36:1 VA YIKREVU RASHEY HA AVOT LE MISHPACHAT BENEY GIL'AD BEN MACHIR BEN MENASHEH MI MISHPECHOT BENEY YOSEPH VA YEDABER LIPHNEY MOSHEH VE LIPHNEY HA NESIYIM RASHEY AVOT LIVNEY YISRA-EL
וַיִּקְרְבוּ רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת לְמִשְׁפַּחַת בְּנֵי גִלְעָד בֶּן מָכִיר בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה מִמִּשְׁפְּחֹת בְּנֵי יוֹסֵף וַיְדַבְּרוּ לִפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה וְלִפְנֵי הַנְּשִׂאִים רָאשֵׁי אָבוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ (King James translation): And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel:
BN (BibleNet translation): Then the heads of the clans of the family of the Beney Gil'ad, the son of Machir, the son of Menasheh, of the families of the Beney Yoseph, approached and spoke before Mosheh, and before the princes, the heads of the clans of the Beney Yisra-El.
MISHPACHAT: Diplomatic language! Notice the two-and-a-half tribes have already become BENEY GIL'AD, and the word is singular, "one family"; which is a great help for us in trying to understand how all these people, tribes, clans, families, nations, congregations etc are different, and how and when the same, and how they changed over time.
MACHIR: See the link.
MENASHEH: See the link.
36:2 VA YOMRU ET ADONI TSIVAH YHVH LATET ET HA ARETS BE NACHALAH BE GORAL LIVNEY YISRA-EL VE ADONI TSUVAH VA YHVH LATET ET NACHALAT TSELAPHCHAD LI VENOTAV
KJ: And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.
BN: And they said: "My lord, YHVH gave instruction to give the land for inheritance by lot to the Beney Yisra-El; and my lord was instructed by YHVH to give the inheritance of Tselaphchad our brother to his daughters...
I can't help but feel that the Book of Numbers ended at the conclusion of chapter 35, save only the closing verse of this chapter, and that this extraordinary last-minute coup d'état by the Gil'adim was a much later addition. What happened in Numbers 27 does not get easily overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court. It was handled correctly: in verse 2 "they stood before Mosheh, and before El-Azar the Kohen, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting" to plead their case, and in verse 5 "Mosheh brought their cause to YHVH". The decision was announced by YHVH himself, in verse 6: "Whereas the daughters of Tselaphchad have spoken justly, they shall be awarded the possession of an inheritance among their father's kinsmen. Their father's inheritance is hereby conferred on them." And so important was this ruling, verses 7 ff established it formally as a precedent: "And you shall speak to the Beney Yisra-El, saying: If a man dies, and has no son..." the various possible circumstances then defined, and responses provided. Yet here are the Beney Gil'ad, the same clan of the same family, demanding - and receiving - what is at the very least a significant amendment.
36:6 ZEH HA DAVAR ASHER TSIVAH YHVH LIVNOT TSELAPHCHAD LEMOR LA TOV BE EYNEYHEM TIHEYENAH LE NASHIM ACH LE MISHPACHAT MATEH AVIHEM TEHEYENAH LE NASHIM
זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה לִבְנוֹת צְלָפְחָד לֵאמֹר לַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֵיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים אַךְ לְמִשְׁפַּחַת מַטֵּה אֲבִיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים
KJ: This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.
BN: "This is the ruling which YHVH has made concerning the daughters of Tselaphchad, saying: 'Let them be married to whom they think best; but they may only marry into the family of their father's tribe...
AVIHEM: should be AVIHEN.
So the original verdict has not been overthrown, but only modified, amended. They still have their inheritance rights, but they must marry inside the tribe to retain them. Endogamy within endogamy! This would not be the case for any man, but, given that the Law of Tselaphchad's Daughters has been established as a precedent for all the Beney Yisra-El, it must now apply across all the tribes. So, from now on, a woman from the Beney Capulet, say, who falls in love with a man from the Beney Montague, may not marry him, because her inheritance will pass at the Jubilee to his family.
36:7 VE LO TISOV NACHALAH LIVNEY YISRA-EL MI MATEH EL MATEH KI ISH BE NACHALAT MATEH AVOTAV YIDBEKU BENEY YISRA-EL
KJ: So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
BN: "'Thus no inheritance of the Beney Yisra-El shall transfer from tribe to tribe; but the Beney Yisra-El shall cleave each man to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers...
From a financial and material point of view, this may seem obvious, but in fact it was a profoundly significant social change. This edict endorses patrilocal marriage over matrilocal marriage; and it also establishes clean lines of inheritance that separate tribe from tribe; and this is the very final commandment set out in the very book which denotes who shall inherit what, from the whole of the land, through the areas of the land, down now to the legacies of individuals. Perhaps I was wrong in my statement at the head of this chapter, and it only seems like a late addition: worth stating though, in order to investigate and discuss the matter.
36:9 VE LO TISOV NACHALAT MI MATEH LE MATEH ACHER KI ISH BE NACHALATO YIDBEKU MATOT BENEY YISRA-EL
KJ: Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.
BN: "'Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the Beney Yisra-El shall cleave each one to its own inheritance.'"
Which of course will not prove to be the outcome of future history: eastern Shim'on gradually absorbed into Yehudah as the tribe became ever more depleted; Bin-Yamin merged with Yehudah after the six-and-a-half tribes were lost to history altogether, and no attempt whatsoever, after the return from Babylonian exile, to re-establish the tribal structure, even when the Hasmonean dynasty was at its height, and could easily have done so. And as to modern Israel, this paragraph may be the very first time that such an idea has even been theoretically mooted.
36:10 KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH KEN ASU BENOT TSELAPHCHAD
KJ: Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:
BN: Thus did YHVH instruct Mosheh; thus did the daughters of Tselaphchad undertake to do.
36:11 VA TIHEYENAH MACHLAH TIRTSAH VE CHAGLAH U MILKAH VE NO'AH BENOT TSELAPHCHAD LIVNEY DODEYHEN LE NASHIM
וַתִּהְיֶינָה מַחְלָה תִרְצָה וְחָגְלָה וּמִלְכָּה וְנֹעָה בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָדלִבְנֵי דֹדֵיהֶן לְנָשִׁים
KJ: For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons:
BN: For Machlah, Tirtsah, and Chaglah, and Milkah, and No'ah, the daughters of Tselaphchad, were married to their father's brothers' sons.
And issues of genetics related to endogamy on such a narrow scale not known at that time. Nor, indeed, right through to late mediaeval times, in most of Europe as well as the Middle East, where endogamy of this kind remained the norm, in villages if not in tribes.
36:2 VA YOMRU ET ADONI TSIVAH YHVH LATET ET HA ARETS BE NACHALAH BE GORAL LIVNEY YISRA-EL VE ADONI TSUVAH VA YHVH LATET ET NACHALAT TSELAPHCHAD LI VENOTAV
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶת אֲדֹנִי צִוָּה יְהוָה לָתֵת אֶת הָאָרֶץ בְּנַחֲלָה בְּגוֹרָל לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַאדֹנִי צֻוָּה בַיהוָה לָתֵת אֶת נַחֲלַת צְלָפְחָד אָחִינוּ לִבְנֹתָיו
KJ: And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.
BN: And they said: "My lord, YHVH gave instruction to give the land for inheritance by lot to the Beney Yisra-El; and my lord was instructed by YHVH to give the inheritance of Tselaphchad our brother to his daughters...
I can't help but feel that the Book of Numbers ended at the conclusion of chapter 35, save only the closing verse of this chapter, and that this extraordinary last-minute coup d'état by the Gil'adim was a much later addition. What happened in Numbers 27 does not get easily overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court. It was handled correctly: in verse 2 "they stood before Mosheh, and before El-Azar the Kohen, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting" to plead their case, and in verse 5 "Mosheh brought their cause to YHVH". The decision was announced by YHVH himself, in verse 6: "Whereas the daughters of Tselaphchad have spoken justly, they shall be awarded the possession of an inheritance among their father's kinsmen. Their father's inheritance is hereby conferred on them." And so important was this ruling, verses 7 ff established it formally as a precedent: "And you shall speak to the Beney Yisra-El, saying: If a man dies, and has no son..." the various possible circumstances then defined, and responses provided. Yet here are the Beney Gil'ad, the same clan of the same family, demanding - and receiving - what is at the very least a significant amendment.
And, what's more, the same tale will be retold in Joshua 17, the same five daughters coming with the same issue, and receiving the same outcome - the only difference being that it is El-Azar with Yehoshu'a, not El-Azar with Mosheh (and really the only significance of that difference is that it provides yet more evidence that Mosheh and Yehoshua are the same person, named variantly in different tribal histories, both Yehudaisations of Ach-Mousa and the Osher myths).
36:3 VE HAYU LE ECHAD MI BENEY SHIVTEY VENEY YISRA-EL LE NASHIM VE NIGRE'AH NACHALATAN MI NACHALAT AVOTEYNU VE NOSAPH AL NACHALAT HA MATEH ASHER TIHEYENAH LAHEM U MI GORAL NACHALATENU
KJ: And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.
BN: "And it will be that, if they marry any of the sons of the other tribes of the Beney Yisra-El, then their inheritance will be taken away from the bequest of our fathers, and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they now belong; so it would be taken away from the lot of our inheritance...
VE HAYU: Odd grammar, using the past tense for something that will happen in the future; is this perhaps an inversion of the Vav Consecutive?
36:3 VE HAYU LE ECHAD MI BENEY SHIVTEY VENEY YISRA-EL LE NASHIM VE NIGRE'AH NACHALATAN MI NACHALAT AVOTEYNU VE NOSAPH AL NACHALAT HA MATEH ASHER TIHEYENAH LAHEM U MI GORAL NACHALATENU
וְהָיוּ לְאֶחָד מִבְּנֵי שִׁבְטֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְנָשִׁים וְנִגְרְעָה נַחֲלָתָן מִנַּחֲלַת אֲבֹתֵינוּ וְנוֹסַף עַל נַחֲלַת הַמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶינָה לָהֶם וּמִגֹּרַל נַחֲלָתֵנוּ יִגָּרֵעַ
BN: "And it will be that, if they marry any of the sons of the other tribes of the Beney Yisra-El, then their inheritance will be taken away from the bequest of our fathers, and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they now belong; so it would be taken away from the lot of our inheritance...
VE HAYU: Odd grammar, using the past tense for something that will happen in the future; is this perhaps an inversion of the Vav Consecutive?
Women joining the men's tribe = patrilocal marriage. We have seen in Genesis that many of the other people of the region practice matrilocal marriage - e.g. Kayin, Esav and Yishma-El, all of whom go to live with their wives and become part of their tribe. Ya'akov in Padan Aram technically does the same, though the circumstances are different (he is marrying within the clan), so we can't say either way on this one; it is plausible that his negotiations with Lavan, and especially Lavan's statement in Genesis 31:43, that "The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine; and what can I do this day for these my daughters, or for their children whom they have borne?" confirm that Ya'akov has joined his tribe, and not simply as a bondsman.
36:4 VE IM YIHEYEH HA YOVEL LIVNEY YISRA-EL VE NOSPHAH NACHALATAN AL NACHALAT HA MATEH ASHER TIHEYENAH LAHEM U MI NACHALAT MATEH AVOTEYNU YIGARA NACHALATAN
KJ: And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.
BN: "And when the jubilee of the Beney Yisra-El comes around, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they now belong; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."
And they are quite right too, if patrilocal marriage is now the norm. So we have a conflict of divine laws, and thanks be to the deities that I am a cultural archaeologist and a literary commentator and not a theologian! (Though it does merit noting what a clever lawyer, to have gone hunting for loopholes, and found this one!).
36:5 VA YETSAV MOSHEH ET BENEY YISRA-EL AL PI YHVH LEMOR KEN MATEH VENEY YOSEPH DOVRIM
KJ: And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.
BN: And Mosheh announced his ruling to the Beney Yisra-El, according to the word of YHVH, saying: "The tribe of the Beney Yoseph speaks correctly...
Interesting to compare the text here with the one from Numbers 27 quoted above. Like the women, the men have presented themselves in the correct manner, and petitioned their cause likewise. In the first case, we are explicitly told that Mosheh "brought their cause to YHVH", and that YHVH gave the resolution, presumably through the mouth of an oracle, which may well have been Mosheh himself. But here - and it doesn't mean he didn't, only that it isn't stated - Mosheh simply announces the decision.
BENEY YOSEPH: Wait a moment! Verse 2 explicitly called them the Beney Gil'ad, which made a very interesting point of its own about tribal inheritances, allowing east Menasheh and Ephrayim to become, effectively, different tribes (this case is specific to Menasheh, yet the text grouped them with Gad and Re'u-Ven as the "separated" threesome beyond the Yarden). But Mosheh's response denies them that separation; east and west Menasheh are still the same tribe, and they have their tribal inheritance in partnership with Ephrayim, substituting for Yoseph, who is not allowed one of his own, precisely because he married out of the tribe! To Mosheh they are the Beney Yoseph, and the matrilocal still applies - presumably the Beney Gil'ad have discovered that the opposite is the case in Edom and Mo-Av and Amon wherethey are now living, and this is why they are challenging the previous ruling. Mosheh does not say any of this explicitly, but it is implicit in his use of the term BENEY YOSEPH.
36:4 VE IM YIHEYEH HA YOVEL LIVNEY YISRA-EL VE NOSPHAH NACHALATAN AL NACHALAT HA MATEH ASHER TIHEYENAH LAHEM U MI NACHALAT MATEH AVOTEYNU YIGARA NACHALATAN
וְאִם יִהְיֶה הַיֹּבֵל לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְנוֹסְפָה נַחֲלָתָן עַל נַחֲלַת הַמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶינָה לָהֶם וּמִנַּחֲלַת מַטֵּה אֲבֹתֵינוּ יִגָּרַע נַחֲלָתָן
KJ: And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.
BN: "And when the jubilee of the Beney Yisra-El comes around, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they now belong; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."
And they are quite right too, if patrilocal marriage is now the norm. So we have a conflict of divine laws, and thanks be to the deities that I am a cultural archaeologist and a literary commentator and not a theologian! (Though it does merit noting what a clever lawyer, to have gone hunting for loopholes, and found this one!).
36:5 VA YETSAV MOSHEH ET BENEY YISRA-EL AL PI YHVH LEMOR KEN MATEH VENEY YOSEPH DOVRIM
וַיְצַו מֹשֶׁה אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל פִּי יְהוָה לֵאמֹר כֵּן מַטֵּה בְנֵי יוֹסֵף דֹּבְרִים
BN: And Mosheh announced his ruling to the Beney Yisra-El, according to the word of YHVH, saying: "The tribe of the Beney Yoseph speaks correctly...
Interesting to compare the text here with the one from Numbers 27 quoted above. Like the women, the men have presented themselves in the correct manner, and petitioned their cause likewise. In the first case, we are explicitly told that Mosheh "brought their cause to YHVH", and that YHVH gave the resolution, presumably through the mouth of an oracle, which may well have been Mosheh himself. But here - and it doesn't mean he didn't, only that it isn't stated - Mosheh simply announces the decision.
BENEY YOSEPH: Wait a moment! Verse 2 explicitly called them the Beney Gil'ad, which made a very interesting point of its own about tribal inheritances, allowing east Menasheh and Ephrayim to become, effectively, different tribes (this case is specific to Menasheh, yet the text grouped them with Gad and Re'u-Ven as the "separated" threesome beyond the Yarden). But Mosheh's response denies them that separation; east and west Menasheh are still the same tribe, and they have their tribal inheritance in partnership with Ephrayim, substituting for Yoseph, who is not allowed one of his own, precisely because he married out of the tribe! To Mosheh they are the Beney Yoseph, and the matrilocal still applies - presumably the Beney Gil'ad have discovered that the opposite is the case in Edom and Mo-Av and Amon wherethey are now living, and this is why they are challenging the previous ruling. Mosheh does not say any of this explicitly, but it is implicit in his use of the term BENEY YOSEPH.
36:6 ZEH HA DAVAR ASHER TSIVAH YHVH LIVNOT TSELAPHCHAD LEMOR LA TOV BE EYNEYHEM TIHEYENAH LE NASHIM ACH LE MISHPACHAT MATEH AVIHEM TEHEYENAH LE NASHIM
זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה לִבְנוֹת צְלָפְחָד לֵאמֹר לַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֵיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים אַךְ לְמִשְׁפַּחַת מַטֵּה אֲבִיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים
BN: "This is the ruling which YHVH has made concerning the daughters of Tselaphchad, saying: 'Let them be married to whom they think best; but they may only marry into the family of their father's tribe...
AVIHEM: should be AVIHEN.
So the original verdict has not been overthrown, but only modified, amended. They still have their inheritance rights, but they must marry inside the tribe to retain them. Endogamy within endogamy! This would not be the case for any man, but, given that the Law of Tselaphchad's Daughters has been established as a precedent for all the Beney Yisra-El, it must now apply across all the tribes. So, from now on, a woman from the Beney Capulet, say, who falls in love with a man from the Beney Montague, may not marry him, because her inheritance will pass at the Jubilee to his family.
36:7 VE LO TISOV NACHALAH LIVNEY YISRA-EL MI MATEH EL MATEH KI ISH BE NACHALAT MATEH AVOTAV YIDBEKU BENEY YISRA-EL
וְלֹא תִסֹּב נַחֲלָה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמַּטֶּה אֶל מַטֶּה כִּי אִישׁ בְּנַחֲלַת מַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו יִדְבְּקוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
BN: "'Thus no inheritance of the Beney Yisra-El shall transfer from tribe to tribe; but the Beney Yisra-El shall cleave each man to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers...
From a financial and material point of view, this may seem obvious, but in fact it was a profoundly significant social change. This edict endorses patrilocal marriage over matrilocal marriage; and it also establishes clean lines of inheritance that separate tribe from tribe; and this is the very final commandment set out in the very book which denotes who shall inherit what, from the whole of the land, through the areas of the land, down now to the legacies of individuals. Perhaps I was wrong in my statement at the head of this chapter, and it only seems like a late addition: worth stating though, in order to investigate and discuss the matter.
And also note that Mosheh has been asked to rule on an issue that goes beyond the twelve tribes - being in Gil'ad, the women are just as likely to find husbands among the local non-Yisra-Eli men as they are within the two-and-a-half tribes; but Mosheh's response takes for granted that they would never even consider such men as potential spice, and his ruling is restricted to marriage "within the Beney Yisra-El".
But now we also know why "marrying in" became so important, and remains so to this day. It is about the inheritance, and that inheritance is rather more material than genetic.
36:8 VE CHOL BAT YORESHET NACHALAH MI MATOT BENEY YISRA-EL LE ECHAD MI MISHPACHAT MATEH AVIHA TIHEYEH LE ISHAH LMA'AN YIYSHU BENEY YISRA-EL ISH NACHALAT AVOTAV
וְכָל בַּת יֹרֶשֶׁת נַחֲלָה מִמַּטּוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְאֶחָד מִמִּשְׁפַּחַת מַטֵּה אָבִיהָ תִּהְיֶה לְאִשָּׁה לְמַעַן יִירְשׁוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ נַחֲלַת אֲבֹתָיו
KJ: And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.
BN: "'And every daughter who receives an inheritance in any tribe of the Beney Yisra-El shall become a wife to someone in the family of her father's tribe, so that each man of the Beney Yisra-El may receive the inheritance of his fathers...
And though this law only applies to women who are inheriting because they have no brothers, the process of patrilocalisation is nonetheless established.
36:8 VE CHOL BAT YORESHET NACHALAH MI MATOT BENEY YISRA-EL LE ECHAD MI MISHPACHAT MATEH AVIHA TIHEYEH LE ISHAH LMA'AN YIYSHU BENEY YISRA-EL ISH NACHALAT AVOTAV
וְכָל בַּת יֹרֶשֶׁת נַחֲלָה מִמַּטּוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְאֶחָד מִמִּשְׁפַּחַת מַטֵּה אָבִיהָ תִּהְיֶה לְאִשָּׁה לְמַעַן יִירְשׁוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ נַחֲלַת אֲבֹתָיו
BN: "'And every daughter who receives an inheritance in any tribe of the Beney Yisra-El shall become a wife to someone in the family of her father's tribe, so that each man of the Beney Yisra-El may receive the inheritance of his fathers...
And though this law only applies to women who are inheriting because they have no brothers, the process of patrilocalisation is nonetheless established.
36:9 VE LO TISOV NACHALAT MI MATEH LE MATEH ACHER KI ISH BE NACHALATO YIDBEKU MATOT BENEY YISRA-EL
וְלֹא תִסֹּב נַחֲלָה מִמַּטֶּה לְמַטֶּה אַחֵר כִּי אִישׁ בְּנַחֲלָתוֹ יִדְבְּקוּ מַטּוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.
BN: "'Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the Beney Yisra-El shall cleave each one to its own inheritance.'"
Which of course will not prove to be the outcome of future history: eastern Shim'on gradually absorbed into Yehudah as the tribe became ever more depleted; Bin-Yamin merged with Yehudah after the six-and-a-half tribes were lost to history altogether, and no attempt whatsoever, after the return from Babylonian exile, to re-establish the tribal structure, even when the Hasmonean dynasty was at its height, and could easily have done so. And as to modern Israel, this paragraph may be the very first time that such an idea has even been theoretically mooted.
36:10 KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH KEN ASU BENOT TSELAPHCHAD
כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת מֹשֶׁה כֵּן עָשׂוּ בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד
KJ: Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:
BN: Thus did YHVH instruct Mosheh; thus did the daughters of Tselaphchad undertake to do.
36:11 VA TIHEYENAH MACHLAH TIRTSAH VE CHAGLAH U MILKAH VE NO'AH BENOT TSELAPHCHAD LIVNEY DODEYHEN LE NASHIM
וַתִּהְיֶינָה מַחְלָה תִרְצָה וְחָגְלָה וּמִלְכָּה וְנֹעָה בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָדלִבְנֵי דֹדֵיהֶן לְנָשִׁים
KJ: For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons:
BN: For Machlah, Tirtsah, and Chaglah, and Milkah, and No'ah, the daughters of Tselaphchad, were married to their father's brothers' sons.
And issues of genetics related to endogamy on such a narrow scale not known at that time. Nor, indeed, right through to late mediaeval times, in most of Europe as well as the Middle East, where endogamy of this kind remained the norm, in villages if not in tribes.
And where the women claimed the right to their own inheritance, and the status that would have accompanied it, this revised ruling endows the men with all the property, including the women. Not just the establishment of patrilocal marriage, but of patriarchalism itself. The women who were equal at Creation are now confirmed as second-class humans.
36:12 MI MISHPECHOT BENEY MENASHEH VEN YOSEPH HAYU LE NASHIM VA TEHI NACHALATAN AL MATEH MISHPACHAT AVIHEN
KJ: And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
BN: They were married into the families of the Beney Menasheh ben Yoseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
So we have the same tale, with two outcomes; and when it gets retold in Joshua, there will be yet a different outcome!
36:13 ELEH HA MITSVOT VE HA MISHPATIM ASHER TSIVAH YHVH BE YAD MOSHEH EL BENEY YISRA-EL BE ARVOT MO-AV AL YARDEN YERECHO
אֵלֶּה הַמִּצְוֹת וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעַרְבֹת מוֹאָב עַל יַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ
KJ: These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.
BN: These are the laws and the statutes which YHVH instructed, by the hand of Mosheh, to the Beney Yisra-El, in the plains of Mo-Av, by the Yarden at Yerecho.
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36:12 MI MISHPECHOT BENEY MENASHEH VEN YOSEPH HAYU LE NASHIM VA TEHI NACHALATAN AL MATEH MISHPACHAT AVIHEN
מִמִּשְׁפְּחֹת בְּנֵי מְנַשֶּׁה בֶן יוֹסֵף הָיוּ לְנָשִׁים וַתְּהִי נַחֲלָתָן עַל מַטֵּה מִשְׁפַּחַת אֲבִיהֶן
KJ: And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
BN: They were married into the families of the Beney Menasheh ben Yoseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
So we have the same tale, with two outcomes; and when it gets retold in Joshua, there will be yet a different outcome!
אֵלֶּה הַמִּצְוֹת וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעַרְבֹת מוֹאָב עַל יַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ
KJ: These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.
BN: These are the laws and the statutes which YHVH instructed, by the hand of Mosheh, to the Beney Yisra-El, in the plains of Mo-Av, by the Yarden at Yerecho.
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