Numbers 36, Zelophehad's Daughters

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

A question raised in Numbers 27:1-11 reappears. Previously, God has told Moses that the daughters of Zelophehad could inherit land. But land is not to be inherited across tribes. What if the women find husbands from other tribes.

Numbers 36:1-4, An inheritance question.

The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families.

They said, "When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our forefathers."

This issue, described a second time, involves inheritance in a patriarchal system. Since land passes down through the sons, what happens when a man, like Zelophehad, has only daughters. What then? The daughters may inherit... but what if they marry outside the tribe of Manasseh?

Numbers 36:5-9, Within the tribe

Then at the LORD's command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: "What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. This is what the LORD commands for Zelophehad's daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within the tribal clan of their father. No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers. Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father's tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers. No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits."

The daughters are allowed to inherit the land as long as they marry within their tribe.

Numbers 36:10-12, Marrying cousins

So Zelophehad's daughters did as the LORD commanded Moses. Zelophehad's daughters--Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah--married their cousins on their father's side. They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father's clan and tribe.
 

In this case, the daughters marry cousins on Zelophehad's side, sons of his siblings. (This information is new, additional from chapter 27.)

Numbers 36:13, Epilogue

These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

The book ends with a one line summary. The campaign across the Jordan will continue in the book of Joshua, but before that, the Pentateuch inserts a review of the last teachings of Moses: the book of Deuteronomy.

First published October 11, 2025; updated October 11, 2025