There are three important generational transitions in these two chapters in the Book of Numbers . First is the counting of the second generation , and Num . 26:64-65 explains that not one of those counted was among those counting at the beginning of the wanderings in the wilderness except for Joshua and Caleb . Since God ordained the previous generation to completely die out in the wilderness , the full responsibility passed to the next generation was not retained by lingering living leadership like those in most generations .
The transition was so stark that God took them through a similar exodus experience by crossing the Jordan into the land around the time of Passover so that they had their own experience and ownership of the calling and commands of God . The entire generation even needed to be circumcised in Joshua 5 because the previous generation had not passed that on to the new generation in the wilderness .
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We get a more specific picture in the second generational transition in this passage with the daughters of Zelophehad requesting an inheritance since their father did not have a son . Rather than this being an issue of women ’ s rights that our modern sentiments might see here , the daughters ’ purpose in requesting an inheritance was to pass on their father ’ s name . Put simply , they see a responsibility that nobody else can take on and their response is “ Hineni – we will take responsibility here .”