Numbers 26:33

26:33 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Numbers 36:1-12

Women and Land Inheritance

36:1 Then the heads of the family groups ¹  of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Moses ²  and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families. ³  36:2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give ⁴  the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 36:3 Now if they should be married to one of the men ⁵  from another Israelite tribe, their inheritance would be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. ⁶  As a result, it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 36:4 And when the Jubilee of the Israelites is to take place, ⁷  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 our ancestral tribe.” ⁸ 

Moses’ Decision

36:5 Then Moses gave a ruling ⁹  to the Israelites by the word ¹⁰  of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right. 36:6 This is what ¹¹  the Lord has commanded for Zelophehad’s daughters: ‘Let them marry ¹²  whomever they think best, ¹³  only they must marry within the family of their father’s tribe. 36:7 In this way the inheritance of the Israelites will not be transferred ¹⁴  from tribe to tribe. But every one of the Israelites must retain the ancestral heritage. 36:8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any of the tribes of the Israelites must become the wife of a man from any family in her father’s tribe, so that every Israelite ¹⁵  may retain the inheritance of his fathers. 36:9 No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe. But every one of the tribes of the Israelites must retain its inheritance.”

36:10 As the Lord had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did. 36:11 For the daughters of Zelophehad – Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah – were married to the sons of their uncles. ¹⁶  36:12 They were married into the families of the Manassehites, the descendants of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.

Joshua 17:3-6

17:3 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 17:4 They went before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us land among our relatives.” ¹⁷  So Joshua ¹⁸  assigned them land among their uncles, as the Lord had commanded. ¹⁹  17:5 Manasseh was allotted ten shares of land, ²⁰  in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan, 17:6 for the daughters of Manasseh were assigned land among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.

Joshua 17:1

17:1 The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s firstborn son, was also allotted land. ²¹  The descendants of Makir, Manasseh’s firstborn and the father of Gilead, received land, for they were warriors. ²²  They were assigned Gilead and Bashan. ²³ 

Joshua 7:15

7:15 The one caught with the riches ²⁴  must be burned up ²⁵  along with all who belong to him, because he violated the Lord’s covenant and did such a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”

Galatians 3:28

3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave ²⁶  nor free, there is neither male nor female ²⁷  – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

[36:1]  ¹ tn The expression is “the heads of the fathers by the family of the Gileadites.”

[36:1]  ² tn The Greek and the Syriac add “and before Eleazar the priest.”

[36:1]  ³ tn Heb “heads of the fathers.”

[36:2]  ⁴ tn The infinitive construct “to give” serves here as the complement or object of the verb, answering what the Lord had commanded Moses.

[36:3]  ⁵ tn “Men” is understood; it says “to one from the sons of the tribes of the Israelites for a wife,” or if he has her for a wife.

[36:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “which they will be to them,” meaning, to those who have them, i.e., the marriages.

[36:4]  ⁷ tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) is most often translated “to be,” but it can also mean “to happen, to take place, to come to pass,” etc.

[36:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “the tribe of our fathers.”

[36:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[36:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “mouth.”

[36:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the word that.”

[36:6]  ¹² tn The idiom again is “let them be for wives for….”

[36:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “to the one who is good in their eyes.”

[36:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[36:8]  ¹⁵ tn The subject is “Israelites” and the verb is plural to agree with it, but the idea is collective as the word for “man” indicates: “so that the Israelites may possess – [each] man the inheritance of his fathers.”

[36:11]  ¹⁶ tn They married in the family as they were instructed. But the meaning of דּוֹד (dod) is not necessarily restricted to “uncle.”

[17:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The Lord commanded Moses to assign to us an inheritance in the midst of our brothers.” Since Zelophehad had no sons, “brothers” must refer to their uncles, as the next sentence makes clear.

[17:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he.” The referent is probably Joshua, although Eleazar is mentioned first in the preceding list.

[17:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he assigned to them in accordance with the mouth [i.e., command] of the Lord an inheritance in the midst of the brothers of their father.”

[17:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the allotted portions of Manasseh fell out ten.”

[17:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the lot belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph.”

[17:1]  ²² tn Heb “to Makir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, for he was a man of war.”

[17:1]  ²³ tn Heb “Gilead and Bashan belonged to him.”

[7:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “with what was set apart [to the Lord].”

[7:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “burned with fire.”

[3:28]  ²⁶ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:10.

[3:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “male and female.”