Numbers 27:4
in Numbers 27Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan because he had no sons? Give us property among our father’s brothers.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give unto us a possession among the brethren of our father.
KJV
Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.
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This verse in Numbers 27
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A distribution of the promised land was about to be made; and it is interesting to know the legal provision made in these comparatively rare cases for preserving a patrimony from being alienated to another tribe.
This site's exposition
Our father died in the wilderness
on Numbers 27:3-4
The case is argued in two moves and both of them are legal. They separate their father from the company of Korah in Numbers 16 so that no charge of rebellion attaches to his house, and they say he died in his own sin, which places him under the general sentence of Numbers 14:29 rather than under a particular judgment. Barnes reads the claim as resting on Numbers 14:31, where the children of that generation were promised the land their parents refused. What they ask for is their father's name kept in his family, and the possession is the means of keeping it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Be done away - As it will be, if it be not preserved by an inheritance given to us in his name and for his sake. Hence some gather, that the first son of each of these heiresses was called by their father's name, by virtue of that law, Deut. xxv, 6, whereby the brother's first son was to bear the name of his elder brother, whose widow he married.
Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son....
Herein they discovered, (1.) A strong faith in the power and promise of God concerning the giving of the land of Canaan to Israel. Though it was yet unconquered, untouched, and in the full possession of the natives, yet they petition for their share in it as if it were all their own already. 6, 7 , God has spoken in his holiness, and the Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mane.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Give unto us - As representing our father; that so he, through us his representatives, may enjoy a like inheritance with his brethren.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָ֣מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יִגָּרַ֤ע | yigara' | will it be withdrawn | H1639 → | 22 times |
| שֵׁם־ | shem- | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| אָבִ֙ינוּ֙ | ʾavinu | father our | H1 → | 1212 times |
| מִתּ֣וֹךְ | mitokh | from among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| מִשְׁפַּחְתּ֔וֹ | mishpachto | clan his | H4940 → | 303 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | [belonged] to <the> him | ||
| בֵּ֑ן | ben | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| תְּנָה־ | tenah- | give ! | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָּ֣נוּ | lanu | to <the> us | ||
| אֲחֻזָּ֔ה | ʾachuzah | a possession | H272 → | 66 times |
| בְּת֖וֹךְ | betokh | in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| אֲחֵ֥י | ʾachei | [the] brothers of | H251 → | 630 times |
| אָבִֽינוּ׃ | ʾavinu | father our | H1 → | 1212 times |
לָ֣מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
יִגָּרַ֤עwill it be withdrawn
yigara'H1639 →22 times
שֵׁם־[the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
אָבִ֙ינוּ֙father our
ʾavinuH1 →1212 times
מִתּ֣וֹךְfrom among
mitokhH8432 →418 times
מִשְׁפַּחְתּ֔וֹclan his
mishpachtoH4940 →303 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֵ֥יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
ל֖וֹ[belonged] to <the> him
lo
בֵּ֑ןa son
benH1121 →4930 times
תְּנָה־give !
tenah-H5414 →2011 times
לָּ֣נוּto <the> us
lanu
אֲחֻזָּ֔הa possession
ʾachuzahH272 →66 times
בְּת֖וֹךְin among
betokhH8432 →418 times
אֲחֵ֥י[the] brothers of
ʾacheiH251 →630 times
אָבִֽינוּ׃father our
ʾavinuH1 →1212 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 13:9The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
it leads to
- Proverbs 24:20
For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.
- Proverbs 4:18
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- Proverbs 20:20
Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
- Psalms 97:11
Light shines on the righteous, gladness on the upright in heart.
- Psalms 112:4
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright— for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
- Proverbs 24:20
Through
Psalms 109:13May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Proverbs 10:7
Through
Exodus 32:11But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:18–20
Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you…
- Deuteronomy 9:18–20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.