Numbers 36
New American Standard Bible
Inheritance by Marriage
36 (A)Now 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 forward and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, 2 and they said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord (B)was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad 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daughters. 3 But if they [a]marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. 4 And when the (C)jubilee of the sons of Israel takes place, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”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 in accordance with the [b]word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right in its statements. 6 (D)This is [c]what the Lord has commanded regarding the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry [d]whomever they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’ 7 So (E)no inheritance of the sons of Israel will [e]be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each [f]retain possession of 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 marry one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance will [g]be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each [h]retain possession of its own inheritance.”
10 Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 (G)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 ordinances which the Lord commanded to the sons of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Footnotes
- Numbers 36:3 Lit become wives to, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 36:5 Lit mouth
- Numbers 36:6 Lit the word which
- Numbers 36:6 Lit the good one in their eyes
- Numbers 36:7 Lit turn about
- Numbers 36:7 Lit cling to
- Numbers 36:9 Lit turn about
- Numbers 36:9 Lit cling to
- Numbers 36:12 Lit was to the
Numbers 36
Christian Standard Bible
The Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters
36 The family heads from the clan of the descendants of Gilead—the son of Machir, son of Manasseh(A)—who were from the clans of the sons of Joseph, approached and addressed Moses and the leaders who were heads of the Israelite families. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites. My lord was further commanded by the Lord to give our brother Zelophehad’s inheritance to his daughters.(B) 3 If they marry any of the men from the other Israelite tribes, their inheritance will be taken away from our fathers’ inheritance and added to that of the tribe into which they marry. Therefore, part of our allotted inheritance would be taken away. 4 When the Jubilee(C) comes for the Israelites, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
5 So Moses commanded the Israelites at the word of the Lord, “What the tribe of Joseph’s descendants says is right. 6 This is what the Lord has commanded concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they like provided they marry within a clan of their ancestral tribe. 7 No inheritance belonging to the Israelites is to transfer from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of his ancestral tribe.(D) 8 Any daughter who possesses an inheritance from an Israelite tribe must marry someone from the clan of her ancestral tribe, so that each of the Israelites will possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 No inheritance is to transfer from one tribe to another, because each of the Israelite tribes is to retain its inheritance.”
10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
13 These are the commands and ordinances the Lord commanded the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
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