Numbers 36
Legacy Standard Bible
Inheritance Through Marriage
36 (A)And the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, 2 and they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord (B)was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they [a]marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. 4 And when the (C)jubilee of the sons of Israel [b]comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the [c]word of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in their statements. 6 (D)This is [d]what Yahweh has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whoever is good in their sight; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’ 7 Thus (E)no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall [e]be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each [f]hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 (F)And every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance shall [g]be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each [h]hold to his own inheritance.”
10 Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 (G)And Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons. 12 They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance [i]remained with the tribe of the family of their father.
13 (H)These are the commandments and the judgments which Yahweh commanded to the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Footnotes
- Numbers 36:3 Lit become wives to, so in ch
- Numbers 36:4 Lit shall be
- Numbers 36:5 Lit mouth
- Numbers 36:6 Lit the thing which
- Numbers 36:7 Lit turn about
- Numbers 36:7 Lit cleave
- Numbers 36:9 Lit turn about
- Numbers 36:9 Lit cleave
- Numbers 36:12 Lit was
Numbers 36
Revised Standard Version
Marriage of Female Heirs
36 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the families of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manas′seh, of the fathers’ houses of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel; 2 they said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelo′phehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelo′phehad, ‘Let them marry whom they think best; only, they shall marry within the family of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another; for every one of the people of Israel shall cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall cleave to its own inheritance.’”
10 The daughters of Zelo′phehad did as the Lord commanded Moses; 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelo′phehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manas′seh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which the Lord commanded by Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.