Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Numbers 36: Kissing Cousins

Well, the Bible may occasionally surprise us.  Such is the case with Numbers 36 where the answer to a nettlesome real estate problem is found by commanding women to marry their cousins!

At issue was the land that was held by the daughters of Zelophehad (see Numbers 27 for a refresher).  As women, their property would naturally transfer to their husbands when they married.  However, if they were to marry outside of the tribe of Manasseh, their ancestral lands would go to the new tribes - thus depriving the tribe of Manasseh that real estate!

The solution was to forbid marriage to these women from outside their own tribe.  Instead, they would have to find husbands from among their own relations, and verse 11 does indicate that, indeed, the women married their cousins.

This does not appear to be the problem in the ancient world that it is in the modern world.  As noted previously, there are several instances of people marrying within their extended family.  Still, I wouldn't recommend it today!

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