כח הַנִּסְתָּרֹת--לַיהוָה,
אֱלֹהֵינוּ; וְהַנִּגְלֹת לָנוּ
וּלְבָנֵינוּ, עַד-עוֹלָם
--לַעֲשׂוֹת,
אֶת-כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת.
“Ha nistarot la Yahveh Eloheinu ve ha
niglot lanu u levaneinu ad olam – la asot et kol divrei ha torah hazot.”
Deu
29:29 “The secret matters belong
to יהוה our Elohim, but what is revealed
belongs to us and to our children forever, to do all the Words of this Torah.
This Torah Portion covers two issues – the cities of
refuge and the inheritance of the daughters of Tzelophad.
The Cities of Refuge were towns in the Kingdom of Yisrael and Kingdom of Yahudah/Judah in which the perpetrators of manslaughter could claim the right of asylum; - outside of these cities, blood vengeance against such perpetrators was allowed by law. The Torah names just six cities as being cities of refuge: Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor, on the east of the Yarden (Jordan)River, and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the western side.
The concept of a prison system appears nowhere in
Judaism. Indeed, while sentencing options as diverse as financial penalties,
atonement offerings, corporal punishment, capital punishment and even death
directly by the hand of YHVH are found in the Torah, the punishment of
"incarceration" as we know it is nowhere to be found in traditional
Torah-based Jewish law. Today it is estimated that there are more than 10
million prisoners worldwide and our societies seem to be less safe than ever
before.
That is not to say that Jewish law did not condone
restrictions on liberty. The Scripture itself provides for servitude
(involuntary, imposed by the court), as a reparative form of incarceration
(improsinment). Under certain circumstances, the court could order that a
perpetrator who caused another party loss and could not repay his debt or was
found guilty of theft be
"sold" for a period of time (not to exceed six years) in order to
raise the funds necessary to make restitution. Yet such court-imposed servitude
could not degenerate into cruel slave labor. The "bondsman" was
entitled by law to good nutrition, proper clothing, productive work and food
and shelter for his wife and children. Restitution, not punishment, was the
goal.
Let us consider a spiritual application concerning cities of refuge -
Charles Spurgeon – (Names restored).
"The manslayer left his
house, his wife, his children, everything, to flee away to the city of refuge.
That is just what a man does when he resolves to be saved by grace: he leaves
everything he calls his own, renounces all the rights and privileges which he
thought he possessed by nature; yea, he confesses to having lost his own
natural right to live, and he flees for life to the grace of YHVH in Yahshua.
The manslayer had no right to live except that he was in the city of refuge, no
right to anything except that he was YHVH’s guest within those enclosing walls.
And so we relinquish, heartily and thoroughly, once and forever, all ideas
arising out of our supposed merits; we hasten away from self that Messiah may
be all in all to us. Fleeing for refuge implies that a man flees from his sin.
He sees it and repents of it"
Our Torah portion for this week:
Num 35:9
And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Num 35:10 “Speak to the children of
Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you pass over the Yardĕn into the land of Kenaʽan,
Num 35:11 then you shall choose
cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the one who accidentally killed
someone shall flee there.
“You shall appoint for yourselves cities, cities of
refuge (asylum)” Heb “miklat” comes from another Hebrew word “kalat” which
means to be stunted, be handicapped, be deformed (of a sacrificial animal
lacking body parts). In other words we may assume that these cities may also
have accommodated people who had caused some kind of permanent harm on someone
else and fled to one of these cities of refuge for protection or until their
guilt or innocence could be proved.
Num 35:12 ‘And they shall be cities
of refuge for you from the revenger, and the one who killed someone is not to
die until he stands before the congregation in right-ruling.
Num 35:13 ‘And of the cities which
you give, six are to be cities of refuge.
Num 35:14 ‘Give three cities beyond
the Yardĕn, and give three cities in the land of Kenaʽan, as cities of refuge.
Num 35:15 ‘These six cities are for
refuge for the children of Yisra’ĕl, and for the sojourner, and for the settler
in their midst, for anyone who accidentally kills someone to flee there.
Num 35:16 ‘But if he has smitten him
with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer
shall certainly be put to death.
Num 35:17 ‘And if he has smitten him
with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a
murderer. The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
Num 35:18 ‘Or if he has smitten him
with a wooden instrument that could kill, and he does die, he is a murderer.
The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
Num 35:19 ‘The revenger of blood
himself puts the murderer to death. When he meets him, he puts him to death.
Num 35:20 ‘And if he thrusts him
through in hatred, or throws an object at him while lying in wait, so
that he dies,
Num 35:21 or in enmity he smites him
with his hand so that he dies, the one who smote him shall certainly be put to
death, for he is a murderer. The revenger of blood puts the murderer to death
when he meets him.
Num 35:22 ‘But if he pushes him
suddenly without enmity, or throws an object at him without lying in
wait,
Num 35:23 or uses a stone, by which
a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while
he was not his enemy or seeking his harm,
Num 35:24 then the congregation
shall judge between him who killed someone and the revenger of blood, according
to these right-rulings.
Num 35:25 ‘And the congregation
shall rescue the one who killed someone from the hand of the revenger of blood,
and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled,
and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed
with the set-apart oil.
The Talmud argues that the death of the high priest formed an atonement, as
the death of pious individuals counted as an atonement, Yoma 1:38b in the
Jerusalem Talmud and in its view, the high priest was extremely pious
Talmud states that, in accordance with the requirement to especially build
roads to the cities of refuge, the roads to these cities were not only marked
by signposts saying "Refuge", but the roads were 32 ells wide—twice
the regulation width—and were particularly smooth and even, in order that
fugitives were as unhindered as possible.
According to classical rabbinical authorities, the cities of refuge were
not places of protection, but places where atonement was made; Philo explained
this principle as being based on the theory that an innocent man would never be
chosen by God as the instrument of another man's death, and therefore those
claiming refuge at these cities must have committed some sin before they had
killed, for which their exile acts as an atonement.
Num 35:26 ‘But if the one who killed
someone at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he
fled,
Num 35:27 and the revenger of blood
finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the revenger of blood
kills him who killed someone, he is not guilty of blood,
Num 35:28 because he should have
remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after
the death of the high priest he who killed someone is to return to the land of
his possession.
Num 35:29 ‘And
these shall be for a law of right-ruling to you throughout your generations in
all your dwellings.
Num 35:30 ‘Whoever kills someone has
to be put to death as a murderer by the mouth of witnesses, but only one
witness does not bear witness against someone to die.
Num 35:31 ‘And take no ransom for
the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall certainly be put to
death.
Num 35:32 ‘And take no ransom for
him who has fled to his city of refuge to return to dwell in the land before
the death of the priest.
Num 35:33 ‘And do
not profane the land where you are, for blood profanes the land, and the land
is not pardoned for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him
who shed it.
Num 35:34 ‘And do not defile the
land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, יהוה, am dwelling in the midst of the
children of Yisra’ĕl.’ ”
How does the instruction of the cities of refuge apply to
us?
If the truth be told YHVH
could have killed all of us, because we all have sinned and deserve the death
penalty.
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has disregarded the Torah of
Mosheh dies without compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses.
Cities of refuge remind us of
our own spiritual state and the actual danger we all face because of our
spiritual condition. Cities of refuge also remind us of how we have been given
sanctuary in Messiah from the death penalty. It is important that we remind
ourselves that while heaven and earth are still here not one law of the Torah
has been done away with – Matt 5:17-19.
Hos 13:9 “You have destroyed(Heb shichetcha- ruined) yourself, O Yisra’ĕl, but your help is in Me
The Hebrew word for help comes from root word “azar” which means to surround and protect.
The cities of refuge reveal a pattern of how the Torah proclaims the Good News. 2Co 11:3 But I am afraid, lest, as the serpent deceived Ḥawwah by his trickery, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Messiah. 2Co 11:4 For, indeed, if he who is coming proclaims another יהושע,1 whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different Good News which you have not accepted, you put up with it well enough! Footnote: 1Mt. 24:5 & 23-24, John 5:43.
1.These cities of refuge were appointed by YHVH Himself.
The “church” is NOT that refuge nor does the church determine the terms and conditions of how “refuge” is applied to our lives.
Heb 5:5 So also the Messiah did not extol Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him, “You are My Son, today I have brought You forth.”1 Footnote: 1See 1:5, Ps. 2:7.
Heb 5:6 As He also says in another place, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Malkitseḏeq,”1 Footnote: 1Ps. 110:4.
2. These cities were given to provide shelter from the avenger- Sought by one who was determined to execute judgment upon him, the manslayer turned unto this haven of peace. To attempt to brazen things out was futile: equally so is it for the sinner to imagine he can successfully defy Him whose justice is even now pursuing him. Thus there was no other alternative but death. In like manner "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). To delay was madness: "he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live" (Deut. 19:5) was the life saving requirement. It was dangerous for Lot to linger in Sodom, lest fire and brimstone destroy him (Gen. 19:17). So YHVH bids us, "Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts" (Heb. 3:7, 8).
3. Those cities were placed where they could be easily seen – In spite of all the evangelical activity of the church, most people who commit their lives never ever get to know the real Yahshua.
Very few people truly capture the attention of a lost world, sick and tired of religion and empty promises of instant wealth and healing. But what about a Chassidic man wearing tzitzit and a head covering and an unshaven face standing on a street corner or in a busy shopping mall – warning people how all religion had deceived them and then declaring the Good News of the Jewish rabbi Messiah and how this rabbi came to teach us the deeper meaning and application of all of the Torah. I believe this would capture the attention of many spiritually seeking people.
4. The road to the city was plainly marked out. Deu 19:3 “Prepare a way for yourself, and divide into three parts the border of your land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you to inherit, that anyone who killed someone shall flee there.
Jewish writers say it was a law in Israel that one day in every year there were persons sent to repair the roads leading to them, to remove all stumbling-stones which might by time have fallen in the way, and to see also that the signposts which were set up at every corner leading to the city were carefully preserved, and the name Miklat (that is, refuge) legible upon them. The Good News of YHVH has fully and plainly made known the way of salvation, so that "wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein" (Isa. 35:8). See also Romans 10:6-8.
NKJV Isa 35:8 And a highway(Torah) shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The Way of Set Apartness. The unclean shall not pass over it. But He shall be with them; the wayfaring men the ones walking on the road), though fools(Heb – eivilim), shall not err in it. (The Scriptures translation is a poor translation of this verse)
Heb “eivilim” 'ĕvı̂yl BDB Definition: - be foolish, foolish- of one who despises wisdom -of one who mocks when guilty - of one who is quarrelsome - of one who is licentious -Part of Speech: adjective masculine
5. They were easy of access. Those cities were so situated that when a person had need of such, one was near at hand. Express instructions were given that they were to be "in the midst of the land" (Deut. 19:2, 3), and not in remote corners which had been difficult to approach. Everything was done to facilitate the homicide’s escape. The application is obvious: "YHVH is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart" (Ps. 34:18). Unto such He says, "My righteousness is near" (Isa. 51:5). The way to Yahshua is short: it is but a simple renunciation of self and a laying hold of Him to be our all in all.
6. The city of refuge provided protection only for the homicide from the revenger of blood. The deliberate murderer was excluded, to teach us that there is no salvation in Messiah for presumptuous sinners who still go on deliberately in their trespasses. Those who persist in wilful sin, and continue to defy YHVH and trample upon His law/Torah, bar themselves from His mercy. There is no shelter in Messiah for those who are in love with sin, but unto those that flee to Him from their sins there is "plenteous redemption."
Gal 3:13 Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us – for it has been written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree.”1 – Footnote: 1Dt. 21:23.
All those who fail to accept and embrace YHVH’s way of salvation will be cursed.
Paul recognizes that the sacrificial system revealed in the Torah was YHVH’s method of not making the curse of disobedience go away, but rather that the curse and death sentence we deserve should be place on another - So the sinner who stands to be cursed is freed by the sacrificial death of Messiah. Yahshua took upon himself our death penalty so that we could be saved from the penalty of breaking YHVH’s commandments.
It is foolish and even blasphemous to believe that we can continue to break His commandments. His death does not give licence but freedom to obey all of the Torah of YHVH.
Joh 8:31 So יהושע said to those Yehuḏim who believed Him, “If you stay in My Word, you are truly My taught ones,
Joh 8:32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Col 1:21 And you, who once were estranged and enemies in the mind by wicked works, but now He has completely restored to favour Col 1:22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you set-apart, and blameless, and unreprovable before Him, Col 1:23 if indeed you continue in the belief, founded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the expectation of the Good News which you heard, which was proclaimed to every creature under the heaven, of which I, Sha’ul, became a servant,…..
In context the above scriptures were understood to continue in all the teaching of the Torah as taught by Yahshua and his talmadim.
7. They were available for Gentiles as well as Jews (Num. 35:15).Rom 10:12 Because there is no distinction between Yehuḏite and Greek, for the same Master of all is rich to all those calling upon Him.
8. It was the death of the high priest which secured full and final deliverance (Josh. 20:6). All the days that Israel’s high priest lived and the manslayer abode within the city, no condemnation could come upon him; and since our Yahshua our high priest is "alive for evermore," we are eternally secure. Still, it was upon the death of Aaron or his successor that the homicide was made free, as we owe our emancipation to the death of Messiah—thus the double figure of the city (covering of sin) and the high priest’s death (removal of sin) was necessary to set forth both aspects, as were the two goats of Leviticus 16:7, 8
9. The names of these cities (Josh. 20:7, 8) spoke of what the believer has in Messiah.
Kadesh signifies "set apart," and Yahshua is the Set Apart One of YHVH.
1Co 1:30 And of Him you are in Messiah יהושע, who became for us wisdom from Elohim, righteousness also, and set-apartness and redemption,
Shechem means "shoulder"
Isa 9:6 For a Child shall be born unto us, a Son shall be given unto us, and the rule is on His shoulder. And His Name is called Wonder, Counsellor, Strong Ěl, Father of Continuity, Prince of Peace. (Heb – one who counsels the mighty and is the everlasting of the Father)
Hebron means "fellowship," Heb. “chaver” means friend. In Hebrew Hebron is called “Chevron”
Joh 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all teachings which I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Bezer means "a fortified place" - Eph 2:6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Messiah יהושע,
Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad. The word Ramoth is derived from raam signifying to be high, raised up, exalted.
Joh 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men unto Myself.”
Golan is said to be derived from “Galah”, to remove.
2Co 3:14 But their minds were hardened, for to this day, when the old covenant is being read, that same veil remains, not lifted, because in Messiah it is taken away. 2Co 3:15 But to this day, when Mosheh is being read, a veil lies on their heart. 2Co 3:16 And when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away.
The Hebrew word for help comes from root word “azar” which means to surround and protect.
The cities of refuge reveal a pattern of how the Torah proclaims the Good News. 2Co 11:3 But I am afraid, lest, as the serpent deceived Ḥawwah by his trickery, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Messiah. 2Co 11:4 For, indeed, if he who is coming proclaims another יהושע,1 whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different Good News which you have not accepted, you put up with it well enough! Footnote: 1Mt. 24:5 & 23-24, John 5:43.
1.These cities of refuge were appointed by YHVH Himself.
The “church” is NOT that refuge nor does the church determine the terms and conditions of how “refuge” is applied to our lives.
Heb 5:5 So also the Messiah did not extol Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him, “You are My Son, today I have brought You forth.”1 Footnote: 1See 1:5, Ps. 2:7.
Heb 5:6 As He also says in another place, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Malkitseḏeq,”1 Footnote: 1Ps. 110:4.
2. These cities were given to provide shelter from the avenger- Sought by one who was determined to execute judgment upon him, the manslayer turned unto this haven of peace. To attempt to brazen things out was futile: equally so is it for the sinner to imagine he can successfully defy Him whose justice is even now pursuing him. Thus there was no other alternative but death. In like manner "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). To delay was madness: "he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live" (Deut. 19:5) was the life saving requirement. It was dangerous for Lot to linger in Sodom, lest fire and brimstone destroy him (Gen. 19:17). So YHVH bids us, "Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts" (Heb. 3:7, 8).
3. Those cities were placed where they could be easily seen – In spite of all the evangelical activity of the church, most people who commit their lives never ever get to know the real Yahshua.
Very few people truly capture the attention of a lost world, sick and tired of religion and empty promises of instant wealth and healing. But what about a Chassidic man wearing tzitzit and a head covering and an unshaven face standing on a street corner or in a busy shopping mall – warning people how all religion had deceived them and then declaring the Good News of the Jewish rabbi Messiah and how this rabbi came to teach us the deeper meaning and application of all of the Torah. I believe this would capture the attention of many spiritually seeking people.
4. The road to the city was plainly marked out. Deu 19:3 “Prepare a way for yourself, and divide into three parts the border of your land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you to inherit, that anyone who killed someone shall flee there.
Jewish writers say it was a law in Israel that one day in every year there were persons sent to repair the roads leading to them, to remove all stumbling-stones which might by time have fallen in the way, and to see also that the signposts which were set up at every corner leading to the city were carefully preserved, and the name Miklat (that is, refuge) legible upon them. The Good News of YHVH has fully and plainly made known the way of salvation, so that "wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein" (Isa. 35:8). See also Romans 10:6-8.
NKJV Isa 35:8 And a highway(Torah) shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The Way of Set Apartness. The unclean shall not pass over it. But He shall be with them; the wayfaring men the ones walking on the road), though fools(Heb – eivilim), shall not err in it. (The Scriptures translation is a poor translation of this verse)
Heb “eivilim” 'ĕvı̂yl BDB Definition: - be foolish, foolish- of one who despises wisdom -of one who mocks when guilty - of one who is quarrelsome - of one who is licentious -Part of Speech: adjective masculine
5. They were easy of access. Those cities were so situated that when a person had need of such, one was near at hand. Express instructions were given that they were to be "in the midst of the land" (Deut. 19:2, 3), and not in remote corners which had been difficult to approach. Everything was done to facilitate the homicide’s escape. The application is obvious: "YHVH is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart" (Ps. 34:18). Unto such He says, "My righteousness is near" (Isa. 51:5). The way to Yahshua is short: it is but a simple renunciation of self and a laying hold of Him to be our all in all.
6. The city of refuge provided protection only for the homicide from the revenger of blood. The deliberate murderer was excluded, to teach us that there is no salvation in Messiah for presumptuous sinners who still go on deliberately in their trespasses. Those who persist in wilful sin, and continue to defy YHVH and trample upon His law/Torah, bar themselves from His mercy. There is no shelter in Messiah for those who are in love with sin, but unto those that flee to Him from their sins there is "plenteous redemption."
Gal 3:13 Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us – for it has been written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree.”1 – Footnote: 1Dt. 21:23.
All those who fail to accept and embrace YHVH’s way of salvation will be cursed.
Paul recognizes that the sacrificial system revealed in the Torah was YHVH’s method of not making the curse of disobedience go away, but rather that the curse and death sentence we deserve should be place on another - So the sinner who stands to be cursed is freed by the sacrificial death of Messiah. Yahshua took upon himself our death penalty so that we could be saved from the penalty of breaking YHVH’s commandments.
It is foolish and even blasphemous to believe that we can continue to break His commandments. His death does not give licence but freedom to obey all of the Torah of YHVH.
Joh 8:31 So יהושע said to those Yehuḏim who believed Him, “If you stay in My Word, you are truly My taught ones,
Joh 8:32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Col 1:21 And you, who once were estranged and enemies in the mind by wicked works, but now He has completely restored to favour Col 1:22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you set-apart, and blameless, and unreprovable before Him, Col 1:23 if indeed you continue in the belief, founded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the expectation of the Good News which you heard, which was proclaimed to every creature under the heaven, of which I, Sha’ul, became a servant,…..
In context the above scriptures were understood to continue in all the teaching of the Torah as taught by Yahshua and his talmadim.
7. They were available for Gentiles as well as Jews (Num. 35:15).Rom 10:12 Because there is no distinction between Yehuḏite and Greek, for the same Master of all is rich to all those calling upon Him.
8. It was the death of the high priest which secured full and final deliverance (Josh. 20:6). All the days that Israel’s high priest lived and the manslayer abode within the city, no condemnation could come upon him; and since our Yahshua our high priest is "alive for evermore," we are eternally secure. Still, it was upon the death of Aaron or his successor that the homicide was made free, as we owe our emancipation to the death of Messiah—thus the double figure of the city (covering of sin) and the high priest’s death (removal of sin) was necessary to set forth both aspects, as were the two goats of Leviticus 16:7, 8
9. The names of these cities (Josh. 20:7, 8) spoke of what the believer has in Messiah.
Kadesh signifies "set apart," and Yahshua is the Set Apart One of YHVH.
1Co 1:30 And of Him you are in Messiah יהושע, who became for us wisdom from Elohim, righteousness also, and set-apartness and redemption,
Shechem means "shoulder"
Isa 9:6 For a Child shall be born unto us, a Son shall be given unto us, and the rule is on His shoulder. And His Name is called Wonder, Counsellor, Strong Ěl, Father of Continuity, Prince of Peace. (Heb – one who counsels the mighty and is the everlasting of the Father)
Hebron means "fellowship," Heb. “chaver” means friend. In Hebrew Hebron is called “Chevron”
Joh 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all teachings which I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Bezer means "a fortified place" - Eph 2:6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Messiah יהושע,
Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad. The word Ramoth is derived from raam signifying to be high, raised up, exalted.
Joh 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men unto Myself.”
Golan is said to be derived from “Galah”, to remove.
2Co 3:14 But their minds were hardened, for to this day, when the old covenant is being read, that same veil remains, not lifted, because in Messiah it is taken away. 2Co 3:15 But to this day, when Mosheh is being read, a veil lies on their heart. 2Co 3:16 And when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away.
These names were edited from “Gleanings
in Joshua by A.W. Pink”
Num 36:1 And
the heads of the fathers of the clans of the children of Gilʽaḏ, son of Maḵir, son of Menashsheh, of the clans of the
sons of Yosĕph, came near and spoke before Mosheh and before the leaders, the
heads of the fathers of the children of Yisra’ĕl,
Num
36:2 and said, “יהוה commanded my master to give the
land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and my master was
commanded by יהוה to give the inheritance of our brother Tselophḥaḏ to his daughters.
Num 36:3 “Now if they are married to
any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Yisra’ĕl, then their
inheritance shall be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be
added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and taken from the
lot of our inheritance.
Num 36:4 “And if the Jubilee of the
children of Yisra’ĕl takes place, then their inheritance shall be added to the
inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance taken
away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
Num 36:5 And Mosheh commanded the
children of Yisra’ĕl according to the word of יהוה, saying, “What the tribe of the
sons of Yosĕph speaks is right.
Num 36:6 “This is the word which יהוה has commanded, for the daughters
of Tselophḥaḏ, saying, ‘Let them marry who
is good in their eyes, but let them marry only within the clan of their
father’s tribe.’
Num 36:7 “And the inheritance of the
children of Yisra’ĕl is not to change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one
of the children of Yisra’ĕl is to cling to the inheritance of the tribe of his
fathers.
Num 36:8 “And every daughter
possessing an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Yisra’ĕl is to be the
wife of one of the clan of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Yisra’ĕl
possess each the inheritance of his fathers.
Num 36:9 “Thus the inheritance is
not to change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children
of Yisra’ĕl is to cling to its own inheritance.”
Num 36:10 As יהוה commanded Mosheh, so did the
daughters of Tselophḥaḏ.
Num 36:11 For Maḥlah, Tirtsah, and Ḥoḡlah, and Milkah, and Noʽah, the daughters of Tselophḥaḏ, were married to the sons of
their father’s brothers.
Num 36:12 And they were married into
the clans of the children of Menashsheh, the son of Yosĕph, and their
inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.
Num 36:13 These are the commands and
the right-rulings which יהוה commanded the children of Yisra’ĕl by the hand of Mosheh in the
desert plains of Mo’aḇ by the Yardĕn of Yeriḥo.
The daughters of Zelophehad could be compared to a type of end time bride
of Messiah:
“Machla” means afflicted, “Noah” means "wandering", Milcah means
"queen", Tirzah means "pleasing", Hoglah can
possibly mean celebrating or dancing, because the first part of her name is
“Chag.”
Etymology of the name “Hoglah”
“The name Hoglah is ascribed to an unused root חגל, which
occurs in Arabic with the meaning of to hobble or hop. The Arabic derived noun
means partridge, so scholars conclude that the Hebrew name Hoglah does the same.
There's nothing in the vocabulary of the Scriptures that comes close to the
name “Hoglah.”
Could the meaning of these combined names be a
hidden reference to the five wise virgins in the parable of the ten virgins –
Matt 25?
“ The afflicted bride, weary from
her wonderings will be crowned queen because she is pleasing to her king
Messiah. She will dance and celebrate with her Messiah king at the marriage
feast of the Lamb.”
Please note these notes are under
construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final authority
on any subject