Numbers 36
Legacy Standard Bible
Inheritance Through Marriage
36 (A)And the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, 2 and they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord (B)was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they [a]marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. 4 And when the (C)jubilee of the sons of Israel [b]comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the [c]word of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in their statements. 6 (D)This is [d]what Yahweh has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whoever is good in their sight; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’ 7 Thus (E)no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall [e]be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each [f]hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 (F)And every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance shall [g]be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each [h]hold to his own inheritance.”
10 Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 (G)And Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons. 12 They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance [i]remained with the tribe of the family of their father.
13 (H)These are the commandments and the judgments which Yahweh commanded to the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 36:3 Lit become wives to, so in ch
- Numbers 36:4 Lit shall be
- Numbers 36:5 Lit mouth
- Numbers 36:6 Lit the thing which
- Numbers 36:7 Lit turn about
- Numbers 36:7 Lit cleave
- Numbers 36:9 Lit turn about
- Numbers 36:9 Lit cleave
- Numbers 36:12 Lit was
Numbers 36
Common English Bible
Inheritance of Zelophehad’s daughters
36 The leaders of the households of the clans of Gilead, Machir’s son and Manasseh’s grandson, of Joseph’s clans, approached and spoke before Moses and the chiefs, who were the leaders of the Israelite households. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my master to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites. But my master was also commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 If they are married to someone from another Israelite tribe, their inheritance will be taken away from our household and given to another tribe into which they marry. Then it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 At the Israelite Jubilee, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they married. Then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
5 Then Moses commanded the Israelites according to the Lord’s word: “The tribe of Joseph’s descendants are correct in what they’re saying. 6 This is the word that the Lord commands to Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry whomever seems best to them, but they may only marry into one of the clans of their ancestral tribe, 7 so that the inheritance of the Israelites doesn’t transfer from one tribe to another. The Israelites will each retain the tribal inheritance of his ancestral tribe. 8 Every daughter who inherits land from an Israelite tribe must marry into one of the clans of her father’s tribe. In this way each Israelite will own the land of his ancestors. 9 An inheritance of land may not be transferred from one tribe to another, for the Israelite tribes will each retain its own inheritance.”
10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad’s daughters, married their cousins. 12 They married into the clan of Manasseh, Joseph’s son. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.
Conclusion
13 These are the commandments and the case laws that the Lord commanded the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
Read full chapterLegacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible