John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 2. And they said , etc.] One in the name of the rest: the Lord commanded my lord ; that is, Moses, whom they address in a very respectable manner, being the chief governor of the nation under God: to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel ; which command may be seen, in ( Numbers 26:53-56): and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother ; or kinsman, being of the same tribe: unto his daughters ; who sued for it, and upon Moses’s consulting the Lord about it, it was ordered they should have it, ( Numbers 27:1-11) and which these princes observed was likely to be attended with the following inconvenience.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-4 - The heads of the tribe of Manasseh represent the evil which migh follow, if the daughters of Zelophehad should marry into any othe tribes. They sought to preserve the Divine appointment of inheritances and that contests and quarrels should not rise among those who shoul 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 strif and contention may arise. (Nu 36:5-12)
Original Hebrew ויאמרו559 את853 אדני113 צוה6680 יהוה3068 לתת5414 את853 הארץ776 בנחלה5159 בגורל1486 לבני1121 ישׂראל3478 ואדני113 צוה6680 ביהוה3068 לתת5414 את853 נחלת5159 צלפחד6765 אחינו251 לבנתיו׃1323
