Numbers 27:7

The daughters of Zelophehad speak right,.... What is just and reasonable: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; their uncles, or rather the

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, No JFB commentary on these verses.

Give them: in Hebrew it is of the masculine gender, to show that women in this case should enjoy the man’ s privilege, and that the heavenly Canaan, whereof this was a type, did belong no less to women than to men, . The inheritance of their fathers, i.e. which belonged to their fathers in case they had lived.

Numbers 27:7 The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’ s brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.Ver. 7. And thou shalt cause the inheritance.] Let the French defend their Salic law as they can. It was a witty essay of him who styled women the second edition of the epitome of the whole world; witness Artemisia, Zenobia, Blandina, the Lady Jane Gray (whose excellent beauty, adorned with all variety of virtues, as a clear sky with stars, as a princely diadem with jewels, gave her the style of Eruditionis, pietatis, et modestiae delicium), and Queen Elizabeth, in whom, besides her sex, there was nothing womanlike or weak: as if (what philosophy saith) the souls of those noble creatures had followed the temperament of their bodies, which consist of a frame of rarer rooms, of a more exact composition than man’ s cloth; and, if place be any privilege, we find theirs built in paradise, when man’ s was made out of it. Besides, "in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female," but all are one, souls having no sexes, and whosoever are "Christ’ s, are Abraham’ s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

(7) Thou shalt surely give them . . . —The pronoun them is in the masculine gender in the Hebrew. Either the reference must be to the sons of Zelophehad’s daughters, or the daughters must be regarded in the light of sons.

Verse 7. Thou shalt surely give them-an inheritance among their father's brethren] There is a curious anomaly here in the Hebrew text which cannot be seen in our translation. In Hebrew they, them, and their, you, ye, and your, are both of the masculine and feminine genders, according as the nouns are to which they are affixed; but these words are of no gender in English. In this verse, speaking of the brethren of the father of those women, the masculine termination הם hem, THEIR, is used instead of the feminine, הן hen, governed by בנות benoth, daughters. So להם lahem, to THEM, and אביהם abihem, THEIR fathers, masculine, are found in the present text, instead of להן lahen and אביהן abihen, feminine. Interpreters have sought for a hidden meaning here, and they have found several, whether hidden here or not. One says, "the masculine gender is used because these daughters are treated as if they were heirs male." Another, "that it is because of their faith and conscientious regard to the ancient customs, and to keep the memory of their father in being, which might well benefit men." Another, "that it signifies the free gift of God in Christ, where there is neither male nor female, bond or free, for all are one in Christ;" and so on, for where there is no rule there is no end to conjecture. Now the plain truth is, that the masculine is in the present printed text a mistake for the feminine. The Samaritan, which many think by far the most authentic copy of the Pentateuch, has the feminine gender in both places; so also have upwards of fourscore of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi. Therefore all the curious reasons for this anomaly offered by interpreters are only serious trifling on the blunder of some heedless copyists. While on the subject of mysterious reasons and meanings, some might think it unpardonable if I passed by the mystery of the fall, recovery, and full salvation of man, signified, as some will have it, by the names of Zelophehad and his daughters. "1. Zelophehad's daughters, claiming a portion in the promised land, may represent believers in Christ claiming an inheritance among the saints in light. 2. These five virgins may be considered as the five wise virgins, (Matthew 25:1-10), who took oil in their vessels with their lamps, and consequently are types of those who make a wise provision for their eternal state. 3. They are examples of encouragement to weak and destitute believers, who, though they are orphans in this world, shall not be deprived of their heavenly inheritance. 4. Their names are mysterious; for Zelophehad, צלפחד TSELOPHCHAD, signifies the shadow of fear or dread. His first daughter, מחלה MACHLAH, infirmity; the second, נעה NOAH, wandering; the third, חגלה CHOGLAH, turning about or dancing for joy: the fourth, מלכה MILCAH, a queen; the fifth, תרצה TIRTSAH, well-pleasing or acceptable.

1–11. A law on the inheritance of property. The Hebrews always adhered firmly to the principle that landed property must not be alienated from the tribe or family to which it belonged. In early days, inheritance by daughters was not contemplated. If a man died without children, his widow might be married to his brother in order to bear sons who should inherit the property (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; cf. Matthew 22:24). Or if a man wished to sell land, his next-of-kin had the first right of purchase (Jeremiah 32:8). And the same principle underlies the law of the Jubile (Leviticus 25:10; Leviticus 25:31). The present law is also based upon the principle, but marks a new departure in the privileges accorded to women.

7. Speak right — The dictates of an unperverted conscience are always in harmony with the will of Jehovah. This case illustrates the importance of the advocacy of one’s rights until they are recognised.