Bible Commentaries

Verses 1-13

A question about tribal land (36:1-13)

Concerning the issue raised earlier by the daughters of Zelophehad, the decision was that where a man died without sons, his inheritance could pass to his daughters (see 27:1-11). Leaders of Manasseh, the tribe to which these women belonged, feared that the land they had just won (see 32:39-42) might be lost to other tribes if the daughters of Zelophehad married men from other tribes (36:1-4). To prevent such a transfer of land, Moses introduced a law to ensure that if, in such a case, a woman married, she had to marry within her own tribe (5-13).