361 And the heads of the fathers' households of the family of the sons 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 heads of the fathers' households of the sons of Israel , 2 and they said , "The Lord commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance , and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters . 3 "But if they marry e one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel , their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong ; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance . 4 "When the jubilee of the sons of Israel comes , then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong ; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 36:1-4
Commentary on Numbers 36:1-4
(Read Numbers 36:1-4)
The heads of the tribe of Manasseh represent the evil which might follow, if the daughters of Zelophehad should marry into any other tribes. They sought to preserve the Divine appointment of inheritances, and that contests and quarrels should not rise among those who should come afterwards. It is the wisdom and duty of those who have estates in the world, to settle them, and to dispose of them, so that no strife and contention may arise.