Numbers Chapter 36
In this last chapter of the book of Numbers we read about a question posed to Moses regarding the land to be given to the daughters of Zelophehad because he had no sons. It had been established previously (in Numbers 27) that the portion of the inheritance of land meant for his offspring would go to his daughters, but what if they married men from a different tribe of Israel? They knew that if a daughter of the tribe of Manasseh married a man from another tribe her inheritance of land would go to that man’s tribe.
The solution was simple. Daughters who inherit their father’s land would marry men from their same tribe and this would keep the land in the same tribe. In the case of Zelophehad his daughters even kept the land in the same family of their tribe since they married their cousins.
With this declaration that each tribe should possess their own land (“keep it in the family”), the only thing left for them to do is to take the next step of faith and enter their promised land.
Let's Reflect
1. The daughters of Zelophehad were members of which of the twelve tribes of Israel?
2. In verse 4 the men had a concern about the land allotted to their tribe because the daughters might marry men from other tribes. This was a valid question and one that needed to be addressed. They were mistaken about the land being transferred during the year of Jubilee. The year of Jubilee (every 50 years) had to do with land that was purchased because of a debt owed that a man could not pay. In that year of Jubilee, the land went back to its original owner. What was their concern about the land?
3. What important instruction from God did Moses tell the people regarding the land in verse 7?
4. What was the simple solution for any daughter who had inherited land from her father?
5. The last verse tells us exactly where the people of Israel are encamped prior to entering the promised land. The wilderness wanderings are over, and they stand at the threshold of what God had been wanting to give to them. Where are they encamped exactly?
