The Lord hath commanded thee, my lord, that thou shouldst divide the land by lot to the children of Israel, and that thou shouldst give to the daughters of Salphaad our brother the possession due to their father:

And said, The Lord gave orders to my lord to make distribution of the land as their heritage to the children of Israel: and my lord was ordered by the Lord to give the heritage of Zelophehad, our brother, to his daughters.

"The Lord has instructed you, our ruler, so that you would divide the land by lot to the sons of Israel, and so that you would give to the daughters of Zelophehad, our brother, the possession owed to their father.

Ac dixerunt, Domino meo praecepit Jehova ut daret terram in possessionem sorte filiis Israel, etiam domino meo praeceptum est a Jehova ut daret possessionem Salphaad fratris nostri filiabus ejus.

And they said, The Lord commanded my lord. They here allege a kind of discrepancy, in that the tribes had had the land allotted to them agreeably to God's command, but now their lots would be thrown into confusion, when the inheritance should pass over to another tribe. They assume it, however, to be an acknowledged impossibility, that God should be inconsistent with Himself: hence it was necessary that an interpretation should be delivered in order to remove the legal contradiction (antinomian) The Law of God, say they, which ought to remain inviolable, enjoins that the land should be distxibuted by lot; how, then, will it accord that women should carry elsewhere the inheritance of their own tribe? Thus, in seeking a remedy for this evil, they submit themselves to God's governance, and reverently accept what He had prescribed. And further, they enlarge upon the absurdity which would arisen from hence; viz., that in the fiftieth year, when they were to return to their original lots, so much would be withdrawn from the portion of the tribe of Manasseh as the daughters of Zelophehad had taken away with them. Reasonably, therefore, do they demand that a decree should be given to reconcile the two former laws, which otherwise appeared to be at variance with each other.

To give the inheritance of Zelophehad - unto his daughters - See this case spoken of at large on Numbers 27 (note).
Either the first eleven verses of Numbers 27 should come in before this chapter, or this chapter should come in immediately after those eleven verses; they certainly both make parts of the same subject.
Here Moses determines that heiresses should marry in their own tribe, that no part of the ancient inheritance might be alienated from the original family.

And they said, The LORD commanded (b) my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.
(b) Meaning Moses.

And they said,.... One in the name of the rest:
the Lord commanded my lord; that is, Moses, whom they address in a very respectable manner, being the chief governor of the nation under God:
to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel; which command may be seen, in Numbers 26:53,
and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother; or kinsman, being of the same tribe:
unto his daughters; who sued for it, and upon Moses's consulting the Lord about it, it was ordered they should have it, Numbers 27:1 and which these princes observed was likely to be attended with the following inconvenience.

Our brother - Our kinsman.