book of Numbers, and is introductory to
the book of Deuteronomy that follows
See the connection with the introductory
note of Deut 1 1 This final chapter fittingly deals with the security of the inheritance in Him Thus ends this wonderful
shall keep himself to his own inheritance"
fourth book of the Pentateuch
THE CHRISTADELPHIAN EXPOSITOR
APPENDIX Ideas
Related to Holiness
Five words related to holiness are used rather freely in the Pentateuch, but are not commonly understood. They are not commonly understood because generally the concept of holiness is
considered more as a condition rather than a state.
The words in Hebrew with their common English translations,
are Cherem rendered "devoted, or utterly destroyed"; Qodesh,
rendered "holy"; Choi rendered "common"; Tame signifying
"unclean"; and Tahor signifying "to be clean".
These words are all related to the idea of holiness, but in ways
that are not obvious. The problem is that the English words used
for their translation do not supply the same connotations as originally intended.
For example, the word Qodesh is usually translated "holy". To
many, the word signifies a state of sinlessness. But that is not its
real meaning. The basic significance of Qodesh is "wholly belonging to God, in a special relationship with Him". It therefore
denotes a person or object separated unto God for His special
use or purpose. The principle of separation is inherent in the
word, rather than a state of being. This is seen in the fact that the
opposite of Qodesh is not "sinful" but "common" from the Hebrew Choi. Things which are common, are those that are not separated, or dedicated to God; they do not have a special relationship with God. They can be used for anybody for common, ordinary purposes. Persons who are "holy" have been wholly dedicated to the work of Yahweh. They belong to Him in some special sense. They have a special relationship with Him, which sets
them apart from all others, and from all other ordinary purposes
and work. There is a sense in which all the people of Israel were
the people of God, and therefore were "holy"; for they were
separated from all other peoples unto Yahweh (Exod. 19:5-6).
This is given repeatedly as the reason they must keep themselves
from the customs and religions of the people about them. The
land of Israel was "holy", and therefore could only be occupied
and inherited in accordance with Divine law. The city of
Jerusalem ultimately became "holy", because it was set aside for
the Divine purpose as the centre of His administration and worship. So the people, the land, and city, as well as other things
were considered "holy". That is, they were separated for Divine
use and purpose. As "holy", they must refrain, or be kept, from
all defilement. In comparison with Israel, all other nations were
common (Choi) because they were not separated and dedicated
to God, and did not have a personal relationship with Him. The
words Tame (unclean) and Tahor (clean) are related to the first
two as two parallel lines are related to each other. That is, clean
_
THE CHRISTADELPHIAN EXPOSITOR
does not mean "holy", and unclean does not mean "common".
The thought is rather, that that which is clean is capable of being
made holy, and that which is unclean is incapable of being made
holy. In other words, a person, a nation, a land, or a city, must be
cleansed in order to be holy, that is, separated unto God. The
people were cleansed by the Covenant at Sinai. The Land was
cleansed by war. The Temple site in Jerusalem was cleansed by
sacrifice. Having been cleansed, these things were made "holy,"
that is, they were appropriated by Yahweh for His special purpose. Therefore, all persons, or things, could be made holy, but
persons could be rendered temporarily unclean by a number of
things, such as, touching a dead body (Num. 5:1-2; 19:11). An
unclean person in such a state was no less moral than his brother
who had not touched the dead body. But in order to impress the
lesson of death, he was treated as unclean. Such a person could
not participate in the religious ceremonies until he had cleansed
himself by the process outlined for such cleansing in the laws provided (see Num. 19).
Some things were by nature thought of as unclean, and therefore unfit for any use of Yahweh in the Tabernacle. They were
also unfit for human use and to be avoided. Swine, for example,
were unclean.
Therefore, a person could be unclean without being sinful.
This is important to know when reading "that touching a dead
body", for example, made one temporarily unclean. Death is related to sin as cause to effect, and to impress that fact and lesson,
the person who touched a dead body was accounted "unclean"
for a season, and was required to go through a cleansing ceremony, which included washing his body and his clothes. In the
mind of modern medical knowledge of transmittable diseases,
that was a good rule! But, in fact, the idea behind it was doctrinal
and not hygienic. The important aspect was that the uncleanness
was ceremonial, or religious. An unclean person, or thing, could
not be dedicated to God until cleansed.
The remaining word is Cherem, which is translated in a confusing variety of ways. One of the most common translations is "devoted"- The word is not merely used in that way, but also to signify "devoted to some god other than Yahweh". This could be
said of a thing or of a person. In that sense, to be cherem, was far
worse than to be "unclean". Some things which were cherem
could be "undevoted", and then had to be dedicated to Yahweh.
If they could not, then they had to be destroyed. If a person who
was cherem because he served other gods, chose to serve
Yahweh, he had to dedicate himself to Yahweh, and become
"holy" unto unto Him. If he did not so choose, he was to be destroyed. This is the reason the word is sometimes translated as
"utterly destroyed" (see Josh. 6:18); and the background for
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THE CHRISTADELPHIAN EXPOSITOR
such commands as are found in Deut. 20:10-18, and Josh. 6:1719.
(Notes taken from a study manual on Numbers by K.E. Jones).
SUMMARY
Literally, the Book of Numbers is the history of Israel's wilderness-life from Sinai onwards, that is, after its formal incorporation as the people of God under the legal covenant. It is a history
of sad and terrible failure. Instead of a rapid march to the Promised Land, they experience a sojourn of thirty-eight years in the
desert, during which the entire generation that left Egypt as
grown-up men (except two persons) perish under the judgment
of Yahweh. But a new generation is led on to the borders of the
land, conquerors over all opposition, until just opposite and
ready to enter the Promised Land the narrative ends.
Deuteronomy is merely a review, and not a history; the narrative
continues with the Book of Joshua.
Spiritually, its lesson is simple and obvious: it is the trial of the
believer in the world; in which, unfortunately, his weaknesses
become manifest, yet by the grace of God he does not fail. The
resources of the priesthood, as found in the Lord whose resurrection is the token of victory, are brought out, the enemy is defeated, no curse can succeed on those whom Yahweh has not
cursed, they go from strength to strength, until the good land of
their inheritance is practically reached.
The Levites and their service are prominent throughout the
book. This foreshadows the responsibility of believers to exhibit
the principles of Christ in the world. The people are seen as
Yahweh's army, united together for wilderness-warfare;
strengthened by God to overcome. So it is that whilst the first
generation perished, the second reached the Land of Promise.
Many powerful exhortations are presented through these experiences that reach down to our age and generation.
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