Numbers 36 Study Notes

36:1-3 Patriarchal leaders of the Machirites of the tribe of Manasseh feared that if the women married outside their clan, the land allotment might go to some other tribe or clan. This would upset the balanced distribution called for in 33:54.

36:4 The Year of Jubilee occurred every fifty years (Lv 25:13-55), after seven sabbatical years. During Jubilee, property that had been bought and sold among various tribes or clans reverted to its original tribal owner. This custom maintained the balance of land and wealth distribution among the twelve tribes. The law in Leviticus addressed matters of purchased property, but not that of inherited lands. During the Jubilee Year various debts, such as those of indentured servants, were forgiven and individuals were freed of financial and other obligations in order to rebuild their lives. “Jubilee” is an anglicized word from the Hebrew word yovel (“ram’s horn”), which was sounded to usher in the year of celebration, redemption, and restoration.

36:5-9 The adjudication of the case came through the Lord’s instruction to Moses that would permit the women to marry the person of their choosing provided they marry within a clan of their ancestral tribe. Hence, a loophole from the earlier case was closed.

36:10-12 The faithful adherence to the instruction from the Lord is highlighted as the daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. These words remind the reader of the central theme of the book of Numbers—faithfulness to the Lord’s instruction.

36:13 The conclusion to the book of Numbers summarizes the position of the Israelite nation as it was poised to inherit the promised land. Throughout the book, references to Israel’s faithfulness to God have been defined by the phraseology, “[Moses, Israelites, etc.] did just as the Lord had commanded.” The laws of Torah and the extensions of case law in various settings of life in the book of Numbers (and the subsequent book of Deuteronomy) must be the foundation of the community of faith as they enter the land of Canaan as the people of God. If they are faithful and obedient, the blessings of the covenant relationship in the inheritance and productivity of the land will be theirs, but if they do not follow the Lord’s commands, their lives will be beset by opposition from without—foreign enemy attacks—and from within—plague, civil war, and natural disaster.