Clarification Please

Numbers 36: 1 – 13

Clarification please

36 Now 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 and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. 2 And they said: “The LORD commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying: “What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. 6 This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’ 7 So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.” 10Just as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family. 13 These are the commandments and the judgments which the LORD commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.

In journalism, a clarification is used to make a statement in a published story clearer. It refers to a statement in a story that may be subject to a misunderstanding or incorrect assumption. For instance, a published story about teacher layoffs states that the superintendent filed a notice of termination for the affected staff. Although that statement is factually correct as printed, it may lead to the assumption that the teachers were fired that night. A statement—in this case, a clarification—may be required, stating that the teachers then have time to appeal their dismissal before the termination takes effect. A clarification is not the same as a correction, which corrects factual errors in a published story. As with corrections, the policy for reporting statements which need to be made clearer varies with the newspaper; it usually involves a reader calling an editor and pointing out the story elements requiring clarification.

Clarifying Questions are simple questions of fact. They are concerned with the details needed to understand the situation. The presenter should be able to answer these questions easily. If the presenter struggles to answer a question, it is most likely a probing question.

Examples of clarifying questions:

• What do you want the people to be able to do?

• What behaviors are you targeting?

• What class? Ages of people? Levels? Background info, etc.

• How much time will this take?

• What skills are involved?

• What have you already done to address this problem?

• What prior examples are successful in this matter?

• What types of data will you collect? When will you collect it? Who will collect it for you?

Probing questions should make the presenter think more deeply before presenting their case. They should not suggest action but work only to make the presenter think about options. These are not simple yes or no questions. Good probing questions allow for multiple responses, move thinking from reaction to reflection, encourage taking another perspective, never suggest or place blame.

Examples of probing questions:

• Why did you choose that response?

• What will you do with this proposal?