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Ch. 36, again involving the daughters of the deceased Zelophehad, takes the reader back to ch. 27. There the problem was whether the sonless father’s name should be preserved by granting land inheritance to daughters. The answer was yes. Here the male members of the tribe of Manasseh raised a problem about the ruling made in ch. 27. In view of the concept of fixed tribal division, what would happen to their inheritance should these women marry outside their tribe? God acknowledged the force of this concern and as a result mandated that propertied women were bound by law to marry within their tribe. Each of the late Zelophehad’s five daughters abided by this decree (vv.10-12).
At least four theological issues emerge from this legal case. First, indirectly God renewed his promise of the gift of land to Israel, thus a legal decision on the issue of land inheritance. Second, all tribes were included in this promise, and no one tribe was to benefit from circumstances that threatened to deprive another tribe from its land inheritance. Third, not all the issues facing God’s people may be solved simply by appealing to God’s past word at Sinai. In both chs. 27 and 36 God was sought out for a fresh word.
Fourth is the refreshing emphasis on the obedience of the five daughters. They are one of the few models in Numbers of compliance with God’s word, especially when laid alongside the likes of the rabble (ch. 11); Miriam and Aaron (ch. 12); the spies (chs. 13-14); the Sabbath-breaker (ch. 15); Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (ch. 16); Moses and Aaron (ch. 20); and the Israelite men (ch. 25). The accounts of Zelophehad’s daughters in chs. 27 and 36 form an inclusio for the events and organization of the second generation whose appearance is emphasized in the genealogy of ch. 26. If they are typical of the second generation, the future of God’s people is guaranteed.