Numbers 36

The Rights of Women to Inherit Land

1 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.2 They said, “Sir, the Lord commanded you to give the Israelites their land by drawing lots. The Lord also commanded you to give the land of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters.3 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.

4 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.”
5 So Moses gave the Israelites a command from the Lord. “The tribe of Joseph’s descendants is right.6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they want to, but only within a family of their ancestor’s tribe.7 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.8 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.

9 No land may pass from one tribe to another. Each Israelite tribe must keep the land it inherits.”
10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord 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 the Lord gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho.

Numbers 36

Women and Land Inheritance

1 Then the heads of the family groupst of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Mosest and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families.t2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to givet 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.3 Now if they should be married to one of the ment 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.t As a result, it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

4 And when the Jubilee of the Israelites is to take place,t 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.”t

Moses’ Decision

5 Then Moses gave a rulingt to the Israelites by the wordt of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right.6 This is whatt the Lord has commanded for Zelophehad’s daughters: ‘Let them marryt whomever they think best,t only they must marry within the family of their father’s tribe.7 In this way the inheritance of the Israelites will not be transferredt from tribe to tribe. But every one of the Israelites must retain the ancestral heritage.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 Israelitet may retain the inheritance of his fathers.

9 No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe. But every one of the tribes of the Israelites must retain its inheritance.”
10 As the Lord had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did.11 For the daughters of Zelophehad – Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah – were married to the sons of their uncles.t

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.

13 These are the commandments and the decisions that the Lord commanded the Israelites through the authorityt of Moses, on the plains of Moab by the Jordan Rivert opposite Jericho.s