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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. 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. 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. 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.”

Then at the Lord’s word, Moses commanded the Israelites, “What the tribe of Joseph’s descendants is saying is right. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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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] 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. 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. 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.”

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. 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. 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] 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] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 36:1 Literally “The heads”
  2. Numbers 36:1 Or “fathers”
  3. Numbers 36:1 Or “sons”
  4. Numbers 36:1 Or “sons”
  5. Numbers 36:1 Literally “before the face of”
  6. Numbers 36:1 Literally “before the face of”
  7. Numbers 36:1 Literally “the heads”
  8. Numbers 36:1 Hebrew “of the fathers”
  9. Numbers 36:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  10. Numbers 36:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  11. Numbers 36:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  12. Numbers 36:3 Or “fathers”
  13. Numbers 36:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  14. Numbers 36:4 Literally “will be”
  15. Numbers 36:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  16. Numbers 36:5 Or “sons”
  17. Numbers 36:6 Literally “Let them be as wives”
  18. Numbers 36:6 Literally “they will be as the good in their eyes”
  19. Numbers 36:6 Literally “they must be as wives”
  20. Numbers 36:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  21. Numbers 36:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  22. Numbers 36:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  23. Numbers 36:8 Literally “be a wife to”
  24. Numbers 36:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  25. Numbers 36:8 Or “fathers”
  26. Numbers 36:9 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  27. Numbers 36:11 Literally “were as wives to”
  28. Numbers 36:12 Literally “They were as wives to”
  29. Numbers 36:12 Literally “was”
  30. Numbers 36:12 Or “fathers”
  31. Numbers 36:13 Or “through Moses”
  32. Numbers 36:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”