We might think that the book of Numbers should end with the cities of refuge in chapter thirty-five. However, the last matter to be covered in this book is a further statute concerning the females among Israel inheriting the good land. Because this matter had yet to be settled, God authorized Moses to add a portion to deal with it.
In 27:1-11 the five daughters of Zelophehad had requested land for their father's family. There is nothing wrong with this request.
The heads of the fathers' houses of the families of the sons of Joseph requested the same kind of land for their tribe. These heads of the fathers' houses were making a counterclaim, saying that if the daughters of Zelophehad married outside their tribe, the inheritance given to them might be given to another tribe. In such a case, their own tribe would have lost land.
Here we see a difference between the view of the sisters and the view of the brothers. Often the sisters are finer than the brothers in their concept and opinion; however, the sisters may be shortsighted. The daughters of Zelophehad were very fine in their concept, considering their father's house, but they were shortsighted, not considering the tribe as a whole. The heads of the fathers' houses had a view concerning the whole tribe and therefore requested the same kind of land for their tribe. They asked Moses to seek God for a way not only to provide an inheritance for the daughters of Zelophehad but also to keep the land in their tribe.
Jehovah had commanded Moses to give the inheritance of Zelophehad their brother to his daughters (36:2). This was God's ordination, His care for the five daughters, and it was, of course, absolutely right.
In verse 3 the heads of the fathers' houses of the families of the sons of Joseph said that if the daughters married any of the sons of the other tribes, then the daughters' inheritance would be taken from the inheritance of their tribe and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which the daughters belonged.
Verse 4 goes on to say that when the jubilee came, then the daughters' inheritance would be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belonged, and their inheritance would be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of their fathers. This word shows foresight into how the loss of the inheritance would affect the tribe as a whole.