Numbers 36:1-13

Context

Women and Land Inheritance

36:1 Then the heads of the family groups¹ of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Moses² and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families.³ 36:2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give⁴ 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 men⁵ 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 ruling⁹ to the Israelites by the word¹⁰ of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right. 36:6 This is what¹¹ the Lord has commanded for Zelophehad’s daughters: ‘Let them marry¹² 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 transferred¹⁴ 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 Israelite¹⁵ 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.

36:13 These are the commandments and the decisions that the Lord commanded the Israelites through the authority¹⁷ of Moses, on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River¹⁸ opposite Jericho.¹⁹

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

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

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

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

[36:3] ⁵tn “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] ⁶tn Heb “which they will be to them,” meaning, to those who have them, i.e., the marriages.

[36:4] ⁷tn 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] ⁸tn Heb “the tribe of our fathers.”

[36:5] ⁹tn Heb “commanded.”

[36:5] ¹⁰tn Heb “mouth.”

[36:6] ¹¹tn Heb “the word that.”

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

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

[36:7] ¹⁴tn Heb “turned aside.”

[36:8] ¹⁵tn 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] ¹⁶tn They married in the family as they were instructed. But the meaning of דּוֹד (dod) is not necessarily restricted to “uncle.”

[36:13] ¹⁷tn Heb “by the hand.”

[36:13] ¹⁸tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[36:13] ¹⁹map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.