ד"א ותקרבנה וגו'. גדולה להן גדולה לאביהן, גדולה למכיר גדולה ליוסף, שכן יצאו ממנו נשים צדקניות וחכמות, ומה הן חכמתן, על פי השעה דיברו, שהיה משה עסוק בפרשת נחלות, לאלה תחלק הארץ (שם כו נג), אמרו לו אם כבן אנו נירש, ואם לאו תתיבם אמנו, מיד ויקרב משה את משפטן לפני ה' (שם כז ה), צדקניות היו שלא נישאו, ולמה זימנו למשה, שלא יראה את עצמו שפירש מן האשה ארבעים שנה, הודיעו הקב"ה באלו לומר הרי נשים שלא נצטוו ישבו ארבעים שנה עד שנישאו להגון להם.
Another interpretation (of Numb. 27:1): THEN CAME FORWARD <THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD BEN HEPHER BEN GILEAD BEN MACHIR BEN MANASSEH, OF THE FAMILIES OF MANASSEH BEN JOSEPH. Their action was> an honor to them. <It was also> an honor to their father, an honor to Machir, and an honor to Joseph that such righteous and wise women had issued from him.30Numb. R. 21:11. But what was their wisdom? They spoke up at the proper time, when Moses was busy with the parashah on inheritance (in accordance with Numb. 26:53): TO THESE SHALL THE LAND BE APPORTIONED <FOR AN INHERITANCE>. They said to him: If we are like a son, let us inherit; but if not, let our mother marry her husband's brother.31His duty would be to rear children in the name of the deceased father. On levirate marriage generally, see Deut. 25:5-6: also Gen. 38:8-9; Ruth 4:5. Immediately (in Numb. 27:5): MOSES BROUGHT THEIR CAUSE BEFORE THE LORD. They were righteous, in that they had not been married.32Cf. the parallels in Tanh., Numb. 8:7 and Numb. R. 21:11: “In that they had never been married to someone unworthy of them.” Then why did they meet with Moses? So that he would not put on airs over having abstained from his wife for forty years.33Since Moses regularly stood in the Divine Presence, he needed to preserve an unbroken state of purity. The Holy One informed him through these women, saying: Here are women who without being commanded remained <unmarried> for forty years until they were married to someone worthy of them.
ד"א ותקרבנה וגו'. גדולה להן גדולה לאביהן, גדולה למכיר גדולה ליוסף, שכן יצאו ממנו נשים צדקניות וחכמות, ומה הן חכמתן, על פי השעה דיברו, שהיה משה עסוק בפרשת נחלות, לאלה תחלק הארץ (שם כו נג), אמרו לו אם כבן אנו נירש, ואם לאו תתיבם אמנו, מיד ויקרב משה את משפטן לפני ה' (שם כז ה), צדקניות היו שלא נישאו, ולמה זימנו למשה, שלא יראה את עצמו שפירש מן האשה ארבעים שנה, הודיעו הקב"ה באלו לומר הרי נשים שלא נצטוו ישבו ארבעים שנה עד שנישאו להגון להם.
Another interpretation (of Numb. 27:1): THEN CAME FORWARD <THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD BEN HEPHER BEN GILEAD BEN MACHIR BEN MANASSEH, OF THE FAMILIES OF MANASSEH BEN JOSEPH. Their action was> an honor to them. <It was also> an honor to their father, an honor to Machir, and an honor to Joseph that such righteous and wise women had issued from him.30Numb. R. 21:11. But what was their wisdom? They spoke up at the proper time, when Moses was busy with the parashah on inheritance (in accordance with Numb. 26:53): TO THESE SHALL THE LAND BE APPORTIONED <FOR AN INHERITANCE>. They said to him: If we are like a son, let us inherit; but if not, let our mother marry her husband's brother.31His duty would be to rear children in the name of the deceased father. On levirate marriage generally, see Deut. 25:5-6: also Gen. 38:8-9; Ruth 4:5. Immediately (in Numb. 27:5): MOSES BROUGHT THEIR CAUSE BEFORE THE LORD. They were righteous, in that they had not been married.32Cf. the parallels in Tanh., Numb. 8:7 and Numb. R. 21:11: “In that they had never been married to someone unworthy of them.” Then why did they meet with Moses? So that he would not put on airs over having abstained from his wife for forty years.33Since Moses regularly stood in the Divine Presence, he needed to preserve an unbroken state of purity. The Holy One informed him through these women, saying: Here are women who without being commanded remained <unmarried> for forty years until they were married to someone worthy of them.