Now suppose they
marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken
from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into.
And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. Numbers 36:3
No inheritance in
Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the
tribal inheritance of their ancestors. Every daughter
who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s
tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their
ancestors. No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each
Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.” Numbers 36:7-9
If
a woman from one tribe (say Judah) fell in love with a man from another tribe
(say Reuben), they could be married but she would become a part of her
husband’s tribe. However, if she had an
inheritance because she was the only surviving sibling, a woman’s inheritance
could not travel between tribes.
The
tribes lived in specific regions with land borders. Things would get confusing if a family from
Gad owned a portion of land inside the borders of Issachar. This was done to keep the tribal lines clear.