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
Evangelical Heritage Version
Inheritance for Zelophehad’s Daughters
36 The leading fathers of the clan of the descendants of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, from the clans of the sons of Joseph, approached Moses and spoke to Moses and the tribal chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to assign the land for the Israelites’ inheritance by lot. My lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 Now, if they marry any of the men from the other Israelite tribes, then their inheritance would be taken away from our ancestral inheritance and would be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they married. So part of our allotted inheritance would be taken away. 4 When the Jubilee occurs for the Israelites, that inheritance would be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they married. Therefore that inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
5 Then at the Lord’s word, Moses commanded the Israelites, “What the tribe of Joseph’s descendants is saying is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may be married to whomever they wish, but they are to be married within the clan of their father’s tribe. 7 In that way no inheritance for the Israelites will transfer from tribe to tribe, for each of the Israelites is to keep the inheritance of his ancestral tribe. 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any of the Israelite tribes is to be married to someone from the clan of her father’s tribe, so that each of the Israelites will retain possession of the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance will transfer from one tribe to another tribe, for each of the Israelite tribes will keep its own inheritance.”
10 So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah—were married to cousins on their father’s side. 12 They were married to men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
13 These are the commands and the ordinances which the Lord commanded through Moses for the Israelites on the Plains of Moab near the Jordan across from Jericho.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.