Numbers 36
Complete Jewish Bible
36 (LY: vii) The leaders of the clans of the family of the descendants of Gil‘ad, the son of Machir, the son of M’nasheh, of the families of the descendants of Yosef, approached and addressed Moshe and the leaders, the heads of the clans of the people of Isra’el. 2 They said, “Adonai ordered my lord to give by lot the land to be inherited by the people of Isra’el, and my lord was ordered by Adonai to give the inheritance of our kinsman Tz’lof’chad to his daughters. 3 But if they get married to anyone belonging to another of the tribes of the people of Isra’el, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestors and be added to the inheritance of the tribe they will then belong to; thus it will be taken away from the sum total of our inheritance. 4 And when the yovel of the people of Isra’el comes, their inheritance will be added to the land possessed by the tribe they will then belong to and be subtracted from the inheritance belonging to the tribe of our ancestors.”
5 Moshe gave this order to the people of Isra’el, in keeping with the word of Adonai : “The tribe of the descendants of Yosef is right in what it says. 6 Here is what Adonai has ordered concerning the daughters of Tz’lof’chad: ‘Let them be married to whomever they think best, but they must marry only into a family from their father’s tribe. 7 In this way no inheritance of the people of Isra’el will move from one tribe to another; for each of the people of Isra’el is to hold on to the land for inheritance belonging to his father’s tribe. 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Isra’el is to become the wife of someone from the family of her father’s tribe, so that every one of the people of Isra’el will stay in possession of his ancestors’ inheritance. 9 Thus no inheritance will move from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Isra’el will hold on to its own inheritance.”
(Maftir) 10 The daughters of Tz’lof’chad did as Adonai had ordered Moshe. 11 Machlah, Tirtzah, Hoglah, Milkah and No‘ah all got married to sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the descendants of M’nasheh the son of Yosef, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.
13 These are the mitzvot and rulings which Adonai gave through Moshe to the people of Isra’el in the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden, across from Yericho.
Haftarah Masa‘ei: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 2:4–28; 3:4 (A); 2:4–28; 4:1–2 (S)
B’rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah Mattot: Ya‘akov (James) 4:1–12
Hazak, hazak, v’nit’chazek!
Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!
Numbers 36
New King James Version
Marriage of Female Heirs
36 Now the chief fathers of the families of the (A)children of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and (B)spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. 2 And they said: (C)“The Lord commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and (D)my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be (E)taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when (F)the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying: (G)“What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them [a]marry whom they think best, (H)but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’ 7 So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall (I)keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And (J)every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.”
10 Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; 11 (K)for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.
13 These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses (L)in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
Footnotes
- Numbers 36:6 Lit. be wives to
Numbers 36
Wycliffe Bible
36 Soothly and the princes of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, of the generation of the sons of Joseph, nighed, and spake to Moses before the princes of Israel, (And the leaders of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came, and spoke to Moses before the leaders of Israel,)
2 and said, The Lord commanded to thee our lord, that thou shouldest part the land by lot to the sons of Israel (that thou shouldest divide up the land by lot to the Israelites), and that thou shouldest give to the daughters of Zelophehad, our brother, the possession due to their father.
3 And if men of another lineage shall take to wives these daughters, their possession shall follow them, and it shall be translated to another lineage, and so it shall be decreased from our heritage; (But if men from another tribe shall take these daughters as wives, their possession shall follow them, and it shall be transferred to another tribe, and so it shall be taken away from our inheritance;)
4 and so it shall be done, that when the jubilee, that is, the fiftieth year of remission, cometh, the parting of lots be confounded, or fail, and that the possession of other men pass to other men (and that the possession of some men shall pass to other men). (and then it shall be done, that when the Jubilee cometh, that is, the fiftieth Year of Remission, or the Year of Restoration or Forgiveness, their possession shall be transferred to the possession of the tribe to whom they go, and so it shall be taken away from our inheritance forevermore.)
5 Moses answered to the sons of Israel, and said, for the Lord commanded (it), The lineage of the sons of Joseph hath spoken rightfully, (And Moses answered to the Israelites, by the Lord’s command, and said, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath spoken rightly, or correctly,)
6 and this law is announced of the Lord on the daughters of Zelophehad; be they wedded to which men they will, (but) only to the men of their lineage; (and so this is the Lord’s command for Zelophehad’s daughters; let them be wedded to whichever men they want, as long as they be men of their own tribe;)
7 lest the possession of the sons of Joseph be meddled from lineage into lineage. For all men shall wed wives of their lineage and kindred; (lest the possession of the Israelites be mixed, or mingled, from tribe to tribe. For all men shall only wed wives of their own tribe and kindred;)
8 and each daughter, that shall have the heritage (who shall have an inheritance), shall be (a) wife to one man of the kindred of her father,
9 and [the] lineages be not meddled to themselves, but dwell so, as those be parted of the Lord. (and so the tribes shall not be mixed, or mingled, among themselves, but shall remain as they were separated by the Lord./and so the inheritance, or the possession, shall not pass from one tribe to another, but each tribe shall keep its own inheritance unto itself.)
10 And the daughters of Zelophehad did, as it was commanded to them.
11 And Mahlah, and Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, were wedded to the sons of their father’s brother(s),
12 of the family of Manasseh, that was the son of Joseph; and (so) the possession that was given to them, dwelled in the lineage (stayed in the tribe), and in the family, of their father.
13 These be the commandments and dooms, which the Lord commanded, by the hand of Moses, to the sons of Israel, in the field places of Moab, above (the) Jordan, against Jericho. (These be the commandments and the laws, which the Lord commanded, through Moses, to the Israelites, on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River, opposite Jericho.)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 by Wycliffe Bible Translators International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
2001 by Terence P. Noble