Numbers 27:1-15

Special Inheritance Laws

27:1 ¹ Then the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh of the families of Manasseh, ²  the son Joseph came forward. Now these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 27:2 And they stood before Moses and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, 27:3 “Our father died in the wilderness, although ³  he was not part of ⁴  the company of those that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died for his own sin, ⁵  and he had no sons. 27:4 Why should the name of our father be lost from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession ⁶  among the relatives ⁷  of our father.”

27:5 So Moses brought their case before the Lord. 27:6 The Lord said to Moses: 27:7 “The daughters of Zelophehad have a valid claim. ⁸  You must indeed ⁹  give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s relatives, and you must transfer ¹⁰  the inheritance of their father to them. 27:8 And you must tell the Israelites, ‘If a man dies ¹¹  and has no son, then you must transfer his inheritance to his daughter; 27:9 and if he has no daughter, then you are to give his inheritance to his brothers; 27:10 and if he has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his father’s brothers; 27:11 and if his father has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his relative nearest to him from his family, and he will possess it. This will be for the Israelites a legal requirement, ¹²  as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Leadership Change

27:12 ¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, ¹⁴  and see ¹⁵  the land I have given ¹⁶  to the Israelites. 27:13 When you have seen it, you will be gathered ¹⁷  to your ancestors, ¹⁸  as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors. ¹⁹  27:14 For ²⁰  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ²¹  rebelled against my command ²²  to show me as holy ²³  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

27:15 Then Moses spoke to the Lord:

[27:1]  ¹ sn For additional information on this section, see N. H. Snaith, “The Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 124-27; and J. Weingreen, “The Case of the Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 518-22.

[27:1]  ² tc The phrase “of the families of Manasseh” is absent from the Latin Vulgate.

[27:3]  ³ tn This clause begins with a vav (ו) on a pronoun, marking it out as a disjunctive vav. In this context it fits best to take it as a circumstantial clause introducing concession.

[27:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the midst of.”

[27:3]  ⁵ tn The word order is emphatic: “but in/on account of his own sins he died.”

[27:4]  ⁶ tn That is, the possession of land, or property, among the other families of their tribe.

[27:4]  ⁷ tn The word is “brothers,” but this can be interpreted more loosely to relatives. So also in v. 7.

[27:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “[the daughters of Zelophehad] speak right” (using the participle דֹּבְרֹת [dovÿrot] with כֵּן [ken]).

[27:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense. The imperfect is functioning as the imperfect of instruction, and so the infinitive strengthens the force of the instruction.

[27:7]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive, from the root עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”). Here it functions as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction: “and you shall cause to pass,” meaning, “transfer.”

[27:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man, if he dies.”

[27:11]  ¹² tn The expression is חֻקַּת מִשְׁפָּט (khuqqat mishpat, “a statute of judgment”), which means it is a fixed enactment that determines justice. It is one which is established by God.

[27:12]  ¹³ sn See further J. Lindblom, “Lot Casting in the Old Testament,” VT 12 (1962): 164-78; E. Lipinski, “Urim and Thummim,” VT 20 (1970): 495-96; and S. E. Loewenstamm, “The Death of Moses,” Tarbiz 27 (1957/58): 142-57.

[27:12]  ¹⁴ tc The Greek version adds “which is Mount Nebo.” This is a typical scribal change to harmonize two passages.

[27:12]  ¹⁵ tn The imperative could be subordinated to the first to provide a purpose clause, although a second instruction fits well enough.

[27:12]  ¹⁶ tn This perfect tense would best be classified as a perfect of resolve: “which I have decided to give.” God had not yet given the land to them, but it was certain he would.

[27:13]  ¹⁷ tn The first verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, and the second verb is also. In such parallel clauses, the first may be subordinated, here as a temporal clause.

[27:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “people.”

[27:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “was gathered.” The phrase “to his ancestors” is elided in the Hebrew text, but is an implied repetition from the beginning of the verse, and has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:14]  ²⁰ tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

[27:14]  ²¹ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

[27:14]  ²² tn Heb “mouth.”

[27:14]  ²³ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.