And when the jubilee—shall be— The reason of the complaint was, that if heiresses should marry into other tribes, the paternal inheritance would thus be alienated from the tribe, contrary to the divine purpose; nor would the year of jubilee itself, though designed for preserving a perfect distinction of estates, tribes, and families, (Leviticus 10:13.) become any remedy for this inconvenience; since these inheritances, by the common right of marriage, would descend at the jubilee to the heirs of those women who married into another tribe, even though they should be redeemed by the tribe of Manasseh.
REFLECTIONS.—The heads of this tribe, foreseeing an inconvenience which might arise concerning the portion of Zelophehad's daughters, bring the case before Moses. As they were heiresses, and might therefore be greatly courted for their fortunes, (for money is too commonly the vile inducement to marriage,) should they marry out of their own tribe, their inheritance, which God had assigned them, would go to their husband's tribe, and might be the occasion of many quarrels in like cases in futurity. It is our wisdom to foresee and to prevent evils in prospect, and, especially in our settlements and families, to remove, as much as possible, every occasion of dispute.