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The Rights of Women to Inherit Land

36 The heads of the households whose families were descended from Gilead, son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh, (families of Joseph’s descendants) came and spoke to Moses and the leaders of the other Israelite households. They said, “Sir, Yahweh commanded you to give the Israelites their land by drawing lots. Yahweh also commanded you to give the land of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters. Suppose they marry men from the other tribes of Israel. Their land will be taken away from that of our ancestors and added to the land of the tribe they marry into. Then we will have lost part of our land. When the Israelites’ jubilee year comes, their land will be added to that of the tribe they married into. Then part of the land of our ancestors’ tribe will be gone.”

So Moses gave the Israelites a command from Yahweh. “The tribe of Joseph’s descendants is right. This is what Yahweh commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they want to, but only within a family of their ancestor’s tribe. In this way no land of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to another. Every Israelite must keep the tribal land inherited from his ancestors. A woman who inherits land in any of the tribes of Israel may marry a man from any family in her ancestor’s tribe. In this way every Israelite keeps the land inherited from his ancestors. No land may pass from one tribe to another. Each Israelite tribe must keep the land it inherits.”

10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as Yahweh commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah married their cousins on their father’s side of the family. 12 They married within the families of the descendants of Manasseh, son of Joseph. So their land stayed in the tribe of their father’s family.

13 These are the commands and rules Yahweh gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho.

Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters(A)

36 The family heads of the clan of Gilead(B) son of Makir,(C) the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph,(D) came and spoke before Moses and the leaders,(E) 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,(F) he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad(G) 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(H) 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 ancestors.”

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 their father’s tribal clan. No inheritance(I) in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan,(J) so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”

10 So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah(K)—married their cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe and clan.(L)

13 These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses(M) to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.(N)