“So the lot was drawn for the other descendants of M’nasheh according to their families — for the descendants of Avi‘ezer, Helek, Asri’el, Sh’khem, Hefer and Sh’mida; these were the male descendants of M’nasheh according to their families.”-Joshua 17:2
Let’s move forward with our text study of Joshua Chapter 17 starting from verse 2.
Rapid fire, we’re next introduced to the five other clans of Manasseh who were to receive their land inheritance.
Their names are Avi’ezer, Helek, Asri’el, Sh’khem, and Sh’mida.
However, instead of receiving land on the east side of the Jordan river like the clan of Makhir did, they received territory on the WEST side of the Jordan River.
I just said five clans but there was actually a sixth clan called out named Hefer and there’s something peculiar about this clan.
We’re told that…
…“Tz’lof’chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil‘ad, the son of Makhir, the son of M’nasheh, had no sons, only daughters; these are the names of his daughters: Machlah, No‘ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah”.-Joshua 17:3
Hefer was a clan of Manasseh who came actually came from the line of Makhir.
Let me rephrase that.
Hefer was one of the families descended from the line of Makhir that had grown in power and influence to the point where it was now considered a separate clan in it’s own right.
This was a normal thing because that’s how clans came to be within a tribe.
They started as a small family and then through birthing a lot of children who in turn married and gave birth to a lot of children, in due time, a clan emerged.
Heck, if you think about it, the whole planet earth is one big tribe in the sense that we’re all descended from Adam and Eve.
So we’re told the most recent leader of the Hefer clan was a man (the son of Hefer) named Tz’lof’chad and a pretty serious complication had arisen.
This man had given birth to five daughters but no sons.
Why was this a serious problem?
Well, here’s where we bump into the rigidity and traditions of the ancient Middle East folks.
According to the traditions of the times, a son was necessary to carry on the authority of the clan when Tz’lof’chad passed away.
In those days, it was practically unheard of for a man NOT to have a son to take up his inheritance when he died.
Do you wanna know important this was in those days?
Well, I’ll tell you man.
One of the main reasons a man took concubines into his household was to ensure he would have a male inheritor to his property when he passed away.
It was a very thorny situation indeed to find a way to leave a Hebrew man’s wealth and all his possessions to his daughters.
And if God forbid, one of those daughters had married a gentile, trust me, it just wasn’t gonna happen.
Therefore, in this text we’re quickly reminded that the daughters of Tz’lofchad had spoken to Moses about this very matter while they were still living in the desert wilderness.
The daughters of Tz’lofchad knew very well they were in quite a sticky situation.
That’s why they urgently petitioned Moses to make an official declaration that wouldn’t be overlooked when the time came for the tribes of Israel to receive their land inheritance.
Otherwise, their land inheritance would have been overlooked.
We’ll continue this discussion the next time we meet.
Actually, I found this whole account very interesting, and I wrote an article about it. Very interesting that the five women asked Moses for an exception in their case in order to avoid their father’s line being left out.
When Moses asked of the Lord about this, God told him what the daughters asked was right, and when into a fuller explanation which made a permanent change in the laws of inheritance. Only one caveat was made, and that was that each daughter was to marry someone who was related to their father’s line, to which they agreed.