Numbers - Chapter 27

Jesus is a descendent of King David, and this is shown through two genealogies in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. They are different because one is the genealogy through Joseph.  Joseph was Jesus’ legal father, but not a blood relative.  The other genealogy gives us the line through Mary, Jesus’ mother. However, if Jesus is to establish his rights as a descendent of David through Mary, this gives a problem, as the inheritance rights are not passed down through the daughter.  This would disqualify Jesus as a natural heir to David’s throne. Which is where Numbers 27 comes in.

We are told in Numbers 27 that after the death of Zelophehad, his daughters said to Moses that as their father had died with no sons, all of their rights of inheritance were to be lost and they felt this was unfair. So Moses prayed to God and God gave Moses an exception to the rule. The Lord told Moses that the inheritance can flow through a female.  There must be no male offspring in the family and if the female offspring should marry, they must marry within their own tribe. Mary did, indeed, marry within her own tribe – Joseph was from the tribe of Judah.  And it appears that Mary had no brothers.

So the strange law in Numbers 27, provided for Zelophehad’s daughters, was put in place to prepare for the virgin birth 1400 years later.