Baba Basra 108b - 109b - Explaining Pesukim in Order of Inheritance

איש כי ימות ובן אין לו והעברתם את נחלתו לבתו, ואם אין לו בת ונתתנם את נחלתו לאחיו, ואם אין לו אחים ונתתנם את נחלתו לאחי אביו, ואם אין אחים לאביו ונתתם את נחלתו לשארו הקרוב אליו ממשפחתו וירש אותה

בן- בת- אחים- אחי אביו- שארו הקרוב אליו

The gemara quotes a machlokes who "שארו" is. The gemara on 108b says that it refers to the father of the deceased, and the by writing הקרוב אליו the pasuk is teaching that the closest relative comes first, which the gemara understands to mean that the father of the deceased is in between the daughter and brothers. However, the gemara on 109a quoting R' Yishmael understands that the pasuk of והעברתם implies that we remove the inheritance from where it is meant to be, which is the father, and give it to the daughter, implying that the father comes after the daughter and before the brothers.

Either reading of the pesukim is strange. Why would the Torah not write straight out that the father inherits after the daughter before the brother? Meshech Chochma suggests that the pesukim are not giving a halachic order, rather they are meant to describe a natural progression of the world. As the gemara begins on 108a, it is considered a bracha for a son to bury the father which the rashbam understands is the bracha given to yakov וישית ידו על עיניך, that he will be buried by Yosef. It is considered a curse to have the father bury a son. Therefore, the pasuk doesn't describe a person dying and being inherited by his father, because it wants to avoid speaking of a son dying in his father's lifetime. Therefore, the pasuk skips to the brothers. It also leaves out the grandfather inheriting for the same reason and skips to the father's brothers inheriting. But, the Meshech Chochma explains that a careful reading of the pasuk implies that since a brother is related through the father, the father will inherit first. Similarly, since the uncles are related through the grandfather, the grandfather will inherit first.

The pasuk writes that in the absence of uncles (father's brother) - לשארו הקרוב אליו ממשפחתו וירש אותה. He explainst that the שארו הקרוב אליו refers to the brother's of the grandfather. Meaning, if the father has no brothers, then go up a generation to allow the grandfather's brothers to inherit. Why? Because they are the קרוב אליו ממשפחתו - The term משפחתו means their father. Meaning the reason that the grandfathers brothers inherit is because they are children of the great grandfather. Based on this reading, the pasuk is saying that the reason that the grandfathers brothers inherit is because they are the closest relative through the great grandfather. Thus, the reason the fathers brother's inherit is because they are the closest relative through the grandfather, and the reason that his own brothers inherit is because they are the closest relative through the father. Clearly then, the father will inherit the deceased before the sons of the father, and the grandfather before the uncles, and the great grandfather before the great uncles.