Commentary for Numbers 26:55

לשמות מטה אבתם ACCORDING TO THE NAMES OF THE TRIBES OF THEIR FATHERS [THEY SHALL INHERIT] — These (the fathers referred to) were they who came out of Egypt. — Scripture treated this inheritance differently to all other inheritances mentioned in the Torah, for in the case of all other inheritances the living become heirs to the dead, whilst here the dead become heirs to the living. How is this so? Two brothers who were of those who came out of Egypt who had sons at least twenty years old amongst those who came into the Land, one son to this and three to that, the one son took one portion, and the three took three portions, for it is said, (v. 53) “To these (enumerated in the census taken immediately before they entered Palestine) shall the land be divided”. Their inheritance (that of these four) returns to (is regarded as having belonged to) their fathers’ father, and they (the two brothers who have four sons between them), divide equally. This is what is stated, “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit” — that after the sons have received they divide it according to the fathers who came out of Egypt. If, however, they had straightway divided it according to the number of those who came out of Egypt these four would have taken only two portions, whilst now they take four portions (Bava Batra 117a; Sifrei Bamidbar 132:1).

HOWEVER, THE LAND SHALL BE DIVIDED BY LOT amongst the tribes of Israel, and ACCORDING TO THE NAMES OF THE TRIBES OF THEIR FATHERS who constituted twelve tribes THEY SHALL INHERIT them [i.e., the twelve equal portions of the Land]. And then He repeated: 56. ACCORDING TO THE LOT SHALL THE INHERITANCE of the tribe BE DIVIDED BETWEEN THE MORE AND THE FEWER, meaning that they should also cast lots amongst the [individual] families, so that [for instance] the portion of the Hanochites should be in the direction and place which the lot chooses for him, and the portion of the Palluites should be in the place which the lot chooses for him, but we are to allot more [of the land] to the larger [families], and give less to the smaller families. This is the meaning of that which it says in the section¹³¹Literally: “In the book of” Eileh Mas’ei. of Eileh Mas’ei: And ye shall inherit the land by lot according to your families — to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance; wheresoever the lot falleth to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall ye inherit.¹³²Further, 33:54. Thus He explained that the inheritance should be allotted to families by the lot, and in whichever direction the lot chooses for him [any individual family], there we shall give a larger [portion] to the larger of the families and a smaller [portion] to the smaller [families]. He [furthermore] said that it [the division of the Land] should be according to the tribes of your fathers, meaning to say twelve tribes.¹³³Thus it is clear that the Land was initially divided into twelve equal parts, so that each tribe was allocated an equal share of the Land, and the lot also determined the location of each tribe’s portion. Subsequently each tribe subdivided the land which it had received, amongst its individual families, and this division was made in proportion to the number of members of each particular family. This division too, was by means of a lot which determined the direction and location of each family’s inheritance.
Now that which Rashi said — “According to the names of ‘matoth’ of their fathers, this means those who came out of Egypt” — is not correct, for the term matoth always means “the tribes” of Israel, just as it is written, So shall no inheritance remove ‘mimateh’ (from one tribe) ‘l’mateih acheir’ (to another tribe); for ‘matoth’ (the tribes of) the children of Israel shall cleave each one to its own inheritance.¹³⁴Further, 36:9. Similarly [it is written], a thousand ‘l’mateh’ (of every tribe) throughout all ‘matoth’ (tribes of) Israel,¹³⁵Ibid., 31:4. and so also in the case of the spies,¹³⁶Above, 13:2: ‘l’mateih’ (of every tribe) of their fathers. and likewise in all other places — for the terms sheivet and mateh are identical. And when the Rabbis said in the Gemara:¹³⁷Baba Bathra 117a. “Rabbi Yashiyah says: The Land was divided amongst those that came out of Egypt, for it is said, according to the names of ‘matoth’ of their fathers they shall inherit” — this interpretation [is not based, as Rashi understood, on the meaning of the word matoth itself, but] is deduced because of the [seeming] redundancy of the verse, for it would have been enough for Scripture to say: However, the Land shall be divided by lot according to the names of the tribes [and to omit the concluding phrase … of their fathers they shall inherit]. But since He did mention … of their fathers they shall inherit, the Rabbis interpreted that it is ‘the fathers’ — namely those who are mentioned [as having left] Egypt, [as it says]: These are the heads of their fathers’ houses.¹³⁸Exodus 6:14. It is they who are to inherit the Land, and it is through them that the Land is to come to those who [actually] divided it.

לשמות מטות אבותם, according to the names of the tribes of their respective fathers, etc. According to the view of Rabbi Yoshiah this verse merely demolishes the apparent meaning of the word לאלה. It tells us that the word לאלה was not meant to apply to the people counted in the wilderness of Moav but rather meant כאלה, that the people to be given land were to be כאלה like the ones who were counted at the Exodus, i.e. the ones who were twenty and over. Rabbi Yonathan, however, holds that although in the first instance the people who had been counted now were to inherit the land, they in turn would confer rights of inheritance on the people who had participated in the Exodus as has been explained in the Baraitha in the Sifri. The exact wording there is as follows: Assuming one (family) would inherit 1 acre and another (family) of the same בית אב, branch of this tribe, 3 acres by applying the yardstick of the number of 20 year olds in the families at present, then the combined amount would be inherited by the previous generation (the dead) of this family. This inheritance in turn would now be allocated on an equal basis to the younger generation so that both families of the younger generation would receive 2 acres although one family was more numerous than the other at this time. [Our example assumes that there had been only two sons of the family which participated in the Exodus. Ed.] By following this approach the word ינחלו "they will inherit" at the end of verse 35 becomes very relevant as it refers to the people who had now been counted not inheriting now, but only via their fathers. This also explains why the Torah wrote תחלק הארץ, "the land will be divided," instead of writing "they will divide the land." The same consideration also prompted the Torah to write the words תרבה נחלתו in the future tense. Also the expression יותן נחלתו "his inheritance will be given," instead of יקח נחלתו "he will take his inheritance" points to the explanation of Rabbi Yonathan that the generation of the people who left Egypt were the key to the distribution of the land is correct. Our verse teaches then that up until this point the Torah speaks about what Joshua is to do at the time he will make the Israelites inherit the land. From this point on, however, the people who do the inheriting have to consider their share in terms of לשמות מטות אבותם, according to the names of the members of the family groups who had left Egypt.