Numbers 36:1-13
Inheritance of Zelophehad's Daughters
1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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 ancestors.”
5 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. 6 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. 7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. 8 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 their ancestors. 9 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—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.
13 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.
Manasseh was Joseph’s son...Makir was Manasseh’s son...Gilead was Makir’s son...The leaders of Gilead’s family went to talk to Moses and the leaders of the tribes of Israel...They said, “Sir, the LORD commanded us to get our land by throwing lots...And sir, the LORD commanded that the land of Zelophehad our brother be given to his daughters...Maybe a man from one of the other tribes will marry one of Zelophehad’s daughters...Will that land leave our family?...Will the people of that other tribe get the land?...Will we lose the land that we got by throwing lots?...People might sell their land, but in the Jubilee year, all the land is returned to the tribe that really owns it...At that time who will get the land that belongs to Zelophehad’s daughters?...Will our tribe lose that land forever?”...
Moses gave this command from the LORD to the Israelites: “These men from the tribe of Joseph are right...This is the LORD’s command to Zelophehad’s daughters: If you want to marry someone, you must marry someone from your own tribe...In this way land will not be passed from tribe to tribe among the Israelites...Each Israelite will keep the land that belonged to their own ancestors...And if a woman gets her father’s land, she must marry someone from her own tribe...That way everyone will keep the land that belonged to his ancestors...So the land must not be passed from tribe to tribe among the Israelites...Each Israelite will keep the land that belonged to their own ancestors.”...
So Zelophehad’s daughters obeyed the LORD’s command to Moses...Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah—married their cousins on their father’s side of the family...Their husbands were from Manasseh’s family groups, so their land remained within their father’s family group and tribe...So these are the laws and commands that the LORD gave to Moses in the Jordan Valley in Moab by the Jordan River, across from Jericho...