Editing Inheritance (section)

===Jewish laws===
The inheritance is patrimonial. The father —that is, the owner of the land— bequeaths only to his male descendants, so the Promised Land passes from one Jewish father to his sons. According to the [[Law of Moses]], the [[Firstborn (Judaism)|firstborn son]] was entitled to receive twice as much of his father's inheritance as the other sons ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|21:15-17|HE}}).

If there were no living sons and no descendants of any previously living sons, daughters inherit. In Numbers 27, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] come to Moses and ask for their father's inheritance, as they have no brothers.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Numbers|27:1-4|HE}}</ref> The order of inheritance is set out: a man's sons inherit first, daughters if no sons, brothers if he has no children, and so on.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Numbers|27:7-11|HE}}</ref>

Later, in Numbers 36, some of the heads of the families of the tribe of Manasseh come to Moses and point out that, if a daughter inherits and then marries a man not from her paternal tribe, her land will pass from her birth-tribe's inheritance into her marriage-tribe's. So a further rule is laid down: if a daughter inherits land, she must marry someone within her father's tribe.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Numbers|36|HE}}</ref> (The daughters of Zelophehad marry the sons' of their father's brothers. There is no indication that this was not their choice.)

The laws of Jewish inheritance are discussed in the [[Talmud]],<ref>In tractate [[Baba Bathra]]</ref> in the [[Mishneh Torah]]<ref name="chabad.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1170531/jewish/Chapter-2.htm|title=Nachalot - Chapter 2|website=www.chabad.org|access-date=28 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609033429/http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1170531/jewish/Chapter-2.htm|archive-date=9 June 2013}}</ref> and by [[Saadiah ben Joseph]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/seferhayerushot00mlgoog|title=Sefer ha-yerushot: ʻim yeter ha-mikhtavim be-divre ha-halakhah be-ʻAravit uve-ʻIvrit uve-Aramit|first=Joel Müller|last=Saʻadia ben Joseph |date=28 September 1897|publisher=Ernest Leroux|access-date=28 September 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> among other sources. All these sources agree that the firstborn son is entitled to a double portion of his father's estate.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|21:17|HE}}</ref> This means that, for example, if a father left five sons, the firstborn receives a third of the estate and each of the other four receives a sixth. If he left nine sons, the firstborn receives a fifth and each of the other eight receive a tenth.<ref name="chabad.org" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bjec.org/about/moot_court_sources.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-04-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094445/http://www.bjec.org/about/moot_court_sources.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> If the eldest surviving son is not the firstborn son, he is not entitled to the double portion.

[[Philo of Alexandria]]<ref>Spec. Leg. 2.130</ref> and [[Josephus]]<ref>Ant. 4.249</ref> also comment on the [[Jewish]] laws of inheritance, praising them above other law codes of their time. They also agreed that the firstborn son must receive a double portion of his father's estate.