מדרש אויף במדבר 27:5

[(Gen. 42:1:) THEN JACOB SAW THAT THERE WAS GRAIN IN EGYPT.] This text is related (to Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE < AND SEALS UP THE STARS >.¹⁹Gen. R. 91:1. {It simply tells about Jacob and his children, since they were likened to them. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 37:9): HERE WERE THE SUN, THE MOON, AND ELEVEN STARS BOWING DOWN TO ME.} Look at all Job's wisdom! Now who does not know that, if the Holy One tells the sun or the stars not to shine, they do not shine, as stated (in Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE … ? It simply tells about Jacob and his children, [since they were likened to them. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 37:9): HERE WERE THE SUN, THE MOON, AND ELEVEN STARS BOWING DOWN TO ME]. (Job 9:7:) THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE. For the twenty-two years that Joseph stayed away from his brothers in Egypt, the Holy Spirit was hidden from Jacob and his children. He was no farther from them than a journey of four or five days; but they did not know that he was in Egypt. Now Jacob and his children had previously been great prophets. Do you want to understand? When Joseph had told them his dream, what did he say (in Gen. 37:10)? ARE WE TO COME, I AND YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR BROTHERS, AND BOW DOWN < TO THE GROUND FOR YOU > ? Then, when he had been sold, they did not know where he was. Ergo (in Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE. Why so? So that the prophets would not be boastful. The Holy One therefore made his power known to them to show them that they were nothing. And so you find with the greatest of the prophets (i.e., Moses). Because he had said (in Deut. 1:17): BUT THE CASE WHICH IS TOO HARD FOR YOU < YOU SHALL BRING UNTO ME >….²⁰Sifre to Deut. 1:17 (17); Sanh. 8a. The Holy One said to him: Are you able to interpret a difficult case? By your life, I am showing you! So, when the affair of the daughters of Zelophehad arrived, he began to have difficulties with it. When he did not know what to say, he brought their cause before the LORD, as stated (in Numb. 27:5): THEN MOSES BROUGHT THEIR CAUSE BEFORE THE LORD. The Holy One said to him: Was it not you who said (in Deut. 1:17): BUT THE CASE WHICH IS TOO HARD FOR YOU < YOU ARE TO BRING UNTO ME > … ? See, you do not know what the women know. (Numb. 27:7:) THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD SPEAK WHAT IS RIGHT. These women have judged better than you. And so also in the case of Samuel, when he was measured against Moses and Aaron. Because he had said (in I Sam. 9:19): I AM THE SEER, the Holy One said to him: You have said: I AM THE SEER! By your life, tomorrow I am showing you whether you are a seer. Thus it is stated (in I Sam. 16:1): FILL YOUR HORN WITH OIL AND GO; {COME} [I AM SENDING YOU] UNTO JESSE THE BETHLEHEMITE BECAUSE I HAVE CHOSEN A KING FOR MYSELF AMONG HIS SONS. When he had gone, what is written (in I Sam. 16:6)? AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN HE HAD COME, THAT HE SAW ELIAB AND SAID: SURELY THE LORD'S ANOINTED IS STANDING BEFORE HIM. The Holy One said to him: Are you the one who said (in I Sam. 9:19): I AM THE SEER? (I Sam. 16:7:) DO NOT LOOK UPON HIS APPEARANCE…. And so also in the case of Jacob [and his children], they were prophets and sages, and nothing was hidden from them. When Joseph was sold, they did not know about him until the Holy One [wanted] < them to know >. Ergo (in Job 9:7): THE ONE WHO TELLS THE SUN NOT TO SHINE….

(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.”

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.