(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Joshua 17:1–6, “There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families. But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father. And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan; Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.”
Even though Manasseh was Joseph’s older son, he was treated as the second son in terms of inheritance. Never the less, each of the tribes, except Levi, were given exactly the same amount of inheritance in the Promised Land, according to the population according to the last census. Manasseh was the only tribe with a divided inheritance, some on each side of the Jordan river. This was also a tribe that included special consideration because one man was the father of daughters and not sons. The regular inheritance rights involved sons but not daughters but the leaders of this tribe were concerned that they, as a tribe, might lose some of their Land when these daughters were married so special rules were made to keep the integrity of the tribal inheritance.
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