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?
• Will you be able to measure this from past experience or is this a new conclusion?
• What fears, worries, or concerns do you have?
• How do you think others will respond?
• What needs to change?
• What would it look like if…?
• When have you done something similar and how did it go?
• What do you want?
• What’s another way you might to handle this situation?
• Is this different from other similar situations?
• What is your intention?
• How do you feel about this issue?
• What is the connection between different parties?
• Where do you see problems?
There are two emphases in this last chapter. The first is on the question of the certainty of the inheritance of each tribe being maintained. That was seen as an essential matter. That was what they would be fighting for. And the second was the glorious example that the daughters of Zelophehad were to the whole of Israel. They were a shining example of the fact that those who behaved rightly towards Yahweh would come out triumphantly as possessors of the land. They were an incentive to the whole of Israel.
It is not accidental that the book ends with the importance of ensuring that the divisions of the land as established by God for His people should remain inviolate. For the land was to be their permanent possession, given to them by Yahweh. It lay at the very heart of the covenant. This reveals both the deep concern of the people about possessing land, and the faithfulness of God in ensuring that they received it as a permanent possession. It was the fulfillment of all that they had come to Canaan to obtain. The absolute cast iron guarantee of such perpetuity would be a huge incentive to going forward.
In the same way it is for us the certainty that we will enter into and inherit an everlasting kingdom that will never diminish that gives us the courage to go constantly forward in the face of all difficulties. The principle is the same. All who believe and are faithful will inherit it.
But the situation that brought this matter to the forefront was the matter of families with no male heir, whose fathers had died on their journey while remaining faithful to Yahweh, with the result that their family, instead of joining in the fulfillment of the promises to the fathers, would lose everything that mattered through no fault of their own. They would no longer have their share in the land. This must not be. Such a situation would mean that all soldiers who only had daughters would fear at what their death might do to their families, and would therefore be hesitant about going into battle. Thus the solution proposed here removed that fear. The people were seeking further clarification of this potential future problem.
There was the equal problem that if they did receive land and the women heiresses married outside the tribe, they would take the land that had been given to that tribe with them. The tribal inheritance would be diminished. What then was the solution? The final answer was that the women heiresses could inherit, but if they did they must marry within the tribe. And the book ends with the description of the obedience to Yahweh of the daughters of Zelophehad which results in satisfaction for all. The lesson being that thus will all be blessed who walk in obedience to Yahweh and seek land for their possession.
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.
The leaders of the tribes concern was with the decision that had been made concerning the daughters of Zelophehad. Important inheritance rules were being established. On the one hand Yahweh had commanded that the land be given to the children of Israel by lot. Thus this would permanently attach the land that was given to it to each tribe by Yahweh’s decree. But on the other hand was the decision about the daughters of Zelophehad which if not regulated might have other consequences.
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.
The problem that they saw as a future issue was relative to families that only had daughters for if they married outside the tribe, they would take their land with them. That land would then be joined to that of another tribe, and Gilead, of Machir, of Manasseh would find them depleted of some of the land allocated to them by Yahweh by means of the lot. The sub-tribe would lose some of their guaranteed inheritance. It was a good question.
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.”
The result would be that when the year of Jubilee came, that land, returning to the family of the woman who had first possessed it on entering the land, would permanently become attached to the new tribe forever, and would forever be lost to the tribe who had received it by lot. That being so the permanency of their inheritance was in doubt. This would go against the whole principle of Jubilee which was of restoration after forty nine years of all land to its original tribal inheritors.
It is difficult to stress sufficiently how important the question was. They saw the whole certainty of the future as hanging in balance, and nothing would have been more discouraging to the advance into Canaan. The fairness of Yahweh to His people needed to be guaranteed. The whole of the book had been concerned with possession of the land. And now it seemed that that possession could hang in balance. But when the reply came it both satisfied their doubts concerning the loss of guaranteed land, and was a warm encouragement concerning the blessing that came on those who were obedient to Yahweh.
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.
The first point was an immediate acknowledgement about the rightness of their position. Let all the tribes know that what these sons of Joseph say is right. Their land is secured to them by Yahweh, and He will not allow any of it to be taken away from them.
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.’
So while the decision concerning the daughters of Zelophehad stood firm, it was incumbent on them to respond to Yahweh’s goodness by marrying into their own clan. They had the right to choose whom they would, as long as it was within that clan.
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.
The result would be that no inheritance would remove from tribe to tribe, and the children of Israel would each cleave to that land originally given to them by lot.
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.
So every daughter who possessed an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel would by this restriction to marrying within the family of the tribe of their fathers, ensure that the land remained in the clan. And this would ensure that every family in Israel would continually possess what Yahweh had originally given. Here was certainty indeed.
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.”
And so verse 7 is repeated for emphasis. No inheritance will move from tribe to tribe, and each tribe would have all its allotted land as a permanent inheritance. What they were fighting for was guaranteed and therefore whty would not lose.
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.
These faithful daughters of Zelophehad, whom all now knew by name, did precisely as Yahweh commanded Moses. They married their father’s brothers’ sons. They had believed in the fairness of Yahweh, they had braved the ordeal of the leading assembly of Israel, they had courageously stood firm to plead their cause in the face of all opposition, and now through their faithfulness and courage they had achieved their aim. And they had done so by strict obedience to Yahweh’s commandment. Let them and their faithfulness be a final example to Israel in the light of the prospect of the battles ahead of what happens when men and women are faithful to Yahweh.
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.
For they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, their own tribe, and thus ensured that their inheritance would remain in the tribe of the clan of their father, a shining example of faith, courage and obedience and all it would achieve. They had believed and possessed their land, and all land allocated would ultimately be safe to those to whom it would be given.
There could have been no higher note on which the book could end, for it stressed the importance of faith and obedience as the means of possessing the land.
The final summary of the book is here given. The journey was over. They were safely in the plains of Moab opposite Jericho on the verge of crossing the Jordan (36.13).
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.
What this section of the book contained was the commandments and ordinances commanded by Yahweh to Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, opposite Jericho preparatory to the invasion.
So the book which began with the numbering of Israel prior to inglorious failure and expulsion from the land in unbelief and disobedience, finishes with the numbering of Israel (chapter 26) which leads up to this triumphant example of faith and obedience. It is not accidental that after the second mobilization the final part of the book is framed within narratives describing the faith, perseverance, determination and obedience of the daughters of Zelophehad. With a spirit like this, and a faithful and compassionate God like Yahweh, the people of God would not experience the promises of our Holy God.
