Numbers Chapter 36

Women Heirs of Property

¹ The heads of clans came down from Gilead (son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph) to Moses and Israel’s leaders. ² They said,

“The LORD told you to allot land to Israel for inheritance, and to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our relative to his daughters. ³ But if they marry outside their tribe, their inheritance will move to the new tribe. ⁴ When Israel’s Year of Jubilee comes, it will become permanent in the new tribe and lost from ours.”

⁵ So from the LORD Moses said,

                  “Joseph’s descendants are raising a legitimate issue. ⁶ Do this: the daughters of Zelophehad can marry anyone in their father’s tribe. ⁷ Inheritance can’t move from tribe to tribe. ⁸ Every daughter that inherits must marry in her tribe. ⁹ Each tribe will retain its inheritance.”

¹⁰ That’s what the daughters of Zelophehad did. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah married their uncles’ sons; ¹² and their inheritance stayed in their father’s tribe.        

¹³ The LORD gave those commandments to Israel through Moses in the Plain of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.           

Num 36:1-13

Version by Virgil Warren: christir.org