Midrash sur Ruth 4:5

(Numb. 27:1:) “Then came forward the daughters of Zelophehad.” In that generation the women were fencing¹¹On raising a fence about the Law, see Avot 1:1. that which the men were breaching.¹²Numb. R. 21:10. Accordingly you find that Aaron said to them (i.e., the men in Exod. 32:2), “Take off the gold rings [that are in the ears of your wives…]”; but the women were unwilling and protested against their husbands. Thus it is stated (in vs. 3), “So all the people took off the gold rings that were in their¹³Since “their” is masculine here, there is an implication that the men only took their own earrings. ears.” Thus the women did not take part in making the [golden] calf. So also in the case of the spies who had spread slander (according to Numb. 14:36), “when they returned, they made [the whole congregation] murmur against him.” A decree was issued against them, because they had said (in Numb. 13:31), “We are unable to go up [against this people for they are stronger than us].” The women, however, were not with them in their counsel. What is written above the matter (in Numb. 26:65)? “Because the Lord had said to them, ‘They shall surely die in the wilderness,’ not a man of them remained.” [Note that Scripture speaks of] “a man,” and not of "a woman.” Because they (i.e., the men) did not want to enter the land, but the women came forward to ask for an inheritance [in the land]; (Numb. 27:1) “Then came forward the daughters of Zelophehad.” Therefore the parashah [about the death of that generation] was written next to this parashah, because what the men broke down the women fenced in. 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, an honor to Manasseh and an honor to Joseph that such righteous and wise women had issued from him.¹⁴Numb. R. 21:11. But what was their wisdom? They [only] spoke up at the proper time, when Moses was busy with the parashah about inheritance (in accordance with Numb. 26:53), “To these shall you apportion the land [for an inheritance].” [So what was their wisdom? That] they said to him, “If we are like a son, let us inherit; but if not, let our mother perform levirate marriage (marry her husband's brother).”¹⁵His 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 never been married to someone unworthy of them. Then why did they meet with Moses now? So that he would not [put on airs] over having abstained from his wife for forty years.¹⁶Since Moses regularly stood in the Divine Presence, he needed to preserve an unbroken state of purity. The Holy One, blessed be He, 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.”

“Boaz said: On the day that you purchase the field from the hand of Naomi and from Ruth the Moavite, the wife of the dead you have purchased, to establish the name of the dead upon his inheritance” (Ruth 4:5).
“Boaz said: On the day that you purchase the field from the hand of Naomi and from Ruth the Moavite, the wife of the dead you have purchased [kanita].” “I have purchased [kaniti]” is written. This supports that which Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: He was mute from matters of Torah. He said: ‘The first ones died only because they took them. Heaven forbid that I take her, I do not want to taint my children, I do not want to mix dross with my children.’ But he did not know that the halakha had already been introduced: “An Ammonite,” but not an Ammonite woman, “a Moavite,” but not a Moavite woman.

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.

11 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. But what was their wisdom? They [only] spoke up at the proper time, when Moses was busy with the parashah about inheritance (in accordance with Numb. 26:53), “To these shall you apportion the land [for an inheritance].” They said to him, “If we are like a son, let us inherit; but if not, let our mother perform levirate marriage (marry her husband's brother).”¹¹His 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 never been married to someone unworthy of them. Then why did they meet with Moses at the end [of the forty years]? So that he would not [put on airs] over having abstained from his wife for forty years.¹²Since Moses regularly stood in the Divine Presence, he needed to preserve an unbroken state of purity. The Holy One, blessed be He, 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.”