Text: Numbers 36:1
OT Text Referred to: Numbers 26:55
Subject: inheritance law amendment
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Numbers 26:55 establishes that the land shall be divided by lot (גּוֹרָל, goral) among the tribes according to their ancestral names. Numbers 36:1ff raises the practical problem: if Zelophehad's daughters inherit land (as permitted in chapter 27) and marry men from other tribes, the lot-based tribal inheritance of Numbers 26 will be permanently disrupted. The internal cross-reference within Numbers itself shows the Pentateuch wrestling with unintended consequences of its own legislation -- the daughters' inheritance right (ch. 27) potentially conflicting with the tribal lot system (ch. 26). The solution of endogamous marriage preserves both principles simultaneously.