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The Daughters of Zelophehad

27 Then (A)the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came near; and these are (B)the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, saying, “Our father (C)died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the congregation of those who gathered themselves together against Yahweh in the congregation of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and (D)he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.” (E)So Moses brought their case near before Yahweh.

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, (F)The daughters of Zelophehad are right in their statements. You shall surely give them a possession for an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you shall have the inheritance of their father pass on to them. Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall have his inheritance pass on to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his blood relative in his own family, and he shall possess it; and it shall be a (G)statutory judgment to the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.’”

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Zelophehad’s Daughters(A)

27 Now the daughters of Hepher’s son Zelophehad, Gilead’s grandson, who had been fathered by Machir, who had been fathered by Manasseh, from the tribe of Manasseh, the direct son of Joseph, were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, the elders, and the entire community at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood before them, and said, “Our father died in the wilderness, but he wasn’t with the company of those who gathered against the Lord along with the company of Korah. He died in his own sin, and he had no sons. Why are you going to eliminate the name of our father from his family, just because he had no son? Give us a possession from among our father’s relatives.”

So Moses brought the family into the Lord’s presence, and the Lord told Moses, “The daughters of Zelophehad are telling the truth. You are certainly to give to them a possession for an inheritance among their father’s relatives. You are to pass on the inheritance of their father to them. Tell the Israelis that when a man dies without a son, you are to pass his inheritance to his daughter. If he doesn’t have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he doesn’t have brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father doesn’t have brothers, then give his inheritance to a relative who is nearest to him from the family and he’ll take possession of it. This is to be a permanent ordinance[a] for the Israelis, just as the Lord commanded Moses.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 27:11 Lit. a statute, an ordinance