Numbers 36
New Living Translation
Women Who Inherit Property
36 Then the heads of the clans of Gilead—descendants of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph—came to Moses and the family leaders of Israel with a petition. 2 They said, “Sir, the Lord instructed you to divide the land by sacred lot among the people of Israel. You were told by the Lord to give the grant of land owned by our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 But if they marry men from another tribe, their grants of land will go with them to the tribe into which they marry. In this way, the total area of our tribal land will be reduced. 4 Then when the Year of Jubilee comes, their portion of land will be added to that of the new tribe, causing it to be lost forever to our ancestral tribe.”
5 So Moses gave the Israelites this command from the Lord: “The claim of the men of the tribe of Joseph is legitimate. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: Let them marry anyone they like, as long as it is within their own ancestral tribe. 7 None of the territorial land may pass from tribe to tribe, for all the land given to each tribe must remain within the tribe to which it was first allotted. 8 The daughters throughout the tribes of Israel who are in line to inherit property must marry within their tribe, so that all the Israelites will keep their ancestral property. 9 No grant of land may pass from one tribe to another; each tribe of Israel must keep its allotted portion of land.”
10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah all married cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married into the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. Thus, their inheritance of land remained within their ancestral tribe.
13 These are the commands and regulations that the Lord gave to the people of Israel through Moses while they were camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
Numbers 36
Lexham English Bible
Inheritance Through Marriage
36 The leaders[a] of the families[b] of the clans of descendants[c] of Gilead the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the clans of the descendants[d] of Joseph came near and spoke before[e] Moses and before[f] the leaders[g] of the families[h] of the Israelites.[i] 2 And they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot as an inheritance to the Israelites,[j] and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they become wives to one of the sons from another tribe of the Israelites,[k] their inheritance will disappear from the inheritance of our ancestors,[l] and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; the lot of our inheritance would disappear. 4 When the Jubilee of the Israelites[m] comes,[n] it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will disappear from the tribe of our father.”
5 Then Moses commanded the Israelites[o] by the command of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the descendants[p] of Joseph is right regarding what they are speaking. 6 This is the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry[q] whomever they like;[r] only they must marry[s] from within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 Thus an inheritance of the Israelites[t] will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the Israelites.[u] 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the Israelites[v] will marry[w] one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that the Israelites[x] will possess the inheritance of his ancestors.[y] 9 Therefore an inheritance will not go around from one tribe to another tribe because the tribes of the Israelites[z] will each hold to their own inheritance.’”
10 Just as Yahweh commanded to Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married[aa] the sons of their uncles. 12 They married[ab] those from the sons of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained[ac] among the tribe of the clan of their ancestors.[ad]
13 These were the commands and the stipulations that Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses[ae] to the Israelites[af] on the desert-plateaus of Moab by the Jordan across Jericho.
Footnotes
- Numbers 36:1 Literally “The heads”
- Numbers 36:1 Or “fathers”
- Numbers 36:1 Or “sons”
- Numbers 36:1 Or “sons”
- Numbers 36:1 Literally “before the face of”
- Numbers 36:1 Literally “before the face of”
- Numbers 36:1 Literally “the heads”
- Numbers 36:1 Hebrew “of the fathers”
- Numbers 36:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:3 Or “fathers”
- Numbers 36:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:4 Literally “will be”
- Numbers 36:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:5 Or “sons”
- Numbers 36:6 Literally “Let them be as wives”
- Numbers 36:6 Literally “they will be as the good in their eyes”
- Numbers 36:6 Literally “they must be as wives”
- Numbers 36:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:8 Literally “be a wife to”
- Numbers 36:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:8 Or “fathers”
- Numbers 36:9 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 36:11 Literally “were as wives to”
- Numbers 36:12 Literally “They were as wives to”
- Numbers 36:12 Literally “was”
- Numbers 36:12 Or “fathers”
- Numbers 36:13 Or “through Moses”
- Numbers 36:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software