[In the broadway musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, one of the 3 daughters of Tevye falls in love with a Russian soldier and that poses a problem for this Jewish family. The disapproval of intermarriage of an Israelite with a non-Israelite is understandable in light of preservation of the covenant people, their cultural and religious distinction.
Now imagine being a young woman belonging to one tribe, then falling in love with a young man from another tribe. Both are of Israel; yet, because of tribal inheritance laws, true love cannot end up in tribal intermarriage. With tribal territories well delineated by land boundaries, what is the likelihood of intertribal romance even happening? As this chapter spells it out quite plainly, the daughters end up marrying sons of their uncles; hopefully, there was love involved more than just tribal matchmaking effort. It is strange that such a special provision is included because of the case of the daughters of Zelophehad; how providential that there was such a case at such a time to result in a specific law for heiresses. Today, this would be easily resolved with modern day contracts to be signed by parties about to be married: the pre-nuptial agreement.
Commentary is from Pentateuch and Haftorahs, ed. Dr. J.H.Hertz; translation is EF/Everett Fox The Five Booksof Moses.–Admin1.]
LAW OF HEIRESSES
In XXVII,1-11, the law was laid down that permitted daughters to inherit property in the absence of male issue. But there was a danger that if such heiresses married men belonging to other tribes, their inheritance might pass out of their particular tribe. To guard against this contingency, the ruling in the present chapter is given. The question was raised by the chiefs of the clan of Machir of the half-tribe of Manasseh, whose allotted territory was in Gilead.
Numbers/Bamidbar 36
Image from blog.sbu.edu
father’s houses. Their septs, subdivisions of the clan. Both ‘family’ and ‘father’s house’ have each a wider and a narrower sense.
2 they said: It is my lord that YHVH has commanded to give out the land in inheritance, by lot, to the Children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by YHVH to give out the inheritance of Tzelofhad our brother, to his daughters.3 Now should they be for one of the members of (another) tribe of the Children of Israel as wives, their inheritance will be taken-away from the inheritance of their fathers and be added to the inheritance of the tribe for whom they become (wives); from our allotted inheritance it will be taken-away!
be taken away. Because their male issue who will be their heirs will be reckoned to the tribe of their father, and thus the property will pass into the possession of another tribe.
4 And when there is a Homebringing for the Children of Israel and their inheritance is added to the inheritance of the tribe for which they are (wives) from the inheritance of our fathers’ tribe, their inheritance will be taken-away!the jubilee. The provisions of the law of Jubilee are given in Lev. XXI. But it was only purchased land that had to be returned to its original owner or his descendant in the Jubilee. Inherited land, such as that belonging to the daughters of Zelophehad, would be outside the provisions of that law; so that, once these women married into another tribe, there was no hope for their property ever returning to their own tribe.
5 So Moshe commanded the Children of Israel by order of YHVH, saying: Rightfully has the tribe of the Sons of Yosef spoken!6 This is the word that YHVH commands concerning the daughters of Tzelofhad, saying: for those good in their eyes, they may become wives, however, (only) for a clan from the tribe of their father, may they become wives.
7 The inheritance of the Children of Israel is not to go round from tribe to tribe; indeed, each-one to the inheritance of his father’s tribe is to cleave, (among) the Children of Israel.
8 And every daughter who comes-into-possession of inheritance from the tribes of the Children of Israel- for someone from the clan of her father’s tribe she must become a wife, in order that the Children of Israel may remain-in-possession, each-man, of the inheritance of his fathers.
9 There shall not go round the inheritance of a tribe to another tribe, indeed, each-one to his inheritance is to cleave, (among) the tribes of the Children of Israel.
10 As YHVH had commanded Moshe, thus did the daughters of Tzelofhad.
11 They became, Mahla, Tirtza, Hogla, Milka and No’a, the daughters of Tzelofhad, wives for the sons of their uncles,
12 in the clans of the Sons of Menashe son of Yosef they became wives, so that their inheritance went along with the tribe of the clan of their father.
remained in the tribe. Thus each tribe preserved its own full inheritance.
13 These are the commandments and the regulations that YHVH commanded by the hand of Moshe to the Children of Israel, in the Plains of Moav, by Jordan-jericho.these are the commandments. The subscription to the laws in VII-XXXVI.